April 5, 2011

930 years ago
1081

Europeana
Alexios I was crowned Emperor of the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty to full power.

390 years ago
1621

Americana
The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.

260 years ago
1751

Died on this date Fredrik I, 74. Prince consort of Sweden, 1718-1720; King of Sweden, 1720-1751. Fredrik, the son of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, married Princess Ulrika Eleonora in 1715, and became Prince consort when she acceded to the throne upon the assassination of her brother Karl XII. When Queen Ulrika Eleonora abdicated in 1720, Fredrik I was elected by the Swedish Estates as her successor. King Fredrik I was active at the beginning of his reign, but soon lost interest in state affairs. He died 23 days before his 75th birthday without leaving an heir, ending the line of the House of Hesse-Kassel. King Fredrik I was succeeded on the throne by Adolf Fredrik, the first monarch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp.

200 years ago
1811

Born on this date
Jules Dupré. French artist. Mr. Dupré was part of the Barbizon school of landscape painters, whose works featured dramatic sunset effects and stormy skies and seas. He died on October 6, 1889 at the age of 78 from a pulmonary embolism following surgery for a stone.

150 years ago
1861

Politics and government
George Brown and other "Clear Grits" introduced a bill in the Assembly of the Province of Canada calling for "representation by population" (Rep by Pop). The 1841 Act of Union provided for an equal number of Members of Parliament when Canada East (Quebec) had a larger population, but now Canada West (Ontario) had the greater population.

140 years ago
1871

Diplomacy
New Zealand's first overseas diplomatic post was created as Isaac Featherston was appointed as agent-general in London.

Transportation
The Prince Edward Island Assembly authorized the building of a railway across the province; the near bankruptcy of the line forced P.E.I. into Confederation two years later.

120 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Arnold Strode-Jackson. U.K.-born athlete and military officer. Mr. Strode-Jackson participated in several sports while at the University of Oxford, and won the men's 1500 metre run at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912 while competing as a private entry rather than as part of the British team. He served with the King's Royal Rifle Corps in World War I, earning the Distinguished Service Order with three Bars. Brig. Gen. Strode-Jackson was a member of the British delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919; he emigrated to the United States in 1921, served as a Justice of the Peace in Connecticut, and became an American citizen in 1945. Mr. Strode-Jackson returned to the United Kingdom in 1963 after the death of his wife, and died on November 13, 1972 at the age of 81.

Canadiana
The third Dominion Census reported that Canada's population had reached 4,833,239; the three Maritime provinces accounted for 18% of the total.

120 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Doggie Julian. U.S. football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. Alvin Fred Julian played football, basketball, and baseball at Bucknell University (1920-1923). He played end with the Pottsville Maroons of the National Football League (1924), and was a catcher with five minor league baseball teams (1923-1926). Mr. Julian was head football coach at Schuylkill College (1925-1928); Albright College (1929-1930); and Muhlenberg College (1936-1944), compiling a record of 77-63-3, while also coaching the Muhlenberg baseball team (1942-1944), with a record of 16-18. He was best known for coaching basketball at Muhlenberg (1936-45); College of the Holy Cross (1945-48); and Dartmouth College (1950-66), compiling a record of 379-332, and leading Holy Cross to the national championship in 1947. Mr. Julian coached the Boston Celtics (1948-50), but was fired after compiling a record of 47-81. He was still coaching Dartmouth when he suffered a stroke in December 1966, and died in a nursing home on July 28, 1967 at the age of 66. Mr. Julian was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame as a charter member in 2006.

Melvyn Douglas. U.S. actor. Mr. Douglas, born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, won the Academy Award for best Supporting Actor for Hud (1963) and again for Being There (1979). Other notable films of his included Ninotchka (1939); Billy Budd (1962); Hotel (1967); I Never Sang for My Father (1970); and his last completed film, Ghost Story (1981). Mr. Douglas also won a Tony Award for his starring performance in The Best Man (1960) and an Emmy Award for his starring performance in the CBS Playhouse drama Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night (1967). He died from pneumonia and cardiac complications on August 4, 1981 at the age of 80, before completing the filming of his scenes for the movie The Hot Touch (1982).

