On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania
was torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the
south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into
the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people
drowned, including 128 Americans.

(FOX NEWS) – Archaeologists recently made a startling discovery:
They found that two 18th-century shipwrecks off the coast of
Central America were actually two Danish slave ships.

The ships, named Fridericus Quartus and Christianus Quintus,
are located in shallow waters off Costa Rica’s Cahuita National
Park. 

According to the National Museum of Denmark.the 18th-century
vessels were shipwrecked in 1710.

"Fridericus Quartus was set ablaze, while Christianus Quintus
had its anchor rope cut, following which the ship was wrecked
in the surf," the museum’s press release noted. "Until now, it
has not been clear exactly where the ships were lost.

"Though the ships were excavated in 2023, researchers didn’t
know that they were slave ships until recently. The vessels
were long believed to be pirate ships.

The auctioned-off letter was dated April 10 and postmarked
April 12 – just days before disaster struck.

(FOX NEWS) – A "prophetic" letter written aboard the ill-fated RMS
Titanic ocean liner has been auctioned in England for a stunning
sum.

The letter was sold by Wiltshire-based Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd.
on April 26. It was written by Archibald Gracie IV on April 10, 1912
– just five days before the ship sank on April 15.

Gracie penned the note on April 10, when the ship left Southampton, England. The letter was postmarked in London two days later, on
April 12.

"It is a fine ship but I shall await my journey’s end before I pass
judgment on her," Gracie wrote compellingly in the letter.

"The Oceanic is like an old friend and while she does not possess
the elaborate style and varied amusement of this big ship, still her seaworthy qualities and yacht-like appearance make me miss her,"
he added.

"As dawn broke, Col Gracie returned to New York City aboard the
rescue ship Carpathia, where he began writing about what he had
been through."

Originally predicted to fetch the equivalent of $80,000, the
103-year-old piece of paper was sold for an eye-popping 
$399,000.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge called the letter "one of the
finest of its type known."

Though Gracie survived the shipwreck, his health was
severely impacted by the disaster. He suffered from
hypothermia and various physical injuries on the day
of the sinking. In Dec. 1912, he fell into a coma before
dying of complications from diabetes.

.

SANDY KOZEL

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, at age 28, became the first
African American player in Major League Baseball’s modern
era when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete
for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier
in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years.

Exactly 50 years later, on April 15, 1997, Jackie Robinson’s groundbreaking career was honored and his uniform number,
42, was retired from Major League Baseball by Commissioner
Bud Selig in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 fans at New
York City’s Shea Stadium.

1972
          

SANDY KOZEL

Loretta Lynn was a country music singer and
songwriter. In a career spanning six decades,
Lynn released multiple gold albums.
She had numerous hits.

Lynn received many awards and other accolades
for her groundbreaking role in country music,
including awards from both the Country Music
Association and Academy of Country Music.

Loretta Lynn (April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022)