The only unsolved hijacking of an American plane took place on this date in 1971. A person who may or may not have been named Dan Cooper or D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane over the Pacific Northwest and demanded $200,000 and a parachute. Given both, he then demanded a flight toward Mexico at a slow rate of speed. Then, somewhere over Washington state, at night, in a rainstorm, he jumped. It remains an open case. If he survived, the money has not been used in the four decades since (the serial numbers were recorded and the bills photographed and the order the bills were laid in together was recorded, as well). If he died in the jump, which is most likely, nothing has been found despite a four-decade search. (In that pre-GPS world, it is not known where he jumped or when he pulled the ripcord--if he did--and it was during a nighttime storm over mountainous and forested terrain.) Several bundles of the cash turned up many years later, heavily weathered, but still in rubber bands, which should have deteriorated by the date the bills were found, and in an area that had been searched previously, implying the bundles were placed there. They were not complete bundles, either, as one was missing a few bills from inside. But none of the rest of the money, almost $200,000 worth, has ever turned up. Many novels, songs, movies and TV show episodes have offered fantasies about the case and about the outlaw who got away. In the TV show Twin Peaks, Kyle MacLachlans FBI agent character is named Dale Bartholomew Cooper and the show is set in the Pacific Northwest. No characters comment on this, but it is as if Agent Cooper parachuted in on the community. Laurence Sterne was born on this date in 1713. Oscar Robertson is 76. Pete Best, who is famous for not becoming what he might have been more famous for, is 73. (He was the drummer for The Beatles but was replaced by Ringo Starr before The Beatles ever recorded.) On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin was published on this date in 1859. Guys and Dolls debuted on Broadway on this date in 1950. Here is Garrison Keillors The Writers Almanac for November 24--keep in touch, D.B. Cooper! writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2014/11/24
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 13:10:01 +0000
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