Fun On this date in history...

2 April 1942: After loading sixteen North American Aviation B-25B Mitchell medium bombers and their crews of the 17th Bombardment Group (Medium) at NAS Alameda, the recently commissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) departed San Francisco Bay with her escorts and headed for a secret rendezvous with Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., and Task Force 16.
The new carrier was under command of Captain Marc A. Mitscher. The strike group was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. (“Jimmy”) Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Corps. Until the second day at sea, only six U.S. military officers knew of the mission.
USS Hornet was a brand new Yorktown-class aircraft carrier, commissioned 20 October 1941. It had just completed its shakedown cruise in the Atlantic when it was sent west for this mission.
The ship was 824 feet, 9 inches (251.384 meters) long, overall, with a maximum width of 114 feet (34.747 meters).
Powered by four geared steam turbines driving four propeller shafts, Hornet‘s engines produced 120,000 shaft horsepower. The carrier’s maximum speed was 33.84 knots (39.94 miles per hour/62.67 kilometers per hour), and maximum range, 12,500 nautical miles (14,385 kilometers).
The aircraft carrier’s primary armament was its air wing, consisting of a squadron each of Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters, Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers and Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers. For the Halsey-Doolittle Raid, Hornet‘s air wing was stored on the hangar deck and unavailable.
“To make room for the Army bombers, Hornet had struck her own planes below. Wildcats and Devastators, with wings folded, and dismantled SBDs were packed into every available space, even hung from the overhead. So, except for her few guns, the carrier was defenseless until she rendezvoused with Task Force 16. . . .”
—History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume III, The Rising Sun in the Pacific, by Samuel Eliot Morison
For defense, the ship was lightly armored, with 2.5–4 inches (6.35–10.2 centimeters) of belt and deck armor. She also carried eight 5-inch, 38-caliber (5″/38) dual-purpose guns in single mounts, thirty 20mm Oerlikon autocannon, twenty water-cooled 1.1-inch, 75-caliber (1.1″/75) guns in four-gun mounts, and twenty-four Browning .50-caliber (12.7 millimeter) machine guns.
Including the ship’s air wing, the complement was 2,919 men.
USS Hornet fought at the Battle of Midway, June 3–7, 1942. She was sunk at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942, having been hit by two airplanes, 8 bombs, 16 torpedoes and an unknown number of 5-inch shells.

2 April 1956: On Monday morning at 8:10 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, Northwest Airlines Flight 2 took off from Seattle-Tacoma Airport en route to New York City, with intermediate stops at Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, Illinois. The airliner, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, N74608, had a crew of six and carried 32 passengers. The flight was under the command of Captain Robert Reeve Heard, with First Officer Gene Paul Johnson and Flight Engineer Carl Vernon Thomsen.
The Boeing reached the cloud layer at 145 knots (167 miles per hour/269 kilometers per hour). The engines were throttled back from takeoff power and the wing flaps were retracted. The airplane suddenly began to buffet severely, as if it were about to stall. (A passenger later said that the airplane “shook like a wet dog.”) It also rolled to the left and Captain Heard had to use full opposite aileron to maintain control. N74608 began to lose altitude.
Captain Heard suspected a split-flap condition, in which, one of the flaps remained partially or fully extended. Initially considering a return to SeaTac, Heard decided that it would be safer to proceed to McChord Air Force Base. The situation continued to worsen. Captain Heard, fearing control would quickly be lost, decided to ditch the Stratocruiser in Puget Sound.
N74608 hit the surface 4.7 nautical miles (5.4 statute miles/8.7 kilometers) from the end of Seattle’s Runway 20, The water was smooth and the airliner coasted to a stop. It then began to take on water. All passengers and crew were evacuated. Two passengers suffered minor injuries. Once in the water, they used seat cushions for flotation. (Flight 2 was not required to carry rafts or life vests.) The water temperature was 42 °F. (5.6 °C.). After about fifteen minutes, the Stratoliner sank in 430 feet (131 meters) of water.
A Northwest Airlines DC-3 flew over the scene and dropped three life rafts. Two U.S. Air Force Grumman SA-16 Albatross amphibians and a U.S. Coast Guard 83-foot (56.6 meters) patrol boat soon arrived on scene. Most of the passengers and crew were rescued. However, four passengers, probably suffering from hypothermia, had drowned. Flight Service Attendant David Victor Razey was missing. The accident occurred on his 27th birthday.
The wreck of N74608 was located on the floor of Puget Sound. It was initially moved to shallow water where divers were able to examine it. Later, the airliner was lifted onto a barge.
The Stratoliner’s Number 1 engine (outboard, left wing) was missing and never found. Investigators found that the cowl flaps of the remaining three engines were all fully open. They should have been closed for takeoff.
When the flight crew went through the pre-takeoff check list, in response to the prompt, “Cowl flaps set for takeoff,” the flight engineer responded, “Set for takeoff,” when they were actually open.
At takeoff and climb out speeds, open cowl flaps disrupt the flow of air over the wings. With the wing flaps down, this isn’t noticeable, but when the flaps are retracted, a severe buffeting occurs, as parts of the wing begin to stall.
Investigators found “no failure or malfunction of the aircraft, the power plants, or control systems prior to the ditching.”
Probable Cause:
The Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the incorrect analysis of control difficulty which occurred on retraction of the wing flaps as a result of the flight engineer’s failure to close the engine cowl flaps—the analysis having been made under conditions of great urgency and within an extremely short period of time available for decision.
—Civil Aeronautics Board Accident Investigation Report SA-319, File No. 1-0051, 9 November 1956, at Page 8

 

If I may...

ALSO ON MARCH 31st:

In 1492, Queen Isabella of Castille issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.

In 1774, The Kingdom of Great Britain ordered the port of Boston, MA closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act .

In 1814, Paris was occupied by a coalition of Russian, Prussian and Austrian forces; the surrender of the French capital forced the abdication of Emperor Napoleon.

In 1889, French engineer Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the Eiffel Tower, officially marking its completion.

In 1906, The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded to set rules in amateur sports. The organization became the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1910.

In 1918, a massacre was committed by allied armed groups of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims were killed.

Also in 1918, Daylight Savings Time went into effect in the United States for the first time.

In 1927, actor William Daniels was born in Brooklyn, NY. And every year, on July 4th, I watch “1776”, where he played a certain obnoxious and disliked lawyer.

In 1930, the Motion Picture Production Code was instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.

Also in 1932, the original version of the gangster drama “Scarface”, starring Paul Muni, premiered in New Orleans.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Conservation Work Act, which created the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1935, singer/songwriter/musician Herb Alpert was born in Los Angeles.

In 1943, "Oklahoma!," the first musical play by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opened on Broadway at the St. James Theater.

In 1949, Newfoundland (now called Newfoundland and Labrador) entered confederation as Canada's tenth province.

Also in 1949, RCA Victor introduced the 45rpm single record, which had been in development since 1940.

