April 30: This Day in History
Featured Fact, 1973:
President Nixon, in an effort to defuse the Watergate scandal, announces the resignation of his two top aides, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. This tactic fails; a year later on this same date, still trying to put Watergate behind him, Nixon releases partial transcripts of his Watergate tape recordings.
Also Today:
1789: George Washington is inaugurated as first president of U.S.
1803: U.S. doubles in size, thanks to the Louisiana Purchase ($15 million).
1885: Boston Pops Orchestra forms.
1900: U.S. annexes Hawaii.
1961: First shuttle flights between Washington, DC, New York City, and Boston begin.
April is National Poetry Month. Today:
1922: A.E. Housman, classics scholar and master of the simple lyric ("A Shropshire Lad"), dies at 77.
More on: History and Geography Skill-Builders
