1. On April 9, 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress of North Carolina authorized the creation of a new state constitution, which was adopted on December 18 of the same year. This Constitution served as the basis of North Carolina law until 1868.

2. In 1865, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his army to Union General William T. Sherman at the Bennett Place in Durham, North Carolina. This event marked the end of the Civil War in the Carolinas.

3. On April 9, 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee. The organization quickly spread throughout the southern United States and became a prominent force in North Carolina during Reconstruction.

4. In 1939, the North Carolina Symphony gave its inaugural concert in Hill Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Today, the North Carolina Symphony is one of the premier orchestras in the Southeast, performing over 150 concerts each year.

5. On April 9, 1968, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. His death sparked protests and riots across the country, including in North Carolina cities such as Raleigh and Durham.