April 1

1865 — The steamship Bertrand, laden with cargo bound for Montana, sank in the Missouri River at the village of DeSoto, north of Omaha. The wreck was discovered in 1967 and excavated in 1968-69.

1921 — Opponents of Sunday movies held a rally at the Kerr Opera House in Hastings.

2008 — Lawsuits by three families were dismissed because they reached an $18.4 million settlement of their lawsuits over a 2002 helicopter crash in Norfolk that killed three people aboard. The multimillion-dollar settlement is thought to be the largest ever in Nebraska.

April 2

1856 — Rev. Joseph Barker, an English immigrant, arrived in Omaha and wrote that the city consisted of “a few huts, two or three decent houses, a bank, the state house, a saw mill and a few stores.”