(Fox News) – A World War II veteran’s musty old Bentley that was left sitting
in a garage for three decades sold for $600,000 this week, much more than
was expected. But the amount paid may have been more of a tribute to the
owner than the car.

To be sure, the 1936 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Vanden Plas Tourer is rare. It’s just
1 of 6 like it made, and the only one left with its original body. No one really
cared much about that when retired Royal Air Force navigator and pilot
Charles Blackham purchased it from its original owner in 1952, fixed it up
and turned it into his daily driver.

Blackham had been a member of the squadron that bombed Hitler’s “Eagles
Nest” retreat in April 1945, and he later made food drops in Europe after the
fall of the Nazi regime.

He used the Bentley until 1988 when it became too much trouble to keep it
running, and parked it in the garage at his home near Manchester, where
it sat rotting away until his death in January at age 96.

Blackham, center, and members of his squadron in WWII.
(H&H Classics)

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 2004, 10 bombs exploded in quick succession across
the commuter rail network in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 people and
injured about 2,000 in an attack linked to al-Qaida-inspired militants.

ROSS SIMPSON

At 12:18 p.m. et, a terrorist bomb exploded in a parking garage of the World
Trade Center in New York City, leaving a crater 60 feet wide and causing the collapse of several steel-reinforced concrete floors in the vicinity of the blast. Although the terrorist bomb failed to critically damage the main structure of
the skyscrapers, six people were killed, more than 1,000 were injured and
the World Trade Center itself suffered more than $500 million in damage. 

After the attack, authorities evacuated 50,000 people from the buildings,
hundreds of whom were suffering from smoke inhalation. The evacuation
lasted the whole afternoon.

City authorities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation undertook a massive manhunt for suspects, and within days several radical Islamic fundamentalists
were arrested.

On this day in 1987, The Tower Commission rebuked President
Reagan for failing to control his national security staff in the wake
of the Iran-Contra Affair.

   
    
    
    

Sophia Tareen

In Flemington, New Jersey on t his day in 1935, a jury found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of the kidnapping and death of the infant
son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed
for the crimes (below).

Charles Lindbergh, Jr (1930 – 1932)

During World War II on this day in 1945, allied aircraft began bombing
the German city of Dresden. It was almost completely destroyed and
became a symbol of the “terror bombing” campaign against Germany,
which was one of the most controversial allied actions of the war.

SANDY KOZEL

Presley’s birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Young Elvis with parents Vernon and Gladys
Presley in 1938.

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)

(Note: Photo taken during the last concert before his death!)

Known as "The King of Rock n’ Roll," Elvis Presley rose to
prominence in the late 1950s, becoming a legend in cultural
history and the best-selling solo artist in the history of pop
with such #1 singles as "Hound Dog," and "Jailhouse Rock.

He appeared in over 30 movies, with his big screen debut
coming in the 1956 film Love Me Tender, named after one
of his many songs.

Graceland, a mansion on a 13.8-acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee.