Follow along with the biggest moments in April history in this visual journey of photos from the Shutterstock Editorial archive.
Photography has given us a rich visual archive of the most important events in history – everything from tragedies to the pinnacles of human achievement. Photos can bring us back to a tragic event that broke our collective hearts, a cultural moment that we rejoiced over, or a scientific breakthrough that made us see the world differently.
Each month we’ll share photographs from the Shutterstock Editorial archive that show a significant historical or cultural event for each day of that month.
This month, we take a visual journey through April.
April 1
1984: Motown legend Marvin Gaye is murdered by his father.
Photo by Eugene Adebari/Shutterstock.
April 2
1968: Director Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey is released.
Photo by Mgm/Stanley Kubrick Productions/Kobal/Shutterstock.
April 3
1996: The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is arrested.
Photo by John Youngbear/AP/Shutterstock.
April 4
1968: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis.
Photo by Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock.
April 5
1994: Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain dies at the age of 27.
Photo by Roberto Sorbo/AP/Shutterstock.
April 6
1896: The first modern Olympics are held in Athens, Greece.
Photo by Eye Ubiquitous/Shutterstock.
April 7
1994: The Rwanda Civil War and genocide begins.
Photo by Karsten Thielker/AP/Shutterstock.
April 8
1990: Twin Peaks by David Lynch debuts on ABC.
Photo by Moviestore/Shutterstock.
April 9
2005: Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles.
Photo by Shutterstock.
April 10
1970: The Beatles break up when Paul McCartney leaves the band.
Photo by ANL/Shutterstock.
April 11
2012: The Avengers premieres.
Photo by Picture Perfect/Shutterstock.
April 12
1961: Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space.
Photo by Shutterstock.
April 13
1997: At 21, Tiger Woods became the youngest ever golfer to win the Masters Tournament.
Photo by Bill Waugh/AP/Shutterstock.
April 14
1912: The RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean and sinks the next day, killing over 1,500 passengers.
Photo by AP/Shutterstock.
April 15
1947: Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball.
Photo by Anonymous/AP/Shutterstock.
April 16
2007: Thirty-two people die in a mass shooting at Virginia Tech.
Photo by Dan Callister/Shutterstock.
April 17
1970: Apollo 13 safely returns to earth after a malfunction forced them to abort a moon landing early.
Photo by Shutterstock.
April 18
1906: Most of San Francisco is destroyed after a massive earthquake.
Photo by Underwood Archives/UIG/Shutterstock.
April 19
1995: 168 people die in a domestic terrorist attack in Oklahoma City.
Photo by AP/Shutterstock.
April 20
1999: Fifteen people die in a school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.
Photo by Kevin Higley/AP/Shutterstock.
April 21
1934: The “surgeon’s photograph” showing the purported Loch Ness Monster is published.
Photo by Historia/Shutterstock.
April 22
1970: The first Earthday is celebrated.
Photo by AP/Shutterstock.
April 23
2016: Beyonce releases her Lemonade album.
Photo by Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP/Shutterstock.
April 24
2013: 1,129 people die in Bangladesh when a garment building collapses.
Photo by Abir Abdullah/EPA/Shutterstock.
April 25
2015: Nearly 9,000 people die when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.
Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP/Shutterstock.
April 26
1986: The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurs.
Photo by Str/AP/Shutterstock.
April 27
1992: Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House of Commons in the UK.
Photo by Alison Mcdougall/ANL/Shutterstock.
April 28
1969: Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.
Photo by Anonymous/AP/Shutterstock.
April 29
1992: Riots erupt in Los Angeles after the acquittal of four police officers charged in the Rodney King beating.
Photo by Paul Sakuma/AP/Shutterstock.
April 30
1997: An estimated 42 million watch as Ellen Degeneres publicly declares she’s gay.
Photo by Mark J Terrill/AP/Shutterstock.
Get the latest news, sports, and entertainment images.
