Sheena Shirley Orr in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire April 28, 1959 (Tuesday) Former President Harry S Truman told students at Columbia University that he had made the decision to drop nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki because an invasion would have cost millions of lives. Casa de las Americas was founded in Cuba by order of Fidel Castro. The Vatican announced that Roman Catholics worldwide would receive dispensation to eat meat on Friday during the May Day holiday. The U.S. Senate confirmed Clare Boothe Luce as ambassador to Brazil by a 79–11 vote, in spite of efforts by Senator Wayne Morse to block the nomination. In thanking the Senate, Mrs. Luce then caused an uproar when she said in a statement, "My difficulties, of course, go some years back and began when Senator Wayne Morse was kicked in the head by a horse", referring to a 1951 accident in which the Senator's jaw had been broken, and calls were made for her resignation. Ambassador Luce quit on May 1. During the debate, Senator Everett Dirksen made a memorable gaffe in defending Mrs. Luce, saying "Why thresh old straws or beat an old bag of bones?" April 29, 1959 (Wednesday) The crash of an Iberia Airlines DC-3 killed all 28 people on board, including Joaquín Blume, 25, the 1957 European gymnastics champion. Blume and four other gymnasts had boarded the flight in Barcelona en route to Madrid and were scheduled to compete in a meet in the Canary Islands. Flying in a storm, the twin-engine plane struck the side of the high Toba Peak in the Sierra de Valdemeca range, at a location near the city of Cuenca. The Las Vegas Convention Center opened. The fraternity Phi Kappa Theta was created by the merger of Phi Kappa and Theta Kappa Phi. April 30, 1959 (Thursday) The Florianturm, a 720-foot (220-meter) television tower, opened in Dortmund, West Germany, to coincide with an international horticultural festival. Opening that day at the level was the world's first revolving restaurant. Félix Houphouët-Boigny was inaugurated as the first African Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire. The Convair B-36 Peacemaker, in operation since 1946, was flown for the last time. The Lockheed Electra made its first flight, tested for delivery to Western Airlines. Born: Stephen Harper, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015; in Toronto Born: Pamela Rabe, Canadian-born Australian stage actress; in Oakville, Ontario. References