Important Events From This day in History April 25

 

 

1953 England DNA The "Secret Of Life"

1953: Two Cambridge University scientists "James D Watson and Francis Crick" publish an article in Nature Magazine explaining the structure of DNA and that DNA is the material that makes up genes which pass hereditary characteristics in all life from one parent to another. They conclude that it consists of a double helix of two strands coiled around each other and could even be considered the "secret of life". Find More What happened in 1953

2003 Human Genome Project

2003: The Human Genome Project to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA of the human genome consisting of 20,000-25,000 genes started in 1990 is published. The project started in the US with James D. Watson who was head of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health but over the next 10 years geneticists in China, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom all worked together on the project helping the project end two years earlier than planned. One of the most important aspects of this research is it available to available to anyone on the Internet and not owned or controlled by any one company or government.

1956 Elvis Presley "Heartbreak Hotel"

1956: Elvis Presley has his first number one on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart with "Heartbreak Hotel" staying number one for 8 weeks.

1923 Britain Royal Wedding

1923: The wedding of Albert Duke of York to Lady Elizabeth Rowes-Lyon in Westminster Abbey attracted large throngs of people to watch the pomp and ceremony associated with royal weddings.

1933 Diphtheria Inoculation

1933: Following the tests around the western world the inoculation in the fight against diphtheria is started with pre-school children and will include all children of school age.

1935 USA State Capitol Building Fire Oregon

1935: An immense fire ruined Oregon's state capitol building in Salem.

1954 Vietnam French Bombers

1954: French Fighters and Bombers with American supplied Corvairs had the heaviest air strikes so far in the Indochinese war against communist Vietnam troops dropping hundreds of tons in bombs.

1955 Canada St. Lawrence Seaway

1955: The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to ocean vessels seeking passage from Montreal to ports in the USA on the Great Lakes.

1960 Iran Earthquake

1960: A large earthquake has flattened the city of Lar in Iran with an estimated 400 deaths and another 450 seriously wounded.

1971 China United Nations

1971: The inclusion of China in the United Nations is urged by all sides due to it's growth and importance as a world power.

1974 Portugal Bloodless Coup

1974: A bloodless Military coup led by General Antonio de Spinola, in Portugal ends nearly 50 years of dictatorship. The Prime Minister, Dr Marcello Caetano has surrendered to General Antonio de Spinola and fled to the Portuguese island of Madeira.

1980 Canary Islands Plane Crash

1980: A Dan-Air Boeing 727 crashes into the side of a mountain due to foggy conditions and confusion between air traffic controllers and the ships captain. The aircraft was carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands and all 146 people were killed on impact.

1981 Northern Ireland Bobby Sands

1981: Nearly blind and close to death Bobby Sands in the MAZE Prison in Belfast refused to meet with Human Rights Activists , he is on hunger strike until the British Government recognize him as a Political Prisoner not as a criminal.

1982 Falkland Islands Marines Take South Georgia

1982: British Marines have retaken the remote island of South Georgia from Argentinean control as the beginning of taking back the Falkland Islands following the Argentine invasion in March of this year.

1983 Soviet Union Cold War

1983: The Soviet Union publishes a letter that Russian leader Yuri Andropov wrote to Samantha Smith, an American fifth-grader from Manchester, Maine. Andropov's letter came in response to a letter Samantha Smith had sent him in December 1982, asking if the Soviets were planning to start a nuclear war.

1992 Afghanistan Overthrow of Communist Government

1992: Islamic forces in Afghanistan take control of the country following the collapse of the Najibullah government. The country is made up of a number of War Lords and the country is plunged into civil war between the various militias, which had coexisted during the Soviet occupation. With the end of of their common enemy (Communist Rule), the militias, ethnic, clan, and religious differences took over, and civil war continued.

2006 Iran to Share Nuclear Technologies

2006: Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that his country is happy to share its nuclear technology with other nations. The Ayatollah made the offer during a meeting with the visiting Sudanese President. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has condemned the comments. Iran's top nuclear negotiator has threatened to suspend its cooperation with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog if Iran is facing sanctions. The U.N. Security Council has set Iran a deadline of April 28th to freeze its uranium enrichment. The next day in a continued attack against sanctions and threats Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announces that U.S. interests around the world will be harmed if America launches an attack against Iran. "The Iranian nation will respond to any blow with double the intensity," he said on television. Addressing the workers at Tehran's International Labourers' Day, he warned that Iran would not pay attention to U.S. "threats and intimidation". "The Iranian nation and its officials are peace-seekers and the Islamic republic would not invade anybody."

