Today In Patriots History April 15, 2015: Aaron Hernandez found guilty of murder

Besides April 15 being Tax Day, the day the Titanic sunk in 1812, the day Abraham Lincoln died in 1865, the day Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's franchise in 1955, selling burgers for 15 cents, Patty Hearst recorded on video wielding an M1 while robbing a San Francisco bank in 1974, the amazing Hagler-Hearns fight in 1985, or the day of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 - this day is also notable for an event related to a Patriots player that would later simply be referred to as Inmate Number 174954.



April 15, 2015:
In Fall River Mass, Aaron Hernandez is found guilty of first degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancée's sister, and was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. Hernandez was also found guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition. The 12-person jury reached the verdict on the seventh day of deliberations. The trial spanned more than two months and saw 135 witnesses, 132 of which were called by the prosecution.


On August 27, 2012, the Patriots had signed AH to a five-year, $40 million contract extension that included $16 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $12.50 million - the largest signing bonus ever received by an NFL tight end. His $40 million total was the second-largest contract extension ever given to a tight end, after only Gronk's $53 million. Hernandez gave $50,000 of that bonus to a charity named for Myra Kraft.


Ten months after signing the contract, the 25-year-old was arrested and charged on June 26, 2013 in the death of Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was found shot to death on June 17, 2013 in an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough home. Hernandez was 23 at the time.


Meanwhile, Hernandez was also charged in a 2012 double-slaying in Boston, and waiting to stand trial for the July 2012 shooting deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.




During the course of the trial that began on January 29, the prosecution submitted hundreds of pieces of evidence, including video surveillance, cell phone records and receipts, in an effort to show Hernandez was with Lloyd the night he was murdered. They also repeatedly referred to surveillance images from inside Hernandez's home on the night of the murder that show Hernandez holding a black object that prosecutors contend was a gun. Hernadez was found guilty despite the murder weapon never being found.


The prosecution called more than 100 witnesses, some of whom testified about tire tracks and shoe prints near Lloyd's body that they say connect Hernandez to the crime, as well as a marijuana joint found at the murder scene that had both Hernandez's and Lloyd's DNA on it. The prosecution also called witnesses who testified about shell casings found near Lloyd's body, and another found in a car rented by Hernandez. Testimony indicated that all of the shell casings were fired by the same firearm.


Others that were called to testify by the prosecution included Robert Kraft; Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez's fiancee; and Alexander Bradley, a former friend of Hernandez who had a lawsuit pending against AH alleging that he shot Bradley in the face in Florida in 2013.









A timeline of Aaron Hernandez’s football career, criminal cases and death

April 15, 2000:
65th Annual Player Selection Meeting, better known as the NFL Draft
12 Noon, EDT at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City, New York
Day One, Rounds 1-3


Three months prior to the draft, on January 27, 2000, the Patriots were forced to send their first round pick (#16 overall), fourth round pick (#101) and seventh round pick to the New York Jets for their fifth (#149) and seventh (#234) round picks. This was deemed the appropriate compensation by NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue for the Patriots signing Bill Belichick, after he resigned from the Jets 24 hours after being named their head coach. (The Patriots likely would have selected RB Shaun Alexander with the #16 pick, or possibly Boston College DT Chris Hovan.)





The first selection under the new regime occurred in the second round. With the 46th overall pick of the draft, the Patriots selected Adrian Klemm, a four-year starting offensive tackle at the University of Hawaii for coach June Jones. Klemm spent five injury-riddled seasons with the Pats, appearing in just 26 games - more than half (16) of which came in one season, 2002.


June 28, 2001:
Non-contact injuries a pain for Pats -- Patriots.com







With the 14th pick of the third round (76th overall), the Patriots selected RB J.R. Redmond from Arizona State.

Redmond was a backup to Kevin Faulk in 2000, and to Antowain Smith in 2001. He played a key role late in the 'Snow Bowl' game against Oakland in the 2001 playoffs, catching three passes in the game-winning overtime drive. Two weeks later in Super Bowl 36, Redmond again caught three passes on the game-winning drive. On that third reception Redmond dodged a tackler to get past the first down marker, than dragged another would-be tackler to the sideline, to stop the clock with 33 seconds remaining. Two plays later Tom Brady connected with Troy Brown on a catch-and-run to set up Adam Vinatieri's game-winning field goal. Charlie Weiss is quoted as saying that if Redmond had not made that play for a first down, then the Patriots would have played for overtime rather than going for the win.


