Historical Events
- Apr 4 Bryant's Minstrels debut "Dixie" in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show
- Apr 4 Opera "Dinorah" is produced in Paris
- Apr 6 US recognizes Liberal government in Mexico's War of Reform
- Apr 12 Hibernia Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco incorporates
- Apr 25 Ground broken for Suez Canal
- Apr 26 US Congressman Daniel E. Sickles is acquitted in the murder Philip Barton Key, on grounds of "temporary insanity" - 1st time this defense used successfully in the US [1]
- Apr 27 "Pomona" sinks in North Atlantic drowning all 400 aboard
Chess Master Retires
Apr 30 American Paul Morphy, widely regarded as the world's best chess player, retires after returning from a 10-month chess tour of Europe
A Tale Of Two Cities
Apr 30 Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" is first published in literary periodical "All the Year Round" (weekly installments until Nov 26)
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 3 Reginald De Koven, American operetta and popular song composer (Oh Promise Me), born in Middletown, Connecticut (d. 1920)
- Apr 5 Wilhelm Harteveld, Swedish composer, born in Stockholm (d. 1927)
- Apr 7 Walter Camp, father of American football (Yale), born in New Britain, Connecticut (d. 1925)
- Apr 8 Edmund Husserl, German philosopher (founded School of Phenomenology), born in Proßnitz, Margraviate of Moravia, Austrian Empire (d. 1938)
- Apr 11 Basil Harwood, English organist and composer, born in Woodhouse, Gloucestershire, England (d. 1949)
- Apr 16 Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, philanthropist (d. 1924)
- Apr 18 Eduard Cuypers, Dutch architect (Sanatorium High-Laren), born in Roermond, The Netherlands (d. 1927)