In 1957, the original version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," starring Julie Andrews, aired live in color on CBS-TV.

In 1958, the Chuck Berry single "Johnny B. Goode" was released by Chess Records.

In 1967, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time when he was appearing at The Astoria in London, England.

In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not seek re-election.

In 1971, actor Ewan McGregor was born in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. His officer’s commission in the Grand Army of the Republic would be issued later.

In 1973, on “Doctor Who”, part six of “Frontier in Space” was broadcast on BBC 1. It featured the last appearance of Roger Delgado as the Master.

In 1975, the TV western series "Gunsmoke" closed out 20 seasons on CBS with its final first-run episode, "The Sharecroppers."

In 1976, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan, who was in a persistent vegetative state, could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan, who remained unconscious, died in 1985.)

In 1980, The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operated its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.

In 1983, MTV aired Michael Jackson's video for "Beat It." It was the first video MTV played by an African-American artist.

Also in 1983, the Monty Python movie “The Meaning of Life” released in the U.S. And, to this day, I can’t watch the Mr. Creosote sequence.

In 1986, 167 people died when a Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashed in a remote mountainous region of Mexico.

In 1992, the USS Missouri, the last active U.S. Navy battleship, was decommissioned in Long Beach, CA.

In 1993, actor Brandon Lee, age 28, was accidentally shot to death during the filming “The Crow” in Wilmington, NC, when he was hit by a bullet fragment that had been lodged inside a prop gun.

In 1995, Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, age 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, TX, by the founder of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

In 2005, Terri Schiavo died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, FL at age 41, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a wrenching right-to-die dispute.

In 2007, on “Doctor Who”, the episode “Smith & Jones” was broadcast on BBC 1. It was the first episode of the third series, and introduced Freema Agyeman was Martha Jones.

In 2016, actor/comedian/writer Ronnie Corbett died in Croydon, England at age 85.

 

If I may...

ALSO ON APRIL 1st:

In 1789, the U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York; Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first House speaker.

In 1854, the first installment of the serialized version of Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times was published in his magazine “Household Words”.

In 1865, during the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan routed Confederate soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. George Pickett in the Battle of Five Forks in Virginia.

In 1883, actor/director/screenwriter Lon Chaney was born in Colorado Springs, CO.

In 1917, producer/network executive Sydney Newman, co-creator of “The Avengers” and “Doctor Who”, was born in Toronto.

In 1919, the final game of the 1919 Stanley Cup was canceled due to the worldwide epidemic of influenza. No winner was declared in the series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans.

In 1920, actor Toshiro Mifune was born in Qingdao, China.

In 1923, the “thrill comedy” “Safety Last”, starring Harold Lloyd, was released in the U.S.

In 1924, Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. (Hitler was released in Dec. 1924; during his time behind bars, he wrote his autobiographical screed, "Mein Kampf.")

In 1926, actor John Scott Martin, the longest-running Dalek operator in “Doctor Who” history, was born in Toxteth, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

In 1929, actor/screenwriter/producer Jonathan Haze, best-known for his work with Roger Corman, was born in Pittsburgh, PA.

In 1930, actress Grace Lee Whitney, best-known for playing Janice Rand on “Star Trek”, was born in Ann Arbor, MI.

In 1931, “The Living Shadow”, the first pulp magazine story featuring The Shadow, was published by Street and Smith.

In 1932, actress/singer/dancer Debbie Reynolds, Princess Leia’s real mother, was born in El Paso, TX.

In 1933, Nazi Germany staged a daylong national boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.

In 1939, Generalisimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announced the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered.

In 1945, American forces launched the amphibious invasion of Okinawa during World War II. (U.S. forces succeeded in capturing the Japanese island on June 22.)

In 1949, the 26 counties of the Irish Free State became Ireland.

In 1957, the BBC broadcasted the “spaghetti-tree hoax” on its current affairs program “Panorama”.

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.

In 1972, the first Major League Baseball players' strike began; it lasted 12 days.

In 1975, with Khmer Rouge guerrillas closing in, Cambodian President Lon Nol resigned and fled into exile, spending the rest of his life in the United States.

In 1976, Apple Inc. was formed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

In 1978, the last episode of “The Bob Newhart Show” was broadcast.

In 1979, the novel Han Solo at Stars’ End by Brian Daley was published. It was the first of Daley’s trilogy of Solo novels, and one of the earliest entries in what would later be called the “Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU)”.

Also in 1979, Iran became an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.

In 1984, recording star Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father, Marvin Gay, Sr. in Los Angeles, the day before his 45th birthday. (The elder Gay pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and received probation.)

In 1992, the National Hockey League Players' Association went on its first-ever strike, which lasted 10 days.

In 1997, the anime series “Pokemon” premiered in Japan over TV Tokyo.

In 2003, Michael J. Nelson’s novel Mike Nelson’s “Death Rat” was published. And if you’ve read the book, you understand why the date is appropriate.

In 2014, an editorial in the “Star-Ledger” of Newark urged the U.S. government to discourage the consumption of red meat due to the environmental harm caused by cow-generated methane gas. At the time, those familiar with the paper weren’t sure if it was serious or not. Recent political events, though, seem to possibly indicate a seriousness in the piece.

In 2017, the abandoned Chinese space station Tiangong-1dropped from orbit into the Earth’s atmosphere, burning up and scattering debris over the South Pacific.

Also in 2017, writer/producer Steven Bochco died in New York City at age 74.

 

If I may...

ALSO ON APRIL 2nd:

In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first sighted land in what is now Florida.

In 1792, The Coinage Act was passed establishing the United States Mint.

In 1865, during the Civil War, defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forced the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, VA.

Weeeeeel, doggie! In 1908, actor/dancer Buddy Ebsen was born in Belleville, IL.

In 1914, actor Sir Alec Guinness was born in Paddington, London.

In 1917, during World War I, United States President Woodrow Wilson asked the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.

In 1920, actor/producer/director/screenwriter Jack Webb was born in Santa Monica, CA.

In 1926, screenwriter Robert Holmes, best-known for his work on “Doctor Who”, was born in Hertfordshire, England.

In 1930, after the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie was proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.

In 1932, aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in The Bronx, where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man in exchange for Lindbergh's kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)

In 1939, singer/songwriter/musician Marvin Gaye was born in Washington, D.C.

In 1941, disc jockey/music historian Dr. Demento was born in Minneapolis, MN.

In 1942, Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded "American Patrol" at the RCA Victor studios in Hollywood.

In 1956, the soap operas “As the World Turns” and “The Edge of Night” premiered on CBS-TV. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.

In 1968, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” premiered in Washington, D.C.

In 1970, the Beatles finished their last recording session for their last album, “Let it Be”.

In 1971, Ringo Starr's first solo single, "It Don't Come Easy," was released. It became a Top Five hit.

In 1974, during the 46th Annual Academy Awards, streaker Robert Opel interrupted David Niven at the podium. Niven quipped, “The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings."

