1. In 1836, the North Carolina legislature voted to establish the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the first state university in the country. The university opened its doors to students two years later.

2. On April 21, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain, initiating the Spanish-American War. North Carolina played a significant role in the war effort, with troops from the state being sent to fight in Cuba and the Philippines.

3. Civil rights activist Ella Baker was born in Norfolk, Virginia on April 13, 1903, but she spent much of her childhood in North Carolina. Baker was a key figure in the civil rights movement, working alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and others to fight for equal rights for African Americans.

4. On April 21, 1960, a group of black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina staged a sit-in at a Woolworth's department store lunch counter. The sit-in sparked a wave of similar protests across the country, and is often cited as a key moment in the civil rights movement.

5. In 2006, the first ever African American woman was elected as the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. Vi Lyles served as mayor from 2017-2021, and was re-elected to a second term in 2019. Lyles has been a champion for social and economic justice in Charlotte and beyond.