[goofywife]

1989: Lucille Ball dies

Actress Lucille Ball, star of the sitcom I Love Lucy, died of a ruptured aorta today, only eight days after she underwent emergency heart surgery. The four-time Emmy Award winner was 77-years-old.

"An outpouring of sympathy from presidents to childhood neighbors followed the death of Lucille Ball, but many said the queen mother of comedy will live on through television reruns and her influence on comedy," reported The Valley Independent on April 27, 1989. "Miss Ball maintained her sense of humor even when she was critically ill. Following her operation last week, her first words to her daughter, Lucie, were 'Wouldn't you know – this is the day I was going to get my hair done.'"

NOTE: Although Ball was known as "the queen of television comedy," her talents went well beyond acting. With her husband Desi Arnaz, Ball created and led Desilu, one of Hollywood's major production companies.

1991: Tornado outbreak hits Kansas

A series of strong tornadoes struck parts of Kansas today, with the most devastating hitting the town of Andover with wind speeds of more than 260 mph. The Andover tornado injured hundreds and completely destroyed the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park. "Bulldozers on Saturday cut through twisted wreckage in a trailer park hardest hit by tornadoes that killed 29 people, and authorities feared the death toll could rise," explained the Daily Herald on April 28, 1991. "Hundreds of homes were destroyed as at least 30 twisters ripped across Kansas and 18 through Oklahoma Friday night."

1986: Explosion at Chernobyl releases radiation

An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused a fire today that resulted in a nuclear meltdown. "The first indications of a nuclear mishap came this morning when unusual concentrations of radioactivity were registered in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant in Forsmark, Sweden. Six hundred workers were evacuated," the Syracuse Herald Journal explained on April 28, 1986. Radiation from the Chernobyl plant contaminated large areas, with the governments of Sweden, Finland and Denmark reporting large clouds of radioactive material. NOTE: The Chernobyl disaster is still considered the largest nuclear accident in history.

1954: Polio vaccine tests begin

The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis gave its approval to begin distributing a new polio vaccine today. "Sandy-haired Randy Kerr claimed the first shot today in a nation-wide polio vaccine test, but what worried him most was the poison ivy 'which I've had since a week ago Sunday,'" reported the Oakland Tribune on April 26, 1954. "But Dr. Richard Mulvaney assured him he had nothing to worry about on that score and proceeded to make Randy the first of some 2,400 children in Fairfax County who will take their first shots this week."

1925: Germany elects Von Hindenburg

German field marshal Paul Von Hindenburg was elected president of Germany today. "Running as the choice of the nationalist-conservative bloc, consisting of the parties of United Right, von Hindenburg received 14,639,399 votes or 48.3 per cent, of the total valid ballots cast in yesterday's polling. His principal opponent, former Chancellor Dr. Wilhelm Marx, candidate of the Republican bloc, received 13,752,649 votes. Ernest Thaelmann, the Communist, trailed with 1,931,591," explained The Bee on April 27, 1925. NOTE: Hindenburg remained in office until his death on August 2, 1934, upon which Adolf Hitler became Germany's Head of State.

1865: John Wilkes Booth is shot

Assassin John Wilkes Booth was shot today in a burning barn after a desperate search by the Union army. Booth had fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln just 12 days earlier. "Sergeant Boston Corbett fired upon him and he fell. The ball passed through his neck. He was pulled out of the barn…the wretch lived about two hours, whispering blasphemes against the government, and messages to his mother, desiring her to be informed that he died for his country," reported The New York Times on April 28, 1865. "At the time Booth was shot, he was leaning upon one crutch and preparing to shoot his captors. Only one shot was fired in the entire affair – that which killed the assassin."