With Smith as the primary running back, Faulk as the third down back, plus the usage of Marc Edwards and Patrick Pass at fullback, Redmond's playing time dwindled. He was waived at the end of training camp in 2003, and later played for the Raiders and Cardinals. In his three seasons with the Pats, Redmond had 790 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in 33 regular season games. During the 2001 playoffs Redmond caught nine of the eleven passes thrown his way, for 69 yards and four first downs.


Redmond has recovered from a difficult post-NFL life that included depression and homelessness; he now owns an apparel design and production company that has grown tremendously over the years. He also mentors youths preparing for the SAT and career planning.


J.R. Redmond bio below:

J.R. Redmond -- LinkedIn

This is an example of what we don't know about players we are fans of behind closed doors. And he would've gotten away with what he did to Odin Lloyd had it not been for the found gum by the rental car employee because they couldn't link him to the murder.

The movie "HIM" was awful, but it was very similar situation of how people are fans of players, but it turns out these idols are bad people.

April 15, 1961:
In a minor move the Patriots traded away their starting RDT Art Hauser and backup OL/LB Bill Striegel to Denver. The Pats received two backups in return: DHB Al Romine and DL Don King, who combined to appear in just one game for the Pats. None of the four played pro football beyond the '61 season. In his second season, 23-year old Jim Lee Hunt would replace Hauser as the starting RDT, and was named to the first of four AFL All-Star teams. 32-year old Art Hauser was a starter for the Broncos, then retire after the season ended.





Some photos from an August 19, 1961 exhibition game between the Boston Patriots and New York Titans.
The Saturday night game was held at Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia, and thanks to a local grocery store promotion, set an attendance record with 73,916 people in the stands.
Number 46 is Al Romine and #70 is Don King; the equipment managers apparently didn't bother to put nameplates on the jerseys of players that were on the roster bubble, or until after the regular season began.



73,916 Turn in Grocery Tickets To See Titans Top Patriots, 17-7


Hat tip to Pape for this picture of Art Hauser and Bill Streigel, from the team's 1960 photograph:





April 15, 1988:
Reports state that 30-year old linebacker Don Blackmon - who suffered a neck injury in a game in December and in February underwent neck surgery to have two discs removed and bone grafts performed - 'is expected to miss the season'. Blackmon would retire ten days later, and take a position as a linebackers coach. He would go on to coach in the NFL for the next twenty years.






April 15, 1994:
Patriots re-sign three restricted free agents: LB David Bavaro, FB Sam Gash and G Doug Skene.







April 15, 1996:
Pats sign free agent kicker Blair Culley.


Bill Parcells was extremely confident in Matt Bahr, going back to their 1990 super bowl win with the Giants - but Bahr was just a few days shy of his 40th birthday. The previous season his field goal accuracy slipped below 70%, including 3-7 from 30-39 yards, and 2-5 beyond 50.

On April 15, 1996 - five days before the NFL draft - the Patriots had signed Blair Culley as a free agent. Culley had signed with the Bengals as an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma the previous year, but did not make the roster. The Pats did not draft a kicker, so it was assumed those two would be the only players competing for the job in the offseason.


Meanwhile, there was a guy from South Dakota that had won the job as punter and kicker for the Amsterdam Admirals of the World League of American Football. Sure, he was all-conference - bit it was in the Summitt League, for division 1-AA South Dakota State. Adam Vinatieri was viewed as nothing more than a camp leg that was on hand to keep Matt Bahr rested. The signing was made so late, there is zero mention of Adam anywhere in the 1996 Patriots Media Guide - only of Bahr and Culley.







Vinatieri did not just outperform Culley, won the job outright over Bahr - which shocked many at the time, even if Bahr was 40 years old at that point.

April 15, 2014:
Don King passes away at the age of 85.

No relation to the felonious boxing promoter, our Don King was defensive lineman with the 1961 Boston Patriots. On this same date in '61, King and Al Romine were traded by Denver to the Pats (see post above). King played for the Kentucky Wildcats for two years, then joined the Marine Corps, where he continued to play football for two more years. His pro football career began in 1954 with the NFL champion Cleveland Browns, and after playing in Canada for the Ottowa Rough Riders he returned to the NFL, playing for the Packers and Eagles, before joining the AFL with the Broncos in 1960. In King's post-playing days he was a semi-pro football coach in Georgia, then worked for more than two decades as Deputy US Marshall, receiving Commendation for Sustained Superior Performance.






