| Frank means “To send free of postage." |  |
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| Frank means “To send free of postage." | |
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| The Pony Express completes its inaugural delivery, bringing mail over the 1,966 miles from St. Louis to Sacramento in 11 days. For $5 an ounce, letters were delivered 2,000 miles to California within ten days. Organized by William H. Russell and Alexander Majors, the service depends on a string of 119 stations, about 12 miles apart, where the young riders -- "skinny, expert . . . willing to risk death daily" -- exchange horses to keep advancing at top speed. |  |
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| Jesse James, living in St. Joseph, Missouri under his pseudonym "Thomas Howard" was shot by Robert Ford on April 3, 1882. Robert Ford was a member of Jesse's gang whom Jesse regarded as a friend. Ford shot Jesse in the back while Jesse was hanging a picture. |  |
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| Denali (The High One) is the Native (Athabascan) American word for North America's
highest peak (20,320 feet). Mount McKinley in the mountain chain called the Alaska Range. Denali
was renamed Mount McKinley for William McKinley, a nominee for president, by the Princeton graduate and
gold prospector, William Dickey. The lower north peak was first climbed on April 3, 1910 by a group of climbers bringing a 6 by 12 foot American flag and a 14 foot spruce pole. |
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| Swede Risberg and Happy Felsch seek $400,000 damages and $6,750 back salary for conspiracy and injury to reputation, but their suit will be unsuccessful. |  |
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| Powered by a combination of liquid oxygen and gasoline, Goddard launched
a rocket in a flight that covered a distance of 50 feet in 4.2 seconds. Following this flight, Goddard realized that his rocket was too small to be refined. He decided to develop larger rockets for further tests. Work was also begun on the development of a more elaborate launch tower. |
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| On the evening of April 2, the weather was pronounced suitable for an attempt the following day. The planes were prepared for departure at dawn, and took off at 8.25. The plan was for them to approach Mount Everest at a height of 33,000ft, descending to 31,000ft as they neared the summit, thus allowing a 2,000ft safety margin. However, as the planes approached the mountain it became clear that they were not high enough and that their course was too far to the east, causing them to arrive on the leeward side. At almost the same moment they were caught by a powerful down-draught caused by the deflection of the wind over the summit, and forced to descend faster than they could climb. |  |
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| Contestants on the original People Are Funny were picked from the studio audience by host Art Linkletter prior to the filming of each week's episode. On the air they would be interviewed by Art and then asked to get involved in some stunt that would prove that "people are funny." Some stunts, including tests of memory, greed, decision-making or some other trait, took place in the studio - and often ended in pie-throwing, water-dousing, or the like as the penalty. In others, contestants were given an assignment to complete before the next week's telecast, usually a trick on or test of unsuspecting outsiders - for example, trying to cash a check written on a 40-pound watermelon, or simply trying to give away money to passersby (that can be surprisingly hard). On the next show the contestant would report back with the often hilarious results. |
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| Marshall suggested that the European nations themselves set up a program for reconstruction, with United States assistance. This speech marked the official beginning of the Economic Recovery Program (ERP), better known as "The Marshall Plan." Under the plan, the United States provided aid to prevent starvation in the major war areas, repair the devastation of those areas as quickly as possible, and begin economic reconstruction. The plan had two major aims: to prevent the spread of communism in Western Europe and to stabilize the international order in a way favorable to the development of political democracy and free-market economies. |
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| Crooner Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis brought their successful nightclub act to NBC radio in 1949 (ran until 1952). The Martin and Lewis Show attracted some of hollywood's biggest stars, who jumped at the chance to appear alongside what Lewis himself called "two crackpots having this wonderful time and getting paid for it, too." |  |
