Veterans protesting the war in Vietnam, throw medals and other articles on the step of the Capitol on April 23, 1971 in Washington. (AP Photo/John Duricka )
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 23, 2024
Today in history:
On April 23, 1971, hundreds of Vietnam War veterans opposed to the conflict protested by tossing their medals and ribbons over a wire fence constructed in front of the U.S. Capitol.
In 1635, the Boston Latin School, the first public school in what would become the United States, was established.
In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States, which responded in kind two days later.
In 1940, over 200 people trapped inside a dance hall died in the Rhythm Club Fire in Natchez, Mississippi, one of the deadliest nightclub fires in U.S. history.
In 1988, a federal ban on smoking during domestic airline flights of two hours or less accounting for 80 percent of all U.S. flights went into effect.
In 1993, labor leader Cesar Chavez died in San Luis, Arizona, at age 66.
In 2005, the recently created video-sharing website YouTube uploaded its first clip, “Me at the Zoo,” which showed YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim standing in front of an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo.
In 2007, Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first popularly elected president, died in Moscow at age 76.
In 2018, a man plowed a rental van into crowds of pedestrians in Toronto, killing 10 people and leaving 16 others hurt. (Alek Minassian was later convicted of 10 counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.)
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