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This Month in NC State History (April) Timeline

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  1. 4/21/1886 North Carolina Board of Agriculture accepts bid The North Carolina Board of Agriculture accepts a bid to locate an industrial school in Raleigh.
  2. 4/22/1887 Board of Trustees meets for the first time
  3. 4/13/1903 Dramatic Club performance The A&M College Dramatic Club presents the play "She Stoops to Conquer."
  4. 4/14/1927 B.W. Wells lecture Dr. B.W. Wells gives a lecture on plant evolution as part of the Phi Kappa Phi lecture series.
  5. 4/11/1929 Textile Exposition and Style Show The School of Textiles hosts the annual Textile Exposition and Style Show.
  6. 4/6/1933 Dairy barn fire Fire destroys one of State College's dairy barns, with damages estimated at $4,000.
  7. 4/29/1938 Traffic congestion on campus In response to traffic congestion on campus, Chancellor Harrelson appoints a committee of faculty members to study the traffic conditions at NC State.
  8. 4/17/1942 Special summer courses The faculty approve a plan to hold fall engineering classes in the summer as part of a nationwide war effort to accelerate graduation at technical schools for the benefit of the war effort.
  9. 4/24/1942 Higher female enrollment sought Increased enrollment by women needed in engineering courses; urgent appeals are made as the male students leave to fight in the war.
  10. 4/24/1942 Blood drive Students hold a blood drive to support the war effort.
  11. 4/24/1942 Famous hypnotist Dr. Polgar visits
  12. 4/9/1943 Enrollment decline Enrollment hits the lowest mark in 20 years, due to the number of students leaving to join the military.
  13. 4/1945 John Lampe becomes Engineering dean John Harold Lampe becomes Dean of the School of Engineering. During his time at NC State, Lampe oversaw the expansion of the engineering program as it became one of the largest in the country, while also facilitating the addition of new instructional and research programs, especially nuclear engineering. Lampe retired from NC State in 1962.
  14. 4/26/1946 Everett Case hired Everett Case is hired as head Men's Basketball coach; with duties beginning on July 1st, 1946. Case coached at NC State until 1965, and remains the winningest basketball coach in the school's history.
  15. 4/10/1948 First Swimming national championship Bill Despres captures first place in the National Junior 300 yd. Individual Medley Championship of America, becoming the first swimmer from NC State to capture a national championship. Depres' winning time was 3:41:08, just 4.7 seconds slower than the national record.
  16. 4/15/1949 First annual Greek Week A banquet ends the First Annual Greek Week, sponsored by the Inter-Fraternity Council.
  17. 4/27/1951 Dedication of Riddick Laboratory Over 200 citizens gather for a ceremony at the newly-opened Riddick Laboratory. The lab building, constructed for $1,300,000, is dedicated to Dr. Wallace Carl Riddick, NC State's first Dean of Engineering, and the university's fourth president.
  18. 4/1/1953 World Series of Basketball A game in the 4th annual World Series of Basketball, featuring the 1953 All-Americans versus the Harlem Globetrotters, is played in Reynolds Coliseum.
  19. 4/1/1958 Technician pranks The April Fool's Day edition of the Technician proclaims that the College Union building has been destroyed by fire. The front page also includes headlines about dropping the ROTC program and introducing Home Economics courses into the curriculum.
  20. 4/22/1958 Jim Hunt's re-election In an unprecedented landslide, Jim Hunt is elected to a second term as Student Body President. Hunt would go on to be a four-term governor of North Carolina.
  21. 4/1960 Students and Faculty call for Raleigh integration Student Government passes a resolution calling for racial integration of public facilities in Raleigh. This is followed by a similar resolution from the Faculty Senate. Student Government forms the Human Relations Committee to write letters to area merchants.
  22. 4/7/1962 Mercury space capsule displayed A Mercury space capsule, on loan from NASA, is one of the exhibits displayed at the annual Engineers' Fair.
  23. 4/16/1962 Popularity of Bragaw Hall 171 students wait in line in front of the Student Housing Office to get rooms in Bragaw Hall for the following year.
  24. 4/17/1963 Escaped pig captured A pig which escaped from the Animal Disease Lab is captured in the ladies' restroom in Winston Hall.
