April

fourth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars

98 dated entries naming April, drawn from 94 separate years between 46 BCE and 1961 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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1st century BC

46 BCEApril – Caesar defeats Pompey loyalists at Thapsus.source

4th century

308April: In Rome, Emperor Maximian attempts to depose his son Maxentius, but the soldiers in Rome side with Maxentius and force Maximian to flee to the court of Constantine I.source
363April – Julian crosses the Euphrates near Hierapolis, using 50 pontoon ships, and moves eastwards to Carrhae. He destroys Perisapora and overruns Persian forts along the desert frontier (Limes Arabicus).source
366April – Battle of Thyatira: Emperor Valens defeats the troops of Procopius, bringing an end to his revolt; Serenianus and Marcellus are killed. Procopius flees the battlefield, but is executed by Valens.source
390April – Massacre of Thessalonica: Resentment among the citizens of Thessalonica (Macedonia) breaks out into violence after the arrest of a popular charioteer. Butheric, military commander of Illyricum, is murdered. Emperor Theodosius I orders vengeance, despite the pleas for mercy by Ambrose, bishop of Milan; more than 7,000 inhabitants are massacred by the Roman army.source

5th century

430April - Aetius defeats the Juthungi during his campaign in the Alps.source

6th century

534April – Belisarius leaves a small force in Africa under the Byzantine general Solomon, to continue the subjugation of the province. He is appointed governor (Exarch) and pacifies the Moorish tribes with success. Malta becomes a Byzantine province (until 870).source
536March – April – Belisarius sails to Carthage with 1,000 men, to suppress a mutiny against Solomon. Meanwhile, Carthage is besieged by 9,000 rebels, including many Vandals, under Stotzas.source
537April – The Goths capture the Portus Claudii at Ostia; the harbor is left unguarded by the Romans. Belisarius is forced to unload his supplies at Antium; he sends urgent messages for reinforcements to Constantinople.source
538April – Belisarius secures Liguria, Mediolanum (modern Milan) and Ariminum, but disagreements, especially with Narses, leads to disunity in the Byzantine army.source

7th century

633April – Battle of Chains (Kuwait) and Battle of River (Iraq): A Muslim army (18,000 men) under Khalid ibn al-Walid invades Mesopotamia, and wins decisive victories.source
637April – Siege of Jerusalem: The Rashidun army (20,000 men), led by 'Amr ibn al-'As, conquers Jerusalem after a six-month siege. The Byzantine garrison surrenders to Caliph Umar I, who is invited by Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Umar declines, fearing that accepting the invitation might endanger the church's status, and turn the Christian holy site into a mosque.source
658April: Amr ibn al-As and Abu Musa al-Ashari conclude the arbitration agreement that ended the Battle of Siffin the previous year, declaring Caliph Ali deposed and declaring Muawiyah as the legitimate Caliph. This badly damages Ali's standing among the Caliphate, and paves the way for the end of the First Fitna.source
674April – A Muslim expeditionary force disembarks on the Thracian shore (near Hebdomon), and lays siege to the massive Theodosian Walls, on the landward side to the west.source

8th century

724April – Athanasius III becomes the new Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, six months after the death of Elias I.source
791April – Tang forces retake the protectorate of Annan from rebelling Annamese chieftains Đỗ Anh Hàn, Phùng Hưng and Phùng An.source

9th century

892April – Al-Mu'tadid, the de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate, removes his cousin Al-Mufawwad from succession. He becomes caliph himself, after the death of Al-Mu'tamid, returning the capital from Samarra to Baghdad.source

10th century

959April - May – The Byzantines refuse to pay the yearly tribute. A Hungarian army, led by Apor, invades Macedonia and Thrace. He plunders its territories until reaching Constantinople. On his way back, Apor is defeated during a night attack by Byzantine forces.source

