No-Fault Divorce on This Day in History

 

This day in history: On this day in 1970, California became the first of the 50 United States to permit "no-fault divorce", in which a divorce could be granted without the petitioner having to allege misconduct on the part of his or her spouse. Other states would enact similar legislation, with dissolution of marriage being allowed simply on grounds of "irreconcilable differences" between the two partners. The Family Law Act applied to all pending divorce cases filed under the old law, as well as the new ones filed for dissolution, which became the preferred term. The law had gone into effect the day before, but courts were not open for proceedings on the holiday. On the first domestic court hearings in Los Angeles County on January 5, a record number of marriages were ordered ended in a single day, with the average time for a hearing being "less than two minutes per case".

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The Candyman Serial Killer on This Day in History

 

This Day In History: Serial killer Dean Corll began the abduction and murder of schoolboys from locations in The Heights, a neighborhood in Houston, Texas on this day in 1970. Although Corll had killed an 18-year-old college student, hitchhiker Jeffrey Konen, on September 25, Corll and his accomplice, David Brooks, began the killings when Brooks lured two 14-year-olds, James Eugene Glass and Danny Michael Yates, to their deaths from an evangelical rally at a neighborhood church. Six more boys, ranging in age from 13 to 17, would disappear in 1971, and Corll would murder seven boys and two men in 1972. Seven more children would vanish in 1973 before Corll's murder by Brooks on August 8 of that year. In all, 27 bodies would be found on Corll's property, including those of Glass and Yates; in response to criticism of the Houston Police Department for failing to notice the disappearances of children in the Heights, the police chief noted that it had received 5,200 reports of children running away from home over a two-year period, and 214 from The Heights in 1971.

Corll was known as the Candy Man and the Pied Piper, because he and his family had previously owned and operated a candy factory in Houston Heights, and he had been known to give free candy to local children.

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A Feral Child Discovered on This Day in History

This day in history: On this day in 1970, social workers in Los Angeles took custody of a 13-year-old victim of child abuse identified in studies by the pseudonym "Genie". She had been kept in confinement to one room by her father since her birth, until her mother finally took her from the home in October. Though her rescue was not publicized at the time, the case of "Genie", who had not learned how to communicate, would become a landmark in the study of linguistics, psychology and education of a feral child.

In October 1970, when Genie was approximately 13 years and 6 months old, her parents had a violent argument in which her mother threatened to walk out if she could not call her own parents. Her husband eventually relented, and later that day she left with Genie when he was out of the house to go to her parents' house in Monterey Park; Genie's brother, by then 18, had already run away from home and was living with friends. Around three weeks later, on November 4, their mother decided to apply for disability benefits for the blind in nearby Temple City, California, and brought Genie with her, but on account of her near-blindness, she accidentally entered the general social services office next door. The social worker who greeted them instantly sensed something was wrong when she saw Genie, and was shocked to learn her true age, having estimated from her appearance and demeanor that she was around six or seven and possibly autistic, and after she and her supervisor questioned Genie's mother and confirmed Genie's age they immediately contacted the police. Her parents were arrested and she became a ward of the court; due to her physical condition and near-total unsocialized state, a court order was immediately issued for her to be taken to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

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The First Fatal Aircraft Hijacking on This Day in History

This Day in History: Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320, carrying passengers from Newark to Boston, was hijacked on this day in 1970, by John J. Divivo who was armed with a .38 caliber revolver. Captain Robert Wilbur Jr., 35, a former United States Air Force pilot who had been promoted to captain six months prior, was shot in his arm by the suicidal hijacker. Despite his wounds, he flew his aircraft safely to a landing while talking to air traffic control, telling them his copilot was shot and needed emergency services. His copilot, James Hartley, 30, was shot and collapsed. Despite being mortally wounded, Hartley was able to force the gun from Divivo's hand, and shoot the would-be hijacker three times before lapsing into unconsciousness, and eventual death. Despite his injuries, Divivo arose and began clawing at Captain Wilbur, attempting to force a crash. Wilbur hit Divivo over the head with the gun he had retrieved from the center console. The pilot was able to land the plane safely at Logan International Airport, and the hijacker was arrested. On October 31, 1970, Divivo hanged himself while awaiting trial at Charles Street Jail.

The incident was the first aircraft hijacking in the United States to end with a fatality.

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