On April 12, 1861, the Civil War began when Confederate shore batteries opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Bay. After firing more than 4,000 rounds at the fort in the next 34 hours, U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrendered. Two days later, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to quell the Southern “insurrection.” Thus began the deadliest war in American history with more than 600,000 dead on both sides.
On April 12, 1989, Abbie Hoffman, the 1960s political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party or “Yippies” and was tried and convicted of conspiracy and inciting a riot for his role in protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, as one of the Chicago 7, died after wallowing 150 phenobarbital tablets along with hard liquor. Hoffman’s death was officially ruled a suicide.
On April 12, 1999, President Bill Clinton was cited for contempt of court for giving “intentionally false statements” in a civil lawsuit brought against him by Paula Jones charging sexual harassment.