1954: Hank Aaron hits his first MLB home run
Aaron hits his first major-league home run, playing for the Milwaukee Braves against the St. Louis Cardinals. ‘Hammerin' Hank’ would go on to surpass Babe Ruth and retire in 1976 with 755 home runs, setting a record that would stand until 2007.

 

On This Day In History
April 24, 1980
Iran hostage rescue mission ends in disaster.

On April 24, 1980, an ill-fated military operation to rescue the 52 American hostages held in Tehran ends with eight U.S. servicemen dead and no hostages rescued.

With the Iran Hostage Crisis stretching into its sixth month and all diplomatic appeals to the Iranian government ending in failure, President Jimmy Carter ordered the military mission as a last ditch attempt to save the hostages. During the operation, three of eight helicopters failed, crippling the crucial airborne plans. The mission was then canceled at the staging area in Iran, but during the withdrawal one of the retreating helicopters collided with one of six C-130 transport planes, killing eight service members and injuring five. The next day, a somber Jimmy Carter gave a press conference in which he took full responsibility for the tragedy. The hostages were not released for another 270 days.

On November 4, 1979, the crisis began when militant Iranian students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the ousted shah of Iran to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment, seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s political and religious leader, took over the hostage situation and agreed to release non-U.S. captives and female and minority Americans, citing these groups as among the people oppressed by the U.S. government. The remaining 52 captives remained at the mercy of the Ayatollah for the next 14 months.

President Carter was unable to diplomatically resolve the crisis, and the April 1980 hostage attempt ended in disaster. Three months later, the former shah died of cancer in Egypt, but the crisis continued. In November, Carter lost the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan, and soon after, with the assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful negotiations began between the United States and Iran. On the day of Reagan’s inauguration, January 20, 1981, the United States freed almost $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and the 52 hostages were released after 444 days. The next day, Jimmy Carter flew to West Germany to greet the Americans on their way home.

 

April 24


1184 B.C. - Greece I nvades Troy with the Trojan Horse

1877 - Russo Turkish War begins when Russia attacks Turkey

 

On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approved legislation that appropriated $5,000 to establish the Library of Congress. The initial directive was to acquire 'such books as may be necessary for the use of congress.' It eventually became the largest library in the world.

The library was the brainchild of Adams' successor, Thomas Jefferson, the principal founder, and is recognized as the de facto national library of the United States, although it has never been given that official designation.

The first books, ordered from London, arrived in 1801 and were stored in the U.S. Capitol, the Library's first home. Ultimately, the library would occupy three massive structures on Capitol Hill, near the U.S. Capitol: The Jefferson Building, opened in 1897, is a grand monument to civilization, culture, and American achievement. The functional Adams Building was opened to the public in 1939. The modern Madison Building, completed in 1980, is by far the largest structure.

 

On This Day In History
April 24, 1898

Spain Declares War Against the United States.

Spanish–American War: Spain declares war after rejecting US ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.

Colonel ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt (center, with glasses and holstered gun) with his ‘Rough Riders’ after victory at the Battle of San Juan Hill.

April 24, 1898 — Explorer Christopher Columbus landed on Cuba's northeastern coast in 1492 and claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain, which had sponsored his journey of discovery. For the Cuban people, there followed 400 years of slavery, degradation and rebellion.

Here’s what Columbus wrote about them in his diary: “They brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for glass beads and hawks’ bells.

“They willingly traded everything they owned. They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron.

“They would make fine servants. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

This became the policy of the Spanish who took over Cuba following Columbus’s discovery. Resentment simmered among the islanders but it was not until 1868 that a major rebellion erupted resulting in what became known as the Ten Years' War, with 200,000 Spanish casualties.

In 1892 the Cuban Revolutionary Party was formed with the aim of achieving independence from Spain. The Spanish reacted with suppression, creating “reconcentrados” – fortified towns that are seen as forerunners of the Second World War concentration camps. Up to 400,000 Cubans died from starvation and disease in the “reconcentrados”.


As rioting took hold in Havana, the United States sent in a battleship – the USS Maine – “to protect American interests”. But within days of anchoring in Havana harbor the Maine was ripped apart by an explosion, killing three quarters of the crew – about 250 men.

The cause of the explosion was never established but some American newspapers – particularly William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal – had no doubt: it must have been a Spanish mine.

As hysterical headlines poured off the presses, public opinion veered towards war amid chants of “Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!” Congress demanded independence for Cuba and authorized the use of force to achieve such an end.

Spain at first severed diplomatic relations but then on April 24, 1898 declared war against the United States. The next day Congress in turn declared war on Spain.

The war lasted for ten weeks, America’s far superior forces inevitably gaining victory over the Spanish.

 

1990: Hubble Space Telescope launched into Earth's orbit
Riding on the Space Shuttle Discovery,' a 24,000-pound space telescope with an almost 8-foot mirror will be deployed to a low Earth orbit. It will transmit spectacular images of distant galaxies, black holes, nebulas, and other deep-space wonders.

