1974 – Hank Aaron sets new home run record, topping Babe Ruth’s 714 career home runs. More than 53,000 fans showed up at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium to see Hank Aaron hit Dodger Al Downing’s pitch in the fourth inning. Henry Louis Aaron, Jr. was born in Mobile, Alabama and started with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. The team moved to Atlanta in 1966, and Aaron moved to the Milwaukee Brewers after he broke Ruth’s record. He retired in 1976 after twenty-three years, with a final 755 career home run record that lasted until Barry Bonds beat the record in 2007.
The World
1973 – Pablo Picasso died. Born on October 25th, 1881 in Malaga, the northern, Andalusian region of Spain. With training from his artist father, he became a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. He co-founded the Cubist movement, invented constructed sculpture, and co-invented the collage. Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and Henri Matisse were responsible for revolutionary changes in the art world in the early 20th century.
The West
1916 – Three people were killed and several more injured in a road race in California. The race was held on Grand Boulevard in Corona, east of Los Angeles. Corona, founded in 1886 as part of the Southern California Citrus boom, was laid out in the shape of a wagon wheel with the circular Grand Boulevard as the rim. It was used as an automobile racetrack from 1913 to 1916.
Leading the race, “Wild Bob” Burman, previous world speed record holder at 129 mph, lost control when a wheel broke on his blue Peugeot. He, his mechanic, and a spectator were killed when the car crashed through a barrier. Five crowd members also received serious injuries.
1974 – Hank Aaron sets new home run record, topping Babe Ruth’s 714 career home runs. More than 53,000 fans showed up at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium to see Hank Aaron hit Dodger Al Downing’s pitch in the fourth inning. Henry Louis Aaron, Jr. was born in Mobile, Alabama and started with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. The team moved to Atlanta in 1966, and Aaron moved to the Milwaukee Brewers after he broke Ruth’s record. He retired in 1976 after twenty-three years, with a final 755 career home run record that lasted until Barry Bonds beat the record in 2007.
1973 – Pablo Picasso died. Born on October 25th, 1881 in Malaga, the northern, Andalusian region of Spain. With training from his artist father, he became a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. He co-founded the Cubist movement, invented constructed sculpture, and co-invented the collage. Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and Henri Matisse were responsible for revolutionary changes in the art world in the early 20th century.
