Wednesday, April 15, 2026

United Nations International Mother Earth Day on April 22, 2026 "Our Power, Our Planet."

  United Nations International Mother Earth Day on April 22, 2026

"Our Power, Our Planet."
We are destroying the Earth - our only spaceship in the universe. 
Let's Save Our Deteriorating Planet Earth - 20 Vital Issues

"The Good Life is synonymous to Affluence. People want goods and services beyond what they actually need. It is want that leads to luxury - to waste. Ultimately, the destruction and sinking of our only ship in space." - avr
Dr Abe V Rotor
Forest Fire painting by AVR

1.Our changing environment breeds unimaginable ailments and diseases. Nature-Man Balance, the key to good health is being threatened.

2. The Good Life is shifting with the transformation of agricultural to industrial
economy.

3. The Good Life is synonymous to Affluence. People want goods and services beyond what they actually need. It is want that leads to luxury - to waste.

4. The world’s population is 7.8 billion. Another billion will be added in less
than 10 years. Runaway population in the mother of human miseries.

5. The proliferation of cities, growth of cities to metropolises and megapolises, each with 10 to 20 million people ensconced in cramped condition. Cities breed marginal
communities.

Trees scorched by man-induced global warming phenomenon, glass painting by the author
---------------------------------------------------------
“People, people everywhere, but not a kindred to keep," in condominiums, malls, schools, churches, parks, sharing common lifestyles and socio-economic conditions. They are predisposed to common health problems and vulnerabilities from brownouts to food and fuel shortage, force majeure notwithstanding. Poor health prevails in crowded living conditions.
--------------------------------------------------------
6. Loss of Natural Environment – loss of productivity, loss of farmlands, and wildlife Destruction of ecosystems - lakes, rivers, forests, coral reefs, grasslands, etc. The destruction of ecosystems is irreversible.

7. Species are threatened; many are now extinct, narrowing down the range of biodiversity. Human health depends largely on a complex interrelationship of the living world. No place on earth is safe from human abuse. 

Coral Reef – bastion of terrestrial and marine life, is now in distress. Atolls, a world within a world of marine and terrestrial organisms are threatened by global warming, pollution and exploitation. We have studied not even 10 % of the world’s species.

Mysterious eye in the coral reef in acrylic by the author.

8. Wildlife shares with our homes, backyards and farms, transmitting deadly diseases like SARS, HIV-AIDS, Mad-Cow, FMD, Ebola, and Bird Flu which can now infect humans.

9. “Good Life” cradles and nurses obesity and other overweight conditions. Millions of people around the world are obese, 1 out of 5 in the US.

10. Global warming stirs climatic disturbance, changes the face of the earth.

11. Globalization packages the major aspects of human activity – trade, commerce, industry, agriculture, the arts, education, science and technology, politics, religion and the like.

Fancy phosphorescent aquarium fish, a result of implanting gene material of jellyfish.  Painting by the author

12. Mélange of races - pooling of genes through inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages produces various mixed lines or “mestizos” - Eurasian, Afro-Asian, Afro-American, Amerasian, and the like. Native genes provide resistance to diseases, adverse conditions of the environment. But will this advantage hold on even as the native gene pools are thinned out?

13. Modern medicine is responsible in reducing mortality and increasing longevity. It has also preserved genetically linked abnormalities; it cradles senility related ailments. It made possible the exchange of organs and tissues through transplantation, and soon tissue cloning. It has changed Evolution that is supposed to cull out the unfit and misfits. Man has Darwinism in his hands.

14. First breakthrough in science - splitting of the atom - gave man the atomic bomb before the nuclear reactor was developed.

15. The second scientific breakthrough – Microchip to Internet “shrunk the world into a village.”

16. The third breakthrough in science, Genetic Engineering, changed our concept of life - and life forms. It has enabled man to tinker with life itself. It gave rise to revolutionary industries Examples: In vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, Human Genome Project (HGP or gene mapping), multiple childbirth, post-menopausal childbirth, DNA mapping, etc. It ushered the birth of the prototype human robot – pampered, he lives a very dependent life.

