1970s1974 - Japanese WWII Soldier Finally Surrenders
Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier, refused to believe the Second World War had ended--and continued his mission of clandestine sabotage for twenty-nine years. On December 26, 1944, Onoda was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines. His orders were to hamper enemy activity on the island, including destroying the airstrip and the pier at the harbor. Onoda's orders also stated that under no circumstances was he to surrender or take his own life. When he landed on the island, Onoda joined forces with other Japanese soldiers. The officers in the group all outranked Onoda, which prevented him from carrying out his assignment. United States and Filipino forces retook Luband Island when they landed on February 28, 1945. Within a short time, all but Onoda and three other soldiers had either died or surrendered. Onoda, who had been promoted to lieutenant, ordered the men to take to the hills. Onoda continued his campaign as a Japanese holdout, initially living in the mountains with three fellow soldiers (Akatsu, Shimada and Kozuka). Although hostilities ceased in August 1945, Onoda and his comrades were oblivious to Japan's unconditional surrender. Thus the foursome carried out guerrilla activities, killed some 30 Filipino citizens, and engaged in several shootouts with the police for years. As early as 1945 Onoda saw a leaflet saying the war had ended, but he and his comrades thought it was enemy propaganda. They continued their bloody raids against local farmers and police. Even leaflets from General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Fourteenth Area Army failed to convince the maverick soldiers to capitulate. One of the four, Yuichi Akatsu, walked away from the others in September 1949 and surrendered to Filipino forces in 1950 after six months on his own. In 1952 letters and family pictures were dropped from aircraft urging the remaining three to surrender, but they concluded it too was a ruse. Shimada was shot in the leg during a gun battle with local fishermen in June 1953. Onoda nursed him back to health. On May 7, 1954, Shimada was killed by a shot fired by a search party. Kozuka was killed by two shots fired by local police on October 19, 1972, leaving Onoda alone. He and Onoda were burning local farmers' rice harvest as part of their guerrilla activities. On February 20, 1974, Onoda met a young Japanese man, Norio Suzuki, who was on a personal quest to find him. Onoda described this moment in a 2010 interview: "This hippie boy Suzuki came to the island to listen to the feelings of a Japanese soldier. Suzuki asked me why I would not come out..." Onoda and Suzuki became friends, but Onoda still refused to surrender, saying that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer. Suzuki returned to Japan with photographs of himself and Onoda as proof of their encounter. The Japanese government located Onoda's commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, who had become a bookseller in civilian life. On March 9, 1974, Taniguchi met with Onoda and persuaded him to surrender. Onoda turned over his sword, his rifle (still in working order), 500 rounds of ammunition, and several hand grenades, as well as a dagger his mother had given him in 1944. Though he had killed numerous civilians since the war's end, Onoda received a pardon from Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos. Upon his return to Japan, Onoda was uncomfortable with his celebrity status and the erosion of traditional Japanese values. Onoda moved to Brazil where he became a successful cattle rancher. He occasionally returned to Japan to promote conservative causes, including organizing educational camps for wayward Japanese youths. As of December 2013, Onoda was still alive at age 91.
Tags: WWII Japanese soldier surrenders 1974
Posted By: Lava1964
1980sPeople We Have Lost To AIDS
Although AIDS appears to be the forgotten disease, it is still bringing heavy destruction to many good souls. This short is to show us some of the many noticable faces that we have lost to this killer and hopefully remind us that the battle is far from done.
Tags: Aids hiv famous died passed away infection loss forgotten disease
Added: 1st January 2009
Posted By: newyork2philly
1960sMermaids At The Boomerang Lodge
in Aspen, Colorado, the winter of 1962-63... The Boomerang Lodge, designed by owner Charlie Paterson, a Frank Lloyd Wright-trained architect . . .
Tags: boomerang lodge aspen colorado
1950sLiberace British Libel Suit 1956
In 1956, Liberace successfully sued a British newspaper, the Daily Mirror, for libel after a columnist referred to him as 'fruit-flavored.' After Liberace died of AIDS 30 years later, the newspaper tried to get its money back.
Tags: Liberace sexuality libel suit
1980sFirst News Report Of AIDS 1982
Here's one for the archives: Ths clip is from the NBC Nightly News broadcast of June 17, 1982. It reports a significant link of a 'rare type of cancer' to the lifestyles of homosexual men.
Tags: AIDS news report 1982
Added: 11th July 2009
1970sHow Do You Spell Relief - Rolaids
Tags: How Do You Spell Relief - Rolaids antacid acid relief 1976 70s 1970s
Added: 13th April 2014
Posted By: Cliffy
Multiple YearsKathleen Freeman
Kathleen Freeman was born February 17, 1919 and was acting on stage by the age of two with her dancing in her parents' vaudeville act. Although she had an extensive movie career including voice over work for the movie Sherk she was most well know for her roles on TV as she portrayed as maids, secretaries, busybodies, nurses, and zany neighbor. She died of lung cancer on August 23, 200 at the age 82.