In 1977, on “Doctor Who”, part six of “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” was broadcast on BBC 1. It was the last episode produced by Phillip Hinchcliffe, who was forced off the program following complaints about on-screen violence.

In 1978, the prime-time soap opera “Dallas” premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.

In 1982, the fantasy/adventure movie “Conan the Barbarian”, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was released in the UK. It would reach the U.S. the following month.

In 1984, John Thompson became the first African-American coach to lead his team (Georgetown) to the NCAA college basketball championship.

In 1986, four American passengers were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a TWA jetliner en route from Rome to Athens, Greece.

In 1992, in New York, Mafia boss John Gotti was convicted of murder and racketeering. (He was later sentenced to life in prison.)

In 1995, the costliest strike in professional sports history ended when baseball owners agreed to let players play without a contract.

In 2005, Pope John Paul II died in the Vatican at age 84.

In 2014, a spree shooting occurred at the Fort Hood Army Base near the town of Killeen, TX, with four people dead, including the gunman, and 16 others sustaining injuries.

In 2015, gunmen attacked Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.

Also in 2015, in one of the largest burglaries in English history, four men stole items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London's Hatton Garden area.

In 2018, just over two years after being retired from service, the Chinese space station Tiangong-1 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and crashed into the South Pacific Ocean near Tahiti.

 

2 April 1972, the Easter Offensive, the largest combined arms operation of the entire Vietnam War, was in its third day. An early morning flight of two United States Air Force EB-66 aircraft was led by Bat 20, piloted by Lt. Col. Robert Singletary. Hambleton was a navigator aboard Bat 21. The two aircraft were escorting a cell of three B-52s. Bat 21 was configured to gather signals intelligence, including identifying North Vietnamese anti-aircraft radar installations to enable jamming. Bat 21 was destroyed by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile and Hambleton was the only survivor, parachuting behind the front lines into a battlefield filled with thousands of North Vietnamese Army soldiers.
Hambleton had Top Secret access to Strategic Air Command operations and was an expert in surface-to-air missile countermeasures. The North Vietnamese Army may have possessed information about his presence in Vietnam and his capture would have meant a huge intelligence bonanza for the Soviet Union.
Hambleton and 1st Lt. Mark Clark, who was shot down during rescue operations, were finally recovered from behind the front lines on two different nights in covert, night-time rescues carried out by U.S. Navy SEAL Thomas R. Norris and VNN commandos. For their actions in rescuing the two men, Norris was awarded the Medal of Honor and VNN Petty Officer Nguyen Van Kiet was recognized with the Navy Cross. Nguyen was the only South Vietnamese sailor given that award during the war.
The Air Force did not put limits on what it took to rescue a downed airman. The direct and indirect cost of rescuing Hambleton was enormous and became a watershed event in Air Force search and rescue. To prevent friendly fire incidents, the Americans imposed a standard no-fire zone within a 27 kilometers (17 mi) radius of Hambleton and diverted aircraft to aid in his rescue. It is likely that South Vietnamese soldiers indirectly died as a result of their inability to obtain fire support.

 

If I may...

ON APRIL 3rd:

In 1860, the legendary Pony Express began carrying mail between St. Joseph, MO, and Sacramento, CA. (The delivery system lasted only 18 months before giving way to the transcontinental telegraph.)

In 1865, Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, VA.

In 1882, outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, MO by Robert Ford, a member of James' gang.

In 1888, the first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London occurred. Some or all of these murders would later be attributed to Jack the Ripper.

In 1926, astronaut/pilot Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, pilot of Liberty Bell 7, Command Pilot of Gemini 3 (the Molly Brown) and Command Pilot of Apollo 1, was born in Mitchell, IN.

In 1936, Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, NJ, for the kidnap-murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

In 1942, Japanese forces began an assault on the U.S and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.

In 1946, Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander held responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed by firing squad outside Manila.

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed the Marshall Plan, designed to help European allies rebuild after World War II and resist communism.

In 1953, “TV Guide” was first published. The cover featured photos of Lucille Ball and her newborn son, Desi Arnaz, Jr.

In 1956, Elvis Presley performed on "The Milton Berle Show." The show was broadcast live from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock. Elvis played the songs "Heartbreak Hotel," "Money, Honey," and "Blue Suede Shoes."

In 1960, Elvis Presley recorded the song "It's Now or Never" at RCA Studios in Nashville.

In 1961, actor/comedian/writer/producer Eddie Murphy was born in Brooklyn.

In 1968, the day before he was assassinated in Memphis, TN, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers.

In 1974, deadly tornadoes began hitting wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; more than 300 fatalities resulted from what became known as the Super Outbreak.

In 1985, the landmark Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant closed after 56 years in business.

In 1995, former United Way of America President William Aramony was convicted in Alexandria, VA, of 25 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering for stealing nearly $600,000 from the charity. (Aramony ended up serving six years of a seven-year prison sentence.)

In 1996, an Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and American business executives crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.

In 2000, in the case United States v. Microsoft Corp., Microsoft was ruled to have violated U.S. antitrust law by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.

In 2009, a gunman opened fire at the American Civic Association immigration center in Binghamton, NY, killing thirteen and wounding four before committing suicide.

In 2010, on “Doctor Who”, “The Eleventh Hour” was broadcast on BBC 1. It was the first episode to star Matt Smith as the Doctor, and featured the first appearances of Karen Gillian as Amy, and Arthur Darvill as Rory.

Also in 2010, Apple, Inc. released the first generation iPad Tablet computer.

In 2014, David Letterman announced during a taping of the "Late Show" on CBS that he was retiring as host in 2015 (Stephen Colbert was named as his replacement a week later).

In 2017, a bomb exploded in the St. Petersburg metro system, killing 14 and injuring several more people.

Oh, and one more thing:

In 1978, the MPAAS, during the 50th Academy Awards, awarded the Woody Allen comedy "Annie Hall" the Oscar for "Best Picture" that should've gone to "Star Wars

 

3 April 1926: Virgil Ivan Grissom was born at Mitchell, Indiana, the second of five children of Dennis David Grissom, an electrician, and Cecile King Grissom. The pooch that couldn't be screwed would come later.
Gus Grissom was an Air Force Command Astronaut with over 4,600 hours flight time. He was the first American astronaut to fly into space twice, and logged 5 hours, 7 minutes of space flight. For his military service, Grissom was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; the Air Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster (two awards); the American Campaign medal; the World War II Victory Medal; the Korean Service Medal; the United Nations Korea medal, and the Korean War Service Medal of the Republic of South Korea. For his NASA service, he was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor (posthumous); the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (two awards); and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.
Gus Grissom was selected as the commander for Apollo I in January 1968. This was to be the first manned flight of the Apollo spacecraft. Ed White and Roger Chaffee were the other members of the flight crew.
As commander of AS-204 (Apollo I), LCOL Virgil I. Grissom, USAF was killed along with Ed White and Roger Chafee during a test on the launchpad, 27 January 1967.
Had he lived, it is very possible that Grissom would have commanded the first Apollo mission to land on The Moon.
The remains of Lieutenant Colonel Virgil Ivan Grissom, United States Air Force, NASA Astronaut, are buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

