Tuesday, 6 April 2010

April 7, 2010

240 years ago
1770


Born on this date
William Wordsworth
. U.K. poet. Mr. Wordsworth was a Romantic poet, who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the movement with their joint work Lyrical Ballads (1798). Mr. Wordsworth's best-known work is the semi-autobiographical blank verse poem The Prelude, which went through several revisions, and wasn't published during Mr. Wordsworth's lifetime. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on April 23, 1850, 16 days after his 80th birthday.

230 years ago
1780


Born on this date
William Ellery Channing
. U.S. clergyman. Mr. Channing was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early 19th century and one of its leading theologians. As the first pastor of First Independent Church of Baltimore he influenced the New England Transcendentalists, but didn't subscribe to their views. Mr. Channing died on October 2 1842 at the age of 62.

150 years ago
1860


Born on this date
W.K. Kellogg
. U.S. food magnate. Will Keith Kellogg and his brother Dr. John Harvey Kellogg were Seventh-day Adventists who incorporated Adventist doctrines into their businesses. J.H. Kellogg founded the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, and created corn flakes as a breakfast food. W.K. helped his brother, but disagreed with his refusal to market his ideas. When C.W. Post used Dr. Kellogg's ideas as the basis for his own company, W.K. Kellogg left the sanitarium and founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company--now the Kellogg Company--in 1906. W.K. Kellogg was a philanthropist and horse breeder until his death from heart failure on October 6, 1951 at the age of 91.

120 years ago
1890


Born on this date
Marjory Stoneman Douglas. U.S. authoress and environmentalist. Mrs. Douglas was best known for her book The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), which was very influential in promoting the Florida Everglades as an ecosystem worthy of protection. She died on May 14, 1998 at the age of 108.

Society
The Ontario legislature passed the Municipal Institutions Act, letting local councils pass by-laws "for prohibiting the sale by retail of spirituous, fermented, or other manufactured liquors in any inn or other house of public entertainment, and for prohibiting totally the sale thereof in shops and places other than houses of public entertainment, provided the by-law before the passing thereof has been duly approved by the electors of the Municipality in the manner provided by this Act." The act thus provided for local options in the sale of liquor.

Transportation
The first Lake Biwa Canal was completed from Lake Biwa to Kyoto, Japan.

110 years ago
1900


Born on this date
Adolf Dymsza
. Polish actor. Mr. Dymsza, born Adolf Bagiński, was a comic actor of stage and screen, and was the most popular comic actor in Polish films in the 1930s. He died on August 20, 1975 at the age of 75.

90 years ago
1920


Died on this date
Karl Binding, 78
. German jurist. Professor Binding taught at Leipzig University from 1872 until his death, and worked with the district court of Leipzig from 1879-1900. He promoted retributive justice, and was best known for writing, with Alfred Hoche, the book Die Freigabe der Vernichtung lebensunwerten Lebens (The Release of the Destruction of Life Devoid of Value) (1920), which influenced pre-Nazi and Nazi euthanasia programs in Germany through the end of World War II. Prof. Binding advocated killing people who had been mortally wounded or were terminally ill and had communicated a wish to die; people who were incurably mentally ill; and "mentally healthy" people who were now unconscious as a result of a serious injury and "will awake to a nameless suffering" if they were to awake at all. He wanted a committee consisting of a doctor, a psychiatrist or other doctor and a jurist to check that the committee was acting within the law, deciding killing on a case by case basis.

80 years ago
1930


Politics and government
Camillien Houde was re-elected to a second term as Mayor of Montreal, defeating James Arthur Mathewson by more than 40,000 votes. Mr. Houde received 77,395 votes against 36,497 for Mr. Mathewson and 1,901 for Joseph Mercure. At the time, Mr. Houde a Conservative, was also the Member of Parliament for Montréal-Sainte-Marie and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

75 years ago
1935

On the radio

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Louis Hector and Leigh Lovell, on NBC

Golf
A spectacular albatross (double eagle) on the 15th hole enabled Gene Sarazen to finish in a tie with Craig Wood after the fourth round of the Masters at Augusta, Georgia, necessitating an 18-hole playoff the next day.