17. Genetic Engineering gave rise to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Gene Therapy. Biological Warfare today is more terrifying. Gene Therapy prevents gene-link diseases even before they are expressed; it has revolutionized medicine.
-----------------------------------------------------------
More and more countries are banning GMO crops and animals through legislative measures and conservation programs, including protection against “biopiracy” All over the world the battlecry is NO TO GMO! In the Philippines Bohol is the first province to launch a GMO-Free Ordinance
-----------------------------------------------------------
18. Today’s Green Revolution opened up non-conventional frontiers of production – mariculture, desalination, desert farming, swamp reclamation, aerophonics (rooftop farming), hydroponics, urban farming, organic farming, Green Revolution adapts genetic engineering to produce GMOs and Frankenfoods.

  
DNA replication integrity disturbed by genetic engineering; genetically modified micro organisms magnified; long term effects of global warming on vegetation, resulting in mutation and evolution of new life forms.  Paintings by the author, on display at his residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

We may not be aware, but many of us are eating genetically modified food (GMF or Frankenfood) everyday – meat, milk, chicken, corn, potato and soya products, and the like mainly from the US.

Many food additives and adjuncts are harmful, from salitre in longganiza to pesticide residue in fruits and vegetables, aspartame in fruit juice to MSG in noodles, formalin in fish to dioxin in plastics, bromate in bread to sulfite in sugar, antibiotic residue in meat to radiation in milk.

Post Harvest Technology. is critical to Food Production. PHT bridges production and consumption, farm and market, thus the proliferation of processed goods, supermarket, fast food chains, food irradiation, ready-to-eat packs, etc.

• Aeroponics is farming on top of buildings. In Japan it is compulsory to maintain at least 50% of the area of rooftops of buildings as a garden or farm.

• Multi-storey farming designed like skyscrapers has been introduced in big cities in the US, Japan and Europe. It is called vertical farming.

19. Exploration into the depth of the sea and expanse of the Solar System. We probe the ocean. We build cities in space - the Skylab. Soon we will live outside of the confines of our planet earth. Now we aim at conquering another planet, another Solar System to assure continuity of mankind after the demise of the earth.


20. Regional and International Cooperation heightens: EU, ASEAN, APEC, CGIAR, CRISAT, WTO, WHO, UNEP, WFO, FAO, Fighting diseases globally – HIV-AIDS, SARS, Dengue, Hepatitis, Bird Flu, and now swine Flu, and the current global plague - COVID-19 Pandemic. ~
---------

The environment plays an important role in the existence of life on the planet earth. The word Environment is derived from the French word “Environ” which meaning “surrounding.” An ecosystem refers to all the living and the non-living things present in the environment and it is a foundation of the Biosphere, which determines the health of the entire planet earth. (Byju's Classes, Internet) 


---------------------
When Mother Earth sends us a message

Mother Earth is clearly urging a call to action. Nature is suffering. Oceans filling with plastic and turning more acidic. Extreme heat, wildfires and floods, have affected millions of people.

Climate change, man-made changes to nature as well as crimes that disrupt biodiversity, such as deforestation, land-use change, intensified agriculture and livestock production or the growing illegal wildlife trade, can accelerate the speed of destruction of the planet.

That is why we need to recover our ecosystems. Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet - and its people. Restoring our damaged ecosystems will help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent mass extinction. But we will only succeed if everyone plays a part.

For this International Mother Earth Day, let's remind ourselves - more than ever - that we need a shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. Let’s promote harmony with nature and the Earth. Join the global movement to restore our world! United Nations International Mother Earth Day April 22/Internet

" All in the Name of Civilization."

" All in the Name of Civilization."
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]

Home, Sweet Home with Mother Earth

“The ultimate test of any civilization
Is not in its inventions and deeds;
But the endurance of Mother Nature
In keeping up with man’s endless needs.”
- AVR, Light in the Woods.

But what is civilization? Can’t civilization hear and heed the groaning of Creation?

1. It is civilization that wiped out the American Indians from the Great Plains, and plundered the Aztecs and Mayas Empires, among other cultures.


2. It is civilization that spurred the powerful West to "discover" and colonize the East for centuries.

3. It was civilization that resulted in the death of millions and the genocide of 6 million Jews in WWII.

4. It was civilization that built the atomic bomb – and dropped it in two cities of an "enemy."


5. It is civilization that made a clone animal, Dolly the Sheep (left photo), and inevitably man in the near future.

6. It is civilization that threatens the whale and the Philippine Eagle, and resulted to the extinctions of many species.

