The Mysteries of History (January 13 Edition)
The "Man in Black" Plays to a Captive Audience, and a Heroic Death
1968 — Johnny Cash Plays Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash played for the inmates of Folsom Prison on this date in 1968. This was not the first time Cash performed at a prison; he had done so in San Quentin Prison (also in Northern California) ten years previously, with Merle Haggard in the audience as a prisoner.
Questions: Why did Johnny Cash choose to play concerts in prison; was it his idea, or his manager’s? Had he ever been incarcerated? How much cash did Cash receive to play the concert, and how long was the performance? When was the live recording of the show released, and how many copies of it were sold? When was the 1958 live recording of the San Quentin performance released?1982 — Preventable Plane Crash into the Potomac
On this date in 1982, seventy-eight people died when a 737 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., and then fell into the Potomac River. The plane had been de-iced with chemical anti-freeze, but a 45-minute delay caused enough ice to re-form on the plane (the pilot and co-pilot decided not to utilize the plane’s own de-icing system, considering it ineffective) that the craft could not gain much altitude and crashed into the aforementioned bridge, striking seven vehicles, before dropping into the river. Those who perished in the disaster included 73 airline passengers and five motorists on the bridge. The other six passengers on the plane (there were 74 passengers and five crew members aboard) were all rescued from the frigid water with the exception of one, Arland Williams, who drowned after selflessly and heroically helping others in the water survive by passing the rescue ropes dropped from a helicopter to them rather than using the ropes himself. Before Williams was able to be rescued, he was pulled down into the water by the wreckage of the plane as it sank, and drowned.
Williams, who was a divorced father of two, was engaged to be married for a second time at the time of his death; he had a lifelong fear of water.
Questions: What is aquaphobia? How old was Arland Williams when he died? How far from the White House did the crash take place? Why did the pilots consider the plane’s de-icing system of no benefit? What is the 14th Street Bridge now named? Who else behaved heroically during the rescue mission?
