A Day of Controversies: This Day in Pop Culture History (May 6)

On this day in pop culture history, Paul Haggis’ movie, Crash opened in theaters. It became a polarizing film. It was also on this day that the diaries of Adolph Hitler were proven to be fakes. And finally, it was a day of shock and disbelief in Cleveland, Ohio when three missing women were found after being held captive for over 10 years.

2005: The Controversial ‘Crash’

Faces of the cast from 2005's movie "Crash" — The cast of the movie *Crash (TVDB)*

Many people were surprised when the film Crash won for Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards. The movie, which opened in theaters on this day, beat out Good Night, and Good Luck, Capote, Brokeback Mountain and Munich. Even the film’s director, Paul Haggis didn’t agree with award. However, he admitted that “Crash, for some reason, affected People, it touched people.”

Haggis was inspired to make the film about racial tensions after two African American men carjacked him in 1991. Paul said that he wanted to “bust liberals” who made the outrageous claim that America had become free of racial preference, discrimination and prejudice.

The movie begins with Detective Graham (Don Cheadle) and his partner, Ria (Jennifer Esposito) becoming involved in a small collision. Ria and the woman who hit them go back and forth with racial insults at each other. Later, Graham attends a crime scene where a dead child has been discovered. The movie goes back two days’ time to show how the madness all began.

In addition to Cheadle and Esposito, the movie also starred Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Ludacris, Thandiwe Newton, Michael Pena and Ryan Phillippe.

In addition to winning the Best Picture Oscar, Crash also won for Best Original Screenplay (Haggis) and Best Film Editing.

1983: The Hitler Diaries is Ruled a Hoax

The cover of "The Hitler Diaries" — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

Many people have wondered just what was going through Adolf Hitler’s mind, so imagine what it must have been like to have discovered 60 volumes of journals from the German leader.

In early 1983, West German magazine Stern purchased these diaries for 9.3 million Deutsche Marks ($3.7 million) which then sold serialization rights to numerous news organizations.

One publication, The Sunday Times, asked the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper to authenticate the diaries, which he did. However, during a press conference announcing the publication of the diaries, he changed his mind which led to other historians doubting the credibility of the diaries.

After forensic analysis, it was confirmed on this day that the journals were fakes written by Konrad Kujau who was known for petty crimes and deception.

A plaque dedicated to runner Roger Bannister — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

1954: First Mile Run in Less than Four Minutes

After coming in 4th place during the 1500 meters run at the 1952 Olympics, Roger Bannister was determined to run the mile in less than four minutes. He achieved his goal on this day at Iffley Road track in Oxford with three minutes and 59.4 seconds.

Writer John Steinbeck — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

1940: John Steinbeck Awarded

John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath (which was based on various newspaper articles he had written regarding agricultural migrant workers) was the best-selling book of 1939. Just months later, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

A set from the TV show, "Friends" — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

2004: The Last ‘Friends’ Episode

NBC’s hit sitcom Friends ended its 10-year run on this day with 52.5 million viewers tuning in to see Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer star in “The One Where They Say Goodbye.”

2013: The House of Horrors

The boarded-up home of kidnapper Ariel Castro — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

On this day in 2013, people all over the world were shocked to learn that three kidnapped women were now free. The three had been kidnapped by Ariel Castro in Cleveland, Ohio for over ten years. Each woman’s story begins the same way: Castro offered them a ride. Instead, he brought them to his home and restrained them in his basement.

Michelle Knight was 21 years old when she disappeared on August 23, 2002. It was the day that she was supposed to appear in court for a child custody case.

Amanda Marie Berry disappeared just before her 17th birthday on April 21, 2003. She had called home to say that she was getting a ride home from work, but she never arrived.

Then on April 2, 2004, Georgina Lynn DeJesus disappeared after leaving her middle school.

After years of torture and torment, Marie escaped. She took her six-year-old daughter (Castro was the father) from the only “home” she had known. Within hours, the other two women were freed, and Castro was arrested. He was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison without the possibility of parole.