70 years ago
1940


War
The Allies announced the mining of the Norwegian coast, the Stadtlantet Peninsula, Bud, and West Fjord areas to hinder shipping to Germany.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. and Finland resumed diplomatic relations.

Wang Ching-wei, leader of the Japanese-backed government in central China, decreed that his government would hold invalid any treaties negotiated by the government in Chungking led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

Economics and finance
Japanese delegates, negotiating a trade agreement with the U.S.S.R., abruptly left Moscow.

Americana
Educator Booker T. Washington became the first Negro American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.

Politics and government
Rejecting the advice of United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis, Labor's Non-Partisan League of New Jersey supported a third term as President of the United States for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Martin Dies (Democrat--Texas), Chairman of the United States House of Representatives Committee Investigating Un-American Activities, demanded that President Franklin D. Roosevelt support his plan to expose and curb foreign-affiliated organizations.

Norman Thomas was nominated as the Socialist Party's candidate for President of the United States in the November 1940 election.

Science
The Rockefeller Foundation provided the University of California with $150,000 for the construction of a 4,900-ton cyclotron under the direction of Professor E.O. Lawrence.

Health
A Gallup Poll reported that Americans felt the following to be the nation's most serious health problems: syphilis (46%); cancer (29%); tuberculosis (16%); and infantile paralysis (9%).

60 years ago
1950


Died on this date
Walter Huston, 67
. Canadian-born U.S. actor. Mr. Huston, a native of Toronto, moved to the United States as a young man, and began a career on stage. He began appearing in movies in 1929, appearing in character and starring roles. Mr. Huston's movies included starring roles in Abraham Lincoln (1930); Dodsworth (1936); and The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941). He was nominated for Academy Awards for the latter two, while receiving Oscar nominations for his supporting performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Mr. Huston's son John became a prominent actor and director, and directed his father in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). John won the Academy Award for Best Director, while Walter won the Oscar for his supporting performance in that film. Walter Huston died of an aortic aneurysm, two days after his 67th birthday.

War
Thailand rejected a request by France for joint anti-guerrilla patrols on the Thailand-Vietnam border similar to those along the Thai-Malayan border.

Defense
The U.S. Army announced the start of a five-year training program aimed at expanding reserve forces to 367,000 men.

San Francisco suffered a war scare when California Air National Guard planes drove off two "enemy" aircraft in an unannounced drill.

Journalism
The Peruvian government announced the arrest of Eudocio Rabines, editor of the conservative newspaper La Prensa, as a pro-Communist plotter.

Science
Robert Broom announced the discovery in South Africa of two jaws in northern Transvaal caves, believed to belong to the genus Australopithecus, a "small type of true man."

Medicine
The American Medical Association reported that the U.S.A. had 201,278 doctors at the end of 1949, one for every 750 people.

Economics and finance
The U.S. State Department released an aide-memoire initiated by Secretary of State Dean Acheson warning South Korea that it may lose U.S. aid unless it checked inflation and held elections on schedule.

Poland and the People's Republic of China announced the conclusion of a trade agreement.

Labour
The U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations revoked the charter of the Washington State Industrial Council, charging that the group was left-wing and did not represent a majority of the state's CIO members.

50 years ago
1960


Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Marina--Rocco Granata and the International Quintet (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): My Old Man's a Dustman--Lonnie Donegan (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Portrait of a Thief, with guest stars Henry Jones, Charles McGraw, and Edward Andrews

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Toronto 2 @ Montreal 4 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Henri Richard led the Canadiens with a goal and 3 assists as they defeated the Maple Leafs at the Montreal Forum.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 102 @ St. Louis 105 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

The Hawks outscored the Celtics 36-12 in the 3rd quarter and withstood a 38-15 4th-quarter rally to defeat the Celtics before 10,612 fans at Kiel Auditorium. Cliff Hagan led the Hawks with 36 points, while Bill Russell led the Celtics with 17 points, while grabbing 16 rebounds.

40 years ago
1970


Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Let it Be--The Beatles (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Ollie Voigt, 71
. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Voigt posted a record of 1-0 with an earned run average of 5.51 in 8 games with the St. Louis Browns in 1924. He won at least 78 games and lost at least 82 in at least 6 seasons in the minor leagues from 1919-1924.

