++This Tweet in History: April 28, 2010++

WRLD: 1969 - de Gaulle fulfills vow; steps down after reform referendum is shot down

SPRT: 1923 - First Wembley stadium is the BEES (British Empire Exhibition Stadium) knees

OTHR: 1810 - Beethoven pens one for Elise

BDAY: Jay Leno; Harper Lee; Oscar Schindler; James Monroe

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++This Tweet in History: April 27, 2010++

WRLD: 1961 - Sierra Leone achieves independence

SPRT: 1956 - Nobody beats the Rock

OTHR: 1667 - Milton sells Paradise for a mere 10 pounds

BDAY: Earl Anthony; Coretta Scott King; Ulysses S. Grant; Samuel Morse

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++This Tweet in History: April 26, 2010++

WRLD: 1986 - Bad design + Poor Training = nuke meltdown in Chernobyl

SPRT: 1990 - Soccer great Maradona, banned from game for drug use, is arrested for drug possession

HUH?: 1946 - Divine Father marries Sweet Angel, 40 years his junior

BDAY: Bobby Rydell; Carol Burnett; I.M. Pei; John James Audobon

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++This Tweet in History: April 25, 2010++

WRLD: 1953 - Crick and Watson publish landmark paper unlocking secrets of DNA's double helix

SPRT: 1901 - Detroit's first game in AL features 10-run comeback in last half inning

OTHR: 1983 - Stern deception as German mag publishes faked Hitler diary

BDAY: Meadowlark Lemon; Albert King; Edward R. Murrow; Guglielmo Marconi

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E April 24, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending April 24, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Haiti, April 22 1971 - Papa Doc, Haiti's president for life, reaches the end of his term: http://bit.ly/cby3ct [SFX:] Haitian dictator, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, first came to fame as a beloved doctor. He came to power after opposing a military coup, elected president in 1956. Once he was in, he began consolidating power, immediately exiling his enemies, and, ultimately, through voodoo and his private militia, the TonTons Macoute, instilling fear in the populace, dissolving one house of legislature and going outside the country’s constitution by seeking a second term as president, in an election which he, the sole candidate, won with a tally of 1,320,748 to nil. A year later, he had himself declared, with 99.9% of the country’s vote, “President for life.” When that life ended, in 1971, Papa Doc’s son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, succeeded him. [SFX:]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Boston, April 21 1980 - Rosie Ruiz's ruse riles runners in Boston's renowned race: http://bit.ly/9vUiXB The Back-Story: [SFX:I Ran All The Way Home; Blues In The Night] To say that Rosie Ruiz came out of nowhere to win the Boston Marathon would be an unforgivably bad play on words. The largely unknown runner qualified for the Boston Marathon with what turned out to be falsified times from the New York Marathon. When she crossed the finish line in Boston, in record time, and three minutes ahead of the next female to cross, she didn’t seem fatigued. Further, no one saw her earlier in the race, nor did she appear on videotaped footage. Some even reported having seen Ruiz insert herself into the race at the last mile. Ultimately, Ruiz was stripped of her title, Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the winner, and The Boston and other marathons added video surveillance and electronic monitoring at checkpoints throughout the course. [SFX: I’m a Loser]

[SFX: SOUND827]: In other news: DATELINE Atlanta, April 23 1985 - Some things never change. Coke should've been one of them.: http://bit.ly/b2zwXn
The Back-Story: [SFX:That’s Just The Way It Is; Just the Way You Are;Changes;Don’t Change for You] In the era of the Pepsi challenge, Coke was losing market share. All of a sudden, they discovered a long-lost “original” formula for their soda, and began market-testing it. Sure enough, it was preferred, and, in short order, the new formula was pushed out to the world. The company, however, underestimated its consumer-base’s loyalty, who were outraged at the change. Eventually, Coke re-released the former formula, re-branded as Coca Cola Classic. When all was said and done, the result of the fiasco was what Coke had sought in the first place: A revitalization of the brand.[SFX:Get Right Back to Where We Started From; Do It Again]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

April 18: Conductor Leopold Stokowski
April 19: Tennis star Maria Sharapova
April 20: Jazz pioneer Lionel Hampton http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/hampton/
April 21: Author Charlotte Bronte
April 22: Soviet premier Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
April 23: Conductor Sergei Prokofiev, and
April 24: Designer Jean-Paul Gaultier

[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com

++This Tweet in History: April 24, 2010++

WRLD: 1965 - Coup makes Urena provisional president of Dominican

SPRT: 1996 - Penguins emerge victorious after over 2 hours battling the Capitals

OTHR: 1184 - Troy learns to beware of Greeks bearing gifts

BDAY: Cedric the Entertainer; Jean-Paul Gaultier; Barbara Streisand; Anthony Trollope

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++This Tweet in History: April 23, 2010++

WRLD: 1014 - Ireland's King Brian can rest in peace after dealing the Vikings their final defeat, at Clontarf

ENTR: 1988 - After 741 weeks, Dark Side of the Moon drops off the charts

OTHR: 1985 - Some things never change. Coke should've been one of them.

BDAY: Vladimir Nabokov; Sergei Prokofiev; Max Planck; William Shakespeare

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++This Tweet in History: April 22, 2010++

WRLD: 1971 - Papa Doc, Haiti's president for life, reaches the end of his term

SPRT: 1969 - Yachtsman Knox-Johnston sails solo, non-stop, around the world, landing in the record books

OTHR: 1912 - Communist Party's voice of "Truth" begins publication in St. Pete

BDAY: John Waters; Jack Nicholson; Yehudi Menuhin; Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

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++This Tweet in History: April 21, 2010++

WRLD: 753 BC - Traditional date for the three Rs

SPRT: 1980 - Rosie Ruiz's ruse riles runners in Boston's renowned race

RLGN: 1966 - Ethiopian emperor lands in Jamaica on first Grounation Day

BDAY: Jim Morrison; Queen Elizabeth II; Charlotte Bronte; Catherine the Great

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++This Tweet in History: April 20, 2010++

WRLD: 1689 - Deposed King James' siege befouls the Londonderry air

SPRT: 1984 - Nordiques, Canadiens brawl their way through the Good Friday Massacre

OTHR: 1918 - Red Baron notches #s 79, 80 day before becoming Wifrid May's #1

BDAY: Ryan O'Neal; George Takei; Lionel Hampton; Joan Miro

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++This Tweet in History: April 19, 2010++

WRLD: 1999 - Bundestag bids Bonn bye bye, beats it back to Berlin

SPRT: 1897 - Manly art of marathons migrates from Athens to Boston

OTHR: 1824 - Lord Byron catches death of cold, ending his Greek adventure

BDAY: Maria Sharapova; Al Unser, Jr.; Paloma Picasso; Dudley Moore

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++This Tweet in History: April 18, 2010++

