This Month in History

In april spring is really getting started (at least in Holland it is) and it’s warming up a bit. But some tragic events mark april in history, but also some good and important things happened in this month.

A good thing happened on April 3 1948, when president Harry S. Truman signs the Marshall plan. This will prevent the spread of communism and restore the economic life in Europe devastated by World War II. And on April 4 1949 the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed as twelve nations signed the treaty. On April 4 1968 though Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. As head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression and had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He is best remembered for his I Have a Dream speech delivered at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. That march and King's other efforts helped the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1986, Congress established the third Monday in January as a national holiday in his honor. Now two lighter things to end our history this month. Sports fans might like to know that on April 30 1967 Boxer Muhammad Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight boxing championship after refusing to be inducted into the American military. He had claimed religious exemption. And the ones who are interested in literature probably like that Williams Shakespeare, the most celebrated playwright in the English language was born and died on April 23. Born in 1564, died in 1616.

In Star Trek history the first big event we find in 2020, unfortunately no one knows the exact date. But that year in April The first manned mission to Saturn, the U.N.S.S. "Lewis And Clark" (IBS-3 "Aventeur" class explorer) under the command of Colonel Shaun Jeoffrey Christopher reports evidence of alien visitation. Mine shafts and tread marks are found on the Saturnian moons. This remarkable find begins to forever change Man's perspective of himself in the universe. On 25 April 2371 following the disappearance of a Maquis ship one week ago, the "Intrepid" class scout "Voyager" commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway ventures into the Badlands. As with the former vessel, the "Voyager" is transported 70,000 light years across the galaxy into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker of the Ocampa. The Maquis join the crew of the "Voyager," along with Neelix and Kes, following the destruction of the Array and a battle with the Kazon-Ogla. Better news is on 18 April 2368 when 19% of the galaxy has been charted, an area equivalent to 640 sectors. Explored space is divided into 4 quadrants, each under a separate command structure. Each quadrant contains an equal mix of explored and unexplored territory and each borders a culture unfriendly to the Federation.

In Star Wars as everyone knows we have no months as we know them. But wars we have a lot. Looking at the death of Martin Luther King we can find to quite similar deaths in Star Wars. The one of Qui-Gon Jinn and the one of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Of course they weren’t killed by a Sniper, but they were killed by enemies as the sniper who killed Martin Luther King obviously was. Martin Luther King stood for peace and was considered a hero, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were Jedi, defenders of the peace.

The NATO I think you can compare with the (Galactic) Republic. The Republic is a democratic union that governed a galaxy for thousands of years. Ruling the Republic was the Galactic Senate, a governing body comprising elected or appointed representatives from across the galaxy. From within that Senate, a Supreme Chancellor was elected. Justice and peace in the Republic was protected by the Jedi Knights, a noble order of Force-sensitives.

Of course a lot more happened in April, but this are the events that are similar in each "universe." Sources: Medieval History
Today in History
Star Trek Chronology
Starwars Databank

Links

• This Month In History