Today's Trivia and What Happened on April 26

A one-story house has everything colored yellow. Yellow carpet, yellow wallpaper, yellow doors, yellow appliances, and yellow furniture. What color are the stairs?

A one-story house has everything colored yellow. Yellow carpet, yellow wallpaper, yellow doors, yellow appliances, and yellow furniture. What color are the stairs? Close Large View

There aren't any stairs. It's a one-story house.

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Quote: People with no vices usually have annoying virtues. - Elizabeth Taylor, British novelist (not the actress)

Quote: People with no vices usually have annoying virtues. - Elizabeth Taylor, British novelist (not the actress) Close Large View

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What Happened On

Bill Cosby Convicted of Sexual Assault

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Bill Cosby Convicted of Sexual Assault

April 26, 2018

The actor Bill Cosby is convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against a Toronto woman. He was sentenced to three to ten years in state prison and fined $25,000 plus court costs. In 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby's conviction and he was released from prison.
In a 2005 civil suit against Cosby, he admitted to having casual sex involving the recreational use of the sedative methaqualone (Quaaludes) with a series of young women.

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Chernobyl Disaster

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Chernobyl Disaster

April 26, 1986

The worst accident in the history of nuclear energy; it killed 30 people and spewed radioactive material over the Soviet Union and Europe. Two workers died immediately after the accident and another 28 died during the next four months. 106 workers suffered acute radiation sickness. The disaster started when workers were running experiments on the reactor. Safety mechanisms had been disabled to facilitate the tests. The tests eventually caused an explosion that blew the top off the reactor and spewed radioactive material into the atmosphere. Chernobyl would eventually be declared a tourist attraction (2011).

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First U.S. Satellite to Reach the Surface of the Moon

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First U.S. Satellite to Reach the Surface of the Moon

April 26, 1962

Ranger IV, launched three days earlier, impacts the Moon's surface. It was intended to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations for the 10 minutes of flight prior to crashing on the Moon's surface. However, an onboard computer failure caused failure of the deployment of the solar panels and navigation systems, resulting in Ranger crashing on the far side of the Moon without returning any scientific data. This was the first U.S. object to reach another celestial body.

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Salk administering the vaccine Salk administering the vaccine

Salk administering the vaccine Salk administering the vaccine
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Polio Vaccine

April 26, 1954

Nationwide testing of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine begins. It was the first successful vaccine for the dreaded disease.
Before the vaccine, there were about 15,000 cases of paralysis and 1,900 deaths annually from polio in the U.S.
Salk chose to not patent the vaccine in order to maximize its distribution. When asked who owned the patent, Salk replied, "Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" It is estimated the patent would have been worth billions had it been patented.

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First Photograph of a Tornado

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First Photograph of a Tornado

April 26, 1884

The tornado passed northwest of Garnett, Kansas and was photographed by fruit farmer and amateur photographer A.A. Adams, who was 14 miles from the tornado. Adams capitalized on his work by selling souvenir cabinet cards and stereographs of the photo.

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Lincoln's Assassin Killed

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Lincoln's Assassin Killed

April 26, 1865

John Wilkes Booth, who shot and killed U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, is shot and killed in Garrett's barn in Virginia. When Booth refused to come out of the barn, soldiers set it on fire. He was shot while still in the barn.

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Launch of Ariel 1 on a Thor-Delta rocket Launch of Ariel 1 on a Thor-Delta rocket

Launch of Ariel 1 on a Thor-Delta rocket Launch of Ariel 1 on a Thor-Delta rocket
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First International Satellite

April 26, 1962

Ariel 1 is launched. It was built and launched by NASA to perform British experiments. Its launch made the United Kingdom the third country to operate a satellite, after the Soviet Union and the U.S. It was named after the sprite in William Shakespeare's The Tempest.

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First Air Force Academy Woman Officer

April 26, 1957

Naomi M. McCracken begins duties at the Air Force Academy temporary headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

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First American Hanged for Treason Against the U.S.

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First American Hanged for Treason Against the U.S.

