You might not know it, but April 20th is a pretty great day. April 20th is "National Lookalike Day". A great day for identical twins and regular folks that just happen to look a little too much like someone else for comfort.
Numerically, 4/20 is a day that is high on many people's calendars. Sometimes you have to weed out the stems and leave the useless stuff aside, but eventually, something great will flower on a day like today.
For those with a powerful case of the munchies, today also happens to be National Cheddar Fries Day and National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day. Munch on!
Appropriately enough, this is National Volunteer Recognition Day. Remember to give thanks to those that volunteer to make your community a better place. If you don't get thanked, then consider volunteering. There are some great organizations out there that would appreciate your time and effort. For my fellow vets, I recommend the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Jarheads already know about the Marine Corps League. Find a group and make your piece of the world better.
A lot of great stuff happened in history on April 20th.
Freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1657. The Siege of Boston began following Concord and Lexington. It was the hard beginning of a war that turned out pretty well for the Americans.
The US Congress created the Wisconsin Territory in 1836. Where would we get great cheese if we didn't have Wisconsin?
Of course, there were some bad things that happened on April 20th as well. The Columbine High School massacre happened on this day.
Adolph Hitler was born on this day. But I choose to remember that today was also the last time that dirty paper hanger saw the sun, 1945. It was the last time he left his bunker before he took the coward's road.
April 20th was the last day of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Sadly, Fidel and his communist cronies survived to oppress the Cuban people.
Today happens to be the 49th anniversary of the Apollo 16 landing on the moon in 1972. Ken Mattingly famously missed out on the Apollo 13 flight and got rotated into the Apollo 16 slot. He ended up doing an EVA on the return flight to the Earth to retrieve some external equipment.
Danica Patrick won the Indy Japan 300 in 2008 and became the first female driver to win an Indycar race.
Lots of interesting people died on April 20th; for example, Antipope Victor IV. He was elected by a dissenting group of Cardinals to be a dissenting Pope in opposition to Alexander III. The two vied for control of the church until Victor's death. Alexander III reprimanded his Cardinals for celebrating Victor IV's death in 1164. Victor IV's grave was destroyed by the order of Pope Gregory VIII when miracles were reported at the gravesite. Can't have a dissenter be seen as doing anything productive, can we? [It turns out that Antipopes were a "thing" for quite some time!]
The Third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Güyük Khan, died on this date. Chief Pontiac, proclaimed by some as the most famous Indian of the eighteenth century, was assassinated on April 20th.
Bram Stoker, of Dracula fame, died on this date in 1912. Funnyman Benny Hill passed on this date in 1996.
Some interesting people came into the world on April 20th.
General Holland "Howlin' Mad" Smith developed the first amphibious landing techniques and became the "father" of modern American amphibious warfare. For us Marines, the ability to go from water to land and back again is mighty important! General Smith concluded his career as the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. He was born this day in 1882
John Paul Stevens started out on this date in 1920. He eventually served as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
George Takei, of Star Trek fame, was born on this day in 1937. American author Peter S. Beagle joined the club in 1939 while actress Jessica Lange came aboard in 1949. Luther Vandross was born this day in 1951. We also have Killer Mike who came along in 1975.
Don Mattingly, the baseball player and manager, started out on April 20th in 1961. Actors Crispin Glover and Andy Serkis (Gollum! Smeagol! Caesar! Richard!) came along on this date in 1964 while Carmen Electra was born in 1972.
April 20th, 1965 also happens to be the birthday of Steve Rogers. We were friends from the same little neighborhood and graduated together from the same high school. We were even in Mrs. Allen's 5th-grade class together in 1976. Steve died unexpectedly a few weeks back. This has to be a pretty hard day for his family this year.
April 20th is my birthday as well. We haven't had snowfall in Michigan this late in April for decades. Y'all can blame it on me.
Update - It stuck on the ground!
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