Tuesday, April 27 2021 In the past: April 27, 1897 - Grant's Tomb, the final resting place of General Ulysses S. Grant, is dedicated. It was dedicated on the 75th-anniversary of Grant's birth on April 27, 1822 and is the largest mausoleum in North America. His wife Julia Dent Grant died five years later and was placed in a matching sarcophagus beside him. So, the answer to the age-old question "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?" is "no one". Grant and his wife are entombed there, but since their bodies are above ground they are not technically buried there. April 27, 1899 Walter Lantz was born. The American cartoonist and creator of Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda, and Chilly Willy. His wife Gracie Lantz provided the voice for Woody Woodpecker. April 27, 1986 - Captain Midnight Jams HBO. A video pirate overrode an HBO movie broadcast with a message protesting the cost of the HBO service. John R. MacDougall, using the pseudonym Captain Midnight, overrode HBO's satellite signal during a showing of The Falcon and the Snowman, interrupting the broadcast with his own message for four and a half minutes. The message read: GOODEVENING HBO FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT $12.95/MONTH ? NO WAY ! [SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!] MacDougall had operated a TV satellite dish store whose business had severely dropped off after HBO and other cable services recently began scrambling their signals. Prior to that, anyone with a dish could receive their broadcasts for free. Now no longer able to get these broadcasts without buying expensive descramblers and paying a monthly fee, people quit buying satellite dishes. He was caught after someone overheard him bragging about the incident on a pay phone. He pleaded guilty and received a $5,000 fine, one year unsupervised probation, and his amateur radio license was suspended for a year. His actions led Congress to pass the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, making satellite hijacking a felony. What weird history of this day have you got to add to the list?
This category is right up my alley and I look forward to contributing. I just finished the audiobook version of 'A Night to Remember' about the sinking of the titanic on April 15, 1912, and Fire in the Sky: The History of the Hindenburg Disaster on May 6, 1937
Today in History April 28th Abbreviated: In 1789 Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty and 18 of his men were set adrift by Fletcher Christian In 1881 Billy the Kid escaped from prison in New Mexico where he had been convicted of murder. He was killed several months later by Sheriff Par Garrett In 1945 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was executed after being caught attempting to flee Italy
My grandfather was working at NBC radio when the Hindenburg went down, he had original 78 rpm recordings of the live event as it went out on the network airwaves - on vinyl disks. I still have them in storage.
I added the date for you... Billy the Kid... from Silver City, New Mexico... I lived there once. Wild wild west
April 28th! First Automobile Race - April 28, 1887 The first automobile race is won by French engineer Georges Bouton, the only entrant. The race was organized by a French cycling magazine in Paris and ran from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne, a distance of about 1.2 miles (2 km). Bouton drove a steam-powered vehicle created by his automobile company De Dion-Bouton. The De Dion-Bouton company was at one time the world's largest automobile manufacturer. Ferruccio Lamborghini Born April 28, 1916 d. 1993 Italian sports car manufacturer. He opened his factory in 1963, building such models as the Miura SV and Countach.
Ten years ago today, an F4 tornado obliterated my mother's house. She was thrown over 500' away, with head and spinal injuries and a fractured and severely avulsed arm. Wildcat VFD, whose station and many of their volunteer's homes had also been destroyed, evacuated her by boat to an LZ for the flight to Chattanooga, where she was in ICU for three months. The property literally looked like it had been bombed; the hillside was bare earth; not even tree stumps, and the there was no wreckage; just hundreds of frags of her house, none bigger than 6", driven perpendicular deep into the red clay. Her checkbook was found 40 miles away in North Carolina. https://lake-burton-rabun.com/lake-burton-tornado-photos/ Two years ago, my brother died.
Today in History: April 29, 1945 Adolf Hitler (56) married Eva Braun (33) in Berlin After a brief 24 hour honeymoon Adolf Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself in the head (in the right temple) and Eva Braun swallowed cyanide. Her dead body is said to have smelled of bitter almonds April 29, 1945 US Army liberates 31,601 people from the Dachau Nazi concentration camp in Germany The whole world knew of Dachau because it was advertised as a model camp ever since its inception in 1933 April 29, 1990 Wrecking cranes began tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
April 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler along with his new bride Eva Braun commit suicide in his underground bunker Adolf Hitler and Braun entered their private quarters in the bunker. Shortly after aides entered the bunker and found both of them dead. Despite the gunshot wound to Adolf Hitler’s right temple, no shot was heard outside of the private quarters. On April 30, 1997, at exactly 12:11 pm, London's iconic Big Ben clock stops ticking. For 54 minutes, the most famous clock in the world failed to keep time. 1993 World Wide Web launches in the public domain Four years after publishing a proposal for “an idea of linked information systems,” computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee released the source code for the world’s first web browser and editor. Originally called Mesh. 1897 British physicist J.J. Thomson announces the discovery of electrons 1948 Original Land Rover debuts at auto show. A British-made all-terrain vehicle that will earn a reputation for its use in exotic locales
Here are a few more items from the depths of history for you this day of April 30! 311 Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persercution of Christians in the Roman Empire 711 Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) 1562 1st French colonists in North America: Jean Ribault & colonists arrive in Florida 1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America 1859 Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" is first published in literary periodical "All the Year Round" (weekly installments until Nov 26) 1902 Claude Debussy's only completed opera "Pelléas et Mélisande" premieres in Paris 1952 Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television 2009 Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 2012 Manchester City defeat Manchester United 1-0 in what is claimed to be the biggest match in the English Premier League's history
May 1, 1931 President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City’s Empire State Building, At the time of its completion, the Empire State Building, at 102 stories was the world’s tallest skyscraper. May 1, 1941 Orson Welles’ landmark film Citizen Kane made its debut at the RKO Palace Theater Before its release it began generating such controversy that Radio City Music Hall eventually refused to show it. May 1, 1960 An American U-2 spy plane is shot down while conducting espionage over the Soviet Union. The incident derailed an important summit meeting between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that was scheduled for later that month.
Today, May 1st was amusing: Less than 6 weeks after starting a war George W Bush declared "mission accomplished." If only... The Vampira Show, May 1, 1954 TV's first horror show hosted by a costumed character premieres. The Vampira Show was hosted by Maila Nurmi dressed as the Vampira character she created. The Vampira character was created when Nurmi attended a masquerade ball in a costume inspired by the character Morticia Addams. Her costume attracted the attention of TV producer Hunt Stromberg who asked her to host a horror show. First Christmas Cards, May 1, 1843 John Callcott Horsley of England designs the first commercially-produced Christmas cards. The center panel featured a family feasting with the words "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You." The side panels depict the poor being given food and clothing. The design stirred controversy, as it depicted young children drinking wine. One thousand were printed and sold in London for a shilling a piece, followed by a second printing of another 1,050. And thus began the commercialization of Christmas.
I think there was more to the story about Citizen Kane... RCA/NBC own Radio City Music Hall, and RKO was a rival. Hearst's media empire also was a rival... But history has many levels of reality, doesn't it?
