April 12: John Brooks Henderson

April 12: On this date in 1913, John Brooks Henderson, who insisted on co-sponsoring the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery as a U.S. Senator from Missouri, and was never elected to office again, died.

April 8: Fred Ebb

April 7: Fred Ebb, lyricist of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb, who wrote “New York, New York,” Caberet, and Chicago, was born on this date in 1928.

April 7: Joey Gallo

April 7: On this day in 1972, mobster Joey Gallo celebrated his 43rd birthday at Umberto’s Restaurant in Little Italy; before the dinner was over, he was shot and killed.

April 5: Eastman Johnson

April 5: Famed painter Eastman Johnson, whose gravestone describes him simply as “ARTIST” and states “HIS WORKS ARE HIS MONUMENT,” died on this date in 1906.

April 4: Samuel Chester Reid

April 4: The Flag Act of 1818, which incorporated the proposal of War of 1812 hero Samuel Chester Reid, that another star be added to the American flag as a new state entered the Union, but that the original 13 stripes remain unchanged, was signed into law by President James Monroe on this date.