On This Day: April 21

The day Elvis conquered the world, a Queen was born, and the Loch Ness Monster turned out to be a toy submarine

Pour yourself a cup of something good, because April 21 is a brilliant day in history. Let’s take a look at what happened.

1926 — A future Queen arrives

On this day in 1926, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born at 2:40 in the morning in a townhouse in Mayfair, London – the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York. Nobody imagined she would one day be Queen. Her uncle Edward was young, expected to marry and produce heirs of his own. Then he fell in love with an American divorcée, abdicated his throne, and changed everything. The little girl known to her family as “Lilibet” went on to reign for 70 years – longer than any British monarch in history. April 21 this year marks 100 years since her birth, and Britain is celebrating her centenary with new charities, memorials and tributes. Not bad for someone who just wanted to be quietly second in line.

1956 — The King checks into Heartbreak Hotel

On April 21, 1956, thanks in large part to his exposure on the new medium of television, a 21-year-old Elvis Presley notched his first number one pop single – Heartbreak Hotel – which also topped the country chart and went top five on the R&B chart. RCA executives had called the song a morbid mess when they first heard it. Elvis’s former Sun Records boss Sam Phillips was equally unimpressed. The public, however, thought otherwise – it sold over two million copies and ignited Presley’s career. John Lennon later said that when he first heard it, his hair stood on end. George Harrison called it a rock and roll epiphany. Not bad for a morbid mess.

1934 — The monster that wasn’t

On this day in 1934, the Daily Mail published what became one of the most famous photographs in history – a blurry image of a long-necked creature apparently rising from the waters of Loch Ness in Scotland. The world went wild. Decades of expeditions followed. Books were written. Films were made. There was just one small problem: the famous image depicted a toy submarine with a head and neck made of wood putty. The hoax wasn’t confirmed until 1994. The monster, meanwhile, has never been found. Though hope, as they say, springs eternal.

Also on this day…

Mark Twain – who once said he came in with Halley’s Comet and expected to go out with it – did exactly that, dying on April 21, 1910, the day after the comet’s closest approach to Earth. And in 1980, marathon runner Rosie Ruiz crossed the Boston finish line in record time, accepted her medal, her laurel wreath and her glory – before officials discovered she had hopped on the subway for most of the race.

Some days have all the fun.

Come back tomorrow for another spin through the calendar.