Brace yourself. You might want to sit down for this, especially if you're stoned out of your mind, which you kind of seem like you are. (I can totally tell; everyone knows, actually.)
Today is basically the craziest day of all time.
Sure, there are only 365 days in a year, and every decade or so something newsworthy happens on each of them, but few days rival April 20. From tragic shootings to birthdays of evil world leaders to the advent of safe-to-drink milk, the day of festivity for pot aficionados the world over is a bizarre mix of horror, humor, and history.
It's also worth mentioning that in the alternate universe of the Terminator series, it's over the course of April 19 to April 21, 2011, that Skynet is implemented and the machines take over. So enjoy what time we have left and avoid cops in search of Sarah Connor.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Gulf oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon rig explodes. Eleven workers die. Oil spews into the gulf for months.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Space center shooting
William A. Phillips, fearing a bad review and potential firing, uses a handgun to kill David Beverly at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He also takes a hostage, Fran Crenshaw, who manages to escape. The day ends with Phillips committing suicide.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Columbine massacre
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado. They also injure 24 people and kill themselves.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Moon landing
Apollo 16 lands on the moon. Not the first time we've been there, but still really impressive.
Photo courtesy of NASA
Bay of Pigs
The U.S.-supported Bay of Pigs invasion fails to overthrow Fidel Castro's government in Cuba. Responding to the failure, red-faced President John F. Kennedy voices his desire to "to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds."
Photo courtesy of JFK.org
The sound of movies
Vitaphone, a process by which sound is added to film, is announced by Western Electric and Warner Bros.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
New stadium day
Baseball season opens at the brand new Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Four years later, Chicago's Wrigley Field hosts its first game; for the next century, a lone dark cloud looms over the outfield every day.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Hitler's b-day
Birthday of Adolf Hitler. Fifty years later, Nazi Germany celebrates his birthday as a national holiday. In some bitter irony, it was on this date in 1657 that freedom of religion was granted to Jews living in New York (which was at the time called New Amsterdam).
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Pasteurize this!
Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard test pasteurization. Bernard laments the lopsided nomenclature.
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Old Ironsides
Oliver Cromwell, the Commonwealth-establishing English Civil War hero with a regicidal dictatorial streak, dismantles the "Rump Parliament" that he helped found after overthrowing and killing Charles I.
Painting courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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Men kept mistaking her kindness for flirting, so she asked the internet for advice. It delivered. You’ve got to “own your own ‘no.’ ”
Communities -
Willie Nelson has three words for country fans who can’t stand that he’s supporting a Democrat. “I’ve been supporting Democrats all my life.”
Culture -
Amy Schumer just came for men who say #MeToo has made them ‘afraid’ of women. They’re completely missing the point of #MeToo.
Communities -
To the red-haired girl at the splash pad who asked about my daughter with down syndrome. “Here is where I brace myself as a mom.”
Communities -
A French art school was caught Photoshopping their students black to appear more diverse. They wanted to appear more diverse.
Communities -
What Americans say vs. what they mean. Americans are the world leaders in exaggeration.
Culture
| Slideshow: Crazy Stuff That Has Happened on 4/20 by Patrick James |
Brace yourself. You might want to sit down for this, especially if you're stoned out of your mind, which you kind of seem like you are. (I can totally tell; everyone knows, actually.)
Today is basically the craziest day of all time.
Sure, there are only 365 days in a year, and every decade or so something newsworthy happens on each of them, but few days rival April 20. From tragic shootings to birthdays of evil world leaders to the advent of safe-to-drink milk, the day of festivity for pot aficionados the world over is a bizarre mix of horror, humor, and history.
It's also worth mentioning that in the alternate universe of the Terminator series, it's over the course of April 19 to April 21, 2011, that Skynet is implemented and the machines take over. So enjoy what time we have left and avoid cops in search of Sarah Connor.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Gulf oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon rig explodes. Eleven workers die. Oil spews into the gulf for months.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Space center shooting
William A. Phillips, fearing a bad review and potential firing, uses a handgun to kill David Beverly at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He also takes a hostage, Fran Crenshaw, who manages to escape. The day ends with Phillips committing suicide.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Columbine massacre
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado. They also injure 24 people and kill themselves.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Moon landing
Apollo 16 lands on the moon. Not the first time we've been there, but still really impressive.
Photo courtesy of NASA
Bay of Pigs
The U.S.-supported Bay of Pigs invasion fails to overthrow Fidel Castro's government in Cuba. Responding to the failure, red-faced President John F. Kennedy voices his desire to "to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds."
Photo courtesy of JFK.org
The sound of movies
Vitaphone, a process by which sound is added to film, is announced by Western Electric and Warner Bros.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
New stadium day
Baseball season opens at the brand new Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Four years later, Chicago's Wrigley Field hosts its first game; for the next century, a lone dark cloud looms over the outfield every day.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Hitler's b-day
Birthday of Adolf Hitler. Fifty years later, Nazi Germany celebrates his birthday as a national holiday. In some bitter irony, it was on this date in 1657 that freedom of religion was granted to Jews living in New York (which was at the time called New Amsterdam).
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Pasteurize this!
Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard test pasteurization. Bernard laments the lopsided nomenclature.
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Old Ironsides
Oliver Cromwell, the Commonwealth-establishing English Civil War hero with a regicidal dictatorial streak, dismantles the "Rump Parliament" that he helped found after overthrowing and killing Charles I.
Painting courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