  25. 4/30/1963 Protest over racial segregation A group of NC State students join with students from Shaw University to protest racial segregation policies in effect at the State Theater on Salisbury Street.
  26. 4/1/1966 Bob Hope performs Comedian Bob Hope performs at Reynolds Coliseum.
  27. 4/6/1968 Student reaction to Martin Luther King, Jr. assasination On the weekend of King’s death approximately 200 white students and faculty (from UNC and Duke as well as NCSU) gathered in the Brickyard intending to march on the State Capitol Building in an attempt to speak with Governor Dan Moore. The ultimate goal of the march was to present a petition to the governor that "show[ed] the Negro community that concern exists among whites by presenting written grievances to the governor." However, the march did not go forward as planned. After the Raleigh Police Department stopped the group at Winston Hall, Chancellor Caldwell pled with protesters to disperse peacefully, saying, "I wept tears when Martin Luther King died; I loved that man. But you don’t have to demonstrate by breaking the law." With threats of arrest looming, and National Guard troops waiting at the Velvet Cloak Inn to intercept the march should it reach that point, the protesters dispersed as requested. The following Monday, a smaller group went to the Capitol and presented the petition to an aide to the governor, who promised that the governor would read it.
  28. 4/14/1968 Academic College Bowl appearance Students from NC State compete in the General Electric Academic College Bowl.
  29. 4/19/1968 Riddick Stadium demolished A majority of Riddick Stadium is demolished to make room for more parking on campus. SAS Hall now stands on the site Riddick Stadium once occupied.
  30. 4/23/1969 Willis Casey becomes Athletic Director Willis Casey is promoted from Assistant Athletic Director to Athletic Director.
  31. 4/11/1970 Tommy Burleson comes to State 7'3" high school All-American basketball player Tommy Burleson announces his decision to accept a scholarship offer to play for NC State. Burleson would go on to be a key member of NC State's 1974 National Championship team.
  32. 4/7/1971 Technician joke explained Technician editors finally explain what nematodes are, ending a 2-month series of nematode jokes which had run in the paper.
  33. 4/14/1971 Cooking spaces approved for dorms The Inter-Residence Council approves the construction of cooking spaces in all dorms, hoping to alleviate problems with students cooking illegally in their dorm rooms.
  34. 4/4/1972 Pan-Afrikan Festival The second annual Pan-Afrikan Festival begins.
  35. 4/10/1972 Technician wins award The Technician is named the best newspaper in the Southeast during the 8th annual Southeastern College Newspaper Competition.
  36. 4/14/1972 New mile run record NC State student Jim Wilkins sets another record in the individual mile run in a meet against Wake Forest, breaking his own previous record from the year before.
  37. 4/15/1972 Forestry Team championship The NC State Forestry Team take home the championship at the annual Conclave, an event based around forestry skills such as logging, timer estimation, sawing, log rolling, etc.
  38. 4/16/1972 Student protest NC State students join an anti-war protest on the steps of the State Capitol in response to the U.S. bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in North Vietnam.
  39. 4/17/1972 WKNC temporarily off the air The college radio station WKNC announces it will go off the air for the remainder of the school year, due to an air conditioner failure in the studio.
  40. 4/21/1972 Vietnam War protest Over 1000 students march down Hillsborough Street from campus to the State Capitol to protest the Vietnam War, staging a rally on the capitol steps.
  41. 4/22/1978 Zoo Day Student Government's "The Day" and the Inter-Residence Council's "Zoo Day" are combined (retaining the latter name), as a day for students to relax and take a break from the pressures of the end of the academic year. Zoo Day was held along Cates Avenue, offering a day of free beer, field games, and concerts.
  42. 4/1983 Men's Basketball wins NCAA championship Lead by Head Coach Jim Valvano, the Men’s Basketball team wins the 1983 NCAA championship.
  43. 4/24/1992 Holladay Medal established The Board of Trustees established the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence to honor NC State faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to the university through achievements in research, teaching, or extension and engagement.
  44. 4/22/2000 Passing of Carey Bostian Former NC State Chancellor Carey Hoyt Bostian dies at the age of 93.