On April 30, 1939, the New York World’s Fair opened  in New York
City. The opening ceremony, which featured speeches by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and New York Governor Herbert Lehman,
ushered in the first day of television broadcasting in New York.

Spanning 1,200 acres at Flushing Meadow Park in Queens, the
fairground was marked by two imposing structures–the “Perisphere”
and the “Trylon”–and exhibited such new technology as FM radio,
robotics, fluorescent lighting, and a crude fax machine. Norman Bel
Geddes designed a Futurama ride for General Motors, and users
were transported through an idealized city of the future. Sixty-three
nations participated in the fair, which enjoyed large crowds before
the outbreak of World War II interrupted many of its scheduled
events.

President Roosevelt speaking at the opening of the New York
World’s Fair.

TV’s "The Gene Autry Show" premiered on CBS July 23, 1950 with
91 episodes aired. 

Pat Buttram (left) as Gene’s side kick "Pat".

Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry

On April 29, 2004, the World War II Memorial opened in Washington, D.C. 
to thousands of visitors, providing overdue recognition for the 16 million
U.S. men and women who served in the war. The memorial is located on
7.4 acres on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the National Mall
between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The
Capitol dome is seen to the east, and Arlington Cemetery is just across
the Potomac River to the west.

On April 28, 1945, “Il Duce,” Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci,
(shown above) were shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as
they attempted to flee to Switzerland.

The 61-year-old deposed former dictator of Italy was established by his
German allies as the figurehead of a puppet government in northern Italy
during the German occupation toward the close of the war. As the Allies
fought their way up the Italian peninsula, defeat of the Axis powers all
but certain, Mussolini considered his options. Not wanting to fall into
the hands of either the British or the Americans, and knowing that the
communist partisans, who had been fighting the remnants of roving
Italian fascist soldiers and thugs in the north, would try him as a war
criminal, he settled on escape to a neutral country.

Benito Mussolini (left) with Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler.

Kingsmen (from left) Jack Ely, Lynn Easton, Bob Nordby, and Mike Mitchell.

The Kingsmen, a 1960s garage rock band from Portland, Oregon
are known for their 1963 recording of Richard Berry‘s "Louie
Louie". It  held the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts for six
weeks and became a popular classic. Members Lynn Easton
and Jack Ely from David Douglas High School formed a band
that would eventually be named the Kingsmen. 

“We lost a member of our Kingsmen family today,
Saturday April 25.

Our deepest sympathies, hearts and prayers go
out to his family. RIP brother.”
(From the Kingsmen website)