April 12th was a big day in history

April 12 is one of those days full of history, or important events.

In 1861, the US Civil War began when Confederate troops hit Ft Sumter in South Carolina.  It happened about a week after Lincoln became president.  The war lasted four years!

In 1945, President Roosevelt suffered a stroke and died.  Later in the day, VP Truman became president and inherited a war in Europe and Pacific.   The war in Europe ended in weeks and the US dropped two atomic bombs later in the summer to force Japan to surrender.

On a lighter note, "Rock around the clock" by Bill Haley & The Comets was recorded in 1954.  It became the first hit of the rock era the following year.

To say the least, a very consequential day!

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1945: FDR died and Truman became president

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in his home at Warm Springs, Georgia, on this day in 1945.   

A bit later, VP Truman became the 33rd president of the US.

President Truman inherited Word War II and made the difficult decisions of 1945, from putting Europe back together and dropping the two atomic bombs in Japan.

 

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1961: Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space

On this day in 1961, the USSR put the first man in space.    His name was Yuri Gagarin.

The US eventually caught up and got to the moon first in July 1969.  Nevertheless, Gagarin's flight was as a big of a shock as Sputnik in 1957.

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