April 15, 2016:
Patriots waive DL Chris Jones and NT Ishmaa'ily Kitchen. The release came two days after cutting 2014 first round pick Dominique Easley, setting up some changes for the 2016 defensive line.

Jones played in 28 regular season games with 23 starts for the Patriots in 2013-2014, with nine sacks, 79 tackles and twelve tackles for a loss. He also had nine tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery in four postseason games, earning a ring from the Super Bowl XLIX 28-24 victory over Seattle. Jones played that game with a torn calf, which caused him to miss the entire 2015 season, leading to his release. Jones spent that year with the Dolphins and 49ers, before going on IR for the entire season again, in 2017.

Kitchen played college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes, and was also a member of the Ravens, Browns and Lions before coming to New England late in the 2015 season, playing in one game. Kitchen played in 42 NFL games, primarily for Cleveland from 2012-2014.














April 15, 2019:
RFA CB Jonathan Jones signs his tender.







April 15, 2023:
Nate Dorsey passes away at the age of 72.

The defensive lineman from Mississippi Valley State played briefly for the Patriots in 1973; he later spent two seasons playing in the short-lived World Football League.

Nathaniel E. Dorsey, Sr
Nathaniel was drafted by the NFL in the 7th round pick, #180 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played from 1973-1975. During his career he also played with the New England Patriots, San Antonio Wings and Birmingham Americans. His career ended in 1975 with the NFL after several injuries. After the NFL, Nathaniel worked with the Juvenile Justice System and later with Tampa International Longshoreman Association as a Lead Supervisor, there he met the love of his life, Wilhelmina who worked there as a Security Officer.

Happy 46th birthday to Billy Yates
Born April 15, 1980 in Fort Worth; hometown Corsica, Texas
Patriot guard, 2004-2009; uniform #74
Assistant Offensive Line Coach, 2021-2023
Signed to the practice squad on September 11, 2004
Pats résumé: 22 games, 11 starts as a player; three seasons on the coaching staff


After being undrafted out of Texas A&M, Billy LaQuayne Yates was originally signed by Miami; he played in three games for the Dolphins as a rookie in 2003. The Pats signed him to their practice squad in '04, then activated him for Super Bowl 38. He spent most of the next season on the practice squad before being promoted on November 12, 2005 when Dan Koppen went on IR with a shoulder injury.

Yates appeared in 22 games with 11 starts with the Patriots from 2005-2008, including seven starts in 2008 when Stephen Neal was injured.

In 2013 Yates returned to his alma mater, Texas A&M, as assistant strength and conditioning coach. In 2016 he took a promotion to head strength and conditioning coach at Bowling Green, then worked for three years with the Detroit Lions. In 2021 he rejoined the Patriots as an Offensive Assistant and Assistant Offensive Line Coach, remaining in that capacity through 2023 (when Adrian Klemm went absent). Since last year Billy Yates has been working as a defensive quality control coach at Ohio State for the Buckeyes DC Matt Patricia.








Feb 19, 2021:
Report: Patriots add former offensive lineman to staff -- Patriots.com

Happy 29th birthday to Isaiah Zuber
Born April 15, 1997; from Stone Mountain, Georgia
Patriot wide receiver, 2020; uniform #19
Signed as an undrafted rookie free agent on April 27, 2020
Pats résumé: one season, four games; two receptions for 29 yards, two carries for 21 yards; 26 offensive snaps


Willie Isaiah Zuber was waived at the end of his rookie training camp, then bounced back and forth between the active roster and practice squad. He appeared in four games with two receptions before being waived again after camp in 2021. Zuber was later part of the practice squads for the 49ers, Browns and Jets, but never saw any more playing time in the NFL. In 2023 he was waived with an injury settlement with the Raiders, marking his last being part of the NFL. Zuber has also played in the UFL/XFL, and his most recent pro football stop was a training camp with the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats last year.

jmt57 said:

Today in Patriots History
Aaron Hernandez: Guilty​

Besides April 15 being Tax Day, the day the Titanic sunk in 1812, the day Abraham Lincoln died in 1865, the day Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's franchise in 1955, selling burgers for 15 cents, Patty Hearst recorded on video wielding an M1 while robbing a San Francisco bank in 1974, the amazing Hagler-Hearns fight in 1985, or the day of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 - this day is also notable for an event related to a Patriots player that would later simply be referred to as Inmate Number 174954.



April 15, 2015:
In Fall River Mass, Aaron Hernandez is found guilty of first degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancée's sister, and was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. Hernandez was also found guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition. The 12-person jury reached the verdict on the seventh day of deliberations. The trial spanned more than two months and saw 135 witnesses, 132 of which were called by the prosecution.


