First of all I would like to express how much I’m enjoying my work with the Good Old Days column. I’m learning so much and really appreciating all of the participation from everyone in sharing their memories and bits of family history.
I’d like to introduce a new section of the Good Old Days column, It Happened This Month. This section will feature memorable events that took place in the United States each month 50, 75, and 100 years ago. From time to time something of a different time period or in regard to another nation will be included, based on relevance. I hope everyone will enjoy reading these historical facts and recall when one of these events occurred, or when our parents and grandparents relayed their memories of them. Also, if you have a story about any historical event that you remember, wed love to hear them!
Thanks again, and keep sharing your stories!
Jennifer Thompson
U S Legacies Volunteer Editor
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480 Years Ago April 1513
April 8
Juan Ponce de Leon discovers and claims Florida for Spain.
200 Years Ago April 1803
April 30
Known as the greatest real estate deal in history, the United States purchased the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million (the Louisiana Purchase). That works out to be about 4 cents an acre for 828,000 square miles of land.
100 Years Ago April 1903
April 6
Birthday of Harold Edgerton, developer of the stroboscope used for high-speed photography.
Also, born on this day, Mickey Cochrane, Baseball Hall of Fame catcher.
April 27
The Jamaica Race Track opened in Long Island, New York.
April 30
Victor Records first Red Seal recording, featuring opera contralto Ada Crossley.
75 Years Ago April 1928
April 9
Actress Mae Wests New York debut in the play Diamond Lil, which critics thought to be too risqu, and the public loved.
April 25
Morris S. Frank is recipient of the first seeing-eye dog, Buddy.
Also on this day, racecar driver Frank Lockhart, winner of the Indianapolis 500, dies at age 26 trying to break a new speed record in Daytona Beach, Florida. A seashell punctured his tire while he was traveling at 225 mph. He was thrown from the car.
50 Years Ago April 1953
April 10
Warner Brothers released the first 3D movie, House of Wax.
April 16
The Oscar-winning movie Titanic made its premier.
April 17
Famous film star Charlie Chaplin leaves America for Switzerland after having been accused of being a communist and banned from the country.
He stated, I am not a communist and I never have been.
April 18
New York Yankee Mickey Mantle hits probably the longest homerun ever recorded: 565 feet, in Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.
April 24
Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
April 25 AC
Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish in Nature (a British scientific journal) their definition of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Also on this date, NBC airs Ethel and Albert after their popular radio show.
Published in U S Legacies Magazine April 2003
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