Terry Traveller – This Day in History

Terry Traveler here, excited for the month ahead.

The other day, Chris and I were discussing our hobbies and I admitted to a slight obsession with “this-day-in-history” so called facts.

I take great joy in knowing that 876 years ago Germany crowned King Koenraad II von Hohenstaufen on the same day as the 9th Soul Train Music Awards awarded Boyz II Men’s “II” the title of best group R&B album. A fact that was lost on Chris.

Ah, the internet. Where once I was reduced to keeping important facts like these cluttered in my head, I am now smart enough to carry a phone that will do it for me – making room for more important questions like, “how does one successfully throw oneself at the ground and miss?” Seems to be a real knack to that.

April 1, 1957
The BBC played a prank, known as the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest prank. They showed a film of Swiss farmers picking freshly-grown spaghetti. Requests for where to purchase the plants were so numerous that they retracted the story shortly afterwards. Really spaghetti plants in Switzerland… not China or Italy?

April 3, 1860
The Pony Express service began as the first rider departed St. Joseph, Missouri. For $5 an ounce, letters were delivered 2,000 miles to California within ten days. Makes that $0.48 stamp seem less costly and more timely, doesn’t it?

April 3, 1995
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to preside over the Court, sitting in for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist who was out of town. It is believed that in all the active surrounding the special event, she forgot to water his house plants and take in the newspaper.

April 6, 1896
After a break of 1500 years, the first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece. Swimmers we boated the necessary 1200 meter out to sea and left to swim back to shore. Luckily, no shark attacks were reported.

April 11, 1970
Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy. Fifty-six hours into the flight an oxygen tank exploded in the service module. Astronauts John L. Swigert, James A. Lovell and Fred W. Haise used the lunar module as a lifeboat safely returning to Earth on April 17th. For more historic Apollo information, please ask Tom Hanks.

April 24, 1800
The Library of Congress was established in Washington, D.C. It is America’s oldest federal cultural institution and the world’s largest library with more than 158 million items in its collections. Save yourself the plane ticket and enjoy the Adel Public Library instead!

Terry Traveller
Email: terry@discoveradel.com
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