April 26, 1862

After Union forces raised the Union flag over the New Orleans Mint, a group of men, including William Bruce Mumford, removed the flag. Mumford carried it to the mayor at city hall, with the flag being destroyed in the process. For this he was tried and convicted of treason and hanged the following June. Confederate Governor of Louisiana Thomas Overton Moore issued a statement declaring Mumford a hero.
Later on Union Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, who had ordered Mumford's execution, assisted Mumford's wife and helped her find a job in Washington.

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Cherokee Cede Their Land

April 26, 1791

The Cherokee Indians cede most of their land to the U.S. with the Treaty of Holston.

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Birthdays

Melania Trump

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This is a birthday

Melania Trump (Melanija Knavs)

Born April 26, 1970

Slovenian-born American First Lady, wife of 45th U.S. President Donald Trump. She became a U.S. citizen in 2006 and is the first naturalized U.S. citizen to become First Lady of the U.S.

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Carol Burnett go to Video for Carol Burnett

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Carol Burnett

Born April 26, 1933

American Emmy-winning comedienne. TV: The Carol Burnett Show (1967-78). She would end each show by tugging her left ear, a message to her grandmother, who raised her, that she loved her.

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John James Audubon

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John James Audubon

Born April 26, 1785 d. 1851

American ornithologist and wildlife artist. He was elected (1900) to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.

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This is a birthday

Michael Damian

Born April 26, 1962

American singer, actor. Music: Rock On (#1). TV: The Young and the Restless (Danny Romalotti).

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This is a birthday

Roger Taylor

Born April 26, 1960

English drummer, with Duran Duran. Music: Hungry Like the Wolf (1982), Rio (1982), Union of the Snake (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985).

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Claudine Auger (Claudine Oger)

Born April 26, 1941 d. 2019

French actress, Miss France (1958) and first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest. Film: Thunderball (1965, Bond girl Domino Derval).

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Penzias and Wilson and the 15-meter Holmdel Horn Antenna that brought their most notable discovery Penzias and Wilson and the 15-meter Holmdel Horn Antenna that brought their most notable discovery

Penzias and Wilson and the 15-meter Holmdel Horn Antenna that brought their most notable discovery Penzias and Wilson and the 15-meter Holmdel Horn Antenna that brought their most notable discovery
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Discovered Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Arno Allan Penzias

Born April 26, 1933 d. 2024

German-American astrophysicist. He and Robert Woodrow Wilson shared the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (1964) which was predicted by the big-bang theory.
Penzias and Wilson were testing their most sensitive antenna/receiver system when they encountered radio noise they could not explain. After eliminating terrestrial sources, including bird and bat droppings, they contacted Robert H. Dicke, who suggested it might be the background radiation predicted by some cosmological theories.
Penzias and his brother were among the Jewish children that escaped the Nazis as part of the Kindertransport rescue operation. Their parents also fled, and the family eventually settled in New York.

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This is a birthday

David Mathias Dennison

Born April 26, 1900 d. 1976

American theoretical physicist. He discovered the spin of the proton.

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Charles Francis Richter

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Charles Francis Richter

Born April 26, 1900 d. 1985

American seismologist. He invented the Richter Scale (1935) for measuring earthquakes.

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Rudolf Hess

Born April 26, 1894 d. 1987

German politician, Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler (1933-41). In 1941, he embarked on a solo peace mission to Scotland - without Hitler's permission. Upon finding out about Hess' secret mission, Hitler declared Hess should be shot on site. Hess was arrested when he landed in Scotland and imprisoned by the British for the remainder of the war. After the war, Hess was tried at the Nuremberg Trials and found guilty of planning and preparing a war of aggression, and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he remained until he committed suicide at the age of 93.

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This is a birthday

Anita Loos

Born April 26, 1889 d. 1981

American author, playwright. Writings: Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1925) and But Gentleman Marry Brunettes (1928).

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William Levi Dawson

Born April 26, 1886 d. 1970

American politician. He was the first black U.S. representative to chair a Congressional committee (1949, Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments).

