1947 Jackie Robinson Breaks Color Barrier In Major League Baseball Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African-American player in Major League Baseball when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years. Exactly 50 years later, on April 15, 1997, Robinson's groundbreaking career was honored and his uniform number, 42, was retired from Major League Baseball by Commissioner Bud Selig in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 fans at New York City's Shea Stadium. Robinson's was the first-ever number retired by all teams in the league.
1783 Congress Ratifies Peace With Great Britain
On this day in 1783, the Continental Congress of the United States officially ratifies the preliminary peace treaty with Great Britain that was signed in November 1782. The congressional move brings the nascent nation one step closer to the conclusion of the Revolutionary War.
1865 Lincoln is Pronounced Dead
On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln succumbs to a gunshot wound inflicted by an assassin the night before; he is pronounced dead at 7:22 am.
1912 Titanic Sinks
At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the British ocean liner Titanic sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada.
1912 Molly Brown Avoids Sinking With The Titanic
A 20th century version of the strong and resourceful women of the Wild West, Molly Brown wins lasting fame by surviving the sinking of the Titanic.
Molly Brown was an unlikely candidate for fame and fortune. Born Margaret Tobin in 1867 in Hannibal, Missouri, she was the daughter of an impoverished ditch-digger. When she was a teenager, she went west and joined her brother, who was working in the booming silver mining town of Leadville, Colorado. She caught the eye of James J. Brown, the manager of a local silver mine, and the couple married in 1886.
Not long after the marriage, James J. Brown discovered a fabulously profitable deposit of gold. Almost overnight, the Browns became enormously rich. The couple moved to Denver, bought a beautiful mansion, and tried unsuccessfully to become a part of the exclusive high society of the city. A flamboyant woman with a forceful personality, Molly appears to have been too much for Denver's bluebloods to handle. Apparently, she was also more than her husband could handle, and the couple soon separated.
Supported by a sizeable income from her estranged husband, Brown abandoned the narrow social life of Denver to travel the world. Whereas the Denver elite had dismissed her as a coarse upstart, socially prominent eastern families like the Astors and Vanderbilts prized her frank western manners and her thrilling stories of frontier life.
Brown's rise to national fame began on this night in 1912, while she was aboard the Titanic, returning from a European trip. After the ship hit an iceberg and began to sink, Brown was tossed into a lifeboat. She took command of the little boat and helped rescue a drowning sailor and other victims. To keep spirits up, she regaled the anxious survivors with stories of her life in the Old West.
When newspapers later learned of Brown's courageous actions, they promptly dubbed her "the unsinkable Mrs. Brown" and she became an international heroine. Eventually, Brown's money ran out and she faded from the public view, dying in modest circumstances in New York City in 1932. However, the Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown revived her fame for a new generation in 1960.
1924 Rand McNally Releases First Road Atlas
Rand McNally released its first comprehensive road atlas on this day in 1924. Today Rand McNally is the world's largest maker of atlases in print and electronic media.
1927 First Footprints Left at Grauman's Chinese Theater
Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Norma and Constance Talmadge become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater. The future Hollywood landmark was still under construction at the time.
1959 Castro Visits the United States
Four months after leading a successful revolution in Cuba, Fidel Castro visits the United States. The visit was marked by tensions between Castro and the American government.
1967 Antiwar Protests Held in New York and San Francisco
Massive parades to protest Vietnam policy are held in New York and San Francisco. In New York, police estimated that 100,000 to 125,000 people listened to speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd McKissick, Stokely Carmichael and Dr. Benjamin Spock. Prior to the march, nearly 200 draft cards were burned by youths in Central Park. In San Francisco, black nationalists led a march, but most of the 20,000 marchers were white.
CHART TOPPERS
1961
Blue Moon - The Marcels
Apache - Jorgen IngmannDedicated to the One I Love - The ShirellesDon’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th DimensionYou’ve Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & TearsGalveston - Glen CampbellWoman of the World (Leave My World Alone) - Loretta Lynn
1977Dancing Queen - AbbaDon’t Give Up on Us - David SoulDon’t Leave Me This Way - Thelma HoustonLucille - Kenny Rogers
1985We are the World - USA for AfricaCrazy for You - MadonnaNightshift - CommodoresHonor Bound - Earl Thomas Conley
~Crazy for You~
6 comments:
very busy day in history
Loved the vid-man-that gal could sing!
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the movie made it seemed like she survived the cold water on this board and the guy froze to death...well its a movie they have to make it more interesting.
What was the name of the play Lincoln was watching? Was a trivia question on the radio yesterday.
I didn't know the Titanic sank on this day...tax day, I should remember this from now on. Lot's happened on this day.
xx
Lisa
Wow the titantic took ages to sink huh? I remember molly brown being protrayed in the film :o) I like that song Crazy for You
Jenny
http://journals.aol.co.uk/Jmoqueen/MyLife
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