On This Day, April 4th

1. 1975: Microsoft founded in New Mexico

Today was the day that Paul Allen and Bill Gates started Microsoft in 1975. Allen was working as a programmer in Boston and Gates was attending Harvard when they came up with an idea to make software for computers. So Allen quit his job and Gates dropped out of school so they could move out to Albuquerque to start this new business. The reason they choose New Mexico was because that was the headquarters for the electronics firm MITS that manufactured the Altair 8800, the main computer at the time they were writing software for. Later in 1979 They relocated to Bellevue Washington, a suburb of Seattle where Allen and Gates had grown up, where they went on to become one of the biggest and most successful companies in the world. By 1987 when Gates was just 31 years old he became the world youngest billionaire and now hold the title of one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

2. 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. is Assassinated

The Hotel just after Martin Luther King Jr. is shot
PHOTO: rdrevilo.com

Martin Luther King Jr. standing with Jesse Jackson on the Balcony where he was murdered.
PHOTO: ABClocal

On this Day in 1968 James Earl Ray fired his 30-06 hunting rifle from his hotel window in Memphis Tennessee killing Martin Luther King Jr that sat over 200 feet away on the balcony of his hotel room. Ray immediately fled up to Canada where he was able to purchase a passport and fly to London. He was able to travel all over Europe for a couple months using different alias each time he would go to a new location. Eventually his luck would run out when he was caught June 8th in the Heathrow Airport. Although Ray was a career criminal, he never had any history of involvement in politics so many believed that he was a hired assassin to kill King. Which considering the amount of traveling Ray was able to do in the short time he was running from police and the amount of money that would require, that hired assassin theory is still in question today. Later on March 10th 1969, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the murder and gets sentenced to 99 years in prison

3. 1933: The USS Akron Airship crashes in New Jersey killing 73

USS Akron
PHOTO: NJ.com

Crew and Passengers boarding the USS Akron
PHOTO: NJ.com

The USS Akron was the largest airship of its time as of 1931 when it was debuted. At over 785 feet long and had a semi rigid metal structure that was filled with helium to keep it afloat. The Akron only had a short two year lifespan but it still caused its fair share of problems. When trying to land these monster airships it would take large groups of men pulling on ropes to bring the ship down to the ground where it could be secured, but in 1932 when trying to land in high winds the helium filled airship started rising into the air and rather than letting go of the ropes like everyone else three men held on as they went higher and higher. Two of those men fell off the ropes at over 200 feet of the ground killing them instantly, but the third man was able to hang on for more than 2 hours and at heights over 2,000 feet before the crew was able to pull him on board the ship via a porthole. On this day in 1933 the Akron would have its last flight as it was ordered to fly an observation mission in New Jersey, even though there was a massive thunderstorm coming which normally grounded the unpredictable airships. There was a miscommunication with the crew on board and instead of navigating the ship around the storm it was sent directly into it. High winds sent the ship plunging towards the earth dropping more than 1,000 feet in altitude which caused the captain on board to make what would be a fatal decision for most of the crew and passengers on board. He made the call to dump the ship water ballast tanks that provided the weight needed to prevent the helium filled ship flying. But when those tanks were emptied forced the ship to gain altitude at a drastic rate that ended up snapping all the cables connecting the cargo/passenger area to the ship itself sending all 76 crew members and passengers crashing down to the ocean. There were only three survivors, one of which was the captain who made the fatal mistake of emptying the ballast tanks.