2007 Discovery of Earth-like Planet

2007: Astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet outside of this Solar System, which could have running water on its surface. The planet orbits a faint star, Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. The discovery was made using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile. The staff there have said that the planet's benign temperatures mean that water could exist there in liquid form, and that this meant that the planet could harbor life.

2008 NYPD Acquitted of Sean Bell’s Shooting

2008: A New York judge has acquitted three police officers of shooting an unarmed man hours before his wedding. Sean Bell, 23, was shot as he left a strip club in the suburb of Queens in November 2006. He died at the scene. Two detectives, Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora, had been facing manslaughter charges, and the third man, Marc Cooper, had been accused of reckless endangerment. The next day A protest has takes place in New York over the decision to clear three police officers of charges in the killing of an unarmed black man, Sean Bell. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton has told crowds in Harlem that the police had no right to shoot an unarmed man, and has called for a campaign of civil disobedience against the verdict. Sharpton went on to tell the rally he would be holding a meeting to "close this city down". Hundreds of people who packed the street front hall of his National Action Network offices were seen to chant: "Shut it down!"

2009 Calderon Decrees State of Emergency on Swine Flu

2009: The Mexican President Felipe Calderon has issued an emergency decree to give the government the power to run tests on its infected population and to isolate them for the prevention of the new swine flu spreading. Mexico City has shut its schools and museums, and has canceled sporting and cultural events. This outbreak of swine flu has killed up to sixty-eight people in the country, and is spreading north to infect the United States. Saturday's decree was published in Mexico's official journal. The decree allows the government to enter homes or workplaces, and to regulate air, sea and land transportation.

Today in Labor History April 25th, 2026

 Reverend Ralph David Abernathy

The New York Times declared the struggle for an eight-hour workday to be “un-American” and called public demonstrations for the shorter hours “labor disturbances brought about by foreigners.” Other publications declared that an eight-hour workday day would bring about “loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery and drunkenness”. – 1886

IWW Marine Transport Workers began a West Coast strike. – 1923

The founding conference of the United Nations began in San Francisco, California. – 1945

The Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and 100 others were arrested while picketing a Charleston, South Carolina hospital in a demand for union recognition. – 1969

The Supreme Court ruled that employers may not require female employees to make larger contributions to pension plans in order to obtain the same monthly benefits as men. – 1978

Over one million marched in Washington, D.C. for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights. – 1993

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

Orange County Los Angeles Times 

Get rich stealing old newspapers and bottles! - AOL

Can journalists really make a living on Substack? - Poynter

Rules of the Road for Newsrooms Grappling With Prediction Markets - Second Rough Draft

The News-Gazette launches local radio show to expand its journalism into audio - E&P Magazine

Las Vegas Sun seeks order requiring Review-Journal to resume printing newspaper - Review Journal

Important Events From This day in History April 23

 

 

1984 USA Marvin Gaye

1984: Singer Marvin Gaye the Motown singer who had numerous hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was shot to death by his father at age 45. His father was suffering from a brain tumor at the time and after pleading guilty to manslaughter was sentenced to six years of probation. Find More What happened in 1984

1985 USA Coca-Cola

1985: The Coca-Cola Company announced it has changed its formula for Coke and will known as New Coke Less than 6 months later they returned to the original formula.

1968 UK Decimalisation

1968: Decimal coins were introduced as part of decimalisation with the new 5p coin replacing 1 shilling (12 old pence) and the new 10p coin replacing 2 shillings Florin (24 old pence). The current system of pounds, shillings and pence will be replaced by Decimal currency on February 15th 1971.

1979 US Oil Company Windfall Profits Tax

1979: Major oil companies have been reporting sharp profit increases in profits , the profits have been made due to the large increases in supply prices and the President Carter is thinking of implementing a windfall profits tax on oil companies excessive profits . In 1980 The United States government did levy the tax on oil companies because of the profits they earned as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices brought about by the Arab oil embargo.

1898 Spain Declares War on United States

1898: Spain declares war on the United States on This Day 1898 after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. Following the declaration The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón in Manila Bay, the Philippines and decimated the Spanish squadron.

1922 USA Bootlegging

1922: A Bootlegging scheme where liquor was smuggled into the US from Bermuda was broken up today when on former submarine chaser ships with officers wearing the uniform of the United States Navy was broken up today when the ships and crew were seized.

1932 England Royal Shakespeare Theatre

1932: The New Royal Shakespeare Theatre opens in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, it had been rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.

