April 7, 1885
Granville T. Woods patents apparatus for transmission of messages by electricity.
April 8, 1974
Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron hits 715 home run, surpassing Babe Ruth as the game’s all-time home-run leader.
April 9, 1898
Paul Robeson, actor, singer, activist, born.
April 10, 1947
Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson becomes first African American to play major league baseball.
April 11, 1966
Emmett Ashford becomes first Black umpire in the major leagues.
April 12, 1983
Harold Washington becomes first African American mayor of Chicago.
April 13, 1950
Historian Carter G. Woodson, author of The Miseducation of the Negro, died.