On April 16, 2007, 32 people died after being gunned down
on the campus of Virginia Tech by Seung-Hui Cho, a student
at the college who later died by suicide.

The Virginia Tech shooting began around 7:15 a.m., when
Cho, a 23-year-old senior and English major at Blacksburg-
based Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
shot a female freshman and a male resident assistant in a
campus dormitory before fleeing the building.

Police were soon on the scene; unaware of the gunman’s
identity, they initially pursued the female victim’s boyfriend
as a suspect in what they believed to be an isolated domestic-
violence incident.

However, at around 9:40 a.m., Cho, armed with a 9-millimeter
handgun, a 22-caliber handgun and hundreds of rounds of
ammunition, entered a classroom building, chained and locked
several main doors and went from room to room shooting
people. Approximately 10 minutes after the rampage began,
he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The attack left 32 people dead and more than a dozen wounded.

Cho Seung-hui, the Virginia Tech gunman who killed 32
people before turning the gun on himself. Photograph:
AP

From Cape Canaveral, Florida, Apollo 16, the fifth of six U.S.
lunar landing missions, was successfully launched on its
238,000-mile journey to the moon.

Four days later, the three astronauts returned to Earth, safely
splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

SANDY KOZEL

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, at age 28, became the first
African American player in Major League Baseball’s modern
era when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete
for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier
in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years.

Exactly 50 years later, on April 15, 1997, Jackie Robinson’s groundbreaking career was honored and his uniform number,
42, was retired from Major League Baseball by Commissioner
Bud Selig in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 fans at New
York City’s Shea Stadium.

1972
          

On April 15, 2013, two bombs went off near the finish line of the
Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and wounding more
than 260 other people in attendance.

This photo released by the FBI of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, left,
and his brother, Tamerlan, right.

SANDY KOZEL

Loretta Lynn was a country music singer and
songwriter. In a career spanning six decades,
Lynn released multiple gold albums.
She had numerous hits.

Lynn received many awards and other accolades
for her groundbreaking role in country music,
including awards from both the Country Music
Association and Academy of Country Music.

Loretta Lynn (April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022)