Today in history

  • Monday, April 21, 2014 8:10pm
  • Life

Today is Tuesday, April 22, the 112th day of 2014. There are 253 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On April 22, 1864, Congress authorized the use of the phrase “In God We Trust” on U.S. coins.

On this date:

In 1889, the Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims.

In 1952, an atomic test in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network television as a 31-kiloton bomb was dropped from a B-50 Superfortress.

In 1954, the publicly televised sessions of the Senate Army-McCarthy hearings began.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson opened the New York World’s Fair.

In 1970, millions of Americans concerned about the environment observed the first “Earth Day.”

In 1983, the West German news magazine Stern announced the discovery of 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler; however, the diaries turned out to be a hoax.

In 1993, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C. to honor victims of Nazi extermination.

In 1994, Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, died at a New York hospital four days after suffering a stroke; he was 81.

Ten years ago: Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who’d traded in a multi-million-dollar NFL contract to serve in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire; he was 27. Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, 22, died near Karabilah, Iraq, after falling on an insurgent’s grenade to protect his fellow Marines; he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2009. Sex abuse victims were awarded nearly $70 million after suing part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. An explosion at a railway station in Ryongchon, North Korea, killed a reported 160 people.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama marked Earth Day with a pitch for his energy plan, calling for a “new era of energy exploration in America” during a visit to Newton, Iowa. The FDA said 17-year-old girls could get “morning after” birth control without a prescription. Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls won the NBA’s rookie of the year award. British-born movie director Ken Annakin (“Swiss Family Robinson”) died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 94. Oscar-winning British cinematographer Jack Cardiff (“Black Narcissus”) died in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, at age 94.

One year ago: A seriously wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged in his hospital room with bombing the Boston Marathon in a plot with his older brother, Tamerlan, who died after a fierce gunbattle with police. Richie Havens, 72, the folk singer and guitarist who was the first performer at the 1969 Woodstock festival, died in New Jersey.

Associated Press

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