Showing posts with label April. Show all posts
Showing posts with label April. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

It Happened in April 1935

At the beginning of April 1935, the dust and sand from Colorado and Kansas was blown down to Texas. Initially, people made jokes about the weather up there in the north of Texas.

 Clipping source: Howerton, J. C. The Cuero Record. (Cuero, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 78, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 3, 1935newspaperApril 3, 1935; Cuero, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1129982/accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Cuero Public Library.

Soon, citizens of Texas discovered well enough that the sandstorm was not a laughing matter at all.

04 April

Clipping source: The Troup Banner (Troup, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 4, 1935newspaperApril 4, 1935; Troup, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth981348/accessed April 15, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bonham Public Library.

08 April


Clipping source: The Abilene Morning News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 157, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 10, 1935, newspaper, April 10, 1935; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1745117/: accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Public Library.

The days were passing by, but the situation was not improving.

11 April



Clipping source: McDonald, L. A. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 206, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 11, 1935, newspaper, April 11, 1935; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539248/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.

13 April  - a cold weather front brought a change for a while


Clipping source:
Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 244, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 14, 1935, newspaper, April 14, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395921/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .


When it got warner again, the dust storm came back. It ruined the crops/farms, households took human and animal lives.




Clippings source: Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 243, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 13, 1935, newspaper, April 13, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395920/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

Why it all happened?



Clipping source: Bowman, George. Henderson Daily News (Henderson, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 22, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 14, 1935newspaperApril 14, 1935; Henderson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1315007/accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rusk County Library.

14 April

Dust Storm, Wheeler Texas, photograph, April 14, 1935; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth36010/m1/1/?q=dust: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Wolf Creek Heritage Museum.




Clipping sources: Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 244, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 14, 1935, newspaper, April 14, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395921/: accessed April 13, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

15 April


Clipping source: McDonald, L. A. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 209, Ed. 1 Monday, April 15, 1935newspaperApril 15, 1935; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1539251/accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.

16 April


Clipping source:
 
Buell, Ralph L. The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 246, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 16, 1935newspaperApril 16, 1935; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1395925/accessed April 14, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .


The results of the dust storm were devastating - a dark lesson to learn from regarding land cultivation.


Clipping source: 
Dietel, William. The Radio Post (Fredericksburg, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, April 26, 1935newspaperApril 26, 1935; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1510146/accessed April 15, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gillespie County Historical Society.

More about Dust Bowl:Texas Handbook Online

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Movies Monthly: April

In April, we continued watching Vikings. Luckily, the last episodes of the mid-season were more Viking like, less about things we did not fancy at all (which I mentioned here).
A very different series to Vikings is Whitechapel - quite intriguing and edited in a way which builds up suspense. On the other hand, it presents rather dark stories too.
This month, a new documentary started on TV: The History of God with Morgan Freeman - different points of view on various religious and philosophical matters - so far quite interesting and educative.
Farscape - on May 1, we watched the first two episodes by accident (we had never heard about the series before). They appeared to be entertaining enough to watch some more Farscape in May.

The movies which we found most interesting/best:

  • The Shootist - directed by John Siegel - John Wayne in a story showing the dusk of the cowboy times.
  • Gone To Texas - directed by Peter Levin - simply a good history movie.
  • Soul Survivors - directed by Stephen Carpenter - nothing in this film is as it seems to be.
  • Jimmy's Hall - directed by Ken Loach - it was interesting (and a bit surprising as well) to learn how strong the catholic church influence/power in Ireland had been.
  • Fiddler on the Roof - directed by Norman Jewison - great music/songs and dances + acting. In our opinion, it is the best movie version of the musical.
  • The River - directed by Mark Rydell - at first we thought it would be a kind of survival movie. It was much better than that. 
  • Captain Corelli's Mandolin - directed by John Madden - not too many movies show WWII times in Greece.


Colors (related to movie genres) which I use in my diary notes:

Action
Adventure
Comedy
Documentary
Detective/Crime Story
Drama
Biography
Fantasy, SF
Family
History
Horror
Musical/Concert
Thriller
War 
Western
Family

Some of the films are marked with asterisks (if we really like them/do not care for them much). Most of the titles on the list are not marked at all - we simply generally enjoy watching them because of different reasons.