3 April 1933: Squadron Leader Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale (Lord Clydesdale)—at the time, the youngest squadron leader in the Royal Air Force, and in command of 602 Squadron—as Chief Pilot of the Houston Mount Everest Flying Expedition, flew a modified Westland PV-3 biplane, G-ACAZ, in formation with Westland PV-6, G-ACBR, over the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, elevation 29,029 feet (8,848 meters). The PV-6 was piloted by Flight Lieutenant David Fowler McIntyre, also of 602 Squadron.
The two airplanes took off from Purnia, in the northeast of India, at 8:25 a.m. Aboard Lord Clydesdale’s airplane was observer Lieutenant Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker, O.B.E. (“Blacker of the Guides”), and on McIntyre’s was Sidney R. G. Bonnett, a cinematographer for Gaumont British News. During the ascent to Everest, Bonnett damaged his oxygen hose and lost consciousness due to hypoxia.
The airplanes carried Williamson Automatic Eagle III survey cameras that would take photographs of the surface at specific intervals as the airplanes flew over known survey locations. It was planned that a photographic mosaic of the terrain and an accurate map could be drawn.
The expedition was financed by Lucy, Lady Houston, D.B.E., who offered to provide up to £15,000 to finance the project. The flight helped to demonstrate the need for specialized equipment for high altitude flight.
For his accomplishment, Lord Clydesdale—later, Air Commodore His Grace The Duke of Hamilton KT GCVO AFC PC DL FRCSE FRGS—was awarded the Air Force Cross.
Interestingly, in The Map Makers (John Noble Wilford, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1981), it was reported that the Great Survey actually calculated the height of the mountain at 29,000 feet (8,839.2 meters), but it was felt that this value would be taken as an approximation rather than an exact value, so 2 feet were added, resulting in the generally known height of 29,002 feet (8,839.8 meters).
The elevation of the summit may have changed due to a Magnitude 7.8 earthquake that occurred 25 April 2015, and a M 7.3 aftershock on 12 May 2015. Nepal’s Survey Department plans a new survey.

3 April 1941: North American Aviation test pilot Robert Creed Chilton takes his first flight—a one hour familiarization—in the company’s prototype of a new fighter for the Royal Air Force, the NA-73X, NX19998, at Mines Field. (Mines would later become Los Angeles International Airport, LAX.)
The airplane had first been flown by free-lance test pilot Vance Breese, 26 October 1940, and he had flown it several times. North American’s Chief Test Pilot, Paul Baird Balfour, on his first flight in NX19998, ran out of fuel and crash landed in a plowed field 150 yards (137 meters) west of the airfield, 20 November 1940. The prototype had flown just 3 hours, 20 minutes.
The NA-73X was repaired and Bob Chilton was assigned to complete the testing program. The airplane would become the legendary P-51 Mustang, and Chilton would continue to conduct the majority of flight testing on its improvements and modifications.

3 April 1962: At NAS Point Mugu, Ventura County, California, a future NASA astronaut, United States Navy test pilot Commander John Watts Young, set a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) time-to-altitude world record by flying his McDonnell Aircraft Corporation F4H-1 Phantom II, Bureau of Aeronautics serial number (Bu. No.) 149449, from the surface to 25,000 meters (82,021 feet) in 3 minutes, 50.44 seconds.
John Young was a test pilot assigned to the Naval Air Test Center, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, where he was a project officer for F4H and F8U armament systems. He was selected as a NASA astronaut and served as Pilot of Gemini III; backup pilot, Gemini IV; Commander for Gemini 10; Command Module Pilot on Apollo 10; back-up commander for Apollo 13; Commander, Apollo 16; and back-up commander for Apollo 17. Later, he was Commander of the maiden flight of the space shuttle Columbia STS-1 and again for STS-9. He was in line to command STS-61J.
McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II Bu. No. 149449, redesignated F-4B-11-MC, served with VF-96 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-61), VF-151 aboard USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and was later assigned to Marine Air Group 13, VMFA-323, “Death Rattlers,” based at Chu Lai Air Base, Republic of South Vietnam.
On 2 August 1968, 149449 was hit by small arms fire near An Hoa, 17 miles southeast of Da Nang. On returning the damaged airplane to Chu Lai, the Phantom’s landing gear could not be extended. The pilot, Major DanieI I. Carroll, USMC, and Weapons System Officer, First Lieutenant R.C. Brown, USMC, ejected one mile (1.6 kilometers) off the coast. Both were rescued by a U.S. Army helicopter.
The record-setting Phantom II was lost in the South China Sea.

 

4 April 1917: Sous-Lieutenant René Pierre Marie Dorme of the Aéronautique Militaire (French Air Service) made the first flight of the famous World War I fighter, the SPAD S.XIII C.1.
Lieutenant Dorme was an ace with 18 confirmed victories. In the next seven weeks, he shot down another five enemy aircraft.
Designed by Société Pour L’Aviation et ses Dérivés Technical Director Louis Béchéreau and manufactured by SPAD as well as eight other companies, this was an improved and slightly larger version of the earlier SPAD S.VII C.1. It used a more powerful Hispano-Suiza 8Ba engine instead of the S.VII’s 8Aa, with an increase of 50 horsepower. (Later versions used 8Be engines.) Armament was increased from a single .303-caliber Vickers machine guns to two.
The SPAD was faster than other airplanes of the time and it had a good rate of climb. Though a product of France, it was used by both the Royal Flying Corps and the U.S. Army Air Service. In France, the airplane type now considered a “fighter” was called a chasseur (“hunter”). The letter “C-” in the SPAD’s designation reflects this. The “-.1” at the ending indicates a single-place aircraft.

1938 WASHINGTON, April 4. (AP)—Mrs Franklin D. Roosevelt presented to Jacqueline Cochran of New York today the Harmon trophy for the outstanding American aviatrix of 1937.
The trophy is awarded by the Ligue Internationale Des Aviateurs.
Miss Cochran broke the national women’s record for 1000 kilometers and on three occasions established new national records for the 100-kilometer distance in 1937. She also set a world’s record for women over a three-kilometer course.
—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LVII, Tuesday, 5 April 1938, Part I, Page 5, Columns 3–5

4 April 1940: Curtiss-Wright’s Chief Test Pilot H. Lloyd Child took the first production P-40 Warhawk into the air for the first time at Buffalo, New York.

