April 26 in Pop Culture History

662 (Earthquake) Iran

1278 – Imprisoned for murder, John le F*cker sent a letter asking for bail, the earliest recorded instance of the English swear word “f*ck”.

1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare was baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. People were traditionally baptized three days after birth, this is how we know his birthday was April 23.

1721 (Earthquake) Tabriz, Iran

1882 – A perpetual motion machine was Patented (#257,103) by John Sutliff. I’m pretty sure it didn’t really work.

1921 – The first US weather broadcast was made from St. Louis, Missouri, over station WEW. Or so legend has it. There were few rules in the earliest days of radio, so another station may have made a weather announcement. It was about 55 degrees.

1933 – The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, was established.

1954 – Polio vaccine trials began.

1958 – #1 Hit April 26, 1958 – May 2, 1958: The Platters – Twilight Time

1975 – #1 Hit April 26, 1975 – May 2, 1975: B. J. Thomas – (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song

1977 – Studio 54 opened at 254 West 54th Street in New York City.

1986 – Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Ukraine, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe. It was announced two days later.

1989 (Tornado) Daulatpur-Salturia Tornado, Bangladesh, killed 1300 people and injured 12,000.

1978 – Ringo Starr’s Ringo, a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper, aired on NBC, with George Harrison narrating.

1985 – Just One of the Guys and Stick were released in theaters.

1996 – The Truth About Cats & Dogs, The Quest, Mulholland Falls, and Sunset Park debuted in theaters.

2002 – Jason and Life, or Something Like It were released in theaters.

2010 – Jennifer McCreight envisioned Boobquake. An estimated 200,000 people participated worldwide, and the epicenter was considered the Purdue Bell Tower in West Lafayette, Indiana.

2011 – The Voice premiered on NBC