April 20: I'm just gonna skip over the depressing shit like Columbine and go with this, although actual documentation is scarce:

On April 20 (4/20), 1971, as legend has it, five friends at San Rafael High School in California coined the term '4:20' as a euphemism and code for smoking pot. April 20th became a popular day to spark one up, as does 4:20pm.

Fans of the Grateful Dead helped spread the phrase, the Boston song 'Smokin'' clocks in at 4 minutes, 20 seconds, and if you multiply the title numbers in Bob Dylan's 'Rainy Day Women #12 And #35,' you get 420 (which is really reaching, because the song was released 5 years earlier).

Those 5 friends would go on to become Kiss and their manager

(No they didn't)

San Rafael High School:


A marijuana cigarette, or 'joint.'


Munchies:


A girl who never came to my parties:


Aardvark and Kangaroo:

 

April 20, 1964
Nutella appeared on store shelves in Alba, Italy, and became an instant success.

 

On this day in history, April 20, 1898, President William McKinley asks Congress to declare war on Spain
Congress authorized 25th president to use any military measures necessary to obtain Cuba's independence.


Former U.S. President William McKinley was the nation's 25th president.

On this day in history, April 20, 1898, President William McKinley asked Congress to declare war on Spain.

The declaration requested by the 25th U.S. president was in response to an ongoing conflict between Spain and Cuba, the latter located less 100 miles off the coast of Florida, as that island country struggled for independence from Spain.

On April 20, Congress passed a joint resolution that acknowledged Cuban independence, the U.S. Office of the Historian said.


Congress also demanded that the Spanish government give up control of the island. Congress also indicated that the U.S. had no intention of annexing Cuba.

Congress also authorized McKinley to use whatever military measures he deemed necessary to guarantee Cuba’s independence, the U.S. Office of the Historian noted.

Conflict seemed inevitable, as tensions between the U.S. and Spain had been brewing for some time — and Cuba had attempted to overthrow Spanish colonial rule, according to History.com.

To that end, Cuban rebels "received financial assistance from private U.S. interests and used America as a base of operations from which to attack," that site said.

The Spanish military retaliated with brutal force, causing the death of more than 100,000 Cuban civilians.

Many died in terrible conditions within Spanish concentration camps between 1895 and 1898, according to History.com.

 

1902: Madame and Monsieur Curie isolate radioactive radium
The married scientific research team of Marie and Pierre Curie chemically isolate one-tenth gram of pure radium chloride, an element not naturally occurring in isolation. Their work with radium and radioactivity will lead to the first Nobel Prize awarded to a woman.

 

On This Day In History
April 20, 1914
Militia slaughters strikers at Ludlow, Colorado

Ending a bitter coal-miners’ strike, Colorado militiamen attack a tent colony of strikers, killing dozens of men, women and children.

When the evictions failed to end the strike, the Rockefeller interests hired private detectives that attacked the tent colonies with rifles and Gatling guns. The miners fought back, and several were killed. When the tenacity of the strikers became apparent, the Rockefellers approached the governor of Colorado, who authorized the use of the National Guard. The Rockefellers agreed to pay their wages.

At first, the strikers believed that the government had sent the National Guard to protect them. They soon discovered, though, that the militia was under orders to break the strike. On this day in 1914, two companies of guardsmen attacked the largest tent colony of strikers near the town of Ludlow, home to about 1,000 men, women, and children. The attack began in the morning with a barrage of bullets fired into the tents. The miners shot back with pistols and rifles.

After a strike leader was killed while attempting to negotiate a truce, the strikers feared the attack would intensify. To stay safe from gunfire, women and children took cover in pits dug beneath the tents. At dusk, guardsmen moved down from the hills and set the tent colony on fire with torches, shooting at the families as they fled into the hills. The true carnage, however, was not discovered until the next day, when a telephone linesman discovered a pit under one of the tents filled with the burned remains of 11 children and two women.

Although the “Ludlow Massacre” outraged many Americans, the tragedy did little to help the beleaguered Colorado miners and their families. Additional federal troops crushed the coal-miners’ strike, and the miners failed to achieve recognition of their union or any significant improvement in their wages and working conditions. Sixty-six men, women and children died during the strike, but not a single militiaman or private detective was charged with any crime.

