Mongol Emperor Zahir-ud-din Babur annihilated Indian Army of Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat.
Babur, King of Kabul, established in this year the Mughal dynasty at Delhi. Also, Babur's guns proved decisive in battle, firstly because Ibrahim lacked any field artillery, as well as, the sound of the cannon frightened Ibrahim's elephants, causing them to trample his own men.
But what the hell do you care, you don't own elephants.
April 21, 1930 -
Lewis Milestone's adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, starring Louis Wolheim, and Lew Ayres, premiered in Los Angeles on this date.
With the loss of limbs and gory deaths shown rather explicitly, this is undoubtedly the most violent American film of its time. This is because the Production Code was not strictly enforced until 1934, and also because Universal Pictures deemed the subject matter important enough to allow the violence to be seen.
April 21, 1951 -
Les Paul and Mary Ford topped the charts with their hit of the classic How High the Moon on this date.
Although it was written by lyricist Nancy Hamilton and composer Morgan Lewis for the 1940 musical Two For The Show, the definitive version of How High The Moon was recorded by the husband and wife team of Les Paul and Mary Ford. This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979.
April 21, 1975 -
Teenages everywhere have themselves a good cry when Eric Carmen's song, (a mash-up of his own song, Let's Pretend and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18,) All By Myself entered the charts on this date.
When he wrote this, Carmen thought the Rachmaninoff music was in the public domain, meaning he could use it free of charge. After this song came out, he found out it wasn't and agreed to a settlement with the Rachmaninoff estate.
April 21, 1979 -
Amii Stewart cover of Eddie Floyd's song Knock on Wood went no. #1 on the Billboard chart on this date.
It was the only hit for Stewart, who was also a dancer and actress - she starred in the Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar.
April 21, 1981 -
Weird Al Yankovic made his first national television appearance on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.
He never receives royalties from the single's initial release because the record company has gone bankrupt.
April 21, 1989 -
The film grown men openly wept watching - Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster, premiered on this date.
After the movie was completed, test audiences didn't like the original film title Shoeless Joe Jackson, because they said it sounded like a movie about a bum or hobo. Universal called director and screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson to tell him that Shoeless Joe didn't work, and the studio changed the title of the film to Field of Dreams. When Robinson heard the news of the change, he called W.P. Kinsella, the author of the book, and told him the "bad" news, but apparently he didn't care, saying that Shoeless Joe was the title the publishing company gave the book. Kinsella's original title was Dream Field.
April 21, 1990 -
The day after all your 420 celebrations, the largest anti-drug PSA effort in history: the Saturday morning simulcast of Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue broadcast on the ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox networks respectively.
This monumental anti-drug (and, to a lesser extent, anti-alcohol) collaboration came at the apex of Nancy Reagan's "just say no!" era.
April 21, 1990 -
Sinead O'Connor topped the charts with a cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2U on this date.
The video was the first time most people saw what O'Connor looked like and were surprised that she was bald. She shaved her head when she first started recording because she wanted to make a statement and not be known for her beauty. Some people believe this is the saddest song ever recorded (but wait.)
Prince wrote and recorded this song in 1984, but didn't release it. He did release a live version with Rosie Gaines on his 1993 album The Hits/The B-Sides, but his original solo recording didn't appear until 2018, when his estate released it from the vault. His version is guitar-based, with more of a rock feel. (Unfortunately, Prince was found dead at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57, on this date in 2016.)
Stronger people than you could not make it through Jimmy Scott's version without crying.
April 21, 1995 -
Buena Vista released the rom-com, While You Were Sleeping, starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Glynis Johns, and Jack Warden on this date.
The original screenplay was about a woman in a coma and a man pretending to be her fiancé. Many studio executives thought this to be too predatory, but one suggested reversing the roles. Once the script was rewritten, the movie was picked up by Hollywood Pictures.
April 21, 2005 -
Paul Haggis' film Crash starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, and Ryan Phillippe premiered at the Newport Beach International Film Festival on this date.
Paul Haggis holds the distinction of being the only person ever to write the screenplay for two consecutive Best Picture winners. He also wrote the previous year's Best Picture winner, Million Dollar Baby.
Another ACME safety film
Today in History:
April 21, 753 BC -
Today is the traditional date of the foundation of Rome by Romulus and his brother, Remus, as a refuge for runaway slaves and murderers who captured the neighboring Sabine women for wives (they are hoping to finish building it any day now.)
But since the Gregorian Calendar was just a gleam in Pope Gregory eye - who knows. But by all means, please bring enough lubricant with you to the commemorative orgy tonight.
April 21,1792 -
Jose da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes, considered by many to be Brazil's George Washington, was having an extremely bad day. The Portuguese rulers of Brazil were not happy with his seditious talk of independence. Tiradentes was hung in Rio de Janeiro on this date. His body was broken into pieces.
He began to be considered a national hero by the republicans in the late 19th century, and after the republic was proclaimed in Brazil in 1889 the anniversary of his death (April 21) became a national holiday.
April 21, 1836 -
With the battle cry, 'Remember the Alamo!' Texan forces under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, assuring Texas independence .
According to legend, Santa Anna was astride a mulatto, or "yellow" prostitute, Emily Morgan, who came to be celebrated in song as The Yellow Rose of Texas.
April 21, 1910 -
Halley's comet reappeared on this date. It had been last seen in 1835, the year Samuel Clemens was born.
The Earth passes safely through the comet's tail with no perceptible effect, of course, not counting the death of Mark Twain on this date. Twain wrote on his deathbed in Memorandum, "Death the only immortal who treats us all alike whose pity and whose peace and whose refuse are for all-the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved."
This time, the reports were not exaggerated.
April 21, 1918 -
German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as The Red Baron, was shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France on this date.
There is no truth to the rumor that Snoopy fired the fatal shot.
The following people were born on this day:
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (1926),
James Newell Osterberg (1947),
Patti Ann LuPone (1949),
Anthony Salvatore Iadanza (1951),
and Robert Smith (1959)
Make of this coincidence what you will
April 21, 1932 -
You know how sometimes you lie in bed at night and think, “What if the law of gravity just wears out and lets go and I drift into space?” Does that ever make you anxious?.
Elaine May, one of the funniest human being who ever lived, was born on this date.
April 21, 1962 -
President John F. Kennedy took time out of his busy schedule, of engaging in sexual congress with starlets and interns, two, three at a time, to push a button in Palm Beach, Florida and officially open the Top of the Needle (the first revolving restaurant in the United States,) atop the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington on this date.
The President was so high on pain killers that he did not realize that he wasn't in Seattle at the time.
April 21, 1997 -
The ashes of Timothy Leary and Gene Roddenberry were launched into orbit (this marked the beginning of the space funeral industry,) on this date.
I guess this is the highest Dr. Leary will ever get.
April 21, 2003 -
Nina Simone, dubbed the high priestess of soul, died in France on this date.
Kids go out and buy one of her CD's, your life will be better for it.
And so it goes.
The Yellow Rose of Texas, indeed
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