1938 Austria Persecution of Jewish People

1938: Jewish shopkeepers in Vienna were forced to picket their own shops with placards saying don't buy from Jews in 1938, they were forced to do this by members of the Hitler Youth Movement, at the same time the librarian of the national library was given a list of non Arian works to be removed from the library.

1939 Spain Franco Government Recognized

1939: Following the end of the civil war in Spain the United States recognizes the Franco government.

1940 USA Night Club Fire

1940: More than 200 African Americans died today when fire broke out in the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez , Mississippi.

1944 Germany World War II

1944: 2000 bombers and fighters from Britain and another 1000 launched from Italy launched an attack on German Plane Plants in Germany, Bucharest and Ploesti. General MacArthur isolated 100,000 Japanese Troops in New Guinea when beachheads were established at Hollandia and Aitape in New Guinea.

1945 Okinawa World War II

1945: The United States Tenth Army landed yesterday morning on Okinawa, 362 miles from the Japanese mainland. The landings and assault on the Island met with much less resistance than was expected from the Japanese.

1957 Radar Devices Used to Enforce Speed Limits

1957: More police forces throughout the United States are to buy and use a greater number of portable speed radar checking devices to enforce speed limits.

1967 Soviet Cosmonaut Dies in Accident

1967: Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his parachute fails to deploy during his Soyuz I spacecraft landing.

1970 USA Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act

1970: President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act which would ban the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio beginning on January 2nd, 1971.

1979 UK National Front

1979: Thousands of protesters gathered to demonstrate against a National Front campaign meeting in Southall London and one protestor, a teacher, is killed.

1983 USA Renewable Energy

1983: A think tank in Washington predicted by the year 2000 50% of the worlds energy resources will be met from renewable energy sources. In 2004, oil accounted for 37.6%, natural gas for 25.6%, and coal for 23.1%. The total for Non-Renewable Energy Sources was 85.2%, so predictions were somewhat wrong.

1984 USA AIDS

1984: Researchers announced have discovered and isolated a virus they say is likely to be the primary cause of AIDS, the mysterious and deadly disease that destroys the body's protective immune system.

1998 USA James Earl Ray

1998: James Earl Ray, the convicted killer of the black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, has died from a terminal liver disease while still incarcerated. He protested his innocence to the murder till the end.

2001 Serbia Slobodan Milosevic

2001: Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is arrested on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement by Serbian authorities at his Belgrade villa.

Today in Labor History April 23, 2026

 

Ida Mae Stull

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) was founded, representing millions of workers in Canada. - 1956

Ida Mae Stull died on this date. She was nationally recognized as the country’s first female coal miner. – 1980

United Farm Workers of America founder Cesar Chavez died in San Luis, Arizona, at the age of 66. – 1993

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

The Approval Matrix Revolutions - Puck News

Stop delaying what truly matters - E&P Magazine

Inside the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette turnaround: What its new owners plan next - E&P Reports

What types of news do Americans seek out or happen to come across? - Pew Research Center

Report shows survivor voices missing in news stories of gender violence and misogyny - JUK

Important Events From This day in History April 22

 

  

1964 USA World's Fair

1964: The third major World's Fair to be held in New York City opens (1853 / 1854) (1939 / 1940). It was the largest World's Fair ever held in the United States, occupying nearly a square mile (2.6 km²) of land. More fifty million people attended the Fair.

1889 USA Oklahoma Land Rush

1889: The Oklahoma Land run begins with an estimated 50,000 people lined up at noon hoping to stake a claim for a homestead. The claim could be up to 160 acres in size and it included most of the following Oklahoma Counties, Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne (in total about 2 million acres). This land had previously been occupied by Native Americans but the Indian Appropriations Bill approved the transfer of two million acres for settlement.

2000 USA Elian Gonzalez

2000: The six year old little boy Elian Gonzalez who survived a shipwreck in which his mother who was trying to enter the US as an illegal immigrant drowned, is taken by a swat team from other Cuban relatives in Miami. Following a number of court battles the little boy is returned to his father in Cuba.

1983 Germany Hitler Diaries

1983: The West German news magazine Stern publish the first of the Hitler Diaries they had discovered which included 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler. However soon after publication, they were revealed by scientific testing to be forged.

1915 Belgium Poison Gas

1915: Poison gas is used by the Germans for the first time in World War I with devastating effect.

1928 Greece Major Earthquake

1928: Central Greece is in the grip of a major earthquake the town of Corinth has been virtually destroyed and a number of tremors have been felt in Athens.

