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This Week In History: July 13 - July 19
by Nicole of Retro PlanetHeadlines & Tidbits from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s
American Experience:
1939 - Clara Adams (NYC) returns from her 16-day trip as an airplane passenger, and would set a world record as the fastest airplane passenger to go around the world.
1945 - 1st atom bomb explodes in New Mexico at Trinity Site, Alamogordo
1955 – Disneyland opens its doors in Anaheim, CA
1969 – Apollo 11 was launched, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin to the moon!
1977 – New York City experiences a 25-hour blackout caused by lightning bolts striking power lines in Westchester County. This shut down the Indian Point generating station on the Hudson River. More lighting bolts followed, shutting down other facilities, until all five boroughs had lost power. Widespread looting and arson ensued.
1985 - Christa McAuliffe chosen to be the 1st schoolteacher on a space shuttle mission
1987 - Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North concludes 6 days of Congressional testimony
Movies & TV:
1951 – For the 1st time, a sporting event (horse race) was telecast in color on CBS
1961 - John Chancellor becomes news anchor of Today Show
1968 – The soap opera “One Life to Live” premieres on TV
1968 – “Yellow Submarine,” The Beatles’ animated film, premieres in London
Music & Radio:
1939 - Frank Sinatra made his recording debut with the Harry James Band
1967 - The Who, opening for Herman’s Hermits, begin a US tour
1972 - Smokey Robinson & Miracles give their final live performance at the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington, DC
1978 - BBC bans Sex Pistols song “No One is Innocent”
1985 - “Live Aid” concert raises over $70 million for African famine relief. Venues were held at JFK stadium in Philadelphia, Wembley Stadium in London, and Sydney and Moscow. It was shown on TV via satellite, with approximately 1.5 billion viewers from 100 countries.
Celebrity Headlines:
1957 - John Coltrane, rocker and US jazz sax/composer, dies of cancer at 30
1959 - Billie Holiday, jazz singer, dies of drug OD at 44
1966 - Frank Sinatra, 50, marries Mia Farrow, 21, in Las Vegas
1974 - John Lennon is ordered to leave US in 60 days or face deportation
1988 - Michael J Fox marries Tracy Pollan
The Arts:
1946 - Dr Ben Spock’s “Common Sense Book of Baby & Child Care” published
1951 – “Catcher in the Rye,” a novel by JD Salinger published
Sports:
1961 - Ty Cobb, (Detroit Tigers), dies of cancer at 74
1988 - Florence Joyner sets the women’s world record in the 100 meter at 10.49 seconds
1988 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets the women’s heptathlete record of 7,215 pts
Technology & Inventions:
1936 - 1st x-ray photo of arterial circulation took place in Rochester, NY
1939 - Dr Roy P Scholz, St Louis MO, is 1st surgeon to use fiberglass sutures
1961 – The 1st in-flight movie was shown on a TWA flight
1967 - 1st air conditioned New York City subway car introduced (R-38 on the F line)
Posted
Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 8:03 am EST by Nicole
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