 

April 25

1666 - British Conventional Parliament meets and voted to restore King Charles Ii

1792 - Guolitiine used for the first time in Franc

1599 - Oliver Cromwell born

 

On April 25, 1859, under the direction of The Suez Canal Company, the first ground was broken at the northernmost Port Said end of the canal. It would take 10 years and 1.5 million workers to complete the waterway linking The Mediterranean and Red Seas. It is estimated that tens of thousands of laborers died, many of them from cholera and similar epidemics.

It had been suggested by French explorer and engineer Linant de Bellefonds, who specialized in Egypt, after he determined that the canal could be built without locks, as the water level on both ends was the same.

Khedive Said Pasha, who oversaw Egypt and the Sudan for the Ottoman Empire, which governed the country at the time, had granted French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps permission to create a company to construct a canal. That company eventually became known as the Suez Canal Company, and it was given a 99-year lease over the waterway and surrounding area.

It takes around 11 to 16 hours to pass through the canal and ships must travel at low speed to prevent erosion of the canal's banks by the ships' waves.

The Suez Canal is considered one of the supreme engineering wonders of the world.

 

On This Day In History
April 25, 1917

Ella Fitzgerald was born.


Ella Fitzgerald

Biography: Interpreter of the Great American Songbook. She sold 40 million copies of her more than 70 albums, won 13 Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Born: April 25, 1917
Birthplace: Newport News, Virginia, USA

Generation: Greatest Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Snake
Star Sign: Taurus

Died: June 15, 1996 (aged 79)
Cause of Death: Diabetes

 

2014: Water source switch sets off lead crisis in Flint, MI
While constructing a new pipeline to Lake Huron, the city of Flint begins sourcing water from the Flint River but fails to properly treat the water. Over the next 18 months, this inaction leads to widespread lead poisoning and other health issues. A federal emergency is declared in Flint in January 2016. Later, several Michigan state workers will be charged with felonies and various lawsuits filed on behalf of the city residents.

 

April 26

1945 - Marshall Phillip.Petsin,leader of French Vichy collaboration regime during WW II arrested for treason..

1957 - The first modern container ship ⚓ The Ideal X, leaves Port Newark , New Jersey for Houston Texas l

1941 - A tradition begins at a Chicago Cubs game, an organ is played.

 

On April 26, 1969, Led Zeppelin played 'Whole Lotta Love' live in public for the first time during the second of two nights at The Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA. It was part of their second U.S. tour.

The song was released as a single in several countries (but not the U.S.) on November 7 of that year, and became the band's first hit record, and for a time, their signature tune, eventually displaced by 'Stairway to Heaven.'

Jimmy Page has said that he came up with the iconic guitar riff in the summer of 1968, on his houseboat on the River Thames at Pangbourne, Berkshire, England, although bassist John Paul Jones asserted that it was developed as part of live improvisations during their playing of 'Dazed and Confused.'

During the two day mix of the Led Zeppelin II album, audio engineer Eddie Kramer discovered that some bleedthrough occurred on Plant's vocals on the track, which could not be removed, so he put some echo on it, and Page liked the sound, so it stayed put.

Eventually, similarities to 'You Need Love,' released in 1962 by Muddy Waters with lyrics by Willie Dixon, led to a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin in 1985, settled out of court in favor of Dixon for an undisclosed amount. On subsequent releases, Dixon's name is included on the credits.



How Willie Dixon's daughter informed her father of the song, and other tidbits about the tune:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/V7Sf_x3j7mE

 

On this day in history, April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth is killed by Union troops for murdering Lincoln
After assassinating Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth remained on the run for 12 days until Union troops found him.


In this engraving from 1886, John Wilkes Booth is depicted preparing to shoot President Abraham Lincoln. Right after this, he leaped out of the box and onto the stage of Ford's Theatre — escaping through a side exit.

On this day in history, April 26, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was killed when Union soldiers tracked him down to a farm in Virginia 12 days after he fatally shot the president of the United States.

On April 14, 1865, Booth, 26, an actor, shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Booth entered the state box of Ford’s Theatre, according to the National Park Service (NPS) archives — getting past a bodyguard to do so.

"It was then that John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head with a .44 derringer pistol during a performance of the play ‘Our American Cousin,’" the site says.

Lincoln, immediately unconscious, was examined by physician, Dr. Charles Leale, who "determined that the head wound was mortal. He made the decision to have President Lincoln carried to the closest bed that was available in proximity to the theater."

 

1607: The first permanent English settlers in North America landed at Cape Henry, Chesapeake Bay, and they later formed Jamestown.

 

On This Day In History
April 26, 1777
British rampage Danbury, Connecticut

On April 26, 1777, British troops under the command of General William Tryon attack the town of Danbury, Connecticut, and begin destroying everything in sight. Facing little, if any, opposition from Patriot forces, the British went on a rampage, setting fire to homes, farmhouses, storehouses and more than 1,500 tents.