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| After 1953, the regional issues featured the same covers and articles, but the programming schedules were altered to fit each locality. For example, the New York City and Albany, New York, editions would include the same editorial content, but each city would have different schedules to reflect the changes in local TV station call letters, channel numbers, and programming. The initial TV Guide national edition was dated April 39, 1953 |  |
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| In the 1950s, she had a string of popular hits with Frankie Laine, six of which charted; their duet of Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'" making the top ten in 1951. It was also at this time that Stafford scored her best known hits with huge records like "Jambalya," "Shrimp Boats," "Make Love To Me," and "You Belong To Me." The last song was Stafford's all-time biggest hit, topping the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom |  |
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| The recording was done in two takes, which was lucky for the Marcels since they only had eight minutes left in the studio. An overzealous promo man for Colpix heard the Marcels master and played it for WINS disc jockey Murray the K. The soon-to-be “fifth Beatle” was so knocked out by it he reportedly played “Blue Moon” 26 times during his four-hour show |  |
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| The US SNAP-10A launched in 1965 was a 45 kWt thermal nuclear fission reactor which produced 650 watts using a thermoelectric converter and operated for 43 days but was shut down due to a satellite (not reactor) malfunction. It remains in orbit. |  |
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| Subterranean Homesick Blues, a song written by Bob Dylan, was originally released on the
album Bringing It All Back Home. In addition to its influence on the visual arts, the song had a profound impact on American culture and politics. The widespread use of LSD, and the opposition to the Vietnam War were both starting to take hold of the nation, and Dylan's song reinforced these sentiments. the promotional film for his latest single 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'. Arguably the first rock video, it was filmed around the side of the Savoy Hotel and featured Dylan holding up to camera and then discarding placards featuring key words from the song. |
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| "Stop! In The Name Of Love" held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from March 21, 1965 to April 3, 1965. The fourth of five Supremes songs in a row to go number one (the others are "Where Did Our Love Go?", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", and "Back in My Arms Again"), it is remembered as one of the most popular and well-known songs of the late 20th century. |  |
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| Seaver came to the Mets via a strange lottery: In 1966, the Braves offered him $40,000, but the NCAA and baseball commissioner William Eckert voided the offer and made Seaver, still at USC, available to any team willing to match the Braves' offer. The Phillies, Indians, and Mets were willing and, in a drawing held in the commissioner's office, the Mets were picked out of a hat. |  |
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| Today, "Just My Imagination" is considered one of the Temptations' signature songs, and is notable for recalling the sound of the group's 1960s recordings. It is also the final Temptations single to feature founding members Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. |  |
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| Taylor moved over to CBS/Columbia, debuting in 1976 with the album Eargasm. Its first single, "Disco Lady," was an instant smash, capturing the spirit of the era and selling over two-million copies (although some soul fans still debate whether it was a true disco song). "Disco Lady" was Taylor's first number one pop hit, despite losing airplay over its supposedly suggestive lyrics, and it proved such a phenomenon that CBS eagerly pushed him to record more disco-oriented material, something Taylor wasn't extraordinarily comfortable with. |
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| Arnie Boldt, the one-legged Canadian high jumper won gold at Toronto's 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled. "What do you do, hop on one leg to the bar?" asks an incredulous Pierre. "Yes," responds Boldt, matter-of-factly. My style? "It's a dive, sort of straddle, sort of roll." |
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| While still in her early teens, Joan, often called "the girl Elvis", founded the seminal all-girl rock group, THE RUNAWAYS, whose hits such as "Cherry Bomb" made them an international sensation. She became the first woman in rock to own her own record label, Blackheart Records. There, her next group, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, became a staple in the Top 10 charts and claims the #28 song of all time, "I Love Rock n' Roll", which was number 1 on the Billboard charts for two months after 23 major record labels refused to give her a deal. |
