Historia
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Israeli troops (in the background) and Palestine protesters, whose thrown stones can be seen strewn across the street, briefly pause from their fighting in the shuafat refugee camp to allow an unfazed Palestinian girl to walks to school. March 17, 2010. Photo Ammar Awad.
(via shadesofinsane)
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May 21, 1927: Aviator Charles Lindbergh Lands in Paris
On this day in 1927, aviator Charles A. Lindbergh landed in Paris after completing the first solo flight across the Atlantic. He was only 25 years old.
On his flight aboard The Spirit of St. Louis, Lindbergh traveled over 3,600 miles in 33.5 hours. Upon his landing, a new aviation hero was born, and The Spirit of St. Louis attained legendary status. Lindbergh became the most famous private citizen on the earth, but he resisted fame. He hated the press but spent most of his life attracting publicity.
Read how Charles Lindbergh prepared for the flight to Paris with American Experience’s detailed history of The Spirit of St. Louis.
Top Left Photo: Charles Lindbergh with “Spirit of St. Louis” in background. Copyrighted 1927 (Library of Congress). Top Right Photo: Charles Lindbergh working on engine of “The Spirit of St. Louis,” 1927 (Library of Congress). Bottom Photo: Charles Lindbergh in open cockpit of airplane at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri, 1923 (Library of Congress).
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Obit of the Day: Dead Together
OOTD continues its occasional seres, “Dead Together,” which features famous individuals who died on the same date.
Sammy Davis, Jr. - Mr. Davis died at the age of 64 on May 16, 1990. An entertainer for nearly 60 years, he started on stage when he was only four years old. During his career he would have 8 top-20 hits (his only #1 was “The Candy Man” in 1972) appear in dozens of movies and on numerous television shows. A member of the famed “Rat Pack,” Davis often referred to himself as “the one-eyed Jewish Negro.” (He lost an eye in a car accident in 1954 and while hospitalized became interested in Judaism and converted.) Random fact: Tim Burton wanted Sammy Davis, Jr. to play Beetlejuice in the 1988 film.
Sources: www.sammydavis-jr.com, IMDB.com, and The Playlist
Jim Henson - Muppet creator Jim Henson died on May 16, 1990 at the age of 53. Henson who began his professional career while still an undergraduate at the University of Maryland won a combined 10 Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards during his career. Known best for his voicing of Kermit the Frog and Ernie, Henson died suddenly after a bout of walking pneumonia that he left undiagnosed. Although raised as a Christian Scientist, which led the public to believe that he refused medical care, he “didn’t want to bother anyone” with his illness. Random note: “Rubber Duckie” sung by Henson as Ernie reached #16 on the Billboard charts in 1970 and was in the Hot 100 for seven weeks.
Sources: www.jimhensonlegacy.org, IMDB.com, Muppet Wiki, and Wikipedia
(Images: Sammy Davis, Jr. courtesy of nostalgic-radio.com; Jim Henson courtesy of zuzahin,deviantart.com)
Of relevant interest:
Aubrey Woods, the first person to sing “The Candy Man,” posted on May 15, 2013
Jane Henson, Jim’s ex-wife who helped create the Muppets, died on April 2, 2013
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Ever get the feeling that you are not really welcome someplace?
An African American and a white girl study a sign in the integrated Long Island community of Lakeview, New York, on April 1962. It reads “Negroes! This community could become another ghetto. You owe it to your ‘family’ to buy in another community.” The sign was an attempt to keep African Americans from exceeding the number of whites who want to live in an integrated town. (AP Photo)
(via castoreum)
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ISS Astronauts Returned Safely to Earth.
“After inspiring all of us on Earth, Commander Chris Hadfield and crew have finally re-joined us here. The Soyuz space capsule landed safely at 10:31 PM EDT in Kazakhstan. Hadfield had spent 144 days on the ISS, 2,336 orbits around the planet and totaled up around 62 million miles. That’s a lot of miles!
The Soyuz capsule landed vertically, which is the preferred position. The crew, which includes Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, are back on Earth and reportedly all feeling good as they re-adjust to the gravity. Marshburn was one of the astronauts who performed the awe-inspiring emergency spacewalk to fix the leak of ammonia coolant two days ago.
The landing of the capsule comes a little over three hours since the capsule undocked from the ISS. It marks the end of the ISS’ Expedition 35 Crew in space. The crew will head over to the medical tent to get all properly tested and fixed for normal Earth life. Or as normal life can be in the eyes of men who were in space.” via Gizmodo
“On Sunday, Hadfield handed over command of the space station to Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov.
As part of his personal farewell to the space station, Hadfield released a video of his version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, which NASA said is the first music video made in space.” via CBC
(via mentalalchemy)
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Ruth Brown, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Blanche Calloway (May 6th, 1954)
(via theelectricrelaxation)
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8-years ago, CHP Officer Kevin Briggs talked this young man out of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.
That young man’s name is Kevin Berthia.
Today he is 30 years old and married with 2 children.
This week he presented Officer Briggs with an award on behalf of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The story of how Officer Briggs talked Kevin down is remarkable.
As you can see in the picture, Kevin is literally one step away from jumping to his death. But for more than hour, the officer listened to Kevin pour his heart out about his troubles and told him, “I know you think things are bad, but they can get better.”
Kevin says, “Officer Briggs never made me feel guilty for the situation I was in. He made feel like, I understand why you are here, but there are alternatives”
Kevin is just one of countless lives Briggs has saved over his 23 year career.
Briggs, who was promoted to Sergeant five years ago, is humble about what he does. He says, ”they make the decision, when they step back over that rail it takes a tremendous amount of courage”
I salute Sergeant Briggs!
Photo: The San Francisco Chronicle, John Storey(via self-existing)
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(via takeprideinyourheritage)
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Two boys watch from a hilltop as American soldiers drive through the town of St Lo. France a month after the D-Day invasion. 1944 (via Imgur)
(via tierradentro)
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