ON THIS DAY~APR 20

     1980  Castro Announces Mariel Boatlift

On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day.

 

1689  Siege of Londonderry Begins

James II, the former British king, begins a siege of Londonderry, a Protestant stronghold in Northern Ireland.

In 1688, James II, a Catholic, was deposed by his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, in a bloodless coup known as the Glorious Revolution. James fled to France and in 1689 landed in Ireland, hoping to incite his Catholic supporters there and regain the British throne. Aided by French forces, James captured Dublin in late March and in April marched on Londonderry, the northern town where Irish supporters of Britain had fled.

 

1865  Safety Matches were First Advertised This Day

 

1934  One of America’s most beloved child stars made her debut. Shirley Temple debuted in Stand Up and Cheer, which opened in New York City. Moviegoers would rave about her song and dance routine, Baby, Take a Bow, for many years.

 

1978  Korean Air Lines Jet Forced Down Over Soviet Union

Soviet aircraft force a Korean Air Lines passenger jet to land in the Soviet Union after the jet veers into Russian airspace. Two people were killed and several others injured when the jet made a rough landing on a frozen lake about 300 miles south of Murmansk.

The jet was on a flight from Paris to Seoul when the incident occurred. Soviet officials claimed that the plane, which usually flew over the northern polar regions to reach Seoul, suddenly veered sharply to the east and penetrated Russian airspace. A short time later, the Soviet Union allowed a civilian American aircraft to retrieve the survivors.

 

1902  Curies Isolate Radium

On April 20, 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris. In 1898, the Curies discovered the existence of the elements radium and polonium in their research of pitchblende. One year after isolating radium, they would share the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics with French scientist A. Henri Becquerel for their groundbreaking investigations of radioactivity.

 

1999  Columbine High School Massacre

On this day in 1999, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, south of Denver. At approximately 11:19 a.m., Dylan Klebold, 18, and Eric Harris, 17, dressed in trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to continue their rampage. By 11:35 a.m., Klebold and Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a teacher and wounded another 23 people. Shortly after noon, the two teens turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide.
The crime was the worst school shooting in U.S. history and prompted a national debate on gun control and school safety, as well as a major investigation to determine what motivated the teen gunmen.

 

BIRTHDAYS

 

1889  Adolf Hitler  Murderer of over six-million people, the ultimate racist and as TIME magazine said, “...redefined the meaning of evil forever.”; committed suicide Apr 30, 1945

1941  Ryan O’Neal  Actor: Love Story, Paper Moon, What’s Up Doc?, Peyton Place

1949  Jessica (Phyllis) Lange  Academy Award-Winning Actress: Tootsie [1982], Blue Sky [1994]; Frances, King Kong, All That Jazz, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Sweet Dreams

1951  Luther Vandross  Singer, Songwriter: Never Too Much, How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye; died July 1, 2005

1959  Clint Howard  Actor: Backdraft, Cocoon, Ice Cream Man, That Thing You Do!, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

1964  Crispin Glover  Actor: Dead Man, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Doors, Twister, Back to the Future, Friday the 13th, Part 4: The Final Chapter, My Tutor, Charlie's Angels [2000]

1976  Joey Lawrence  Actor: Gimme a Break, Blossom, Chains of Gold, Pulse, Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home, Radioland Murders