Today in 1861, the Civil War began when Confederate troops fired on the Union's Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
Today in 1918, Daylight-Saving Time was signed into law.
Today in 1961,the Soviets successfully launched the first human into space and also the first human to orbit the earth in a spacecraft.
Today in 1985, federal inspectors declared that four animals of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus were not unicorns, as the circus said, but goats with horns that had been surgically implanted.
Today in 1988, Harvard University won a patent for a genetically altered mouse. It was the first patent for a life form.
Today in 2014, the new drug ABT-450 was announced as a functional cure for Hepatitis C.
Today in 2015, 79th Masters Golf Tournament: Jordan Spieth won, shooting a 270.
Today in 2015, Hillary Clinton announced plans to run for the Democratic presidential nomination for the second time.
Today in 2016, Breakthrough Starshot: scientists and internet entrepreneurs, including Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerburg, announced an interstellar project to send robot spacecraft to Alpha Centauri.
Today in 2020, a huge storm system produced more than 140 tornadoes in ten states, from Texas to South Carolina killing 32 and causing 250 people to be injured across six states.