WRLD: 1906 - SF shakes and bakes under weight of Great Earthquake and Fire

SPRT: 1994 - Brian Lara bats then-record 375 runs in one day

OTHR: 1930 - For BBC3, No News is Good Friday news

BDAY: Conan O'Brien; James Woods; Leopold Stokowski; Clarence Darrow

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E April 17, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending April 17, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Space April 13, 1970 - Houston, we've had a problem: Apollo 13's oxygen tank explodes en route to the moon: http://bit.ly/aktBom The Back-Story: [SFX: Ashes to Ashes; Space Oddity; ] The drama that unfolded in space that fatedul day began on earth, some five years earlier. Apollo's designers realized the 28 volts weren't sufficient, and made the change to 65 volts. A thermostat supplier didn't get the change. The change had gone unnoticed through all previous Apollo missions, but lucky #13 was using a tank that had been dropped two years earlier. This combination of events led to the thermostat's failure and the gas leak that put the crew's lives in jeopardy[SFX: Jeopardy]. Through the efforts of the highly skilled ground suppport team and the astronaut crew, the accident wasn't fatal, but Apollo 13 never made it to the moon. [SFX: I'm Lucky; Everyone's Gone to the Moon; Dark Side of the Moon]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Canada April 12, 1980 - Canadian athlete, amputee, Terry Fox begins trans-Canadian Marathon of Hope against cancer: http://bit.ly/chddXX
The Back-Story: [SFX: One Step at a Time; Step by Step; Running on Empty] When Terry Fox, a college basketball player, learned that he would lose his leg to cancer, he came up with an audacious plan: He would run across Canada, a marathon a day, to raise both cancer awareness and funds to fight the disease. Two years after his operation, he began over 3000 miles of training, and lined up sponsors. He began his run by dipping his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland and covered 6 provinces before, over 3,300 miles and 143 days into his Marathon of Hope, he collapsed, the cancer having spread to his lungs. He was taken home and was able to watch as his nation adopted his cause and pulled together to raise over $10 million for the cure. [SFX: It Keeps You Running]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Things that make you go Huh?: DATELINE Europe April 17, 1986 - Finally! Treaty ends 335-year war between Netherlands and Scilly: http://bit.ly/aYP23D
The Back-Story: [SFX:War; Lay Down My Sword and Shield; Zor and Zam] During the British Civil War, when Oliver Cromwell and his Parliamentarians were storming the nation, the Isles of Scilly was the last Royalist stronghold. Weighing in on the Parliamentarian side, the Netherlands dispatched their navy to the Isles, where they met such great resistance, with ships and goods seized by the Royalists. In 1651, after the Dutch demand for reparations was met with an unsatisfactory response, Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp they declared war on the Royalist Isles. Shortly thereafter, the Parliamentarians overtook the Isles, and, before a shot was fired, the war was forgotten - by the Dutch, that is. With no peace treaty in place, the state of war persisted in rumor and local jokes on the Isles until, in 1985, Council Chair Roy Duncan inquired of the Dutch embassy in London, who confirmed the rumor and agreed to send Ambassador Jonkheer Huydecoper to Scilly to sign the treaty that would put 335 years of war behind them. [SFX:It’s Been a Long Long Time; I Don't Really Want to Fight]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

April 11: Designer Oleg Cassini
April 12: Jazz Musician Herbie Hancock
April 13: Author Eudora Welty
April 14: Baseball great Pete Rose
April 15: Artist Leonardo da Vinci
April 16: Pope Benedict XVI, and
April 17: Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev

[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com

++This Tweet in History: April 17, 2010++

WRLD: 1961 - Invasion force of Cuban exiles lands at Bay of Pigs

SPRT: 1976 - Schmidt contributes 4 of the 9 homers in 36-run slugfest

HUH?: 1986 - Finally! Treaty ends 335-year war between Netherlands and Scilly

BDAY: Liz Phair; Harry Reasoner; William Holden; Nikita Khrushchev

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++This Tweet in History: April 16, 2010++

WRLD: 1947 - Syria gains independence from France

SPRT: 1940 - Feller's first no-hitter is MLB's only opening-day no-hitter

OTHR: 1943 - Whoops! Hofman's discovery of LSD is no accident

BDAY: Selena Quintanilla; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Pope Benedict XVI; Charlie Chaplin

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++This Tweet in History: April 15, 2010++

WRLD: 1912 - Titanic fail as the unsinkable happens in North Atlantic waters

SPRT: 1947 - Robinson smashes through Major League Baseball's color barrier

OTHR: 1994 - 124 countries sign to board the Marrakech Express, direct to WTO

BDAY: Emma Thompson; Roy Clark; Henry James; Leonardo da Vinci

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++This Tweet in History: April 14, 2010++

WRLD: 1865 - Surprise ending to "My American Cousin" at the Ford Theater

SPRT: 1960 - Dynasty! Canadiens bring home 5th straight cup.

OTHR: 1881 - Gunfight in El Paso leaves four dead in five seconds

BDAY: Julie Christie; Pete Rose; Rod Steiger; Sir John Gielgud

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++This Tweet in History: April 13, 2010++

WRLD: 1970 - Houston, we've had a problem

SPRT: 1997 - Masters Tournament's youngest champ ever notches record low score in becoming first non-white to win

ENTR: 1742 - Hallelujah! Dublin hosts premiere of Handel's oratorio, "Messiah"

BDAY: Garry Kasparov; Eudora Welty; Samuel Beckett; Thomas Jefferson

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++This Tweet in History: April 12, 2010++

WRLD: 1927 - Chiang Kai-shek launches major anti-Communist purge in Kuonmintang

SPRT: 1980 - Canadian athlete, amputee, Terry Fox begins trans-Canadian Marathon of Hope against cancer

OTHR: 1994 - Lawyers open the floodgates to internet spam

BDAY: Claire Danes; David Cassidy; David Letterman; Herbie Hancock

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++This Tweet in History: April 11, 2010++

WRLD: 1987 - Peres, Hussein sign secret London Agreement

TECH: 1976 - Handcrafted Apple 1 debuts for $666.66

OTHR: 1951 - Truman reins in loose cannon in Korea

BDAY: Meshach Taylor; Joel Grey; Ethel Kennedy; Oleg Cassini

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E April 10, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending April 10, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE London, April 8, 1968 - Heroic Barbara Jane Harrison perishes after guiding her passengers to safety following crash: http://bit.ly/a2okLO
The Back-Story: [SFX: Wind Beneath My Wings] Shortly after takeoff, BOAC’s flight 712 out of Heathrow ran into problems when an engine caught fire and dropped off of the wing. Although the pilots got the plane safely to the ground, fire from the wing spread to the fuselage. When one flight attendant had to leave the plane to untangle the evacuation slide, the task of getting passengers out of the rear exit fell to young Barbara Jane Harrison alone. As the fire spread, she encouraged, and sometimes pushed, passengers onto the slide, until the fire made the rear exit impassable. Harrison then led the remaining passengers to another exit, but refused to leave herself, perishing rather than abandoning an elderly, disabled passenger who had been seated in one of the last rows. For her valor, she was awarded the George Cross for heroism, one of only four female awardees, all of the rest of whom received it for service in World War II. [SFX:I’m Not Moving]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Athens, April 6, 1896 - De Coubertin's dreams come true with revival of Olympic competition in Athens: http://bit.ly/SKQty
The Back-Story: [SFX: Fanfare for the Common Man] Duke Pierre de Coubertin was a man on a mission. Convinced that his native France had lost the Franco-Prussian war because of poor physical education, he set about to add a physical component to the too-intellectual French education system. Failing at that, de Coubertin stumbled upon a grander dream: a modern revival of the ancient Olympic games. In 1896, his dreams materialized over 10 days in Athens, with the King of Greece handing olive laurels, certificates, and medals to the first and second place winners in a variety of sports. De Coubertin’s dream of a venue that instilled national pride, inter-national cooperation, and world peace,
has been played out for more than a century, with breaks only for wold wars, in 1916, 1940, and 1944. [SFX:]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Entertainment: DATELINE Brighton, April 6, 1974 - Twice-incumbent Luxembourg meets its Waterloo at Brighton as Swedish quartet grabs Eurovision laurels: http://bit.ly/baeAUD
The Back-Story: [SFX:Waterloo; I Write the Songs] Luxembourg was on a roll, having won the Eurovision Song contest twice in a row when, in 1974, a new band from Sweden made its television debut with an upbeat, pop song, Waterloo, that captured the hearts of the world, and launched ABBA on the international stage. The song, which meets all of Bristol University physiologist Dr. Harry Witchel’s 7 crucial elements for sucecss at Eurovision:: pace and rhythm, an easily memorable song, a perfect chorus, key change, a clearly defined finish, dance routine and finish, was enshrined in 2007 as the best song in the 50-year history of the contest. [SFX:]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

April 4: Musician Muddy Waters
April 5: Slave turned statesman Booker T. Washington
April 6: Outlaw Butch Cassidy
April 7: Sitarist Ravi Shankar
April 8: UN General Secretary Kofi Annan
April 9: Singer Paul Robeson, and
April 10: Actor Omar Sharif

[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com

++This Tweet in History: April 10, 2010++

WRLD: 1942 - Bataan Death March begins

SPRT: 1971 - US Table Tennis Team, first Americans on Chinese mainland since 1949, take part in Ping Pong Diplomacy

