April 1, 2008

430 years ago
1578

Born on this date
William Harvey. U.K. physician. Dr. Harvey is considered by many to be the father of modern medicine. A physician at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London and lecturer at Cambridge University, he was later appointed court physician. Dr. Harvey was first to demonstrate the function of the heart and the complete circulation of the blood, a feat especially remarkable because it was accomplished without the aid of a microscope. He also made major contributions to the fields of comparative anatomy and embryology. It often takes a long time for new theories to be accepted by the establishment, and in Dr. Harvey’s case, his ideas weren’t fully substantiated until 1827. His best-known book was Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (On the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals), published in 1628. Dr. Harvey died in 1657.

140 years ago
1868

Born on this date
Edmond Rostand. French poet and dramatist. Mr. Rostand is famous for his play Cyrano de Bergerac (1897). He also wrote two plays in which Sarah Bernhardt starred: La Princesse lointaine (1895, tr. The Princess Faraway, 1899); and L'Aiglon (1900). Mr. Rostand died in 1918.

125 years ago
1883

Born on this date
Laurette Taylor. U.S. actress. Miss Taylor, born Loretta Cooney, was best known for starring in the play (1912) and movie (1922) Peg o' My Heart, written for her by her husband, playwright J. Hartley Manners. Heavy drinking contributed to a decline in Miss Taylor's career in the late 1920s, but she made a successful comeback by playing Amanda Wingfield in the original Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie (1945), winning the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Miss Taylor died of a coronary thrombosis on December 7, 1946 at the age of 63.

100 years ago
1908

Defense
The 101st Regiment (Edmonton Fusiliers) was created by a General Order of the Militia Council of Canada. The regiment was, and is, better known as the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, or Loyal Eddies.

90 years ago
1918

Protest
5 civilians were killed and 70 wounded in a shootout with soldiers in Québec City after martial law had been proclaimed as the result of anti-conscription riots that had begun on March 28.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
L.S. Peterson. U.S. postal worker. Mr. Peterson, a Democrat, was retiring as postmaster in Douglas, Georgia, and shot and killed one of the clerks and himself. In a letter he accused Republicans of driving him to debt by campaign money levies. The incident shows that "going postal" is not just a recent phenomenon.

Religion
Crown Prince Umberto of Italy headed a procession of pilgrims at Jerusalem worshipping at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, marking the first time since the Crusades that Roman Catholic royalty had entered that church.

Politics and government
Bernardo Irigoyen was elected President of Argentina.

75 years ago
1933

Abominations
The Nazi persecution of Jews began in Germany with a boycott of Jewish businesses.

60 years ago
1948

At the movies
Devil's Cargo, directed by John F. Link, Sr., and starring John Calvert as the Falcon, opened in theatres.



Theatre
The popular Toronto revue Spring Thaw made its debut at the Museum Theatre. The production, devised by the New Play Society under Dora Mavor Moore and directed by her son Mavor Moore, had three performances. The revue was a combination of topical and satirical songs, dances, and skits, mostly on Canadian subjects. It ran annually in Toronto from 1948 through 1971, and again in 1980 and 1981. The revue toured Canada in 1962, 1964, 1967, and 1980. Directors, writers and performers included Wayne and Shuster; Pierre Berton; Dinah Christie; Jack Duffy; Barbara Hamilton; Rich Little; Catherine MacKinnon; Don Harron; and Don Francks. According to Ross Stuart in Canadian Theatre Review: "After the Dumbells, Spring Thaw was the most significant phenomenon in the development of musical theatre in Canada. Although it followed in the tradition of earlier revues, it far excelled them all."

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): (The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts--The Bee Gees

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): I'm Coming Home--Tom Jones (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Andy Griffith Show, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Mayberry R.F.D.

This was the 259th and final episode of the program, setting up the spinoff series Mayberry R.F.D..

Died on this date
Lev Landau, 60. U.S.S.R. physicist. Dr. Landau received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physics for his development of a mathematical theory of superfluidity that accounts for the properties of liquid helium II at a temperature below 2.17 K (-270.98 °C.). He died as the result of injuries received in an auto accident seven years earlier, from which he never fully recovered.

War
Operation Pegasus, with a force of 30,000 American and South Vietnamese troops, was launched in an attempt to relieve the U.S. Marine base at Khesanh, under siege from North Vietnamese forces.