4 April 1942: US Navy blimp L-8 (formerly known as Goodyear blimp Ranger) delivers spare parts for land-based B-25 bombers to the carrier USS Hornet somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

4 April 1943: A brand-new crew with a brand-new airplane, assigned to the 514th Bombardment Squadron, 376th Bombardment Group, Ninth Air Force, departed Soluch Field (now, Benina International Airport) on their first combat mission, a night attack on Naples, Italy. First Lieutenant William J. Hatton, U.S. Army Air Corps, and his crew of eight men were flying Lady Be Good, a Consolidated B-24D-25-CO Liberator long-range heavy bomber, serial number 41-24301. They would never be seen alive again.
High winds and poor visibility broke up the 25-plane formation, and eventually only two made it all the way to Naples, arriving over the city at about 7:50 p.m. Bad weather made bombing difficult, so the B-24s dropped their bombs into the Mediterranean Sea and started home. By this time, Lieutenant Hatton and his men were alone.
The flight crew became lost on the return flight and overflew their home base. They continued south into the darkness of the desert night. Eventually, the bomber began to run out of fuel. When two of the four engines stopped, the nine men bailed out into the darkness. The pilots had trimmed the bomber to fly with just two engines operating before abandoning their airplane. The B-24 continued south on its own.
Fifteen years later, an oil exploration team discovered the wreckage of 41-24301 in the Calanscio Sand Sea (سرير كلنسيو الرملي الكبير, Kalanshiyū ar Ramlī al Kabīr, Sarīr) of the Libyan Sahara Desert. The Lady Be Good had come to earth 440 miles (708 kilometers) south of its base at Soluch.
The wreckage of Lady Be Good is stored at Gamal Abdul El Nasser Air Base, Libya.

4 April 1968: At 07:00:01.38 EST, Apollo 6 (AS-502), the second and last unmanned Apollo mission, lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. First motion was detected at Range Time 00:00:00.38. The purpose of the flight was to determine that an all-up Saturn V could attain Trans Lunar Injection. Because of engine difficulties, it did not do so, but data from the test gave mission planners confidence to go ahead with manned flights.
At T+2:05 the Saturn V experienced a severe “pogo” oscillation, but no structural damage occurred. Next, several structural panels from the lunar module adaptor section were lost due to a manufacturing defect. Finally, during the second stage burn, two of the five Rocketdyne J-2 engines shut down prematurely. Because of this, the planned circular orbit at 175 kilometers altitude was not achieved, instead, the spacecraft entered a 106.9 × 138.6 miles (172.1 × 223.1 kilometers) orbit, circling Earth in 89.8 minutes.
After two orbits, it was planned to send Apollo 6 to the Trans Lunar Injection point, but the third stage engine would not fire. The Service Module engine was used to boost the spacecraft to a peak altitude of 13,810.2 miles (22,225.4 kilometers) and a planned lunar re-entry simulation was carried out. Apollo 6 reached 22,385 miles per hour (36,025 kilometers per hour) as it reentered the atmosphere. 9 hours, 57 minutes, 20 seconds after launch, Apollo 6 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii and was recovered by USS Okinawa (LPH-3).

4 April 1975: Operation Babylift. As the end of the Vietnam War approached, it was decided to evacuate 2,000 orphans, most in the care of an American hospital in Saigon, Republic of South Vietnam, and to take them to safety within the United States. The first flight was aboard a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy heavy lift transport, serial number 68-0218, piloted by Captains Dennis W. Traynor III and Tilford Harp.
A medical team from Clark Air Base, The Philippines, commanded by First Lieutenant Regina Claire Aune, Nurse Corps, United States Air Force, was aboard when the huge transport plane landed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. When it was discovered that there would be about 250 orphans aboard, many of them sick or injured, another medical team from a C-141 Starlifter volunteered to accompany Lieutenant Aune’s team for the outbound flight.
When the Galaxy took off from Saigon at 4:00 p.m., there were 328 people aboard, including flight crew, medical teams, orphans and their escorts, as well as other U.S. personnel.
The C-5A quickly climbed to 23,000 feet (7,010 meters). Just a few minutes after takeoff, the locks of the rear loading ramp failed. Explosive decompression hurled people and equipment throughout the airplane which instantly filled with fog. Lieutenant Aune was thrown the entire length of the upper deck. The airplane was severely damaged with two hydraulic systems inoperative and many flight control cables severed.
The pilots could only control the airplane with engine thrust. They began an emergency descent and turned back to Tan Son Nhut.
Unable to maintain flight, at about 4:45 p.m., the Galaxy touched down in a rice paddy two miles short of the runway at 270 knots (500 kilometers per hour). It slid for a quarter mile, became airborne for another half mile, then touched down and slid until it hit a raised dike and broke into four sections. 138 people were killed in the crash.
Although herself seriously injured, Lieutenant Aune began evacuating the children. When rescue helicopters arrived, they were unable to land close to the wrecked transport, so the children had to be carried.
After she had helped to carry about eighty babies, Regina Aune was unable to continue. She asked the first officer she saw to be relieved of her duties and then passed out. At a hospital it was found that she had a broken foot, broken leg and broken vertebra in her back, as well as numerous other injuries.
Regina Aune became the first woman to be awarded the Cheney Award by the Air Force, which was established in 1927 and is awarded “to an airman for an act of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest, performed in connection with aircraft, but not necessarily of a military nature.“
11 members of the crew of the Galaxy were among the dead, including Captain Mary Therese Klinker, Nurse Corps, United States Air Force.
Captain Mary Therese Klinker, Nurse Corps, United States Air Force, 10th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, was the last United States service woman to die in the Vietnam War. Captain Klinker was posthumously awarded the Airman’s Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal. She is buried at St. Boniface Cemetery in her home town of Lafayette, Indiana.
The pilots, Captain Dennis W. Traynor III and Captain Tilford W. Harp, were both awarded the Air Force Cross for saving the lives of 176 passengers in what General Paul Carlton, Commander, Military Airlift Command, called “one of the greatest displays of airmanship I have ever heard related.”

 

If I may...

ALSO ON APRIL 4th:

In 1739, Handel’s oratorio “Israel in Egypt” received its first complete performance at the King’s Theatre, London.

In 1818, Congress decided the flag of the United States would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

In 1841, William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the U.S., succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office. He was age 68.

In 1850, the city of Los Angeles was incorporated.

In 1859, "Dixie" was performed publicly for the first time by Bryant's Minstrels at Mechanics' Hall in New York.

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by his son Tad, visited the vanquished Confederate capital of Richmond, VA, where he was greeted by a crowd that included former slaves.

In 1922, composer/conductor Elmer Bernstein was born in New York City.

In 1928, composer/producer Monty Norman, best-known as the composer of the James Bond theme, was born in London.

In 1932, actor Anthony Perkins was born in New York City. His commercial for the Norman Bates School of Motel Management would come later.

In 1933, the Navy airship USS Akron crashed in severe weather off the New Jersey coast with the loss of 73 lives.

In 1935, actor Kenneth Mars was born in Chicago. Years later, he’d play the author of the purported worst play in history.

In 1945, during World War II, U.S. forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp Ohrdruf in Germany.