OTHR: 1866 - Bergh founds American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

BDAY: Steven Seagal; John Madden; Omar Sharif; Matthew Perry

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++This Tweet in History: April 9, 2010++

WRLD: 1999 - Mainassara assasinated in prelude to a coup

SPRT: 1975 - First game of Asia's first pro hoops league, PBA

OTHR: 1945 - Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer hanged two days shy of Flossenburg's liberation

BDAY: Keshia Knight Pulliam; Paulina Porizkova; Avery Schreiber; Paul Robeson

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++This Tweet in History: April 8, 2010++

WRLD: 1968 - Heroic Barbara Jane Harrison perishes after guiding her passengers to safety following crash

SPRT: 1916 - Burman's crash in road race in Corona kills him, his mechanic, 3 spectators

OTHR: 1986 - Hey, Carmel, do you feel lucky? Go ahead

BDAY: Patricia Arquette; Kofi Annan; Betty Ford; Mary Pickford

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++This Tweet in History: April 7, 2010++

WRLD: 1989 - 42 sailors perish as Soviet sub sinks in Norwegian waters

SPRT: 1968 - Formula Two crash claims racing champion Jim Clark

OTHR: 1999 - WTO rules in US's favor in judgment on the long, hard-fought Banana Wars

BDAY: Jackie Chan; Janis Ian; Ravi Shankar; Billie Holiday

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++This Tweet in History: April 6++

WRLD: 1994 - Rocket-fire downs plane carrying Rwanda, Burundi's presidents; genocide follows
SPRT: 1896 - De Coubertin's dreams come true with revival of Olympic competition in Athens
ENTR: 1974 - Twice-incumbent Luxembourg meets its Waterloo at Brighton as Swedish quartet grabs Eurovision laurels
BDAY: John Ratzenberger; Billy Dee Williams; Andre Previn; Butch Cassidy

++This Tweet in History: April 5++

WRLD: 1879 - War of the Pacific sparked by Chile's declaration of war with Bolivia and Peru
SPRT: 1904 - Four months late, international rugby gets off to an underwhelming start in Wigan's Central Park
TECH: 1998 - World's longest suspension bridge, Akashi-Kaikyo, with over 1 mile of span, opens for traffic
BDAY: Agnetha Faltskog; Colin Powell; Bette Davis; Booker T. Washington

++This Tweet in History: April 4, 2010++

WRLD: 1979 - Following questionable trial, tainted appeal; despite international protests, deposed Pakistani PM hanged

SPRT: 1968 - Greeks take home Euro basketball cup for the first time

OTHR: 1958 - Committee on Nuclear Disarmament's "ND" peace symbol debuts

BDAY: Heath Ledger; Gary Moore; Maya Angelou; Muddy Waters

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E April 3, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending April 3, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Reykjavic, March 30, 1949 - Iceland heats up over Cold War politics, as rioters in Reykjavik protest decision to join NATO: http://bit.ly/c501o9
The Back-Story: [SFX:Taking It to the Streets; White Riot; Protest Song; It Can't Happen Here] In the years following the end of World War II, battle lines were formed in the Cold War between East and West. In 1949, Iceland's parliament came down on the West's side, voting to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The citizens of the capital city, Reykjavik, alarmed at the prospect of remilitarization, took to the streets in a protest that grew into a riot, with rocks hurled through the parliament building, and tear gas fired by riot police before order was restored. [SFX: Get Up, Stand Up]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE London, April 2, 1977 - Red Rum wins world's toughest steeplechase for record 3rd time: http://bit.ly/cIoCag
The Back-Story: [SFX: Red Red Wine; You Did It in a Minute; Adventures in Babysitting; Born to Run] England's Grand National Steeplechase is a course so grueling that, often, only 20% of the horses in the field complete it. It is a course that Red Rum was born to run. Although the horse failed to distinguish himself early in his career, following a bout with debilitating bone disease and a tepid comeback attempt which caused most to write him off, he was purchased by a taxi driver and aspiring horse trainer who molded him into a champion. In the span of five years, he won the English Grand National 3 times and placed twice, becoming, along the way, the last horse to win back-to-back, the only horse to win 3 times, and the only horse totake the English and Scottish Grand Nationals in the same year. [SFX:Three Times a Lady; You're the Tops; It Keeps You Running; And I Ran]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Things that make you go Huh?: DATELINE Great Britain, April 1, 1957 - BBC reports mild winter, dearth of spaghetti weevil in Switzerland, yield bumper spaghetti crop: http://bit.ly/1az2cH (video)
The Back-Story: [SFX:Fool Me Once; Get Up, Stand Up; Come, Ye Thankful People, Come; You Can't Do That on Television] At a time when television was young and spaghetti was one of the more exotic foods in the British diet, the BBC aired a hoax documentary, in its Panorama program, showing Swiss women carefully harvesting pasta from trees, as reporter Richard Dimbleby explained the forces behind that year's bumper crop, how years of cultivating had produced uniformly long strands, and how the spaghetti was dried, some shared among the harvesters in celebration. Among those who got the joke, some wrote to the BBC, indignant that they would use a serious program for an April Fool's joke; among those who didn't, some wrote to ask for advice on growing their own spghetti. These latter received the reply, "Place a few strands in a tomato tin and hope for the best." [SFX: Lies, Lies, Lies; Some of my Lies Are True; The Girl Is Mine; Greatest American Hero]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

March 28: Author Maxim Gorky
March 29: British Prime Minister Sir John Major
March 30: Painter Vincent Van Gogh
March 31: Mathematician Rene Descartes
April 1: Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff
April 2:Writer Hans Christian Andersen, and
April 3: Author Washington Irving

[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com

++This Tweet in History: April 3, 2010++

WRLD: 1974 - Super Outbreak of 134 tornatdoes descends on US midwest

SPRT: 1988 - Anyone for doubles? #99 may be great in '88, but Art Ross says #66 plays le mieux

HUH?: 1895 - In Wilde affair, trial for libel begins that ends, ultimately, in conviction for homosexuality

BDAY: Picabo Street; Tony Orlando; Jane Goodall; Washington Irving

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++This Tweet in History: April 2, 2010++

WRLD: 1513 - Ponce de Leon is first European to set foot on Florida

SPRT: 1977 - Red Rum wins world's toughest steeplechase for record 3rd time

OTHR: 1979 - Workers at weapons plant in Ekaterinburg omit filter, unleashing anthrax epidemic

BDAY: Marvin Gaye; Jack Webb; Alec Guinness; Hans Christian Andersen

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++This Tweet in History: April 1, 2010++

WRLD: 1979 - Iran's Islamists win 98% of vote, ousting Shah

SPRT: 1993 - NASCAR's Polish Prince perishes in plane crash

HUH?: 1957 - BBC reports mild winter, dearth of spaghetti weevil in Switzerland, yieldi bumper spaghetti crop

BDAY: Susan Boyle; Toshiro Mifune; Sergei Rachmaninoff; Otto von Bismarck

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++This Tweet in History: March 31, 2010++

WRLD: 1959 - Dalai Lama seeks refuge in India

SPRT: 1995 - Play Ball again, at last, as baseball's bickering millionaires and billionaires end game's longest strike

OTHR: 1889 - Eiffel Tower unveiled in Paris, commemmorating Revolution's centennial

BDAY: Al Gore; Gordie Howe; Joseph Haydn; Rene Descartes

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++This Tweet in History: March 30, 2010++

WRLD: 1949 - Iceland heats up over Cold War politics as rioters in Reykjavik protest decision to join NATO

TECH: 1842 - Dr. Long allows young patient, facing surgery to remove a neck tumor, to sleep on it

OTHR: 1867 - Seward's Folly is a steal - Alaska @ 2 cents/acre

BDAY: Eric Clapton; Astrud Gilberto; John Astin; Vincent Van Gogh

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++This Tweet in History: March 29, 2010++

WRLD: 1879 - Anglo-Zulu war is turned on hinges of Kambula

SPRT: 1981 - Cast of thousands on hand for virgin run of London Marathon

OTHR: 1950 - He's back! After time-out for WWII, Mad Bomber's back on track at Grand Central

