DAVID MELENDY

In Texas City, TX, on this day in 1947, the French ship
Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer,
caught fire and blew up. The explosions and resulting
fires killed 576 people.

Rescue workers search for survivors at the Texas City
Terminal Building after disaster.

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin ( April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977)

Chaplin was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose
to fame in the era of silent film.

The Tramp

(Fox News) – A replica of the Wagon Queen Family Truckster from the classic
1985 comedy film “Vacation” was auctioned this past weekend for $100,100.

The wood-paneled green machine crossed the block at the Barrett-Jackson
Palm Beach event.

It’s based on a 1981 Ford LTD rather than a 1979 Country Squire, like the
movie car was, but is an otherwise convincing recreation that includes
Wagon Queen badging and offensive graffiti on the rear fender.

The price paid was pretty remarkable, considering a car purported to be one
of the five that were built for the film received a high bid of just $35,000 at a
2013 Mecum Auctions event. That car’s authenticity was not confirmed, but
one that was definitely used in the making of the movie is on display at the
Historic Auto Attractions museum in Roscoe, Ill., which might make for a
good destination for the owner of the Barrett-Jackson car.