11th century

1007April – Imperial Prince Tomohira receives the title nihon (second rank prince).source
1012April – King Æthelred the Unready resumes the payment of Danegeld (48,000 pounds of silver) in an attempt to buy off Viking raiders.source
1026April – Conrad II punishes the citizens of Pavia with starvation, with the help of Milanese troops, for burning down the Royal Palace. He appoints Aribert as his viceroy ("imperial vicar") in Italy and charges him to ensure that the order is complied with.source
1053April – Harold Godwinson succeeds his father Godwin as earl of Wessex. He invites the exiled Edward the Exile, son of Edmund II, to return in the hope that he can claim the English throne from King Edward the Confessor.source
1070April – Council of Winchester.source
1075April – The Dictatus papae (a compilation of 27 statements of powers) are included in the registry of Gregory VII, in which he asserts papal authority over earthly as well as spiritual rulers.source

12th century

1139April – Second Council of the Lateran: The Anacletus schism is settled, and priestly celibacy is made mandatory within the Catholic Church.source
1149April – King Louis VII and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine sail homeward in separate Sicilian ships. While the fleet rounds the Peloponnese (southern Greece) it is attacked by ships of the Byzantine navy. Louis gives orders to raise the French flag and is allowed to sail on. But the ships containing many of his followers and his possessions are captured and taken as a war-prize to Constantinople.source
1163March / April (traditional date) – The first stone of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is set by Pope Alexander III during the reign of Louis VII of France.source
1182April – Massacre of the Latins: The Eastern Orthodox inhabitants of Constantinople massacre the Venetian, Genoan, and other Latin officials and traders who rule as agents of Empress Maria of Antioch. She is the mother and regent of 12-year-old Emperor Alexios II.source
1187April – King Guy of Lusignan summons his vassals and marches north to Nazareth, to reduce Galilee to submission.source
1190April – After a long siege Muslim forces under Saladin capture Beaufort Castle from Reginald of Sidon who has offered to hand over the castle to Saladin on the condition that he has three months to remove his family to a place of safety. At the end of the three months, Saladin expects the castle to be handed over but finds that Reginald has used the time to strengthen the castle against a siege. He is imprisoned at Damascus – the castle's garrison finally surrenders in return for Reginald's release.source

13th century

1202April–May – The bulk of the Crusader army gathers at Venice, although with far smaller numbers than expected: about 12,000 men (4–5,000 knights and 8,000 soldiers) instead of 33,500 men. Several contingents decide to make their own way to the Holy Land by different routes. A Crusader fleet, sailing from Flanders, carrying supplies for the Counts Baldwin IX and his brother Henry of Flanders, winters in Marseille, but is slowed by adverse weather. Later it sails on to the Middle East, along with other contingents from southern France.source
1223Late April – The Russian and Polovtsian armies march down the west bank of the Dnieper River. Within a few days of the march beginning, a second group of Mongol ambassadors appear in the Russian camp and again offer peace. When their offers are rebuffed, the ambassadors are allowed to leave unharmed. Meanwhile, Russian forces from Galicia arrive by boat or cart-loads of equipment and food, along the Black Sea coast and up the Dnieper River, screened by Mongol forces on the east bank.source
1223April – The Russian princes lead their separate armies from different parts of Russia, to assemble 60 kilometres downriver from Kiev. There are three main groups of princes taking part in the campaign; the Kievan army is represented by Grand Prince Mstislav Romanovich (the Old). The second group are the Chernigov and Smolensk armies under Prince Mstislav II. The third group is the Galician-Volhynian army under Mstislav Mstislavich with his son-in-law Daniel of Galicia, leaving from northern Ukraine.source
1242April – A Russian force led by Alexander Nevsky crosses the frontier between Novgorod and Livonian Crusader territory, to raid into Catholic Estonia. After that, Alexander breaks his army off into contingents to ravage the countryside. He is forced to turn back, when a local Crusader force under Bishop Hermann von Buxhövden defeats Alexander's advance guard at Mooste bridge south of Tartu.source
1245April – Egyptian forces under As-Salih Ayyub besiege the city of Damascus. After six months, As-Salih Ismail, ruler of Damascus, surrenders to Ayyub in return for a vassal-principality, consisting of Baalbek and the Hauran. Ayyub is awarded the title of sultan by Caliph Al-Musta'sim in Baghdad.source
1251April – The first Shepherds' Crusade, a domestic French uprising in response to events in Egypt during the Seventh Crusade, occurs.source