Chester Bowles. U.S. politician and diplomat. Mr. Bowles had a successful career in advertising, co-founding the firm Benton & Bowles in 1929. A Democrat, he was Governor of Connecticut from 1949-1951; represented Connecticut's 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959-1961; and served as U.S. Under Secretary of State from January-December 1961 and U.S. Ambassador to India from 1951-1953 and 1963-1969. Mr. Bowles died on May 25, 1986 at the age of 85.

Curt Bois. German actor. Mr. Bois, born Kurt Boas, was a character actor who began appearing in silent movies as a child, and had a career spanning more than 80 years. He fled Germany and went to the United States in 1934, appearing in movies such as Casablanca (1942) and Caught (1949). Mr. Bois returned to Germany in 1950, and appeared in numerous theatrical films and made-for-television movies. He won the European Film Award for his supporting performance in Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire) (1987). Mr. Bois died on December 25, 1991 at the age of 90.

100 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Johnny Revolta. U.S. golfer. Mr. Revolta turned professional in 1929, and was the head professional at Evanston Golf Club in Skokie, Illinois (1935-1966). He won 29 professional tournaments, including 11 on the Profesional Golfers' Association tour. Mr. Revolta's best seaosn was 1935, when he won the PGA Championship and the Western Open. He was known as the best bunker player of his time. Mr. Revolta died on March 3, 1991 at the age of 79.

Hédi Amara Nouira. Prime Minister of Tunisia, 1970-1980. Mr. Nouira was governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia from 1958 until his appointment as Prime Minister. He liberalized the Tunisian economy during the 1970s, but was forced to retire from politics in 1980 after suffering a stroke. Mr. Nouira died on January 25, 1993 at the age of 81.

90 years ago
1921

Baseball
Lou Gehrig hit 2 tremendous home runs in as many at bats for Columbia University as they lost 4-3 to the Hartford Senators in an exhibition game. The Senators later signed Mr. Gehrig for a 12-game stint with the team.

80 years ago
1931

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal Canadiens 1 @ Chicago 2 (2 OT) (Best-of-five series tied 1-1)

Johnny Gottselig scored the winning goal at 4:50 of the 2nd overtime period before a Chicago Stadium crowd of 18,000, a record attendance at the time for a hockey game.

75 years ago
1936

Disasters
An F5 tornado killed 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi in the first day of the Tupelo–Gainesville outbreak of 12 tornadoes.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Toronto 1 @ Detroit 3 (Detroit led best-of-five series 1-0)

All the scoring took place in the 1st period, as Bucko McDonald, Syd Howe, and Wally Kilrea scored to give the Red Wings a 3-0 lead and Buzz Boll replied for the Maple Leafs at Olympia Stadium.

70 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)--Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Franciszek Kleeberg, 53. Polish military officer. General Kleeberg served in World War I with the Austro-Hungarian Army and later with the Polish Legion; he commanded a regiment in the Polish–Soviet War (1919-1921). Gen. Kleeberg led the final defense of Warsaw against invading German forces in October 1939, but was forced to surrender. He was captured and imprisoned in Oflag IV-B Koenigstein, where he lost his sight and his ability to walk before dying in the camp hospital.

War
British imperial forces captured Adowa, while South African troops in Ethiopia crossed the Awash River and struck to within 80 miles of Addis Ababa. The Chinese government claimed that Chinese forces had won "the greatest victory of the war" the previous week in a battle near Nanchang, Japan's main army base in central China. Uruguay took possession of two Italian and two Danish ships in her ports.

Diplomacy
The Soviet news agency Tass announced that the U.S.S.R. had signed a five-year non-aggression and friendship pact with Yugoslavia.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Dr. Gil Luis Lopez and Colombian Foreign Minister Dr. Luis Lopez de Mesa signed a treaty defining the borders between the countries, ending a 100-year dispute.

The new Iraqi government of Rashid Ali-Bey Gailani pledged that iraq would respect all international treaties, "especially the Anglo-Iraq treaty."

Labour
U.S. Office of Production Management Director William Knudsen assailed "organizational and jurisdictional strikes," and urged government-supervised bargaining elections and cooling-off periods.

Football
NFL
Club owners, meeting in Chicago, elected Elmer Layden Commissioner-President of the National Football League.

60 years ago
1951

At the movies
The Thing from Another World, directed by Christian Nyby, and starring Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, and Douglas Spencer, opened in theatres in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.



