April 13, 2008

410 years ago
1598

Religion
King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes, granting rights to the Protestant Huguenots.

125 years ago
1883

Born on this date
Aleksandr Vasilevich Aleksandrov, 63. U.S.S.R. composer. Mr. Aleksandrov wrote the Soviet national anthem, which is now--with different lyrics--the Russian national anthem. He died on July 8, 1946 at the age of 83, while on tour in Berlin.

80 years ago
1928

Aviation
At about 5:30 P.M. the German Junker Bremen landed on Greenly Island in the straits of Belle Isle, Canada, south of Labrador and north of Newfoundland. The plane had left Dublin, Ireland the day before.

Crime
Seven years after their conviction in the federal court for conspiracy in concealing the purchase of The New York Evening Mail by Edward A. Rumely with funds of the German government at the beginning of the Great War, S. Walter Kaufmann and his former partner, Norvin H. Lindheim (who had died of a heart attack on February 8) were adjudged by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court to have been found guilty on insufficient evidence. Both were restored to full rights as members of the bar (of course, the news came a little late for Mr. Lindheim).

Disasters
Rear Admiral Frank H. Brumby and Lt. Cdr. R.K. Jones, commander of the U.S. Submarine S-4 and one of those who perished in her, were exonerated by Navy Secretary Curtis Wilbur in his final review of the findings of the Naval Court of Inquiry into the disaster off Provincetown, Massachusetts on December 17, 1927. The S-4, when rising to the surface, collided with the Coast Guard destroyer Paulding, and sank; all 40 men aboard the S-4 died.

An explosion and fire at a garage-dancing hall at Westplains, Missouri killed 38 people.

75 years ago
1933

Hockey
The New York Rangers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens to win the Stanley Cup. The Rangers were playing with a two-man advantage when Bill Cook scored 7:34 into overtime. The Rangers won the finals 3 games to 1.

70 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Grey Owl, 49. U.K.-born Canadian conservationist. Born Archibald Belaney near Hastings, England, he emigrated to Canada as a teenager, and ended up in northern Ontario, where he adopted an Indian identity, including the name Grey Owl. Grey Owl married a Native Canadian girl, who led him to abandon trapping and become a conservationist. Books such as The Men of the Last Frontier (1931) and magazine articles that he wrote while he was working with the Dominion Parks Service were influential in leading Canadians to view their land and animals as resources to be protected rather than exploited. Grey Owl, who was a heavy drinker, died in his cabin near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. The day after his death, the North Bay Nugget, which had been sitting on the story for three years, became the first newspaper to expose the fact that Canada's leading "Native" conservationist was a white Englishman.

60 years ago
1948

Abominations
In an ambush, 78 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and a British soldier, were massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah.

Basketball
BAA
Finals
Baltimore 66 @ Philadelphia 63 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

50 years ago
1958

On the radio
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 2, starring Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley, on BBC Light Programme

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents on CBS
Tonight's episode: Lamb to the Slaughter

This is probably the most famous episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents of those directed by Mr. Hitchcock himself. A woman (Barbara Bel Geddes) kills her policeman husband (Harold J. Stone) with a frozen leg of lamb, and then cooks dinner for the investigating policemen.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 3 @ Boston 0 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Rocket Richard scored his first 2 goals of the series, while younger brother Henri scored the other and Jacques Plante posted the shutout in goal as the Canadiens blanked the Bruins at Boston Garden.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A.: Honey--Bobby Goldsboro
#1 single in the U.K.: Congratulations--Cliff Richard

Congratulations was the eighth single by Cliff Richard to hit #1 in Britain, and his first since The Minute You’re Gone in 1965.

