Oh - Hi - Oh - No...
It all got out of hand at Noon when the Ohio National Guard started firing tear gas to break up the hundreds of Kent State students headed for the top of the hill on campus for the continuation of anti-war demonstrations that had started a few days earlier. The protest was in response to the U.S. invasion of Cambodia launched one week earlier...
When the Guardsmen reached the top of the hill one of two things happened. The Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard claims a sniper fired on the troops. Another account had about one-third of the 77 Guardsmen retaliating for being hit with projectiles. The firing would only last 13 seconds according to a New York Times reporter on hand. "It appeared to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or longer" the reporter added. Most believe it was no more than 13 seconds. Students Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller were among the protestors but Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder were simply walking from one class to another. All lay dead...
Remember the photo of the girl on her knees reaching out for help over the body of a fatally wounded student ? That was 14-year old Mary Ann Vecchio, a teenage runaway, not a student. The prone body on the ground belonged to student Jeffrey Miller. John Filo, a photojournalism student won a Pulitzer Prize for his vivid snapshot of the massacre at Kent State on May 4, 1970...
Neil Young's protest song of the event would become a big hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and they would perform the tune at Kent State for the 27th anniversary of the tragedy on May 4, 1997..."Tin Soldiers and Nixon coming, We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, four dead in O-Hi-O"...
More May 4 Memories...
1626] Dutch explorer Peter Minuit lands on Manhattan Island. Native Americans later sell all 20,000 acres of the island for $24 in cloth, buttons and other chotchkies (at the sale, the Native Americans also mention that they have a bridge to sell him but Peter wisely passes)...
1715] A French manufacturer debuts the 1st folding umbrella (but it refuses to open for Americans)...
1776] Who said people from Rhode Island are slow ? R.I. declares its freedom from England 2 months before the Declaration of Independence is adopted...
1905] Belmont Park Race Track opens in Elmont, LI (it's the largest race track in the world)...
1927] The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded...
1932] Al Capone enters the federal penitentiary in Atlanta after he's convicted of income-tax evasion...
1953] Ernest Hemingway gets a Pulitzer Prize for "Old Man and The Sea"...
1956] Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps record "Be-Bop-A-Lula"...
1957] Bill Shoemaker misjudges the finish line at the Kentucky Derby as his horse Gallant Man finishes second to Iron Liege instead of winning...
1959] Mort Sahl hosts the 1st Grammy Awards (can't you just hear those snide one-liners now ?). Henry Mancini wins for "Album of the Year" ("The Music from Peter Gunn") and Domenico Modugno has the "Record of the Year" ("Volare")...
1961] A group of Freedom Riders leave Washington, D.C. for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals...
1964] Louis Armstrong is #1 with "Hello Dolly"...
1965] New York's 7 foot 3/4" Lew Alcindor, the nation's most sought after high school (Power Memorial) player announces his intention of attending UCLA in the fall...
1970] The Kent State shootings (feature story)...
1975] Moe Howard, one of the Three Stooges ("nyuk, nyuk, nyuk") dies at 78 (Moe was one of 3 brothers in the Stooges along with Shemp and Curly)...
1975] The Astros' Bob Watson scores the major league's 1 millionth run in a game at Candlestick Park...
1976] KISS plays their debut concert in New York City...
1977] The Eagles fly high at #1 with "Hotel California"...
1986] "West End Girls" is #1 for the Pet Shop Boys...
1990] Angela Bowie claims that ex-husband David slept with Mick Jagger (HELLO!)...
1998] Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski is given 4 life sentences plus 30 years by a federal judge under a plea agreement that spares him the death penalty...
2001] Bonny Lee Bakley, wife of Robert Blake, is shot to death in Los Angeles (Blake will be acquitted of murder but he does admit not paying the bill at the restaurant she had her final meal at)...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline]...
Happy Birthday To...
1928] Jazz great Maynard Ferguson...
1930] Opera star Roberta Peters...
1937] Dick ("King of the Surf Guitar") Dale (Dale was born in Quincy, MA. go figure)...
1941] Journalist George Will (who needs a new barber)...
1942] Nickolas Ashford ("Ashford and Simpson")...
1944] Peggy ("The Angels") Santiglia...
1945] Pia Zadora...
1959] Randy Travis...
"Tomorrow"...
If you've ever wondered why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated, tune in tomorrow...
[Today is the 124th day of 2006 with 241 days left in the year and 25 days till Memorial Day]...
