The History Channel - March 25, 2010

* On April 7, 1776, Navy Capt. John Barry, commander of the American warship Lexington, makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the warship HMS Edward after a desperate battle off the coast of Virginia.

* On April 9, 1865, at Appomattox, Va., Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, Lee had no other option.

* On April 10, 1906, O. Henry’s second short-story collection, “The Four Million,” is published. O. Henry was the pen name adopted by William Sydney Porter. Porter began writing in the late 1880s but did not seriously apply himself until 1898, when he was jailed for embezzling from a bank in Austin, Texas.

* On April 8, 1935, Congress votes to approve the jobs-creating project Works Progress Administration, a central part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal.” The careers of several important American artists, including Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning, were launched thanks to WPA endowments.

* On April 11, 1961, Bob Dylan plays his first major gig in New York City, opening for bluesman John Lee Hooker at Gerde’s Folk City. With his guitar and harmonica, Dylan was a unique stage presence with a vast library of American folk songs in his repertoire.

* On April 6, 1970, Sam Sheppard, a doctor convicted after a sensational trial of murdering his pregnant wife in 1954, dies of liver failure. After a decade in an Ohio prison, Sheppard was released and later acquitted following a re-trial. He briefly returned to medicine and later embarked on a short stint as a pro wrestler called “The Killer.” His story is rumored to have loosely inspired “The Fugitive” television series and movie.

* On April 5, 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores the 31,420th point of his career, breaking the NBA’s all-time scoring record, which had been held by Wilt Chamberlain. The 7-foot-2 Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. in 1947 in New York City, and changed his name in 1971 after converting to Islam.

(c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.