Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

Hello friends! Things sure have changed in the world since we last visited Ella Fitzgerald.

She's one of our earlier subjects, and one that lodged pretty firmly in our hearts as a musician, a pioneer, and an all-around genuinely good person.

The live music industry is in peril right now. Events and venues are shuttered, and musicians are struggling to provide for themselves and their communities.

And Susan and I would like to encourage anyone who's moved by Ella's story to consider helping the jazz foundation of America's COVID Relief Fund.

They provide direct relief in counseling to jazz and blues musicians during this time of crisis.

This is not an advertisement, and they don't even know we're putting this out there, but as the daughter of two musicians, I know how important the arts are to society.

You can learn more about the jazz foundation of America and their mission at jazzfoundation.org, or look around in your own community and see if there's an arts organization that needs your support right now.

The society you save might just be your own, without further ado, on with the show.

And here's your 30-second summary!

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who dreamed of being a dancer. She came to fork in the road, and the past she chose made all the difference.

From a life on the street, she rose to Hobnob with King, Duke's Count, and the chairman of the board. She's now known to all as the first lady of songs.

The Ten!

Let's talk about Ella Fitzgerald.

Let's first drop her into history. In 1917, the Russian Revolution breaks out and Zara Nicholas II abdicated the throne.

Jeanette Rankin became the first woman member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

And on exactly the same day that that happened, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany.

That was a big day. It was April 2nd.

A few days later, of course, the U.S. entered World War I. That year, the Raggedy and Doll was invented.

The British Royal family changed its last name from hand over to Windsor. The New York State gave women the right to vote. In 1917, the first jazz record is made in New York.

And it was from the original Dixieland Jazz Band, but they still jazzed J.A.S. House. And ironically, on April 25th, 1917, Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport, Newspaper, Virginia.

Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born to William and Temperance, but she's called Tempe.

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