Also in 1945, Hungary was liberated as Soviet forces cleared out remaining German troops.

In 1949, twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO.

In 1958, Johnny Stompanato, an enforcer for crime boss Mickey Cohen and the boyfriend of actress Lana Turner, was stabbed to death by Turner's teenage daughter, Cheryl Crane, who said Stompanato had attacked her mother.

In 1960, Elvis Presley recorded the song "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" at RCA Studios in Nashville.

Also in 1960, "Ben Hur" won a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. (That record would be tied by “Titanic” in 1997 and “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” in 2003, but not yet surpassed.)

In 1965, actor Robert Downey Jr. was born. He was born in Manhattan, not IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!

In 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed at age 39, while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN.

In 1973, the World Trade Center in New York was officially dedicated.

In 1974, Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth's major league baseball home-run record with 714.

In 1975, Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In 1983, the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger made its maiden voyage into space.

In 1988, filming for the “Doctor Who” serial “Remembrance of the Daleks” caused a brief panic when a large explosion set off on a London side street during filming of a Dalek battle scene was mistaken as a possible IRA bombing.

In 1998, on “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, the episode featuring the superhero movie “The Pumaman” premiered on Comedy Central. And the movie was soon considered a contender for the title of “worst superhero movie ever made”.

In 2013, author/screenwriter/critic/journalist Roger Ebert died in Chicago at age 70.

In 2016, radio dramatist/voice artist Erik Bauersfeld died at age 93. He’s best-known for providing the voices for Bib Fortuna and Adm. Ackbar in “Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi”, reprising the latter role in “Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens”.

 

If I may...

ON APRIL 5th:

In 1614, Indian Chief Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas married Englishman John Rolfe in the Virginia Colony.

Also in 1614, England's King James I convened the second Parliament of his rule; the "Addled Parliament," as it came to be known, lasted only two months.

In 1764, Britain's Parliament passed The American Revenue Act of 1764, also known as The Sugar Act.

In 1792, U.S. President George Washington exercised his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power was used in the United States.

In 1887, in Tuscumbia, AL, teacher Anne Sullivan achieved a breakthrough as her 6-year-old deaf-blind pupil, Helen Keller, learned the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the Manual Alphabet.

Also in 1887, British historian Lord Acton wrote in a letter, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

In 1895, Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, who'd accused the writer of homosexual practices.

In 1900, actor Spencer Tracy was born in Milwaukee, WI.

In 1908, actress Bette Davis was born in Lowell, MA.

In 1909, producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli, co-founder of Eon Productions, producers of most of the James Bond movies, was born in Queens, NY.

In 1915, Jess Willard knocked out Jack Johnson in the 26th round of their fight in Havana, Cuba, to claim boxing's world heavyweight title.

In 1916, actor Gregory Peck was born in San Diego, CA.

In 1917, author/screenwriter Robert Bloch, best-known for the novel Psycho, was born in Chicago.

In 1925, a tornado estimated at F-3 intensity struck northern Miami-Dade County, Florida, killing five people.

In 1926, actor/filmmaker Roger Corman was born in Detroit, MI. So far as is known, he didn’t use stock footage of his birth in six of his later movies.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the Civilian Conservation Corps and an anti-hoarding order that effectively prohibited private ownership of gold.

Riddle me this, Batman. In 1933, actor/impressionist Frank Gorshin was born in Pittsburgh, PA.

In 1942, during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid. Port and civilian facilities were damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMC Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire were sunk southwest of the island.

In 1943, during World War II, American bomber aircraft accidentally caused more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1,300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. Their target was the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.

In 1950, author A.C. Crispin, well-known for her “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” novels, was born in Stamford, CT.

In 1951, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.

In 1955, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned his office for health reasons.

Also in 1955, Democrat Richard J. Daley was first elected mayor of Chicago, defeating Republican Robert E. Merriam.

In 1961, Bob Dylan played his first paid gig in New York, at the Loeb Music Center.

In 1964, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur died in Washington, D.C. at age 84.

In 1975, nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek died in Taipei at age 87.

In 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers became the all-time NBA regular season scoring leader when he broke Wilt Chamberlain's record of 31,419 career points.

In 1986, two American servicemen and a Turkish woman were killed in the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque, an incident which prompted a U.S. air raid on Libya more than a week later.

In 1987, the FOX TV network began broadcasting, starting with episodes of “Married…with Children” and “The Tracey Ullman Show”.

In 1991, former Sen. John Tower, R-Texas, his daughter Marian and 21 other people were killed in a commuter plane crash near Brunswick, GA.

In 1994, filming was completed on “All Good Things…” the series finale of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

Also in 1994, “Mystery Science Theater 3000” won the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in television broadcasting.

In 1994, Nirvana singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain fatally shot himself above his garage in Seattle at age 27.

In 2008, on “Doctor Who”, “Partners in Crime” was broadcast on BBC 1. It was the first episode of the revival’s fourth series, and re-introduced Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.

In 2010, twenty-nine coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.

 

If I may...

ON APRIL 6th:

In 1199, King Richard I of England died from an infection following the removal of an arrow from his shoulder.

In 1320, The Scots reaffirmed their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.

In 1712, The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 began near Broadway. Twenty-three enslaved Africans killed nine Caucasians and injured six more. (In response, seventy black people were arrested, with twenty-one tried, convicted and executed.)

In 1841, U.S. President John Tyler was sworn in, two days after having become President upon William Henry Harrison’s death.

In 1860, The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, later renamed Community of Christ, was organized by Joseph Smith III and others at Amboy, IL.

In 1862, during the Civil War, The Battle of Shiloh began in Tennessee, as forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant met Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.

In 1865, during the Civil War, at The Battle of Sailor’s Creek, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fought and lost its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, VA during the Appomattox Campaign.

In 1866, The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, was founded. It would last until 1956. (And, no, Jango Fett had no involvement in its membership.)

In 1896, in Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games was celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games were banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.

In 1909, explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reached the South Pole.

In 1917, during World War I, the United States declared war on Germany.

In 1937, actor/artist/singer/writer Billy Dee Williams was born in New York City. His officer’s commission from the Alliance would be awarded later on.

Also in 1937, singer/songwriter Merle Haggard was born in Oildale, CA.

In 1938, actor Roy Thinnes, best-known for playing David Vincent in “The Invaders”, was born in Chicago, IL.

In 1945, during World War II, the Japanese warship Yamato and nine other vessels sailed on a suicide mission to attack the U.S. fleet off Okinawa; the fleet was intercepted the next day.

In 1947, actor John Ratzenberger was born in Bridgeport, CT. Years later, he’d end up in a Boston bar, the Alliance base on Hoth, and every Pixar movie to date.

Also in 1947, the first Tony Awards were presented for theatrical achievement.

In 1951, the science fiction/horror movie “The Thing from Another World” premiered in the U.S.