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1969 were presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The winners included: Picture--Midnight Cowboy; Director--John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy); Actor--John Wayne (True Grit); Actress--Maggie Smith (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie); Supporting Actor--Gig Young (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?); Supporting Actress--Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower); Foreign Language Film--Z.



Abominations
A grand jury in Edgartown, Massachusetts adjourned without returning an indictment after hearing testimony from U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy and others concerning the death of Mary Jo Kopechne the previous July. She had been a passenger in a car that Sen. Kennedy had driven off a bridge, and was left to die while the drunken Teddy swam to shore and concocted his lies. In 1989 a member of the grand jury said that if the grand jury had known in 1970 what they knew in 1989, scummy Teddy definitely would have been indicted.

Crime
The pretrial hearing of 13 Black Panthers, which had been halted on February 25 after disorders in court, resumed in an orderly fashion in New York City.

Labour
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was held in contempt of court for violating a U.S. federal court order prohibiting a strike in the "sick-out" of air traffic controllers which had begun on March 25.

Baseball
37,237 fans at County Stadium saw the Milwaukee Brewers, who had been the Seattle Pilots until a week earlier, lose their opening regular season game 12-0 to the California Angels, as Andy Messersmith pitched a 4-hitter and recorded 11 strikeouts.

The Minnesota Twins whipped the Chicago White Sox 12-0 before 11,473 fans at White Sox Park as Brant Alyea backed up Jim Perry’s pitching with 2 home runs, 2 singles, and a major league record 7 runs batted in on opening day.

The Boston Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 5 innings against the New York Yankees before 21,379 fans at Yankee Stadium, gave up 3 runs in the 6th inning, and held on for a 4-3 win. Gary Peters, who was knocked out of the game in the 6th, was the winning pitcher in his Boston debut, while Mel Stottlemyre, making his fourth straight opening day start, was the loser.

The Washington Senators came back from a 2-0 deficit to score in every inning from the 2nd through the 7th as they beat the Detroit Tigers 14-4 before 3,372 fans at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Washington leadoff hitter Del Unser drove in 4 runs with a single and triple.

Pinch hitter Donn Clendenon singled home Mike Jorgensen and Ron Swoboda with 1 out in the top of the 11th inning to break a 3-3 tie as the New York Mets began defense of their World Series championship with a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates before 34,249 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. It was the first season-opening win for the Mets in their nine-year history, and the last season opener at Forbes Field.



Gary Nolan gave up just 2 hits--singles in the 4th and 9th innings by Willie Crawford--as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 before 30,457 fans at Dodger Stadium.

30 years ago
1980


Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Crazy Little Thing Called Love--Queen (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Okuru Kotoba--Kaientai (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Man Gave Names to All the Animals--Bob Dylan (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Sun of Jamaica--Goombay Dance Band (8th week at #1)

Terrorism
Five members of the Arab Liberation Front, an Iraqi-supported group belonging to the Palestinian Liberation Organization, attacked the children’s dormitory of the Israeli kibbutz Misgav Am, near the Lebanese border, and took children hostage. In return for the hostages, the terrorists demanded the release of Palestinian guerrillas held in Israeli prisons. About an hour after the raid, armed kibbutz dwellers attempted to storm the dorm, but were repulsed. Eight hours later, Israeli soldiers successfully retook the building, killing all five terrorists. An Israeli soldier, a 2½-year-old boy, and a kibbutz secretary were also killed during the nine-hour siege.

World events
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro personally visited the Peruvian embassy in Havana and assured the 10,800 Cubans who were attempting to gain asylum that they would be granted safe passage out of Cuba when another country agreed to take them. His government offered safe-conduct passes to those wishing to return to their homes before emigrating, but only 1,730 reportedly accepted the offer. The rest refused out of fear that they would not be allowed back into the embassy.

Diplomacy
The United States formally severed diplomatic relations with Iran, imposed an embargo on American exports to Iran, and ordered the ouster of Iranian diplomats from the U.S.A.