 

20 Apr 1945

Soviet artillery began to fall on Berlin, Germany on Adolf Hitler's 56th and last birthday. After a brief birthday celebration, the generals urged Hitler to flee Berlin for southern Germany to continue the fight; Hitler decided not to go, setting up a northern command (under Karl Dönitz) and a southern command (tentatively under Albert Kesselring) instead should Berlin fall.

Hermann Göring destroyed his lavish Karinhall estate near Eberswalde in Germany, loading all his treasures (most of which plundered from across occupied Europe) onto 24 heavy trucks and several train cars.

 

April 21
833 B.C.(approximately) Romulus and Remus founded Rome.

1918 - German WW I fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richtofen(The Red Baron is shot down by Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown on his Sopwith Camel. A Snoopy would be proud.

1904 - Ty Cobb makes his first pro baseball debut in Augusta, Georgia in the SouthAtlamta Leading. He could be quite mean.

 

On April 21, 2016, two performers died. While Prince was a superstar known worldwide, Lonnie Mack was a revered figure in the guitar community.

Prince was found in an elevator at his Paisley Park recording studio, dead from an accidental fentanyl overdose. He was 57.

No big bio is necessary for such a well known and beloved master performer - he left us much too soon.

My forever favorite:



Lonnie Mack was a legend among guitar players. He died at age 74 of natural causes in a hospital near his log-cabin home, seventy miles east of Nashville, Tennessee.

In the early 1960s, he was a 'pioneer' in virtuoso rock guitar soloing whose recordings were pivotal to the emergence of the electric guitar as a lead voice in rock music. For this, it has been said that he launched the era of 'modern rock guitar'. He scored the hit single instrumentals, 'Memphis' and 'Wham!,' which was later recorded by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Wham! Live with Lonnie and Stevie Ray:

 

On or about this day (depending on your geographic location) in 1992, a shipping crate containing 28,000 rubber duckies fell overboard. They washed up around the world for the next 20 years.

 

1836: The Texas Revolution ends as General Sam Houston and his Texian Army soundly defeat the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna in a surprise attack. The Battle of San Jacinto lasts just 18 minutes, and will lead to the independence of the Republic of Texas.

 

Famous Death in History

Mark Twain, April 21, 1910 (aged 74)



Samuel Clemens

American author and humorist, best known for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and its sequel, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1885), the latter often called "the Great American Novel."

Born: November 30, 1835
Birthplace: Florida, Missouri, USA
Star Sign: Sagittarius

Died: April 21, 1910 (aged 74)
Cause of Death: Heart attack

 

April 23

1500 - Pedro Alveros Cabrol,with 13 ships and 1500 men, is the first to discover Brazil. He landed near Monte Pascoal.

1915 - The first military use of poisonous gasses was used by Germany against the Allied forces at Types

1993 - The Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

1976 - Barbara Walters becomes first female nightly network (ABC,) anchor

,1903 The New York Highlanders (Yankees ) lose 3 to ,1 against the Washington Senators in first Major League baseball game

 

On April 22, 1972, Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' hit #1 on the UK album chart. 'Smoke on the Water' and 'Highway Star' become the biggest hits, but other notable tracks are 'Lazy' and 'Space Truckin'.

It remains the band's most commercially successful album and is often cited as a major influence in the early development of the heavy metal music genre. The G minor Smoke on the Water riff became almost every fledgling guitar player's 'first riff' because you could literally teach it to someone who could play it competently in a matter of minutes. It only requires the index finger flattened over the D and G strings and moved up and down.

To me, that year in music was dominated by this album, hand in hand with Alice Cooper's 'Killer' album, forever cementing the hard rock sound going forward. The '60s sound' - while great for its time, was finally over, baby!

The riff:

From the fabulous first bass notes of Side 1, Song 1: You knew you were listening to something very special:

 

On this day in history, April 22, 1970, first Earth Day is celebrated: 'Rare political alignment'
Roughly 10% of the US population demonstrated on the first-ever Earth Day.


The peaceful protests and demonstrations drew an estimated 20 million people to the streets, parks and other parts of communities for the first-ever Earth Day in 1970.


On this day in history, April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated — ushering in a host of new environmental legislation.

The idea for the observation "Earth Day" originated with Sen. Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat from Wisconsin, who had "long been concerned about the deteriorating environment in the United States," says EarthDay.org.

"Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Sen. Nelson wanted to infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution," the site also said.

