Important Events From This day in History – 20 April

Today in History

• 2010 The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes

  Transocean’s British Petroleum (BP) platform exploded, killing 11 workers and causing the largest accidental marine oil spill in history.

• 1999 15 die in the Columbine High School massacre

  A further 24 victims were injured when two teenagers opened fire on students and teachers in a high school south of Denver.

• 1978 Soviet air defense shoots down Korean Air Lines Flight 902

  The crew of the Boeing 707 had miscalculated their route, landing in Soviet airspace at the height of the Cold War. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a frozen lake. The incident resulted in the deaths of two passengers.

• 1951 A human organ is surgically replaced for the first time

  Romanian surgeon Dan Gavriliu used a section of the stomach to bypass the esophagus.

• 1902 Pierre and Marie Curie discover the radioactive element radium

  In 1903, the French couple received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering research.