7. It is civilization that is causing global warming and its untold consequences destroying lives and properties, and the environment itself.

8. It is civilization that is causing today’s fuel crisis and food shortage, drastic inflation and loss of currency value, the recession of America and consequently the world, ad infinitum.

9. It is civilization that gave way to excesses of living, from obesity to promiscuity, license to abuse of power and wealth.

10. It is civilization that allowed growing inequities in resources distribution,
in bridging the rich and the poor.

But it is also civilization that brought us and our society to the highest level of consciousness no known species can parallel. It is civilization that makes the Earth a beautiful place to live in.

1. It is civilization that gave us consciousness as rational beings, guiding us to live peacefully as a group and with the things around us.

2. It is civilization that created our great institutions that bind us into a society.

3. It is civilization that made the greatest masterpieces in fields of philosophy, science and the arts.

4. It is civilization that gave us the greatest religions of the world that brought us closer to our Creator.

5. It is civilization that guarantees our basic rights as individuals and a people, and as a nation.

6. It is civilization that instills in us pride and dignity in our continuing accomplishments and discoveries.

7. It is civilization that prods us to explore the ocean and space, and the mysteries of life.

8. It is civilization that treasures knowledge and history in libraries, archives and multimedia, all ever expanding and mysteriously revealing.

9. It is civilization that inspires us all towards achieving our dreams and searching for a meaning in life.

10. It is civilization that gives holism to our existence as Homo sapiens (thing man), Homo faber (man the maker), Homo ludens (playing man), and Homo spiritus (praying man).

It is civilization that makes nations great - big and small - equally proud of their culture, and contribution to the world.

It is civilization that brings us all towards universal brotherhood and globalization, shrinking the world into a friendly village.

It is civilization that makes heroes and martyrs that always prevail at the end in keeping peace and order here in our only home, The Planet Earth.~

Civilization hangs on a precarious balance. We still ask today why we build beautiful things and destroy them. We are puzzled by the answer of the madman who destroyed the Pieta with a sledge hammer –“because I cannot own beauty.” So, if one man can’t, why should he deprive humanity?

Human Life and Environment, presented at the Capiz Archdiocesan Gathering of Priests, August 4, 2011


Sunday, April 12, 2026

Reviving the PIGGY BANK to Teach Our Kids the Value of Savings and Austere Living

Art Evolution
Reviving the PIGGY BANK to Teach Our Kids
the Value of Savings and Austere Living*

"Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving." — Warren Buffett (American investor and philanthropist

Artworks and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

  
Coconut shell bank layered with green mussel shells (tahong), 
and glass marbles from wine bottles enlivens the sala table 
while it serves as a savings bank.  House guests may drop a coin 
akin to a wishing well.  AVR 2026

  Art as a creative personal expression,
of beauty, function and goal;
traditional, modern, and new vision,
    must be harnessed to the full. 

Art evolution must revive tradition,
of simple and frugal living;
for the sake of the new generation
 with the basic art of saving. 

If we recall Aesop's popular fable,
The Ant and the Grasshopper*
Like in old Joseph's dream parable,
who at the end emerged victor?

 
Old stainless canister covered with clam shells and pearl-like 
glass marbles serves as table decor and savings bank. 
 
Eighten 12, author's grand-nephew, drops a buena mano coin 
into his new piggy bank given by his Lolo. 

"A penny saved is a penny earned." — Benjamin Franklin

 
Hard rind of calabash or miracle fruit coated with gold paint, 
and topped with an emerald stone exudes a special appearance.  

"The habit of saving is itself an education..." — T.T. Munger

   
Job 8, drops a coin into his savings bank, given by the author,
 his grand-uncle. Top view of his bank on a painted background.  

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants." — Epictetus

  
Closeup views of a savings bank made of a liter size can, 
covered with painted paper strips and stones as base.
 
Closeup of local coins ready for deposit.

"Never spend your money before you have it." — Thomas Jefferson

 
Chestnut shell (left), seashell, punched paper pieces, empty can, 
are made into an artwork instead of having them thrown as waste. 

