April 9: What Happened on This Day in History (Elementary Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1585 - The expedition organised by Sir Walter Raleigh departs England for Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.
2. 1867 - Alaska Purchase: Passing by a single vote, the United States Senate ratifies a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska.
3. 1947 - The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.
4. 1959 - Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven".
5. 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad falls to American forces; Saddam Hussein statue topples as Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down the statue and tearing it to pieces.
6. Famous Birthdays: John Davenport (English minister, co-founded the New Haven Colony), Thomas Johann Seebeck (German physicist), Isambard Kingdom Brunel (English engineer, designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge), Charles Proteus Steinmetz (Polish-American mathematician and engineer ), J. Presper Eckert (American engineer, invented the ENIAC)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: April 8

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: April 10

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.