April 1, 1984 American entertainer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father in Los Angeles.
Movie: What's Going On: The Marvin Gaye Story (2006) - Documentary
Book: Ben Edmonds, Marvin Gaye: What's Going On and the Last Days of the Motown Sound

April 2, 1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon comes ashore on the Florida coast, and claims the territory for the Spanish crown.
Movie: Biography: Ponce de Leon: The First Conquistador (1995) – Documentary
Book: Robert H. Fuson, Juan Ponce De Leon and the Spanish Discovery of Puerto Rico and Florida

April 3, 1882 Jesse James, one of America's most notorious outlaws, is shot to death by Robert Ford, a member of his gang who hoped to collect the bounty on Jesse's head.
Movie: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Book: T.J. Stiles, Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War

April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
Movie: Citizen King (2004) - Documentary
Book: David L. Chappell, A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow

April 5, 1614 Powhatan Indian Pocahontas married Virginia planter and colonial official John Rolfe.
Movie: Pocahontas: Her True Story (1987) - Documentary
Book: Paula Gunn Allen, Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat

April 6, 1348 Laura, the beloved muse of the Italian poet Petrarch, died.
Audio: The Poet Who Lost His Head (2004) – BBC Radio3
Book: Victoria Kirkham, Petrarch: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works

April 7, 1943 Japanese Admiral Yamamoto launches offensive against Guadalcanal Island during World War II.
Movie: The Pacific (2010)
Book: Robert Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow

April 8, 1974 American baseball player Hank Aaron (Henry Louis Aaron) hit his 715th career home run breaking Babe Ruth’s record, which had stood since 1935.
Movie: Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995) - Documentary
Book: Howard Bryant, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron

April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia of the Confederate States of America, signed a treaty of surrender at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the American Civil War.
Movie: American Experience: Robert E. Lee (2010) - Documentary
Book: Peter S. Carmichael, Audacity Personified: The Generalship of Robert E. Lee

April 10, 1919 Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, is ambushed and shot to death in Morelos by government forces.
Movie: Los Ultimos Zapatistas: Heroes Olvidados (2006) - Documentary
Book: Samuel Brunk, The Posthumous Career of Emiliano Zapata: Myth, Memory, and Mexico's Twentieth Century

April 11, 1970 Apollo 13, the third lunar landing mission, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Movie: Apollo 13 (1995) – Tom Hanks
Book: Jeffrey Kluger and James Lovell, Apollo 13

April 12, 1864 Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate raiders attack the isolated Union garrison at Fort Pillow, Tennessee and controversy over the battle continues today.
Movie: The Forgotten Battle of Fort Pillow and the Birth of the KKK (2000) - Documentary
Book: John Cimprich, Fort Pillow: A Civil War Massacre and Public Memory

April 13, 1830 President Andrew Jackson proposes in the face of growing dissent a toast: “Our Federal Union - It must be preserved.”
Movie: Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency (2008) - Documentary
Book: Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson

April 14, 1866 Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen Keller’s teacher, was born.
Movie: The Unconquered (1954)
Book: Kim E. Nielsen, Beyond the Miracle Worker: The Remarkable Life of Anne Sullivan Macy and Her Extraordinary Friendship with Helen Keller

April 15, 1912 1571 die when the “unsinkable” R.M.S. Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks.
Movie: Titanic: Case Closed (2012)
Book: Stephanie Barczewski, Titanic: A Night Remembered

April 16, 1917 Vladimir Lenin arrives at the Finland station in St. Petersburg, Russia, to take over leadership of the revolution.
Movie: Communism: The Promise and the Reality: Red Flag (2000) - Documentary
Book: Helen Rappaport, Conspirator: Lenin in Exile

April 17, 1521 Charles V and assembled courtiers and churchmen gather to hear Martin Luther’s speech depicting his views. Luther concludes “Here I take my stand...”
Movie: Luther (2003)
Book: Roland Herbert, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther

April 18, 1906 San Francisco was rocked by an earthquake caused by slippage along the San Andreas Fault.
Movie: San Francisco's Great Quake (2009) - Documentary
Book: Philip L. Fradkin, The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself

April 19, 1956 Film star Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Movie: The Hollywood Collection: Grace Kelly-The American Princess (1987) - Documentary
Book: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier

April 20, 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts.
Movie: Marie Curie: The Woman Behind the Mind (2002)
Book: Lauren Redniss, Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout

April 21, 1838 John Muir, a dedicated advocate for the protection of American wild lands, is born.
Movie: John Muir in the New World (2011) - Documentary
Book: William Cronon, ed., John Muir: Nature Writings: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth; My First Summer in the Sierra; The Mountains of California; Stickeen; Essays

April 22, 1889 Oklahoma land rush offers nearly two million acres to homesteaders.
Movie: Far and Away (1992) Tom Cruise
Book: Murray R. Wickett, Contested Territory: Whites, Native Americans, and African Americans in Oklahoma 1865-1907

April 23, 1616 Miguel De Cervantes author of Don Quixote dies.
Movie: Man of La Mancha (1972) Peter O’Toole
Book: Miguel De Cervantes, Adventures of Don Quixote

April 24, 1916 Members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army seize strategic points in Dublin during the Easter Rising.
Movie: FRONTLINE: Behind the Mask- The IRA & Sinn Fein (1997) - Documentary
Book: Max Caulfield, The Easter Rebellion

April 25, 1985 Amadeus wins Best Picture Academy Award.
Movie: Amadeus (1984) F. Murray Abraham
Book: Hermann Abert, W.A. Mozart

April 26, 1986 The world's worst nuclear accident to date occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine.
Movie: Chernobyl Heart (2002) - Documentary
Book: Svetlana Alexievich and Keith Gessen, Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

April 27, 1773 Parliament passes the Tea Act.
Movie: LIBERTY!: The Reluctant Revolutionaries (1997) - Documentary
Book: Benjamin L. Carp, Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America

April 28, 1945 Benito Mussolini is executed by Italian partisans.
Movie: Mussolini: Italy’s Nightmare (1996) - Documentary
Book: Ray Moseley, Mussolini: The Last 600 Days of Il Duce

April 29, 1429 French national heroine Joan of Arc and her troops entered the besieged city of Orléans during the Hundred Years’ War.
Movie: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Book: Deborah A. Fraioli, Joan of Arc: The Early Debate

April 30, 1492 Columbus is appointed Admiral by Spanish monarchs.
Movie: America Before Columbus (2009)
Book: John Noble Wilford, Mysterious History of Columbus: An Exploration of the Man, the Myth, the Legacy