April 6, 2026 • 01:00:01

Road Warrior Radio with Chris Hinkley, April 6, 2026 Hour 1

Chris flies solo today, without Mitzi on this Monday, but still manages to keep it (mostly) on the sunny side! Today, on National Tartan Day, and the year’s 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, we explore the fascinating history and linkage between our Declaration, and the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath, along with a special bonus surprise anniversary connection of the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus Christ on Apr 6, 32 AD (10th of Nisan) spoken of in all four Gospels!

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. – John 8:36 KJV

Triumphal Entry – in all four Gospels!

From the National Tartan Day Time and Date page:

The Scottish Declaration of Independence was signed on April 6, 1320. The American Declaration of Independence was, in fact, modeled on this particular document. Almost half of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence were of Scottish descent.

The US Senate Resolution on National Tartan Day was passed on March 20, 1998. From that point onward, National Tartan Day was designated as a day for all Americans, particularly those of Scottish descent, on April 6 each year.

From the summary of John King Bellassai’s Two Declarations with a Common Purpose: The Link between 1320 and 1776:

Tartan Day in the United States is April 6th, which is also the anniversary of the signing of the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath. The significance of this date is the striking similarities in phrasing and intent between the Declaration of Arbroath and the Declaration of Independence.

A key to understanding this link is the fact that the American Revolution came right on the heels of the Scottish Enlightenment. While Scottish immigrants were a small part of the general colonial population, their influence on the worldview held by the educated segment of the colonial population, most notably Thomas Jefferson was very influential.

Several other key events including the fact that Jefferson’s mother’s family were of Scottish decent of one of the signers of the Declaration of Arbroath and his Scottish William & Mary professor William Small, whom Jefferson described as his mentor, most notably also played a role in the creation of the Declaration of Independence.