Seeds had been planted for paying attention to the environment almost a decade earlier, however.

By the early 1960s, "Americans were becoming aware of the effects of pollution on the environment," notes History.com.

 

1969: First Solo Sail Around the World
Nine sailors take on the challenge of becoming the first to sail nonstop around the globe single-handedly, but only Robin Knox-Johnston completes the journey. The former sailor in the Royal Naval Reserve steers his 32-foot boat 'Suhaili' through the world's oceans for 10 months.

 

22 Apr 1945
Adolf Hitler recognized that the war was lost, and released all non-essential personnel from the Führerbunker in Berlin, Germany. He assured those dismissed that "nobody is now duty-bound to anything.” He then invited Joseph Goebbels and the Goebbels family to accompany him in the bunker.

 

On This Day In History
April 22, 2004
Pat Tillman killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Patrick Daniel Tillman was born the oldest of three brothers on November 6, 1976, in San Jose, California. He played linebacker for Arizona State University, where during his senior year he was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. In 1998, Tillman was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He became the team’s starting safety as well as one of its most popular players. In 2000, he broke the team record for tackles with 224. In May 2002, Tillman turned down a three-year, multi-million-dollar deal with the Cardinals and instead, prompted by the events of 9/11, joined the Army along with his brother Kevin, a minor-league baseball player. The Tillman brothers were assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Lewis, Washington, and did tours in Iraq in 2003, followed by Afghanistan the next year.

On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed by gunfire while on patrol in a rugged area of eastern Afghanistan. The Army initially maintained that Tillman and his unit were ambushed by enemy forces. Tillman was praised as a national hero, awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals and posthumously promoted to corporal. Weeks later, Tillman’s family learned his death had been accidental. His parents publicly criticized the Army, saying they had been intentionally deceived by military officials who wanted to use their son as a patriotic poster boy. They believed their son’s death was initially covered up by military officials because it could’ve undermined support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A criminal investigation was eventually launched into the case and in 2007 the Army censured retired three-star general Philip Kensinger, who was in charge of special operations at the time of Tillman’s death, for lying to investigators and making other mistakes. “Memorandums of concern” were also sent to several brigadier generals and lower-ranking officers who the Army believed acted improperly in the case.

 

April 23

215 B.C. - A Temple built on Capitoline Hill is dedicated to Venus Etucionate to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasiminia.


1014 -- King Brian Bore of Ireland defeats Viking forces at the Battle of Clonlarl, freeing Ireland from outside forces

1861 Robert E. Lee named Commander of Virginia Confederate forces

1928 - Shirley Temple was borm

 

Lots of noteworthy events happened on this day, but I like this: The only instance of American forces attacking the British on their home soil during The Revolutionary War.

At 3 a.m. on April 23, 1778, Commander John Paul Jones lead a small detachment of two boats from his ship, the USS Ranger, to raid the shallow port at Whitehaven, England, but timing was not on his side for the total victory he had planned as his departure had been delayed and rowing ashore took too long.

He had planned to reach the harbor at midnight, during ebb tide, but instead his party arrived in the cold light of dawn. They successfully took one of two forts (the southern fort) guarding the harbor, but his men did not even try to take the fort to the north, so Jones set fire to the southern fort, which spread and engulfed the town.

Jones and his men then proceeded to Kirkcudbright Bay, where he intended to abduct the Earl of Selkirk, then exchange him for American sailors held captive by Britain. Although he did not find the earl at home, Jones’ crew was able to steal all his silver, including his wife’s teapot, still containing her breakfast tea.

It is not verified that his parting words were "Take that, bitch!"


Rowing towards Whitehaven Harbor:

The burning of Whitehaven:

 

On this day in history, April 23, 1564, Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon, becomes renowned writer
In the 23-year period between 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote at least 38 plays.


A statue of William Shakespeare at the Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in London, England.

Legendary playwright, poet and actor William Shakespeare is believed to have been born on this day in history, April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Shakespeare's exact date of birth was not recorded, says the website for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust — but his baptism at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon was documented as taking place on April 26, 1564.

"No records of births and deaths were made in those days. We do, however have records of his baptism on (April 26th 1564: Gulielimus, filius Johannes Shakspeare) and of his burial on (25th April 1616: Will Shakspeare, Gent)," says the website for Holy Trinity Church.