April 1912 in History

Events in History

Apr 2 Sun Yet Sen forms Guomindang Party in China

Event of Interest

Apr 2 Titanic undergoes sea trials under its own power

Apr 4 Army fires on striking mine workers at Lena-gold fields in Siberia
Apr 4 Chinese republic proclaimed in Tibet
Apr 8 Steamers collide on the Nile, drowning 200
Apr 10 RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton for her maiden (and final) voyage
Apr 11 Cornerstone of Technion laid in Haifa, Palestine
Apr 11 RMS Titanic leaves Queenstown, Ireland, for NY
Apr 11 The UK Parliament introduce a Irish home rule bill, granting Ireland its own bicameral parliament and be required to send a representative to the British House of Commons; Protestants in Ulster resist
Apr 13 Royal Flying Corps forms (later Royal Air Force)

The Titanic Sinks

Apr 14 RMS Titanic, the world's largest ocean liner, hits an iceberg at 11.40pm off Newfoundland, sinks in the early hours of 15 April

The wreck of the RMS Titanic at the bottom of the ocean, photographed in 2004

Iceberg Sinks 'Unsinkable' Titanic

Apr 15 RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on, with the loss of between 1,490 and 1,635 people

How one American newspaper reported the Titanic disaster

Event of Interest

Apr 16 Harriet Quimby becomes the 1st female pilot to fly across English Channel

Apr 18 Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City
Apr 18 Tripolitan War: in continuing hostilities, Turkey closes the Dardanelles Straits after an Italian naval bombardment of the coastline
Apr 27 Relief laws in Netherlands replace those of 1854
Apr 29 108°F (42°C), Tuguegarao, Philippines (Oceania record)

Birthdays in History

Apr 3 Addeke H Boerma, Dutch economist and general manager (FAO) (d. 1992)
Apr 3 Bert Bakker, Dutch publisher (Free Netherlands), born in Huizum, Netherlands (d. 1969)
Apr 9 Lew Kopelew, Russian author, born in Kiev, Russian Empire (d. 1997)
Apr 9 Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin, hero, born in Tendring, Essex (d. 1994)
Apr 10 Roy Hofheinz, American judge and engineer (Houston Astrodome), born in Beaumont, Texas (d. 1982)
Apr 12 Harold Maguire, British air marshal, born in Kilkishen, Ireland (d. 2001)
Apr 13 Roy Winsor, American producer (Search for Tomorrow, Love of Life), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1987)
Apr 14 Robert Doisneau, French photographer (The Kiss), born in Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, France (d. 1994)

Kim Il-sung (1912-1994)

Apr 15 Founder, dictator and Supreme Leader of North-Korea (1948-94), born in Mangyongdae, Japanese Korea

Apr 16 Garth Williams, American illustrator (Charlotte's Web), born in NYC, New York (d. 1996)
Apr 16 John Halas, Hungarian-American cartoonist and animator (Animal Farm), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1995)
Apr 17 Isador Caplan, British lawyer and Aldeburgh Festival pioneer, born in Blackpool, England (d. 1995)
Apr 19 Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist (AEC, Plutonium, Nobel 1951), born in Ishpeming, Michigan (d. 1999)
Apr 19 William Murray, British teacher and educationalist, born in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland (d. 1995)
Apr 20 Ed Jones, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee, born in Yorkville, Tennessee (d. 1999)
Apr 20 Frederick Craig Riddle, British violist, born in Liverpool (d. 1995)
Apr 20 Soewarsih Djojopoespito, Indonesian writer (Toe the Line), born in Bogor, Indonesia (d. 1977)
Apr 21 Eve Arnold, photojournalist (Marilyn Monroe) (d. 2012), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 25 Gladys Presley, mother of Elvis, born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1958)
Apr 26 A. E. van Vogt, Canadian sci-fi author (Wizard of Linn), born in Gretna, Manitoba (d. 2000)
Apr 27 Franz Weyergans, Belgian writer and translator (Les Gens Heureux), born in Seraing, Belgium (d. 1974)
Apr 27 Frederick R. Weisman, philanthropist, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1994)
Apr 28 Odette Hallowes, British classified agent in France (WWII), born in Amiens, France (d. 1995)
Apr 29 Italo Valenti, Italian sculptor, born in Milan (d. 1995)
Apr 29 Terence de Vere White, Irish novelist (An Affair with the Moon), born in Dublin (d. 1994)
Apr 30 Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado, Deputy Prime Minister of Spain (1976-81) and Minister of Defense (1977-79), born in Madrid (d. 1995)

Weddings in History

Erle Stanley Gardner

Apr 9 Detective writer Erle Stanley Gardner (22) weds Natalie Talbert

Deaths in History

Apr 4 Charles Brantley Aycock, 50th Governor of North Carolina (1901-05), dies at 52
Apr 4 Isaac Kauffman Funk, American publisher (Funk & Wagnalls), dies at 72

Clara Barton (1821-1912)

Apr 12 American nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, dies of tuberculosis at 90

Apr 13 Ishikawa Takuboku, Japanese author, dies at 26
Apr 14 Henri Brisson, French statesman (b. 1835)

Edward Smith (1850-1912)

Apr 15 English naval captain of the RMS Titanic, dies when the ship sinks in the Atlantic Ocean aged 62

John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912)

Apr 15 American business magnate, real estate developer (Astoria Hotel) and soldier (richest passenger aboard the Titanic), dies aboard the Titanic at 47, presumed drowned

Apr 15 William T. Stead, British newspaper editor (The Pall Mall Gazette), dies in the sinking of the Titanic at 62

Bram Stoker (1847-1912)

Apr 20 Irish theater manager and author (Dracula), dies at 64

Apr 20 H. H. Holmes [Herman Webster Mudgett], American serial killer associated with 27 deaths, dies at 64
Apr 24 Justin M'Carthy, Irish politician and novelist (Miss Misanthrope), dies at 81