Apr. 17. 1954: President Eisenhower issues a memo threatening use of atomic bomb against China. 1961: An army of 1,500 anti-Castro right-wing Cuban exiles, mercenaries equipped and trained at a secret Guatemala base by the CIA, lands at the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to "liberate" Cuba from Communist rule. Within three days, the invasion proves an unqualified disaster; fully 1,200 of the exiles were taken prisoner.

Apr. 19. 1948: Costa Rica abolishes its army--a major factor in its never having fallen prey to corruption, dictatorships, or the bloodshed that has marred much of the region since. 1993: Federal agents attack Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas; incinerating about 80 members. Later revelations suggest government munitions started the deadly fire and that agents prevented compound residents from fleeing the burning building.

Apr. 20. 1966: Six US pacifists, including Barbara Deming and 82-year-old A.J. Muste, deported for anti-war protests, Saigon, South Vietnam.

Apr. 21. 1870: Birth of Vladimir Lenin, patron saint of Fremont.

Apr. 22. 1944: Sit-in by 200 blacks results in desegregation of restaurants in Washington, DC. 1985: Hundreds arrested at White House demonstration against US policy in Central America.

Apr. 23. 1993: Death of Cesar Chavez, nonviolent civil rights activist and founder of the United Farm Workers. 1996: Nineteen demonstrators arrested in Kiev, Ukraine, during illegal anti-nuclear protest marking 10th anniversary of Chernobyl.

Apr. 24. 1965: Twenty thousand US Marines invade Dominican Republic. 1971: Largest ever (over 1,000,000) demonstration opposing US war in Southeast Asia. Washington, DC. 150,000 march at a simultaneous rally in San Francisco. 1996: Pres. Clinton signs the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, vastly expanding police powers and restricting defendants' rights to appeals and habeas corpus.

Apr. 25. 1974: "Carnation Revolution" ends 48-year military dictatorship, Portugal. 2004: March for Women's Lives. Up to 1,150,000 demonstrate for abortion rights and women's rights. Washington DC.

Apr. 26. 1858: The California legislature passes a bill prohibiting Chinese or "other Mongolians" from landing at any port in the state unless the boat on which they were passengers was driven ashore by storm or unavoidable accident.

Apr. 27. 1521: Philippines natives with the right idea ambush and kill European explorer Ferdinand Magellan. 1813: The US burns Toronto to the ground in an unsuccessful attempt to gain control of Lake Ontario.

Apr. 28. 1914: 181 die in coal mine collapse at Eccles, West Virginia. 1924: 119 die in Benwood, West Virginia coal mine disaster.   Apr. 29. 1854: Ashmun Institute (later Lincoln University), the world's first institution founded "to provide a higher education in the arts and sciences for youth of African descent," opens in Oxford, Pa.

Apr. 30. 1978: "Rock Against Racism" march and concert, headlined by The Clash, Hackney, England. The event, spurred by the explosion of politicized punk bands, was a direct response to 1976 on-stage comments by Eric Clapton--a man who made millions from blues-based rock and a cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff"--that black immigrants in Britain should be "sent home."