April is an interesting month. Just through April, it's possible to gain a fascinating glimpse of the history of the world. It's a month full of wars, disasters, achievements, and leaders great and not so great: -The American Civil War started and ended in April. -The founder of the three German empires or reichs, were all born in April. -The April Fifth Movement started in Tiananmen Square in 1976. So did the protests that would end as the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. -Buddha and Mohammed were both born in April. Christ was reborn in April. -The Louisiana Purchase and the Alaska Purchase were both made in April. -Quite a few ships and aircraft went down in April, including the Affray, Akron, Atlantic, Atlas Star, Dara, Dumlupinar, Goya, Kashmir Princess, Powhattan, Scandinavian Star, Sultana, Sewol, Thresher, Titanic, and Voorbode. -For space nuts, the first man in space, the first Shuttle mission, the Apollo 13 and 16 missions, and the launches of the first navigation satellite, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Dong Fang Hong 1, the Hubble Space Telescope and Salyut 1, were all in April. -For car nuts: Benz, Chrysler, Ford, Hertz, Jellinek-Mercedes, Kimber (MG), Lamborghini, Michelin, and Royce were all born or died in April. And the Ford Mustang was born in April; the Oldsmobile died. -For aviation fans: Bell, Dassault, Fokker, Handley Page, Hartmann (greatest air ace), McDonnell and Douglas, the Red Baron, Udet, Roe (founder AVRO) as well as AVRO chief designer, Chadwick, were all born or died in April. Also the maiden flights for the Airbus A380, Boeing 737, and Zero fighter, and last flight for the Spitfire fighter and decommissioning of the F-117A Nighthawk. British Aerospace was also founded. -For tech geeks, Apple, Microsoft and Netscape were all founded in April. So is the birthday of the Internet, the invention of the integrated circuit, and the first publication of Moore's Law. -Joining Brahms, Picasso and Shakespeare are more than three dozen great artists, musicians and writers, all born or died in April. -Boxing legends and friends Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson died on the same day in April, eight years apart. Aviation pioneers Anthony Fokker and Donald Douglas were born on the same day in April, two years' apart. -Boston Marathon bombing, Columbine shooting, Oklahoma City bombing, CSA siege, Virginia Tech shooting and the Waco siege, all happened in April, among several other incidents. And ... the universe began in April. Really. And we will first meet aliens in April. Really. For a quirky, unique take on the history of the world, read 1,001 Things You Didn't Know Happened in April!
About the Author: Ronald Hee obtained a B.A. Honours in History from the National University of Singapore in 1989. Leveraging on his complete lack of media experience, his first job was with the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, as a feature writer. In more recent years, Ronald has gone back as a writer / director for documentaries, and as an actor for some of the docudramas and for various corporate shoots. He plans on continuing to do both until they cease to be fun. He's done some work for other broadcasters as well and considers Singapore 1942 (check out IMDB) to be his best work. So far. His next port of call was in exhibit development with the Singapore Discovery Centre, where he took charge of among other things, the centre's interactive multimedia kiosks - in the days when the word 'multimedia' was still new. After leaving, he was contracted to research and script new exhibits and attractions. It was during his period that he started freelance writing for various publications. He plans on continuing to be an occasional journalist so long as it is fun. In 1996, he decided to enter the glamorous world of public relations and joined Ogilvy Public Relations. Leveraging on his complete lack of a tech background, he nonetheless found himself in charge of various technology accounts. In 2000 it seemed as good a time as any to try to build a company. He was drawn into a dotcom, The Internet CallCentre, which with uncanny timing, was officially launched a week before NASDAQ tanked and the dotcom bubble burst. It was fun yet stressful while it lasted. In searching for a new port of call, fate linked him to a biotech company, CordLife. As before, leveraging on his complete lack of a biology background, he became the company PR guy, aiding in their expansion and Australian listing. Briefly joining a renewable energy company after, again as the PR guy, when his father passed away, it seemed a good time to take stock, and it was time to retire. One, however, retires from formal work, and never from life itself. Lots to do and see still, but that's another story .... Ronald is unmarried, his former wife deciding to give him his freedom early for good behavior during that little dotcom bust. He has no children that he knows of; just a dog that acts like one. He is perversely proud of having probably the strangest eyesight in the country. 1,001 Things You Didn't Know Happened in April is his first book.