1938 Japan Launches Offensive

1938: Japan has launched a second offensive against China in the Shantung offensive.

1943 USA Japanese Prisoners of War

1943: The US War Department has stated publicly that Japanese Prisoners of War will be treated decently.

1952 USA Live Atomic Bomb Test

1952: For the first time in history, viewers witnessed live the detonation of an atomic bomb at the U.S. testing site in Yucca Flat, Nevada on Television, The Atomic bomb tested was larger than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs

1961: President Fidel Castro of Cuba will make his first public announcements since the insurgent forces invasion on the bay of Pigs last week on TV and Radio nationwide, also the Russian leader Khrushchev has denounced the invasion and has stated publicly that he holds the United States directly responsible for this gangsterism against Cuba.

1970 USA Earth Day

1970: Earth Day was observed yesterday for the first time coordinated by "Denis Hayes" and 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. To understand the significance of this achievement we must remember that in the 60's cars were getting larger and one of the least important things looked at when buying a car was the MPG, and prior to 1970 environmental issues were discussed very little if at all by most people. But a U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson stated that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. TV and Newspapers including the influential New York Times started discussing environmental issues and over the next few years from 1971 a realization dawned on ordinary people that what we did affected the Earth environment.

1971 Haiti Papa Doc

1971: Haiti's dictator, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, has died after 14 years in power.

1972 USA Anti-War Demonstrations

1972: Antiwar demonstrations draw 100,000 demonstrators in cities across America including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.

1980 Liberia Military Coup

1980: Following a military coup a number of leading officials including former cabinet ministers of the ousted government in Liberia are publicly executed on the orders of the new military regime.

1988 USA Basketball

1988: Two new Florida basketball teams are announced the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. .

1992 Mexico Guadalajara Sewer Explosions

1992: A series of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico caused by a build up of gas after an earlier gas leak, kill more than 200 people and damage 1,000 buildings.

1993 USA Holocaust Memorial Museum

1993: Holocaust Memorial Museum opens in Washington D.C. The Museum is dedicated to documenting, studying, and interpreting the history of the Holocaust and serves as the US official memorial to the millions of Jews and others killed during the Holocaust under directives of Nazi Germany.

1997 Peru Japanese Embassy Siege

1997: After a 126-day siege of the Japanese embassy in Peru, troops storm the embassy and free all but one of 72 hostages held inside, ending a four-month siege of the building by Tupac Amaru rebels.

2005 USA Terrorist Pleads Guilty

2005: Zacarias Moussaoui (a French citizen of Moroccan descent) pleads guilty to conspiring with other al-Qaeda members as part of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was later sentenced to life in prison and is serving a life sentence at the Federal ADX Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.

2006 Chinese President Hu Jintao Visits Saudi Arabia

2006: The Chinese President Hu Jintao has begun a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia. Aimed at strengthening ties between China and its main oil supplier, he was following this from his visit to the United States. China's need for oil has pushed crude prices to above $75 a barrel in New York for the first time. Saudi Arabia has started to open its economy to the outside world, and is looking at its export opportunities in Asia. The kingdom had joined the World Trade Organization in December, 2005.

Today in Labor History April 22

 

Hazel Dickens

The first known slave revolt in America occurred, just eight years after the first slaves were brought from Africa to the Americas. – 1526

One of the worst disasters in Virginia mining history occurred at the Red Jacket Coal Corporation mine near Grundy in Buchanan County. All 45 men in the mine at the time died when coal dust ignited, causing blasts that were felt two miles away.- 1938

The first U.S. atmospheric nuclear bomb test occurred at Yucca Flat, Nevada. The test was observed by U.S. Marines who were used as human guinea pigs to test the effects of radiation on humans. – 1952

50,000 people marched in New York City against the wars in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Another 30,000 marched in San Francisco.  – 1972

Songwriter, musician and activist Hazel Dickens dies at age 75.  Among her songs: “They’ll Never Keep Us Down” and “Working Girl Blues.”  Cultural blogger John Pietaro: “Dickens didn’t just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them. Her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her into the cause”. – 2011

"Newspapers" – In Shadows of the American Dream

 

Monday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

FBI Director Kash Patel threatens to sue The Atlantic - Poynter

Hey, Washington: Guess who’s coming to dinner - The New York Times

New research reveals best practices for newsrooms on TikTok - Missouri School of Journalism

Test your First Amendment knowledge with Freedom free quizzes and newsroom-ready content - EP

As statehouse coverage shrinks, student journalists are stepping in to fill the void - Student Press Report

Important Events From This day in History April 20th

 

 

1999 Columbine High School Shooting

1999: Two students (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) wearing balaclavas go through Columbine High School in Denver, Colorado, firing automatic weapons and throwing homemade bombs killing 13 people and wounded 24 others before the two students committed suicide. They had originally planted two home made bombs in the cafeteria and were planning on murdering the students as they ran from the building, when the bombs failed to go off they went into the school and began the massacre.

