ROSS SIMPSON
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is 70 years old today.
Washington is an actor, producer, and director. Known for
dramatic roles on stage and screen, The New York Times
named him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020.
He has received several accolades, including two Academy
Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as
well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy
Award.
N8082U, the United Airlines DC-8-61 involved, pictured in
1972 sporting a previous identifying design. Photo taken
at Seattle / Tacoma – Int. (SEA).
Originating at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, United
Airlines Flight 173 stopped in Denver, and continued to
Portland on Thursday, December 28, 1978.
The pilot reported a problem with the plane’s nose landing
gear to the Portland tower, and, according to the National
Transportation Safety Board report, failed to monitor properly
the aircraft’s fuel state and to properly respond to the low
fuel state. The Board blamed pilot error for the crash
After circling Portland International Airport the DC-8 ran out
of fuel and crashed into two vacant houses and a grove of
trees at East Burnside Street, five miles southeast of the
airport and about 200 feet east of 157th Avenue at around
6:15 P.M.
The jetliner, reportedly was carrying 172 adult passengers,
five infants and eight crew members.
Capt. Malburn "Buddy" McBroom (52), a World War II Navy
veteran and longtime United pilot, recovers in a Gresham,
Oregon hospital. (KATU)
Malburn Adair “Buddy” McBroom (1926 – 2004)
United Flight 173 survivor Lynn Egli, right, stands with
KATU’s Steve Dunn at the memorial for the passengers
aboard United Flight 173 that killed 10 people. (KATU)
On Christmas morning, Apollo 8 left its lunar orbit and began
its journey back to Earth, landing safely in the Pacific Ocean
on on this day in 1968 after an historic six-day journey.
On December 21, Apollo 8 was launched by a three-stage
Saturn 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, astronauts
Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders were
aboard.
On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around
the moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so.
On December 26, 1972, former 33rd President of the United
States Harry S. Truman died in Independence, Missouri.
Then-President Richard Nixon called Truman a man of
“forthrightness and integrity” who had a deep respect
for the office he held and for the people he served, and
who “supported and wisely counseled each of his
successors.” Truman was in office from April 12, 1945
to January 20, 1953.
On December 5, 1972, Truman was admitted to Kansas City’s
Research Hospital and Medical Center with pneumonia.
He developed multiple organ failure, fell into a coma, and
died at 7:50 a.m. on December 26, at the age of 88.
Truman in September 1917.
Harry and Bess Truman on their wedding
day, June 28, 1919.
President Harry Truman holds up a copy of the Chicago
Daily Tribune declaring his "defeat" to Thomas Dewey
in the presidential election, St Louis, Missouri, in Nov.
1948.
Truman was so widely expected to lose the 1948 election that
the Chicago Tribune had printed papers with this erroneous
headline when few returns were in.
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August
6 and 9, 1945 respectively, were authorized by President
Truman at the end of World War II.
On December 26, 1973, The Exorcist, a horror film starring
the actress Linda Blair as a girl possessed by an evil spirit,
made its debut in theaters; it went on to earn a reputation
as one of the scariest movies in history.
The post-holiday release served to help The Exorcist sell
tickets, as most moviegoers had time off.
It was the highest-grossing Christmas week release after
1997’s Titanic, and is still in second place.
William David Friedkin
(August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023)
