THURSDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, April 20, the 110th day of 2017. There are 255 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On April 20, 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Wooley v. Maynard, ruled 6-3 that car owners could refuse to display state mottoes on license plates, such as New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die.”

On this date:

In 1792, France declared war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary Wars.

In 1861, Col. Robert E. Lee resigned his commission in the United States Army.

In 1914, the Ludlow Massacre took place when the Colorado National Guard opened fire on a tent colony of striking miners; about 20 strikers, women and children died.

In 1972, Apollo 16’s lunar module, carrying astronauts JohnW. Young and CharlesM. Duke Jr., landed on themoon.

In 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Colorado as two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.

In 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and caused a blow-out that began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. (The well was finally capped nearly three months later, on July 15.)

Tenyears ago: The family of VirginiaTech gunman SeungHui Cho, who shot and killed 32 people and himself, told The Associated Press they felt “hopeless, helpless and lost,” and “never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence.”

Five years ago: A judge ruled that George Zimmerman could be released on $150,000 bail while he awaited trial on a charge of murdering 17-year-old TrayvonMartin.

One year ago: Five former New Orleans police officers pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the deadly shootings on the Danziger Bridge in the days following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Today’s Birthdays: Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is 97. Actor Leslie Phillips is 93. Actor George Takei is 80. Actress Jessica Lange is 68. Actress Veronica Cartwright is 68. Actor Crispin Glover is 53. Actor Andy Serkis is 53. Actress Carmen Electra is 45. Actor Joey Lawrence is 41.

Thought forToday: “If anyone tells you something strange about the world, something you had never heard before, do not laugh but listen attentively; make him repeat it, make him explain it; no doubt there is something there worth taking hold of.” — Georges Duhamel, French author (1884-1966).