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 |
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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 Fuzz, In 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 |
