Island of Lost Toys

On This Day In History:

1928 - The Graf Zeppelin makes the first commercial transatlantic flight.

Built by the Germans in 1928, the rigid airship Graf Zeppelin was 235 m (772 ft) long and had a gas capacity of 105,055,490 liters (3,710,000 cu ft).

The Graf Zeppelin ruled the uncluttered skies like no other monarch could. The sight of the silver ship gliding over head brought crowds of people streaming from their houses and into the streets. No other aircraft in history , with the possible exception of the Spirit of St. Louis, has been the focus of so much admiration by so many people.

The Graf Zeppelin was Dr. Eckner's crowning achievement in the concept of the zeppelin. Even though the Hindenburg and the Graf Zeppelin II would be technologically superior to the Graf Zeppelin, no other air ship would be so loved by nearly all the world.

In its nine years of service, it crossed the Atlantic 139 times and flew around the world once.

Celebrating Birthdays Today:

Mario Puzo Born in 1920	Lee Iacocca Born in 1924	Mark Lenard Born in 1925	Elena Dementieva Born in 1981

What Happened on Your Special Day?

I became a fan of "today in history" information when I was very young. My father had a calendar that he had put together of "reasons to celebrate". If anybody asked "what are we celebrating?" my father could check his book and come up with a reason to celebrate for any day of the year. Charlie Chaplin's birthday, Buster Keaton's birthday, the anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, for every day of the year, my father's calendar had some interesting historical event that had occurred.

With this page I have tried to continue the tradition. Generally, I prefer to include birthdays and anniversaries of positive, uplifting, life affirming people and events that have had particular significance in my life. It's here because it was important to me.

I am trying to continually update with links from stories to other relevant sites. Check back regularly for a story on something interesting that happened on this day in history.

There are many, many, sites out there that have a lot of "this day in history" information. Many are not so great, full of inaccurate information and "negative vibes". However, there are a few that are really fabulous. Here are links to a few of my favorites. These sites feature "Today in History" stories for today, and some include archives that will enable you to look up information for any other date in history that is special to you:

This Day in History
The History Channel tells you what happened in Automotive, Civil War, Cold War, Crime, Entertainment, General Interest, Literary, Old West, Vietnam War, Wall Street, and World War II history for today or any day.

Life Magazine Covers
Life offers a look at covers from this day in history.

New York Times: On This Day
Lists events which occurred on each month and day of the year throughout history. Links to New York Times articles on the events when available.

Today in History
Stories and pictures from the American Memory historical collections of the U.S. Library of Congress.

The Internet Movie Database
The Internet Movie Database claims itself to be the biggest, best, most award-winning movie site on the planet. I'm not sure if it really is, but it is huge and has TONS of info on even the most obscure films, movies stars, directors, producers, etc. If it is motion picture related, you can probably find out something about it at this site.