On August 27, 2012, the Patriots had signed AH to a five-year, $40 million contract extension that included $16 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $12.50 million - the largest signing bonus ever received by an NFL tight end. His $40 million total was the second-largest contract extension ever given to a tight end, after only Gronk's $53 million. Hernandez gave $50,000 of that bonus to a charity named for Myra Kraft.


Ten months after signing the contract, the 25-year-old was arrested and charged on June 26, 2013 in the death of Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was found shot to death on June 17, 2013 in an industrial park near Hernandez's North Attleborough home. Hernandez was 23 at the time.


Meanwhile, Hernandez was also charged in a 2012 double-slaying in Boston, and waiting to stand trial for the July 2012 shooting deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

During the course of the trial that began on January 29, the prosecution submitted hundreds of pieces of evidence, including video surveillance, cell phone records and receipts, in an effort to show Hernandez was with Lloyd the night he was murdered. They also repeatedly referred to surveillance images from inside Hernandez's home on the night of the murder that show Hernandez holding a black object that prosecutors contend was a gun. Hernadez was found guilty despite the murder weapon never being found.


The prosecution called more than 100 witnesses, some of whom testified about tire tracks and shoe prints near Lloyd's body that they say connect Hernandez to the crime, as well as a marijuana joint found at the murder scene that had both Hernandez's and Lloyd's DNA on it. The prosecution also called witnesses who testified about shell casings found near Lloyd's body, and another found in a car rented by Hernandez. Testimony indicated that all of the shell casings were fired by the same firearm.


Others that were called to testify by the prosecution included Robert Kraft; Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez's fiancee; and Alexander Bradley, a former friend of Hernandez who had a lawsuit pending against AH alleging that he shot Bradley in the face in Florida in 2013.

​

A timeline of Aaron Hernandez’s football career, criminal cases and death

PATRIOTS NEWS Thread 'Aaron Hernandez found guilty of first-degree murder'

Apr 15, 2015

http://nesn.com/2015/04/aaron-hernandez-found-guilty-of-first-degree-murder-in-death-of-odin-lloyd/

• ctpatsfan77
• Replies: 291
• Forum: PatsFans.com - Patriots Fan Forum

Click to expand...

Perspective!
All of a sudden a couple of pics of a coach potentially having a side piece don't seem like all that big a deal

Do you type all this up day-of? Very impressive. I feel like if you compiled all of these, you have an anthology, not just one book. Thanks for always posting this stuff.

1996 training camp was the first one I went to. And I talked to Matt Bahr and he just started talking and then he rolled his eyes a little and mentioned some new kid that had come in at the last second. I thought it was funny. But he was probably talking about Vinatieri. I don't blame him for being a little dismissive. He was a 40 year old pro by this point.

Happy 57th birthday to Steve Gordon
Born April 15, 1969; from Grass Valley, California
Patriot center, 1992-1993; uniform #64
Pats 10th round (277th overall) selection of the 1992 draft, from Cal
Pats résumé: two seasons on the practice squad; elevated to 53-man roster for three games

Steve Duane Gordon was a victim of final roster cuts as a rookie, and immediately signed to the practice squad. He remained there until being promoted on December 9, and remained on the active roster for the final three games coached by Dante Scarnecchia, filling in for the hospitalized **** MacPherson. A year later under Bill Parcells was a repeat, being waived as part of roster cuts, and immediately signed to the practice squad - except Tuna released Gordon for good on October 26. Gordon kept getting signed by teams, bouncing around with the Saints, Seahawks, 49ers, Broncos, 49ers again and Browns until 1999. The only time he got on the field in real game though was in 1998, playing in 13 games for San Francisco - meaning he waited six years from the time he was drafted to get some playing time.


According to LinkedIn, since his NFL days ended Gordon has been a Major Account Manager with Sharp; a Regional Manager for Konica Minolta; Branch Manager with Ray Morgan office products; Regional Sales Manager for CenterVue medical technology for northern California, Nevada and Utah; and is now a sales executive with Heidelberg Engineering healthcare imaging and data technology.












Happy 32nd birthday to Ryan Lewis
Born April 15, 1994 in Seattle
Patriot corner, 2017 practice squad, 2018 offseason; uniform #27
Signed to the practice squad on September 19, 2017
Pats résumé: one year on the practice squad, plus one offseason









Happy 44th birthday to Herana Daze-Jones
Born April 15, 1982 in Louisville
Patriot safety, 2009; uniform #27
Signed as a free agent on July 28, 2009
Pats résumé: one offseason

HDJ was released as part of final roster cuts on September 5, 2009. He played in 31 NFL games from 2005 to 2010, receiving a super bowl ring after playing with the Saints in 2009.









