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This Week in Boomer History: Earth Day ... New Coke ... 'Heartbreak Hotel'
By Steve Mencher, April 20, 2014 02:00 AM
Notable events from our shared experience
Polaroid Corp. introduces its SX-70 folding camera on April 25, 1972. It's the first automatic, motorized, single-lens reflex camera that makes self-developing instant color prints.
The 1964 New York World's Fair opens April 22 with the theme "Peace Through Understanding" and provides an early Space Age look into the future.
On April 24, 1980, President Jimmy Carter launches Operation Eagle Claw to free Americans held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Eight servicemen die in the failed raid; 52 hostages remain in Iran until Ronald Reagan is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1981.
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Edward R. Murrow, a pioneer radio and television news broadcaster, dies April 27, 1965. His work helped expose the tactics used by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., to investigate domestic communism. Said to have smoked 60 to 70 cigarettes a day, Murrow succumbs to lung cancer. 
Elvis Presley's first No. 1 hit? " Heartbreak Hotel," which tops the charts on April 21, 1956. His last? "Suspicious Minds," in 1969. Can you hum it?
The Coca-Cola Co. announces on April 23, 1985, that it's scuttling its secret formula for Coke and in favor of "new Coke." Backlash persuades the company to resurrect the original drink as "Coca-Cola classic" on July 11.
The first Earth Day is celebrated April 22, 1970. It's the brainchild of U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis., in response to a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Let us read This Week in Boomer History to you:
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Credits - Polaroid camera: Master of Felix/Flickr; Edward R. Murrow: Screenshot from 'Challenge of Ideas' film, via Wikipedia; Earth Day, April 22, 1970, AP
Music - Test Drive: Zapac via ccMixter
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Also of Interest
- This Week in Boomer History: Rolling Stones ... Bay of Pigs ... 'The Simpsons'
- Are You a Social Security Double-Dipper? Perhaps Not Much Longer
- Fight fraud and ID theft with the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
- Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being
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