May 6

At 7:25 in the evening on the 6th in 1937, the German zeppelin Hindenburg burst into flames as it attempted to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crewmembers onboard the Hindenburg, only 13 passengers and 22 members of the crew died. Considering how quickly, completely, and violently the fire engulfed the craft, it seems to me to be a surprisingly low death rate. Part of the charm of rock and roll is its tendency to go more than a little bit overboard. Maybe I’m getting old but I think it is going just a bit too far over the top to stage this fire and kill 45 people merely to come up with an incredibly good album cover for Led Zeppelin’s first album release.
The Led Zeppelin album cover was actually a drawing of the original UPI photograph done by artist George Hardie.