#Middlebury
On April 27, 4977 B.C., the universe is created, according to German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler. Scientists in the 20th century developed the Big Bang theory, which showed Kepler’s calculations were off by about 13.7 billion years.- On April 28, 1789, three weeks into a journey from Tahiti to the West Indies, the HMS Bounty is seized in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate. Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a small boat. They reached the East Indies in June, after a voyage of about 3,600 miles.
- On May 2, 1939, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig benches himself for poor play and ends his streak of consecutive games played at 2,130. The left-handed slugger led the American League in RBIs five times.
- On May 1, 1941, “Citizen Kane” makes its debut at the RKO Palace Theater in New York City. The film about a publishing tycoon’s dying words consistently ranks at the top of film critics’ lists of America’s greatest films.
- On April 29, 1974, President Richard Nixon announces that he will release transcripts of 46 taped White House conversations in response to a Watergate trial subpoena. In August, Nixon resigned to avoid an impeachment trial after proof of his guilt was found on the tapes.
- On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine. An estimated 4,000 clean-up workers died from radiation poisoning and a large area of land may not be livable for almost 150 years.
- On April. 30, 1997, at 12:11 pm, London’s iconic Big Ben clock, the most famous clock in the world, stops ticking for 54 minutes. In 1962, snow delayed the bells, causing Britain’s capital to ring in the New Year 10 minutes late.
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