The April 18, 1942, Doolittle Raid on Japan early in World War
II bolstered American spirits just months after the surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor and the loss of the U.S. territories of
Guam and the Philippines.
The commander of the raid, Army Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle (second from left).
On April 18, 1906, at 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at
close to 8.0 on the Richter scale struck San Francisco,
California, killing an estimated 3,000 people as it toppled
numerous buildings.
The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault
over a segment about 275 miles long, and shock waves
could be felt from southern Oregon down to Los Angeles.
By April 23, most fires were extinguished, and authorities
started the task of rebuilding the devastated metropolis.
Eddie Cochran (October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960)
Eddie Cochran, the man behind “Summertime Blues”
and “C’mon Everybody,”was killed on April 17, 1960
when the taxi carrying him from a show in Bristol,
England, crashed en route to the airport in London,
where he was to catch a flight back home to the
United States.
A raw and exciting rocker with a cocky, rebellious
image, Eddie Cochran was very different from the
polished and packaged idols being heavily marketed
to American teenagers in the years between the rise
of Elvis Presley and the arrival of the Beatles.
While he may have faded from popular memory in the
years since his tragic and early death, his biggest hits
have not.
DAVID MELENDY
On April 16, 1889, future Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin
was born Charles Spencer Chaplin in London, England.
Chaplin, one of the most financially successful stars of early
Hollywood, was introduced to the stage when he was five.
The son of London music hall entertainers, young Chaplin
was watching a show starring his mother when her voice
cracked. He was quickly shuffled onto the stage to finish
the act.
In 1972 received a special Academy Award for
“the incalculable effect he has had on making
motion pictures the art for and of this century.”
He was knighted Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin
in 1975. He died two years later.
