Gunard Hjertstedt wrote six books before he decided people weren’t digging his name. So he chose the pseudonym Day Keene and went on to publish some of the most entertaining novels of pulp’s golden age. Hjertstedt also wrote as William Richards, but it was the Day Keene moniker that he parlayed into international fame, writing titles like My Flesh Is Sweet, If the Coffin Fits, and Dead Dolls Don’t Talk. Several of Keene’s novels were adapted to film, including 1960’s Chautauqua (written with Dwight Vincent), which was transformed into the Elvis Presley vehicle The Trouble with Girls. But don’t let that deter you—Keene’s novels are hard, fast and well worth the read.
1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt
In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.