BDAY: Jennifer Capriati; John Major; Cy Young; John Tyler

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++This Tweet in History: March 28, 2010++

WRLD: 1979 - Three Mile Island has a meltdown with no deaths or major injuries

SPRT: 1990 - Jesse Owens' 5th gold medal is posthumous, congressional

HUH?: 1889 - Johansdotter murdered by her mother-loving husband

BDAY: Vince Vaughn; Reba McEntire; Dirk Bogarde; Maxim Gorky

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Histortweet Week in Review - W/E March 27, 2010

SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending March 27, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Canary Islands, March 27, 1977 - World's worst airline disaster occurs on the ground in Tenerife: http://bit.ly/cYxSbc
The Back-Story: [SFX:Undertow]A terrorist bombing at the Gran Canaria airport, on Las Palmas, in the Spanish Canary Islands, set off the chain of events that resulted in the worst aviation disaster in history. The bomb caused the Gran Canaria airport to close, and it's incoming traffic, including the ill-fated KLM and PanAm 747s, were diverted to the smaller airport at Los Rodeos. The KLM pilot, seeking to get back in the air before his daily allotment of flight hours expired, interpreted a transmission from the tower as giving him clearance to take off and headed down a runway which he'd been instructed to wait for the big PanAm jet to clear. In the foggy conditions, the two flight crews saw each other too late, and, although the PanAm crew tried to turn aside into a ditch and the KLM crew tried to rush into the air, the KLM jet's lower fuselage tore through the PanAm's upper fuselage. In the end, of the 628 passengers and crew on the airliners, only 61, all of whom had been aboard the PanAm jet, survived. [SFX:]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Germany, March 21 1970 - Vinko Bogataj experiences the agony of defeat: http://bit.ly/aUyKf0
The Back-Story: [SFX: Fanfare for the Common Man; I Believe I Can Fly; How Can I Fall; Fame] It was footage that became iconic to a generation, and a catchphrase that worked itself into the American lexicon, as every Saturday, a nation observed Vinko Bogataj's spectacular wipe-out illustrating Jim Mckey's narration as, "The Agony of Defeat." Although the footage that accompanied the rest of the narration was rotated periodically, Bogataj's crash stayed constant. For all of his fame, Bogataj was, in the days before the internet, an anonymous icon in the US, and, in his native Slovenia, totally unaware of his stature and was baffled by an invitation to attend an anniversary celebratio for the program some 20 years later. [SFX:]

[SFX: SOUND827]: In other news: DATELINE San Francisco, March 25 1957 - US Customs, howling mad, seizes imported copies of Ginsberg's opus: http://bit.ly/5yWgaZ
The Back-Story: [SFX:Howl; Me & Julio] Allen Ginsberg's first reading of his masterwork, "Howl" was a defining moment in the genesis of The Beat movement. It is a wide-ranging, breathy, breathless work that both observed and epitomized the experiences of young intellectuals of the generation that was to come of age in the 1960s, Vietnam-war era. In this free-flowing stream of structured chaos, no holds were barred - and therein lay the problem. Seizing on its uncensored - and, in some cases, metaphoric - references to sexuality and homosexuality, the US government declared the poem obscene, seizing imported copies and taking Lawrence Ferlinghetti, whose City Lights publishing company published it dometically, to trial on obscenity charges. Ultimately, the poem was declared not obscene and went on to become the most popular piece produced by The Beat movement. [SFX: ]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

March 21: Composer Johann Sebastian Bach
March 22: Composer Stephen Sondheim
March 23: Director Akira Kurosawa
March 24: Escape Artist Harry Houdini
March 25: Composer Bela Bartok
March 26:Poet Robert Frost, and
March 27: Poet Louis Simpson


[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com

++This Tweet in History: March 27, 2010++

WRLD: 1977 - World's worst airline disaster occurs on the ground in Tenerife

SPRT: 1871 - Scotland bests England in first international rugby match

ENTR: 1973 - Littlefeather stands in for Brando; takes stand against Hollywood's depiction of Native Americans

BDAY: Xuxa; Michael York; Sarah Vaughan; Louis Simpson

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++This Tweet in History: March 26, 2010++

WRLD: 1979 - Camp David negotiations bear fruit of Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty

SPRT: 1839 - First Henley Regatta

OTHR: 1974 - Protesting peasants in India hug trees against deforestation

BDAY: Leonard Nimoy; Sandra Day O'Connor; Tennessee Williams; Robert Frost

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++This Tweet in History: March 25, 2010++

WRLD: 1975 - Saudi prince, Faisal, assassinates his uncle, King Faisal

SPRT: 1950 - Norwegian ski jumpers bring their own snow to contest in England

OTHR: 1957 - US Customs, howling mad, seizes imported copies of Ginsberg's opus

BDAY: Elton John; Aretha Franklin; Bela Bartok; Arturo Toscanini

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++This Tweet in History: March 24, 2010++

WRLD: 1989 / 1976 -Tanker Disasters: Valdez hits / Cadiz Splits

SPRT: 1936 - 176 minutes of shut-out hockey isn't enough for Montreal in 1-0 loss to Detroit in NHL's longest game

OTHR: 1832 - Joseph Smith tarred, feathered

BDAY: Steve McQueen; Joseph Barbera; Fatty Arbuckle; Harry Houdini

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++This Tweet in History: March 23, 2010++

WRLD: 1801 - Drunk assassins stab, strangle, trample Russia's Tsar Paul

SPRT: 1994 - Great One passes Mr. Hockey yet again; this time, with 802nd goal

OTHR: 1839 - Boston Morning Post makes misspelling OK

BDAY: Chaka Khan; Wernher Von Braun; Akira Kurosawa; Joan Crawford

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++This Tweet in History: March 22, 2010++

WRLD: 1995 - Polyakov returns from record 438 days in space

SPRT: 1894 - After 4 of league's 5 teams notch identical records, Montreal defeats Ottawa in 1st Stanley Cup final

TECH: 1960 - Patent for laser published

BDAY: Andrew Lloyd Webber; George Benson; Stephen Sondheim; Marcel Marceau

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++This Tweet in History: March 21, 2010++

WRLD: 1990 - Namibia breaks free from 70 years of South African rule

SPRT: 1970 - Vinko Bogataj experiences the agony of defeat

OTHR: 1800 - Pius VII, in exile, launches Papal fashion trend with paper tiara

BDAY: Ronaldinho; Flo Ziegfeld; Modest Mussorgsky; Johann Sebastian Bach

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E March 20, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending March 20, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Stockholm, March 16, 1793 - Masked assassin shoots Sweden's masked king: http://bit.ly/bZSSIr
The Back-Story: [SFX: You Give Love a Bad Name; Point Blank;]At dinner on the fateful night, Sweden’s King Gustav III was passed a note containing a death threat. These were not unusual in his experience, and he ignored it. Later that evening, he made his way to the Royal Opera House for a masquerade party. Gustav, easily recognizable by the royal star on his cape, was surrounded by three men and shot through the heart from the back in a conspiracy aimed at coup d’etat. Gustav was not die immediately, and continued to carry out his duties for another two weeks before succumbing to the wound, which had become infected. [SFX: Dead On Time; The Party's Over;]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Philadelphia, March 20, 1934 - Philly's pitcher's a Babe! http://bit.ly/chtElL
The Back-Story: [SFX: You’re Fabulous, Babe; Babe] Mildred “Babe” Didrikson found success in many sports, from bowling to boxing; softball to basketbal. She won championships in tennis and golf, and olympic medals in track and field. Didrikson parlayed her fame into stunts on stage and in the athletic field, and, although she was not the first woman to pitch in a major-league baseball exhibition game, she was, at the time, the most famous, when she pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics in the first inning of a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers., hitting the first batter she faced and walking the second before the side was retired without a hit on a triple play. [SFX:Centerfield; Take Me Out to the Ballgame;]

