April 20

1834 – The Prophet Joseph records “Elder Rigdon entertained a large congregation of Saints with an interesting discourse upon the Fullness of Times’ (History of the Church, 2:52).

1839 – The last group of remaining Saints leave Far West, Missouri, because of the persecution and the expulsion and extermination order. Far West was basically a ghost town with only those who had left the Church because of persecution and lack of faith remaining.

1845 – Heber C. Kimball “Took [his] son William and daughter Helen with three others to Carthage to see the jail where our prophet and patriarch were killed.’

1873 – Elder Franklin D. Richards and others organize a society in Ogden, Utah, for the mutual improvement of young men in the Church, the forerunner of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association.

1887 – First Latter-day Saint settlers arrive in Chihuahua, Mexico, to build communities there. Eventually there would be several LDS colonies established in Mexico.

1907 – George Edward Anderson leaves Springville, Utah, on a train heading east, beginning his famous photographic mission to LDS Church history sites.

1935 – First Presidency assigns Harold B. Lee to wprk out a program of relief for the needy.

1958 – The Hamilton New Zealand Temple is dedicated by President David O. McKay.

1975 – The first stake in Sweden is organized in Stockholm.

1980 – The first stake in Austria is organized in Vienna.

2004 – The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s weekly program, “Music and the Spoken Word,’ was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame during the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 360-voice choir also entertained the 1100 who gathered for the convention’s Radio Luncheon.

2005 – Plans were announced for a new five-story Church History Library to be built just east of the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, with construction beginning later in the year.

2007 – An academic conference and series of commemorative events over three days were held in Fort Smith, Van Buren, and Alma, Arkansas, marking the bicentennial of Parley P. Pratt’s birth on April 12, 1807 and the sesquicentennial of his martyrdom in Arkansas on May 13, 1857. The events attracted historians, scholars, Pratt family members, and other interested persons and was sponsored by the Arkansas State History Commission, Fort Smith Historical Society, and others.