Almanac for May 31st

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 31st: https://ko-fi.com/Post/May-31-Channel-One-News-M4M01G1FUC

Artist Birthday: Kyle Secor

Bummer May 31st

May 31, 1889: The South Fork Dam of the Little Conemaugh River fails, flooding Johnstown, Pennsylvania. More than 2,200 people are killed.

May 31, 1921: The Tulsa Race Massacre begins the destruction of 35 blocks of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma by white supremacist terrorists. Officially, 29 Black residents of Tulsa and 13 white residents die as a result; historians believe the true death toll to be between 75 and 100 people. 

The exact cause of the violence and destruction is unknown, although it may have started due to rumors that a 17-year-old white teenager working as a elevator operator was touched or harassed by a Black teenager. A precipitating incident appears to have been an attempt by a white man to disarm a Black man, leading to the weapon firing. A gunfight that killed 12 people ensued. After this, small groups of white people began randomly attacking Black people walking alone. Whites burned and looted Black businesses and homes. 

As a result of this domestic terrorism, many Black survivors chose to leave Tulsa. The Red Cross counted 1,256 houses burned, 215 houses looted but not burned, and $1.5 million in damages in 1921 money, roughly equivalent to $34 million in 2021.

Almanac for May 30th

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 30th: https://ko-fi.com/Post/May-30-Were-the-World-Mine-V7V21G1FM7

Bummer May 30th

May 30, 1955: William John Vukovich Sr., who won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500s, dies in a car crash during the 1955 Indy 500. Vukovich’s car went over a wall, sailed through the air, flipped several times, and struck a low bridge. Vukovich is partially decapitated and dies instantly when his car struck the bridge. His grandson, William Vukovich III, will die during racing practice in 1990. Metal roll bars installed in vehicles and safety-certified driver helmets were mandated starting with the 1956 Indy 500. 

May 30, 1958: Pat O’Connor is killed during the last lap of the Indy 500 amidst a 15-car pile-up. O’Connor’s car strikes Jimmy Reece’s car, sails through the air, lands upside-down, and catches fire. His death is due to head trauma from the car’s upside-down landing.

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Almanac for May 29th

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 29th: https://ko-fi.com/post/May-29-Sing-Blue-Silver-M4M51G1FJT

Artist birthdays: Melissa Etheridge and Melanie Brown

Melissa Etheridge at Dorothy Surrenders: https://dorothysurrenders.blogspot.com/search/label/Melissa%20Etheridge

Bummer May 29th

May 29, 1985: A riot at the football (soccer) match in Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium leads to the deaths of 39 people, some of them crushed when a wall is partially knocked down. 

May 29, 1997: 30-year-old musician Jeff Buckley drowns in the Wolf River in Tennessee.

May 29, 2021: Registered dietician and pastor Gwen Shamblin Lara, who founded the Remnant Fellowship Church in Franklin, Tennessee, to marry her religious and weight loss beliefs, dies in the crash of a Cessna 501 Citation I/SP into Tennessee’s Percy Priest Lake. All seven people on board are killed, including Shamblin’s husband Joe Lara and the pilot. Shamblin’s congregation later learned that although the preacher was a multi-millionaire, she left none of her fortune to the church. 

Mel B at Dorothy Surrenders

Almanac for May 28th

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 28th: https://ko-fi.com/post/May-28-What-a-Feeling-B0B71G1FK1

Bummer May 28th

May 28, 1977: A fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky kills 165 people and injures an additional 200 people out to dinner during the Memorial Day weekend. Fire code allowed for 1,500 patrons to be seated in the club at a time; on this night, more than 3,000 people were packed inside. The building had no fire walls, no sprinkler system, and numerous problems with the electrical wiring. 

May 28, 2010: A Jnaneshwari Express train derails in West Bengal, India, killing 148 passengers. The cause of the derailment is thought to have been either a terrorist bombing or sabotage. 

May 28, 2016: Harambe the gorilla is shot and killed at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden after the animal grabbed a 3-year-old child through the bars of the gorilla enclosure. 

Almanac for May 27th

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 27th: https://ko-fi.com/post/May-27-Happy-Birthday-Tit-Elingtin-J3J01G1FAY

Today's Observance: Tit Elingtin's birthday

Beatles Trivia
May 27, 1967: Tit Elingtin is born in Pontiac, Michigan, one day after the Beatles had released their album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (in the U.K.; its U.S. release date was June 2nd).

Author Julie S. Howlin post of the day: Cilla Black 

Singer Cilla Black in Amsterdam, Feb. 16, 1970. Public domain via Dutch National Archives

Bummer May 27th

May 27, 1792: Two large earthquakes cause the Mayuyama dome of Mount Unzen to collapse. A landslide hit the city of Shimabara. When the mass of debris reached Ariake Bay, it triggered a tsunami that swept across the bay and hit Higo Province before rebounding and striking Shimabara again. The earthquakes, landslide, and tsunami are thought to have killed 15,000 people.

May 27, 1907: As San Francisco is still recovering from the great earthquake of the previous year, health officials identify patients suffering from bubonic plague. The outbreak, which also includes patients in nearby Oakland, will eventually kill 78 people.

Almanac for May 26th

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 26th: https://ko-fi.com/Post/May-26-Sporty-Thievz-P5P71G1F2A

Bummer May 26th

May 26, 1822: The church of Grue, Norway, catches fire during a Pentecost service. Constructed entirely out of wood, the church had three doors, one of which was quickly blocked by the fire. Between 113 and 116 people are killed. 

May 26, 1903: Marcel Renault, one of the three Renault brothers who founded the car company, dies of injuries he sustained two days before racing in the Paris-Madrid race sponsored by French and Spanish automobile clubs. He’s one of five drivers killed during the race, along with three spectators.

May 26, 1914: St. John’s College (Annapolis, Maryland) student William Bowlus dies of a gunshot wound fired at him by a first-year student. Bowlus, a third-year student, attempted to enter a dorm room occupied by five first-years to engage them in a class hazing ritual. The first-years refuse to reveal which of them fired the shot, so local law enforcement declines to prosecute.

May 26, 1991: Lauda Air Flight 004, flying from Bangkok to Vienna, breaks apart mid-flight and crashes into a national park in Thailand. All 223 people on board are killed. The bodies of victims who could be recovered were taken to a hospital in Bangkok, where they were stored without refrigeration; as a result of decomposition, 27 victims were never able to be identified. 

Lauda Air belonged to Austrian Formula One driver Andreas “Niki” Lauda, who himself had suffered severe burn injuries and almost died in a racing accident on August 1, 1976, at the German Grand Prix. 

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Almanac for May 25th: Memorial Day

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for May 25th: https://ko-fi.com/Post/May-25-Pabst-Mansion-U6U01G1EYH

Today's Observance: Memorial Day

Bummer May 25th

May 25, 1812: An explosion at Felling Colliery in England kills 92 men and boys.

May 25, 1895: Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and taken to Newgate Prison for processing. He is later transferred to Pentonville Prison, where he is sentenced to hard labor, is malnourished, and is only allowed to read either the Bible or The Pilgrim’s Progress. 

May 25, 1979: American Airlines Flight 191, bound from Chicago to Los Angeles, loses an engine shortly after takeoff due to improper maintenance. It crashes less than a mile from the end of the runway. All 271 people on board are killed, as are two people on the ground. 

My mother’s first cousin, James Zielinski, was one of the passengers killed in this accident.  

May 25, 1985: Tropical Storm One, formed over the Bay of Bengal on May 22nd, reaches Bangladesh. The storm surge, torrential rains, and floods kill more than 11,000 people. 

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