April 20 in Pop Culture History

April 20 in History

April 20th is…
420 Day
Cheddar Fries Day
Chinese Language Day
Lima Bean Respect Day
National Look Alike Day
Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day
Volunteer Recognition Day

1657 – Freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (New York City).

1832 – Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas was established as a reservation by an act of Congress. Technically, it was the first United States National Park.

1841 – The Murders in the Rue Morgue, by Edgar Allen Poe, was published in Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine. It is considered the first detective story.

1871 – The Third Force Act, also known as the Ku Klux Act, Congress authorized President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law to stop the Ku Klux Klan.

1862 – Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the first test of pasteurization. Jars at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences.

1912 – Opening day for baseball’s Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston.

1926 – Western Electric and the Warner Brothers film studio officially introduced the Vitaphone, a new process that would enable the addition of sound to film.

1940 – Invented by Dr. Vladimir Zworykin at the RCA laboratories, Camden, New Jersey, the first (US) electron microscope was demonstrated across the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1964 – The first picturephone transcontinental call was made between New York City and Anaheim, California.

1974 – #1 Hit April 20, 1974 – May 3, 1974: MFSB and The Three Degrees – TSOP

1991 – #1 Hit April 20, 1991 – April 26, 1991: Wilson Phillips – You’re In Love

1999 – At Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 13 people and wounded 23 more before killing themselves.

2001 – Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles and Freddy Got Fingered were released in theaters.

2002 – #1 Hit April 20, 2002 – June 28, 2002: Ashanti – Foolish

2004 – Clifford’s Really Big Movie debuted in theaters.

2007 – Hot FuzzIn the Land of Women, and Fracture were released in theaters.

2008 – Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy Car race

2010 – The Deepwater Horizon, run by British Petroleum (BP) drilling rig, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers.

2013 – #1 Hit April 20, 2013 – April 26, 2013: Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man

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