April 19th History & Tombstone Memories

So I was looking for “this day in history” information about April 19th beyond my getting yet another year older and tragedies like the Oklahoma City bombing. Here are just a few of the interesting facts I ended up finding:

• 1987 - In Phoenix, AZ, skydiver Gregory Robertson went into a 200-mph free-fall to save an unconscious colleague 3,500 feet from the ground.
• 1986 - Prince became only the 5th songwriter to have two top ten hits at the same time. The songs were "Kiss" (Prince and the Revolution) and "Manic Monday" (Bangles).
• 1960 - Baseball uniforms began displaying player's names on their backs.
• 1876 - Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force after he beats up a candidate for county sheriff. After losing his job in Wichita, Earp moved to Dodge City and then eventually on to Tombstone.

I picked the Tombstone entry because I’ve actually been there. While living in Phoenix, my family came to visit and decided that they wanted to see Tombstone. It seems that the trip was a little too long for the parents because when we got there they were in a bad mood and dad was ready to just turn around and head home after we used the restrooms. Well this didn’t go over well with my sister and I. We suddenly channeled our parents from many a family vacation and said, “We are going to walk around Tombstone, we are going to do touristy stuff, and we are all going to have a good time dagnabit!!”

A woman with 2 pre-teen children was close by as my sister and I had this tirade and we’ve never seen a woman laugh so hard. Ah – memories. Yes, the tables were turned that day and the best part is that we all had a great time. You had to keep reminding yourself that the artifacts were not just movie props. I mean actually walking through the OK Corral and Boot Hill realizing that the Wild West was real. The Birdcage Theater Museum was especially interesting. It's full of history and many say it's haunted. You know come to think of it, it was kinda creepy...