14th century

1307April – Battle of Glen Trool: Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeat the English army at Glen Trool, Galloway. During the battle, Robert gives the order to push down several boulders to ambush the English, who are approaching through a narrow glen (called the "Steps of Trool"). Scottish forces charge down an extremely steep 700-meter sloop, the narrowness of the defile prevents support from either the front or the rear. Without any room to maneuver, many of the English are killed and routed.source
1309April – After his ascent to the throne, the Emir Nasr ad-Din Muhammad of Granada sends envoys to the Marinid court at Fez, in Morocco.source
1329April – Antipope Nicholas V is excommunicated by Pope John XXII.source
1340April–July – Trapezuntine Civil War: An abortive uprising occurs against Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond, the first of a number of coups, revolts, and succession disputes.source
1345April – Edward III of England offers "defiance" of Philip VI of France.source
1347April – The Knights Hospitaller defeat a Turkish fleet, and sink 100 ships off Imbros.source
1355April – Philip II, Prince of Taranto, marries Maria of Calabria, daughter of Charles, Duke of Calabria, and Marie of Valois.source
1362April – Sultan Muhammad V of Granada, returns to the throne after the murder of the usurper Muhammed VI.source
1381April – (Muharram 783 AH) In what is now Afghanistan, the Siege of Herat by the Mongol conqueror Timur ends with the Persian city surrendering to the Mongols, in return for the populace being spared.source
1400April – King Swa Saw Ke, of Ava, the largest kingdom in Burma, dies after a reign of 33 years and is succeeded by his son, King Tarabya, who reigns less than seven months before being assassinated.source

15th century

1403April – Balša III succeeds his father Đurađ II as ruler of the Principality of Zeta (now Montenegro).source
1403April – Đurađ II Stracimirović, Serbian nobleman from the House of Balšić in Zetasource
1404April or May – Battle of Blackpool Sands: Local English forces defeat an attempted raid from Saint-Malo on the port of Dartmouth, Devon; the French commander, William du Chastel, is killed.source
1408April – Miran Shah, son of Timur the Lame (b. 1366)source
1440April – Ottoman Sultan Murad II begins the siege of Belgrade, at this time part of the Kingdom of Hungary following the conquest of Serbia. The fortress is heavily damaged, but the defenders' use of artillery prevents the Turks from capturing the city, and the siege ends after six months.source
1490April – Vittoria Colonna, Italian poet (d. 1547)source
1490March or April – 1490 Qingyang event, a presumed meteor shower or air burst over Qingyang in the Gansu province in Ming dynasty China. Some later accounts lists casualties of more than 10,000 people. The only date given for the Qingyang event is that it was in "the third lunar month" on the Chinese lunar calendar coinciding with a period beginning on March 12 and ending on April 19, 1490.source

16th century

1521April or May – Battle of Tunmen in Tuen Mun (present-day Hong Kong): The Ming Dynasty navy defeats the Portuguese navy (arguably the first Sino-European battle in world history).source
1522April – Queen Eleni of Ethiopiasource
1531April – Battle of Puná: Francisco Pizarro defeats the native inhabitants of the island of Puná, off of the coast of what is now the South American nation of Ecuador.source
1532April – Battle of Quipaipan in Peru: Atahualpa wins the civil war in the Inca Empire, defeating his brother Huáscar.source
1536April – An Acte for Laws & Justice to be ministred in Wales in like fourme as it is in this Realme further incorporates the legal system of Wales into that of England.source
1562April or May – Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Dutch composer (d. 1621)source
1564April – Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (d. 1632)source
1574April – The fort of Narnala in the Deccan falls to the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, and with it the Berar sultanate is annexed by Ahmadnagar.source
1583April – Lucas David, Prussian historian (b. 1503)source

