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The Columbine Massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, went on a shooting spree killing 12 students and one teacher and wounding 23 others before committing suicide. It is the fourth worst school killing in United States history.

When the bombs they planted in the school cafeteria failed to go off, Harris and Klebold began shooting at 11:19 am. After killing and wounding several students, a Jefferson County deputy sheriff arrived at the scene at approximately 11:24 am and began shooting at Harris and Klebold. At 11:29 am, they entered the school library killing and wounding several students. The two teenagers left the library at 11:42 am, ending the massacre.

Harris and Klebold wandered around the school for a few minutes before returning to the library where they committed suicide at 12:08 pm. In the wake of the shootings, debate raged about the killers’ motivation and if anything could have been done to prevent the massacre. The existence of social cliques in high school and the effect of bullying on Klebold and Harris were raised.

Since the shooting, several schools in the U.S. have instituted new security measures and calls for more gun control measures. A memorial was dedicated on September 21, 2007 in Clement Park where immediate memorials were held after the shootings.

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Born on December 21, 1804, Benjamin Disraeli was a British Conservative and literary figure who served in British government for four decades including two times as Prime Minister. He created the modern Conservative party after the Corn Laws schism of 1846. He was also friends with Queen Victoria and a bitter rival of William Gladstone, leader of the Liberal party. After serving four decades in the House of Commons, he was raised to peerage as Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876.

Disraeli’s father, Isaac, groomed his son for a career in law and he became a solicitor in 1821 but left the profession in 1825. After dabbling disastrously with running a newspaper, and in need of money, Disraeli wrote his first novel Vivian Grey in 1826. It was a thinly-veiled account of the newspaper’s failure.

He became involved in politics in 1832 when he contributed to an anti-Whig pamphlet. He won a seat in the House of Commons as a Tory in 1837. Disraeli became Prime Minister for the first time in 1868 after Lord Derby resigned but his run in office was short-lived when his party lost the general election later that year. Disraeli became Prime Minister again in 1874 under majority rule. He became ill shortly after the general election in 1880 and died on April 19, 1881.

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Born in Vernal, Utah, James Woods grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island and graduated from Pilgrim High School in 1965. He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study Political Science but dropped out to pursue acting in New York City. After appearing in several theater productions and taking on small supporting roles in films, he gained considerable attention for his portrayal of a cold-blooded cop killer in The Onion Field (1979)

Woods went on to play an opportunistic cable-TV station owner in David Cronenberg’s eerily prophetic horror film, Videodrome (1983) and a gangster in the Sergio Leone epic, Once Upon A Time in America (1984). The actor made the first of several appearances in Oliver Stone’s films with an Academy Award nominated performance as a jaded journalist in Central America in Salvador (1986).

Woods also earned critical praise for his portrayal of Roy Cohn in the made-for-TV movie Citizen Cohn (1992) and for his turn as a sleazy hustler in Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995). He rounded out the 1990s with two more roles in Stone films with Nixon (1995) and Any Given Sunday (1999).

More recently, he played Drew Barrymore’s long-suffering father in Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) and can be currently seen in the CBS legal TV drama Shark as a disillusioned defense lawyer turned prosecutor.

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On April 17, 1961, an armed force of approximately 1,500 Cuba by Cuban exiles landed in Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on the south coat of Cuba and unsuccessfully invaded the country. They were trained by members of the CIA since May 1960 with approval of the Eisenhower administration and supplied with firearms by the United States government.

The rebels wanted to incite rebellion in Cuba and overthrow the Communist government led by Fidel Castro. The Cuban army readily defeated the rebels and by April 20, most of them were killed or captured. The invasion sparked anti-American demonstrations in Latin America and Europe. The invasion was badly planned and executed and resulted in President John F. Kennedy being heavily criticized in the U.S.

Cuban exile leader Jose Miro Cardona blamed the invasion’s failure on the CIA. In addition, he was upset that Kennedy refused to authorize air support for the invasion force. It was later revealed that the CIA task force planning the invasion predicted that the goals of the invasion were unattainable without U.S. military assistance.

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Harriet Quimby made aviation history as the first woman to cross the English Channel and the first American woman to become a licensed pilot. She started as a journalist at Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly and wrote screenplays that director D.W. Griffith made into films.

In October 1910, Quimby learned how to fly an airplane, got her license, and performed in flying exhibitions. She created her own image: a purple satin flying suit with a hood. She also wrote about her adventures in Leslie’s Weekly. Quimby wanted to be the first woman to fly across the English Channel and set sail for England in March 1912.

She was able to get a 50-horsepower monoplane on loan but most people around her thought that she would fail and her friend and instructor Gustav Hamel offered to dress up like her and do the flight. Quimby refused and departed for France in a plane that she had never flown before and using a compass she had just learned to use. Visibility that day was poor due to fog but she successfully made the flight in 59 minutes.

However, the RMS Titanic had sunk days earlier overshadowing her accomplishment. On July 16, 1912, Quimby was killed when the plane she was flying at an exhibition pitched forward violently and she was thrown out. Quimby was not wearing a seatbelt despite writing about safety precautions in flying.

