President Washington

On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States from the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York. George Washington ran unopposed for election as President under the established electoral college. John Adams was elected as the first Vice President of the United States.
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Toy Story

The first fully computer-generated feature film "Toy Story" was a smashing commercial success in 1995. The film was produced by Pixar, which began in 1984 when animation engineer John Lasseter joined George Lucas' special effects computer group. The short movie "The Adventures of Andre and Wally B." was Pixar's first 3-D project.
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First Crusade

Pope Urban II initiated the First Crusade. He called for a war against the Muslims so that Jerusalem was regained for the Christian faith. This appeal quickly turned into a wholesale migration and conquest. Both knights and peasants from many nations of Western Europe traveled over land and by sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city in July 1099.
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Daylight saving

The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. The Standard Time Act of 1918 established daylight saving time, mainly as a World War I conservation strategy, and in response to Germany's practice of daylight savings. The act was repealed after the War, however daylight savings continued on in many localities.
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Wedding March

The "Wedding March" or "Here Comes the Bride" is a traditional choice of music played during a wedding processional. The song originated as the "Bridal Chorus" from German composer Richard Wagner's 1850 romantic opera, Lohengrin. The first use of the Wagner's song during a wedding was for the marriage of Princess Victoria and Frederick of Prussia in 1858.
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Federal highways

Construction for the first federal highway in the United States was authorized in March 1806. The National Road, also known as the Great National Pike and the Cumberland Road, stretched from Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois. The National Road was built in sections over four decades. The road forms part of the present day U.S. Route 40.
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The Boston Latin School

The Boston Latin School was founded in April 1635 and is considered America's first public school. Public funds were used to the support the school, with classes held in the home of the Head Master. Declaration of Independence signers John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Treat Paine, and William Hooper were pupils at this school.
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Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron hit his record breaking 715th home run In April 1974. The Hall of Fame slugger from Mobile, Alabama made his Major League debut as an outfielder with the Milwaukee Braves on April 13, 1954, going 0-5. On April 23, 1954, Hank Aaron hit his first Major League home run off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Vic Raschi.
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Earth Day

The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. Earth Day is held each year to inspire awareness of world-wide environmental issues and to promote appreciation for our planet. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson created the concept of Earth Day during the late 1960s. Senator Nelson was awarded the Medal of Freedom in September 1995 for "his public service to care about the environment."
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"OK"

The first use of the uniquely American phrase "OK" was found in the Boston Morning Post in 1839. An article quote in the paper used O.K. to place an event as all correct. Since then, the phrase has been adopted nationally and universally as a sign of affirmation.
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WWJ in Detroit

The Scripps family, owner of the Detroit News, founded the Detroit station 8MK, later WWJ, which on August 20, 1920 became the fist commercial radio station in the U.S. The first day of programming included recorded music and news provided from the U.S. Naval Department. An estimated thirty homes in the Detroit area were tuned in.
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Boston Marathon

The first Boston Marathon was run on April 19, 1897. The course measured 24.5 miles, starting at Metcalfe's Mill in Asthland and finishing at Irvington Street Oval in Boston. There were 15 runners in the first race. John McDermott won the race in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds, despite the fact that he had to stop and wait several minutes for a funeral procession.
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19th Amendment

The 19th Amendment of the Constitution was ratified by Congress on August 18, 1920. This amendment gave American women the right to vote in elections for the first time. This historic event capped more than 70 years of lobbying, marching and organizing by Americans such as Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul.
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The transistor

Bell Telephone Laboratories researchers John Bardeen and Walter Brattain developed the first point contact transistor in 1947. Their transistor concept was demonstrated to executives at Bell who were very impressed that the transistors did not need time to warm up like existing vacuum tubes. They immediately realized the power of the transistor.
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Iditarod

The first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska ran in 1973. Twenty-two mushers finished the 1,100 plus mile trail to Nome, Alaska in the first race. Iditarod race founder Dorothy G. Page created the sled dog race to celebrate Alaska's pioneer spirit and the trail's historical importance before the advent of airplanes and snowmobiles. The Iditarod has grown every year since 1973.
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Charles Cooper

Charles Cooper became the first African-American signed by an NBA team when he agreed to a contract with the Boston Celtics on April 15, 1950. During the same season, Earl Lloyd became the first African-American to play in an NBA game when he played for the Washington Capitols against the Rochester Royals on October 31, 1950.
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J. C. Penney

