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Wednesday, April 19, 2017

April 19 was a busy day in history. With all the wars, bombings and riots that took place on this date, let's hope today stays nice and quiet.

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Today's Random Fact:

1775: The American Revolutionary War begins with the battles of Lexington and Concord.


1861: Baltimore residents attack a Union regiment while the group was on its way to Washington, D.C which results in four Union soldiers and nine civilians killed.


1943: During World War II, tens of thousands of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin a valiant but ultimately futile riot against Nazi forces.




Bonus Fact:

1897: The first Boston Marathon is held; winner John J. McDermott ran the course in two hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds. Interestingly, it wasn't until 1967 that the first woman officially ran Boston Marathon. Kathrine Switzer ran the marathon (at that time, a men-only event) under an official number by registering without mentioning her gender.


1993: The 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ends as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.


1995: A truck bomb destroys the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. (Bomber Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)


2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany is elected pope in the first conclave of the new millennium; he took the name Benedict XVI.