On This Day

NAME: Audrey Hepburn
OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Theater Actress,Philanthropist
BIRTH DATE: May 04, 1929
DEATH DATE: January 20, 1993
EDUCATION: Arnhem Conservatory
PLACE OF BIRTH: Brussels, Belgium
PLACE OF DEATH: Tolochenaz, Switzerland

Actress, philanthropist. Born on May 4, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. A talented performer, Audrey Hepburn was known for her beauty, elegance, and grace. Often imitated, she remains one of Hollywood's greatest style icons. A native of Brussels, Hepburn spent part of her youth in England at a boarding school there. During much of World War II, she studied at the Arnhem Conservatory in The Netherlands. After the Nazis invaded the country, Hepburn and her mother struggled to survive. She reportedly helped the resistance movement by delivering messages, according to an article in The New York Times.

Two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. At about 11:20 a.m., Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, dressed in long trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to continue their rampage. By the time SWAT team officers finally entered the school at about 3:00 p.m., Klebold and Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a teacher, and had wounded another 23 people. Then, around noon, they turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide.

The awful crime captured the nation's attention, prompting an unprecedented search--much of it based on false information--for a scapegoat on whom to pin the blame. In the days immediately following the shootings, many claimed that Klebold and Harris purposely chose jocks, blacks, and Christians as their victims. In one particular instance, student Cassie Bernall was allegedly asked by one of the gunmen if she believed in God. When Bernall said, "Yes," she was shot to death. Her parents later wrote a book entitled "She Said Yes," and toured the country, honoring their martyred daughter.

Apparently, however, the question was never actually posed to Bernall. In fact, it was asked of another student who had already been wounded by a gunshot. When that victim replied, "Yes," the shooter walked away. Subsequent investigations also determined that Klebold and Harris chose their victims completely at random. Their original plan was for two bombs to explode in the school's cafeteria, forcing the survivors outside and into their line of fire. When the homemade bombs didn't work, Klebold and Harris decided to go into the school to carry out their murderous rampage.

Commentators also railed against the so-called "Trench Coat Mafia" and "goths," and questioned why these groups and cliques were not monitored more closely. However, further investigation revealed that Klebold and Harris were not part of either group.

Columbine High School reopened in the fall of 1999, but the massacre left behind an unmistakable scar on the Littleton community. Mark Manes, the young man who sold a gun to Harris and bought him 100 rounds of ammunition the day before the murders, was sentenced to six years in prison. Carla Hochhalter, the mother of a student who was paralyzed in the attack, killed herself at a gun shop. Several other parents filed suit against the school and the police. Even Dylan Klebold's parents filed notice of their intent to sue, claiming that police should have stopped Harris earlier. A senior at Columbine was arrested after he threatened to "finish the job." And when a carpenter from Chicago erected 15 crosses in a local park on behalf of everyone who died on April 20, parents of the victims tore down the two in memory of Klebold and Harris.

In an effort to show the world "that life goes on," Columbine school board officials voted to replace the library where students were murdered with an atrium. The shootings at Columbine stood as the worst school shooting in U.S. history until April 16, 2007, when 32 people were shot and many others wounded by a student gunman on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia.

On April 20, 1980, Fidel Castro announced that Cubans would be allowed to board ships in Mariel, Cuba, and leave the country, sparking an exodus of 125,000 Cubans to the United States.

On April 18, 1906, San Francisco experienced what would become known as the worst earthquake in U.S. history, destroying almost the entire city.

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Happy 1986 Easter
Back in March 1986, Mickey and Minnie (look at her Easter bonnet!) took some time out from their busy schedules to join Mr. & Mrs. Easter Bunny in Magic Kingdom Park.

On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat destroyed the passenger ship Lusitania, killing over 1,000 civilians, including 128 Americans. The incident increased hostilities between Germany and the U.S., and was one of the causes for U.S.

On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg, a hydrogen-filled rigid airship, caught fire and crashed in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 people.

Synopsis

Born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune, New Jersey, Jack Nicholson is one of the most prominent American motion-picture actors of his generation. Nicholson's career has contained some of the seminal film in Hollywood history, including Chinatown and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and his role as Jack in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining has become iconic.

On April 21, 1980, Rosie Ruiz won the Boston Marathon by entering the race near the finish line, ahead of all the other female runners. She was stripped of her victory eight days later.

Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns from the United States army two days after he was offered command of the Union army and three days after his native state, Virginia, seceded from the Union.

Lee opposed secession, but he was a loyal son of Virginia. His official resignation was only one sentence, but he wrote a longer explanation to his friend and mentor, General Winfield Scott, later that day. Lee had fought under Scott during the Mexican War (1846-48), and he revealed to his former commander the depth of his struggle. Lee spoke with Scott on April 18, and explained that he would have resigned then "but for the struggle it has cost me to separate myself from a service to which I have devoted the best years of my life and all the ability I possess." Lee expressed gratitude for the kindness shown him by all in the army during his 25-year service, but Lee was most grateful to Scott. "To no one, general, have I been as much indebted as to yourself for uniform kindness and consideration..." He concluded with this poignant sentiment: "Save in the defense of my native State, I never desire again to draw my sword."

But draw it he would. Two days later, Lee was appointed commander of Virginia's forces with the rank of major general. He spent the next few months raising troops in Virginia, and in July he was sent to western Virginia to advise Confederate commanders struggling to maintain control over the mountainous region. Lee did little to build his reputation there as the Confederates experienced a series of setbacks, and he returned to Richmond when the Union gained control of the area. The next year, Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia after General Joseph Johnston was wounded in battle. Lee quickly turned the tables on Union General George B. McClellan, as he would several other commanders of the Army of the Potomac. His brilliance as a battlefield tactician earned him a place among the great military leaders of all time.

On April 20, 1971, in the case of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.

Eliot Ness and his team of Untouchables fought back against illegal bootlegging in Chicago during Prohibition, and went on to clean up Cleveland’s Police Department.

On April 18, 1775, a Boston silversmith embarked on his legendary journey from Charleston to Lexington, Mass., warning colonists the British were coming.

On April 12, 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut rode the first manned capsule out of earth’s atmosphere, launching human space exploration and kicking the U.S.-Soviet space race up a notch.

On April 8, 1952, President Harry S. Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike.