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The Oklahoma Land Rush began in 1889, the first Earth Day was held in 1970, the McCarthy Army hearings began in 1954, seduction by teachers was outlawed in Ohio in 1886, German forces used poison gas in combat in 1915, the BP oil spill started in 2010, Hitler admitted defeat and committed suicide in 1945, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in 1993, “In God We Trust” became mandatory on US coins in 1864, and The Blues Brothers made their world premiere on Saturday Night Live in 1978.
The Oklahoma Land Rush began. (1889) Hundreds of thousands of settlers flocked to Oklahoma as soon as it officially opened on this day; within hours, cities of over 10,000 people had formed.
The first Earth Day was held. (1970) Day was the invention of Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, who saw it as a grassroots way to keep the environment at the center of public consciousness. Millions of people attended the first Earth Day, and in the 1990s over 200 million people attended each year in over 140 countries.
The McCarthy Army hearings began. (1954) McCarthy had accused the military of being “soft” on communism in an attempt to boost its waning popularity. The hearings revealed that most of McCarthy’s claims were baseless and, especially when combined with his belligerent ways, McCarthy essentially lost all credibility.
Seduction by teachers has been outlawed in Ohio. (1886) The law also prohibited consensual sex between male teachers and adult female students. Ohio wasn’t the first state to have seduction laws; several men have been convicted in other states, and women have sometimes used the laws to force men to marry them.
German forces began using poison gas in combat. (1915) German forces began firing chlorine at Allied forces at the Battle of Ypres, starting one of the most devastating aspects of World War I. Chemical and biological weapons were used by both sides in the war, which resulted in them being mostly outlawed in warfare after World War I.
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank, starting the BP oil spill. (2010) The oil spill was considered one of the worst in environmental history and devastated much of the Gulf of Mexico. BP came under intense criticism for its handling of the situation, and cleanup efforts lasted more than a year.
Hitler admitted defeat. (1945) After living in the Fuhrerbunker for several months, Hitler admitted to his generals that defeat was inevitable and that suicide was his only recourse. He committed suicide eight days later, although the Fuhrerbunker remained in use for some time afterward.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC was dedicated. (1993) The museum had been in the works since the 1970s, but was finally dedicated in 1993 by Bill Clinton, along with Chaim Herzog and Elie Wiesel. The first visitor to the museum was the Dalai Lama.
The US Congress approved the use of “In God We Trust” on US coins. (1864) The Coinage Act of 1864 made it mandatory for all US coins to have the motto “In God We Trust”, rather than “E Pluribus Unum” – “Out of Many, One”.
The Blues Brothers made their world premiere. (1978) John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd made their world premiere on Saturday Night Live as a pseudo-real blues band. Eventually they became popular as a true commercial product and made several albums along with a film.
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