Almanac for January 31st

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for January 31: https://ko-fi.com/post/January-31-Footloose-T6T519KBBH

Author Julie S. Howlin post of the day: The Feast of Great Typos
Artist Birthday: Zane Grey

Beatles Trivia

January 31
January 31, 1967: On Johnny Rotten’s 11th birthday, John Lennon is shopping at an antiques store in Sevenoaks in the English county of Kent. He finds and purchases a vintage circus poster, the text of which becomes the basis for the Beatles song “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.”

Bummer January 31st

January 31, 1915: During the World War I Battle of Bolimów, Germany deploys toxic chemicals in its attack on Russian troops. It’s Germany’s first large-scale use of chemical weapons, a strategy that will unfortunately become all too common in the Great War.

January 31, 1957: A Douglas DC-7B aircraft takes off from Santa Monica Airport on a test flight, accompanied by two U.S. Air Force Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jets. The role of the jets is to test the DC-7B’s radar capabilities. At 11:18 a.m. local time, one of the Scorpions collides with the DC-7B. The pilot of the Scorpion is killed in the crash; the radar operator ejects from the jet, and despite severe burns and a broken leg, survives. 

All four crew members aboard the DC-7B are killed when the craft crashes, partially into the grounds of Pacoima Congregational Church and partially into the grounds of Pacoima Junior High School, where a boys’ gym class is taking place outdoors. Three students are killed, and approximately 75 students are injured by falling debris. 

Among the witnesses of the mid-air collision is musician Ritchie Valens, 15 years old at the time. Valens himself will die in a plane crash two years and three days later.