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." — Benjamin Franklin
--------------------

*The Ant and the Grasshopper (Aesop’s Fable)
Acknowledgement Internet fable and image  

One warm, sunny day, a grasshopper was bounding through the fields. He was happy, and sang a song as he jumped. As he got tired, he decided to lay down on a warm rock in the sunshine and watch the clouds.

Just then, an ant passed by, working very hard to carry an ear of corn to his nest. The grasshopper was so enjoying his day that he called out to the ant, “Hey! Why are you working so hard? It’s a beautiful day! Come enjoy the sunshine with me!”

The ant called back, “We need to store food for the winter. In not so many days, it will be cold, and we will be hungry.”

The grasshopper thought that was silly. “Why, there’s plenty of food!” he cried. He went back to lazing in the sunshine. The ant shook his head, and went back to work.

The next day, it was again sunny and the grasshopper decided to visit the riverside. He bounded from leaf to leaf over the crisp cool water, not a care in the world. Once again, he saw the ant pass by. This time, the ant was carrying a large leaf. The grasshopper called out again, “Hello friend! Why are you working so hard again today? Come sit in the shade and enjoy the sound of the river!”

Once again, the ant refused. “These pretty days are not so many, Grasshopper. Soon, the cold will come. We must be ready.” The ant returned to his work.

On the third day, when the grasshopper awoke, the sun was not shining. It was not warm. Winter had come overnight, and the ground was frozen and covered with snow. The grasshopper shivered. And as he looked for food to eat, he found nothing.

He walked for hours through the snow, searching for food and shelter. As he walked, he passed the ant’s nest. Inside, he saw ants warm and happy, and sharing a delicious looking meal. It was then that he understood that the ant was right all along – not all days are sunny.

The ant turned then and saw the grasshopper freezing and hungry. He felt pity for the poor grasshopper. “Come, friend,” he called. “There is room here, and there is food. I’ve saved enough for many seasons. Come in and eat.”

And so the grasshopper was welcomed into the ant’s home, and the ant’s preparations kept the ant, his family, and the grasshopper warm and fed the whole winter long.
-----------------
Savings provide financial security, independence, and the ability to handle emergencies without debt. They enable long-term goals like retirement, home ownership, and education, while offering peace of mind and reducing financial stress. Regularly saving helps build wealth through compound interest, often serving as a necessary buffer against inflation. AI Overview/ICICI Prudential Life Insurance

Saturday, April 11, 2026

National Pet Day April 11, 2026: Ten-ten-ten - the Dog that Found a Home

National Pet Day Today, April 11, 2026
Ten-ten-ten - the Dog that Found a Home
(October 10,2010 to October 10, 2020)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Gelyn and Ten-ten-ten October 10, 2015
 
                                Jemille and Ten-ten-ten in his later years, Lagro, QC

It was a quiet afternoon and guess who was knocking at the gate?
A starving dog, a mongrel, and what is there in him to gain?
Could you spare me a morsel? His eyes moist and sad, begging,
And food we gave, closed the gate, everything was quiet again.

The sun was setting down. We saw a shadow seeping through the gate,
He is still there, I told the children, and he was knocking again,
Could you spare me a place for the night? His moaning told us so,
Who are you, who is your master? Silence. I felt a little pain.

We took him in. It was a special date on the calendar that comes
But once, and never again, not in a lifetime or generation.
Tenth day, of the tenth month, of the first decade of the millennium
And we named this lost dog, Ten-ten-ten. What a celebration!

Home he found and a happy company with us and the neighborhood,
Call his name, you wish luck and fortune, how easy to remember!
And children tired from school come knocking to play with their friend,
Can we play with Ten-ten(-ten)? Heaven sent a dog to love and share. ~

Postscript: By chance or coincidence, Ten-ten-ten left us, also on a special date - October 10, 2020, old by any dog's age (7:1 ratio to human age), calm and apparently happy. In those 10 years he was with us, my children treated him as a member of the family. He still is, with his lasting memory. avr

----------
* National Pet Day is celebrated on April 11 each year to show love for pets and raise awareness about animal welfare. Founded by animal welfare advocate Colleen Paige in 2006, the day encourages pet adoption and highlights the need for more homes for homeless animals. It is a time to appreciate the joy pets bring to our lives and to take action to help improve their conditions. Activities to celebrate include adopting a pet, volunteering at shelters, and sharing the joy of pets on social media. The Fact Site/Internet

National Day of Honesty, April 30, 2026. "I am looking for an honest man." - Diogenes

National Day of Honesty, April 30, 2026*
"I am looking for an honest man." 
- Diogenes holding a lamp in midday
(in our midst today).

