ON THIS DAY~APR 13

     1360  Hail Kills English Troops

 

On so-called “Black Monday” in 1360, a hail storm kills an estimated 1,000 English soldiers in Chartres, France. The storm and the devastation it caused also played a part in the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.

The Hundred Years’ War began in 1337; by 1359, King Edward III of England was actively attempting to conquer France. In October, he took a massive force across the English Channel to Calais. The French refused to engage in direct fights and stayed behind protective walls throughout the winter, while Edward pillaged the countryside.

In April 1360, Edward’s forces burned the Paris suburbs and began to move toward Chartres. While they were camped outside the town, a sudden storm materialized. Lightning struck, killing several people, and hailstones began pelting the soldiers, scattering the horses. One described it as “a foul day, full of myst and hayle, so that men dyed on horseback [sic].” Two of the English leaders were killed and panic set in among the troops, who had no shelter from the storm.

The largest hailstone recorded in modern times was found in Aurora, Nebraska. It was seven inches in diameter, about the size of a soccer ball. Hail typically falls at about 100 miles per hour. 

In April 1360, Edward’s forces burned the Paris suburbs and began to move toward Chartres. While they were camped outside the town, a sudden storm materialized. Lightning struck, killing several people, and hailstones began pelting the soldiers, scattering the horses. One described it as “a foul day, full of myst and hayle, so that men dyed on horseback [sic].” Two of the English leaders were killed and panic set in among the troops, who had no shelter from the storm.

 

 

1796  The First known Elephant 

(like, how would one NOT know it was an elephant?) to arrive in the United States, came to America. The elephant was from Bengal, India and entered the U.S.A. through New York City.

 

 

1866  Butch Cassidy is Born

Butch Cassidy, the last of the great western train-robbers, is born on this day in Beaver, Utah Territory.

 

 

1899  Alfred Butts’ Birthday-Inventor of the Game Scrabble

 

 He grew up to become an architect, but lost his job during the Depression. While he wiled away the hours of unemployment, he invented a crossword puzzle word-game. He and his friends had a good time playing the game, but that’s as far as it went ... until one fateful day in 1952. Butts and friends were at a resort (he survived the Depression) and, as fate would have it, a Macy’s department store executive saw them playing their game. The executive took the game back to Macy’s where it became a successful sales item.

It wasn’t long before the game makers of Selchow & Richter caught wind of the habit-forming board game. They offered Butts three cents for every set they manufactured. Butts accepted and Scrabble went on the assembly line. Thirty-five laborers made Scrabble sets by the thousands ... six-thousand sets were coming off the line every week. Scrabble is still one of the best-selling game boards made.

Of his three-cents worth, Butts said, “One third went to taxes. I gave one third away, and the other third enabled me to have an enjoyable life.”

 

1943  The Thomas Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC. on this,the Anniversary of Jefferson’s Birth

 

 

1945  Hitler Bluffs from Bunker as Russians Advance and Atrocities Continue

On this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler proclaims from his underground bunker that deliverance was at hand from encroaching Russian troops--Berlin would remain German. A "mighty artillery is waiting to greet the enemy," proclaims Der Fuhrer. This as Germans loyal to the Nazi creed continue the mass slaughter of Jews.

 

1964  First African-American Best Actor Oscar

On this day in 1964, Sydney Poitier becomes the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role as a laborer who helps build a chapel in Lilies of the Field (1963).

 

 

1970  Apollo 13 Oxygen Tank Explodes

On April 13, 1970, disaster strikes 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blows up on Apollo 13, the third manned lunar landing mission. Astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise had left Earth two days before for the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon but were forced to turn their attention to simply making it home alive.

 

1997  Tiger Woods wins First Major

On April 13, 1997, in Augusta, Georgia, 21-year-old Tiger Woods wins the prestigious Masters Tournament by a record 12 strokes. It was Woods' first victory in one of golf's four major championships--the U.S. Open, the British Open, the PGA Championship, and the Masters--and the greatest performance by a professional golfer in more than a century.

His margin of victory--12 strokes--was the largest in the 20th century.  He was the youngest golfer by two years to win the Masters and the first person of Asian or African heritage to win a major. Never before had somany spectators come to Augusta National, and never before had so many people watched it on television.

 

 

BIRTHDAYS

 

1743  Thomas Jefferson  3rd U.S. President [1801-1809]; married to Martha Skelton [one son, five daughters]; nickname: Man of the People; died July 4, 1826

1852  F. W. (Frank Winfield) Woolworth  Merchant: created the five and ten cent store [1879 in Lancaster, PA]: headed F.W. Woolworth & Co. with over 1,000 stores, funded NY’s Woolworth Building; died Apr 8, 1919

1899  Alfred M. Butts  Architect, Game Inventor; died Apr 4, 1993

1923  Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy)  Emmy Award-Winning Actor: Get Smart [1966-1967, 1967-1968]; Back to the Beach, The Nude Bomb; died Sep 25, 2005

1945  Tony Dow  Actor: Leave It to Beaver, Back to the Beach, High School U.S.A., Death Scream

1970  Rick Schroder  Actor: NYPD Blue, Crimson Tide, Texas, Lonesome Dove, Hansel and Gretel, Earthling, The Champ, Silver Spoons