1957 UK Mayflower Replica Sets Sail

1957: A replica of the original Mayflower which transported Pilgrims to the New World Mayflower II recreating the original voyage sets sail from from Brixton, England, across the Atlantic arriving in Plymouth, Massachusetts on 13th June 1957. The Mayflower II was an exact copy of the original with no engine which took 55 days to complete the journey, The Mayflower II is currently at Plimoth Plantation Museum at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Find More What happened in 1957

1961 Texas Sales Tax Introduced

1961: The House Members in Texas approved a bill for a general retail sales tax of $2 on all sales in Texas but all foods, medicines and Farm Machinery will be exempt.

1871 Third Force Act also known as the "Ku Klux Act" Passed

1871: Congress authorizes 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).

1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fires

1906: Firefighters finally end the spread of flames in San Francisco after the earthquake two days earlier on April 18th. The earthquake caused large parts of the city to burn and it had taken 2 days of constant fire fighting to stop the spread and bring the fires under control. Nearly 700 people lost their lives from the earthquake and fires and 200,000 were left homeless.

1914 USA Striking Miners

1914: Men, women and children were killed today when violence broke out between militiamen and striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado.

1916 United States Wrigley Field

1916: First game at Weeghman Park (renamed Wrigley Field 1926 after William Wrigley bought controlling interest in the Cubs) home of the Chicago Cubs between Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds.

1929 US World's Tallest Building Planned

1929: Plans were announced to build the tallest building in the world in New York for the bank of Manhattan which will be 63 stories high.

1934 USA Robbery at Iredell State Bank

1934: Local Texas Newspaper reports a robber identified as the notorious south western outlaw Clyde Barrow robbed the Iredell State Bank, it was not known if he had an accomplice with him in the getaway car a red Plymouth Convertible.
A visitor to The People History Dave Mitchell, the grandson of the bank owner, has taken the time to contact me with the true facts of the case:
"Clyde Barrow did not hold up the Iredell Texas Bank on that date. It was a former associate of Raymond Hamilton (who once ran with Barrow) named George Henry Ward. There was a lone occupant of the bank at the time of the robbery, my father Roi C. Mitchell, who was 20 years old at the time. His father, my grandfather, owned the bank. While the younger Mitchell was attempting to open the safe for Ward, a local resident (a distant relative of mine) entered the bank's back door, and Ward panicked and fled (in a pickup truck, not a red convertible) without getting any money. He was later arrested in Fort Worth. Although I was born 13 years after the incident, it was related to me on many occasions by my father. I have a copy of Ward's mugshots if you are interested."
I think what this shows as much as anything is that even back more than 80 years ago newspaper reporting was sensationalist much as it can be today.

1945 USA "Your Lucky Hit Parade"

1945: For the first time on radio, the show "Your Lucky Hit Parade" is broadcast in homes all over the country. It last for nearly 25 years before television led to its downfall in popularity.

1945 Germany World War II

1945: The German Army in Leipzig surrendered and U.S. troops now control Leipzig and now continue the march to Munich.

1953 North Korea Prison Camps

1953: More information is coming out as the continued exchange of prisoners held in North Korea continue of semi-starvation, calculated brutality and forced marches in communist prison camps.

1975 Vietnam Communist Final Push

1975: Communists have amassed 100,000 troops and Armour on the outskirts of Saigon for a final push and President Thieu has resigned saying the US promised aid which has not been forthcoming.

1983 Iraq Car Bombs

1983: 2 cars packed with high explosives blew up in Baghdad today killing and injuring a large number of people, the bombings have been blamed on Iran by Saddam Hussein the Iraq President.

1990 USSR Economy Worsens

1990: The economy in USSR continues to worsen with more food and other items becoming scarcer and more rationing put in place.