Researched and Organized by Dr Abe V Rotor

Diogenes used to stroll about in full daylight with a lamp. When asked what he was doing, he would answer, "I am just looking for an honest man." Diogenes looked for a human being but reputedly found nothing but rascals and scoundrels.

Oh, Diogenes, don't despair,
put off your lamp at midday;
save it in the darkest hour,
when people rage than pray,
raise the flag of the trilogy;
Liberte', Egalite', Fraternite'.

and if that dawn be spilled
with crimson, then let it be
in the halls of true justice,
for heads to roll in ignominy;
if so few make any difference
light your lamp again at midday.
- AV Rotor

 
It was in Corinth that a meeting between Alexander the Great and Diogenes is supposed to have taken place. While Diogenes was relaxing in the sunlight in the morning, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favor he might do for him. Diogenes replied, "Yes, stand out of my sunlight". Alexander then declared, "If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes.", to which Diogenes replied "If I were not Diogenes, I should also wish to be Diogenes." In another account of the conversation, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave.

Diogenes preferred to live a simple life and had no permanent home, but in public places.  Here he lives in a discarded jar, holding the proverbial lamp that made him famous. Pictures from Wikipedia.

10 Quotations of Diogenes 

1. "Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music."

2. "I have nothing to ask but that you would remove to the other side, that you may not, by intercepting the sunshine, take from me what you cannot give."

3. "Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one."

4. "I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough."

5. "We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less."

6. "The vine bears three kinds of grapes: the first of pleasure, the second of intoxication, the third of disgust."

7. "As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task."

8. "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world."

9. "The foundation of every state is the education of its youth."

10. "When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man."

Photo: Diogenes looking for a man - attributed to JHW Tischbein.jpg; picture of painting from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; quotes from BrainyQuotes Internet

Diogenes of Sinope (also Diogenes the Cynic) was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Also known as Diogenes the Cynic, he was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea, in 412 or 404 BCE and died at Corinth in 323 BCE

* National Honesty Day (often referred to as the International Day of Honesty or simply Honesty Day) is celebrated annually on April 30th. It is a day dedicated to promoting truthfulness, integrity, and open communication in all aspects of life, including personal relationships, politics, and business. Why April 30th? It was specifically chosen to be the opposite of April Fools' Day, aiming to end the month of pranks and lies with a day dedicated to the truth. Internet

Thursday, April 9, 2026

Bataan Death March April 9, 1942, and other significant events in history for the month of April

Bataan Death March Remembered 

Araw ng Kagitingan (The Day of Valor in the Philippines) is known as the Day of Valor, marks the greatness of Filipino fighters during World War II.

Compiled by Dr Abe V Rotor 
Reference: The History Place - This Month in History

After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March. 

  

April 4, 1949 - Twelve nations signed the treaty creating NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The nations united for common military defense against the threat of expansion by Soviet Russia into Western Europe.

April 4, 1968 - Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. As head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he had championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression and had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He is best remembered for his I Have a Dream speech delivered at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. That march and King's other efforts helped the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1986, Congress established the third Monday in January as a national holiday in his honor.

April 6, 1994 - The beginning of genocide in Rwanda as a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down. They had been meeting to discuss ways of ending ethnic rivalries between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. After their deaths, Rwanda descended into chaos, resulting in genocidal conflict between the tribes. Over 500,000 persons were killed with two million fleeing the country.
 
April 8th - Among Buddhists, celebrated as the birthday of Buddha (563-483 B.C.). An estimated 350 millions persons currently profess the Buddhist faith. (Photo taken in Thailand by AVR)

April 9, 1865 - After over 500,000 American deaths, the Civil War effectively ended as General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant

April 10, 1942 - During World War II in the Pacific, the Bataan Death March began as American and Filipino prisoners were forced on a six-day march from an airfield on Bataan to a camp near Cabanatuan. Some 76,000 Allied POWs including 12,000 Americans were forced to walk 60 miles under a blazing sun without food or water to the POW camp, resulting in over 5,000 American deaths. 