Politics and government
A Montreal Forum crowd of 12,000-15,000 protested the assertions of Lise Payette, a minister in Quebec's Parti Québécois cabinet of Premier René Lévesque, that women who planned to vote "No"--i.e., against "sovereignty-association" in the May 20 referendum on Quebec independence--were "Yvettes"--the name of a submissive young girl in an elementary schoolbook character. The assembly took place a few days after the start of the referendum campaign.

Communications
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 5-2 to authorize an extensive deregulation of the telecommunications industry. Under the ruling, to take effect on March 1, 1982, basic telephone services and rates would continue to be regulated by the FCC, but the phone companies would be allowed to enter the growing business of linking computer to computer for data transmission (American Telephone and Telegraph Company had been barred from offering data-processing services by a 1956 Federal Court consent decree). The sale of telephone equipment would also be allowed on the free market. Commerce Department officials said that they hoped the entry of AT&T and other U.S. companies into the telecommunications field would help the U.S. meet the competition of Japanese and western European companies.

Disasters
48 people were killed and 36 injured when a bus attempting to pass a truck on a narrow bridge went over the edge and crashed into a shallow ditch near Culiacan, Mexico.

25 years ago
1985

Hockey

NHL
Montreal 5 Buffalo 4

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade

#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Vattene Amore--Amedeo Minghi; Mietta (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Enjoy the Silence--Depeche Mode (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Le temps des Yéyés--Les Vagabonds (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (CIN): The Power--Snap! (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (8th week at #1)
2 Daar Gaat Ze--Clouseau
3 The Power--Snap!
4 How am I Supposed to Live Without You--Michael Bolton
5 Dub Be Good to Me--Beats International
6 Fortune Fairytales--Loïs Lane
7 The Healer--John Lee Hooker featuring Carlos Santana & the Santana Band
8 Sacrifice--Elton John
9 Enjoy the Silence--Depeche Mode
10 Infinity (1990's... Time for the Guru)--Guru Josh

Singles entering the chart were This Beat is Technotronic by Technotronic featuring MC Eric (#21); What "U" Waitin..... "4"? by Jungle Brothers (#22); Black Velvet by Alannah Myles (#30); Better World by Rebel MC (#31); That Sounds Good to Me by Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers (#32); and Rode Rozen, Gaf Jij Aan Mij by De Vrijbuiters (#36).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Love Will Lead You Back--Taylor Dayne
2 I'll Be Your Everything--Tommy Page
3 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield
4 I Wish it Would Rain Down--Phil Collins
5 Black Velvet--Alannah Myles
6 Don't Wanna Fall in Love--Jane Child
7 Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic
8 Here and Now--Luther Vandross
9 Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor
10 Forever--Kiss

Singles entering the chart were Poison by Bell Biv DeVoe (#52); It Must Have Been Love by Roxette (#67); Save Me by Fleetwood Mac (#70); Cruising for Bruising by Basia (#76); Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice) by Gloria Estefan (#78); Always and Forever by Whistle (#87); All that Glitters Isn't Gold by the Cover Girls (#89); You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Jimmy Somerville (#96); and The Ballad of Jayne by L.A. Guns (#99). It Must Have Been Love was from the movie Pretty Woman (1990).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Black Velvet--Alannah Myles (2nd week at #1)
2 Love Will Lead You Back--Taylor Dayne
3 I Wish it Would Rain Down--Phil Collins
4 I’ll Be Your Everything--Tommy Page
5 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield
6 Don’t Wanna Fall in Love--Jane Child
7 Escapade--Janet Jackson
8 Keep it Together--Madonna
9 Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic
10 Here and Now--Luther Vandross

Singles entering the chart were It Must Have Been Love by Roxette (#57); Alright by Janet Jackson (#61); Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice) by Gloria Estefan (#65); Save Me by Fleetwood Mac (#69); U Can't Touch This by M.C. Hammer (#74); Heaven is a 4 Letter Word by Bad English (#77); Getting Away with It by Electronic (#85); Moonlight on Water by Laura Branigan (#87); and Ready or Not by After 7 (#90).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 I Wish it Would Rain Down--Phil Collins (3rd week at #1)
2 Escapade--Janet Jackson
3 Love Will Lead You Back--Taylor Dayne
4 I Go to Extremes--Billy Joel
5 Lover of Mine--Alannah Myles
6 Every Little Tear--Paul Janz
7 Blue Sky Mine--Midnight Oil
8 Keep it Together--Madonna
9 Roam--The B-52's
10 All My Life--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)

