- Apr 1 Cambodia President Lon Nol flees for Red Khmer
- Apr 2 Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
Event of Interest
Apr 3 Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend it
Bobby Fischer
Founding of Microsoft
Apr 4 Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800
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- Apr 4 British sitcom "The Good Life" starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith debuts on BBC One
- Apr 5 "Letter for Queen Victoria" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 18 performances
- Apr 5 Soyuz 18A launch aborted short of orbit; cosmonauts return safely
- Apr 5 129th Grand National: Irish combination of jockey Tommy Carberry aboard L'Escargot wins by 15 lengths from 7/2 favourite and 1973-74 winner Red Rum
Event of Interest
Apr 5 American tennis #1 Chris Evert wins her 3rd WTA Tour Championship at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; beats Martina Navratilova 6-4, 6-2
Chris Evert
Martina Navratilova
- Apr 6 "Night... Made America Famous" closes at Barrymore NYC after 75 performances
- Apr 6 "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 45 performances
- Apr 6 Bundy victim Denise Oliverson disappears from Grand Junction, Colorado
- Apr 6 Fastest hat trick by a Wash Cap 3 mins 26 secs (Stan Gilbertson)
- Apr 7 Preliminary meeting in Paris on world economic crisis between oil-exporting, oil-importing, and non-oil Third World countries
Academy Awards
Apr 8 47th Academy Awards: "The Godfather Part II", Ellen Burstyn & Art Carney win
Event of Interest
Apr 8 Frank Robinson debuts as 1st African American baseball manager (Cleveland Indians beat New York Yankees, 5-3)
Frank Robinson
Event of Interest
Apr 11 Hank Aaron returns to County Stadium as a Milwaukee player after his off-season trade from the Atlanta Braves; Brewers beat Cleveland Indians, 6-2
Hank Aaron
- Apr 11 J. P. Parisé scores an 11 sec OT goal, to see the NY Islanders eliminate the NY Rangers in their ever 1st playoff advance
Event of Interest
Apr 12 Linda Ronstadt releases "When Will I Be Loved"
Linda Ronstadt
- Apr 12 Six Catholic civilians are killed in a Ulster Volunteer Force gun and grenade attack on Strand Bar in Belfast, North Ireland
US Masters Golf
Apr 13 39th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Jack Nicklaus wins his 5th Masters title, 1 stroke ahead of Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf; Lee Elder, first African-American to compete in the tournament
Jack Nicklaus
- Apr 13 Chad military coup by General Odingar
- Apr 13 Christian Falange kills 27 Palestinians, begins Lebanese civil war
- Apr 15 1st appearance of San Diego Chicken
- Apr 15 Gabon amends constitution
- Apr 16 Cambodian Red Khmer occupy Phnom Penh
- Apr 17 Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Kampuchea National Day)
Music Single
Apr 18 John Lennon releases single "Stand by Me"
John Lennon
- Apr 19 India launches 1st satellite with help of USSR
- Apr 20 29th Tony Awards: Equus & Wiz win
- Apr 21 79th Boston Marathon: American Bill Rodgers wins men's section in race record 2:09:55; Liane Winter of West Germany women's champion in 2:42:24 (female world record)
Event of Interest
Apr 21 Last South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu resigns after 10 years
Nguyen Van Thieu
Theater Premiere
Apr 23 Harold Pinter's play "No Man's Land" premieres in London
Harold Pinter
Election of Interest
Apr 25 Mário Soares' Socialist Party wins Portugal's first free election since 1925 following the Carnation Revolution of 1974
Mário Soares
Baseball Record
Apr 26 Phillies Mike Schmidt's 2 HRs ties NL record of 11 HRs in April
Mike Schmidt
- Apr 27 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Event of Interest
Apr 28 John Lennon appears on "Tonight" & Ringo Starr on "Smother Brothers"
Ringo Starr
John Lennon
The Fall of Saigon
Apr 29 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war
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