The Century 21 Exposition World's Fair opened in Seattle, Washington at 11.00 am local time. The President officially opened the Fair by telephone from Palm Beach, where he and Mrs Kennedy were spending the Easter holidays. His voice was heard by 12,000 people seated in the stadium on the fairgrounds in Seattle for the opening ceremonies. He opened the fair by telegraph key, using the same telegraph key that President Taft had used to open the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909. Let the fair begin!
In addition to the 606 foot tall Space Needle building, which became a symbol of Seattle, the Fair included a carnival that would "fit a working man's budget". The carnival, in operation for the duration of the fair, was called "Gayway".
A flight formation of 24 U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy jets, part of the opening ceremonies of the Seattle World's Fair, ended in tragedy. One of the F-102 Dagger jet fighters experienced flight trouble. The pilot ejected safely, but the jet crashed into a residential neighborhood at the suburb of Mountlake Terrace, Washington, destroying two homes and killing an elderly couple. A five member family, that normally resided in the other home, had gone on Easter vacation to avoid the traffic associated with the fair opening.
Frederick Handley Page, founder of Britain's first aircraft manufacturing company, Handley Page Ltd, died aged 76.
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