2005 USA New Bankruptcy Law

2005: President George W. Bush signed the "New Bankruptcy Law" making it harder for debt-ridden people to wipe clean their financial slates by declaring bankruptcy. The Act of Congress attempts to make it more difficult for consumers to discharge debt (under which most debts are forgiven or discharged) under Chapter 7 (Chapter 7 which was the most common form of bankruptcy in the United States). The second most popular form of Bankruptcy Chapter 13 was "reorganization," or debt adjustment. **** Personal Opinion *** It appears from reading that due to some means test associated with the new laws approximately 85% of debtors are not subject to its "means test" and a large percentage of the rest are able to "pass" the means test. And although Chapter 7 is slightly more complicated it appears it is still in wide spread use.

2008 The Pope visits Ground Zero

2008: Benedict XVI has visited Ground Zero in New York, the scene of the 11 September 2001 attacks on Twin Towers, at the end of his six-day tour of the United States. He has greeted survivors, fire and police workers, and relatives of some of the 2,749 people who died there. The Pope prayed for the rescuers and victims, as well as "those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred". He then celebrated Mass at New York's Yankee stadium.

2009 Oracle Agrees to Buy Sun Microsystems

2009: The database giant Oracle has agreed to buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion in cash. The unexpected move follows I.B.M.'s walkout of an earlier attempt to purchase it. Oracle has said that the boards of both firms have approved the transaction, and it is expected to take place over the summer of 2009. It is still subject to shareholder approval, as well as regulatory requirements.

2010 US Supreme Court Allows Animal Cruelty Videos

2010: The Supreme Court has ruled that a law which makes it illegal to sell videos of animals being tortured violates the right to free speech. Chief Justice John Roberts said that the law was too broad and invalid to be used under the First Amendment. The ruling is a victory for Robert Stevens, who was sentenced in 2005 to three years for making and selling videos of dog fights. The 1999 law that was used to convict him was intended to prevent depictions of animal cruelty. It was adopted by Congress and originally aimed at limiting internet sales of "crush" videos which show women crushing small animals with high-heeled shoes. Stevens has argued that the videos were intended to educate people about the pit bull breed and that he was not trying to promote illegal dog-fighting.

2010 US Deepwater Horizon Explodes

2010: The Transocean / BP Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible offshore oil drilling rig explodes and is followed by a fire that engulfed the platform, the platform is located 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and injured 17 others. Following the explosion a sea-floor oil gusher began pumping oil directly into the water, by the time the gusher was capped in mid July more than 200 million gallons of crude oil were released into the environment, causing an environmental disaster including extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. Investigations are still ongoing to define who is exactly to blame with the guilty parties including Transocean, BP, Halliburton Energy Service. Questions are also asked over the cozy relationship between Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. BOEMRE and the oil and gas industry.

2011 Japan Legally Enforces Evacuation Zone

2011: Japan declared it illegal to enter the twelve mile evacuation zone around the Fukushima nuclear plant. The evacuation had originally been voluntary but because of an increased danger risk due to radiation leaks the country decided to ban entry into the area with either a fine or jail time as punishment for defying the ban. Police had stated that around sixty families were still living in the area before the ban.

2012 Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano Spews Rock and Ash

2012: Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano, the second highest peak in the country, had been spewing rock fragments down its slopes and spewing columns of ash from openings in the crust. The volcano had its last major eruption in 2000. The assistant mayor of a nearby town warned people to take the activity seriously and the National Disaster Prevention Center of the country raised the alert level around the volcano.

2013 Iraq Holds First Election Since US Troops

2013: Provincial elections were held for the first time in Iraq since US troops left the country in 2011. The election also marked the first time Iraqi forces were in charge of security during an election since the 2003 US invasion.

2014 Iranian President Calls For Women's Rights

2014: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani makes a speech about the importance of equal rights and opportunities for women in Iran. Iran has come under foreign scrutiny before for having laws that are perceived to discriminate against women in the country. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei showed disagreement by stating that equality is not always the correct path and that women's freedoms should not conflict with their roles in a family.

Today in Labor History April 20, 2026

 Ludlow, Colorado

10,000 demonstrators celebrated textile workers’ win of a 10-percent pay hike and grievance committees after a one-month strike in Lowell, Massachusetts. – 1912

