1. In 1910, the town of Hoxie in Lawrence County became the site of one of the first desegregation battles in the United States when white residents attempted to block African American students from attending the town's public school. The incident ultimately led to the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

2. On April 8, 1945, the Arkansas House of Representatives approved legislation to establish the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. The institution has since become one of the nation's top medical research centers.

3. Arkansas native Glen Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on April 8, 2005. The country music icon, best known for hits such as "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Wichita Lineman," passed away in 2017 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

4. The town of Hot Springs was home to the first major league baseball spring training camp in 1886, when the Chicago White Stockings (renamed the Cubs in 1903) came to town to prepare for the season. Hot Springs continued to host spring training camps for various teams through the 1940s.

5. On April 8, 1947, the Arkansas Gazette became the first Southern newspaper to editorially support racial integration of public schools. The paper's strong stance on civil rights earned it a Pulitzer Prize in 1958.