In 1954, a month after being criticized by newsman Edward R. Murrow on CBS' "See It Now," Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., given the chance to respond on the program, charged that Murrow had, in the past, "engaged in propaganda for Communist causes."

In 1956, Paramount Pictures signed Elvis Presley to a three-movie contract just a few days after his first screen test.

In 1959, actor Mark Strickson, best-known for playing Vislor Turlough on “Doctor Who”, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

In 1965, Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, was launched.

In 1966, at EMI Studios in London, the Beatles held their first recording sessions for their album “Revolver”.

In 1967, on the original series “Star Trek”, the episode “City on the Edge of Forever” was broadcast on NBC-TV. Harlan Ellison’s complaints about the episode had already gone on for some time, and continued for decades afterwards.

In 1968, the Beatles' Apple Corps Limited opened in London.

In 1973, U.S. President Nixon threw out the first pitch of the season at a California Angels game. It was the first time that a U.S. President had performed the ceremonial activity in a city other than Washington, DC.

In 1974, the Swedish pop band ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Waterloo”, launching their international career.

In 1994, The Rwandan Genocide began when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down.

Also in 1994, production on the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” formally wrapped.

In 2009, the first public showing of J.J. Abrams’ movie “Star Trek” was held in Austin, TX.

In 2016, singer/songwriter Merle Haggard died in Palo Cedro, CA at age 79.

 

If I may...

ON APRIL 7th:

In 1724, the premiere performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. John Passion” (BWV 245) was given at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig.

In 1788, American pioneers to the Northwest Territory established Marietta, OH as the first permanent American settlement in the territory.

In 1798, The Mississippi Territory was organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and Spain. (It was expanded in 1804 and again in 1812.)

In 1805, Composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

In 1862, The Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates near Shiloh, TN.

In 1915, jazz singer-songwriter Billie Holiday, also known as "Lady Day," was born in Philadelphia, PA.

In 1928, actor James Garner was born in Norman, OK

In 1930, actor Andrew Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany. He’s best-known for his role in “Fawlty Towers”, getting knocked around by Basil.

In 1933, Prohibition in the U.S. was repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the 21st Amendment.

In 1939, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola was born in Detroit, MI.

Also in 1939, comedian/journalist/TV host David Frost was born in Tenterden, Kent, England.

In 1940, Booker T. Washington became the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.

In 1943, during World War II, in Terebovlia, Ukraine, Germans ordered 1,100 Jews to undress to their underwear and march through the city to the nearby village of Plebanivka where they were shot dead and buried in ditches.

In 1945, during World War II, the Japanese battleship Yamato, the largest battleship ever constructed, was sunk by American planes 200 miles north of Okinawa while en route to a suicide mission in Operation Ten-Go.

In 1946, Academy Award-winning special effects make-up creator Stan Winston was born in Arlington, VA.

In 1948, The World Health Organization was established by the United Nations.

In 1949, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific" opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theater.

In 1953, the U.N. General Assembly ratified Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden as the new secretary-general, succeeding Trygve Lie of Norway.

In 1954, actor/director/producer/martial artist Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong.

In 1955, Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister of the UK amid indications of failing health.

In 1962, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met future Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones at the Ealing Jazz Club in Ealing, West London.

In 1963, at the age of 23, Jack Nicklaus became the youngest golfer to win the Green Jacket at the Masters Tournament.

In 1966, the U.S. Navy recovered a hydrogen bomb that the U.S. Air Force had lost in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain following a B-52 crash.

In 1974, the suspense film “The Conversation” premiered in Los Angeles. It starred Gene Hackman and was written & directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Also in 1974, the Hammer Horror movie “Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter” was released in the UK.

In 1978, development of the neutron bomb was canceled by U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

In 1983, during the STS-6 mission with the Shuttle Challenger, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson performed the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.

In 1985, British pop group Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) performed at a packed Beijing stadium in Communist China's first big-name rock concert.

In 1990, former U.S. National Security Advisor John Poindexter was found guilty of five charges for his part in the Iran-Contra scandal. (The conviction was later reversed on appeal).

In 1995, during the First Chechen War, Russian paramilitary troops began a massacre of civilians in Samashki, Chechnya.

In 2001, the unmanned Mars Odyssey probe was launched from Cape Canaveral.

In 2003, during the Iraq War, U.S. troops captured Baghdad; Sadam Hussein’s regime fell two days later.

In 2007, author/cartoonist Johnny Hart, creator of “B.C.” and “The Wizard of Id”, died in Nineveh, NY at age 76.

In 2009, former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.

In 2015, humorist/satirist/actor/comedian Stan Freberg died in Santa Monica, CA at age 88.

Also in 2015, William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First was published by Quirk Books.

In 2016, the first official teaser trailer for the “Star Wars” movie “Rogue One” was released on-line. (A very brief preview trailer had been shown at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim in 2015.)

In 2017, a terrorist attack occurred on Drottninggatan in central Stockholm, Sweden. A stolen truck slammed into people at high speed, killing at least four and injuring fifteen others.

 

If I may...

ON APRIL 8th:

In 1665, English colonial patents were granted for the establishment of the Monmouth Tract, for what would eventually become Monmouth County in northeastern New Jersey.

In 1730, Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, was dedicated.

In 1864, the United States Senate passed, 38-6, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery. (The House of Representatives passed it in January 1865; the amendment was ratified and adopted in December 1865.)

In 1904, Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan was renamed Times Square after “The New York Times”.

In 1913, The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, became law.

In 1935, The Works Progress Administration was formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 became law.

In 1942, the Japanese took Bataan in the Philippines.

Also in 1942, director Douglas Trumbull, best-known for his work in movie VFX, was born in Los Angeles.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, froze wages and prices, prohibited workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and barred rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.

In 1945, after an air raid accidentally destroyed a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors were massacred by Nazis.

In 1946, the League of Nations assembled in Geneva for its final session.

In 1949, director John Madden (no, not that John Madden) was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. Among his other projects, he directed all three of the “Star Wars” radio adaptations.

In 1950, the science fiction anthology “Dimension X” premiered over NBC radio.

In 1952, U.S. President Harry Truman called for the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.

In 1970, the science fiction film “Colossus: The Forbin Project”, premiered in New York City.

In 1974, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth's 39-year-old record.

In 1975, Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians became first black manager of a major league baseball team.

In 1981, General of the Army Omar N. Bradley died in New York City at age 88.

In 1990, Ryan White, the teenage AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance had gained national attention, died in Indianapolis at age 18.

Also in 1990, the cult TV series "Twin Peaks" premiered on ABC.

In 1992, Retired tennis champion Arthur Ashe announced that he had contracted AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.

In 2005, over four million people attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

In 2013, The Islamic State of Iraq entered the Syrian Civil War and began by declaring a merger with the Al-Nusra Front under the name Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.

In 2018, the second official trailer for the “Star Wars” anthology movie “Solo” was released. There was some measure of interest.