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Lead singer of legendary punk rock band the Ramones died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital at the age of 49. At the time, he was suffering from lymphatic cancer, a disease that attacks the body’s ability to fight disease. Along with his bandmates, Johnny, Tommy, and Dee Dee, Joey helped create the punk rock movement and inspired the groups like the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Green Day, and Blink-182.

Joey’s trademark look included rose-colored shades, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, and ripped jeans. He lent his distinctive voice to such classic songs like “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Teenage Lobotomy”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”, and “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.”

Joey Ramone was born in the Forest Hills section of Queens, New York on May 19, 1951. He helped found the Ramones in 1974 and was originally the drummer but switched to vocals two months after the band played their first show in March 1974 in New York City. The Ramones soon became a regular fixture at legendary punk club CBGBs along with the Talking Heads, Patti Smith, and Blondie. They produced classic albums like Rocket to Russia and starred in their own film, the Roger Corman-produced Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. Band in-fighting between the conservative-minded Johnny and liberal Joey led to their break-up in 1996.

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The Battle of Adrianople began on April 14, 1205 between the Bulgarian Empire, led by Bytsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, and the Crusaders of the Latin Empire, under Baldwin I of Constantinople. After an ambush with the help of Cuman and Greek allies, the Bulgarians won. Among the casualties were approximately 300 knights from the Latin Empire, including Louis of Blois and the Duke of Nicaea. In addition, Baldwin was captured, blinded, and died later in captivity. In addition, the Bulgarians overran most of Thrace and Macedonia.

Kaloyan first sent in 14,000 Cumans to attack the enemy forces. The Crusaders countered and the Cumans fled. However, this was a ruse and the Cumans launched a counter attack wounding many of the Crusaders’ horses. The Cuman repeated the same tactics on the next day resulting in Count Louis’ death and Emperor Baldwin’s capture. After the battle, Bulgaria and the Nicean Empire formed an alliance and the war against the Latin Empire continued for many years.

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American film director Stanley Donen was born on April 13, 1924 in Columbia, South Carolina. He is known for directing famous musicals like Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and the comedy thriller Charade (1963). In 1998, he was given an honorary Academy Award “in appreciation of a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit and visual innovation.”

Donen moved to New York City as a teenager and at 16 was a dancer in the original production of Pal Joey starring Gene Kelly. Donen got his start in Hollywood as a choreographer and dancer for MGM, appearing in Best Foot Forward (1943) with Lucille Ball. He worked with Kelly again on Cover Girl (1944) for Columbia Pictures.

Donen’s directorial debut came on On the Town (1949) which he co-directed with Kelly and featured music by Leonard Bernstein. It was also the first movie musical to be filmed on location. Donen and Kelly teamed up again on Singin’ in the Rain. Donen went on to direct on his own with such notable films like Funny Face (1957) with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, Charade with Cary Grant and Hepburn, and Bedazzled (1967) with British comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.

Donen’s last theatrical film-to-date was Blame it on Rio (1984) starring Michael Caine and Demi Moore. He has worked occasionally in television since.

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Terry Fox was born in 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In high school, a teacher encouraged Fox to go out for cross-country running. He continued the activity through university and in 1977 he developed a severe pain in his right knew. It became so bad that he could barely stand. Fox went to a hospital and was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. His right leg was amputated six inches above the knee.

Fox became aware of how little money was spent on cancer research in Canada and decided to run across the country to raise awareness and money to fight the disease. Named the “Marathon of Hope,” his goal was to raise $1 million but after running through Newfoundland, he changed the goal to $1 for each person in Canada – $25 million.

Fox’s run began on April 12, 1980 from St. John’s, Newfoundland with only one camera crew from the CBC documenting the event. By the time he left the province, the young man had raised over $14,000. By the time he made his way to Montreal, Quebec, media and public attention had increased considerably. On July 4, he met with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Fox became a media sensation by the time he reached Toronto, Ontario with a crowd of over 10,000 people attending a rally at City Hall.

On September 1, 1980, poor breathing prevented Fox from continuing his run and he learned that his cancer had spread to his lungs. He had run fro 143 consecutive days. Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981 and was the youngest person ever awarded the Order of Canada. He was able to raise $24.17 million. His iconic run is celebrated each year with the Terry Fox Run. By 2004, it has raised over $360 million.

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On April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 Saturn V rocket was launched. Two days later, a life-threatening problem occurred during the mission: an oxygen tank exploded and nearly killed the astronauts on board, forcing the crew – Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert – to work with NASA’s Mission Control to come up with a solution to find a way home. Teams of engineers worked around the clock for days to identify, diagnose, and solve several problems that prevented the astronauts from coming home safely.

A three-stage Saturn V booster rocket launched Apollo 13 which was composed of two spacecraft: a three-person ship to go to the moon and back (known as the command and service module or CSM), and a two-person lander called the lunar module that would take the astronauts to the surface of the moon.

The Apollo 13 mission was popularized by Ron Howard’s 1995 film, Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Sinise.

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