1953 – Warner Brothers premiered the 1st 3D film from a major American studio on the 10th April 1953, entitled House of Wax. YouTube video: House of Wax movie trailer (1953) ~ an American horror film starring Vincent Price and remake of Warners’ Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), without the comic relief featured in the earlier film…
1959 – Brian Setzer the American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Stray Cats was born on the 10th April 1959.
1926 ~ Hugh Hefner the American magazine publisher, and founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises was born in Chicago, Illinois on the 9th April 1926. Hugh Hefner online: Playboy.com | The Hugh M. Hefner Foundation | Twitter.com/HughHefner | YouTube video: Hugh Hefner Biography: Life & Career of the Playboy Founder ~ Despite criticism and controversy, he broke barriers with his ideas and projects…
1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) made its maiden flight on the 9th April 1967.
1978 – Rachel Stevens the English singer-songwriter from S Club was born on the 9th April 1978.
1990 – Kristen Stewart the American actress was born on the 9th April 1990.
2005 ~ KOKO the Australian Kelpie best known for his role as the title character of the 2011 film Red Dog was born on the 9th April 2005 (died 18th December 2012 aged 7). Koko was owned by Nelson Woss, a producer of Red Dog.
Today in History for April 9th ~ video presented by the Associated Press…
1947 ~ Steve Howe the English guitarist and songwriter from Yes and Asia was born on the 8th April 1947.
1959 ~ Grace Hopper led a team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people to discuss the creation of a new programming language on the 8th April 1959, that would be later called COBOL.
1962 ~ Evan Davis the English journalist, economist and presenter for the BBC was born on the 8th April 1962. Evan Davis is well known as the presenter for the BBC venture-capitalist programme Dragons’ Den.
1963 ~ Julian Lennon the English singer-songwriter, actor, and photographer was born on the 8th April 1963.
1966 ~ Charlotte Dawson the New Zealand-Australian television host was born on the 8th April 1966.
1973 ~ Pablo Picasso the Spanish painter and sculptor died while drawing in his bed, in Mougins, France on the 8th April 1973 aged 91 (born in Málaga, Spain 25th October 1881). Picasso official website: www.Picasso.fr | YouTube video: The Power of Art – Picasso (complete episode)…
1975 ~ Anouk the Dutch singer was born on the 8th April 1975.
1992 ~ Arthur Ashe the retired tennis great announced that he had AIDS on the 8th April 1992, due to a blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
1915 ~BiLLiE HOLiDAYthe American jazz singer and songwriter was born Eleanora Harris on the 7th April 1915, and died aged 44 in 1959.
1920 ~RAVi SHANKAR the Indian musician, composer and sitar player was born on the 7th April 1920. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor, and received 3 Grammy Awards. In the 2000’s he still performs, often with his daughter Anoushka. The Beatles’ lead guitarist George Harrison involved himself in several of Shankar’s projects, and can be seen in this > ViDEO < on this link, being taught Sitar by Ravi Shankar. The video below is of Ravi Shankar on the Dick Cavett Show…
1939 ~ David Frost the English journalist and game show host was born on the 7th April 1939. (died 31st August 2013 aged 74).
1941 ~CORNELiA FRANCES the Australian actress aka as judge Morag Bellingham on Home and Away,sister Grace Scott on The Young Doctors, and host of The Weakest Link,was born on the 7th April 1941. This video shows Cornelia in the opening of The Young Doctors soap opera, seen on TV from 1976 to 1983…
1951 ~JANiS iAN the American singer, songwriter, musician, and author was born Janis Fink on the 7th April 1951. Janis won a Grammy Award for At Seventeen in 1975. Another great song of Janis Ian is Fly Too High from 1979. At Seventeen is a beautiful song…
1954 ~JACKiE CHAN the Chinese actor, director, producer, and martial artist was born on this 7th April 1954.
1957 ~ SiMON CLiMIE the UK songwriter, producer and former lead singer of pop duo Climie Fisherwas born on the 7th April 1957. “Love Changes (Everything)” from 1987 was their biggest hit…
1964 ~RUSSELL CROWE the New Zealand / Australian actor was born on the 7th April 1964.
1964 ~IBM announced the System/360 computer on the 7th April 1964. The System/360 models had 256 kB to 8 MB of internal main memory, the same memory size of a standard SD memory card in a 2012 digital camera.
1968 ~ Duncan Armstrongthe Australian swimmer was born on the 7th April 1968.
1968 ~ Jennifer Lynch the American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer was born on the 7th April 1968.
1969 ~ iNTERNET was born on this 7th April 1969 with the publication of RFC aka Request for Comments.
1978 ~ Duncan James the English singer from Blue was born on the 7th April 1978.
2001 ~MARS ODYSSEY was launched on the 7th April 2001. The robotic spacecraft for orbiting Mars was launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and reached Mars orbit on the 24th October in 2001. The NASA mission named as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke cost US$297 million. On the 15th of December in 2010 The Odyssey broke the record for longest serving spacecraft at Mars, after 3,340 days of operation. As of 2012 it holds the record for the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, for over 10 years.
1320 ~ The DECLARATiON OF ARBROATH was signed on the 6th April 1320. TARTAN DAY has been celebrated on the 6th of April in the United States and Canada since the 1980’s, to celebrate the day the Declaration of Arbroath. In Australia has a similar International Tartan Day but it’s held on the 1st of July, the anniversary of the repeal of the 1747 Act of Proscription that banned the wearing of tartan.