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This is a birthday

Frederick Law Olmsted

Born April 26, 1822 d. 1903

American landscape architect. He designed New York's Central Park and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

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Deaths

Lucille Ball

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Lucille Ball

Died April 26, 1989 b. 1911

American Emmy-winning comedienne. TV: I Love Lucy (1951-57) and The Lucy Show (1962-68). She and husband Desi Arnaz created the television show I Love Lucy and in 1962, Ball became the first woman to run a major television studio - Desilu Productions, whose productions included I Love Lucy, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, and Star Trek. Desilu Productions also pioneered a number TV production methods, such as filming before a live studio audience with a number of cameras and distinct sets adjacent to each other.
The standard at the time was to broadcast live in New York, and use a lower-quality kinescopes for the rest of the country. Desi Arnaz wanted to film the shows live so that all audiences received a high-quality image. Network executives considered the use of film too expensive, so Arnaz agreed to cover the costs in exchange for the rights to the prints. As a result, Desilu made a fortune from the reruns in what is considered one of the shrewdest deals in television history.

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Irene Ryan

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Irene Ryan (Jessie Irene Noblitt)

Died April 26, 1973 b. 1902

American actress. TV: The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-71, Daisy May "Granny" Moses).
Trivia: What was Granny's relationship to Jed?
Answer: Mother-in-law.

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Gypsy Rose Lee

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Gypsy Rose Lee (Rose Louise Hovick)

Died April 26, 1970 b. 1911

American actress. "The Queen of Burlesque" and the best-known stripper of the 1930s.

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John Wilkes Booth

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Lincoln Assassin

John Wilkes Booth

Died April 26, 1865 b. 1838

American Shakespearean actor. He assassinated U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater (1865). He was reportedly shot and killed in Garrett's Barn in Virginia.

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This is a death

Phoebe Snow (Phoebe Laub)

Died April 26, 2011 b. 1950

American singer. Music: Phoebe Snow: Poetry Man (1974).

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Mason Adams

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Mason Adams

Died April 26, 2005 b. 1919

American actor. TV: Lou Grant (1977-82, managing editor Charlie Hume). Advertising: Smucker's -"With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."

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Founder of the United Negro College Fund

Frederick Douglass Patterson

Died April 26, 1988 b. 1901

American educator. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, President of the Tuskegee Institute (1935-53), and founder of the United Negro College Fund (1944).

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Broderick Crawford

Died April 26, 1986 b. 1911

American Oscar-winning actor. Film: All The King's Men (1949, Oscar). TV: Highway Patrol (Dan Matthews).

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Count Basie (William Basie)

Died April 26, 1984 b. 1904

American jazz pianist, bandleader. Music: One O'Clock Jump, Swingin' the Blues, and Tickle Toe.

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Jim Davis

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Jim Davis

Died April 26, 1981 b. 1909

American actor. TV: Dallas (1978-82, Jock Ewing).

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Henry Ossian Flipper

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Henry Ossian Flipper

Died April 26, 1940 b. 1856

American soldier. First black to graduate from West Point (1877). He was the first nonwhite officer to lead buffalo soldiers of the 10th Cavalry. He was court-martialed and discharged from the Army (1882). His descendants applied for a review of Flipper's court-martial which led to a pardon from U.S. President Bill Clinton (1999).

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John Bunny

Died April 26, 1915 b. 1863

American actor, comedian, the first comic star of the American screen (1910). This 300-pound actor made over 200 comic shorts during his brief five-year film career.

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Charles Joseph Sax

Died April 26, 1865 b. 1791

Belgian instrument maker. His "omnitonic horn" (1824) used a piston to provide different keys. He was the father of saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax.

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Jean François Fernel

Died April 26, 1558 b. circa 1497

French physician. He coined the terms "physiology" and "pathology." He was the first to describe appendicitis and the spinal canal. He also worked to end the reliance on astrology and magic in matters of health.

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Stephen II

Died April 26, 757 b. ????

Italian religious leader, 92nd Pope (752-757).

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