April 12

1981 The Space Shuttle Columbia Launches for the first time
1961 Russia launches the first human into space
1204 Alexius V, the last Greek emperor of a united Byzantium, fled Constantinople in the face of the Fourth Crusade

 

On April 12, 1961, Ray Charles was the big winner at the 3rd annual Grammy Awards, winning four trophies, including the award for Best Male Vocal for Georgia On My Mind.



Also, 7 years to the day later, Frank Zappa performed at a dinner for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the people who give us the Grammys). Zappa said the event is "a load of pompous hokum" and tells the audience, "All year long you people have manufactured this crap, now for one night you're gonna have to listen to it!"

 

On April 13, 1964, Sidney Poitier was awarded the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in 'Lilies of the Field'. He was the first African American to win best actor.

Considering that this film is about a black man and a bunch of nuns, I hope that, if they ever remake it they include a lot of graphic sex.
Just sayin'.

 

1860 first Pony Express rider reaches Sacramento California.
110 years later Apollo 13 announces "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here", as Beech-built oxygen tank explodes en route to Moon.

 

1928: The first non-stop flight from Europe to North America

 

1865: Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., and died the next day.

 

April 14th, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg.

 

On this day in history, April 14, 1910, President Taft throws out first pitch at MLB game
The 27th president was a fan of baseball, calling it a 'healthy amusement'.


President Taft tossing out the first ball for Opening Day on April 14, 1910.

 

14 Apr 1945

As US Third Army captured Bayreuth and Gera, Germany, commander George Patton was promoted to the permanent rank of general (4 star). SHAEF commander General Dwight Eisenhower announced that Berlin was no longer an objective for the western allies.

 

On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram, an Islamic sectarian movement kidnapped more than 275 girls, mostly Christian, from a boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria, sparking worldwide condemnation. 219 of the girls have never been seen again by anyone excpt those parties who either bought them as sex slaves or murdered them.

The Obama Administration immediately (sort of) leapt into action using a potent diplomatic tool: the use of "Strategic Hashtags."


Pathetic...

 

April 15, 2013. The Boston Marathon bombing. Remember those who were injured and lost their lives on this day. Boston Strong ❤️

 

April 15
1912 - Sinking of the Titanic

1452 - Leonardo da Vinci was born

2019 - Notre-Dame de Paris caught fire.

2000 - Presidrnt Bill Clinton established Giant Sequoia National Monunement in the Sierra Nevada of California

1955 ' Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois

1947 - Jackie Robinson played his first MLB game for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Fiels.

 

1955: American fast-food pioneer Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise, launching an enterprise that would eventually become the world's largest fast-food chain, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

 

April 15th, 1892, the Edison General Electric Company was formed.

 

On April 15, 1920, F.A. Parmenter, paymaster of a shoe factory, and Alessandro Berardelli, the guard accompanying him, were murdered in order to secure the payroll that they were carrying.

This led to the arrest a month and a half later of anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti - beginning the infamous Sacco-Vanzetti trial wherein they were convicted and sentenced to death.

The trial was fraught with inconsistencies and claims of false identification. On November 18, 1925, Celestino Madeiros, in prison for another murder, confessed that he had participated in the crime with the Joe Morelli gang. The state Supreme Court refused to reverse the verdict, and the governor refused clemency.

They were both electrocuted on August 23, 1927. The death sentence against Madeiros was carried out that same day.

The controversy continues to this day, with a large contingent of people who have studied the case claiming the two were railroaded because they were anarchists.

 

On this day in history, April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln passes away
The 16th U.S. president died roughly nine hours after he was shot.


President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.

 

April 16 commemorates the day in 2007 when 32 people were massacred at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The cowardly shooter then killed himself.

 

2003: Michael Jordan played his last game with the NBA, retiring at the age of 40.

 

On this day in history, April 16, 1889, future Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin is born in London
Chaplin's 'bowler hat, out-turned feet, mustache and walking cane' became his trademark.


Charlie Chaplin sits wrapped in a blanket in the snow as The Lone Prospector in his 1925 film, "The Gold Rush."