What Happened on April 20?
April 20 is National Look-Alike Day — and the date Apollo 16 astronauts landed on the Moon in 1972, Edgar Allan Poe published the first modern detective story, and communities remember the importance of safe, supportive schools.
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1841 — Edgar Allan Poe publishes The Murders in the Rue Morgue
On April 20, 1841, Poe's story The Murders in the Rue Morgue appeared in Graham's Magazine — introducing detective C. Auguste Dupin and launching the modern mystery genre. Read the full story →
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1871 — Congress passes the Third Force Act to fight the Ku Klux Klan
On April 20, 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Third Force Act — giving federal power to prosecute Klan violence against African Americans during Reconstruction. Read the full story →
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1902 — Marie and Pierre Curie isolate radium in their Paris laboratory
On April 20, 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie announced they had isolated radium chloride — a breakthrough after years processing tons of pitchblende ore by hand. Read the full story →
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1972 — Apollo 16 astronauts land in the Moon's Descartes Highlands
On April 20, 1972, Commander John Young and lunar module pilot Charles Duke touched down in the Descartes Highlands — the only Apollo mission to explore highland terrain. Read the full story →
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2010 — The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico
On April 20, 2010, an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers and triggered the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. Read the full story →
Famous birthdays
Jessica Lange (1949) · Luther Vandross (1951–2005) · Miranda Kerr (1983) · George Takei (1937)
Days & observances
National Look-Alike Day · National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day · National Volcano Awareness Day · Chinese Language Day