Happy 55th birthday to Rich McKenzie
Born April 15, 1971 in Fort Lauderdale
Patriot linebacker, 1996 offseason; uniform #94
Signed as a free agent on April 17, 1996
Pats résumé: one offseason

Richard Anthony McKenzie was a sixth round draft pick by the Browns in 1993, from Penn State. He appeared in eight games for Cleveland under Bill Belichick in 1995, and moved with the franchise to Baltimore the following spring. The Patriots waived McKenzie on August 20, 1996. He spent most of the 1997 offseason with Tampa Bay before his NFL career came to an end early in the Bucs '97 training camp; McKenzie then played in the Arena Football League until 2002.








In memory of Jim Flanigan (1945 - 2025)
Born April 15, 1945 in Pittsburgh
Patriot linebacker, 1972 offseason
Traded from the Saints to the Pats on June 29, 1972 for a 1973 sixth round draft pick
Pats résumé: one offseason

Jim Flanigan was a 2nd round draft pick by the Packers in 1967, from Pitt. In 1971 he had started 12 games for the Saints at middle linebacker. The Pats cut Flanigan on September 5, ending his pro football career. His son, Jim Flanigan Jr, was a defensive tackle from 1994 to 2003, mostly with the Bears. The Patriots reportedly attempted to sign the younger Flanigan as a free agent in 2001, but he instead chose to play for Green Bay.

Pro Sports Transactions - Jim Flanigan






In memory of Roosevelt 'Rosey' King (1936 - 2017)
Born April 15, 1945 in Pittsburgh
Patriot defensive lineman, 1961 offseason
Signed as a free agent on July 11, 1961; released July 25, 1961
Pats résumé: two weeks of two-a-days in training camp

Vindicate said:

Do you type all this up day-of? Very impressive. I feel like if you compiled all of these, you have an anthology, not just one book. Thanks for always posting this stuff.

Click to expand...

No, I mostly just edit on the day-of. I've been doing this off-and-on for several years, so fortunately there's a lot of copy and paste. The photos almost always have to be re-done; there are more dead links than not to columns (and pictures). But most of what was written in the past was just birthdays. So a few months back I felt actual events (like the Hernandez verdict) was more appropriate for a 'This Day' series. That was all new this morning. One of these every three days keeps me plenty busy, almost too much.

Thanks for the kind words.

1966:
Decca Records releases Aftermath, the fourth US studio album by the Rolling Stones. The LP, which peaked at #2 in the US, thanks to the singles, "Mothers Little Helper" (#8), "Lady Jane" (#24) and "Under My Thumb". The UK release featured a run-time of more than 52 minutes, the longest for a popular music LP up to that point. The American edition was issued with a shorter track listing, substituting the single "Paint It Black" (two weeks at #1) in place of four of the British version's songs, in keeping with the industry preference for shorter LPs in the US market at the time.




1894:



1933:
Country musician and Hee Haw host Roy Clark is born in Meherrin, Virginia.




1947:
Mike Chapman is born in Queensland, Australia. After moving to England and teaming up with Nicky Chinn, he becomes a top songwriter and producer, responsible for the hits "Devil Gate Drive," "Ballroom Blitz" and "A Touch Too Much." After moving to America in 1975, his hits continue with "Kiss You All Over" and "Love Is A Battlefield."




1956:
Conductor Mitch Miller, now music director of Columbia Records - who had famously passed on signing Elvis Presley - engages in a lively debate with DJ Allan Freed over the "potentially negative effects of Rock 'n' Roll on teenagers" on Eric Sevareid's news program on CBS-TV. Two psychiatrists also joined the discussion. Miller made no secret of the fact that he hated rock music, and was quoted as saying, "It's not music. It's a disease."




1957:
Sun Records releases Jerry Lee Lewis' rendition of Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, his first charting single. Originally recorded by blues singer Big Maybelle in 1955, Jerry Lee added the boogie woogie piano and suggestive spoken lyrics. The song reached #3 on the Hot 100 while topping both the country and R&B charts. Rolling Stone magazine would later rank it at #61 of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. In 2005, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.





1960:
Folk singer Guy Carawan sings We Shall Overcome to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh, North Carolina, popularizing the song as a protest anthem.




