Sunday, October 11, 2009

History Day.....



Ah...History Day....And let's hear it for Christopher Columbus! PC Police notwithstanding, give the man his props. Sure, he didn't land HERE in 1492 while he was sailing the ocean blue. He did land in the Bahamas though on an island he renamed San Salvadore.......

And in other news...

1792, the first monument honoring ol' Chris was dedicated in Baltimore, MD.

1895, the first amateur golf tournament was held in Newport, RI

1920, construction of the Holland tunnel got underway....

1944, Hundreds of bobby-soxers fainted in the streets, bringing traffic in New York's Times Square to a staggering halt as Frank Sinatra made his triumphant return to the Paramount Theatre. It was later called the Columbus Day riot as 25,000 teenagers, (mostly girls) blocked the streats, screaming and swooning for 'Frankie'.

1950, the Kefauver Crime Commission convened in NYC to investigate organized crime.

1960, at the UN, Nikita Kruschev went nutso, taking off his shoe and pounding it on his desk.

1968, Norma de Sotelo became the first woman to light the Olympic Torch in Mexico City to open the XIX Olympic games.

1971, Jesus Christ, Superstar opened on Broadway

1992, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit Dahshur, near Cairo, Egypt, killing more than 500 people.

1997, John Denver, piloting an amateur built Long-EZ airplane, crashed into Monterey Bay, CA. Witnesses said the tiny plane was flying at about 500 feet when it simply dropped into the ocean. John Denver, 53, died.

Anybody have anything to add???





4 comments:

  1. 1918 ~ first use of iron lung

    1933 ~ Alcatraz became and unofficial federal prison (acquired from US Army)

    1964 ~ Soviet Union launches the first spacecraft to carry a multi-person crew

    1973 ~ Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as VP

    2000 ~ The USS Cole is attacked by suicide terrorists killing 17 sailors and wounding 38

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  2. Maureen, ironically I was just thinking about the song Jesus Christ, Superstar.

    Ellen the USS Cole--thanks for the reminder. It's not something I want to forget.

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  3. Iron lung that early?? Wow Ellen, that's impressive!

    Oh the Cole. Wow. Nine years ago already.

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  4. hi Jen! Funny, I've been singing that song since I did the blog!

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