Tags: Kathleen Freeman vaudeville act dancing movie star tv star
Posted By: Old Fart
1980sChecking In - Sitcom Flop 1981
The Jeffersons was a hugely successful spinoff from All in the Family, running for 10 seasons from 1975 to 1985. It also inspired a not-so-successful spinoff: Checking In. On The Jeffersons, Marla Gibbs played Florence Johnston, the sassy, wisecracking maid who regularly exchanged insults with George Jefferson. Her character was so well liked by viewers that CBS figured it would be a smart move to give Gibbs her own series. Accordingly, in episode #154 and #155 of The Jeffersons, a hotel manager was so impressed by Florence that he offered her the job as supervisor of maids at his St. Frederick Hotel. Florence accepted and Checking In was born. It premiered on Thursday, April 9, 1981. Larry Linville (Major Frank Burns from MASH fame) played Lyle Block, the hotel's weasly manager and, naturally, Florence's nemesis. After four weeks, though, Checking In was floundering in the ratings and CBS pulled the plug after the April 30 episode. Smartly, the network had Gibbs return to the Jeffersons' household as their maid. In her return episode, #161, Florence arrives at the Jeffersons' door explaining that the hotel burned down! (Her clothing and hair had traces of soot and fire damage to add credibility to the plot twist!) She had to compete with new maid Carmen to get her old job back. After missing just five shows, Gibbs' Florence character remained on The Jeffersons until the series ended in 1985. Marla Gibbs was nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy in for five stright years (1981 through 1985) for her role as Florence Johnston. Gibbs' career accomplishments are even more impressive when one considers she was married at age 13 and had three children by age 20! She still managed to graduate from Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago. A performer in amateur theatricals, Gibbs was working as a customer service agent for United Airlines when she got her role on The Jeffersons. Cautiously, she waited until The Jeffersons was a bonafide hit show before quitting her job at United!
Tags: Marla Gibbs checking In Jeffersons sitcom
Added: 28th August 2011
1930s & EarlierAlbertine Lapensee Mystery
During the First world War, most of Canada's young able-bodied males enlisted in the military. As a result the quality of men's hockey dropped dramatically. For a short time, women's pro hockey took center stage--and Albertine Lapensee briefly and mysteriously became a superstar. Nicknamed 'the Miracle Maid,' the 26-year-old Lapensee played for her hometown Cornwall (Ontario) Victorias. Her hockey debut came in January 1916 against Ottawa; she scored five of the six goals in Cornwall's victory. Immediately after her debut game, Ottawa players complained that she was really a man. Suspicions and accusations dogged her the rest of her brief career. A week after her debut, Lapensee scored four goals in an 8-0 shutout against the Montreal Westerns before a crowd of about 3,000 fans. At one point the Montreal players yanked off Lapensee's toque to see how long her hair was. (She had braids that fell past her shoulders.) The continuous rumors about Lapensee's gender prompted her hometown newspaper, the Cornwall Standard, to vouch for her. Miss Lapensee, it said, '...played more with her brothers and other boys than with her girlfriends, and this accounts for the masculine style of play she has developed.' Furthermore, 'Scores of people in East Cornwall have known her since her infancy.' Albertine played on, indifferent to the rumours, and the fans didn't seem to mind too much either, as large crowds came to watch her play. In one game she scored 15 goals. When the Victorias agreed to play against the Ottawa Alerts, the Vics' manager had to guarantee Lapensee's appearance by contract. She even behaved like her male counterparts off the ice. She once refused to play until she had been paid, which nearly caused a riot. Although scoring records for the time are incomplete, they indicate Albertine scored about 80 percent of Cornwall's goals in the 1916-1917 season. The next season, Lapensee led her team to an undefeated season. Then, after two spectacular seasons, Albertine Lapensee vanished. There is no record of her playing hockey again--at least as Albertine Lapensee. Family legend says she went to New York in 1918 and had a sex change operation. She/he supposedly married and settled down to run a gas station near Cornwall under the name of Albert Smyth. There are no known photos of Lapensee. Her story is not widely known--not even in Canada.
Tags: hockey Albertine Lapensee controversy gender
Added: 24th June 2011
Multiple YearsAyds Diet Candies
Ayds was a brand name of boxed candies that were used as appetite suppressants for dieters starting in 1937. They were available in several flavors. Eating an Ayds candy was supposed to eliminate one's craving for a calorie-rich dessert. Ayds hit their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and had strong sales until the early 1980s. Then, unfortunately, the candies suffered the misfortune of having a name that sounded exactly like the disease AIDS. (This coincidence made some of the advertising pitches from the 1970s sound really bad: "Why go on a diet when you can have Ayds?") By the mid-1980s, sales of Ayds had dropped by 50% from their heyday just a few years earlier. The product's name was changed to Diet Ayds in 1987, but trying to persuade the public that Ayds had no connection to AIDS proved to be an uphill battle. By the end of the 1980s, the candies were discontinued.
Tags: Ayds diet candies name
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