[SFX: SOUND827]: In other news: DATELINE South Pole March 16, 1912 - Oates steps outside, in noble but ultimately vain effort to save his comrades: http://bit.ly/DZpTd
The Back-Story: [SFX:Baby, it’s cold outside; Don't Leave Me This Way] Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates was selected for Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition to the South Pole in 1910. party of 14 advanced steadily during the journey 895-mile journey, with various support members sent back at pre-determined stages until five men, including Oates, remained to walk the last 167 miles. The men reached the pole, only to find a tent that Roald Amundsen and his team had left behind 35 days earlier when they won the race to become the first to reach the pole. Disheartened, the men began their ill-fated trip back to base camp, marked by bad weather, lack of food, injuries from falls, and scurvy, exacerbated by frostbite. The men needed to average nine miles a day to get to the two-week supplies of food that the team had emplaced at 65-mile intervals. Captain Oates, frostbitten and with his war wounds opened by scurvy, realized that he was not able to keep. The team refused his request to leave him behind in his sleeping bag, although he was causing them to fall behind schedule. On the morning of March 17th, he told his three surviving companions, “I am just going outside and may be some time.” They tried to talk him out of it, but in the end, Scott’s diary records, he persisted in “the act of a brave man and English gentleman,” into -40 degree termperatures to his death. Sadly, the rest of polar explorers passed away nine days later, without making it back to base.[SFX:Thank You for Being a Friend;What I Did For Love; Wind Beneath My Wings; Toughest Street In Town ]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

March 14: Physicist Albert Einstein
March 15: Blues musician Lightnin’ Hopkins
March 16: US President James Madison
March 17: Dancer Rudolf Nureyev
March 18: South African President FW de Klerk
March 19: , US Marshal Wyatt Earp, and
March 20: Children’s TV’s beloved Mr. Rogers http://pbskids.org/rogers/


[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com.

++This Tweet in History: March 20, 2010++

WRLD: 1995 - Cult unleashes deadly Sarin gas on Tokyo subways

SPRT: 1934 - Philly's pitcher's a Babe!

HUH?: 1345 - Triple Conjunction occurs, causing the Black Death, according to Paris College of Physicians

BDAY: Kathy Ireland; Spike Lee; Mr. Rogers; B.F. Skinner

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++This Tweet in History: March 19, 2010++

WRLD: 1982 - Argentine forces plant flag in Georgia, sparking war with UK

SPRT: 1954 - Mosconi runs record 526 in a row in straight pool exhibition

HUH?: 1842 - Balzac's writing skills no match for his PR ineptitude as publicity stunt draws empty house on opening day

BDAY: Bruce Willis; Glenn Close; Ursula Andress; Wyatt Earp

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++This Tweet in History: March 18, 2010++

WRLD: 1970 - Right-wing Nol ousts Sihanouk in Cambodian coup

SPRT: 1893 - Lord Stanley pledges a silver cup to hockey's best team

OTHR: 1314 - de Molay immolated, Charney charred in fiery finale to Knights Templar

BDAY: F.W. deKlerk; John Updike; George Plimpton; Grover Cleveland

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++This Tweet in History: March 17, 2010++

WRLD: 1957 - Philippine pres perishes in plane crash

SPRT: 1984 - 130th Oxford-Cambridge race scuttled as Cambridge boat collides with barge in warm ups, sinks

OTHR: 1901 - Van Gogh gets major exhibition, recognition 11 years after his suicide

BDAY: Mia Hamm; Gary Sinise; Rudolf Nureyev; Nat "King" Cole

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++This Tweet in History: March 16, 2010++

WRLD: 1793 - Masked assassin shoots Sweden's masked king

SPRT: 2003 - 2/1000 second separate winner, Craven, from runner-up, Busch, in Darlington

OTHR: 1912 - Oates steps outside, in noble but ultimately vain effort to save his comrades

BDAY: Flavor Flav; Jerry Lewis; Henny Youngman; James Madison

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++This Tweet in History: March 15, 2010++

WRLD: 44 BC - Brutality by Brutus, et al., brings down Caesar on the Ides of March

SPRT: 1970 - Orr scores 100th four; first defenseman to break 100 pts in single season

TECH: 1985 - First registered domain on the interweb is Symbolics

BDAY: Fabio; Sly Stone; Lightnin' Hopkins; Andrew Jackson

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++This Tweet in History: March 14, 2010++

WRLD: 1990 - Premier Gorbachev elected Soviets' first, only, short-lived president of Soviet Union

SPRT: 1980 - US Boxing team among casualties in Polish air tragedy

OTHR: 1757 - Bravery and Loyalty are Insufficient Securities for the Life and Honour of a Naval Officer

BDAY: Billy Crystal; Quincy Jones; Frank Borman; Albert Einstein

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E March 13, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending March 13, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE France, March 9, 1765 - Three years after his conviction, torture, and execution, Jean Calas' sentence is overturned: http://bit.ly/9cXv6G
The Back-Story: [SFX: Robbery, Assault and Battery;] In an era of predominant Catholicism in France, Protestant Jean Calas and his family were looked down upon and mistrusted. When one of Calas' sons was found dead after another had converted to Catholicism, the rumor swirled that Jean had killed the second son in order to prevent him, too, from converting. The following Spring, Calas was convicted of murder. A day after the conviction, the brutal sentence was carried out: Calas was tortured and kiled. France's famed writer, Voltaire, was apprised of the case and, after the furor had died down, secured a full exoneration for Calas on the one-year anniversary of his conviction. [SFX: Blame it on Cain; Mystery Dance]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Baltimore, March 11, SPRT: 1901 - Orioles sign Chief Tokohama, seeking to evade baselballs black-out: http://bit.ly/bfuOpe
The Back-Story: [SFX: Black or White; Celebrity Skin] Years before Jackie Robinson crossed baseball’s color line, there was Charles Grant. Grant was a second baseman in the Negro leagues, who came to the attention of John McGraw, owner of the Baltimore Orioles, when the team stayed at the Eastland Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, during spring training. Grant, a bellhop at the hotel, was playing a pick-up game with fellow employees. McGraw recognized Grant’s major league talent, and signed the light-skinned player up under the pretense that he was a native American, “Chief” Charlie Tokohama. Grant was never to play in the bigs, though: On a siwng through Chicago, where Grant had plaed in the Negro Leagues, he was feted by his former teammates and recognized by Chicago White Sox president Charles Comiskey. [SFX:Centerfield; Renegade; Take Me Out to the Ballgame;]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Entertainment: DATELINE London, March 10, ENTR: 1988 - Drug-weakened heart gives out, and disco phenom dies just after 30th birthday: http://bit.ly/9NuSsg
The Back-Story: [SFX:] Andy Gibb was a shooting star in the music world, the first artist to have his first 3 releases reach number one, in the height of the disco craze. Like a shooting star, he burned out far too quickly, felled by disco’s meteoric fall from favor and his own cocaine addictions. His star appeared to be on the rise again, a decade after his fall, on a ride that included bankruptcy and rehab. Shortly after his 30th birthday, Gibb, who was about to start work on a new record, went into the hosptial with stomach pains. Three days later, he was dead of an inflammation of the heart. Although he was long over his cocaine addiction, the damage that the drug had done to his heart was irreversible. [SFX: ]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

March 7: Composer Maurice Ravel
March 8: Monkee Micky Dolenz
March 9: Explorer Amerigo Vespucci
March 10: Jazz Musician Bix Beiderbecke
March 11: Author Douglas Adams
March 12: Author Jack Kerouac dharmabeat.com
March 13: Singer-Songwriter Neil Sedaka


[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com.

