Ask Anne - Winter 2016

Q: We are curious about what happened when two men stole a plane from the College Park Airport and crashed near campus. Do you have any information about it?—COLLEGE PARK AVIATION MUSEUM

A: I was able to find a Diamondback article about the March 1972 incident. Two men (not students) stole a small Piper Cub plane from the airport, which wasn’t guarded. They both had pilot’s licenses, but lost control of the aircraft and crashed at 4:42 a.m. near the intersection of College and Princeton avenues—nearly hitting the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house. Officials suspected cloudy weather and the lack of headlights on the plane were factors in the accident that killed both men.

Q: We’re looking for information about the 1973 Maryland-Georgetown men’s basketball game at Cole. It was Georgetown’s last trip to the College Park campus until November’s game. Can you let me know what video and photos we may have of that game and any others against the Hoyas?—PAT SHANNON, INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS

A: Maryland and Georgetown renewed their rivalry when the Terps hosted the Hoyas in November and won 75–71. Since 1910, the non-conference opponents have competed 64 times, with Maryland coming out on top 37 times. All games between 1973 and 2008 (with one exception) were played at neutral sites. We don’t have film from the 1973 game, but we have plenty of photos, statistics and a written play-by-play. In addition, we have film reels from 12 games from 1959 to 1980 as well as photographs and programs for a number of games from that era.

Q: I love chocolate milk and heard a rumor that it was created at UMD. Is that true?—MARISA TAN ’13

A: No, but Leidy Zern M.S. ’29 did invent a process that created less sedimentation in chocolate milk—which made its commercial manufacture possible. He worked with Professor Richard Munkwitz as a graduate student, and the two patented their method in 1932.

Questions may be emailed to Terp magazine or tweeted to @UMDarchives

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