Singles entering the chart were Hold On by Wilson Phillips (#72); Cruising for Bruising by Basle (#75); Heartbeat by Seduction (#77); As Soon as the Sun Comes Up by Animal Logic (#81); Every Road by Shari Ulrich (#83); Carry Me by Ray Lyell & the Storm (#85); Song for Whoever by Beautiful South (#87); Coming of Age by Damn Yankees (#89); No More Words by Luba (#91); and I Wanna Know by John James (#93).

Died on this date
Ron Evans, 56
. U.S. astronaut. Captain Evans was an aviator with the United States Navy who joined the astronaut corps in 1966. He was the Command Module Pilot on Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last manned moon mission. Capt. Evans was the backup Command Module Pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in 1975. He left the astronaut corps in 1977 to pursue a career in business, and died of a heart attack in his sleep.

Society
The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and its director, Dennis Barrie, were indicted by a grand jury on obscenity charges--pandering and illegal use of a minor--for opening on that day an exhibit of photographs by the late sodomite degenerate Robert Mapplethorpe. Prosecutors had concentrated their charges on 7 (of 175) photographs in the exhibit that depicted naked children or homosexual acts.

Politics and government
The Latvian Communist Party broke into pro- and anti-independence factions.

Scandal
Former U.S. national security adviser Admiral John Poindexter was convicted on all five felony counts in a federal district court in Washington, D.C. connected with his involvement with the Iran-Contra arms scandal of the mid-1980s. The counts included two of obstructing Congress; two of making false statements to Congress; and one of conspiracy to obstruct Congress. Adm. Poindexter was the highest-ranking official to be convicted in the Iran-Contra affair.

Disasters
As many as 176 people died, while about 360 escaped, when a fire broke out on the Danish ferry Scandinavian Star while it was en route from Oslo, Norway to Frederikshavn, Denmark. Most of the deaths were from smoke inhalation.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Montreal 3 @ Buffalo 0 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)
Washington 5 @ New Jersey 6 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)
New York Islanders 2 @ New York Rangers 5 (Rangers led best-of-seven series 2-0)
Hartford 1 @ Boston 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Curling
Men’s World Championships @ Rocklundahallen, Västerås, Sweden
Final
Canada (Ed Werenich) 3 Scotland (David Smith) 1

10 years ago
2000

At the movies

Seven Bullets received its premiere screening at the Princess Theatre in Edmonton. The crime drama, photographed in black-and-white and well-made despite a low budget, was directed by Bill Sorochan and starred Larry Musser. It was filmed in Edmonton in early 1990, but Mr. Sorochan had such difficulty in finding a distributor that it took 10 years to receive a public screening. As far as I know, Seven Bullets never did find a distributor, and hasn’t been seen since. I haven’t seen Mr. Sorochan in years, and I don’t know what he’s been up to in the last 10 years.

Law
A Florida jury awarded three lead plaintiffs $12.7 million in compensatory damages in a class-action suit against five tobacco companies and two now-defunct industry entities which had been found liable for smoking-related health problems. The suit involved 500,000 people, and was the first lawsuit filed by smokers against tobacco companies that had gone to trial. Other damages in the suit were yet to be determined.

Baseball
41,583 fans, including Texas Governor and U.S. presidential candidate George W. Bush, were among the 41,583 in attendance for the first major league game at Enron Field in Houston. Randy Wolf pitched 7 innings and Scott Rolen and Ron Gant hit home runs to lead the visiting Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Astros. Octavio Dotel was the losing pitcher; Richard Hidalgo hit the park's first home run for the only Houston score.



The Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers tied a major league record with 5 home runs in the 5th inning. The Orioles won 14-10 before 39,415 fans at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The Cleveland Indians scored 9 runs in the 2nd inning as they defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 14-5 before 40,329 fans at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

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