Day Tripping: April 21

Captured, Misled, and Discovered

Downed Ace

Baron Manfred von Richthofen was the most highly regarded fighter pilot of WWI, and equally by his enemy as his allies. ‘The Red Baron’ had been credited with 80 combat victories during his service with the German Air Force of the first world war. All his flying occurred in the last year and a half of battle because he’d spent the first two years in the trenches as an infantryman.

Richthofen finally met his end on this day in 1918 when a Canadian airman named Arthur Roy Brown shot down and killed the Red Baron over France. Sorry, Snoopy.

The Big Empty

In one of the greatest television spectacles ever to go bust, Geraldo Rivera host a live special in 1986 at Chicago’s Lexington Hotel which was once owned by former mob boss, Al Capone. Rivera pinned the entire show on the findings inside a secret vault of Capone’s, which the host opened for the first time on national TV.

Thirty million viewers tuned in to witness the event and when Geraldo opened the vault, there was nothing there but debris. The spectacular failure managed to garner the highest ever rating for a nationally syndicated television show in US history.

Sunken Treasure

A warship of the Spanish Navy called San Diego was sunk off the coast of the Philippines by a Dutch ship called Mauritius in 1600. Because of the weight of carrying the 14 large cannon stolen from Manila, the Spanish galleon went down almost immediately after being fired upon.

Nearly four hundred years later on this day in 1991, Franck Goddio, a French underwater explorer discovered the wreck fifty miles off Fortune Island. The artifacts found in the ship’s hull included 3000 pieces of blue and white China from the Ming Dynasty, Philippine pottery, Samurai swords, cannons, Spanish muskets, and dozens of Spanish silver coins.

Musical Milestones

While attending the Paisley Park compound in Minnesota owned by singer/songwriter Prince in 2016, Dr. Andrew Kornfeld and two household employees find the artist dead in an elevator. Paramedics arrive on the scene, but it is determined that Prince had been deceased for at least two hours from an overdose of the addictive opioid, fentanyl.

Narratives

In 1969, Mick Jagger sends a letter to Andy Warhol about designing The Rolling Stones’ new album cover but warns him to keep it simple to avoid printing delays and over costs.

Warhol sends back a design for Sticky Fingers which features a working zipper on the front. The album is a nightmare to reproduce but becomes one of the most iconic in rock history.

Remembrance

Author of American classics, humorist, and political satirist Mark Twain died in 1910.

Notable Births

1926 — Say what you like about the British monarchy, but this lady has staying power. Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty is 95 years young today.

K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora

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