 

5 April 1968:
An RAF Hunter few through the Tower Bridge, London, in a down-river direction just after noon last Friday, April 5. The Hunter, carrying underwing tanks, was glimpsed momentarily from Flight‘s offices in a descending, mushing turn until lost to sight behind United Africa House. Previous flights through Tower Bridge—never in a jet, and never so fast—have invariably been made in an up-river direction.
The MoD was investigating as we closed for press; the supposition was that the aircraft was an FGA.9 of 1 or 54 Squadrons, which comprise the close-support wing at RAF West Raynham. The station refused comment, but flying was taking place that day. Visibility was excellent. Some authorities attributed the incident to widespread resentment that the RAF had been deprived of a ceremonial fly-past on the 50th anniversary day, April 1. The Red Arrows were expecting to make this fly-past last month, but permission was presumably denied. A Ministry of Defence spokesman to whom we were referred at press time by the duty officer at RAF West Raynham, was not then able to reveal the name of the pilot.
—FLIGHT International, Vol. 93, Number 3083, 11 April 1968, at Page 500, Column 3

 

6 April 1924: Four United States Army Air Service Douglas DWC single-engine biplanes departed Sand Point, near Seattle, Washington, on the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. The airplanes were named Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle.
175 days later, after flying 27,553 miles (44,342.3 kilometers) in 371 hours, 11 minutes, two of the World Cruisers, Chicago and New Orleans, complete the flight and return to Seattle.
Chicago is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and New Orleans is in the collection of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.

6 April 1928: William Patterson MacCracken, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, became the first person to be issued a pilot’s license by the government of the United States. License Number 1 was a private license, signed by then Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, who would later become the 31st President of the United States of America.
Assistant Secretary MacCracken had offered the first pilot certificate to aviation pioneer Orville Wright, but Wright declined, as “he no longer flew and did not think he needed a Federal license to show that he had been the first man to fly.”

6 April 1940: Flying her Seversky AP-7A, NX1384, Jackie Cochran set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and National Aeronautic Association speed record over a 2,000 kilometer (1,242.742 miles) course from Mount Wilson, California (northeast of Los Angeles) to Mesa Giganta, New Mexico (west of Albuquerque) with an average speed of 533.845 kilometers per hour (331.716 miles per hour).

6 April 1955: At 10:00:04.1 a.m. local time (1800 GMT), a Convair B-36H assigned to the 4925th Test Group (Atomic) at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico dropped an atomic weapon from 42,000 feet (12,802 meters) over the Nevada Test Site, Area 1. The bomb was parachute-retarded to slow its fall so that the bomber could escape its blast effects.
The weapon was a test device produced by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory to investigate its use as an air-to-air anti-aircraft missile warhead. The bomb detonated at 36,620 feet (11,162 meters) with an explosive force of 3.2 kilotons. Because of the altitude of the explosion, there was no significant fallout.

 

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to
FIRST LIEUTENANT JAMES E. SWETT
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following CITATION: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, as a division leader in Marine Fighting Squadron TWO TWENTY-ONE in action against enemy Japanese aerial forces in the Solomon Islands Area, April 7, 1943. In a daring flight to intercept a wave of 150 Japanese planes, First Lieutenant Swett unhesitatingly hurled his four-plane division into action against a formation of fifteen enemy bombers and during his dive personally exploded three hostile planes in mid-air with accurate and deadly fire. Although separated from his division while clearing the heavy concentration of anti-aircraft fire, he boldly attacked six enemy bombers, engaged the first four in turn, and unaided, shot them down in flames. Exhausting his ammunition as he closed the fifth Japanese bomber, he relentlessly drove his attack against terrific opposition which partially disabled his engine, shattered the windscreen and slashed his face. In spite of this, he brought his battered plane down with skillful precision in the water off Tulagi without further injury. The superb airmanship and tenacious fighting spirit which enabled First Lieutenant Swett to destroy eight enemy bombers in a single flight were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
/S/ FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

7 April 1961: Boeing B-52B-30-BO Stratofortress 53-380, assigned to the 95th Bombardment Wing and named Ciudad Juarez, departed Biggs Air Force Base, El Paso, Texas on a training mission. The aircraft commander was Captain Donald C. Blodgett.
The flight took Ciudad Juarez over New Mexico where they were intercepted by a flight of two North American F-100A Super Sabres of the New Mexico Air National Guard, also on a training flight.
Captain Dale Dodd and 1st Lieutenant James W. van Scyoc had departed Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Each of their Super Sabres were armed with two GAR-8 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (later redesignated AIM-9B Sidewinder). Their assignment was to practice ground-controlled intercepts of the B-52.
Each F-100 made five passes at the B-52, flying at 34,000 feet (10,363 meters) over central New Mexico. Their Sidewinder infrared-seeking sensors would lock on to the heat of the B-52’s engines and give an audible signal to the fighter pilot that the target had been acquired. Safety precautions required that a circuit breaker be pulled and a firing switch be left in the off position. Before each pass, ground controllers had the pilots verify that the missiles were safed.
As the training session came to an end, Lieutenant van Scyoc, flying F-100A-20-NA Super Sabre 53-1662, announced, “OK, Wing, one more run then we’ll go home.” The seeker heads of his Sidewinders locked on to the B-52, but then one of the missiles fired.
Van Scyoc radioed, “Look out! One of my missiles is loose!” Captain Blodgett heard the warning, but before he could begin evasive maneuvering, the Sidewinder impacted the inboard engine nacelle under the bomber’s left wing, blowing the wing completely off. The B-52 immediately rolled over and went into a spin. 52-380 disappeared into the clouds 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) below.
The co-pilot of Ciudad Juarez, Captain Ray C. Obel, immediately ejected. His ejection seat was thrown through a hatch opening in the cockpit ceiling. Because of the high altitude, this sudden opening in the fuselage resulted in explosive decompression. The crew chief, Staff Sergeant Manuel A. Mieras, had been standing on a crew ladder behind the pilots which led to the lower deck where the navigator and bombardier were located. Sergeant Mieras was sucked up through the hatch. His left leg was so badly injured that it later had to amputated.
Ciudad Juarez impacted on Mount Taylor, an 11,305 foot (3,446 meter) stratovolcano northeast of Grants, New Mexico, and left a crater 75 feet (23 meters) deep. Captain Peter J. Gineris, navigator, Captain Stephen C. Carter, bombardier, and 1st Lieutenant Glenn V. Blair, electronic countermeasures, did not escape.
Captain Blodgett suffered a fractured pelvis, Captain Obel, a broken back. The tail gunner, Staff Sergeant Ray A. Singleton, was badly burned.
Sergeant Singleton located Captain Blodgett and they were both rescued by helicopter later that day. It would be two days before Captain Obel and Sergeant Mieras were located.
An investigation determined that moisture condensation inside a worn electrical plug had caused a short circuit which fired the Sidewinder. Lieutenant van Scyoc was completely exonerated of any blame for the accident.