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| Following a disappointing 6-11 record and a 4.57 ERA in 1986, Eckersley was traded, along with infielder Dan Rohn, to the Oakland A's on April 3, 1987 for outfielder Dave Wilder, infielder Brian Guinn and outfielder Mark Leonette. In what turned out to be one of the most lopsided transactions in baseball history, the three players Chicago received never played in the big leagues, but Oakland got a pitcher whose transformation not only surprised many but quite possibly changed the way the game was played. Converted to a closer in 1987, he transformed his career. He led the AL in saves twice, including then-record 51 in 1992, had tremendous control as a reliever, never walking more than 17 batters from 1987 through the rest of his career, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004. |
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| In 1994, the Colorado Silver Bullets were formed, the first women's professional baseball team since the All-American Girls Baseball League disbanded in 1954. They were a touring team, traveling around the country from May to September, playing men's college, amateur, semi-pro, and professional minor league teams. |  |
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| She sat in for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Her arrival to the court was the result of a Reagan campaign promise to place a woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. She has been the key vote in a number of notable cases, including a 1995 case limiting affirmative action, a 2002 decision permitting public aid and vouchers to religious and parochial schools, and in several abortion-related cases, where a woman's reproductive rights were narrowly reaffirmed. |  |
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| In a stinging rebuke, a federal judge ruled Microsoft Corp. violated the nation's antitrust laws
by using its monopoly power in personal computer operating systems to stifle competition. "Microsoft's anticompetitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces the optimum benefit of consumers," U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson wrote in a scathing, 50-page opinion. Characterizing Microsoft's behavior as predatory, Jackson said the software giant "paid vast sums of money, and renounced many millions more in lost revenue every year" to enhance its share of the Internet browser market at the expense of its competitors. |
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1800 Martha Washington became the
first U.S. President’s wife to be allowed to ‘frank’ mail.
More
...
1829 James Carrington of Wallingford, CT patented
the coffee mill.
1860 Pony Express service begins.
More
...
1866 Rudolph Eickemeyer and G. Osterheld of Yonkers,
New York patented a blocking and shaping machine for hats.
1868 An Hawaiian surfs on highest wave ever, he
rides a 50' tidal wave
1882 Wood block alarm invented, when alarm rang,
it dropped 20 wood blocks
1882 Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph,
Missouri. More
...
1910 Highest mountain in North America, Alaska's
Mount McKinley climbed More
...
1923 Two"Black Sox" sue White Sox (unsuccessfully)
for back salary More
...
1926 Second flight of a liquid-fueled rocket by
Robert Goddard More
...
1933 First airplane flight over Mount Everest More
...
1936 Al Carr KOs Lew Massey on 1 punch, :07 of
the 1st round (shortest boxing bout with gloves)
1942 "People Are Funny" was first heard
on NBC radio. More
...
1948 Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan More
...
1949 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis debuted on NBC radio. More
...
1953 "TV Guide" publishes first issue More
...
1954 "Make Love to Me!" by Jo Stafford
topped the charts More
...
1961 "Blue Moon" by Marcels topped the
charts More
...
1965 First atomic powered spacecraft (SNAP) launched More
...
1965 Bob Dylan appeared on the pop music charts
with"Subterranean Homesick Blues" More
...
1965 "Stop! In the Name of Love" by
the Supremes topped the charts More
...
1966 Tom Seaver, signs with the Mets for a reported
$50,000 bonus More
...
1971 "Just My Imagination (Running Away with
Me)" by the Temptations topped the charts More
...
1973 Francis W. Dorion was granted a patent for
a "dual razor blade assembly".
1976 "Disco Lady" by Johnny Taylor topped
the charts More
...
1981 Arnie Boldt of Saskatchewan jumped 6' 8.25",
with 1 leg More
...
1982 "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan
Jett & the Blackhearts topped the charts More
...
1985 Players' Association agrees to expand LCS
from 5 to 7 games
1987 Chicago Cubs trade Dennis Eckersley to A's
for 3 minor leaguers More
...
1994 First roster of Silver Bullets (all-female
pro baseball team) announced More
...
1995 Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
became the first woman presides over the court More
...
2000 A federal judge in Washington ruled that
Microsoft Corp. had violated U.S. antitrust laws More
...