Tidbits of History, April 20

National Pineapple Upside-down Cake Day
Look Alike Day
National Lima Bean Respect Day
Volunteer Recognition Day

April 20, 1534, Jacques Cartier began the voyage during which he discovered Canada and Labrador.

On April 20 in 1789, President George Washington arrived in Philadelphia after his inauguration to an elaborate welcome at Gray’s Ferry.

1832 – Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas was established by an act of the U.S. Congress. It was the first national park in the U.S.

WisconsinterritoryU.S. Congress passed an act creating the Wisconsin Territory in 1836.

Birthday of Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889), at Braunau, Austria; German leader of the Nazi party and dictator of Germany (1933-45).

Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride in 1902.

1912 – Fenway Park opened as the home of the Boston Red Sox.

On April 20, 1916, the Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park. The name was later called Cubs Park and, in 1926, called Wrigley Field.

The League of Nations officially dissolved on April 20, 1946, giving most of its power to the United Nations.

1962 – The New Orleans Citizens’ Council offered a free one-way ride for blacks to move to northern states and promoted a boycott of Ford Motor Co. because of its (Ford Motor Co.’s) support of the Civil Rights movement.
In Louisiana, leaders of the original Citizens’ Council included State Senator and gubernatorial candidate William Rainach (Democrat), future U.S. Representative Joe D. Waggonner, Jr., (Democrat), the publisher Ned Touchstone (Democrat), and Judge Leander Perez, (Democrat), considered the political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes south of New Orleans.

April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon oil spill: A massive fire on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and caused a massive oil spill, the worst spill in US history.

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