April 14
1927: The first Volvo car premiered in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1935: The “Black Sunday Storm,” the worst dust storm of the U.S. Dust Bowl, struck Oklahoma and Texas. It inflicted immense economic and agricultural damage and caused hundreds of thousands of people to relocate, most to California.
1939: The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck was first published by the Viking Press on the fourth anniversary of the “Black Sunday Storm.”
1986: Hailstones weighing over two pounds fell on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92 people. These were the heaviest hailstones ever recorded.
April 15
1755: Samuel Johnson’s
A Dictionary of the English
Language was published in
London.
1924: Rand McNally
published its first road atlas.
2013: Two bombs exploded near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Mass., killing three people and injuring 264 others.
April 16
1940: Bob Feller of the
Cleveland Indians threw the only opening day no-hitter in Major League Baseball history, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1990: The “Doctor of Death” Jack Kevorkian (1928-2011)
participated in his first assisted suicide.
2009: The Commission of Fine Arts met and recommended a new U.S. penny design on the back that showed 13 wheat sheaves bound together with a ring symbolizing American unity as one nation. (The design later withdrawn because it was similar to coins issued in Germany in the 1920s.)
April 17
1949: Twenty-six of 32 Irish counties officially left the British Commonwealth and became the Republic of Ireland.
1961: A group of CIA-financed and trained Cuban
exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting
Fidel Castro. The operation was a resounding failure that marred President John F. Kennedy’s
legacy.
1964: The Ford Mustang was introduced to the North American market, dealing a mortal blow to the Ford Falcon line,
which was finally discontinued in 1970.
April 18
1906: An earthquake and the ensuing fire destroyed much of San Francisco, Calif.
1912: The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brought 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
1923: Yankee Stadium, “The House that Ruth Built,” opened.
1924: Simon & Schuster
published the first crossword puzzle book.
1983: A suicide bomber
destroyed the U.S. embassy
in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
April 19
1770 Br:itish explorer
Captain James Cook first sights Australia
1882: Charles Darwin, English naturalist whose scientific theory of evolution by natural selection became the foundation of modern evolutionary studies., passed away.
2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church following the death of Pope John Paul II. The new Pope took the regnal name Benedict XVI.
April 20
1657: Freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
1810: Venezuela declared its independence from Spain.
1828: René Caillié (1799-1838) of France became the first non-Muslim European to enter the town of Timbuktu, Mali, and leave alive.
1926: Western Electric and Warner Bros. announced Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
1972: Apollo 16, commanded by John Young, landed on the moon.
Running Eagle (Pi’tamaka), Blackfeet (Piegan) Woman Warrior
Running Eagle grew
up a typical Blackfeet girl named Brown Weasel Woman. She had two brothers and two sisters, her mother was a well-respected homemaker
and her father was a well-known warrior. Brown Weasel Woman’s education included learning about how to take care of the household, raise children, cook and make clothes. However, Brown Weasel Woman’s life began to change when she asked her father to make her a bow and arrow and to teach her how to shoot it. She loved learning the ways of a warrior and soon gave up the work of the household in exchange for hunting buffalo with her father. During one of these buffalo hunts, the group of hunters encountered an enemy war party and when they retreated at top speed to escape their enemies, her father had his horse shot out from under him and he was injured. Although it was very dangerous, Brown Weasel Woman turned back, picked up her father and escaped. One of the bravest deeds a warrior could perform was to face the enemy while riding back to rescue someone who was left behind. So when she returned to camp, the people honored her for being courageous. Soon after, her mother became very ill and, because she was the oldest child, Brown Weasel Woman took over the chores of the household to help her mother. Although she was an excellent home maker, she did not have any interest in doing any of it. She enjoyed the men’s activities of hunting and war much more. Although many of the men took an interest in her, she did not have any interest in having a boyfriend or becoming married. The turning point of Brown Weasel Woman’s life came when her father was killed during a war party and her mother died soon afterwards. Brown Weasel Woman suddenly became responsible for her brothers and sisters. She took on the role as the head of the family which meant that she hunted for and protected her family. Because of this new responsibility, a widowed woman moved in to help with the household chores and to help teach her brothers and sisters. Brown Weasel Woman’s first war adventure was against the Crows who had stolen some Blackfeet horses. It took the war party several days to get to Crow country, but when they arrived, the Blackfeet were successful at stealing many of the Crow’s horses. Brown Weasel Woman stole eleven horses by herself. Although the Crows chased them for a while, the Blackfeet got safely back to their camp. On the way back to the camp, Brown Weasel Woman was on watch duty from the top of a butte, while others rested in a hidden ocation. She saw two enemies approaching, and before she could reach the men to warn them of the danger, the enemies were ready to round up and steal their horses. Brown Weasel Woman ran down the butte with her rifle and grabbed the rope of the herd’s lead horse to keep the rest from running away. The enemies saw that she was a woman and began to close in on her because they did not expect any trouble from her. Brown Weasel Woman shot the enemy who carried a rifle and forced the other one to turn and run. She grabbed the fallen enemy’s rifle and shot at the one running away but missed him. The men were very impressed by her courage of saving the horses and killing an enemy. Her second adventure was against the Pend d’Oreille, who lived across the mountains. This time they captured over 600 horses. Although she was shot at when they were retreating, the two arrows both struck her shield and she was not injured. During the summer, when all of the Blackfeet gathered to visit and celebrate with each other, Brown Weasel Woman was asked to get up with the other warriors and tell the people about her adventures. She was one of the very few women to actually go on war parties and hunt buffalo so the people were excited to hear her stories and they applauded loudly after hearing her. Then Lone Walker, the head chief, honored her in a way that was never done before for a woman. He gave her a new name – Running Eagle – a name carried by several famous warriors before her. Running Eagle became very successful at the men’s activities and went on to become a powerful warrior. She has become one of the most famous women in Blackfeet history.
Source for Photo and Text: mhs.mt.gov
Montana Historical Society