Holly, Valens, Richardson (the Big Bopper) along with Dion and the Belmonts were on a road tour called Winter Dance Party. The groups were touring in unheated buses in freezing temperatures when Buddy Holly decided to charter a small plane to their next stop. The small plane could hold four people including the pilot, the cost was $36 person. He chartered it for himself and his two band mates, Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup.

During the tour J.P. Richardson, the Big Bopper, had developed the flu and asked Jennings if he could go instead of him. Jennings agreed.

Jennings was until his death haunted over the crash in part over an exchange of words between him and Buddy Holly. Holly had said to Jennings, “”Well, I hope your ol’ bus freezes up.” Jennings responded, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.”

Ritchie Valens had never flown in a small plane and asked Tommy Allsup if he could have his seat. With a coin flip, tossed by the DJ at ballroom where they played that night, Valens had the last seat.

Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts was approached, but declined. He couldn’t see paying the price of 36 dollars, a sum which he had seen his parent argue over this price for apartment rent.

When the shooter was arrested it was 16 year old Brenda Ann Spencer. The rifle she used during the shooting had been given to her as a Christmas gift from her father, only a few weeks before.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Her sentence was 25 years to life in prison and is currently at The California Institution for Women in Chino, California. She is up for parole in 2009.

When asked why she did the shooting one of her responses was, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.”

Bob Geldolf, who was the lead singer for the rock band Boomtown Rats, heard about the shooting and the statement of Spencer and wrote the song, “I Don’t Like Mondays.”

It was only a minor hit in the US but, it was a number 1 hit in the United Kingdom. Throughout the 1980s many album rock stations played the song as the anthem for Mondays. Since some stations only played the chorus many people had no idea the true subject of the song was a school shooting.

The Pittsburgh Pirates led by shortstop Honus Wagner won their 3rd straight National League pennant. They ended the year with a .650 winning percentage and a 6.5 game lead over the New York Giants.

The American League team was the team from Boston, they wouldn’t adopt the official nickname Red Sox until 1908. They ended the year 14.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics with 91 wins, the same number of wins as the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The series was planned for 9 games, but only 8 were played since Boston won 5 of the 8. Pittsburgh won 3 of the first 4, 7-3 in game 1, 4-2 in game 3 and 5-4 in game 4. Before Boston won the next 4, 11-2, 6-3, 7-3 and 3-0. Boston also won the 2nd game of the series on a 3 hit shut out.

Wagner would only bat .222 in the series. The entire Pittsburgh team batted .237 for the series. They had batted .286 for the season.

Cy Young pitching for the Boston home team lost the first game to Pittsburgh’s Deacon Phillippe. In the first inning he gave up 4 of the 7 runs that the pirates scored, although there was also three Boston errors leading to 3 of the 4 runs being unearned. Young would go on to win two of the five games won by Boston. He pitched in 4 games to an ERA of 1.85 Phillippe would win all three games won by Pittsburgh, but he also lost 2 with a 3.07 ERA.

This first All-Star Game was held as part of the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois and was initiated at the insistence of Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune.

The American League team was managed by Philadelphia A’s manager Connie Mack with John McGraw managing the National league.

With all of the great hitters of the game that played that day such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Frankie Frisch, the first RBI was recorded by American League pitcher Lefty Gomez. Gomez was also the winning pitcher.

Others firsts were Babe Ruth hitting the first Home Run with Frankie Frisch hitting the first for the National League later in the game. Lou Gehrig made the first error.

The 2 hour 9 minute game was seen by 49,200 fans. The American League won that first game with the final score being 4-2.

The USO, Inc., was organized by representatives of five private social service organizations: the Salvation Army, the YMCA, the National Board of the YWCA, the National Jewish Welfare Board, and the National Catholic Community Service. In March the Travelers Aid Association of America joined too.

The USO has not been in continuous operation since its inception. For a brief time between 1948 after the end of WWII and the beginning of the Korean War it disbanded. Since then it has been in constant operation, to the delight of many service men and women.

Bob Hope can easily be called Mr. USO. He performed his first USO show at March Field, California, May 6, 1941. He headlined approximately 60 tours. Beginning in 1948 he did his first USO Christmas Tour and he visited military bases and veterans’ hospitals every December for the next 34 years.

In 1997, Bob Hope was named a honorary veteran by the US congress and signed by President Clinton. He remarked, “I’ve been given many awards in my lifetime — but to be numbered among the men and women I admire most — is the greatest honor I have ever received.”

From their Web site at http://www.uso.org/; “The USO currently operates more than 135 centers worldwide, including ten mobile canteens located in the continental United States and overseas. Overseas centers are located in Germany, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Qatar, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, and Kuwait. Service members and their families visit USO centers more than 7 million times each year.”

Over its history Texas has been part of 6 different nations and therefore flew 6 National flags. Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Unites States of America and the Confederate States of America.

The community of Ysleta, Texas is considered the oldest settlement in Texas. In 1680 the Ysleta Mission began with the settlement built around it. Ysleta has been annexed and is currently part of El Paso, Texas.

Confederate Heroes Day, January 19th, is a holiday in Texas. January 19th is the birthday of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s and in 1931 Texas approved the Robert E. Lee Birthday Holiday. In 1973 Jefferson Davis’ Birthday holiday (June 3rd) was eliminated and the two were combined and renamed Confederate Heroes Day.

The Kansas City Chiefs began as the Dallas Texans as one of the first six teams in the American Football League (AFL), forming in 1959. They moved to Kansas City in 1962. The Indianapolis Colts franchise also started in Dallas and also called the Texans. This Dallas Texans team played for two years before moving to Baltimore in 1953 taking the name Colts.

Until last October, Baseball’s Texas Rangers were the oldest team in the Major League Baseball to have never played in a World Series. The franchise began as the Washington Senators in 1961 after the original Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and renamed the Twins in 1960.

The Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals, originally the Montreal Expos, now are only other major league team not to appear in a World Series. The Mariners debuted in 1977 while the Expos debuted in 1969.