++This Tweet in History: March 13, 2010++

WRLD: 1989 - Magnetic storm KOs Quebec's power grid

TECH: 1781 - Herschel discovers Uranus, to the delight of mispronouncing punsters everywhere

OTHR: 1997 - Mystery, controversy as Phoenix Lights up

BDAY: Adam Clayton; Dana Delany; Neil Sedaka; L. Ron Hubbard

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++This Tweet in History: March 12, 2010++

WRLD: 1993 - Bombs away in old Bombay

SPRT: 1903 - Orioles migrate north, join AL as Highlanders before becoming Yankees

OTHR: 1918 - St. Pete's out; Moscow's back in asRussian capital

BDAY: James Taylor; Liza Minnelli; Edward Albee; Jack Kerouac

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++This Tweet in History: March 11, 2010++

WRLD: 1990 - Aylwin's swearing in ends Chile's nearly 2-decade drought of democratically elected leaders

SPRT: 1901 - Orioles sign Chief Tokohama, seeking to evade baselballs black-out

OTHR: 1818 - Shelley creates a monster

BDAY: Douglas Adams; Bobby McFerrin; Ralph Abernathy; Lawrence Welk

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++This Tweet in History: March 10, 2010++

WRLD: 1959 - 300,000 Tibetan faithful form a human shield around Dalai Lama's palace

SPRT: 1988 - Swiss avalanche hits Brit royals' ski trip; spares prince, claims close friend

ENTR: 1988 - Drug-weakened heart gives out, and disco phenom dies just after 30th birthday

BDAY: Prince Edward; Kim Campbell; Chuck Norris; Bix Beiderbecke

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++This Tweet in History: March 8, 2010++

WRLD: 1782 - PA Militiamen slaughter Native American Moravians in false retaliation

SPRT: 1971 - Frazier takes Battle of the Century, heavyweight title from Ali

ENTR: 1993 - Rude, crude works as Beavis & Butthead, MTV's highest-ranked show, debuts

BDAY: Freddie Prinze, Jr.; Aidan Quinn; Micky Dolenz; Cyd Charisse

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++This Tweet in History: March 7, 2010++

WRLD: 1799 - Napoleon takes Jaffa; slaughter of Turks follows

SPRT: 1987 - Iron Mike crushes some bones to become youngest undisputed heavyweight champ

OTHR: 1974 - As Nero to his fiddle, Nixon takes to the piano while Watergate's flames rise

BDAY: Ivan Lendl; Willard Scott; Maurice Ravel; Piet Mondrian

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E March 6, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending March 6, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Philadelphia, March 4, WRLD: 1797 - Washington, Adams establish precedent of peaceful transtion between elected leaders: http://bit.ly/d8II6F
The Back-Story: [SFX: Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree; Young American; I’ll be around] The post-revolutionary United States of America had all the prerequisites for a dictatorship: A land devastated, emotionally and economically by a long war, the commanding general of which was anointed national leader. They, however, departed from the script, when their leader, George Washington, declined the trappings and titles of power, opting to be called Mr. President, rather than His Royal Highness or something similar. Most extraordinarily, after having served two terms in office, Mr, Washington chose on his own not to seek a further term of office. His vice president, John Adams, a stalwart in the movement for independence, was elected to replace him. On a crisp Philadelphia morning in March, in front of Congressional Hall, Adams was sworn in, bringing to completion the first peaceful transition between elected leaders in modern history. [SFX: But, Mr. Adams]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Los Angeles, March 4, 1990 - Hank Gathers is gathered home: http://bit.ly/4DhVMS
The Back-Story: [SFX: ]After Loyola-Marymount University’s basketball star, Hank Gathers, collapsed at the foul line during a game, he was diagnosed with an abnormal heartbeat and treated with a beta-blocker, Inderal, to counteract the effects of adrenaline and smooth out his heart’s rhythms. The drug made him sluggish and tired, and affected his game. When doctors refused to change his dosage, he began reducing it on his own and skipping testing. His game improved as his health declined. Ultimately, early in a game in the West Coast Conference tournament, Gathers tumbled to the courtunable to get up. Medics were unable to revive the young star. [SFX:Schicksalslied]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Entertainment: DATELINE US: February 28, 1983 - After 11 years, M*A*S*H bids viewers Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen: http://bit.ly/TCIiP
The Back-Story: [SFX:Just one of those things]For over a decade, the TV series, M*A*S*H brought us a piece of the Forgotten War, the Korean conflict, spinning tales of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in America’s living rooms. After 250 episodes, the series finale, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, aired, in what was a landmark TV event. Multiple writers, including “Hawkeye” Pierce’s Alan Alda, collaborated on a script that highlighted the individual personnel in the unit and sought to close out the story lines. The episodem, which held the record for most total viewership until this year’s Super Bowl, still stands as the most-watched broadcast in America on the basis of ratings share. [SFX: Suicide is painless]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

February 28: Actor Zero Mostel
March 1: Author Ralph Ellison
March 2: Composer Bedrich Smetana
March 3: Inventor Alexander Graham Bell
March 4: Singer Miriam Makeba
March 5: Actor Rex Harrison
March 6: Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning


[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com.

++This Tweet in History: March 6, 2010++

WRLD: 1957 - British Togoland + Gold Coast - British = Warrior King (Ghana)

SPRT: 1902 - Madrid Football Club founded for Real

OTHR: 1975 - A dozen years after it was shot, bootlegged print of Zapruder's film gets US network debut

BDAY: Shaquille O'Neal; Kiri Te Kanawa; Elizabeth Barrett Browning;Michelangelo

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++This Tweet in History: March 5, 2010++

WRLD: 1940 - Stalin, Politburo sign death warrant for 22,000 Poles

SPRT: 1993 - Johnson's second flunked test is a deal-breaker

OTHR: 1839 - Bronte's response to Nussey is now-famous Dear John letter

BDAY: Jake Lloyd; Andy Gibb; Samantha Eggar; Rex Harrison

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++This Tweet in History: March 4, 2010++

WRLD: 1797 - Washington, Adams establish precedent of peaceful transtion between elected leaders

SPRT: 1990 - Hank Gathers is gathered home

OTHR: 1966 - Interviewer exposes popular Beatle's Messiah complex

BDAY: Chaz Bono; Patricia Heaton; Miriam Makeba; Antonio Vivaldi

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++This Tweet in History: March 3, 2010++

WRLD: 1861 - Alex II's manifesto liberates 23 million Russain serfs

SPRT: 1875 - In Montreal, ice hockey comes in from the cold

OTHR: 1923 - The dawn of TIME

BDAY: Jackie Joyner-Kersee; Herschel Walker; James Doohan; Alexander Graham Bell

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++This Tweet in History: March 2, 2010++

WRLD: 1962 - Ne Win leads coup to oust Burmese government

SPRT: 1962 - Ball hog? Chamberlain scores 100 of Warriors' 169 in victory over Knicks

OTHR: 1949 - Lucky Lady goes around the world for four days, non-stop, with Gallagher and his crew

BDAY: Jon Bon Jovi; Mikhail Gorbachev;Dr. Seuss; Bedrich Smetana

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++This Tweet in History: March 1, 2010++

WRLD: 1973 - Terrorists attack Saudi embassy in Sudan

SPRT: 1912 - Berry's the first to leap from a moving plane

OTHR: 1932 - Lindbergh baby lofted from nursery

BDAY: Harry Belafonte; Ralph Ellison; David Niven; Glenn Miller

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++This Tweet in History: February 28, 2010++

WRLD: 1986 - Swedish PM gunned down in Stockton ambush

ENTR: 1983 - After 11 years, M*A*S*H bids viewers Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

HUH?: 1939 - Dord's the word as Merriam dictionary's lexicographic error comes to light