War
Israel planes bombed Syrian border fortifications in retaliation for the previous day's shooting of seven Israeli policemen by Syrian soldiers.

The U.S. House of Representatives heard a letter from Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command General Douglas MacArthur, who again urged a U.S.-supported Nationalist Chinese invasion of the Chinese mainland to relieve Communist pressure in Korea.

Crime
In New York, U.S. Federal Judge Irving Kaufman sentenced Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for transmitting U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Co-conspirator Morton Sobell was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

World events
The Costa Rican government announced the arrest of 48 suspects for participating in an alleged revolutionary plot directed by former President Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia from exile in Mexico.

Diplomacy
French President Vincent Auriol began a three- day visit to Ottawa; he addressed the Senate and House of Commons.

Labour
U.S. President Harry Truman persuaded organized labour to end its boycott of the government's defense agencies.

50 years ago
1961

Died on this date
Nikolai Kryukov, 53. U.S.S.R. composer. Mr. Kryukov was known for writing more than 60 film scores from 1932-1960. He had recently suffered a heart attack when he committed suicide by throwing himself under an electric train at the Belorussky railway station.

Diplomacy
Cuban Foreign Minister Raul Roa, responding in New York to the previous day’s publication by the U.S. State Department of a pamphlet accusing Cuban Premier Fidel Castro of transforming his country into a Soviet satellite state, charged that the pamphlet was a "formalization of the undeclared war that the United States is making against us." Mr. Roa accused the U.S.A. of supporting a "so-called liberation army of 4,000 to 5,000 counter-revolutionaries, mercenaries and adventurers" being trained in Florida and Guatemala to invade Cuba.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy and U.K. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, along with others including U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk and U.K. Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home, continued talks in Washington.

U.S. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson went from Dakar, Senegal to Geneva for a briefing on the U.S.A.-U.K.-U.S.S.R. nuclear test ban talks, and then went to Paris for ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of SHAPE, the principal military arm of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
St. Louis 108 @ Boston 116 (Boston led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Bob Cousy score 26 points and added 14 assists for the Celtics as they beat the Hawks before 13,909 fans at Boston Garden. Frank Ramsey scored 24 points for Boston, Ton Heinsohn 23, and Sam Jones 22, while Bill Russell grabbed 28 rebounds. Cliff Hagan led St. Louis scorers with 40 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, while Bob Pettit had 30 points and 19 rebounds.

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Shiretoko Ryojō--Tokiko Kato (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep--Middle of the Road (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
José Cubiles, 76. Spanish musician. Mr. Cubiles was a classical pianist and conductor who performed as a soloist and with chamber ensembles. He performed most of Joaquín Turina's major works for solo piano, and was the solist in the world premiere of Manuel de Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1916). Mr. Cubiles conducted the principal Spanish orchestras, and began teaching at Madrid Royal Conservatory in 1926, eventually serving as the institution's director (1962-1964).

World events
The People’s Liberation Front, frustrated at the failure of Ceylon’s leftist government to move further leftward faster, launched a rebellion. The Ceylonese government deployed tanks and planes against the militant Marxists, who attacked 25 government buildings in the capital of Colombo and other cities. The PLF, with 20,000 youths led by unemployed college graduates, also called its members "Che Guevarists." A plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the start of the uprising reportedly fell through.

Politics and government
U.S. House of Representatives majority leader Hale Boggs (Democrat--Louisiana) demanded in a speech on the floor of the Senate that Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover be fired from the post he had held for 47 years. Rep. Boggs charged that the FBI had tapped the telephones of Congressmen. House minority leader Gerald Ford (Republican--Michigan) challenged Rep. Boggs to prove his charges, and said that the U.S.A. was "fortunate" to have had both the FBI, and Hoover "as its head many years." U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell termed Rep. Boggs’ charges "slanderous falsehoods, the most vicious kind of name-calling."

Adventure
Canadian Fran Phipps, the wife of legendary northern bush pilot Weldy Phipps, became the first woman to reach the North Pole. Northwest Territories Commissioner Stuart Hodgson had wanted his wife Pearl to have that honour, but Mrs. Phipps beat her to it.

Energy
The Gentilly-1 experimental nuclear power station started operations near Trois-Rivières, Québec; the first CANDU reactor was also the world's first to be fueled by natural uranium, and cooled by ordinary water.