1961:
Meredith Willson's musical The Music Man, starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, closes at the Majestic Theater, NYC. after 1,375 performances, five Tony Awards, and a Grammy.




1964:
After a long day of filming their first movie, Ringo Starr tells the other Beatles it's been "a hard day's night." John Lennon turns the phrase into a song, and the movie title is changed from Beatlemania! to A Hard Day's Night.




1966:
Buffalo Springfield perform for the first time, opening for The Byrds at a concert in San Bernardino.




1966:
Samantha Fox, known for her ti... err, I mean, hits, Touch Me (I Want Your Body) and Naughty Girls (Need Love Too), is born in London.




1967:
Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra's duet single Somethin' Stupid begins a four-week run at #1. To this day they are the only father-daughter team to have a US chart topping single. The song also spent nine weeks atop the Easy Listening (later the Adult Contemporary) chart, becoming Frank's second Gold single as certified by the RIAA, and Nancy's third.




1967:
Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck all appeared at the The Odeon, Blackpool, England, tickets cost 5 and 10 shillings, (70¢ and $1.40).




1968:
Ed O'Brien, guitarist of Radiohead was born in Oxford, England. Their 1993 debut single Creep was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey.





1968:
Eleven days after the assassination of her friend Martin Luther King Jr., Aretha Franklin records Think.




1969:
Hi Records releases Green Is Blues, the second studio album by soul singer-songwriter Al Green; his first pairing with producer Willie Mitchell led to a long-time collaboration and string of hits in the early 1970s.




1970:
Michael Wadleigh's Woodstock, a film chronicle of the famed 1969 counterculture festival, wins the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.




1971:
The Beatles win their only Academy Award as Let It Be earns an Oscar for Best Original Song Score category. Only Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were named as recipients by the Academy because they assumed those three were the sole composers, overlooking the fact that Ringo Starr also wrote one song on the album.




1971:
Rolling Stone reports that the Illinois Crime Commission has issued a list of "drug-oriented rock records," which includes Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit, Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale, and Puff The Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul and Mary.




1972:
Billy Joel plays a concert at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia which is broadcast by the local radio station WMMR. After the show, the station puts his performance of Captain Jack in rotation, and Joel builds a following. This leads to a contract with Columbia Records, which releases Joel's breakthrough album, Piano Man, in 1973.


Roberta Flack's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face became an unlikely Billboard number one hit after it was featured in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me. The song had been originally released as an album cut three years earlier, but after Eastwood included it in his movie, Atlantic Records quickly released it as a single.


Carole King, Barbra Streisand, James Taylor, and Quincy Jones perform a benefit concert for George McGovern for President campaign at the Forum in Inglewood, California.


Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen entered the Billboard Top 40 for the first and only time with Hot Rod Lincoln, which reached #9. The record is a re-worked version of Hot Rod Race, a #29 hit for Tiny Hill in 1951.





1973:
Alice Cooper makes the cover of Forbes magazine under the headline, "A New Breed Of Tycoon." The story, which plays into Cooper's epic Billion Dollar Babies album, is about how rock music has become big business.




1974:
Lynyrd Skynyrd released their second album, Second Helping, which was a commercial success and eventually went platinum. The album featured the song Sweet Home Alabama, a tune that became the group's signature song.




1977:
The Stranglers' debut full-length album, Rattus Norvegicus, is released. The album included their hit, Peaches.





1978:
Chris Stapleton was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His musical style blends blues and rock 'n' roll with country and bluegrass, with his most famous single, Tennessee Whiskey, being certified as Double Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over 20 million copies.




1982:
Billy Joel successfully underwent surgery to fix a broken wrist he got when his motorcycle hit a car in Long Island, New York. The hospital switchboard got flooded with well wishes from fans so the singer had to ask people to stop calling because they were “tying up lines for those people who are really sick.” The Piano Man was in the hospital for over a month.(!)

Ironically, two years earlier Joel released You May Be Right, who inclued these lyrics:
I've been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I'm insane




1983:
The Bad Brains released their second full-length album, Rock for Light. Produced by The Cars' Ric Ocasek, the album features both new compositions (such as the title track and How Low Can a Punk Get?), as well as re-recordings of tunes that originally appeared on the group's debut (Sailin' On, Banned in D.C.). Years later, Kurt Cobain would call it one of his all-time favorite records.





1986:
Nine cops raid Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra's apartment and arrest him for distributing "harmful matter" to minors: a poster of genitalia art included in the band's album Frankenchrist. His case becomes a test of the First Amendment and validates his position that the US government systematically oppresses the poor and outspoken (the band is on their own label and has no corporate backing). It drags on for 16 months before ending in a mistrial when the jury can't come to a verdict.