17th century

1602April – William Lawes, English composer and musician (d. 1645)source
1619April/May – William Larkin, English court portrait painter (b. early 1580s)source
1639April – Following the Battle of Chemnitz Swedish forces under command of Johan Banér invades Bohemia with great successsource
1639April – Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin, apostolic nuncio to Paris and adviser to Cardinal Richelieu, is naturalized French by letters patent; in December, he leaves the service of Rome to enter that of King Louis XIII of France.source
1642April – Hannibal Sehested is appointed Governor-General of Norway.source
1670April – Ahom King Swargadeo Chakradhwaj Singha or Supangmung of Assam, Indiasource
1675April – English merchant Anthony de la Roché, blown off course after rounding Cape Horn eastabout, makes the first discovery of land south of the Antarctic Convergence, landing on South Georgia and (probably) Gough Island.source
1685April – Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch painter and engraver (b. 1610)source
1693April – Tituba, a slave who had been convicted at the Salem witch trials of practicing witchcraft after making a confession, is released from jail in Boston after 13 months when an unknown purchaser pays her jail fees.source
1696April – A fire destroys the Gra Bet (Left Quarter) of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia. The fire starts "in the house of a prostitute" and destroys many buildings, including the churches of St. George, Takla Haymanot and Iyasu.source
1700April – Fire destroys many buildings in Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia, including two in the palace complex.source

18th century

1721April – Mary Read, English-born piratesource
1734April – Elsa Beata Bunge, Swedish botanist (d. 1819)source
1736April – The Genbun era begins in Japan. The era of Kyōhō Reforms ends.source
1743April – Etta Palm d'Aelders, Dutch-French feminist (d. 1799)source
1744April – The Female Spectator (a monthly) is founded by Eliza Haywood in England, the first periodical written for women by a woman.source
1750April – Joanna Southcott, British religious fanatic (d. 1814)source
1783April – General George Washington sends a letter to the 13 governors of the Confederation of the United States, regarding the needs of the nation.source

19th century

1803March–April – The franc germinal is introduced in France.source
1840April – The Raleigh and Gaston Railroad is completed from Raleigh to near Weldon, North Carolina.source
1856April – The Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine begins in Cape Colony.source
1865April – Richard Rushall, British sea captain and businessman (d. 1953)source
1871April – The Stockholms Handelsbank is founded.source
1872April – Japan introduces its first modern paper currency (designed by Italian engraver Edoardo Chiossone) in the form of Meiji Tsuho notes. These are initially worth up to 1 yen before higher denominations are printed/released in June and August.source
1879April – Postman Ferdinand Cheval begins to build his Palais Idéal at Hauterives in France.source
1880April – The government of Cape Colony sets a deadline for the Basuto people to surrender their weapons; non-compliance leads to the Basuto Gun War.source
1886April – The Swedish Dress Reform Society is established.source
1892April – The Johnson County War breaks out between small farmers and large ranchers in Wyoming.source
1896April – Svante Arrhenius first publishes the "greenhouse law", becoming the first person to predict that emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels and other combustion processes are large enough to cause global warming through the greenhouse effect.source

20th century

1919March 3–April – Russian Civil War: Beginning of the Chapan War as peasants of the provinces of Samara and Simbirsk rebel against Soviet rule.source
1922July – Hyperinflation in Germany means that 563 marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar – more than double the 263 needed eight months before, dwarfing the mere 12 needed in April 1919, and even the 47 needed in December of that year.source
1941April – The Valley of Geysers is discovered on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, by Tatyana Ustinova.source
1947April – The previous discovery of the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' in the Qumran Caves (above the northwest shore of the Dead Sea) by Bedouin shepherds, becomes known.source
1948April – Children's Bargain Town, a predecessor of toy and child-related retailer Toys "R" Us, is founded in Washington, D.C., United States.source
1957April – IBM sells the first compiler for the Fortran scientific programming language.source
1961March–April – Drilling for Project Mohole is undertaken off the coast of Guadalupe Island, Mexico.source