April 6 in A.A. History

1917: The U.S. enters World War I [left: p 1. of The New York Times, 6 Apr 1917].
    President Wilson [right] had asked Congress for a Declaration of War against Germany four days earlier, on Monday, 2 April, saying, 

    Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind.
    It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind.…
    The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve.
    We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind.”

Not everyone in Congress wanted war. Nonetheless, the Senate approved the measure 82-6 that same day, while it was not until Friday at 3:12 am that the House voted in favor 373-50. President Wilson signed it that same day.

1960: A funeral Mass was held for Father Edward P. “Ed” Downing, S.J. [right]. An article about him, in Magnificat in 2016, stated in part:

    He was an old-school priest, made of the kind of fine cloth that prefers to disguise itself as sacking.  His funeral was packed.  From society matrons in mink coats to Skid Row drunks, people came from around the country to pay homage.
    “I really haven’t done anything,” Father Dowling once said. “It’s really simple. I just happened to be around.”

    He was buried in St. Stanislaus Cemetery, located in Florissant, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis [far left: grave site; near left: inscription].