This Day in (Revisionist) History – April 20

Apr 20, 2024

Today’s Birthdays:

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945): evil, pathetic, psychopathic loser who called his enemies “vermin,” told Nazi stormtroopers to “stand back and stand by,” incited a world war then, after he lost, claimed the war was “rigged.” 

(Video: part of Charlie Chaplin’s memorable speech in his 1940 anti-war satire, “The Great Dictator”) 

Ryan O’Neal (1941-2023): Oscar-winning actor, earned Golden Globe nomination in 1973 for “Paper Moon,” part of a celestial trilogy that also included “Paper Earth” and “Paper Uranus.”

George Takei, 87: actor turned phaser-tongued activist, starred in “Star Trek,” now speaks out on gay rights, human rights and interplanetary insanity. 

Jessica Lange, 75: first actress to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony, AND be romantically linked with King Kong.

Today’s History:

On this day in 1871, Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act to combat racial violence, bombings, cross burnings and lynchings being perpetrated by hateful ignorant dirtbags known for hiding their disgusting cowardly faces in white robes and hoods. The Klan Act permanently eliminated white supremacist activity on U.S. soil … NOT!

On this day in 1777, New York adopted its first state constitution; the newborn document was “adopted” because New York was unable to conceive it through “biological” constitution-birth.

On this day in 1841, the first published detective story appeared in Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine, authored by the great Edgar Allan Poe. Contrary to popular belief, the story was not “The Achy Breaky Tell-Tale Heart.”

On this day in 1902, working with her husband, Marie Curie successfully isolated radium, a breakthrough that led to her earning two Nobel Prizes before dying of radiation-induced leukemia at age 66.