Football
CFL
The Toronto Argonauts announced the signing of former University of Notre Dame star quarterback Joe Theismann, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1970. Mr. Theismann had verbally agreed to sign with Toronto, but had then signed a contract with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He delayed mailing the contract to Miami because he couldn’t find a stamp, and in the meantime, Argonauts’ head coach Leo Cahill persuaded him to live up to his original agreement.

Russ Jackson, who had retired after quarterbacking the Ottawa Rough Riders to consecutive Grey Cup wins in 1968 and 1969, announced that he would not be coming out of retirement to join the British Columbia Lions. Mr. Jackson had spent his entire 12-year career with Ottawa from 1958-1969, and had retired to continue his off-field career as an educational administrator. It was reported that the Rough Riders were demanding that Lions’ receiver Jim Young, who had won the Schenley award as the CFL’s outstanding Canadian player in 1970, be part of any deal sending the rights to Mr. Jackson to B.C.

Baseball
Dick Bosman (1-0) pitched a 6-hitter to lead the Washington Senators to an 8-0 win over the Oakland Athletics in the American League season opener before 45,061 fans at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. Losing pitcher Vida Blue (0-1) gave up 4 runs in less than 3 innings. Newly-acquired centre fielder Curt Flood, attempting a comeback with the Senators after a full year out of baseball, drew 2 bases on balls and added a bunt single.

The Atlanta Braves took advantage of 6 Cincinnati errors--3 by shortstop Woody Woodward--as they beat the defending National League champion Reds 7-4 in the National League season opener before 51,702 fans at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Atlanta second baseman Felix Millan batted 4 for 4 with a triple, base on balls, 2 runs, and a run batted in. Relief pitcher Cecil Upshaw (1-0), who had missed the entire 1970 season after almost losing the ring finger on his pitching hand when it got caught in a low-hanging sign, was the winning pitcher.

In the other major league season opener, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 before 22,421 fans at the Astrodome. Larry Dierker (1-0) was the winning pitcher over Bill Singer (0-1).

30 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): The Bridge--Deane Waretini

#1 single in Switzerland: Fade to Grey--Visage (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Bob Hite, 38. U.S. musician. Mr. Hite, nicknamed "The Bear," played guitar, harmonica, and flute, and shared lead vocals with the blues-rock group Canned Heat from 1965 until his death, which occurred between sets at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood, California, when he snorted some heroin given to him by a fan, and slipped into a coma, from which he did not emerge.

World events
100 officers who had participated in an April 1 coup intending to oust Thai Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda were put under temporary detention pending trial by a military court.

War
The number of dead in clashes between Syrian troops and Christian militiamen in Beirut and Zahle, Lebanon since April 1 had reached 136 dead and 500 wounded.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 4 @ Quebec 2
New York 2 @ Philadelphia 0

The Maple Leafs defeated the Nordiques at Le Colisee to take the 16th and last playoff spot on the last day of the regular season.

25 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Adesso Tu--Eros Ramazzotti (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): The Promise You Made--Cock Robin (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Jeanny--Falco

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Young Ones (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Young Ones

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Rock Me Amadeus--Falco (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Rock Me Amadeus--Falco (2nd week at #1)
2 These Dreams--Heart
3 Kiss--Prince and the Revolution
4 R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.--John Cougar Mellencamp
5 What You Need--INXS
6 Secret Lovers-Atlantic Starr
7 Manic Monday--Bangles
8 Addicted to Love--Robert Palmer
9 Nikita--Elton John
10 Let’s Go All the Way--Sly Fox

Singles entering the chart were Move Away by Culture Club (#71); Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight by Starship (#73); Where do the Children Go by the Hooters (#78); All the Things She Said by Simple Minds (#82); and No One is to Blame by Howard Jones (#89).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)--Glass Tiger (2nd week at #1)
2 Nikita--Elton John
3 Sara--Starship
4 A Good Heart--Feargal Sharkey
5 Secret Lovers--Atlantic Starr
6 These Dreams--Heart
7 Bop--Dan Seals
8 How Will I Know--Whitney Houston
9 Harlem Shuffle--Rolling Stones
10 Kyrie--Mr. Mister

Singles entering the chart were Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston (#81); Angel in My Pocket by One to One (#85); All I Need is a Miracle by Mike & the Mechanics (#88); Is it Love by Mr. Mister (#89); My Dreams of You by the Box (#93); Bad Bad Boy by Haywire (#94) It Must Be Love by Paul Hyde and the Payolas (#95); and Living in the Background by Baltimora (#97).

