On this date...

On April 15th 1846 the Donner party departed for California.

On April 15 1861 Abraham Lincoln responded to the Confederate attack on the American flag and military garrison at Fort Sumter by calling for 75,000 militia to suppress an armed insurrection against the United States.  Until the rebels attacked, much of the North was ambivalent and divided about how to respond to Southern secession.  That changed overnight. All across the country telegraph offices and newspapers were mobbed by people waiting for the latest bulletins.  The attack on Sumter instantly galvanized the North and at a stroke the South lost whatever sympathy and support she had hitherto had.  In its place a cold fury took hold of the entire country the likes of which had never been seen, and would not be seen again until December 7th 1941.

Military recruiting offices were mobbed even before Lincoln issued his call to arms.  Politicians of every party damned the South and called for an end to forbearance and the immediate suppression of the rebellion.  State governors of both parties burned up the telegraph lines to Washington begging for a call to arms and instructions on where to send troops.  Some states reported that they could supply all 75,000 men on their own.  New York City, which in the previous winter had contemplated seceding itself, cabled that it could offer 50,000 of the requested troops.

Rage and war fever swept the North.

On April 15th 1865 Abraham Lincoln died from a gunshot wound inflicted the night before.

On April 15th 1912 the brand new British trans-Atlantic passenger ship Titanic sank just under three hours after striking an iceberg with a horrific loss of life.

On April 15th 1927 the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the most destructive river flood in U.S. history, began.

And of course... it's income tax day.