On May 3, 1911, Wisconsin passed America’s first worker’s compensation program. This law provided financial security for workers injured on the job. By 1948, all the then-48 US states had passed such laws. Alaska and Hawaii had workmen’s compensation laws when they joined the Union.
The first continuously-published newspaper in the American colonies, The Boston News-Letter, published its first issue on April 24, 1704. It was the only continuously-produced paper in the colonies for 15 years and ceased publication in 1776 due to the American Revolution.
Apollo 16 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:54 p.m. on April 16, 1972. It was the 10th crewed Apollo mission and the fifth and second to last to land on the Moon.
Mathematician and electrical engineer Charles Proteus Steinmetz was born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz on April 9, 1865, in Breslau, Province of Silesia, Prussia (present-day Wrocław, Poland). Steinmetz developed the electrical theories that allowed for the expansion of the electric power industry. He was also known as the “Forger of Thunderbolts” and the “Wizard of Schenectady.”
On March 16, 1926, Robert H. Goddard launched his first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts. Though his work went largely unrecognized during his lifetime, today he’s known as the father modern rocketry.
Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, Austrian Empire (present-day Croatia).
Lillian Evelyn Moller Gilbreth was born on May 24, 1878, in Oakland, California. Dubbed “America’s first lady of engineering,” Gilbreth combined psychology, engineering, and scientific management to improve efficiency and productivity for a number of businesses and industries.
Scientist and mathematician Dr. Theodore von Kármán was born on May 11, 1881, in Budapest, Austria-Hungary.
On April 30, 1939, the New York World’s Fair opened at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York.