July 1960

Hit Parader was first published in 1942 during World War II out of Derby, Connecticut and became one of the longest-running U.S. music magazines.

The publication pre-dated the music charts by a few years.  Initially the
magazine would provide the lyrics to the popular songs of the day, a practice
which came to an end in the ’70’s.

The magazine came into the spirit of pop and rock with the arrival of first,
The Beach Boys and then especially with the explosion on the scene by
The Beatles.  At that point in time it took on a whole new look and feel,
often mimicked by many other ‘teen’ magazines which began to ‘pop’ up.

Hit Parader migrated through the various genre’s during the 1970’s – moving
on to hard rock, metal and the like up into the mid 1980’s.  The magazine
went through some troubled times in the 1990’s shutting down for a time
and finally called it quits after putting out it’s final issue in December of
2008.

December, 1943

March, 1958

January, 1959

December, 1969

On this day in 1925, Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross was sworn in as 
governor of Wyoming She was the first female governor in
the United States.

Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross seated at her desk (right) in the
Governor’s Office, Wyoming State Capitol Building.

U.S. Representative and former singer-songwriter Salvatore Phillip
“Sonny” Bono died on this day in 1998. He hit a tree while skiing at
Heavenly Mountain Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California. The
results of an autopsy showed no drugs or alcohol in his body.

Sonny Bono and Cher

Sonny Bono’s headstone in Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, CA.

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1831, Charles Darwin (above) set out on a
voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s
discoveries during the voyage helped him form the basis
of his theories on evolution.

The British naval vessel HMS Beagle.

James Barrie’s play "Peter Pan" premiered in London
on this day in 1904.

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet (May 9, 1860 – June 19, 1937)  

Historical newspaper report on “Peter Pan”.

Peter Pan statue by Sir George Frampton in Kensington
Gardens, London.

ROSS SIMPSON

Under the Indian Ocean, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake sent 500-mph
waves across the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal on this day in
2004. The tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in a dozen
countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Sumatra, Thailand and
India.

On this day in 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey
was found beaten and strangled to death in the basement of her
family’s home in Boulder, CO. It was reported in September 2016
that the investigation into JonBenét’s death continues to be an
active homicide case, per Boulder Police Chief Greg Testa.

Patsy Ramsey and her husband John Ramsey, parents of JonBenet.

John Mark Karr, 41, was being charged by police for child porn in
California when out of nowhere, he confessed to killing JonBenet,
but his DNA didn’t match the DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey,
and he wasn’t charged with her death.

SANDY KOZEL