James Cash Penney opened his first store The Golden Rule in Kemmerer, Wyoming on April 14, 1902. The company boomed as it brought reasonably-priced, fashionable goods to remote western towns. In 1916, the stores were renamed the J. C. Penney Company. Today, JCPenney is the largest department-store retailer and catalog merchant in the United States.
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Global warming

Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first stated in 1896 the possibility that fossil fuel combustion may eventually result in enhanced global warming. Arrhenius and fellow scientist Thomas Chamberlin calculated that human activities could warm the earth by adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
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Newspaper

The Boston News-Letter was America's first continuously-published newspaper. First distributed in April 1704, the weekly News-Letter published news and events from England, as well local listings of ship arrivals, deaths, sermons, political appointments, fires, and accidents. The last issue of the News-Letter appeared in February 1776 after three generations of family ownership.
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Census of Population

The first Census of Population in the United States took place in 1790. The first census tabulated counts by gender, race, free persons and slaves. It included the original thirteen colonies plus Kentucky, Maine and Vermont. The population of the United States in 1790 was 3,893,874.
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Titanic

The RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York on April 10, 1912. Three days later, the ship struck an iceberg about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The Titanic plunged to the bottom of the sea taking more than 1500 people with her. The world was stunned to learn of the fate of the unsinkable Titanic.
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First breakfast cereal

The first breakfast cereal, called granula, was invented and served by Dr. James Caleb Jackson in 1863. In search of a healthier alternative to a pork and beef breakfast, Dr. Jackson developed granula by soaking dense bran nuggets overnight resulting in a chewable breakfast. Granula was regularly served up to Jackson's patients.
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Impeached

President Andrew Johnson was the first U.S. President to be impeached. Johnson was acquitted in each of two impeachment attempts by Congress during his presidency in the politically tumultuous post Civil War period. Sixteen federal officials, including two U.S. presidents, have been impeached in the U.S. since 1797.
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Toyota automobiles

The first Toyota automobiles were imported into the United States in 1958. The Toyota Land Cruiser was a half-ton, jeep-styled truck, and the Model SA Sedan, nicknamed the "Toyopet," was a 1-liter, two-door compact car. Neither sold very well. The first big seller in America was the 1964 Toyota Corona PT20.
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Filibuster

Senator John C. Calhoun was the first to use a filibuster in 1841. In opposition to Senator Henry Clay's proposed bank bill, Calhoun began a lengthy, unending rebuttal designed to leave no time for a vote on the bill. Clay threatened to change the Senate rules in order to end the debate but his effort was rebuked.

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Player strike

The National Hockey League is the first professional sports league to lose an entire season to player strike. The entire 2005 season came and went without a puck being dropped after the league locked out players. Major League Baseball lost almost half a season to a player strike in 1981. The NFL hired replacement players to fill-in for striking players in 1987. The NBA was locked out in 1998.
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First female mayor

Susanna M. Salter was elected mayor of Argonia, Kansas in April 1887, becoming the first female mayor of a U.S. city. Salter was nominated as a mayoral candidate on the Prohibition Party ticket by a local group intended as a joke. With the combined support of the Prohibitionists and the Republicans, Salter was elected mayor, making history and generating a world-wide news event.
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Pony Express

The Pony Express set off on its first mail delivery on April 3, 1860. The Pony Express was a relay delivery of mail by horses and riders from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Each rider on the express rode for about 150 miles, horses ran for about fifteen miles. The 2,000 mile route took about ten days to complete during the summer and fourteen days during the winter.
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Teddy Bear

The first Teddy Bear was sold in a New York candy store in 1902. Morris Michtom came up with the stuffed animal idea after seeing political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman's Teddy Roosevelt bear hunting cartoon. Michtom sent Roosevelt his new Teddy Bear creation and asked permission to use the teddy bear name. Within a year, Teddy Bears were being mass produced.
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April Fools Day

The first April Fools Day celebrations occurred in France in 1582. The introduction of the Gregorian Calendar a few years earlier moved New Year's from April 1 to January 1. Due to slow communications and refusal to change, some folks continued New Year's celebrations on April 1. Labeled as fools, these people were made the subject of practical jokes.
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