BDAY: Gilbert Gottfried; Brian Jones; Zero Mostel; Linus Pauling

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E February 27, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending February 27, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Manila, February 22, 1986 - People Power Revolution launches in Philippines, demanding Marcos relinquish power to Aquino: http://bit.ly/ap7I8
The Back-Story: [SFX: We’re Not Going to Take It; Get up stand up; Taking it to the streets] Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1973, just before his term in office was to expire, remaining in office for over a decade. In 1983, he had his rival, Ninoy Aquino, assassinated, and the people rose in protest, demanding elections. Snap elections were held in February 1986, pitting Marcos against Imelda Aquino, Niony’s widow, with Marcos declared the winner in results that were disputed by independent election monitors. The Filipino people refused to accept the results, and took to the streets with yellow ribbons, thus spawning the name “The Yellow Revolution” that not only brought Aquino to power but also inspired non-violent demonstrations throughout Eastern Europe that ultimately brought about the fall of commmunism theree. [SFX: When the Walls Come Tumbling Down]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE New York, February 22, 1955 - Little Mo, dominant tennis phenom, retires at 19 following riding accident http://bit.ly/VAGVj
The Back-Story: [SFX: I’m Outsanding; The Ball is in your court; ] Maureen Connolly’s first love was horseback riding. Her parents, though, were unable to afford riding lessons and, instead, she moved to tennis. This was a fortuitous change, as she dominated on the court, winning 56 consecutive matches at the tender age of 14; taking the US championship at 16, and winning the first Grand Slam ever by a woman at 18, losing only one set in the four tournaments. With money no longer an issue, Connolly was able to pursue her first love, horseback riding. On one of the rides, two weeks after she won her 3rd Wimbledon title, she passed a cement mixer; the hourse panicked, and her leg was crushed, with muscle and tendon damage. Although she hoped to return to tennis, in 1955, at the age of 19, she accepted the inevitable and retired from the game. [SFX: Can't Touch This; Cul de Sac]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Things that Make you Go Huh?: DATELINE England: February 23, 1884 - Sign from God? Gallows work fine except when Lee's on them: http://bit.ly/cCKVyc
The Back-Story: [SFX:Freedom Song; Can’t Keep A Good Man Down]John Lee, convicted on circumstantial evidence of murdering his wealthy employer, Emma Ann Keyse, protested his innocence to the end. Or, what he thought was the end. At 8:00 in the morning, Lee was led to a newly constructed scaffold with a trapdoor that had been tested moments before. When the sheriff gave the signal, the trapdoor was released, but failed to open. Lee stepped off; the trapdoor worked; Lee was put back on top, and the door froze. Lee was taken back to his cell, and further tests were run on the trapdoor. With no one on it, it worked. With the hangman on it holding the rope, it worked. Lee was marched back and put in place. The trapdoor froze. The trapdoor was planed down to free it. Lee was placed upon it. The door held firm. Back Lee went to his cell. The sheriff wrote to London, where the House of Commons debated the circumstances. Eventually, his death sentence was commuted to life in prison, and ultimately paroled. [SFX:]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

February 21: Guitarist Andres Segovia
February 22: Composer Frederic Chopin
February 23: Author W.E.B. Dubois
February 24: Tenor Enrico Caruso
February 25: Painter Pierre Auguste Renoir www.pierre-auguste-renoir.org
February 26: Author Victor Hugo
And February 27: Israeli premier Ariel Sharon

[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com.

++This Tweet in History: February 27, 2010++

WRLD: 1999 - 1st Nigerian election since 1983 throws off 15 years of military rule

SPRT: 1960 - US Hockey team, on home ice, upsets USSR to qualify for medal round - 20 years before Miracle on Ice

OTHR: 1617 - Treaty of Stolbovo ends war, Swedish meddling in Russian affairs, and Russian access to Baltic Sea

BDAY: Ralph Nader; Ariel Sharon; John Steinbeck; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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++This Tweet in History: February 26, 2010++

WRLD: 1993 - Truck bomb parked in World Trade Center basement detonates

TECH: 1887 - Lohmann's 1st bowler to take 8 wickets in a Test innings

OTHR: 1971 - UN's U Thant signs proclamation establishing Earth Day

BDAY: Johnny Cash;Fats Domino; Levi Strauss; Victor Hugo

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++This Tweet in History: February 25, 2010++

WRLD: 1947 - Allies' Law #46 formalizes a fait accompli, the dissolution of Prussia

SPRT: 1964 - Confident Clay clobbers Liston; claims crown as the greatest

HUH?: 1828 - It's all relative as John Adams II keeps it in the family, besting his brothers to win his cousin's hand

BDAY: George Harrison; Bob Schieffer; Jim Backus; Pierre Auguste Renoir

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++This Tweet in History: February 24, 2010++

WRLD: 1918 - Estonians declare independence from Russia

SPRT: 1982 - Great One's 77th breaks Esposito's unbeatable goal, en route to untouchable 92

HUH?: 1942 - Anti-aircraft artillery unleashed at UFO(s) in Battle of Los Angeles

BDAY: Edward James Olmos; Joe Lieberman; Abe Vigoda; Enrico Caruso

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++This Tweet in History: February 23, 2010++

WRLD: 1981 - Tejero & cronies, nostalgic for life under Franco, launch attempted coup

SPRT: 1980 - Heiden's world record time in 10K earns record-setting 5th Winter Olympic medal

HUH?: 1884 - Sign from God? Gallows work fine except when Lee's on them

BDAY: Howard Jones; Donna J. Stone; W.E.B. Dubois; George Frederic Handel

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++This Tweet in History: February 22, 2010++

WRLD: 1986 - People Power Revolution launches in Philippines, demanding Marcos relinquish power to Aquino

SPRT: 1955 - Little Mo, dominant tennis phenom, retires at 19 following riding accident

OTHR: 1983-Hello, Good-bye: Opening night of titanically bad Moose Murders is, not coincidentally, closing night, too.

BDAY: Drew Barrymore; Sparky Anderson; Luis Bunuel; Frederic Chopin

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++This Tweet in History: February 21, 2010++

WRLD: 1972 - Nixon and Mao in Peking pow-wow

SPRT: 1995 - Fossett alights in Saskatchewan, completing successful solo trans-Pacific balloon ride

OTHR: 1937 - Waterman gets hybrid arrowbile airborne

BDAY: Charlotte Church; Erma Bombeck; Anais Nin; Andres Segovia

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HistorTweet Week in Review - W/E February 20, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending February 20, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE Europe, February 16, 1999 - Kurdish rebels coordinate pan-European attacks on embassies: http://bit.ly/cbARez
The Back-Story: [SFX: Stand or Fall; Burning Down the House; I’m Burning for You] Abdullah Ocalan, in 1978, founded the Turkish Workers Party, or PKK, which pursues an independent Kurdish state within Turkey through armed conflict. Ocalan was operating out of Syria in 1998, when Turkey turned up the heat, causing the Syrian government to expel Ocalan, sending him on the run through several nations. On February 15th of the following year, Ocalan was captured at the Greek embassy in Kenya and flown to Turkey, setting off a wave of coordinated demonstrations all over Europe. Greek and Kenyan embassies were targeted, where demonstrators threw stones, set themselves on fire and took hostages. Other than the immolations, the loss of life was minimal, and most protests ended following negotiations. Ocalan was convicted and sentenced to death, with his sentence commted to life-long aggravated imprisonment after Turkey abolished the death penalty. [SFX: When the Bombs Start Dropping; 99 Luftballons; You Dropped a Bomb on ME]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Nagano, February 20, 1998 - Go figure - 15-year-old Lipinski is youngest to skate for Olympic gold.: http://bit.ly/cWYVnW
The Back-Story: [SFX: Will it go 'round in circles;Too Young; The World Loves a Dancer; Because You're Young ] American Tara Lipinski was 9 was nine years old when she was inspired by watching Kristi Yamaguchi win Olympic Gold in Albertville. A short 6 years later, millions watched Lipinski make Olympic history. Lipinskii who was still 15, had been sakting at the senior level for only 2 years, but, by Nagano, was the reigning world champion in figure skating. Although US national champion, Michelle Kwan, entered the competition as the favorite, Lipinski skated her heart out, becoming the youngest gold medalist in any individual Olympic event. Lipinkski was a benefit of good timing: First, the Lillehammer games were held 2 years after Albertville, to stagger them with the Summer Olympics, meaning that the Nagano games took place in ’98 rather than 2000, when Lipinski, if she won, would not have been the youngest. Also, since her victory, eligibility has changed, and, under the new rules, she would not have been old enough to make the squad. [SFX: Can't Touch This]

[SFX: SOUND827]: Things that Make you Go Huh?: DATELINE Missouri, February 18: 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie's first flight is milked for all it's worth (24 quarts) http://bit.ly/bSfis3:
The Back-Story: [SFX:Fly me to the MOO-ing; things Ain't Working Out Down at the Farm; Old McDonald] Elm Farm Ollie, also known as Nellie Jay, prouced so much milk that she had to be milked three times a day. It wasn’t a big surprise, then, she was chosen for an experiment to allow scientists to observe the effect of flying on animals. She didn’t disappoint on the trip, giving the scientists plenty to observe as she gave Elsworth W. Bunce, the first man to milk a cow on an a flying airplane, 24 gallons of milk, which was placed in cartons and parachuted down to the audience below. Folks, I’mnot making this up. [SFX:]

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

February 14: Comedian Jack Benny
February 15: Suffragette Susan B. Anthony
February 16: Tennis great John McEnroe
February 17: Actor Hal Holbrook
February 18: Scientist Alessandro Volta
February 19: Astronomer Nicolas Copernicus
And February 20: Photographer Ansel Adams anseladams.com,.org

[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com.

