April 20, 1915

During a scouting flight near the U.S.-Mexican border, pilot Byron Q. Jones (left) and observer Thomas D. Milling (right) were shot at by Mexican forces. Their biplane took damage, but both men escaped unharmed, marking the first recorded instance of enemy fire targeting U.S. military airmen.

Images via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On today’s date April 20, 1836, U.S. Congress voted to create the Wisconsin Territory.

Wisconsin Territory’s first Territorial Governor was War of 1812 Veteran Henry Dodge.

Image: Henry Dodge in 1833 as Commander of The United States Mounted Rangers via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

American actor and producer Harold Lloyd was born on April 20, 1893 in Burchard, Nebraska.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On April 20, 1932

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) introduced air conditioning on its flagship train, the National Limited, which traveled between St. Louis and New York City. This marked the first time a long-distance sleeping car train featured air conditioning for passengers.

Image: A bedroom car on the National Limited via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

David Brainerd, who traveled over 3,000 miles on horseback as a Presbyterian minister to Native Americans in Colonial America, was born in Connecticut on April 20, 1718.

After coughing up blood as a student at Yale, David spent most of his multi-year ministry dealing with complications of tuberculosis.

In his diary he wrote:
“At night I was extremely worn out, and scarcely able to walk or sit up. O how tiresome is earth! how dull the body!”

He died from the disease at the age of 29.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

French Général de division Joseph Joffre with American General of The Armies John J. Pershing

April 20, 1922

Image via LOC, no known restrictions

On today’s date April 20, 1963 Ricky Nelson married Kristin Harmon in Los Angeles

Image: Rick and Kristin Harmon Nelson publicity photo, 1964 from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet TV Show by ABC Television, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

“President-Elect Washington crosses floating bridge (Gray’s Ferry) on inaugural journey, Philadelphia, April 20, 1789”

Image: Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. “New York Public Library Digital Collections.”
No known restrictions

WWI and WWII Veteran General Holland “Howlin’ Mad” Smith, USMC was born on April 20, 1882 in Seale, Alabama.

During WWII he trained American amphibious forces who were assigned in the Atlantic and commanded the amphibious fleet in the Pacific.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

President Ronald Reagan signing the Social Security Amendments Act of 1983 on April 20th of that year.

The act was intended to generate more revenue for Social Security and to increase long-term solvency.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

During the summer of 1861 Thaddeus S. C. Lowe was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps.

Just months earlier on April 20, 1861, Thaddeus set off on a flight from Cincinnati, Ohio and eventually landed in Union County, South Carolina.
Upon landing, many of the witnessing South Carolinians first believed that Lowe was a Union spy but he was eventually released after they realized that he flew hundreds of miles in an experimental balloon flight.

Image of Thaddeus S. C. Lowe in 1862 during the Battle of Fair Oaks via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

American sculptor Daniel Chester French was born on April 20, 1850 in Exeter, New Hampshire.
French designed the iconic statue of Lincoln that sits inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Image: Daniel Chester French in his studio with a model of the statue of Lincoln in the background
c. 1920 via Wikimedia Commons, no known restrictions

On April 20, 1924, the first public Mass was held in the unfinished crypt at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Arnold Palmer at 23 years old playing golf at Pinehurst N.C. in his U.S. Coast Guard uniform while on leave

April 20, 1953

via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Infantrymen of “G” Co., 7th Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, 7th U.S. Army, take cover behind a wall as they move on to the Old City of Nuremberg in Germany.

Nuremberg was a significant city to the Nazi Party as it was the place where they had been conducting rallies since the early 1920s. April 20th was also Hitler’s birthday.

After fierce fighting beginning April 17, 1945, American forces captured the town of Nuremberg on the 20th of April.

Photo dated April 20, 1945 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain