On This Day~MAR 29

HI KIDS ~ It's Time for HISTORY!

 

 

  Lead Story ~ 1973  U.S. withdraws from Vietnam

Two months after the signing of the Vietnam peace agreement, the last U.S. combat troops leave South Vietnam as Hanoi frees the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. America's direct eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War was at an end. In Saigon, some 7,000 U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees remained behind to aid South Vietnam in conducting what looked to be a fierce and ongoing war with communist North Vietnam.

 

1848  For the first time in recorded history, Niagra Falls stopped flowing.

An iced jam in the Niagara river above the rim of the falls caused the water to stop.

 

1939  Clark Gable & Carole Lombard marry

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard marry on this day in 1939 as Gable is filming Gone with the Wind. The marriage was considered one of Hollywood's happiest but ended in tragedy when Lombard was killed in a plane crash in 1942, en route from a War Bond drive. Gable joined the air force shortly after her death, rose to the rank of major, and won several medals.

 

1951  Rosenbergs convicted of espionage

In one of the most sensational trials in American history, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage for their role in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War II. The judge in the case told them that he not only held them responsible for the Russians aquiring the A-Bomb, but also unecessary deaths of thousands in the Korean War.  The husband and wife were later sentenced to death and were executed in 1953. 

 

1951  The wonderful Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on Margaret Langdon’s novel, Anna and the King of Siam, opened.

 

1962  Jack Parr left his highly successful late night TV talk show after five years.

He left behind a salary of $250,000 and an estimated audience of eight-million people. Fill-in hosts were used, including one who would ultimately win the coveted position of host of The Tonight Show. He was Johnny Carson.

 

1990  Warning label on records 

On this day in 1990, recording companies agree to put a warning label on music products that contain potentially offensive lyrics. Some companies had already started using labels to warn buyers of lyrics containing objectionable references to sex and violence.

 

Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...