On this day in 1977, Willie Stargell launched the 400th home run of his Hall of Fame career. ⭐️
Pops' milestone came on a two-run shot in a 9-1 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
The Battle of Midway began with America missing almost everything it shot at. 24 hours later it had won the most lopsided victory in modern naval history.
First, the setup. US codebreakers had cracked enough of Japan's naval code to suspect "AF" meant Midway. To prove it, they had the island radio a fake message in the clear saying its water plant had broken down. Two days later, Japanese intelligence dutifully reported that "AF is short of water." Trap confirmed. The US Navy was now waiting in ambush for a fleet that thought IT was the ambusher.
Then, on June 3, 1942, the shooting started... badly.
That morning, Ensign Jack Reid's PBY patrol plane spotted Japanese ships 500+ miles out and radioed "Sighted main body." It wasn't the main body. It was the invasion transports. The actual carriers were somewhere else entirely.
Nine B-17 bombers flew out and attacked from high altitude. Crews came home reporting hits on four ships. Actual hits: zero. Post-war records confirmed not a single bomb connected.
That night, four PBY flying boats, lumbering patrol planes never meant for this, staggered through the dark and put a torpedo into the tanker Akebono Maru. It turned out to be the ONLY successful American aerial torpedo attack of the entire battle.
Then came June 4. Dive bombers caught the Japanese carriers with fuel hoses and ordnance scattered across their decks. In about five minutes, three carriers were burning wrecks. A fourth followed by nightfall.
Japan lost four fleet carriers. The Pacific War flipped in an afternoon, and Japan never regained the initiative.
Casey Hampton often told teammates that he used to work out with George Bush. They thought he was lying.
Then, when they visited the White House, Bush noted it in his speech.
OTD 20 years ago
Steve Martin & John Candy did so much improv while filming "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987), director John Hughes' original cut of the film was almost 4 hours long.
#OTD in 1963, 129 men were lost when the USS Thresher (SSN-593) sank during deep dive tests in the Atlantic Ocean. After being told about the disaster, the young son of skipper CDR John Harvey made this crayon drawing of the sub lying on the ocean floor.
Michael Durant.
U.S. Army pilot and member of the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers).
October 3, 1993, during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, Durant’s Black Hawk, Super Six Four, was struck by an RPG and crashed in the city.
As enemy fighters closed in, two Delta Force snipers, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, repeatedly requested to be inserted at the crash site to defend the downed crew. Knowing the danger, they fought their way to Durant’s position, setting up a defensive perimeter and holding off enemy forces until they were fatally overrun. Their selfless stand saved Durant’s life.
Durant was captured and held prisoner for 11 days before his release. Gordon and Shughart were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism.
This scene in Miami Vice where "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins plays stands as one of TV's all time greatest cinematic sequences. It effortlessly establishes the mood and highlights just how far today's television industry has fallen. This authentic soul is gone.