What Happened On
Columbine High School Massacre
April 20, 1999
Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, go on a shooting rampage at their Colorado high school, killing twelve students and a teacher, wounding twenty-four others, and then commit suicide. Harris and Klebold had constructed a series of bombs, but only the smaller bombs detonated properly. They had placed two large backpack bombs in the cafeteria which failed to explode. Had the bombs properly detonated, it is estimated that 500 or more would have died instantly. When the bombs failed to explode, they began shooting in the area of the cafeteria killing three students and then proceeded to library killing nine students and a teacher. They then committed suicide.
The first Broom-Hilda strip
The first Broom-Hilda strip
Broom-Hilda
April 20, 1970
The Broom-Hilda comic strip, by Russell Myers, premieres. It depicted the misadventures of a man-crazy, cigar-smoking, beer-guzzling, 1,500-year-old witch and her motley crew of friends.
TV's First Man-to-Man Kiss
April 20, 1959
Neville Brand (playing Al Capone) gives a lip-to-lip "kiss of death" to his Mafia hit man, played by Frank de Kova, in The Scarface Mob (pilot for the TV series The Untouchables). The episode also sparked controversy for a burlesque scene of a dancer with pasties.
Dolly Parton's First Single
April 20, 1959
13-year-old Dolly Parton releases her first single: Puppy Love. She wrote it when she was 11 years old.
Pasteur in his laboratory
Pasteur in his laboratory
Pasteurization
April 20, 1862
Louis Pasteur completes the first test of his method of preserving foods. He opened a jar of dog's blood and urine that had been sealed since March 3. It showed no signs of decay. Pasteur would later patent his process to fight the "diseases" of wine. His process was soon also applied to beer and milk.
Although the process of heating wine for preservation purposes has been known in China since AD 1117, Pasteur determined that the spoilage of beverages was caused by the growth of micro-organisms. His process heated liquids to a temperature between 60 and 100 °C. This killed most bacteria and molds present within them.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
April 20, 1841
The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe is published, establishing the literary genre of the detective story.
It is considered the first modern detective story and Poe's fictional detective displays many traits which became literary conventions in future detectives, including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, such as the brilliant detective, his personal friend who serves as narrator, and the final revelation being presented before the reasoning that leads up to it.
Integrated school bus
Integrated school bus
Busing
April 20, 1971
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the use of busing to end segregation in public schools is constitutional.
Electron Microscope
April 20, 1940
The electron microscope is publicly demonstrated for the first time, by the Radio Corporation of America Laboratory in New Jersey. It had a magnification of 100,000 diameters.
Birthdays
George Takei
Born April 20, 1937
American actor. TV: Star Trek (1966-69, Mr. Sulu). He and his family were sent to U.S. interment camps during WWII. His aunt and an infant cousin were both killed during the WWII atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Lloyd in Safety Last
Lloyd in Safety Last
Harold Lloyd
Born April 20, 1893 d. 1971
American comic actor. Known for his dangerous stunts. Film: Grandma's Boy (1922), Safety Last (1923), and The Kid Brother (1927).
Adolf Hitler
Born April 20, 1889 d. 1945
German Nazi leader. Started World War II by invading Poland (1939) and was Time magazine's 1938 "Man of the Year." He committed suicide with his mistress Eva Braun, whom he had married the day before.
Pinel removing the chains from patients at the Paris Asylum for insane women
Pinel removing the chains from patients at the Paris Asylum for insane women
Father of Modern Psychiatry
Philippe Pinel
Born April 20, 1745 d. 1826
French physician. "Father of Modern Psychiatry." He pioneered the humane treatment of the mentally ill and opposed the commonly-held belief that mental illness was caused by demonic possession.
Carmen Electra (Tara Leigh Patrick)
Born April 20, 1972
American model, actress, singer.
Jessica Lange
Born April 20, 1949
American actress. Film: King Kong (1976, King Kong's main squeeze).
Ryan O'Neal
Born April 20, 1941 d. 2023
American actor. Film: Love Story (1970), What's Up, Doc? (1972), and Paper Moon (1973). TV: Peyton Place (1964-69, Rodney Harrington).
David Richmond
Born April 20, 1941 d. 1990
American civil-rights protester. One of the initiators the Greensboro Sit-In (1960). He and three other black college students (The Greensboro Four) refused to move from a North Carolina Woolworth's lunch counter after being denied service. The peaceful protest quickly spread; 70,000 people participated, resulting in 1,600 arrests.
Gerald S. Hawkins
Born April 20, 1928 d. 2003
English astronomer and mathematician. He showed that Stonehenge was an ancient astronomical observatory (1963).
Robert Galambos
Born April 20, 1914 d. 2010
American neuroscientist who coined the term "echolocation." He and Donald Griffin proved that bats use echolocation for night flight.
Lionel Hampton
Born April 20, 1908 d. 2002
American vibes player, bandleader. Music: On the Sunny Side of the Street (1937) and Twelfth Street Rag (1939)
James Hiram Bedford
Born April 20, 1893 d. 1967
American psychology professor. He was the first person cryogenically frozen. His remains currently reside at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation awaiting a time that they might be revived.
Daniel Chester French
Born April 20, 1850 d. 1931
American artist. He built the statue of Abraham Lincoln which is in the Lincoln Memorial Building and the famous statue of The Minute Man (1794).