223.  Midsomer Murders: Orchis Fatalis, part 1 - 2005 (detective story)
224.  Midsomer Murders: Orchis Fatalis, part 2 - 2005 (detective story)
225. The Shootist - 1976 (western)
226. Killer Elite - 2011 (action)
227. Texas Country Reporter (documentary)
228. Texas Country Reporter (documentary)
229. Texas Country Reporter (documentary)
230. The Gunfighter - 1950 (western) - with Gregory Peck
231. The Salvation - 2014 (western)
232. Grantchester 2.2 - 2016 (detective story, drama)
233. The Murdoch Mysteries: Murdoch in Wonderland - 2011 (detective story)
234. The Murdoch Mysteries: The Great Wall - 2010 (detective story)
235. Whitechapel 3.4 - 2012 (detective story)
236. Vikings: The Profit and the Loss - 2016 (drama)
237. Are You Being Served: Forward Mr. Grainger - 1976 (comedy)
238. Killing Jesus - 2015 (biography, drama)
239. MacGyver: The Outsiders - 1988 (action/adventure)
240. Nova: Vikings Unearthed - 2016 (documentary)


241. Columbo: Ransom for a Dead Man - 1971 (detective story)
242. Vikings: Portage - 2016 (drama)
243. Trainwreck - 2015 (comedy) - we thought it would be a movie about trains. Well, it was not.
244. The Kissing Bandit - 1948 (comedy, musical)
245. Texas Country Reporter (documentary)
246. The Long Riders - 1980 (western)
247. Grantchester 2.3 - 2016 (detective story, drama)
248. Arabian Nights - 1999 (fantasy)
249. Are You Being Served: Fire Practice - 1976 (comedy)
250. MacGyver: The Thief of Budapest - 1985 (action/adventure)

251. Highlander - 1986 (fantasy)
252. Deep Impact - 1998 (SF)
253. Gone to Texas - 1986 (history)****
254. MacGyver: Pilot - 1985 (action/adventure)
255. Blade - 1998 (action/ horror)
256. Midsomer Murders: Bantling Boy, part 1 - 2005 (detective story)
257. Midsomer Murders: Bantling Boy, part 2 - 2005 (detective story)
258. Pixels - 2015 (SF, animation, comedy)
259. Starship Troopers - 1997 (SF)
260. Whitechapel 3.5 - 2012 (detective story)


261. What on Earth? Finding Vietnam's Lost POWs - 2016 (documentary)
262. Smokey and the Bandit - 1977 (comedy, action)
263. Grantchester 2.4 - 2016 (detective story, drama)
264. Soul Survivors - 2001 (mystery, drama)
265. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - 1991 (comedy)
266. Indian Uprising - 1952 (western)
267. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - 1991 (adventure)
268. Are You Being Served: Fifty Years On - 1976 (comedy)
269. What on Earth? Hidden Tomb of Genghis Khan - 2016 (documentary)
270. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - 2001 (war, drama)


271. Vikings: Death All Round - 2016 (drama)
272. Vikings: The Last Ship - 2016 (drama)
273. Outland - 1981 (SF) - one of my favorite SF movies
274. Jurassic World - 2015 (SF)
275. Whitechapel 3.6 - 2012 (detective story)
276. The Bone Collector - 1999 (crime story)
277. Grantchester 2.5 - 2016 (detective story, drama)
278. The Story of God With Morgan Freeman, part 2 - 2016 (documentary)
279. First Blood - 1982 (action)
280. Rambo: First Blood Part II - 1985 (action)


281. Rambo III - 1988 (action)
282. Are You Being Served: Oh What a Tangled Web - 1976 (comedy)
283. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo - 1999 (comedy)
284. Duck Soup: 1933 (comedy, musical)
285. The Outrage - 1964 (western)
286. The Twilight Zone: The Incredible World of Horace Ford - 1963 (SF)
287. The Twilight Zone: The Bard - 1963 (SF) 
288. Smokey and Bandit II - 1982 (comedy, action)
289. The Falcon Strikes Back - 1943 (detective story)
290. Jimmy's Hall - 2014 (drama)


291. Fiddler on The Roof - 1971 (musical)****
292. She - 1965 (SF)
293. MacGyver: Blow Out - 1987 (action/adventure)
294. Texas - 1941 (western)
295. I Confess - 1953 (crime story, drama)
296. Globe Trekker: Road Trip: Andes - 2016 (documentary)
297. Globe Trekker Extra: Puerto Rican Markets (documentary)
298. The River - 1984 (drama)
299. Death Hunt - 1981 (action)
300. F/X - 1986 (action)

Other Movies Monthly Entries: