FIRST NASA ASTRONAUTS INTRODUCED

Group photo of the Mercury 7 astronauts at their first public appearance in April 1959: Walter M. Schirra, left, Alan B. Shepard, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, John H. Glenn, M. Scott Carpenter, and L. Gordon Cooper
Walter M. Schirra, left, Alan B. Shepard, Virgil I. “Gus”
Grissom, Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, John H. Glenn, M.
Scott Carpenter, and L. Gordon Cooper.

On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) formally introduced
America’s
first astronauts
to the press: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon
Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil “Gus” Grissom,
Walter Schirra Jr., Alan Shepard Jr. and Donald Slayton.

The seven men, all military test pilots, were carefully
selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in
Project Mercury, America’s first manned space program.

NASA planned to begin manned orbital flights in 1961.

NASA announced the first U.S. astronauts on April 9, 1959. Known as the  Mercury 7, the men would all eventually make it to space, with Alan Shepard  becoming the first American to

mercury_7_astros_on_life_cover

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LARGEST U.S. SURRENDER WAS ON THIS DAY

BATAAN LEGACY HISTORICAL SOCIETY - Home

On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward P. King Jr. surrendered
at
Bataan, Philippines, against General Douglas MacArthur’s
orders—and 78,000 troops (66,000 Filipinos and 12,000
Americans), the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to
surrender, were taken captive by the Japanese.

The prisoners were at once led 55 miles from Mariveles, on
the southern end of the Bataan peninsula, to San Fernando,
on what became known as the “
Bataan Death March.”

At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of
the
extreme brutality of their captors, who starved, beat and
kicked them on the way; those who became too weak to walk
were bayoneted.

Those who survived were taken by rail from San Fernando to
POW camps, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least
1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and
starvation.

The Bataan Death March | Origins

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Imperial Brutality: Bataan Death March > National Museum of the United  States Air Force™ > Display
Prisoners Along The Bataan Death March Wood Print by Bettmann - Photos.com

Remembering Wisconsin Guard unit in Bataan Death March > Wisconsin National  Guard > View
Prisoners photographed during the march. They have their hands tied behind their backs.

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Bataan Death March Memorial featuring Filipino and
American soldiers at the
Veterans Memorial Park in
Las Cruces, New Mexico.

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FIRST FREEDOM RIDE WAS ON THIS DAY IN 1947

Black History From the Year You Were Born - Newsweek

Freedom Rides – African American Civil Rights Movement

On April 9, 1947, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) sent 16
Black and white activists on a bus ride through the American
South to test a recent Supreme Court decision striking down
segregation on interstate bus travel. The so-called
Journey of Reconciliation, which lasted two weeks, was an important
precursor to the
Freedom Rides of the 1960s.

Judges vacates convictions of anti segregation bus riders | Raleigh News & Observer

                                 
                         Pinback button for CORE's Freedom Rides | National Museum of African  American History and Culture

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WALK ON BEACH YIELDS ANCIENT WEAPON

Dagger near Baltic Sea

(FOX NEWS) – A pair of pedestrians recently stumbled across an
ancient deadly weapon in a peaceful and most unlikely location:
a beach in Poland.  

The artifact, a 2,500-year-old dagger, was found on March 30.

Poland’s Museum of the History of the Kamieńska Land
announced the discovery in a Facebook post later that day.

Split image of woman holding dagger, dagger alone

Two metal detectorists holding dagger
Jacek Ukowski and Katarzyna Herdzik discovered the
ancient dagger last month while taking a walk on the
beach.

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HOME RUN RECORD BROKEN ON THIS DAY

Hank Aaron stats: 12 of his most significant home runs

On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th
career home run
, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714
homers. A crowd of 53,775 people, the largest in the history of
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was with Aaron that night to
cheer when he hit a 4th inning pitch off the Los Angeles Dodgers’
Al Downing.

However, as Aaron was an African American who had received
death threats and racist hate mail during his pursuit of one of
baseball’s most distinguished records, the achievement was
bittersweet.

On this day in history, April 8, 1974: Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run ...

Hank Aaron - Atlanta Braves

1974 NY Times newspaper HANK AARON breaks BABE RUTH career HOME RUN RECORD | eBay

1974 Hank Aaron Breaks Babe Ruth's Record reproduction

An Atlanta school named after a Confederate general will be renamed to honor Hank Aaron | CNN

Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin’ Hank."

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