April 15 in History

Lincoln issued a proclamation on April 15, 1861, calling for 75,000 state militia volunteers to serve for 90 days to suppress the rebellion following the fall of Fort Sumter. The response exceeded expectations in the North: several states offered more troops than requested. But the proclamation forced the upper South to choose sides. Virginia seceded on April 17, Arkansas on May 6, Tennessee on May 7, and North Carolina on May 20. These four states doubled the Confederacy's population, industrial capacity, and military manpower. Robert E. Lee, offered command of the Union army, resigned his commission and joined Virginia instead. Lincoln's call to arms, intended to quickly restore federal authority, inadvertently expanded the Confederacy into a credible nation.

Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 AM on April 15, 1865, in the Petersen House across the street from Ford's Theatre. He had been unconscious since Booth's bullet entered the back of his skull. Nine physicians attended him through the night. His body was too long for the bed, so they laid him diagonally. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton organized a military guard and began taking sworn testimony from witnesses while Lincoln still breathed. Andrew Johnson took the presidential oath at 10 AM at the Kirkwood House hotel. Lincoln's funeral train carried his body on a 1,654-mile journey through 180 cities over 13 days, retracing the route he had taken to Washington in 1861. Over seven million people viewed the funeral procession.

The Titanic sank at 2:20 AM on April 15, 1912, two hours and forty minutes after striking the iceberg. The ship broke in two as it descended, with the bow section plunging first while the stern rose nearly vertical before following it down to the ocean floor 12,500 feet below. The Carpathia, responding to distress calls, arrived at 4:00 AM and rescued 710 survivors from lifeboats. Many lifeboats had been launched only half full because officers interpreted "women and children first" differently on each side of the ship. The disaster prompted the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea in 1914, which mandated sufficient lifeboats for all passengers, 24-hour radio watch, and the International Ice Patrol to monitor North Atlantic icebergs.

Jackie Robinson played his first Major League game on April 15, 1947, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, going 0-for-3 at the plate but reaching base on an error and scoring a run. Branch Rickey, the Dodgers' general manager, had spent two years searching for the right player: someone talented enough to succeed and disciplined enough to endure abuse without retaliating. Robinson faced racial slurs from opposing players and fans, death threats, a petition from some of his own teammates, and the Philadelphia Phillies' manager shouting racial epithets from the dugout. Robinson batted .297 his rookie year, stole 29 bases, and won the first Rookie of the Year Award. Every MLB team now retires his number 42 on April 15 each year.

French cavalry and artillery destroyed the English longbow formations at Formigny on April 15, 1450, killing or capturing nearly the entire 4,000-man English force. The battle lasted several hours and turned when French reinforcements arrived from Coutances to strike the English flank. Only about 900 English soldiers escaped. The victory was decisive: within three months, France had recaptured all of Normandy, which England had held since Henry V's conquest at Agincourt in 1415. The battle effectively ended the Hundred Years' War in France's favor, leaving England with only the fortress of Calais on the continent. Calais itself would fall to France in 1558, ending 211 years of English territorial presence in mainland France.

Samuel Johnson published A Dictionary of the English Language on April 15, 1755, after nine years of work. He completed it with only six assistants, while the French Academy's comparable dictionary required forty scholars and fifty-five years. Johnson's dictionary contained 42,773 entries with 114,000 illustrative quotations drawn from English literature. His definitions often revealed his personality: he defined "oats" as "a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people," and "lexicographer" as "a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge." The dictionary standardized English spelling and usage for over 150 years until the Oxford English Dictionary began publication in 1884. Johnson received 1,500 guineas for the entire project.