April 20, 1534 – Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, set
sail from St. Malo, beginning his first voyage to what is today the east coast
of Canada, the island of Newfoundland and Labrador.
April 20, 1775 – During the Revolutionary War, the Siege of
Boston began, following the battles at Lexington and Concord.
April 20, 1775 - Virginia's Royal Governor Lord Dunmore
attempted to take the gunpowder from the Williamsburg magazine. Patrick Henry
led Patriots in standoff with Dunmore's troops until a settlement was
negotiated by Carter Braxton.
April 20, 1777 - In Kingston, the first New York state
constitution was formally adopted by the Convention of Representatives of the
State of New York.
April 20, 1789 – George Washington arrived at Grays Ferry,
Philadelphia while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration.
April 20, 1801 – John Sampey Sr., one of Conecuh County,
Alabama’s original settlers, cattle farmers and Methodists, was born in
Belfast, Ireland.
April 20, 1818 – Burnt Corn was first mentioned on this day
in the Acts of the Post Roads, an act that established a postal road “from Fort
Mitchell, by Fort Bainbridge, Fort Jackson, Burnt Corn Springs, Fort Claiborne
and the Town of Jackson to St. Stephens.”
April 20, 1832 - Hot Springs National Park was established
by an act of the U.S. Congress. It was the first national park in the U.S.
April 20, 1836 – U.S. Congress passed an act creating the
Wisconsin Territory.
April 20, 1841 - In Philadelphia, Pa., Edgar Allen Poe's
first detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," was published
in Graham's Magazine. His story has been credited with launching the detective
genre or the 'whodunit' into popular culture.
April 20, 1850 – Sculptor Daniel Chester French 1850 was
born in Exeter, N.H. He created the Minute Man statue in Concord, Mass. and the
Abraham Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
April 20, 1861 – During the Civil War, Robert E. Lee resigned
his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the
state of Virginia. Two days earlier he had been offered command of the Union
army.
April 20, 1861 – During the Civil War, the Federal arsenal at Liberty, Mo. was seized by state troops.
April 20, 1862 – Durig the Civil War, Federal naval forces removed some of the Confederate-placed obstacles from the Mississippi River below Fort Jackson and Fort St Philip, La.
April 20, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Bloomfield and Patterson, Mo.; and at Sandy Ridge, N.C. A 10-day Federal operation between Murfreesborough and McMinnville, Tenn. began. A three-day Federal operation between Belle Paine and Port Royal, Va. began. Federal reconnaissance from Winchester to Wardenville and then to Strasburg, Va. began. Opelousas and Washington, La. were occupied by Federal forces.
April 20, 1864 - The Battle of Plymouth ended with the
rebels capturing Plymouth, N.C. Confederates had attacked four days before in
an attempt to recapture forts that had been lost to the Union two years before.
April 20, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Camden and Jacksonport, Ark.; and at Natchitoches and Waterproof, La.
April 20, 1865 – During the Civil War, Federal forces occuppied Macon, Ga.
April 20, 1871 - With passage of the Third Force Act, popularly known as the Ku Klux Act, Congress authorized President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Passage of the Ku Klux Act led to nine South Carolina counties being placed under martial law and thousands of arrests. In 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Ku Klux Act unconstitutional, but by that time Reconstruction had ended, and the KKK had faded away.
April 20, 1889 - Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn,
Austria-Hungary.
April 20, 1895 – Three days after the “atrocious murder” of
Watts Murphy, the posse having custody of the murderers were met by an armed
mob near the Buckalew place on this Saturday night, and took the prisoners by
force and hung them, leaving their bodies dangling from the limbs of trees.
April 20, 1896 - The Spring Term of the Circuit Court of
Monroe County, Ala. was scheduled to convene on this Monday with the petit jury
to be organized on Thurs. April 23. Emmons was Circuit Clerk and Anderson was
the Judge. There were two to three capital cases on the criminal docket.
April 20, 1905 – The Monroe Journal reported that Will
Ptomey, who shot and seriously injured Prof. Claude Hardy at Pine Apple, Ala. a
few weeks before, had supposedly been captured at Waco, Texas. A reward of
several hundred dollars had been offered.
April 20, 1905 – The Monroe Journal reported that the
Brewton, Ala. grand jury had indicted F.L. Hancock, who was charged with
first-degree muder in connection with the killing Prof. Jessee Troutman at
Canoe on Jan. 1, 1905.
April 20, 1907 – A large “Memorial Day” celebration was held
at Tunnel Springs, Ala. and the featured speaker was the Hon. W.R. Sawyer of
Montgomery.
April 20, 1912 – Opening day for baseball's Tiger Stadium in
Detroit and Fenway Park in Boston.
April 20, 1914 – The Ludlow Massacre occurred in Ludlow,
Colo. after the National Guard opened fire on a group of striking coal miners.
April 20, 1915 – Confederate veteran W.T. Waren passed away
at the age of 80 at Roy, Ala. while visiting one of his sons, Tunly Waren. Born
on Nov. 30, 1834, he enlisted in Co. A, 23rd Alabama Regiment in August 1861
and returned home in April 1865.
April 20, 1916 – The Chicago Cubs played their first game at
Weeghman Park (currently Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 7–6, in
11 innings.
April 20, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that, after
spending the winter at their ranch home at Perdue Hill, Ala., Mr. and Mrs. V.J.
Reinke returned to LaSalle, Ill. for a few months.
April 20, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that it was
learned as The Journal went to press that Capt. Thos. S. Wiggins was “seriously
ill and grave apprehensions are felt by his family and friends.” Wiggins had
been in poor health for several months.
