This Day in History – April 5, 2011

2348 -BC- Noah’s ark grounded, Mount Ararat (calculated date) 1792 George Washington casts 1st presidential veto 1803 1st performance of Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony in D 1887 Anne Sullivan teaches “water” to Helen Keller 1895 Oscar Wilde loses libel case against Marquess of Queensberry, who accused him of homosexual practices 1923 Firestone Company puts their inflatable tires into production 1936 Tupelo MS virtually annihilated by a tornado, 216 die 1939 Membership in Hitler Youth becomes obligatory 1955 Winston Churchill resigns as British PM, Anthony Eden succeeds him 1963 Beatles receive their 1st silver disc (Please Please Me) 1964 1st driverless trains run on the London Underground 1965 Lava Lamp Day celebrated 1971 Fran Phipps is 1st woman to reach North Pole 1972 Baseball season is delayed due to a strike 1973 NFL adopts jersey numbering system (ie quarterbacks, 1-19) 1973 Pioneer 11 launched to Jupiter 1974 Then tallest building, World Trade Center opens in NYC (110 stories) 1984 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time career scoring record of 31,419 points (31,421) 1987 Fox TV network premieres showing Married With Children & Tracey Ullman 1989 David Letterman becomes 1st network TV series to use dolby stereo 1990 Paul Newman wins a court victory over Julius Gold, to keep giving all profits from Newman foods to charity 1991 Kitty Kelly publishes a book knocking Nancy Reagan 1992 Wrestlemania VIII, 62,167 at Hoosier Dome Randy “Macho Man” Savage beats Ric Flair for title, Hulk Hogan disqualifies Sid Justice 1993 Colorado Rockies 1st game – lose to New York Mets 3-0 1993 Construction begins on Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 1996 John Bobbitt is put under house arrest in Las Vegas for 120 days 1996 Marlon Brando makes anti-semitic remarks about hollywood on Larry King 1997 Galileo, 3rd Ganymede Flyby (Orbit 7) 2063 Earth’s 1st contact by extra-terrestrials (Vulcan); according to Star Trek]]]]> ]]>