🌟 Editor's Note
Good morning — it’s Monday, April 20. Today we're jumping into some pretty wild topics: the first pasteurization test, the Ku Klux Klan Act, Cuba's Mariel Boatlift, the tragic Columbine High School massacre, the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the world’s most powerful rocket, and a bunch more—quick, to the point, and all good stuff.
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🚀 Time Machine
-1862
Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the first pasteurization test.
-1871
The Third Enforcement Act allowed President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist organizations.
-1902
Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive compound radium chloride.
-1933
The United States went off the gold standard when Congress passed a resolution nullifying creditors' right to demand payment in gold.
-1968
British politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech.
-1977
Woody Allen's "Annie Hall," starring Diane Keaton, was released. (Academy Award for Best Picture in 1978)
-1980
Algeria's Berber Spring culminates in the arrest of hundreds of Berber political activists.
-1980
The Castro regime permits Cubans to emigrate to the U.S., starting the Mariel Boatlift, with the first 125,000 refugees arriving in Florida the next day.
-1999
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 and injured 24 at Columbine High School in Colorado before committing suicide.
-2008
Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, becoming the first female driver to win an IndyCar Series race.
-2010
The Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11, sank the rig, and led to a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
-2023
Starship, SpaceX's most powerful rocket with 33 booster engines, exploded four minutes into its first test flight, blaming Elon Musk's rush to launch.
📸 Snapshot
Here's what Abraham Lincoln had in his pockets the night he was assassinated, 1865
🗨️ Last Words
“It's coming to an end for me, I'm sinking, I'm sinking!”