WWII-era plane crashes into Hudson River
A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the Hudson River Friday, May 27, 2016, killing its pilot.
Posts by Christina Tkacik:
Baltimore neighborhoods
Baltimore street photographers
Year in review
Freddie Gray: protests, aftermath
24 hours with...
A. Aubrey Bodine
Viewing Baltimore from above
From the vault: Baltimore swimming pools through the years
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start to summer with the most important event of the year for sun and water worshippers: the opening of local pools. From Druid Hill to Patterson Park, Baltimore is home to a number of pools, many of which have been around since the time your great grandmother did her first cannonball. As a side observation – some of these pools used to be way bigger, and way cooler-looking in the olden times. On that note, we thought it would be a perfect time to revisit some old photos of Baltimoreans enjoying the pool through the decades, as we slather on the sunscreen and prepare to dive in.
Italian navy rescues capsized migrant ship
At least seven people drowned when an overloaded cargo ship carrying migrants from Libya capsized near the coast of Sicily on May 25, 2016. The Italian Navy successfully rescued over 500 other passengers. The navy’s Bettica patrol boat spotted “a boat in precarious conditions off the coast of Libya with numerous migrants aboard,” it said in a statement.
Kenyan police crack down on anti-corruption protesters
Three Kenyan protesters were shot dead during demonstrations by opposition supporters in the western towns of Kisumu and Siaya, as protests demanding reforms to the country’s electoral authority gather pace in East Africa’s biggest economy, according to reports. Police also fired teargas at demonstrating supporters of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy party in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa.
The protests are led by opposition leader Raila Odinga, who lost the most recent election in 2013 to President Uhuru Kenyatta, according to AP. Odinga said polls in 2017 cannot be free and fair if the current election commission remains in place and called for the commissioners to be removed from office.
Volcano erupts in Indonesia
A volcano erupted near a village in North Sumatra, Indonesia, killing at least seven people and blasting clouds of volcanic ash two miles into the air, AP reports. The eruption of Mount Sinabung — perhaps the first of more eruptions to come, one official warned – unleashed a hellish scene on the Sumatran village of Gamber Sunday, with scenes reminiscent of Pompei. Mount Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
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From the Vault: 50 years ago, Pimlico Clubhouse burned to the ground
There’s a distinct smell that a Baltimore house makes when it’s burning, says Sun reporter Jacques Kelly.
That smell was in the air the night of June 17, 1966, as Kelly rode with his father in a car from their Charles Village home to the Pimlico race course. The oldest clubhouse in American racing was burning, and his father wanted the family to be there to see it happen.
Remembering the 50th Anniversary of China’s Cultural Revolution
On its 50th anniversary, China’s Cultural Revolution may have come full circle.
Palestinians commemorate Nakba Day
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip commemorated Nakba, “catastrophe” in Arabic, the name given for the day of the creation of Israel on May 15, 1948. Adults and children held keys — either real or cardboard — signifying their homes in what is now Israeli-controlled land.
Baltimore Street Photographer: At the Maryland Zoo with Brian O’Doherty
Brian O’Doherty, who works at the Maryland Zoo, won’t say what his favorite animal is.
It’s not that he doesn’t love animals: he spends all day with them. But to name a favorite, he says, is to risk personifying it, to make a wild animal out to be a cuddly little creature that you might want as a pet, when really it’s a big old rhino.
(But the rhinos do act a bit like big dogs, he says.)
Remembering the Pride of Baltimore
30 years ago Saturday a schooner known as the Pride of Baltimore sank in a storm 240 miles north of Puerto Rico. Four crew members died, including the ship’s captain. The remaining eight survived after floating on a leaky raft for five days until they were rescued by a Norwegian tanker. The ship had been built for the nation’s bicentennial and was constructed from wood, by hand, right on the Inner Harbor. For a city in a time of economic depression, the ship evoked the days of Baltimore’s primacy of the seas. Though questions would be raised later about whether a boar built to historical accuracy should have sailed across the ocean, the Pride of Baltimore traveled around the world as the city’s goodwill ambassador until a sudden, terrible storm brought it down. The news of its sinking shocked and saddened Baltimoreans, including then-Mayor William Schaefer, who was pictured with his hand over his eyes, “a study in grief” as The Sun caption read.