April 11, 2008

160 years ago
1848

Politics and government
Sir Edmund Walker Head was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, having previously been Poor Law Commissioner in London, England.

110 years ago
1898

War
U.S. President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.

80 years ago
1928

Diplomacy
Princess Mary, travelling with her husband, Viscount Lascelles, became the first member of the royal family to visit the Holy Land since the British occupation in 1917. The couple were greeted with pomp and ceremony on their arrival in Jerusalem.

World events
Amanullah Khan, King of Afghanistan, had his tonsils removed by a German surgeon in Berlin.

Politics and government
At Ankara, the Turkish National Assembly unanimously passed a bill amending the Constitution by omitting all references to religion in the original articles stating that Islam was the religion of the Turkish republic, and providing the oath to be administered to deputies. Instead of swearing before God, the deputies were hereafter to swear upon their honour.

75 years ago
1933

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
At Maple Leaf Gardens, the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 to cut the Rangers' lead in the best-of-five Stanley Cup finals to 2 games to 1.

60 years ago
1948

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on MBS, starring John Stanley and Alfred Shirley
Tonight's episode: The Adventure of the Empty House

Golf
Claude Harmon won the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia with a then-record 9-under par score of 279, finishing 5 strokes ahead of Cary Middlecoff. First prize money was $2,500.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Toronto 2 @ Detroit 0 (Toronto led best-of-seven series 3-0)

Behind the goaltending of Turk Broda, the Maple Leafs defeated the Red Wings 2-0 at Olympia Stadium. The teams had played in Toronto the night before.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Magic Moments--Perry Como (7th week at #1)

Music
In the final round of the first International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, American entrant Van Cliburn of Kilgore, Texas performed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3. The audience included Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and her daughter, Marie José, the last Queen of Italy, seated in the Imperial Box.

40 years ago
1968

Theatre
A preview performance of Hair: The American Tribal Love Rock Musical took place at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City.

War
U.S. Defense Secretary Clark Clifford announced a major call-up of reservists to active duty in Vietnam. It was to affect 24,000 Army, Air Force, and Navy reservists, of whom about 10,000 would go to the war zone in the coming weeks to back up the 11,000 combat troops sent in February after the North Vietnamese Tet offensive.

Law
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, banning racial discrimination in the sale or rental of 80% of the nation's housing, a day after the House of Representatives passed it 250-171. President Johnson described the House action as a "victory for every American," having come after "a long, tortuous and difficult road." The bill also made it a federal crime to harm civil rights workers, to cross a state line to incite a riot, and to instruct people in the use of firearms or Molotov cocktails in riots. The measure further guaranteed broad rights to American Indians in their dealings with authorities from tribal to state or federal levels.

Disasters
A cyclone hit Faridpur District in East Pakistan, killing 1,000 and injuring 1,000 more.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Montreal 3 @ Boston 2 (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-0)
New York 4 @ Chicago 7 (New York led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Philadelphia 2 @ St. Louis 5 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Los Angeles 2 @ Minnesota 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Division Finals
Boston 114 @ Philadelphia 122 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Western Division Finals
Los Angeles 128 @ San Francisco 124 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 3-0)

ABA
Western Division Finals
New Orleans 119 @ Dallas 103 (New Orleans led best-of-seven series 3-1)

30 years ago
1978

War
Israeli forces began to withdraw from southern Lebanon. A contingent of 150 Norwegian UNIFIL troops occupied six villages in the area near the Syrian border evacuated by Israel.

World events
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos released 600 marchers who had been arrested two days earlier while protesting the country's election results. The eight organizers of the demonstration, including six People's Front leaders, were still detained.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced new steps to fight inflation, including 5.5% limit on federal employees' salary increases, and a freeze on White House staff pay. President Carter ruled out mandatory wage and price controls but appealed to industry and labour to show restraint. Industrial leaders praised the president's decision not to impose mandatory controls, but the financial community was disappointed with his failure to deal with what they considered to be the chief causes of inflation--the federal budget deficit, and the rapid growth of the U.S. money supply.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Preliminary Round
Colorado 2 @ Philadelphia 3 (Philadelphia led best-of-three series 1-0)
New York Rangers 1 @ Buffalo 4 (Buffalo led best-of-three series 1-0)
Los Angeles 3 @ Toronto 7 (Toronto led best-of-three series 1-0)
Detroit 5 @ Atlanta 3 (Detroit led best-of-five series 1-0)

Mel Bridgman scored 23 seconds into the 1st overtime period to give the Flyers their win over the Rockies at the Spectrum in the first playoff game ever for the Colorado franchise, who had been known as the Kansas City Scouts in their first two season in the National Hockey League before moving to Denver in 1976.

