Leggy dancers
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Discovery roared into the sky early today on a mission to study the thinning ozone layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. The shuttle, and the four men and one woman aboard, painted a fiery yellow streak across a black satin sky as it blasted from the Kennedy Space Center to spend up to nine days in orbit. The launch came after an unsuccessful attempt early Tuesday ended 11 seconds before liftoff when a safety computer detected a potential problem with a fuel system valve. Discovery’s flight is the first shuttle mission since January and the 54th since shuttles began flying in 1981. It also is the 16th trip for Discovery.
50 years ago — 1968
Leaden skies over Crump Stadium held back the rain yesterday while thousands of Memphians poured out to hear calls for unity and brotherhood in the wake of the slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speakers for the “Memphis Cares” committee addressed a balanced crowd of whites and Negroes estimated by police at 6,000. They sat on one side of the stadium facing a large American flag directly across the field. There were long streamers of black crepe fluttering at the corner of the flag.
75 years ago — 1943
Allied Headquarters in North Africa — The British Eighth Army has smashed Marshal Rommel’s Wadi El Akarit defenses completely and joined forces with American troops under Lt. Gen. George Patton in relentless pursuit of the fleeing Afrika Korps. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill told a cheering House of Commons yesterday that 6,000 prisoners have been taken since the drive began three days ago.
100 years ago — 1918
The United States Marines opened their April campaign for enlistments with music and speeches on Main Street yesterday. Fanchon and Marco’s jazz band, which is playing this week at the Orpheum Theater, played patriotic songs and distributed literature to passersby. Four Marines from Paris Island, S.C., made speeches. At the local recruiting station yesterday afternoon, one Memphian and two members of the jazz band enlisted.
125 years ago — 1893
The April term of the Shelby County Court opened yesterday, with Chairman William Harrell presiding. After much debate the Hindman Ferry Bridge contract was let to McMorris Co. for $1,750. The squires also voted to install a telephone in the insane asylum, to issue $150,000 in bonds and to exempt one-armed men and paralytics from the poll tax.