On April 7, 1949, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South
Pacific opened at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway in New
York City. The romantic musical about World War II, which
touches on controversial racial themes, goes on to run for
almost five years, becoming one of the most popular musicals
of the 1950s.

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American
industrialist and business magnate. As founder of the Ford
Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making cars 
affordable for middle-class Americans through the Fordism 
system.

On April 6, 1841, John Tyler was sworn in as president. Tyler was
elected as William Harrison’s vice president earlier in 1841 and
was suddenly thrust into the role of president when Harrison
died one month into office.

ROSS SIMPSON

Merle Haggard received many honors and awards for
his music, including a Kennedy Center Honor (2010);
a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006); a BMI
Icon Award (2006) and induction into the Nashville
Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), Country Music Hall
of Fame (1994) and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
(1997). He died on April 6, 2016—his 79th birthday—
at his ranch in Shasta County, California, having
recently suffered from double pneumonia.

Clocking in at three hours and 32 minutes, William Wyler’s
Technicolor epic Ben-Hur was the behemoth entry at the
32nd annual Academy Awards ceremony, held on this day
in 1960, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

Setting an Oscar record, the film sweeps 11 of the 12
categories in which it was nominated, including Best
Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Charlton Heston).

Wyler’s 1959 film was the latest dramatic adaptation of the
mega-bestselling novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ,
published in 1880 by Lew Wallace. Wallace, a former
general in the American Civil War, wrote his most
successful novel after experiencing a new awakening
of his Christian faith.