Monday, April 22, 1996




"This fear of communism leads the West to God knows where." -- Russian presidential candidate Grigory Yavlinsky



| CNNfn Almanac | AllPolitics Campaignland|



  • Foreign ministers from 27 countries are expected today at a counter-terrorism conference in Luxembourg. The meeting is a follow-up to the recent anti-terrorism summit in Egypt.

  • Closing arguments are expected today in the $50 million personal injury lawsuit against Bernhard Goetz. The lawsuit was filed by one of four youths shot by Goetz during a subway confrontation in December 1984.

  • Assistant to the U.S. President Alexis Herman will lead an all-female trade mission to Mexico beginning today, with stops in Monterrey and Mexico City.





  • On Tuesday, April 23, Sotheby's auction house in New York will start auctioning Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' belongings. The sale is expected to last through April 26.

  • On Wednesday, April 24, a trial is scheduled to begin for Aum Shinri Kyo cult leader Shoko Asahara. He is accused of directing the March 1995 subway gas attack that killed 12 and injured 5,500 in Tokyo; he's also charged in nearly a dozen other crimes, mostly murders and kidnappings.

  • On Thursday, April 25, start of the 1996 basketball playoffs.

  • On Friday, April 26, the Olympic flame will board a Delta flight to the United States today.





  • In 1451, Queen Isabella I, who sponsored the voyages of Christopher Columbus, was born in Madrigal, Spain.

  • In 1509, Henry the VIII ascended the throne of England following the death of his father, Henry VII.

  • In 1864, Congress authorized the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins.

  • In 1889, the Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims.

  • In 1898, the first shot of the Spanish-American War rang out as the USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship off Key West, Florida.

  • In 1930, the United States, Britain and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.

  • In 1944, during World War Two, U.S. forces began invading Japanese-held New Guinea with amphibious landings near Hollandia.

  • In 1954, the televised Senate Army-McCarthy hearings began.

  • In 1970, 25 years ago, millions of Americans concerned about the environment observed the first "Earth Day."

  • In 1990, pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon freed American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity.

  • In 1994, Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, died at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, four days after suffering a stroke. He was 81.





  • It's been exactly 26 years since the first Earth Day was held. It was the brainchild of Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin politician. He wanted to make legislators and average Americans more aware of environmental issues. Earth Day caught on at the grass-roots level nationwide, and is now also observed in many other countries. Check our Earth Day page to learn more about the history of this event.





  • Today is Earth Day.

  • Canada celebrates St. George's Day today.

  • Moldova observes Remembrance of the Dead in Prayer Day.

  • Today is Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama.

  • It is Girl Scout Leader's Day today in the United States.

  • In Newfoundland, today is St. George's Day.



  • Sources: Associated Press,
    Chase's Calendar of Events 1996, J.P. Morgan

    News almanac archive



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