What Happened on October 20?

  • The "Saturday Night Massacre" occurred. (1973) In one famous evening, US President Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the Watergate special prosecutor who had found evidence of Nixon's wrongdoing and abuse of power during the Watergate Scandal investigation. Elliot Richardson, the Attorney General, refused to fire Cox and resigned, as did William Ruckelshaus, the Deputy Attorney General. Cox finally was fired by Robert Bork, the Solicitor General. The brow-raising events resulted in the House Judiciary Committee inquiring into the possible impeachment of President Nixon two days later. President Nixon resigned about a year later in August 9, 1974, amid the impending impeachment.

  • The US Congress began its investigation into communist activity in the Hollywood movie industry. (1947) Congress established the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to question witnesses and gather names of suspected communists among the Hollywood elite. The inquiry resulted in a blacklist of about 325 actors, directors and writers, whose work was banned for many years thereafter.

  • The Louisiana Purchase was ratified by the US Senate. (1803) The US bought the Louisiana territory from France for just over $11 million US Dollars (USD) and agreed to cancel all of France's debts to the US. The total purchase price, about $15 million USD, is equal to over $215 million USD today.

  • The US-Canadian border was established. (1818) The US and the UK signed the Convention of 1818, also called the Treaty of 1818, which roughly set the northern boundary of the US at the 49th parallel.

  • Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the US were established for the first time. (1947) The agreement established military and economic assistance from the US to Pakistan.

  • The Continental Association was created by the US Continental Congress. (1774) Under the Continental Association, all trade between Britain and the US was banned. The ban was a protest against the "intolerable acts" committed by Britain against the US colonies after the Boston Tea Party incident. The US Revolutionary War to win US independence from Britain began the following April.

  • The Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion occurred, killing 130 people and completely destroying 30 blocks on the east side of Cleveland. (1944) The natural gas explosion changed the way natural gas was stored in US cities. Where storage tanks had been stored aboveground, the explosion resulted storing natural gas underground.

  • The "Johnny Bright Incident" occurred in Oklahoma, changing NCAA football rules and causing racial outrage. (1951) The incident involved a white player, Wilbanks Smith playing for the Oklahoma A&M Aggies, violently attacking a black player, Johnny Bright playing for the Drake Bulldogs, during game play. Smith attacked Bright multiple times during the game, knocking him unconscious three times and breaking his jaw. Oklahoma A&M and the NCAA refused to punish Smith, and Drake University cut ties with the NCAA in protest. The incident did, however, cause the NCAA to establish rules against illegal blocking and increase its requirement for safety equipment. In 2005, a formal apology was issued from Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University, expressing regret over the situation.

  • A Major League Baseball World Series game was played outside the US for the first time. (1992) The game was played in Toronto, Ontario. The Atlanta Braves lost the game to the Toronto Blue Jays, 3 to 2.

  • Film footage was shot of a creature resembling Big Foot. (1967) Robert Gimlin and Roger Patterson shot the footage, which scientists have never been able to debunk nor authenticate. Patterson, on his death bed in 1972, swore the footage was real, and Gimlin attests to its authenticity to this day.

Discussion Comments

Chmander

Wow! I can't believe that a football player would have the nerve to attack one of their teammates like that. Not only does that completely disgust me, but even more so, it really shows how even though racism still exists today (though more subtle), not only was it a lot more open in the 1950s, but even more so, it was much more violent as well.

However, the thing that I find to be most shocking is that the attacker (Wilbanks Smith) didn't even get a punishment for his actions.

However, if that had been in this day and age, I can't help but wonder what his punishment would be. While it's definitely hard to say, on the other hand, there's not doubt that they would have received some sort of punishment.

Even though discrimination still has a long way to go, thank goodness that things like this are far less frequent, and are slowly dying down.

Hazali

In relation to the second bullet point, does anyone else besides me feel that Hollywood is a very corrupt industry?

While it's true that the purpose of any major studio is to make profit (sometimes regardless of the quality of the movie), on the other hand, I feel that sometimes, this can be taken to very extreme levels.

Using one example, has anyone seen an animated movie called The Lorax, which was filmed in Hollywood? While the visuals are beautiful, and though it will definitely appeal to kids, on the other hand, if one can look past that, it's basically a form of animated propaganda.

How does this relate to the communist activity in Hollywood? Not only has this been going on for years, but even more so, it just really shows how corrupt the film industry has become, and how it's always been that way, especially in this day and age.

Does anyone else feel the same way? Despite the film industry looking like a dream come true on the outside, there's really a lot that goes on behind closed doors.

Krunchyman

Does anyone else find it interesting that video footage of a creature resembling Big Foot was possibly shot? Even though it's true that the article mentions that much of the science regarding this footage has been debunked, on the other hand, haven't similar things like this happened in the past?

In other words, there have been other instances in history where mysterious footage regarding mythical creatures has been taken, but something happened with the footage, or the theories were just debunked altogether.

In my opinion, all of this really shows how for the most part, there might be a lot more out there then we think. I'm not saying that all mythical creatures are real, but the funny thing is that quite a few of them are actually based on real life creatures.

One example of this would be vampires. While it's true that there isn't a humanoid creature that hunts at night and sleeps during the day, the funny thing is that vampires are actually based off of real life creatures, the vampire bat.

Not only can they be very dangerous, but even more so, they have been known to attack humans on several occasions too.

Not to mention that sometimes, getting bit by one can cause a person to get diseases. Overall, it's definitely something interesting to think about.

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