April 10, 1945 - The Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald was liberated by U.S. troops. Located near Weimar in Germany, Buchenwald was established in July 1937 to hold criminals and was one of the first major concentration camps. It later included Jews and homosexuals and was used as a slave labor center for nearby German companies. Of a total of 238,980 Buchenwald inmates, 56,545 perished.

April 10, 1998 - Politicians in Northern Ireland reached an agreement aimed at ending 30 years of violence which had claimed over 3,400 lives. Under the agreement, Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland would govern together in a new 108-member Belfast assembly, thus ending 26 years of ''direct rule'' from London.

April 11, 1968 - A week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law prohibited discrimination in housing, protected civil rights workers and expanded the rights of Native Americans.

April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy at 2:13 p.m. Fifty-six hours into the flight an oxygen tank exploded in the service module. Astronaut John L. Swigert saw a warning light that accompanied the bang and said, "Houston, we've had a problem here." Swigert, James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise then transferred into the lunar module, using it as a "lifeboat" and began a perilous return trip to Earth, splashing down safely on April 17th.

April 12, 1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt died suddenly at Warm Springs, Georgia, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He had been President since March 4, 1933, elected to four consecutive terms and had guided America out of the Great Depression and through World War II.

April 12, 1961 - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. He traveled aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok I to an altitude of 187 miles (301 kilometers) above the earth and completed a single orbit in a flight lasting 108 minutes. The spectacular Russian success intensified the already ongoing Space Race between the Russians and Americans. Twenty-three days later, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. This was followed in 1962 by President Kennedy’s open call to land an American on the moon before the decade’s end.

April 14, 1865 - President Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded while watching a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington. He was taken to a nearby house and died the following morning at 7:22 a.m.

April 15, 1912 - In the icy waters off Newfoundland, the luxury liner Titanic with 2,224 persons on board sank at 2:27 a.m. after striking an iceberg just before midnight. Over 1,500 persons drowned while 700 were rescued by the liner Carpathia which arrived about two hours after Titanic went down.

April 19, 1993 - At Waco, Texas, the compound of the Branch Davidian religious cult burned to the ground with 82 persons inside, including 17 children. The fire erupted after federal agents battered buildings in the compound with armored vehicles following a 51-day standoff.

April 19, 1995 - At 9:02 a.m., a massive car-bomb explosion destroyed the entire side of a nine story federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 persons, including 19 children inside a day care center. A decorated Gulf War veteran was later convicted for the attack.

April 20, 1999 - The deadliest school shooting in U.S. history occurred in Littleton, Colorado, as two students armed with guns and explosives stormed into Columbine High School at lunch time then killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded more than 20 other persons before killing themselves. (Photo)

Birthday - Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria. As leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, he waged a war of expansion in Europe, precipitating the deaths of an estimated 50 million persons through military conflict and through the Holocaust in which the Nazis attempted to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe.
April 23rd - Established by Israel's Knesset as Holocaust Day in remembrance of the estimated six million Jews killed by Nazis.

April 24, 1915 - In Asia Minor during World War I, the first modern-era genocide began with the deportation of Armenian leaders from Constantinople and subsequent massacre by Young Turks. In May, deportations of all Armenians and mass murder by Turks began, resulting in the complete elimination of the Armenians from the Ottoman Empire and all of the historic Armenian homelands. Estimates vary from 800,000 to over 2,000,000 Armenians murdered.

April 26, 1986 - At the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine, an explosion caused a meltdown of the nuclear fuel and spread a radioactive cloud into the atmosphere, eventually covering most of Europe. A 300-square-mile area around the plant was evacuated. Thirty one persons were reported to have died while an additional thousand cases of cancer from radiation were expected. The plant was then encased in a solid concrete tomb to prevent the release of further radiation.

April 28, 1945 - Twenty-three years of Fascist rule in Italy ended abruptly as Italian partisans shot former Dictator Benito Mussolini. Other leaders of the Fascist Party and friends of Mussolini were also killed along with his mistress, Clara Petacci. Their bodies were then hung upside down and pelted with stones by jeering crowds in Milan.

Acknowledgement:  The History Place - This Month in History (Internet), Internet photos