Historical anniversaries are great for “On This Day in History” features and anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with readers and viewers, editors and producers love them, they’re easy to research, and you can easily turn them into newspaper and magazine articles, films, TV/radio/theatre shows, and more.
Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries coming up in April 2021 (so you have time to write about them!)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2021. You’ll find hundreds more in the book. The 2022 edition is also available.
1 Apr 2001 – 20 years ago
Same-sex marriage was legalised in the Netherlands (the first country to do so) and the first four same-sex marriage ceremonies took place.
2 Apr 1951 – 70 years ago
General Dwight D. Eisenhower (later US President) became NATO’s first Supreme Allied Commander. He assumed command of all Allied forces in the Western Mediterranean and Europe.
3 Apr 1721 – 300 years ago
Robert Walpole became the first British Prime Minister.
4 Apr 1821 – 200 years ago
Birth of Linus Yale, Jr., American engineer and businessman. Inventor of the cylinder lock. Co-founder of the lock manufacturing company Yale.
5 Apr 1941 – 80 years ago
Death of Sir Nigel Gresley, Scottish steam locomotive engineer. Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) (1923–41). He designed some of Britain’s fastest and most famous steam locomotives, including the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard.
6 to 15 Apr 1896 – 125 years ago
The first modern Summer Olympic Games were held, in Athens, Greece. The original Olympics were banned by the Roman Emperor Theodosius (I or II) in either 393 or 426 AD.
7 Apr 2001 – 20 years ago
NASA launched its Mars Odyssey spacecraft to search for evidence of water and volcanic activity on Mars. It went into orbit around Mars on 24th October and remains operational (though it will run out of propellant in 2025). It is the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft orbiting another planet. It successfully mapped the distribution of water below the surface and discovered a vast amount of ice below the equatorial regions.
8 Apr 1946 – 75 years ago
Électricité de France (EDF), the world’s largest utility company, was founded when around 1,700 French energy producers, transporters and distributors were nationalised.
9 Apr 1821 – 200 years ago
Birth of Charles Baudelaire, French poet, essayist, art critic, philosopher, and translator of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories into French.
10 Apr 1941 – 80 years ago
World War II: Germany and Italy established the independent state of Croatia in occupied Yugoslavia.
11 Apr 1921 – 100 years ago
The Emirate of Transjordan (now Jordan) was created.
12 Apr 1961 – 60 years ago
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space and the first to orbit the Earth.
13 Apr 1771 – 250 years ago
Birth of Richard Trevithick, British mining engineer and inventor of the first steam locomotive.
14 Apr 1931 – 90 years ago
The first edition of The Highway Code was published in the UK.
15 Apr 1991 – 30 years ago
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development opened in London to assist economic development in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
16 Apr 1971 – 50 years ago
British rock band the Rolling Stones released their hit song Brown Sugar.
17 Apr 1961 – 60 years ago
Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuba. Approximately 1,500 Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro’s regime attempted an invasion, financed and directed by the USA. US President John F. Kennedy later accepted sole responsibility for the failed invasion.
18 Apr 1951 – 70 years ago
The European Coal and Steel Community was established when Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany signed the Treaty of Paris. The organisation eventually became the European Union.
19 Apr 1971 – 50 years ago
The Soviet Union launched Salyut 1, the world’s first space station.
20 Apr 1971 – 50 years ago
National Public Radio (NPR) began broadcasting in the USA.
21 Apr 1946 – 75 years ago
Death of John Maynard Keynes, British economist. The most influential economist of the 20th century, whose ideas formed the basis of Keynesian economics.
22 Apr 1821 – 200 years ago
Death of John Crome, (“Old Crome”), British landscape artist.
23 Apr 1896 – 125 years ago
Thomas Edison began public showings of his films at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall in New York City, USA, using his Vitascope system.
24 Apr 1996 – 25 years ago
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act was signed into law in the USA.
25 Apr 1961 – 60 years ago
American engineer Robert Noyce was granted a US patent for the integrated circuit.
26 Apr 1941 – 80 years ago
The first organ was played in a Major League Baseball stadium when the Chicago Cubs brought one into Wrigley Field as a one-day gimmick. It proved popular, and the tradition soon became established.
27 Apr 1521 – 500 years ago
Death of Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth. (Killed by natives in the Philippines, aged 41.)
28 Apr 2001 – 20 years ago
American businessman Dennis Tito became the world’s first space tourist. He travelled on a Russian rocket for a seven-day visit to the International Space Station, for which he reportedly paid $20 million (£12.5 million).
29 Apr 1946 – 75 years ago
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East was convened to try Japanese war criminals following the end of WWII. Those indicted included former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and 28 other leaders.
30 Apr 1991 – 30 years ago
Ramiz Alia became the first President of Albania. He had been the Communist Leader of Albania since 1985 and was re-elected in the country’s first democratic election since WWII.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2021. The 2022 edition is also available if you need to work further ahead. Find out more at ideas4writers.com.