Today in History

[katcarasella]

Michelle is gonna get mad because you're littering up her thread,
I on the other hand only put in useful tidbits about myself.
HELP SOMEONE SHE'S DRIVING ME NUTS.

[Janet]

No one will save you now my pretty!!!!

[goofywife]

1970: Kent State Massacre

After three days of protests against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia by students at Kent State University, National Guardsmen shot into a crowd of unarmed student protesters today, killing four.

"Kent State University, evacuated after four students were shot to death by National Guardsmen breaking up an anti-war demonstration, was virtually deserted and under heavy police and military guard today," the News Journal reported on May 5, 1979. "National Guard officials said the soldiers fired in defense of their lives when the student crowd closed in throwing rocks and chunks of concrete."

NOTE: Eight of the National Guardsmen were indicted by a grand jury. Charges were dismissed against all eight. A nation-wide student strike and hundreds of demonstrations followed the shootings, closing more than 450 campuses and bringing even more focus on the invasion of Cambodia.

1959: First Grammy Awards are given

The first Grammy Awards were announced by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences today. "The awards, miniature gold plated replicas of old fashioned phonographs, were awarded to [David] Seville for his tune, 'The Chipmunk Song' which won the awards of 'Best Comedy Performance,' 'Best Engineered Record' and 'Best Recording for Children,'" reported The Daily Review on May 6, 1959. NOTE: Other winners included Italian Domenico Modugno for Best Record and Perry Como for Best Male Vocalist, while the top movie and Broadway album was "The Music Man."

1949: Italian soccer team dies in crash

Italy's championship soccer team died in a plane crash today. "The crash wiped out the 'Torino' team of this city – four times national champions and the bulwark of Italy's team in international competition," informed The Herald Press on May 5, 1949. "The three-motor Italian plane plowed into Superga hill, scraped the cathedral which stands there and fell in flames in the cathedral courtyard. A heavy rain was falling. The team was en route home from a game in Lisbon, Portugal."

1945: Nazi forces in Holland and Denmark surrender

American newspapers reported today that enemy forces in Holland, northwest Germany and Denmark have agreed to surrender. "The Nazis themselves said the cease fire order had sounded in Holland and that British troops were sweeping unopposed through Denmark," explained The Lowell Sun on May 4, 1945. "But a heavily-censored front dispatch from United Press War Correspondent Richard D. McMillan gave even more conclusive evidence of the German collapse on the northern front. 'The German army facing the British…is out of control,' McMillan cabled. 'The Germans are throwing away their arms by the hundreds of thousands, refusing to fight, trying to get home, or struggling to give themselves up as prisoners.'"

1932: Al Capone begins prison sentence

"Tonight Capone will start serving an 11-year sentence for evading income taxes, and, giving up hope at last, he said there was 'nothing to do but make the best of it.' As his train cut down toward the southland, the gangster jested and kept up a rapid fire conversation with guards, but did not try to hide his disappointment. 'How would you feel if you had 11 years staring you in the face?' he parried when newspapermen questioned him," reported The Oakland Tribune on May 4, 1932. NOTE: Capone was released in 1939, after completing about seven years of this sentence.

1930: Gandhi is arrested

The leader of India's civil disobedience campaign, Mahatma Gandhi, was taken into British police custody tonight. Armed policemen, led by the district magistrate, made the arrest as Gandhi slept. “Gandhi, leader of the passive revolution against the British rule in India, was arrested at Surat early yesterday and was taken to Poona, where he was held," explained The Daily Courier on May 5, 1930. "Constantly, since he began the passive resistance campaign more than a month ago, he had attempted to antagonize British authorities to the point where his arrest could not be avoided. Last week he declared he would lead a raid on a state-controlled salt depot, hoping that the act would force Britain's hand.” NOTE: Shops throughout India closed in protest of Gandhi's arrest, while more than 100,000 of his followers gathered for a mass demonstration the following night. Gandhi's dream of India's independence was finally achieved in August of 1947.

[katcarasella]

Are we going back in time Michelle? That would be so cool.

I know, you're just testing us. Did I pass?

[goofywife]

You passed!!! I don't know where I was this morning.

Originally Posted by katcarasella

Are we going back in time Michelle? That would be so cool.

I know, you're just testing us. Did I pass?

[goofywife]

1961: Shepard is first American in space
Alan B. Shepard Jr., 37, became the first American to reach space today after soaring 115 miles above the earth in a spacecraft named Freedom 7.

"Shepard's blazing 5,000-mile-an-hour flight was only the beginning of American exploration of space, said Hugh Dryden, deputy administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration," the Oakland Tribune reported on May 5, 1961. "Soon, Dryden said, an astronaut will orbit the earth and later travel to the moon and back."

NOTE: After the historic flight, President Kennedy telephoned Shepard to offer his congratulations and said that he looked forward to seeing him. On May 8, Shepard was given a hero's welcome in Washington D.C.


1945: Japanese balloon bomb kills six in U.S.
A balloon carrying a bomb launched by the Japanese exploded near Lakeview, Oregon, today, killing a woman and five children on a fishing trip. The U.S. government did not release the information until several days after the incident. "Undersecretary of war Patterson disclosed today that a mother and five children were killed by a bomb from one of the long range Japanese balloons sporadically attacking the western part of this country," informed The Evening Tribune on May 31, 1945. NOTE: Their deaths were the only recorded fatalities within the U.S. mainland that were caused by an enemy attack during World War II.

1925: Science teacher is arrested for teaching evolution
High school science teacher J.T. Scopes of Dayton, Tennessee, was arrested today for violating a state law that prohibits the teaching of evolution. On May 6, 1925, the Oakland Tribune noted, "The defense will attack the constitutionality of the new law." NOTE: The “Scopes Monkey Trial” became a watershed case in the creation vs. evolution controversy, and ended with Scopes being found guilty and fined $100.00.

1904: Cy Young pitches perfect game
Baseball great Cy Young pitched the first perfect game in the history of modern professional baseball today. "Not for twenty-four years has any pitcher been able to accomplish the feat that big 'Cy' Young of the Boston Americas performed this afternoon -- that of retiring a team in succession without allowing a single man to get to first," explained The Mansfield News on May 6, 1904. NOTE: Prior to the formation of Major League Baseball, there had been other no hit games in the late 1800s.

[DianaB]

Sixteen years ago today my youngest daughter, Jaci, was born!!!