Carol I
Born April 20, 1839 d. 1914
the first King of Rumania (1881-1914).
Robert Marc Séguin
Born April 20, 1786 d. 1875
the Elder, French engineer. He and Guillaume Henry Dufour designed and built the first permanent wire-cable suspension bridge (1823) and the multiple-fire-tube boiler for locomotive steam engines.
Deaths
Photo Credit: National Portrait Gallery
Photo Credit: National Portrait Gallery
Christopher Robin of Winnie-the-Pooh
Christopher Robin Milne
Died April 20, 1996 b. 1920
British bookseller, author. He and his stuffed animals were the inspiration of his father A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books (1926-27). On his first birthday, he received an Alpha Farnell teddy bear, which became the inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh character. His other toys provided the inspiration for Eeyore and Piglet.
Universal Diabetes Symbol
Universal Diabetes Symbol
First Person to Receive Insulin to Treat Diabetes
Leonard Thompson
Died April 20, 1935 b. 1908
Canadian diabetic. He was the first person to receive insulin to treat diabetes (1922 at 14 years old). Slipping in and out of a diabetic coma and about to die, he was given the first injection at Toronto General Hospital. His symptoms immediately improved. However, the insulin was so impure, he suffered a severe allergic reaction and treatment had to be canceled. Doctors quickly improved the purity and resumed treatment. The insulin was from the pancreases of cattle.
Bram Stoker
Died April 20, 1912 b. 1847
Irish author. Bram Stoker is best known for his Gothic novel Dracula (1897). Stoker took the name for his count from Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler.
George Clinton
Died April 20, 1812 b. 1739
American Revolutionary soldier. 4th U.S. Vice-President (1805-12), 1st and 3rd governor of New York (1777-1795, 1801-1804). As New York governor, he strongly opposed the creation of Vermont as a new state, believing the land belonged to New York. Clinton was the first U.S. Vice President to die, and the first to die in office.
Tom Lester (Thomas William Lester)
Died April 20, 2020 b. 1938
American actor and evangelist. TV: Green Acres (1965-71, Eb Dawson). Lester said he beat out 400 other actors who auditioned for the part of Eb, because he was the only one who knew how to milk a cow since he grew up on a farm in Mississippi.
He was the last surviving regular cast member of Green Acres.
Eric Harris
Died April 20, 1999 b. 1981
American mass murderer. He and Dylan Klebold perpetrated the Columbine High School Massacre (1999), killing twelve students and a teacher, wounding twenty-four others, before committing suicide.
Dylan Klebold
Died April 20, 1999 b. 1981
American mass murderer. He and Eric Harris perpetrated the Columbine High School Massacre (1999), killing twelve students and a teacher, wounding twenty-four others, before committing suicide.
Photo Credit: www.peru21.pe
Photo Credit: www.peru21.pe
Cantinflas (Mario Moreno)
Died April 20, 1993 b. 1911
Mexican clown, superstar of Spanish-speaking films. Known as the "Charlie Chaplin of Mexico." Charlie Chaplin himself described Cantinflas as "the world's greatest comedian." Film: Around the World in 80 Days (1956, as Passepartout).
Benny Hill (Alfred Hawthorne Hill)
Died April 20, 1992 b. 1924
English comedian, singer. His father and grandfather had both been circus clowns. Quote: "I'm not against half naked girls - not as often as I'd like to be." TV: The Benny Hill Show (1955-89). Music: Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) (1971, British #1).
Rudolph Dirks
Died April 20, 1968 b. 1877
American cartoonist. Creator of The Katzenjammer Kids (1897). Dirks was the first cartoonist to regularly express comic strip dialogue in speech balloons.
Eddie Dyer
Died April 20, 1964 b. 1900
American baseball player, manager. He was the first rookie manager to win the World Series (1946, St. Louis Cardinals).
The Father of Baseball
Henry Chadwick
Died April 20, 1908 b. 1824
English-born American sports writer. Called "The Father of Baseball" for his early reporting on and contributions to the development of the game. He wrote the first baseball rule book (1858) and is credited with creating box scores, the abbreviation "K" for a strikeout, and the statistics of batting average and earned run average. Chadwick also edited The Beadle Dime Base-Ball Player (1860-81) the first annual baseball guide on public sale and in 1868 wrote the first hardcover baseball book, The Game of Base Ball.
Robert Livingston Stevens
Died April 20, 1856 b. 1787
American inventor, steamboat and railroad engineer. He was the first to build railroad tracks using logs turned crosswise, with spikes to hold the rails on.
Pontiac
Died April 20, 1769 b. circa 1719
Ottawa Indian chief. He is credited with leading "Pontiac's Rebellion," against the British military occupation of the Great Lakes region.
Invented the Clarinet
Johann Christoph Denner
Died April 20, 1707 b. 1655
German woodwind instrument maker. He is credited with inventing the clarinet.
Father of Rhode Island
John Clarke
Died April 20, 1676 b. 1609
Baptist minister. Father of Rhode Island. He was a co-founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in the Americas. He was imprisoned in Boston for performing baptisms (1651), as the Baptist religion was illegal in Boston.
Clement V
Died April 20, 1314 b. 1264
French-born religious leader, 195th Pope (1305-14).