This Month in History: April

olympic rings flag

April 6, 1896 - First Olympics of the modern era

After a break of 1500 years, the first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece. The games were held every four years, except in 1916, 1940, and 1944, due to the world wars. In 1924, the Winter Olympics were introduced but took place in the same year as the Summer Olympics. This made it possible to add many events which weren't feasible in the summer. The last time both sessions of the Olympics were held in the same year was in 1992. After that, the sessions were split up, so the Olympic games were held every two years, alternating between summer and winter. The Winter Olympics were held in 1994 in Norway and the Summer Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta. The Olympics have continued to grow from 291 participants from 14 nations in 1896 to 2,871 participants from 91 nations in 2022. (Olympic flag from Pixabay)

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The Library of Congress building

April 24, 1800 - Library of Congress established

The Library of Congress was established in Washington, D.C. inside the United States Capitol Building, by President John Adams, with a beginning budget of $5000. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson appointed the first Librarian of Congress. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the library was destroyed when Washington, D.C. was set aflame. Jefferson sold his personal collection of 6,000 books to help rebuild the library's offerings. In 1897, the library was moved from the Capitol Building to a new beautiful, large Italian Renaissance building, still in use today. Over the years the library has expanded and the majority of the collections are housed in three buildings named after former presidents, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. Today, Carla Hayden is the 14th Librarian of Congress and was appointed by President Obama. The Library of Congress is America's oldest federal cultural institution and houses the world's largest library collection of 173 million items.

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double helix DNA strands

April 25, 1953 - DNA double helix discovered

In April 1953, Francis Crick and James D. Watson published “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” describing the double helix structure of DNA. A double helix resembles a twisted ladder. Each pole of the ladder is formed from sugar and phosphate groups. Each DNA base, (adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine) is attached to the poles like the rungs of a ladder. The order of the bases makes up a code that carries the instructions for life. This discovery would lead to other scientists cracking the code, which knowledge has been used in numerous ways, like how to diagnose and treat genetic diseases. While the discovery of the double helix was profound, it is just a part of the timeline of DNA discoveries, both before and after Crick and Watson. 

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nuclear power plant smoke stacks

April 26, 1986 - Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster

Chernobyl is a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was the site of the worst nuclear accident in history. A routine test at the power plant went horribly wrong, and two massive explosions blew the roof off one of the plant’s reactors. The explosion released 400 times more radiation than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and spread a radioactive cloud into the atmosphere, eventually covering most of Europe. A 300-square-mile area around the plant was evacuated, displacing more than 50,000 people. Despite this, 31 persons were reported to have died from acute radiation poisoning, while thousands were affected by health issues like cancer. The plant was then encased in a solid concrete tomb to prevent the release of further radiation.

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Factual information from: The Olympics Study Centre, The Library of Congress, Your Genome, and History.

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By BethN on April 1, 2024