A Brief History On November 5, 2021, the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, a rap fest, went horribly wrong when a crowd fueled by drugs and alcohol overwhelmed insufficient concert security and created a “crowd crush” that cost eight lives and injured over 300 people. Digging Deeper An enormous crowd tried to tear down barricades and storm into the concert venue, creating a crushing wave, as well as the crowd already inside rushing the stage. Many accusations and lawsuits followed, but other concerts have ended badly as well. In 2003, a Rhode Island concert by Great White was the scene…
Browsing: Music
Read More
A Brief History On October 24, 2017, rock and roll and New Orleans jazz pioneer Antoine “Fats” Domino died. His 1949 song, “The Fat Man,” is considered by some to be the first rock and roll hit, selling over a million copies. Elvis Presley and the Beatles were fans of Domino, and Fats is not the only great person of considerable girth. Digging Deeper Another rock and roller, Chubby Checker, got his stage name from a comparison to Fats Domino! Yet another rock and roll great, Mama Cass Elliot, is enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and…
A Brief History On September 17, 1961, downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the site of the first retractable roof arena in the world, although its purpose may surprise you! Digging Deeper The Civic Arena was built mainly as the home of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, although it moved into the sporting world in a big way in 1967 when it became the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL hockey team, until 2010, when it finally closed. Of course, the 17,000 seat arena also hosted many other sporting events, professional and amateur, including basketball, wrestling, boxing, soccer, figure skating, gymnastics, and…
A Brief History On August 22, 2006, Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal for creating the proof of the “Poincaré conjecture,” but then he refused the award, explaining, “I’m not interested in money or fame; I don’t want to be on display like an animal in a zoo.” Digging Deeper Some other people that have refused awards include: Three people have refused their Oscar statuettes, including Dudley Nichols in 1936, George Scott in 1970, and Marlon Brando in 1973. Jean-Paul Sartre turned down the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964, as he previously refused France’s Legion of…
A Brief History On August 8, 2004, Chicago’s Little Lady, a tour boat carrying 120 passengers, was bombed by a tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band. About 2/3 of the passengers were soaked with human waste dumped from the bus as it crossed the Kinzie Street bridge over the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois. Digging Deeper Only the driver was aboard the bus and he decided to dump the waste from the toilets into the Chicago River as he crossed the bridge, the bridge made of open metal grates, and the driver claims he had no idea the…