1483 ~RAPHAELthe Italian painter and architect was born on this 6th day of April in 1483 and also died on this 6th day of April in 1520 aged 37.
1820 ~NADARthe French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist was born on the 6th April 1820 (died 23 March 1910, 2 weeks before his 90th birthday).
1826 ~GUSTAVE MOREAU the French painter was born on this 6th day of April in 1826 (died aged 72 on 18 April 1898).
1926 ~GiL KANE the cartoonist who co-created the modern-day superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom for DC Comics, was born on this 6th day of April in 1926 as Eli Katz (died aged 73 on 31 January 2000)
1930 ~GANDHi raised a lump of mud and salt and declared, “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.” on the 6th April 1930, beginning the Salt Satyagraha aka the Salt March. This influenced American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., and his fight for civil rights for blacks and other minority groups in the 1960s.
1933 ~ NEW BEER’S EVE has been celebrated on the 6th of April since 1933 in the United States, to celebrate the end of Prohibition, after the signing into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, resulting in beer becoming legal on the following day, 7th April in 1933. Cheers!
1957 ~ ARiSTOTLE ONASSiS decided that being one of the wealthiest men in the World as the Greek shipping tycoon wasn’t enough, so he bought the Hellenic National Airlines, and founded Olympic Airlines, on this 6th day of April in 1957. See Pam Ann’s comedy sketch One world Alliance as Olympic Airlines hostess Malaka Pustis…
1969 – Paul Rudd the American actor was born on the 6th April 1969.
1998 ~TAMMY WYNETTE the biggest-selling country female vocalists aka the First Lady of Country Music died on the 6th April 1998 aged 55. Tammy was best known for the biggest selling hit country single by a woman in history ~ Stand by Your Man (1968)
2012 ~THOMAS KiNKADE aka America’s most-collected living artist, notable for the mass marketing of his idealised popular printed reproductions, died of natural causes on the 6th April 2012, aged only 54. Thomas Kinkade estimated his mass-produced works hung in 1 out of 20 US homes, with his business expanding to include his art on mugs, watches, calendars, greeting cards, puzzles, 120 books, themed housing developments, and an autobiographical film, with Peter O’Toole playing his art teacher.
Thomas Kinkade became a multimillionaire, reported to have earned $53 million for his art fom 1997 to May 2005, and the only artist to have a company on the New York Stock Exchange. According to some accounts, by 2000, his art business was taking up to $US250 million a year, but a few years later the value of his company fell so much, he bought it back for $US32 million. Despite having a devoted following that numbered in the millions, Kinkade was not taken seriously by most critics.
In memory of Thomas Kinkade “A Lifetime of Light” video…
1147 ~ Moscow was first made mention of in historical records on the 4th April 1147, when Yuri Dolgorukiycalled upon the prince of the Novgorod-Severski to “come to me, brother, to Moscow.” The city is named after the river гра́д Моско́в, literally “the city by the Moskva River“YouTube video shows some marvelous Moscow footage in this great 1980 hit by Genghis Khan…
1581 – Francis Drake was knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world on the 4th April 1581.
1814 – Napoleon abdicated for the first time on the 4th April 1814.
1975 ~ The Tan Son Nhut C-5 accident occurrred on the 4th April 1975, with the crash of LockheedC-5A Galaxy during Operation Babylift. The C-5 crashed on approach during an emergency landing at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. The accident marked the 1st fatal crash for the C-5 Galaxy fleet, and the deadliest accident involving a U.S. military aircraft. Out of 313 people on board, the death toll included 78 children, 35 Defence Attaché Office employees and 11 U.S. Air Force personnel. 175 people survived, with all of the surviving orphans flown to the United States.
1978 – Sam Moran the Australian singer and guitarist from The Wiggles was born on the 4th April 1978.
1979 – Heath Ledger the Australian actor and director was born on the 4th April 1979 (died 2008).
1983 – Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-6) made its maiden voyage into space on the 4th April 1983.
2012 ~ GRUMPY CATthe Internet celebrity was born on the 4th April 2012. Grumpy Cat’s real name is Tardar Sauce,and she is well known for her grumpy facial expression. Her owner Tabatha Bundesen said Grumpy Cat’s permanently grumpy-looking face is due to feline dwarfism. Grumpy Cat’s popularity originated from a picture of her posted on the social news website reddit by Tabatha’s brother Bryan on the 22nd September 2012. The photo was made into an image macro with grumpy captions. The Official Grumpy Cat on Facebook has had over 1.2 million Likes. Grumpy Cat was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal on the 30th May 2013. Grumpy Cat’s recognitions have included: MSNBC Most influential cat of 2012, BuzzFeed Meme of the Year Award at the 2013 Webby Awards, and 1st prize at the 2nd annual Internet Cat Video Film Festival. Grumpy Cat has made TV appearances Today, Good Morning America, CBS Evening News and other shows. Visit the official Grumpy Cat website: www.GrumpyCats.com, watch Grumpy Cat on YouTube and follow on Twitter.com/RealGrumpyCat.
0033 ~ The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth was on the 3rd April in the year 33. This is the generally agreed-upon date for the historical crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity.
1885 ~ Bud Fisher the American cartoonist was born on the 3rd April 1885 (d. 1954).
1885 ~ Gottlieb Daimler was granted a German patent for his engine design on the 3rd April 1885.
1924 ~ Doris Day the American actress, singer and animal rights activist was born on the 3rd April 1924.
1924 ~ Marlon Brando the American actor was born on the 3rd April 1924 (d. 2004).