The Ludlow Massacre occurred in Colorado. National Guards opened fire on a mining camp during a strike in Ludlow, Colorado, killing five miners, two women, and twelve children. By the end of the strike, more than 75 people had been killed. The strike involved 10,000 members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1,200 of whom had been living in the Ludlow tent colony. Many of the “Guards” were actually goons and vigilantes hired by the Ludlow Mine Field owner, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who were temporarily sworn into the State Militia for the occasion. During the assault, they opened fire on strikers and their families with machine guns and set fire to the camp.
Mining was (and still is) a dangerous job. At the time, Colorado miners were dying on the job at a rate of more than 7 deaths per 1,000 employees. The working conditions were not only unsafe, but terribly unfair, too. Workers were paid by the ton for coal that they extracted but were unpaid for so-called “dead work” like shoring up unstable roofs and tunnels. This system encouraged miners to risk their lives by ignoring safety precautions and preparations so that they would have more time to extract and deliver coal. Miners also lived in “company towns” where the boss not only owned their housing and the stores that supplied their food and clothing but charged inflated prices for these services. Furthermore, the workers were paid in “scrip”, a currency that was valid only in the company towns. So even if workers had a way to get to another store, they had no money to purchase anything. Therefore, much of what the miners earned went back into the pockets of their bosses. – 1914

United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassins. He survived and ultimately died in a plane crash in 1970. Reuther also survived an attempted kidnapping in April 1938, while his brother Victor was shot and nearly killed by police in 1949. The UAW headquarters was also bombed in 1949. Both Walter and Victor were again nearly killed in a small private plane near Dulles Airport. Despite this history of attempts on his life, virtually no media addressed the possibility that his actual death may have been an assassination. – 1948

The National Association of Post Office Mail Handlers, Watchmen, Messengers & Group Leaders merged with Laborers. – 1968

United Auto Workers members ended a successful 172-day strike against International Harvester, protesting management demands for new work rules and mandatory overtime provisions. – 1980

Eleven workers were killed and 17 injured when BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico. Lax, profit-focused procedures “that saved … significant time and money” for BP and other companies were found to blame. An estimated 5 million barrels of oil gushed into the Gulf before the well was capped after 85 days. – 2010

Sunday Morning in the Blogosphere

 

This Billionaire Wants To Save America’s Newspapers - Forbes

Here’s why a printed weekly newspaper is important - Wilcox Newspapers

Chinese AI firm suspected of hacking area newspaper’s Facebook - The New Era

TV weatherman saves newspapers, forecasts fair winds and growth - The Seattle Times

Online Personalities and Comedians Overtake TV and Newspapers as Primary News Sources - HR

Important Events From This day in History April 19

 

 

1995 USA Oklahoma Bombing

1995: A truck full of explosives destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people. In 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the bombing and on June 11, 2001 he was executed by lethal injection.

1943 Poland Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

1943: On the eve of Passover, April 19, 1943, the police and SS auxiliary forces entered the Ghetto under the command of SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, planning to clean out insurgents who had begun an uprising in January. But Jewish insurgents, who shot and launched Molotov cocktails and hand grenades at them from alleyways forced them to halt the exercise and withdraw. SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg was replaced by Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop who proceeded with a better organized assault that included artillery support and on April 29, 1943, the Jewish resistance was crushed. Following two years of misery for thousands of Jews forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazi's where they had been starved, and living with disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps which had dropped the population of the ghetto from an estimated 450,000 to approximately 71,000. The Nazi's planned effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the Treblinka extermination camp caused the Jewish people to begin a revolt against the Nazi's beginning on January 18th, 1943.

1993 USA Waco Cult Raid

1993: An assault on the Waco cult headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas ends in a deadly fire (believed to have been started by those inside) and ends with the death of 70 cult members including the cults leader Mr Koresh. The buildings have been surrounded since February when four agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were killed as they attempted to arrest Mr Koresh on firearms charges.

1897 USA Boston Marathon

1897: The Worlds oldest annual marathon run in Boston, Massachusetts, United States races for the first time. The Boston Marathon ranks as one of the world's most prestigious road racing events with an average of 20,000 taking part. The marathon is one of five members of the World Marathon Majors which include the cities of Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.

1927 Mae West Sentenced

1927: Mae West was sentenced for an obscene stage performance to ten days in a work house and fined $500.

1928 China Civil War

1928: The combined nationalist Northern Armies under Chiang continue drive onto Peking as part of the Civil war continuing in China.

1934 USA Shirley Temple

1934: Shirley Temple appears in the American musical movie with many well known actors and actresses steals the show and goes on to appear in 10 movies in 1934 , including 4 starring roles in major feature-length films.

1936 German Military

1936: In the biggest show of military strength since World War I Germany pays homage to Hitler with a show of 300 tanks.

1940 Jimmy Dorsey

1940: Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra record the song "Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga."

