Stuff that happened 50 years ago.
The Peoples Republic of China sent an invitation on April 6 to the US national table tennis team, then competing in Japan, to visit China. They were the first Americans to be so invited since Communists took over in 1949. The invitation was accepted the next day and the team began an eight-day visit on April 10. Thus began an era of “ping pong diplomacy” that opened up relations between the US and the PRC.
US President Richard Nixon announced on April 7 the withdrawal of an additional 100,000 American troops from Vietnam by December 1. At the time, there were 284,000 American troops participating in the war.
The Soviet Union launched and placed into orbit Salyut 1, the first “space station,” on April 19.
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously on April 20 that busing of students could be ordered to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
Vietnam Veterans Against the War concluded on April 23 a week-long protest against continued US involvement in the war with Operation Dewey Canyon III, as about 700 veterans threw medals and ribbons received for service in it onto the steps of the US Capitol. The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers was released the same day.
At least 200,000 people in Washington, DC, and 125,000 in San Francisco marched in demonstrations against the Vietnam War on April 24.
Two US Air Force majors set a supersonic speed endurance record on April 26. Over a period of 10 hours, 30 minutes in a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, they flew more than 15,000 miles, slowing to subsonic speeds only when refueling. The plane averaged 1,429 miles an hour, or Mach 1.86, and exceeded Mach 3 at times.
Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves became only the third player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 home runs in his career on April 27. Only Babe Ruth and Willie Mays had achieved that feat.
OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, was created on April 28 as part of the US Department of Labor.