1989:
Roy Orbison's You Got It became a posthumous hit for the artist when it reached the Billboard Top 10, peaking at #9. The song had been released earlier that year following Orbison's passing in December 1988, and was produced by his longtime friends and collaborators Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. It is his first Top 10 hit since (Oh) Pretty Woman in 1964.




1989:
Tone-Loc's debut album, Loc-ed After Dark, hits #1 on the Billboard 200, thanks to the platinum hit Wild Thing.




1991:
MC Hammer's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em becomes the first rap album to go Diamond, for sales of 10 million copies in America.




1994:
Jazz singer Tony Bennett records a session for MTV's Unplugged series at Sony Studios, NYC, featuring the Ralph Sharon trio, and guest appearances by Elvis Costello and k.d.lang; the album release would win two Grammy Awards.




1995:
The Dave Matthews Band make their Saturday Night Live debut, performing What Would You Say and Ants Marching.




1996:
The remaining ashes of Jerry Garcia were scattered in California near the Golden Gate Bridge almost a year after his death. Eleven days earlier the first part of Garcia's ashes were spread over the Ganges River in India.




1997:
The Australian group INXS released their 10th studio album, Elegantly Wasted. This was the band's last album with cofounding member and lead singer Michael Hutchence, who died in November 1997.




2001:
Ramones singer and faux punk/sanitized punk rocker Joey Ramone died at age 49 after a long battle with lymphatic cancer.





2003:
Fleetwood Mac released their album Say You Will. The disc reunited the band with Lindsey Buckingham, but former lead vocalist and keyboard player Christine McVie did not join the reunion.




2006:
Elton John cleans out his (apparently very large) closet and raises over $700k for his AIDS Foundation when he sells over 10,000 articles of clothing in his Elton's Closet sale in New York




2012:
A virtual Tupac Shakur performs on stage along with Snoop Dog and Dr Dre at the Coachella festival, rapping Hail Mary and 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted before disappearing in a flash. Often reported as a hologram, the technology used to bring Tupac to life is later revealed to be a system of mirrors, glass and computer animation.




2015:
It was reported that the digital music market rose to $6.9 billion in revenue, matching the physical sales market represented by CDs, vinyls, and other physical formats for the first time ever. Pharrell Williams's Happy was the most-downloaded single globally in 2014, with Taylor Swift the most popular artist.




2018:
Carrie Underwood debuts her song Cry Pretty at the Academy of Country Music Awards. It's her first appearance since a fall six months earlier that required over 40 stitches in her face.




2019:
Aretha Franklin posthumously receives the Pulitzer Prize Special Citation honor, first individual woman to win it since 1930




2022:
Coachella Valley Music Festival returns after a two-year hiatus, with Harry Styles the headlining act on opening night in front of 100,000





2025:
Reports surface that The Who had fired long-time, touring drummer Zak Starkey for allegedly over-playing. The son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, Zak had been with the band for 29 years. Roger Daltry told the crowd at The Royal Albert Hall, "To sing that song I do need to hear the key, and I can't. All I've got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can't sing to that. I'm sorry, guys." The whole incident would blow over as Pete Townshend announced that Zak was not being sacked after all, blaming tricky acoustics at the venue and an incomplete sound check. A few weeks later, on May 18, The Who once again announced Starkey's departure, this time for good.

As mentioned in the original Aaron Hernandez vedict post: besides April 15 being Tax Day, it is also the day the Titanic sunk in 1812, the day Abraham Lincoln died in 1865, the day Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's franchise in 1955, the day Patty Hearst was recorded on video wielding an M1 while robbing a San Francisco bank in 1974, the night of the amazing Hagler-Hearns fight in 1985, the day of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 - and more.



1452:
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, scientist and visionary, born in Vinci, Florence, Italy.




1493:
Christopher Columbus is received by the Spanish monarchs Isabella I and Ferdinand II in Barcelona upon his return from the New World. Columbus presents kidnapped Taínos indigenous people, plants and items collected from the Caribbean.




1865:
At 7:22 a.m., Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, dies from a bullet wound inflicted the night before by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer. The president’s death came only six days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the American Civil War.




1894:
Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953-64, was born in Kalinovka, Russia.




1912:
British luxury passenger liner Titanic sank en route to New York City from Southampton in England, after striking an iceberg during its maiden voyage. Of the approximately 2,200 people on board, some 1,500 people died, with the ship's crew and third-class passengers experiencing the most losses.




