- 1861 Army of the newly formed Confederate States fire the first shots of the Civil War on the half-finished Fort Sumter, South Carolina.
- 1864 Fort Pillow Massacre, Tennessee: Confederate soldiers under Nathan Bedford murder some 250 Union soldiers, mostly "colored", after they had surrendered.
- 1924 Austrian-American physician Peter Safar born; (re)discovered the "Kiss of Life", mouth-to-mouth resuscitation -- part of CPR.
- 1937 World's first jet engine successfully tested by English inventor Frank Whittle.
- 1961 First man to orbit the Earth (going into what was then called "Outer Space"), Yuri Gagarin.
- 1999 Sitting President Bill Clinton cited for contempt of court for lying under oath in a deposition; a lawyer himself, he was later disbarred.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Today in History: April 12
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