Jen and Jon Johnson

On April 28, 1945, “Il Duce,” Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot by Italian soldiers who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland.

On April 27, 1773, British Parliament passes the Tea Act, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company by granting a monopoly on the American tea trade – this leads to the Boston Tea Party.

On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred in the Soviet
Union. An explosion and fire in the reactor sent radioactivity into the
atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately.

On April 25, 1859, At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas.

On April 24, 1800, President Adams approves $5,000 to purchase “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress,” thus establishing the Library of Congress – today it holds 17 million books.

On April 21, 1930, a fire at an Ohio prison kills 320 inmates, some of whom burn to death when they are not unlocked from their cells. The jail was built to hold 1500 but at the time of the fire had 4300 inmates.

On April 20, 1971, the United States Supreme Court ruled that is was OK to use school busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools across the country.

On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168, and injuring 500. Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the bombing and sentenced to death.

On April 18, 1906 at 5:13 a.m., an earthquake strikes San Francisco, California, destroying 30,000 buildings, causing a massive fire, and killing an estimated 3,000 people.

On April 17, 1970, spaceship Apollo 13 safely lands back in the US after losing one of their oxygen tanks while in route to the moon – disrupting heat, electricity and oxygen supplies.