AARP Eye Center
This Week in Boomer History: Alberto Gonzales ... Day the Music Died
By Steve Mencher, February 2, 2014 02:00 AM
Noteworthy events from our shared experience.
On Feb. 3, 2005, Alberto Gonzales wins Senate confirmation and is sworn in as the nation's first Hispanic attorney general. He was also the first Hispanic to serve as White House counsel.
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson ("The Big Bopper") are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959 - "the day the music died" in Don McLean's song "American Pie."
Mark Zuckerberg launches Thefacebook at Harvard on Feb. 4, 2004. Ten years later, the fastest-growing group using Facebook is age 50-plus.
On Feb. 4, 1974, the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst, granddaughter of newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, in Berkeley, Calif. She's photographed robbing a bank with the SLA in April, arrested in September 1975 and convicted.
In the Orangeburg Massacre on Feb. 8, 1968, at South Carolina State College, state troopers and city police officers fire into a crowd of unarmed antisegregation protesters, killing three.
The French Lieutenant's Woman ends The Godfather 's 20-week reign atop the New York Times bestseller list on Feb. 8, 1970.
Promised a T-shirt and a dollar for showing up, 5,000 fans greet the Beatles at JFK Airport in New York on Feb. 7, 1964.
Visit Boomers, the Generation That Changed the World from AARP. 
Visit and contribute to our Boomer Tumblr.
Let us read This Week in Boomer History to you:
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/132388211" params="color=00ff92&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Images - Alberto Gonzales: Department of Justice via Wikipedia; Patty Hearst: San Mateo County Sheriff, via Wikimedia; Beatles: AP
Music - Test Drive: Zapac via ccMixter
>> Sign up for the AARP Leisure Newsletter
Also of Interest
- This Week in Boomer History: Jan. 27-Feb. 2
- Jay North (a.k.a. Dennis the Menace) and Other Child Stars - Where Are They Now?
- Get free assistance with tax-return preparation from Tax-Aide
- Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being
See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more
>> Get entertainment and dining discounts with your AARP Member Advantages.