1912: Just before midnight, the R.M.S. Titanic, a luxury ocean liner that its owners said was 'unsinkable,' struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean on its way to New York City. The ship sank within hours.

1865: Just 5 days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia to end the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth as he watched a play at Ford's Theatre. The president was carried across the street to the Petersen House where he died the next day. He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated.