ON THIS DAY~APR 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1970  The First Earth Day

Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world's environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches, and educational programs.

Earth Day has been celebrated on different days by different groups internationally. The United Nations officially celebrates it on the vernal equinox, which usually occurs about March 21.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1889  The Oklahoma Land Rush Begins

At precisely high noon, thousands of would-be settlers make a mad dash into the newly opened Oklahoma Territory to claim cheap land.

The nearly two million acres of land opened up to white settlement was located in Indian Territory, a large area that once encompassed much of modern-day Oklahoma. Initially considered unsuitable for white colonization, Indian Territory was thought to be an ideal place to relocate Native Americans who were removed from their traditional lands to make way for white settlement.

The relocations began in 1817, and by the 1880s, Indian Territory was a new home to a variety of tribes, including the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Cheyenne, Commanche, and Apache.

By the 1890s, improved agricultural and ranching techniques led some white Americans to realize that the Indian Territory land could be valuable, and they pressured the U.S. government to allow white settlement in the region. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison agreed, making the first of a long series of authorizations that eventually removed most of Indian Territory from Indian control.

On March 3, 1889, Harrison announced the government would open the 1.9 million-acre tract of Indian Territory for settlement precisely at noon on April 22. Anyone could join the race for the land, but no one was supposed to jump the gun. With only seven weeks to prepare, land-hungry Americans quickly began to gather around the borders of the irregular rectangle of territory. Referred to as "Boomers," by the appointed day more than 50,000 hopefuls were living in tent cities on all four sides of the territory.

An extraordinary display of both the pioneer spirit and the American lust for land, the first Oklahoma land rush was also plagued by greed and fraud. Cases involving "Sooners"--people who had entered the territory before the legal date and time--overloaded courts for years to come. The government attempted to operate subsequent runs with more controls, eventually adopting a lottery system to designate claims. By 1905, white Americans owned most of the land in Indian Territory. Two years later, the area once known as Indian Territory entered the Union as a part of the new state of Oklahoma.

 

1915  Germans Introduce Poison Gas

On April 22, 1915, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium. This was the first major gas attack by the Germans, and it devastated the Allied line.

 

1945  Hitler Admits Defeat

On this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler, learning from one of his generals that no German defense was offered to the Russian assault at Eberswalde, admits to all in his underground bunker that the war is lost and that suicide is his only recourse. Almost as confirmation of Hitler's assessment, a Soviet mechanized corps reaches Treuenbrietzen, 40 miles southwest of Berlin, liberates a POW camp and releases, among others, Norwegian Commander in Chief Otto Ruge.

 

1954  McCarthy Army Hearings Begin 

Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army, which he charges with being "soft" on communism. These televised hearings gave the American public their first view of McCarthy in action, and his recklessness, indignant bluster, and bullying tactics quickly resulted in his fall from prominence.

In February 1950, Senator McCarthy charged that there were over 200 "known communists" in the Department of State. Thus began his dizzying rise to fame as the most famous and feared communist hunter in the United States. McCarthy adeptly manipulated the media, told ever more outrageous stories concerning the communist conspiracy in the United States, and smeared any opponents as "communist sympathizers" to keep his own name in the headlines for years. By 1954, however, his power was beginning to wane. While he had been useful to the Republican Party during the years of the Democratic administration of President Harry S. Truman, his continued attacks on "communists in government" after Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower took over the White House in 1953 were becoming political liabilities.

The 1954 hearings were a fiasco for McCarthy. He constantly interrupted with irrelevant questions and asides; yelled "point of order" whenever testimony was not to his liking; and verbally attacked witnesses, attorneys for the Army, and his fellow senators.

The climax came when McCarthy slandered an associate of the Army's chief counsel, Joseph Welch. Welch fixed McCarthy with a steady glareand declared evenly, "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness...Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?"

A stunned McCarthy listened as the packed audience exploded into cheers and applause. McCarthy's days as a political power were effectively over. A few weeks later, the Army hearings dribbled to a close with little fanfare and no charges were upheld against the Army by the committee.

In December 1954, the Senate voted to censure McCarthy for his conduct. Three years later, having become a hopeless alcoholic, he died.

 

1972  Antiwar Demonstrations Held

Antiwar demonstrations prompted by the accelerated U.S. bombing in Southeast Asia draw somewhere between 30,000 to 60,000 marchers in New York; 30,000 to 40,000 in San Francisco; 10,000 to 12,000 in Los Angeles; and smaller gatherings in Chicago and other cities throughout the country. The new bombing campaign was in response to the North Vietnam's massive invasion of South Vietnam in March. As the demonstrations were happening, bitter fighting continued all over South Vietnam. In the Mekong Delta, for example, the fighting was the heaviest it had been in 18 months.

 

1976  Barbara Walters Signs $5 Million Contract

Barbara Walters signs a record-breaking five-year, $5 million contract with ABC on this day in 1976. The contract made her the first news anchorwoman in network history and the highest paid TV journalist to date.

 

1994  Former President Richard Nixon Dies

On this day in 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon dies after suffering a stroke four days earlier. In a 1978 speech at Oxford University, Nixon admitted he had “screwed up” during his presidency but predicted that his achievements would be viewed more favorably with time. He told the young audience, “You'll be here in the year 2000…see how I am regarded then."

Nixon is most often remembered for his involvement in the Watergate scandal as president and for his Cold War-era persecution of suspected communists while serving as a U.S. senator. However, Nixon left a legacy as complex as his personality.

 

2004  Pat Tillman Killed By Friendly Fire In Afghanistan

Pat Tillman, who gave up his pro football career to enlist in the U.S. Army after the terrorist attacks of September 11, is killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004.

The news that Tillman, age 27, was mistakenly gunned down by his fellow Rangers, rather than enemy forces, was initially covered up by the U.S. military.

 

 

BORN ON THIS DAY

1870  Nikolai Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov)  Russian Premier [1917-1924]; died Jan 21, 1924

1904  J. (Julius) Robert Oppenheimer  Physicist: Enrico Fermi Award for work in nuclear physics: designed & built 1st atomic bomb; died Feb 18, 1967

1906  Eddie Albert (Edward Albert Heimberger)  Actor: Green Acres, Teahouse of the August Moon, Roman Holiday; died May 26, 2005

1923  Aaron Spelling  Emmy Award-winning executive producer: Day One, AT&T Presents [1988-1989], And the Band Played On [1993-1994]; Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place; died June 23, 2006

1936  Glen Campbell  Grammy Award-winning singer: By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Gentle on My Mind, CMA Entertainer of the Year [1968]; Galveston, Wichita Lineman, Southern Nights, Rhinestone Cowboy; TV host: The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour; actor: True Grit, Norwood, Strange Homecoming

1937  (John Joseph) Jack Nicholson  Academy Award-winning actor: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest [1975], Terms of Endearment [1983], As Good as It Gets [1997]; Five Easy Pieces, The Shining, Batman, Broadcast News, Chinatown, Easy Rider, Prizzi’s Honor, The Witches of Eastwicke, Little Shop of Horrors, A Few Good Men

1950   Peter Frampton  Guitarist, singer: Show Me the Way, Do You Feel Like We Do, I Can’t Stand it No More

 

 

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