Portal:United States/Anniversaries/April/April 20
- 1657 – Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
- 1836 – U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.
- 1912 – Opening day for baseball stadiums Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1926 – Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
- 1999 – Columbine High School massacre: Two gunmen kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School located in Jefferson County, Colorado.
- 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes (pictured), killing 11 and initiating a massive oil discharge in the Gulf of Mexico.
On this day for the United States
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April 20:
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Events
- 1657 - Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: the siege of Boston begins, which followed the first battles at Lexington and Concord.
- 1836 - U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.
- 1871 - Civil Rights Act of 1871
- 1912 - Opening day for baseball stadiums Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1914 - Forty-five men, women, and children die in the Ludlow Massacre during a bitter Colorado coal-miner's strike.
- 1926 - Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
- 1945 - World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
- 1945 - World War II: U.S. B-29 bombers destroy the Musashi Aircraft plants, halting production of the Nakajima Ki-84 fighter planes.
- 1961 - Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US troops against Cuba.
- 1972 - Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.
- 1985 - ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas.
- 1986 - Professional basketball player Michael Jordan sets all-time record for points in an NBA playoff game with 63 against the Boston Celtics.
- 1999 - Columbine High School massacre: Two gunmen kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School located in Jefferson County, Colorado.
- 2007 - Johnson Space Center Shooting: A man with a handgun barricades himself in NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas before killing a male hostage and himself.