Message:20319 In: TODAY.WW
From: KF5JRVDate: Sun, 05 Apr 26 11:28:00 Z
Newsgroups: TODAY.WW
Subject: Today in History - Apr 05
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Howard Robard Hughes, one of the richest men to emerge from the American West during the 20th century, dies while flying from A
capulco to Houston.
Born in Houston, Texas, in 1905, Hughes inherited an estate of nearly a million dollars when his father died in 1923. Hughes’
father also left him the business that had created this fortune, the Hughes Tool Company, which controlled the rights to a new
oil drill technology that was in high demand. The young Hughes quickly began to expand his business empire into new fields. In
1926, he moved to Hollywood, where he became involved in the rapidly growing movie industry. He produced several popular films
, including Hell’s Angels, Scarface and The Outlaw.
Fascinated with the new technology of airplanes, Hughes also invested heavily in the burgeoning West Coast aviation industry. W
ith some training in engineering from the California Institute of Technology and the Rice Institute of Technology, Hughes desig
ned his own aircraft and then had his Hughes Aircraft Company build it. In 1935, he piloted one of his airplanes to a new world
-speed record of 352.46 mph. His reputation as an aircraft designer and builder suffered after an ill-fated WWII government-spo
nsored project to build an immense plane that Hughes claimed would be able to transport 750 passengers. Nicknamed the Spruce Go
ose, Hughes’ monstrosity flew only once: a one-mile hop on November 2, 1947.
Never an extrovert, Hughes became increasingly reclusive after 1950. Operating through managers who rarely saw him in person, h
e bought up vast tracts of real estate in California, Arizona, and Nevada that skyrocketed in value. In 1967, he became involve
d in the Nevada gambling industry when he purchased the famous Desert Inn Hotel on the Las Vegas strip. Nevada gaming authoriti
es welcomed Hughes’ involvement because it counteracted the popular image that the Mafia dominated the gambling industry. By
the early 1970s, Hughes had become the largest single landholder in Nevada, and with around 8,000 Nevada residents on his payro
ll, Hughes was also the state’s largest employer.
Although the rumors of Hughes’ bizarre behavior have been exaggerated—in part due to a fraudulent memoir published in 1971â
€”in his final years the billionaire became even more obsessed with privacy. He continually moved between his residences in Las
Vegas, the Bahamas, Nicaragua, Canada, England and Mexico. Other than a few male aides, almost nobody saw Hughes, and he somet
imes worked for days at a stretch in a black-curtained room without sleeping.
Emaciated and deranged from too little food and too many drugs, Hughes finally became so ill that his aides decided that he nee
ded medical treatment. He died in his airplane en route from Acapulco to Houston at the age of 70.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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