1898 – U.S. President William McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War. The Spanish–American War, which began with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba, resulted in the U.S. acquiring sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and establishing a protectorate over Cuba. This intervention marked the end of almost four centuries of Spanish presence in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific. Consequently, the United States emerged as a major world power, acquiring several island possessions worldwide. However, this expansionism sparked intense debates about its wisdom.
1912 — Fenway Park hosted its first official regular-season game (Red Sox vs. New York Highlanders). The Red Sox made their official debut at Fenway Park, facing the New York Highlanders. The team went on to achieve remarkable success, winning 105 regular-season games, securing the American League Pennant, and clinching a thrilling World Series victory. Throughout the season, while the Red Sox were away, a few amateur baseball games were held at the park. Additionally, the construction of left-field and right-field bleachers was completed in time for the World Series.
1972 – The Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orion, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the Moon. Apollo 16, the tenth crewed mission in NASA’s Apollo space program, was the fifth and penultimate lunar landing. It was the second of Apollo’s “J missions,” characterized by an extended lunar surface stay, a scientific focus, and the use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The landing and exploration took place in the Descartes Highlands, a site chosen based on scientists’ expectations of volcanic formation, although this proved incorrect.
1999 — The Columbine High School shootings occurred in Littleton, Colorado. The Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado, resulted in the tragic loss of 16 lives in a mass shooting that shocked the nation. While it wasn’t the first or most severe school shooting in the United States, Columbine garnered unprecedented national attention to the issue of school violence. Tragically, it has become synonymous with school shootings, often cited in discussions about catastrophic violence at schools, including Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, and Robb Elementary. The perpetrators of the shooting were Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17. On that fateful day, they entered Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado, armed with semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and explosives. Within a span of less than 20 minutes, they carried out a devastating attack, killing 12 fellow students and a teacher, while injuring 21 others. The violence came to an end when Harris and Klebold tragically took their own lives. One of the students who survived the attack passed away in 2025 due to complications related to her injuries. Her death was ruled a homicide, raising the official count of victims killed in the shooting to 14. While the exact motive behind the attack remains unknown, evidence discovered after the shooting revealed that the pair had been meticulously planning a deadly assault for at least a year. In Harris’s yearbook from the previous school year, Klebold had written “the holy April morning” and “killing enemies, blowing up stuff.” It seemed that the pair had intended to blow up the school cafeteria, with shooting being a secondary method of murder. Officials discovered two propane tank bombs in the cafeteria, which, if detonated, could have resulted in a far greater loss of life.
2008 – Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race. On April 20, at the Indy Japan 300 held at Twin Ring Motegi, Patrick made a remarkable move to the front of the field with only three laps left. This was achieved after the previous leaders had to make pit stops for fuel. Despite the challenging circumstances, she managed to hold onto the first position and secure her maiden IndyCar victory. This historic win made her the first woman to triumph in a top-level sanctioned open-wheel car racing event.
2010 — Deepwater Horizon wellhead blowout led to an explosion and fire on the drilling rig. On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil well drilling platform resulted in the tragic loss of 11 workers. This catastrophic event triggered the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history, unleashing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of America (formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico). From the very beginning of the crisis, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was on the scene, drawing upon over 25 years of expertise in protecting and restoring our coastlines from oil spills. The timeline below provides a chronological overview of the events that unfolded on the day of the spill and the subsequent years.
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