1920:
Two men, the paymaster of a shoe factory and his guard, were murdered in South Braintree (less than a mile from where I grew up, and a couple hundred yards away from what is now the last stop on the T's soutbound Red Line), leading to the Sacco-Vanzetti case and the still-controversial conviction of the two Italian immigrants. Three weeks after the murder, two Italian anarchists who had immigrated to the United States in 1908, one a shoemaker and the other a fish peddler, were arrested for the crime. Later that same month (time from arrest to trial was quick back then) their trial began, and they were both found guilty.

Many people felt that the trial had been less than fair and that the defendants had been convicted for their radical anarchist beliefs (as well as being part of what was then a looked-down-on minority) rather than for the crime for which they had been tried. All attempts for retrial on the grounds of false identification failed. On November 18, 1925, Celestino Madeiros, then under a sentence for murder, confessed that he had participated in the crime with the Joe Morelli gang. The state Supreme Court refused to upset the verdict, because at that time the trial judge had the final power to reopen a case on the grounds of additional evidence. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927, still maintaining their innocence.




1922:
Harold Washington, the first African-American Mayor of Chicago was born in Chicago.




1924:
The Rand McNally Auto Chum was released; it was the American publishing company's first road atlas.




1926:
Robertson Aircraft, one of the companies that later developed into American Airlines, flew its first mail route, between Chicago and St. Louis, with Charles Lindbergh as the pilot.




1933:
Acress Elizabeth Montgomery is born in LA. As a little kid, I had three sitcom crushes: Samantha of Bewitched, Agent 99 on Get Smart, and MaryAnne on Gilligan's Island.





1947:
Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball's racial barrier, played in his first major league game for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.




1955:
Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise, launching an enterprise that would eventually become the world's largest fast-food chain, in Des Plaines, Illinois. The chain’s burgers cost 15 cents, a price remained unchanged for the next 12 years, when they rise to 18 cents.




1959:
Actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson is born in London




Four months after leading a successful revolution in Cuba, Fidel Castro visits the United States for a goodwill tour. The visit was marked by tensions between Castro and the American government.




1974:
Members of the Symbionese Liberation Army held up a branch of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco; a member of the group was SLA kidnap victim Patty Hearst. The granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst later said she had been forced to participate in the robbery.




1982:
Seth Rogen is born in Vancouver BC.




1985:
In my opinion, the most exciting boxing match ever:






1989:
Tragedy occurred at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, when a crush of soccer fans ultimately resulted in 97 deaths and hundreds of injuries; police mistakes were later blamed for the incident.




Demonstrations begin when Chinese students gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, where so many student and mass demonstrations had taken place since the early 20th century, to mark the death of the popular pro-reform Chinese leader Hu Yaobang. On June 3 & 4 the People’s Liberation Army stormed the Square with tanks, crushing the protests with terrible human costs. The Chinese Government has asserted that injuries exceeded 3,000 and that over 200 individuals, including 36 university students, were killed that night. Western sources, however, are skeptical of the official Chinese report and most frequently cite the toll as hundreds or even thousands killed.





1990:
Emma Watson was born in Paris




Sketch comedy TV series In Living Color premieres on Fox.





1991:
Magic Johnson sets NBA record for career assists with 9,898.




1992: Billionaire Leona Helmsley is sent to jail for tax evasion.




1998:
Pol Pot, the architect of Cambodia’s killing fields, dies of apparently natural causes while serving a life sentence imposed against him by his own Khmer Rouge.




2000:
President Bill Clinton established the Giant Sequoia National Monument, a preserve near Sequoia National Park covering more than 500 square miles of Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada of California, preserving one-third of all giant sequoia groves, the world's largest tree.




2003:
President George W Bush declared that the government of Saddam Hussein in Iraq had fallen as a result of the Iraq War. The following day he asked the United Nations to lift sanctions against Iraq.




2013:
Near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, two homemade bombs were detonated in the crowd of spectators; three people were killed and more than 260 were wounded in the cowardly terrorist attack.




2013:
Nicolás Maduro is narrowly elected President of Venezuela.




2019:
The iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral caught fire during a restoration campaign, and the blaze destroyed most of the cathedral's roof, the 19th-century spire, and some of the rib vaulting. A restoration project began almost immediately, and the cathedral was reopened to the public in 2024.




2024:
Donald Trump becomes the first former US President to stand trial on criminal charges as his hush money case begins in New York.