George Ferguson scored 3 goals for the Maple Leafs as they beat the Kings at Maple Leaf Gardens. The game offered ample evidence that Los Angeles goalie Rogie Vachon was washed up.

The Red Wings' win over the Flames at the Omni was their first playoff game since 1970, and their first playoff win since 1966.

Basketball
NBA
Playoffs
Western Conference
First Round
Milwaukee 111 @ Phoenix 103 (Milwaukee led best-of-three series 1-0)

25 years ago
1983

Died on this date
Dolores del Rio, 77. Mexican actress. The "female Valentino," Miss del Rio was the first Mexican movie actress to have international appeal. She moved to Hollywood with her screen writer husband, and made her movie debut in Joanna, released in 1925. Her Hollywood movies included Flying Down to Rio (1933) and Journey Into Fear (1943). Her marriage broke up after she had an affair with Orson Welles, and she made her way back to Mexico, where she became a huge star filming in Spanish for the first time. Miss del Rio won Ariels (Mexican Academy Awards) for three movies: Les Abandonadas (1946); Dona Perfecta (1951); and El Nino y la Niebla (1953).

Movies
The Academy Awards were presented for 1982. Gandhi took the Oscars for Best Picture; Best Director (Richard Attenborough); and Best Actor (Ben Kingsley). Other winners included: Actress--Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice); Supporting Actor--Louis Gossett, Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman); Supporting Actress--Jessica Lange (Tootsie); and Song--Up Where We Belong (An Officer and a Gentleman).

Defense
A commission appointed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced its proposals for production and basing of the MX missile. The commission, headed by Brebt Scowcroft, proposed that 100 MX missiles be built and deployed in existing Minuteman silos in Nebraska and Wyoming. Furthermore, newer and smaller ICBMs that could be launched from silos or trucks would also be built. Each MX missile would carry 10 nuclear warheads, and each smaller missile would carry one warhead. The commission estimated the cost of the proposal at about $20 billion, compared with $28 billion for the "dense pack" MX basing plan that Congress had rejected the previous December. The commission admitted that MX missiles in silos might be vulnerable in a nuclear attack.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Jeff Donnell, 66. U.S. actress. Jean Marie Donnell appeared in supporting roles in movies in the 1940s and '50s, and in television from the 1950s onward. She played Stella Fields in the soap opera General Hospital from 1979 until her death from a heart attack.

Movies
At the Academy Awards, The Last Emperor won Best Picture, with Bernardo Bertolucci taking Best Director honours for that film. Best Actor winner was Michael Douglas for Wall Street, although he should have been nominated for Fatal Attraction. Moonstruck won two acting Oscars--Cher (Actress) and Olympia Dukakis (Supporting Actress). Sean Connery won for Supporting Actor for his performance in The Untouchables. The Best Song winner was (I've Had) The Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing.

Terrorism
A second hostage aboard a Kuwait Airways jet that had been hijacked on April 5 was killed by the hijackers; the first had been killed on April 9. The hijackers were demanding that Kuwait release 17 Shiite prisoners; Kuwait refused to do so. The plane was now on the ground at Larnaca, Cyprus.

World events
Jose Napoleon Duarte, President of El Salvador, denied amnesty for three leftists charged, but not yet tried, in the 1985 killings of four U.S. Marines and nine civilians. Mr. Duarte's decision overruled an appeals court decision that the accused men should be freed under the nation's new amnesty law. Mr. Duarte argued that the three had violated international law protecting the lives of diplomats.

10 years ago
1998

Curling
Wayne Middaugh's rink defeated Sweden 6-4 to win the world men's championship for Canada.