MOMENTS IN TIME - April 8, 2010

Apr 08, 20100

The History Channel

* On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approves legislation to appropriate $5,000 to establish the Library of Congress. The first books, ordered from London, consisted of 964 volumes. Today the collection, housed in three enormous buildings in Washington, contains more than 17 million books.

* On April 23, 1859, William Byers distributes the first newspaper ever published in the frontier boomtown of Denver. Working with a hand press in the attic of a local saloon, Byers printed and distributed the first edition of The Rocky Mountain News, beating the first release of competitor The Cherry Creek Pioneer by only 20 minutes.

* On April 19, 1876, a Wichita, Kan., commission votes not to rehire policeman Wyatt Earp (of O.K. Corral fame) after he beats up a candidate for county sheriff. For much of his life, Earp worked in law enforcement, but his own allegiance to the rule of law was conditional at best.

* On April 21, 1930, a fire at an Ohio prison kills 320 inmates, some of whom burn to death when they are not unlocked from their cells. The prison, built to hold 1,500 people, was almost always overcrowded. At the time of the 1930 fire, there were 4,300 prisoners living in the jail.

* On April 25, 1947, President Harry S. Truman officially opens the first White House two-lane bowling alley. President Eisenhower closed the alley in 1955 and turned it into a mimeograph room, while President Nixon had a one-lane alley installed underground directly beneath the North Portico entrance of the White House.

* On April 22, 1970, Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world’s environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches and educational programs.

* On April 20, 1986, the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan scores 63 points in an NBA playoff game against the Boston Celtics, setting a post-season scoring record. Jordan remains the NBA’s highest regular season scorer, with an average of 30.1 points per game.