Diplomacy
Tanzania became the first country to recognize the independence of Biafra from Nigeria.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
New York 1 @ Chicago 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
St. Louis 1 @ Philadelphia 6 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Minnesota 2 @ Los Angeles 3 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Rosaire Paiement scored 3 goals for the Flyers as they defeated the Blues at the Spectrum. Bernie Parent was in goal for Philadelphia, while Glenn Hall and Seth Martin shared the St. Louis goaltending. A 3rd-period brawl that went on for 20 minutes resulted in 49 minutes in penalties and $3,800 in fines. Coaches Scotty Bowman of the Blues and Keith Allen of the Flyers were fined for failing to control their players.

Rookie Wayne Rutledge replaced veteran Terry Sawchuk in goal for the Kings as they edged the North Stars at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

CPHL
Adams Cup
Semi-Finals
Oklahoma City 1 @ Tulsa 7 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
Fort Worth 5 @ Kansas City 3 (Fort Worth led best-of-five series 2-1)

Basketball
NBA
Western Division Finals
Los Angeles 106 @ San Francisco 100 (Los Angeles won best-of-seven series 4-0)

ABA
Eastern Division Finals
Pittsburgh 117 @ Minnesota 108 (Pittsburgh led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Western Division Finals
Dallas 107 @ New Orleans 108 (New Orleans won best-of-seven series 4-1)

30 years ago
1978

Died on this date
Paul McGrath, 74. U.S. actor. Mr. McGrath was the host of the CBS radio series Inner Sanctum Mysteries from 1946-1952.

World events
U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and British Foreign Secretary David Owen began meeting with all sides in the Rhodesian conflict in an attempt to arrange a conference. The Rhodesian government began to release black nationalist political prisoners, including supporters of both the Patriotic Front and the three groups in the government.

Popular Culture
New York state officials and Rockefeller Center Inc. announced an agreement to share the costs of maintaining Radio City Music Hall, America’s largest theatre, which had been scheduled to close because of mounting financial losses. The state also agreed to provide $200,000 to study the feasibility of subsidizing the music hall with rents from a 20-storey office tower to be built over it.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Preliminary Round
Philadelphia 3 @ Colorado 1 (Philadelphia won best-of-three series 2-0)
Buffalo 3 @ New York Rangers 4 (OT) (Best-of-three series tied 1-1)
Toronto 4 @ Los Angeles 0 (Toronto won best-of-three series 2-0)
Atlanta 2 @ Detroit 3 (Detroit won best-of-three series 2-0)

The Flyers eliminated the Rockies in the first Stanley Cup game ever played at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver.

Don Murdoch scored at 1:37 of the 1st overtime period to give the Rangers their win over the Sabres at Madison Square Garden.

Ron Ellis opened the scoring 1:12 into the 1st period and Mike Palmateer posted the shutout in goal as the Maple Leafs eliminated the Kings at the Forum in Inglewood, California. For Los Angeles goalie Rogie Vachon, it was his last game for the club after 7 seasons with them.

The Red Wings eliminated the Flames at Olympia Stadium for their first win in a playoff series since 1966.

25 years ago
1983

Politics and government
U.S. Congressman Edward Boland (Democrat, Massachusetts) said that the administration of President Ronald Reagan had apparently violated the so-called Boland Amendment, a law passed in 1982 that prohibited the use of U.S. defense funds to help overthrow the Sandanista government of Nicaragua. Rep. Boland cited "very strong" evidence that the United States was helping anti-Sandanista rebels. After returning from Central America, an 8-member delegation that included two members of the House of Representatives reported that the United States was "deeply involved in covert activities aimed at overthrowing the government of Nicaragua."

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Allt som jag känner--Tone Norum and Tommy Nilsson (9th week at #1)

Died on this date
Jean Gascon, 67. Canadian actor and theatre director. Mr. Gascon was artistic director of the Stratford Festival of Canada from 1968-1974.

Terrorism
A refuelled Kuwait Airlways jet that had been hijacked on April 5 left Larnaca, Cyprus and flew to Algiers with more than 30 hostages still aboard. The hijackers were demanding the release by Kuwait of 17 Shiite prisoners.

10 years ago
1998

World events
The United Nations Human Rights Commission reported that 1,500 people had been executed in Iraq during the previous year, most of them for political reasons.