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Audience Contributed On This Day Events OTD Holidays Historical Events
  • 2017 – U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an “aggression”, adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties.
  • 2016 – First baby born with DNA from three parents through mitochondrial transfer in Mexico
  • 1994 – Rwandan genocide begins: The assassination of Rwandan President, Juvénal Habyarimana, and Burundian President, Cyprien Ntaryamira, killed when the jet they were riding in was shot down by surface-to-air missiles as it attempted to land in Kigali, Rwanda abruptly ending peace negotiations and sparking the Rwandan Genocide, triggered a mass slaughter of ethnic Tutsis with up to 1 million victims. Those responsible have never been identified.
  • 1980 – Post-it Notes first sold: 3M begins sales of Post-it Notes. The canary yellow sticky pads quickly become one of the best-selling office supply products in history and a ubiquitous staple in schools and offices around the world.
  • 1970 – Sam Sheppard, the inspiration for “The Fugitive,” dies: Sam Sheppard, a doctor convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in a trial that caused a media frenzy in the 1950s, dies of liver failure. After a decade in prison, Sheppard was released following a re-trial. His story is rumored to have loosely inspired the television series and movie The Fugitive.
  • 1968 – Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins the Liberal Party leadership election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon afterward.
  • 1965 – First commercial communications satellite is launched: Intelsat I, also known as Early Bird, facilitated the first live TV broadcast of a spacecraft splashdown when Gemini 6 landed in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1954 – Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., responding to CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow’s broadside against him on “See It Now,” claimed in remarks filmed for the program that Murrow had, in the past, “engaged in propaganda for Communist causes.”
  • 1930 – At the end of the Salt March, Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.”
  • 1929 – Huey P. Long, Governor of Louisiana, is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives.
  • 1924 – First successful around-the-world flight begins: A team of aviators begins the first round-the-world flight in history. Four aircraft left Seattle on a westbound route around the globe. 157 days later, two of them reached the same location.
  • 1917 – World War I: The United States entered World War I as the House joined the Senate in approving a declaration of war against Germany that was then signed by President Woodrow Wilson.
  • 1909 – North Pole Expedition: Robert Peary and Matthew Henson allegedly become the first people to reach the North Pole. Peary’s claim has never been verified and is widely contested. The first undisputed journey to the North Pole was the 1948 Soviet Sever-2 expedition.
  • 1896 – First modern Olympic Games are opened in Athens, Greece: 241 athletes from 14 countries took part in the First Olympiad. The event took place over 1500 years after the last ancient Olympic Games, which originated in Olympia in south-western Greece.
  • 1866 – The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, is founded. It lasts until 1956.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: [better known as the War of Eastern European banking aggression] The Battle of Sailor’s Creek: Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fights and loses its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia, during the Appomattox Campaign.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: [better known as the War of Eastern European banking aggression] The Battle of Shiloh begins: In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston, as Confederate forces launched a surprise attack against Union troops, who beat back the Confederates the following day.
  • 1860 – Mormon LDS cult: The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, later renamed Community of Christ, is organized by Joseph Smith III and others at Amboy, Illinois.
  • 1841 – John Tyler inaugurated as 10th U.S. President: John Tyler is sworn in as president. Tyler was elected as William Henry Harrison’s vice president earlier in 1841 and was suddenly thrust into the role of president when Harrison died one month into office. He was the first vice president to immediately assume the role of president after a sitting president’s untimely exit and set the precedent for succession thereafter.
  • 1830 – Mormon LDS cult: Joseph Smith and others met in Fayette, New York, to form the Church of Christ — now known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
  • 1812 – British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington assault the fortress of Badajoz. This would be the turning point in the Peninsular War against Napoleon-led France.
  • 1808 – John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, that would eventually make him America’s first millionaire.
  • 1800 – The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. (Under the Old Style calendar then still in use in the Ottoman Empire, the treaty was signed on 21 March.)
  • 1772 – Beard… Tax…? Empress of Russia Catherine the Great ends the tax on men with beards, enacted by Tsar Peter the Great in 1698
  • 1652 – Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, is established by the Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck
  • 1320 – Tartan Day:12345 The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish “Declaration of Independence”. The day is increasingly renamed Declaration Day, since 2016, and associated with events commemorating the Declaration of Arbroath and other aspects of Scottish history. Tartan Day has expanded into an entire Tartan Week in New York City and Angus, and into multi-day events in some other locations, including Washington, DC. The name Scotland Week has also been promoted in Scotland. The events typically have parades of pipe bands, Highland dancing, and other Scottish-themed activities. In 1998, the efforts of the coalition and the Caledonian Foundation (led then by JoAnne Phipps), with the legislative sponsorship of Senator Trent Lott, resulted in United States Senate Resolution No. 155 (introduced March 6, 1998) to adopt April 6 as National Tartan Day. The resolution passed March 20, 1998, “to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish Americans to the United States”; it also referred to the predominance of Scots among the Founding Fathers of the United States and claimed that the American Declaration of Independence was “modelled on” the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath. The now quasi-official National Tartan Day was held annually thereafter; The Washington Times reported in 2000 on the event, by which time it was already growing into a three-day affair in Washington, DC.
Births
  • 1976 – Candace Cameron Bure, American actress (50)
  • 1969 – Paul Rudd, American actor (57)
  • 1964 – Tim Walz, American politician, Governor of Minnesota & vice presidential candidate (62)
  • 1952 – Marilu Henner, Greek-Polish American actress and author (74)
  • 1942 – Barry Levinson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (84)
  • 1937 – Merle Haggard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016)
  • 1937 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor, singer, and writer (89)
  • 1931 – Ram Dass (Richard Alpert), American theosophist, cult leader (died 2019)
  • 1671 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (died 1741)
  • 1135 – Maimonides, Jewish philosopher, Torah scholar, physician and astronomer (March 30 also proposed, died 1204)
Deaths
  • 1992 – Isaac Asimov, American science fiction writer (born 1920)
  • 1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1882)
  • 1528 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (born 1471)
  • 1520 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (born 1483)
  • 1199 – Lionheart Richard, The Stranger King: Richard I of England, King of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart. Richard the Lionheart, Robin Hood’s king is considered one of the great English monarchs. Yet he cost his country a fortune and barely lived there. (born 1157)
  • 2014 – Mickey Rooney, American soldier, actor, and dancer (born 1920)
  • 2014 – Massimo Tamburini, Italian motorcycle designer, co-founded Bimota (born 1943)
  • 2015 – James Best, American actor, director, and screenwriter, best known as the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the action comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard, which originally aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985. (born 1926)
  • 2015 – Ray Charles – the other Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor (born 1918)
  • 2017 – Don Rickles, American actor and comedian (born 1926)
  • 2025 – Jay North, American actor best known for his role as the good-natured but mischievous Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace (1959–1963), based on the comic strip created by Hank Ketcham. (born 1951)

Wikipedia Contributors. “Tartan Day.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Apr. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan_Day. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026. ↩↩

“National Tartan Day 2026 in the United States.” Timeanddate.com, 2026, www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/national-tartan-day. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026. ↩↩

“History of National Tartan Day”. NationalCapitalTartanDay.com. National Capital Tartan Day Committee. 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023. ↩↩

“National Tartan Day” (PDF). Congressional Record – Senate. United States Senate. March 20, 1998. p. S2373. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2023 – via Library of Congress. ↩↩

Bellassai, John. Two Declarations with a Common Purpose: The Link between 1320 and 1776. Mar. 2022. Archived at National Capital Tartan Day, Issue Papers. www.nationalcapitaltartanday.com/issue-papers/. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026. ↩↩

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