1. In 1861, the first shots of the Civil War in New Mexico were fired near Fort Sumter in Albuquerque, marking the beginning of the state's involvement in the conflict.
2. In 1980, the city of Roswell celebrated the 50th anniversary of the infamous UFO incident that occurred there in 1947, which has since become a popular subject of conspiracy theories and pop culture references.
3. On April 12, 1945, just hours after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in Georgia, the Santa Fe Railroad ordered a nationwide suspension of all trains in honor of the president's passing.
4. In 1958, White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico set a world record by launching a rocket to an altitude of nearly 230 miles, the highest ever achieved at the time.
5. New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson declared April 12, 1999, as "Navajo Code Talkers Day" in recognition of the contributions and sacrifices of the Navajo soldiers who created an unbreakable code during World War II.