April 20, 1916 – In this day’s edition of The Conecuh
Record, “Hughes the Jeweler” announced that “during the month of April I am
going to sell my beautiful $10.75 diamond rings for $8.50 and my $15.75 ones
for $11.50. They are 14-karat solid gold mountings and beautiful genuine cut
diamonds.”
April 20, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that J.L.
McKinley had been advised of his reappointment as rural carrier on motor Rural
Route No. 1. The route was to be extended so as to cover a much wider area and
to serve a larger population.
April 20, 1920 - In Starkville, Miss. and Waco, Ala., 88
people were killed by a tornado.
April 20, 1921 – The Evergreen Courant reported that more
than six inches of rain had fallen during the past week, including 3.5 inches
on April 11 and nearly three inches on April 15.
April 20, 1921 – In Butler County, Ala. Circuit Court, Jake
Crenshaw, who was charged with the murder of Mrs. Foster Gafford, was convicted
the second time and sentenced by Judge Gamble to hang on May 30.
April 20, 1925 – Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle
Ernie Stautner was born in Prinzing near Cham, Bavaria, Germany. He went on to
play for Boston College and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 1969.
April 20, 1930 – Lambert C. Mims, who would serve four terms
as Mayor of Mobile, was born in Uriah, Ala.
April 20, 1937 – Ralph Clyde “Shorty” Propst, former Alabama
football star, visited Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Ala. during a
recruiting trip for Memphis College (now Rhodes College).
April 20, 1939 – Fantasy writer Peter S. Beagle was born in
New York City. He is best known for his 1968 book, “The Last Unicorn.”
April 20, 1939
– Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday was celebrated as a national holiday in Nazi
Germany.
April 20, 1945 – Heisman Trophy winning football player and
coach Steve Spurrier was born in Miami Beach, Fla.
April 20, 1945 – During World War II, Adolf Hitler made his
last trip to the surface from his Führerbunker to award Iron Crosses to boy
soldiers of the Hitler Youth.
April 20, 1949 - H.L. Riley assumed his duties as policeman
for the City of Evergreen, Ala. on this Wednesday, succeeding R.Z. Wells, who
resigned the week before to enter business for himself. Riley had been assigned
to daytime duties. He was elected at a special meeting of the City Council held
Monday morning, April 18. Riley was no novice at this job, he having served the
City in this capacity for a number of years once before.
April 20, 1951 – The first organizational meeting of what
would become Monroeville Little League was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Monroe
County Courthouse in Monroeville, Ala.
April 20, 1953 – British novelist Sebastian Faulks was born
in Newbury, England.
April 20, 1959 – Astronomer Morris K. Jessup, the author of
“The Case for the UFO,” was found dead in Dade County, Fla., and his death was
ruled a suicide. He was heavily involved in earlier research of the
“Philadelphia Experiment.”
April 20, 1959 – The 13th Annual Conecuh County
Fat Calf Show was scheduled to be held at the Conecuh Cooperative Stockyards.
Assistant County Agent John Horne, J.H. Witherington and W.S. Coker made up a
committee in charge of the show, and the committee took the place of the
Evergreen Junior Chamber of Commerce as sponsors of the show. The local Jaycees
founded the show in 1947 and had sponsored it each year since, but the group
disbanded in the fall of 1958. About 40 head of cattle were expected to be
shown during the event.
April 20, 1961 - FM stereo broadcasting was approved by the
FCC.
April 20, 1964 - County 4-H’ers and FFA’ers were scheduled
to exhibit some 50 fine, fed fat calves in the annual Conecuh County 4-H &
FFA Fat Calf Show on this Monday. The show was scheduled to get underway at 9
a.m. in the show ring at Conecuh Cooperative Stockyard on North Main Street in
Evergreen, Ala.
April 20, 1970 - In a televised speech, President Nixon pledged to withdraw 150,000 more U.S. troops over the next year “based entirely on the progress” of the Vietnamization program.
April 20, 1971 - The Pentagon released figures confirming that fragging incidents are on the rise. In 1970, 209 such incidents caused the deaths of 34 men; in 1969, 96 such incidents cost 34 men their lives. Fragging was a slang term used to describe U.S. military personnel tossing of fragmentation hand grenades (hence the term “fragging”) usually into sleeping areas to murder fellow soldiers. It was usually directed primarily against unit leaders, officers, and noncommissioned officers.
April 20, 1976
– Actor, game show host and singer Joey Lawrence was born in Philadelphia, Pa.
April 20, 1979 -
Millie Steans Cunningham, a native of Evergreen, Ala. who died on Nov. 18, 1978
in the infamous massacre and mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, South America,
was buried at First Zion Church Cemetery in Conecuh County.
April 20, 1981 – The
36th Annual Conecuh County 4H and FFA Steer Show was scheduled to be held at
the Evergreen, Ala. Cooperative Stockyard Livestock Arena.
April 20, 1985
– The ATF raided The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in
northern Arkansas.
April 20, 1986 –
Pitcher Roger Clemens, then just 23 years old, had broken Steve
Carlton’s modern (post-1900) record of 19 strikeouts in a single game during an
outing against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass.
April 20, 1998 – According to the “USA Snapshots” feature in
this day’s issue of USA Today, 52 percent of all adult Americans believe that
encounters with the dead (ghosts) are possible.
April 20, 2010 - In the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater
Horizon oil platform exploded. Eleven workers were killed.
April 20, 2015 – Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle
Bob St. Clair died at the age of 84 in Santa Rosa, Calif. During his career, he
played for the University of San Francisco, Tulsa and the San Francisco 49ers.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.
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