On this date in 1968, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic nominee for president, broke with President Johnson’s Vietnam War policies, announcing in a nationwide speech that he would end the bombing of North Vietnam if elected. Humphrey’s Republican rival, Richard Nixon, had said his plan for ending the war would not be revealed until inauguration day. Humphrey’s speech brought in a surge of new donations and cut Nixon’s lead in the polls, but angered Johnson. Yet, a month later, Johnson announced a complete halt to the bombing of North Vietnam and offered to negotiate for peace directly with the North Vietnamese. These actions helped Humphrey, but, in the end, he lost the popular vote by less than 1%.
On this date in 1955, 24-year-old actor James Dean was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, California. The accident occurred days after Dean completed shooting his scenes for the film Giant. Above left, Dean stands next to his "Black Bastard" auto racing car, minutes before the accident. Above right, Dean in a scene from Giant.
On this date in 1954, Julie Andrews made her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend, a musical set in the French Riviera during the Roaring Twenties. The debut came on the night before her nineteenth birthday.
On this date in 1943, the Danish Resistance began ferrying Jewish people by fishing boats and other vessels to neutral Sweden. 7,700 Danish Jews plus 686 non-Jewish spouses were rescued, constituting almost all of the Danish Jewish popultation. The rescue effort began when a German diplomat leaked plans for the arrest and deportation of Danish Jews to a Resistance leader. The Danish rescue is considered one of the largest actions of collective resistance to Nazi occupation during the war.
On this date in 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich with a peace agreement signed by Hitler. Chamberlain was lauded by the British king, press and public. Churchill was a lonely voice in Parliament, declaring the agreement ‘fatally endangered the safety and independence of France and Britain.’ A year later, as Hitler prepared to violate that agreement by invading Poland, he told his advisors that his adversaries were 'little worms. I saw them at Munich."
On this date in 1928, Walt Disney’s team solved problems synchronizing sound with cartoon action, successfully recording the sound for "Steamboat Willie" with a 15-piece orchestra. The animated short would premier on November 18, 1928, and is considered the debut of the cartoon characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
On this date in 1927, with just two games left in the regular season, 32-year-old Babe Ruth hit his 60th homerun, breaking his record of 59 homeruns set in 1921. The Bambino’s record would hold until 1961, when Yankees outfielder Roger Maris hit 61 homeruns. "While the crowd cheered and the Yankee players roared their greetings the Babe made his triumphant, almost regal tour of the paths. He jogged around slowly, touched each bag firmly and carefully, and when he imbedded his spikes in the rubber disk to record officially Homer 60 hats were tossed into the air, papers were torn up and tossed liberally and the spirit of celebration permeated the place.” — New York Times, Oct. 1, 1927.
On this date in 1918, the cargo ship USS Ticonderoga dropped out of a convoy steaming from New York to France after developing engine trouble. A German U-boat attacked the Ticonderoga hours later, succeeding in taking out all of the ship’s guns and wounding almost every man aboard. Despite suffering severe wounds, the ship’s captain, James Jonas Madison, remained in command, directing the ship’s defensive fight and final abandonment while seated in a chair. Madison was lowered into a lifeboat alongside 21 crewmen as the Ticonderoga sank. A British ship rescued the lone lifeboat four days later. Madison received the Medal of Honor for his actions. 213 men were lost aboard the Ticonderoga, constituting the greatest combat loss of any US Navy ship in World War I.
On this date in 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of his predecessor in office, William McKinley, in Canton, Ohio. Above left, McKinley’s funeral train departs Buffalo, NY, three days after his death from a shooting, September 16, 1901. Above right, the formal dedication of McKinley’s resting place. From Roosevelt’s dedication speech: “Many lessons are taught us by his [McKinley’s] career, but none are more valuable than the lesson of broad human sympathy for and among all of our citizens of all classes and creeds.”