The British destruction continued for nearly a week before word of it reached Continental Army leaders, including General Benedict Arnold, who was stationed in nearby New Haven. Along with General David Wooster and General Gold Silliman, Arnold led a contingent of more than 500 American troops in a surprise attack on the British forces as they began withdrawing from Danbury.

Although they prevented the complete destruction of Danbury, the outnumbered American troops were unable to stop the British retreat. The British continued marching through Ridgefield and Compo Hill, Connecticut, en route to their ships anchored at Long Island Sound.

General Wooster was hit by a musket ball during the action; he died from his injuries May 2. General Arnold survived and notoriously became a traitor to his nation, plotting to turn over West Point and with it the Hudson River to the British in 1780. General Gold Silliman also survived, but two years later was kidnapped from his home and imprisoned by a gang of local Loyalists.

Silliman’s wife, Mary Silliman, kept a detailed diary of her experiences during the American Revolution. Accounts of her life in The Way of Duty by Richard and Joy Day Buel and the subsequent documentary, Mary Silliman’s War, reveal the internecine nature of the revolution in Connecticut—General Gold Silliman’s own Loyalist neighbors, not British Redcoats or foreign mercenaries, kidnapped him. Mary Silliman’s diary also demonstrates the ways in which the war affected all colonists, including non-combatants, pregnant mothers and farm wives like Mary. On her own, Mary Silliman managed to run her family farm, flee attack from the British army and negotiate her husband’s release from his Loyalist captors. She also nursed her own midwife and neighbor, after the woman was raped by Redcoats for refusing to relinquish her house to their control.

 

April 27
1565 - First Spanish settlement in the Philippines founded in Cebu City

• 1865 - The steamboat US Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River killing approximately 1800 of 2427. Most killed were pardoned Union POWs on their way home

1956 - Undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano retired. 49 wins , 43 by TKO.

 

On April 27, 1969, Pink Floyd appeared at Mothers Club in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Among the songs they played, some became the exact recordings which would be playing in the background when I lost my virginity. They were from the side of the double album 'Ummagumma' that began with 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun'. I'm not sure what was playing at the exact moment of climax because, well, you know...

Radio 1 DJ John Peel reviewed the show, saying that it was '...sounding like dying galaxies lost in sheer corridors of time and space'. I'm still not sure if he liked it or not.

My first fuck was reviewed pretty well by my married partner...





My favorite from the album (from the studio disc):

 

On this day in history, April 27, 1805, US Marines attack shores of Tripoli, key victory in Barbary Wars
'Miracle' assault after 400-mile trek across North Africa immortalized in 'The Marines' Hymn'.


August 1804: Tracers arc in the sky as ships of the U.S. Navy bombard Tripoli in an action against a ruler who supported the Tripolitan (Barbary) pirates. The pirates demanded protection money from all ships and the USA decided to go to war to release their hold on the area.


The fledgling United States Marine Corps proved its dauntless courage with a "miracle" victory in the Battle of Derna on the shores of Tripoli in North Africa on this day in history, April 27, 1805.

The successful attack against overwhelming numbers on the port city in present-day Libya, a stronghold of pirates who spent years attacking United States ships at sea, was the climactic battle of the First Barbary War (1801-05).

The victory is immortalized in a patriotic American anthem.

"From the Halls of Montezuma/To the Shores of Tripoli/We fight our country's battles/In the air, on land and sea," proclaims the rousing opening lyrics of "The Marines' Hymn" (the original 19th-century opening line, pre-air power, was "on the land as on the sea").

Writes the Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State, "Prior to independence, American colonists had enjoyed the protection of the British Navy."

"However, once the United States declared independence, British diplomats were quick to inform the Barbary States that U.S. ships were open to attack."

The pirates demanded tribute from foreign nations for safe passage through the Mediterranean.

American ships became a common target, inciting anger among U.S. citizens.

President Thomas Jefferson sent a fleet to the Mediterranean to combat the pirates in 1801.

Among other indignities, 297 crewmen of the U.S. frigate Philadelphia were captured and taken prisoner after the ship ran aground off Tripoli in 1803.

The Battle of Derna ended with Marines raising the American flag over a captured foreign stronghold for the first time in their history — an act of resolve for which the Corps would later be immortalized in a famous photograph during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

The victory at Derna forced Barbary pirate leaders to the negotiation table, ending the war two months later with the Treaty of Tripoli.

 

Saturday, April 27,

1971 - North Vietnamese troops attacked aviation fuel tanks at Da Nang air base. A large portion of the fuel was destroyed.

1975 - By this day, the North Vietnamese had completely surrounded Saigon and began preparations for their final assault.

 

1986: Captain Midnight hacks HBO signal
Satellite TV dealer John MacDougall, under the pseudonym ‘Captain Midnight,’ jams the broadcast signal of cable network HBO for a few minutes, replacing its programming with a protest message. The protest? HBO has scrambled its signal, forcing satellite TV customers to pay for HBO. MacDougall will receive a $5,000 fine and a year of probation.