On April 18, 1906, at 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at close
to 8.0 on the Richter scale struck San Francisco, California,
killing an estimated 3,000 people as it topples numerous
buildings.

The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault over a
segment about 275 miles long, and shock waves could be felt
from southern Oregon down to Los Angeles.

San Francisco’s brick buildings and wooden Victorian structures
were especially devastated. Fires immediately broke out and–
because broken water mains prevented firefighters from stopping
them–firestorms soon developed citywide.

Ray Edward Cochran

Eddie Cochran, the man behind “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody,” was killed on April 17, 1960 when the taxi carrying
him from a show in Bristol, England, crashed en route to the
airport in London, where he was to catch a flight back home to
the United States. He had been on a triumphant concert tour of
Britain. Cochran was only 21.

1959

     
      DAVID MELENDY

    
Seung-Hui Cho, the student gunman.

Injured occupants are carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia
Tech.

The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as just
simply the Boston bombing, was a domestic terrorist attack
that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April
15, 2013. Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev planted
two homemade pressure cooker bombs that detonated near
the finish line of the race 14 seconds and 210 yards (190 m)
apart. Three people were killed and hundreds injured, including
17 who lost limbs.

Spectators helping victims soon after the attack.

Undated file photos show Boston Marathon bombing
suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev, left, and Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev. (AP) 

President Abraham Lincoln died in Washington, D.C., on this
day in history, April 15, 1865, one day after he was shot by
actor John Wilkes Booth. He was 56.

Lincoln, who was elected president in 1860, was the first U.S.
president to be assassinated. 

This engraving depicts John Wilkes Booth escaping after shooting President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre. 

The Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall and is dedicated
to the memory of President Abraham Lincoln.