Day Tripping: May 6

Disaster, Distance, and Desilu

Ill-Fated Flight

This day in history will forever mark the end of an era in transcontinental flight. The airship more commonly known as a Zeppelin after the craft’s inventor had already made successful Atlantic crossings to and from Brazil, but when the LZ 29 Hindenburg attempted to land at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, the massive luxury ship burst into flames, killing 35 of the 97 people on board, and one person on the ground.

The Hindenburg was originally designed to fly under helium-power, but because the United States banned the export of the substance to Germany, the ship was carrying the highly explosive alternative, Hydrogen. When one of the mooring ropes was too tightly fastened to the docking mast, the stretched fabric casing began leaking gas, and suddenly, the doomed airship was engulfed in flames.

Records Made For Breaking

The myth that a mile could not be run in under 4 minutes was finally debunked after nine years at a race in Oxford, England at Iffley Road Track. Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier in 1954 while competing in a field of six athletes. When the track announcer broadcast the results with Bannister as the winner, he said, “The time was three...” and the crowd’s roar drowned out the rest.

Bannister’s milestone record lasted a mere 46 days as it was broken by an Australian runner named John Landy who shaved another 1.5 seconds off the time. Two months later, the two men competed at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver and, billed as the Miracle Mile, they did not disappoint. Bannister won this race bypassing his rival while Landy was turning his head to check for Roger. They both broke 4 minutes again.

Some Splaining To Do

Groundbreaking on so many levels, not the least of which was having a woman as star and co-producer with her husband Desi Arnaz, the I Love Lucy show aired its final episode on CBS in 1957. Among the other firsts that the most popular sitcom of all time is responsible for, it was the first scripted TV show ever to be shot on 35mm film stock, and the first filming to be done in front of a live audience.

The 180 episodes, six-year run was also the first show to feature an ensemble cast and was the pioneer in the use of the three-camera filming technique that became the norm for television broadcasting. While Lucille Ball was giving birth to her son, Desi Arenz Jr, she was unable to maintain a regular weekly schedule, so the rerun was born as well with huge success for the network.

I Love Lucy has been syndicated in many languages around the globe and still appears in the homes of over 40 million American viewers every year. There will never be another Lucy, but women in Hollywood continually point to her remarkable career as an inspiration.

Musical Milestones

Unable to sleep in his Florida hotel room in 1965, Keith Richards switches on a tape recorder to capture a riff that he can’t get out of his head. When he wakes up in the morning, he listens to the recording he has made for the riff in (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.

Narratives

The Pulitzer Prize for literature is awarded to John Steinbeck in 1940 for his novel about the Depression-era called The Grapes Of Wrath.

Remembrance

Canadian environmentalist and writer of his experiences travelling the Arctic including Never Cry Wolf, Farley Mowatt died in 2014 at age 92.

Notable Births

1931 —The Say Hey Kid, baseball great Willie Mays

1937 — The subject of Bob Dylan’s song and wrongly accused ex-boxer, Hurricane Rubin Carter

1961 — George Clooney is 60-years-old today.

2019 — First son of former Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor

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 Thewriteyard

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