Day Tripping: May 7

Taking to the sky

Wealthy Hero

Despite warnings from Germany of the imminent dangers to all vessels travelling on the Atlantic Ocean during WWI, the RMS Lusitania set sail on a return voyage from New York in 1915. The ship which was then, the biggest and the fastest steamship on the seas was sunk by a U-boat just off the coast of Southern Ireland.

In all, 1198 lives were lost from the nearly 2000 aboard, and while the ship was sinking, multi-millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt spent his last moments alive rushing children and women to available lifeboats. Without a care for his own safety, the 37-year-old Vanderbilt saved dozens before he met his demise. All who knew him hailed Alfred as “a loving and caring man” until the end.

Downed Agent

Two days after shooting down a US aircraft flying over Russian air space in 1960, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev announced that the pilot, Francis Gary Powers was alive and well and had confessed to being a CIA spy. Powers was indeed a CIA operative flying out of Pakistan in a Lockheed U-2 at high altitude, collecting geographic intelligence on behalf of the CIA.

As depicted in the recent film Bridge of Spies starring Tom Hanks, airman Powers was exchanged for a captured KGB spy named Rudolf Abel eighteen months after being convicted of espionage. Once the two operatives were traded by walking past the East/West divider line between the two Germanys at the time, Powers returned to the United States and was cleared of any personal wrongdoing by the CIA.

Last To Launch

The US Space Shuttle Endeavour, which was a new construction of material taken from Discovery and Atlantis launched on its maiden voyage in 1992. Following the Challenger tragedy, it was decided not to refit Enterprise. The maiden mission for the STS-49 shuttle involved capturing and redeploying a stranded communications satellite.

Endeavour flew 25 missions in all before being decommissioned in 2011 and sent by transport to its final resting place as a museum display at the California Space Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour would have been the last shuttle to fly, but Atlantis made one final flight in July 2011.

Musical Milestones

Reginald Dwight of Bluesology was flying home from a gig with his band in 1968 when he met Elton Dean and Long John Baldry on the plane. Looking for a stage name to start his solo career, Dwight asked the two musicians if he could use parts of their names for his act. They agreed, and Elton John was launched into stardom.

Narratives

The first pastel version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream was recovered undamaged in 1994. When it was taken from the National Gallery of Norway during the opening ceremonies of the Lillehammer Olympic Games three months earlier, the thieves left a note saying “Thanks for the poor security.”

Remembrance

The actor who was famous for the pencil-thin moustache, Douglas Fairbanks Jr was also a highly decorated Naval officer during WWII. He died at age 90 in 2000.

Notable Births

1901 —Star of Meet John Doe, Sargent York, The Pride of the Yankees, and High Noon, Gary Cooper

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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