1942 France Vichy Government

1942: The New Vichy Government Headed by Pierre Laval at the bidding of his German masters in an attempt to bring the insurgent french people back into line with Nazi ruling by promising to protect the people from the Nazi Regime by gaining concessions.

1945 Popular Musical Carousel

1945: The popular musical "Carousel" opens at the prominent Majestic Theatre in New York City. The production was based on the 1909 play by Ferenc Molnar about a man named Liliom and his lover, Julie.

1956 Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier Honeymoon

1956: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier start their honeymoon on Deo Javante II 138 ft Yacht but due to heavy seas spent the night in the harbor.

1961 Cuba Bay of Pigs

1961: On April 17th 1,500 CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles invade southern Cuba at the "Bay of Pigs" by the 19th 118 are killed and 1,202 are captured by Cuban forces. President Kennedy inherited the operation from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and approved the operation but it has to be one of the worst planned and executed covert invasions in modern times poorly thought out, as Cuban and Soviet Forces knew almost to the day where and when the operation would occur.

1969 Students Occupy Willard Straight Hall

1969: Militant black students at Cornell Univ. use force to take over Willard Straight Hall demanding a black studies program, after a deal was reached with the administration the news showed students leaving the hall carrying rifles although they were never used.

1972 Lunar Rover Apollo 16

1972: Apollo 16 the fifth mission to land on the Moon with astronauts John W Young and Charles M Duke are preparing to descend from lunar orbit and land on the moons surface in the Descartes Mountains, When landed they drove an electric powered Lunar Rover to explore fully the Descartes Plateau. Young and Duke spent three days exploring the Descartes highland region and testing the Lunar Rover getting up to a top speed of eleven miles per hour which still stands as the record speed for any wheeled vehicle on the Moon.

1987 USA The Simpsons

1987: The Simpsons which had originally been created as a series of shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show with the first showing on This Day 1987

1989 Central Park Attack on Jogger

1989: On the 19th approximately 30 teenage perpetrators committed several attacks, assaults, and robberies in the northernmost part of New York City's Central Park. Around the same time an attack on Trisha Meili occurred, who was jogging on her own on her usual path in Central Park shortly before 9 pm. She was raped and beaten almost to death, at 1:30 AM she was found naked, gagged, and tied up, covered in mud and blood. Five juveniles (called the "Central Park 5") were interviewed for hours about the crime and intimidated into confessions. Since no DNA evidence tied the suspects to the crime, the prosecution's case rested almost entirely on the confessions. They were all found guilty but the convictions were overturned in 2002 after Matias Reyes, a convicted rapist and murderer, confessed to the crime and was linked to it with DNA evidence. The city was forced to pay out $41 million in damages.

2001 South Africa Aids Drugs Profit Before The Lives Of Millions

2001: The world's biggest pharmaceutical companies bring legal action to fight legislation which would allow generic versions of their patented drugs being made in or imported to South Africa. Following uproar around the world and the pharmaceutical industry accused of putting profit before the lives of millions of people in the developing world, they have backed out of the court battle over cheap, non-branded anti-Aids drugs and also after dropping the case, agree to sell Aids drugs at cost price in developing countries - a discount of up to 90%.

2005 Vatican Pope Benedict XVI

2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II The new Pope has taken the name Pope Benedict XVI and is the head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

Today in Labor History April 19

 

Oklahoma City bombing

On April 19, 1861, the first blood of the American Civil War is shed when a secessionist mob in Baltimore attacks Massachusetts troops bound for Washington, D.C. Four soldiers and 12 rioters were killed - 1861

The Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike:

This strike, the first of the West Virginia Mine Wars, saw workers in the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek coal fields walk off the job - 1912

More than 6,000 furniture workers went on strike in Grand Rapids, Michigan, over hours, wages, working conditions, and the right to bargain collectively. The strike – which affected nearly all of the 60+ furniture manufacturers in the city – lasted throughout the summer, bringing much of the city to a standstill for four months. A monument, “The Spirit of Solidarity,” was dedicated in 2007 to the striking workers. – 1919

An American domestic terrorist bomb destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people, 99 of whom were government employees. – 1995

Saturday Morning in the Blogosphere

The Globe Lobby at the Los Angeles Times

 

Pete Hegseth uses the Bible to demonize the press - Poynter

Why traditional British newsagents are on their last legs - BBC

Journalism job cuts in 2026 tracked: BBC to cut up to 2,000 jobs - Press Gazette

Why is everyone wicked obsessed with this Boston Globe reporter? - The New York Times

How Tangle is rebuilding trust in news through transparent multi-perspective reporting - EP