APRIL 13: The Daily Flashback

1742: George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” was premiered at Fishamble Street, Dublin.
1808: William “Juda” Henry Lane perfected the tap dance.
1870: The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in New York City.
1958: Van Cliburn of Kilgore, Texas, earned first prize in the Soviet Union’s Tchaikovsky International Piano Contest in Moscow, becoming the first American to win the award.
1962: The Beatles began their legendary stint at the new Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, performing three to four hours a night for 48 days (with only one day off), logging a total of 172 hours of performance.
1963: Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds got his first hit in the major leagues.
1964: Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the movie “Lilies of the Field.”
1965: The Beatles won their first Grammy Awards – Best New Artist and Best Performance by a Vocal Group for “A Hard Day’s Night” – but Record of the Year goes to “The Girl From Ipanema” by Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto.
1970: With Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind), Loretta Lynn became the first female country artist to be awarded a gold album.
1973: The Wailers, led by Bob Marley, release their fifth studio album, Catch a Fire, their first album on Island Records.
1980: The Broadway musical Grease closed after 3,883 performances.
1985: The single “We Are the World” topped the charts at No. 1 in the U.S.
1997: Tiger Woods became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament at the age of 21, shooting a record 18 under par.
2009: A jury found Phil Spector guilty of second-degree murder in the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

BIRTHDAYS
1906: Samuel Beckett
1942: Bill Conti
1944: Jack Casady
1945: Lowell George
1946: Al Green
1951: Max Weinberg
1952: Sam Bush
1954: Jimmy Destri
1972: Aaron Lewis

DEATHS
2004: Ritchie Cordell
2005: Johnnie Johnson