Actually, what brought metal fatigue to the fore front of commercial aviation was the de Havilland Comet in the 1950s.
Recently Southwest got spanked by the FAA for not documenting proper fuselage inspections and, as I recall, repairs of fatigue cracks. It is hard to keep the FAA happy in the documentation area. My airline got a huge fine for some incredibly minor issues that came out of conflicting guidance from two different FAA maintenance inspectors at two different bases. Given that this aircraft was one of just a few dozen that hadn't come under the extra scrutiny required by the settlement agreement with the FAA, maybe the feds were on to something this time.
Something to consider that I bet is news to most you guys, the oxygen systems have been removed from the lavatories in ALL commercial aircraft. It happened just a few weeks ago, ordered by the FAA in an emergency airworthiness directive. It required immediate removal of these systems. Now the flight attendants have to check the lavs after a decompression and bring a portable O2 bottle with them. This is the first decompression since the removal of these systems. I wonder if the FAs remembered to check the lavs. Obviously, no one died in a lav, maybe no one was in a lav. But did they check? So here is the lesson, don't be taking a leisurely recreational dump in an aircraft lavatory at cruise altitudes.