1. On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous letter from a Birmingham jail, where he was being held for leading civil rights protests in the city. The letter is considered one of the most important documents of the civil rights movement and is still widely studied today.

2. On April 16, 2011, devastating tornadoes swept through the state of Alabama, killing over 250 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. The largest tornado, which was nearly a mile wide, hit the city of Tuscaloosa and caused widespread destruction.

3. On April 16, 1862, the Battle of Fort Pillow was fought during the Civil War. Union troops, comprised mainly of African American soldiers, were massacred by Confederate forces in what became known as one of the most brutal incidents of the war.

4. On April 16, 1900, Helen Keller entered Radcliffe College, becoming the first deaf and blind person to attend college. Keller, originally from Tuscumbia, Alabama, became a prominent advocate for people with disabilities and an inspiration to millions around the world.

5. On April 16, 1997, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, making Alabama the first state in the country to strike down such a ban. The ruling was later overturned and same-sex marriage did not become legal in Alabama until 2015.