Economics and finance
Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange hit a record 17,730,000 shares.

30 years ago
1978

Hockey
NHL
Boston 1 @ Montreal 7
Buffalo 2 @ Toronto 3
Washington 2 @ New York Islanders 3
Pierre Bouchard scored 2 goals and an assist for the Canadiens as they routed the Bruins at the Montreal Forum in the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast. The Bruins’ lineup for that game included Dennis O’Brien, who became the first man to play with four National Hockey League teams in the same season. Mr. O’Brien, a defenseman, played 13 games with the Minnesota North Stars to begin the 1977-78 season; this was followed by 16 games with the Colorado Rockies, 23 with the Cleveland Barons, and 16 with the Bruins, a total of 68 games.

Darryl Sittler scored his 44th goal of the season at 2:03 of the 3rd period to break a 2-2 tie as the Maple Leafs edged the Sabres at Maple Leaf Gardens in the southern Ontario telecast of Hockey Night in Canada. Dave "Tiger" Williams scored the first 2 Toronto goals in the 1st period. Mike Palmateer made 37 saves to win the goaltending duel over Don Edwards.

Rookie Mike Bossy scored his 50th goal of the season on a powerplay with 8:08 remaining in the game and scored his 51st on a powerplay with 5 seconds remaining to enable the Islanders to defeat the Capitals at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale.

Baseball
The Houston Astros scored 3 runs in the 1st inning, 2 in the 2nd, and 3 in the 8th as they easily beat the Texas Rangers 8-1 in a spring training game before 5,100 fans at Ray Winder Field in Little Rock, Arkansas. J.R. Richard started on the mound for Houston and allowed just 2 hits in 7 scoreless innings to even his spring training record at 1-1. Doyle Alexander pitched the first 6 innings for Texas, allowing 5 runs--2 earned--to fall to 2-3 for the spring.



30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Tell it to My Heart--Taylor Dayne (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Jim Jordan, 91. U.S. actor. Mr. Jordan was the male star of the radio series Fibber McGee and Molly, with Molly being played by Mr. Jordan’s real-life wife Marian. The Jordans began their radio careers on WENR in Chicago in 1927 doing two series: Luke and Mirandy, and The Smith Family. In 1931 they created a series called Smackout for WMAQ in Chicago. All these series were situation comedies in rural settings. Smackout was picked up by the National Broadcasting Company in April 1933 and ran until August 1935. Fibber McGee and Molly, a series developed by Mr. Jordan, began running on NBC on April 16, 1935. It took five years to become a big hit, but it eventually became one of the most popular series on radio, running until mid-1953. Fibber and Molly made appearances in short segments on the NBC series Monitor from 1957-1959 under the title Just Molly and Me. The Jordans were set to renew their contract with NBC when Marian died of cancer in 1961.

World events
The United States sent more Marines into Panama, while the Pentagon rejected a charge by Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega that the U.S. was planning military action against his regime. U.S. officials said the move was intended to demonstrate support for ousted President Eric Delvalle and others who opposed Gen. Noriega.

Diplomacy
A 60-day case-fire between the Sandanista government of Nicaragua and Contra rebels formally took effect.

Scandal
James McKay, the independent counsel investigating U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese on a variety of matters, said that he did not plan to seek an indictment of him, "based on the evidence developed to date."

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had continued to edge downward to 5.5% in March.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 3 @ Detroit 7

Los Angeles 6 @ Calgary 3

Shawn Burr scored 2 goals and Adam Oates added a goal and 3 assists for the Red Wings as they beat the Maple Leafs at Joe Louis Arena in the last Maple Leafs’ game to be telecast on the independent Hamilton station CHCH, and the last for Erik Thomas as TV play-by-play broadcaster. Mr. Thomas decided to observe the occasion (which also happened to be April Fools’ Day) by spicing up his call of the game with some voice impressions. His Danny Gallivan impression was so good that it fooled me; I thought Mr. Gallivan had actually taken over the mike for a few minutes. Mr. Thomas’s antics were more entertaining than the game.

Luc Robitaille scored his 49th and 50th goals of the season to help the Kings defeat the Flames at Olympic Saddledome.

10 years ago
1998

Disasters
Floods in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec forced 2,000 people from their homes.