Terrorism
Three people--including two U.S. soldiers--were killed and more than 200--60 of them Americans--injured when a bomb exploded in a crowded discotheque in Berlin.

Diplomacy
France expelled six Arabs, including two Libyans, who were suspected of plotting attacks on Americans.

Religion
A paper issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by the prefect of the Congregation, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger--the future Pope Benedict XVI--said that service to the poor was a duty for Christians, and that armed struggle to escape oppression could be condoned in "the extreme case." The letter warned, however, warned pastors not to intervene directly in politics, and asserted that the church’s essential mission was spiritual and not political. A 1984 paper prepared by Cardinal Ratzinger on the subject had taken a stronger stand against liberation theology, Marxist doctrine masquerading as religious doctrine that had been developed by priests working with the poor in Latin America. The new paper said it was "perfectly legitimate" for oppressed people to act against the wealthy and powerful through morally acceptable means to insure respect for their rights.

20 years ago
1991

Died on this date
William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, 81. Governor-General of Australia, 1961-1965. Major Sidney served with the Grenadier Guards of the British Army in World War II and was awarded the Victoria Cross for leading a handful of men in the defense of the Anzio beachhead in February 1944. A Conservative, he represented Chelsea in the House of Commons (1944-1945) before being elevated to the House of Lords upon the death of his father. Viscount De L'Isle was Secretary of State for Air (1951-1955) in the government of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and became the last non-Australian to serve as Governor-General of Australia.

John Tower, 64. U.S. politician. Mr. Tower, a member of the United States Senate (Republican--Texas) from 1961-1985, had served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and was nominated to be Secretary of Defense by U.S. President George Bush in 1989. The Senate rejected Mr. Tower’s nomination, primarily because of allegations of drinking and womanizing. Mr. Tower was among 23 people killed when a commercial plane crashed in Brunswick, Georgia.

Jay Miller, 57. U.S. basketball player. Mr. Miller was a forward at the University of Notre Dame (1962-65) before playing with the St. Louis Hawks (1967-68); Milwaukee Bucks (1968); Los Angeles Stars (1969); and Indiana Pacers (1969-70). He scored 649 points (5.5 per game) with 205 rebounds (1.8 per game) and 47 assists (0.4 per game) in 117 regular season games and 36 points (2.6 per game) with 25 rebounds (1.8 per game) and 2 assists (0.1 per game) in 14 playoff games. Mr. Miller was with the Pacers when they won the American Basketball Association championship in 1970.

Manley "Sonny" Carter, 43. U.S. astronaut. A captain in the United States Navy, Mr. Carter was a Mission Specialist aboard the U.S. space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-33 in 1989, and had been assigned as a Mission Specialist for mission STS-42. He was one of the people killed in the plane crash that killed former U.S. Senator John Tower.

World events
The United Nations Security Council condemned Iraq’s suppression of Kurds and other dissidents. The Iraqi government offered amnesty to Kurds who had joined the rebellion, but Kurdish leaders said they didn’t trust the offer. As the refugee tide from Iraq into Iran and Turkey approached one million, U.S. President George Bush ordered an airlift of food and supplies to the refugees.

Disasters
An Atlantic Southeast Airlines EMB 120 crashed in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard including U.S. Sen. John Tower and astronaut Sonny Carter.

10 years ago
2001

Crime
Dutch truck driver Perry Wacker was sentenced by an English court to 14 years in prison for his part in the deaths of 58 illegal Chinese immigrants, who had been found suffocated in the back of Mr. Wacker’s truck when it was inspected on arrival in Dover from Belgium.

Baseball
Paul O’Neill’s 1st-inning home run stood up as the only run as the New York Yankees edged the Baltimore Orioles 1-0 before 26,696 fans at Yankee Stadium. Mike Mussina (1-0) pitched 7 2/3 innings to earn the win over Dan Reichert (0-1). It was only the second time in Yankee history that they had won a 1-0 game with a 1st-inning homer; the other time came in 1941, with Phil Rizzuto homering.