This Day in History

On April 20, 1999, two students shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher and injured 23 others before taking their own lives at Columbine High School, near Denver, Colorado.

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In 1812, the fourth vice president of the United States, George Clinton, died in Washington at age 72, becoming the first vice president to die while in office.

In 1912, Boston's Fenway Park, now the oldest active stadium in Major League Baseball, hosted its first official baseball game in front of an estimated 27,000 spectators. (The Red Sox defeated the New York Highlanders 7-6 in 11 innings.)

In 1914, militia and Colorado National Guard members opened fire on an encampment of striking coal miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado; at least 19 people in the camp, including 12 children, and one National Guard member were killed in the "Ludlow Massacre."

In 1971, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.

In 1972, Apollo 16's lunar module, carrying astronauts John W. Young and Charles M. Duke Jr., landed on the moon.

In 1986, following an absence of over six decades, Russian-born pianist Vladimir Horowitz returned to the Soviet Union to perform a concert at the Grand Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

In 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and caused a blowout that began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons (757 million liters) of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. (The well was finally capped nearly three months later.)

In 2021, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter charges for the killing of George Floyd; Chauvin was later sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison.

Today's Birthdays: Actor George Takei is 88. Actor Jessica Lange is 76. Actor Clint Howard is 66. Former MLB first baseman Don Mattingly is 64. Actor Crispin Glover is 61. Actor Andy Serkis is 61. Actor Shemar Moore is 55. Actor-model Carmen Electra is 53. Reggae musician Stephen Marley is 53. Rapper Killer Mike is 50. Actor Joey Lawrence is 49. Model Miranda Kerr is 42. Former NFL linebacker Luke Kuechly is 34.