A Brief History On May 4, 1946, the US Marine Corps was called to assault and secure an island, this time in San Francisco Bay! Why would Marines assault an American island? Because that island was Alcatraz, home to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, built to house the worst federal criminals, and those ultra-bad guys were in the middle of a violent riot. Digging Deeper The riot started as an escape attempt by convicts who overpowered a guard and managed to steal guns and gas grenades. Prisoners jammed a lock while trying different keys, ruining their escape. Then the convicts took more…
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A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 4th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 4, 1894, educator Charles Babcock, superintendent of Oil City, Pennsylvania schools, established “Bird Day” on May 4 in order to advance the celebration and conservation of our feathered friends. On May 4, 1946, the US Marine Corps was called to assault and secure an island, this time in San Francisco Bay! On May 4, 1959, the first ever Grammy music awards were…
A Brief History On May 4, 2019, the W Series conducted their first and inaugural motor race at Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, Germany, an all-Female auto racing event. Digging Deeper That initial race was won by Jamie Chadwick, a British race car driver, who went on to win that first season W Series Championship. Chadwick still drives competitively in the Indy NXT series for the Andretti Autosport team and is a major female example of top-notch drivers such as Danica Patrick, Shirley Muldowney, Janet Guthrie, Simona de Silvestro, Michèle Mouton, and Maria Teresa de Filippis. Apologies to the many great female drivers…
A Brief History On May 4, 1988, one of those spectacular disasters that can be associated with a space program gone wrong occurred at Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada (PEPCON), a chemical plant only 10 miles from Las Vegas. A massive fireball and series of explosions caused over $100 million in damage and took 2 lives, while injuring another 372. The PEPCON Disaster joins many other space and rocket related disasters that have happened while still on Mother Earth. Digging Deeper The plant was one of 2 plants in the US that produced an oxidizer for solid fuel…
A Brief History On May 4, 1979, Margaret Thatcher, the leader of the Conservative Party, was sworn in as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first woman to lead a major Western Power in the era of elected leaders. Known as “The Iron Lady,” a name bestowed upon her by Soviets, Thatcher served from 1979 to 1990, resigning in 1990 after maintaining only a slim majority of support of her own party. Digging Deeper Thatcher, born Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1925, was Oxford educated in Chemistry and went on to work as a chemist before studying the law and…
