Adrian Cronauer (September 8, 1938 – July 18, 2018)
NORFOLK, Va. — The man whose military radio antics inspired a character played by Robin Williams in the film "Good Morning, Vietnam" has died.
Adrian Cronauer died after a long illness. He had lived in Troutville, Virginia.
During his service as a U.S. Air Force sergeant in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966, Cronauer opened his Armed Forces Radio show with "Goooooood morning, Vietnam!" Williams made the refrain famous in the 1987 film, loosely based on Cronauer’s time in Saigon.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), the official United States policy on gays serving in the military was announced by President Bill Clinton (below). It allowed closeted members of the military to serve, while prohibiting those in the military who were openly gay to serve. Prior to “don’t ask, don’t tell,” there had been an outright ban on gays in the military.
Apollo 11 entered lunar orbit on this day in 1969.
Daedalus Crater was one of the sights seen as Apollo 11’s command module passed over the far side of the moon.
Baseball’s career hit leader Pete Rose (left) was sentenced on this day in 1990 to five months in a Federal correctional institution for filing false income-tax returns. The sentence did not permit parole, so Rose would serve the full term.
Peter Edward Rose Sr. also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", turned 77 on April 14.
A total 55 countries joined the boycott of the opening ceremony in Moscow which began on this day in 1980.
The Spanish Civil War began on this day in 1936 as Gen. Francisco Franco (below) led an uprising of army troops based in Spanish North Africa.
It was on this day in 1969.
Senator Ted Kennedy wearing a neck brace following the accident.
Senator Ted Kennedy ran his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. He swam free, leaving the scene, and did not report the accident to the police for ten hours.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (July 18, 1918 – December 5, 2013)
South African revolutionary and politician who radically changed the conditions of the Apartheid state of South Africa by addressing institutionalized racism and inequality. He served 27 years in prison and, upon his release in 1994, he became South Africa’s first black chief executive, an office he served for five years.
Seven year old Ricky Skaggs on television in 1961.
Country and bluegrass singer Rickie Lee Skaggs is 64 today.
Ricky Skaggs was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this year. He has achieved 12 #1 hits, 8 CMA awards, and 8 ACM awards. In 1982, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, the youngest to ever be inducted at that time.
(History) – An ammunition ship explodes while being loaded in Port Chicago, California, killing 332 people on this day in 1944. The United States’ World War II military campaign in the Pacific was in full swing at the time. Lack of training and poor procedures led to the disaster.
Port Chicago, about 30 miles north of San Francisco, was developed into a munitions facility when the Naval Ammunition Depot at Mare Island, CA, could not fully supply the war effort.
A drawing of the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.
The room in the Ipatiev House, Yekaterinburg, where the Russian royal family was brutally murdered.
Disneyland opened in Anaheim, CA. on this day in 1955.
Disneyland theme park is now divided into 8 extravagantly themed lands: Main Street, U.S.A., Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Mickey’s Toontown, Frontierland, Critter Country, New Orleans Square and Adventureland.
Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966)
Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza resigned and fled to Miami, Florida in exile on this day in 1979.
Somoza talks to the press after fleeing to safety in Miami.
An Apollo spaceship (left) docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit on this day in 1975. It was the first link up between the U.S. and Soviet Union.
It was on this day in 1961.
Coltrane’s first recordings were made when he was a sailor.
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967)
John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer, also known as "Trane". Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career,Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes and was later at the forefront of free jazz. He died of liver cancer at a Hospital in New York on July 17, 1967, at the age of 40.