++This Tweet in History: February 20, 2010++

WRLD: 1991 - Jubilant Albanians demolish statue of Tiranan tyrant, Hoxha

SPRT: 1998 - Go figure - 15-year-old Lipinski is youngest to skate for Olympic gold.

OTHR: 1935 - Mikkelsen, whaler's wife, is 1st woman on 7th continent

BDAY: Patty Hearst; Buffy Sainte-Marie; Sidney Poitier; Ansel Adams

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++This Tweet in History: February 19, 2010++

WRLD: 1847 - First rescuers reach Donner Party, but their ordeal's not over

TECH: 1878 - Edison receives patent for phonograph

OTHR: 1674 - England wins New York (nee Amsterdam) in Peace of Westminster

BDAY: Seal; Margaux Hemingway; Smokey Robinson; Nicolas Copernicus

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++This Tweet in History: February 18, 2010++

WRLD: 1965 - The Gambia gets the independence

TECH: 1967 - A-Bomb's orphaned by Oppenheimer's death

HUH?: 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie's first flight is milked for all it's worth (24 quarts)

BDAY: Yoko Ono; Toni Morrison; Helen Gurley Brown; Alessandro Volta

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++This Tweet in History: February 17, 2010++

WRLD: 1979 - Chinese boots on the ground in Vietnam (photo essay)

SPRT: 1968 - Original Hoops Hall of Fame opens doors to the public

OTHR: 1913 - Quackery, insanity, immorality, and anarchy as landmark Armory Show opens

BDAY: Denise Richards; Michael Jordon; Jim Brown; Hal Holbrook

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++This Tweet in History: February 16, 2010++

WRLD: 1999 - Kurdish rebels coordinate pan-European attacks on embassies

SPRT: 1899 - KR, Iceland's oldest soccer club, established

HUH?: 1859 - A note set to 435 Hz? Not just a good idea. It's the law.

BDAY: John McEnroe; Ice-T; Sonny Bono; Edgar Bergen

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++This Tweet in History: February 15, 2010++

WRLD: 1989 - Soviets pull out of Afghanistan

SPRT: 1998 - Earnhardt's 2-decade Daytona drought dismissed

OTHR: 1805 - Harmony forms in Pennsylvania, for the common goods.

BDAY: Matt Groening;Harvey Korman; Susan B. Anthony; Galileo Galilei

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++This Tweet in History: February 14, 2010++

WRLD: No Valentine's Day love for authors Solzhenitsyn (1974), Rushdie (1989)

SPRT: 1929 - Torvill and Dean grab gold in Sarajevo

OTHR: 1929 - Capone's men massacre Bugs' minions

BDAY: Gergory Hines; Michael Bloomberg; Jack Benny; Frederick Douglass

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Histortweet Week in Review - W/E February 13, 2010

[SFX: CHURCHBELL] Greetings, History Lovers! Welcome to This Tweet in History, the Week In Review, podcasting to you on tape delay from our North American Studios.

Here are your top stories for the week ending February 13, 2010:

[SFX: SOUND827]World: DATELINE China, February 12, 1912 - Sun sets on centuries of Manchu rule as 6-year-old emperor steps down: http://bit.ly/93nBNS
The Back-Story: [SFX:Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me; Too much too little too late] Young Pu Yi was not even 3 years old in 1908 when his uncle passed away and Pu Yi was proclaimed his successor as emperor. He was a mere child of 6 when Sun Yat-Sen’s revolution swept through China. Pu Yi, who had gone overnight from royalty to being treated like a god, was, once again, faced with a swift transition at an early age. He was well taken care of, allowed to remain in the Forbidden City and retain his title, where he and his family treated like foreign dignitaries. However, his reign, and, with it, 267 years of Manchu rule, were firmly at an end. [SFX: It’s Over; It’s Over Now; ]

[SFX: SOUND827]Sports: DATELINE Nagano, February 13, SPRT: 1998 - Lucky Friday the 13th for Herminator: walks away from 70mph crash, head-first landing, on to Olympic gold: http://bit.ly/adbg3P
The Back-Story: [SFX: Walk Under Ladders; Hard Headed Woman; ] Hermann Maier was an accomplished champion, known for his work ethic and disciplined practice. In competition, however, he definitely pushed the envelope. Indeed, one of his colleagues said of the crash that the most surprising thing was not that he walked away from it, but that he hadn’t wiped out earlier. His wipe out on that Friday the 13th, at the Nagano Olympics, was spectacular: As he flew into a turn at 70 mph, his skis failed to catch, and he was thrown 30 feet into the air, into high winds. He landed on his head, careened through two safety fences, and, remarkably, walked away. Even more remarkable: Despite the injuries he sustained the intimidation that the crash could have caused, he went on to went two gold medals within days of the horrific event. [SFX:Pick yourself up; ]

[SFX: SOUND827]: In other news: DATELINE Britain, February 10, 1862 - Siddal, Pre-Raphaelite model, muse, mistress, mate, ODs on laudanum: http://bit.ly/FInKr
The Back-Story: [SFX:Opium Den; Cocaine] Elizabeth Siddal a lower-class Londoner who rose in station through her association of with the Pre-Rafaelite Brotherhood, was a poet, as well as the model and mistress of Dante Rosetti. Unable, at first, to marry Rosetti, because of her lower station, she entered a cycle of depression and ill-health that fueled and, in turn, was fed by her addiction to laudanum, an opium-based drug popular in the Victorian era. The deadly mix of the three was her ultimate undoing, and, two years into a brief marriage with Rosetti, following two failed pregnancies, she pinned a note to her nightgown, asking Rosetti to take care of her brother, and consumed a lethal dose of laudanum. [SFX:Suicide is painless; Nightshift]

Suicide is a terrible scourge that has claimed far too many people, extinguishing another bright light just this week. If you need help, please call the Hopeline at 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433), or 1-800-442-HOPE (442-4673), or visit http://www.hopeline.com/gethelpnow.html. You are not alone.

[SFX: SOUND827] This week’s birthdays:[SFX: In the Club]

February 7: Author Charles Dickens
February 8: Actor James Dean
February 9: US President – for one month – William Henry Harrison
February 10: Opera Singer Leontyne Pryce
February 11: Inventor Thomas Edison
February 12: US President Abraham Lincoln
And February 13: Musician Peter Gabriel

[SFX:GENERIC1MOTION]Thank you for joining us for This Tweet in History, the Week in review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.com/histortweet, and check our archives at histortweet.blogspot.com.

++This Tweet in History: February 13, 2010++

WRLD: 1945 - Allies rain fire on Dresden

SPRT: 1998 - Lucky Friday the 13th for Herminator

OTHR: 1898 - Lindfield succumbs to injuries suffered in what became UK's first motorcar fatality

BDAY: Peter Gabriel; Jerry Springer; Peter Tork; Chuck Yeager

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++This Tweet in History: February 12, 2010++

WRLD: 1912 - Sun sets on centuries of Manchu rule as 6-year-old emperor steps down

ENTR: 1816 - Flames engulf Teatro di San Carlo, world's oldest opera house

OTHR: 1912 - Radicals in Oslo spirit away a Scream

BDAY: Arsenio Hall; Judy Blume; Charles Darwin; Abraham Lincoln

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