Four of the bloodiest years in American history began when
Confederate shore batteries under Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard
opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s
Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861.

On April 13, U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort and
two days later, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation
calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to quell the Southern
“insurrection.”

Four years after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the
Confederacy was defeated at the total cost of 620,000 Union
and Confederate soldiers dead.

Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard
(May 28, 1818 – February 20, 1893)

Robert Houstoun Anderson
(October 1, 1835 – February 8, 1888)

Abraham Lincoln
(February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)

Illustration of The Exodus from Egypt (1907)

Passover is a major Jewish holiday and one of the Three
Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the
Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

"Rock Around the Clock" was a Last-Minute Addition to
the recording session. 

On April 12, 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets recorded
“(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock” at a Decca
recording session in New York City.

If rock and roll was a social and cultural revolution,
then “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock” was
its Declaration of Independence. And if Bill Haley
was not exactly the revolution’s Thomas Jefferson,
it may be fair to call him its John Hancock.

The song was chosen to play over the opening
credits of the film Blackboard Jungle, which is
how it became a pop sensation, selling a million
copies in a single month in the spring of 1955.

William (Bill) John Clifton Haley
(July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981)

On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13, the third lunar landing mission,
was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida,
carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert and
Fred W. Haise.

On April 11, 1921, KDKA in Pittsburgh aired the first live
sporting event on the radio, a boxing match between
Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.