April 16, 2012

150 years ago
1862

Law
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed an act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.

100 years ago
1912

Born on this date
Garth Williams. U.S. illustrator. Mr. Williams illustrated children's books from the mid-1940s to the 1980s. He died on May 8, 1996, 22 days after his 84th birthday.

Aviation
Harriet Quimby of the United States became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, flying from Dover, England to Calais, France in 59 minutes.

75 years ago
1937

Died on this date
Jay Johnson Morrow, 67. U.S. engineer and politician. Brigadier General Morrow, the brother of diplomat and politician Dwight Morrow, was Chief Engineer of the U.S. First Army and Deputy Chief Engineer of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. He was military governor of the Philippine province of Zamboanga (1901-1902), and Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1921-1924). Gen. Morrow died in the Canal Zone.

70 years ago
1942

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Toronto 3 @ Detroit 0 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

60 years ago
1952

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: Little Red Schoolhouse

This was an audition episode for the syndicated series, which began the following week.

On television tonight
The Unexpected, hosted by Herbert Marshall, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Split Second, starring Veda Ann Borg, Jane Easton, Linda Johnson, and Robert Malcolm



Boxing
Sugar Ray Robinson (131-2-2), knocked down earlier in the 3rd round, came back to knock out Rocky Graziano (67-9-6) at 1:53 of the round to retain his world middleweight title at Chicago Stadium.



50 years ago
1962

On television tonight
Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Lethal Ladies, starring Howard Morris and Rosemary Murphy



40 years ago
1972

Space
Apollo 16, with Commander John Young, Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly, and Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke aboard, lifted off for the Moon from Cape Kennedy, Florida. It was the fourth space flight for Mr. Young, who had served as Command Module Pilot for Apollo 10 when it orbited the moon in 1969. Mr. Mattingly had been assigned as Command Module Pilot for Apollo 13 in 1970, but had been replaced just prior to the flight when he'd been exposed to the measles, for which he lacked immunity. It was the first space flight for Mr. Duke, whose son had exposed Mr. Mattingly to the measles.



War
U.S. planes began bombing fuel dumps, truck parks, and other facilities near Hanoi and Haiphong. U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie (Democrat—Maine) introduced a resolution urging an immediate end to all U.S. military activity in Vietnam.

Diplomacy
The People's Republic of China sent two giant pandas as a gift to the United States.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
St. Louis 2 @ Minnesota 1 (OT) (St. Louis won best-of-seven series 4-3)

Semi-Finals
New York 3 @ Chicago 2 (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Kevin O’Shea, assisted by his brother Danny and Terry Crisp, scored 10:07 into the 1st overtime period to give the Blues the win in the game and the series over the North Stars at Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington.

Ted Irvine, Brad Park, and Walt Tkaczuk scored for the Rangers as they edged the Black Hawks at Chicago Stadium. Stan Mikita and Christian Bordeleau scored for Chicago. Mr. Tkaczuk’s goal, at 16:42 of the 2nd period, held up as the winner. Ed Giacomin won the goaltending duel over Tony Esposito, but twisted his knee in a pileup late in the game. Mr. Giacomin finished the game, but was unable to play for the remainder of the series.

Baseball
Burt Hooton (1-0), making his fourth start in as many career major league games, pitched a no-hitter as the Chicago Cubs shut out the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.



30 years ago
1982

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Quebec 4 @ Boston 8 (Boston led best-of-seven series 2-0)
Los Angeles 3 @ Vancouver 2 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

25 years ago
1987

On television tonight
Our World, hosted by Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Cover Stories: Spring 1960



Protest
100,000 people in Buenos Aires demonstrated in support of Argentinian President Raul Alfonsin, who was refusing to negotiate an amnesty for those who had committed crimes in the military junta’s “dirty war” against dissidents in the 1970s.

Science
The United States Commerce Department announced that inventors would be permitted to patent new forms of animal life through such techniques as gene splicing and genetic engineering. The policy forbade the patenting of new genetic characteristics in humans. A coalition of animal welfare and public policy groups was immediately formed to oppose the new policy. Dr. Michael Fox, a veterinarian and scientific director of the Humane Society, warned that “the entire creative process…is going to be redirected or controlled to satisfy purely human ends,” adding, “We are not only playing God, we are assuming dominion over God.”

Scandal
British Conservative Member of Parliament Harvey Proctor appeared in court to face charges of gross indecency resulting from homosexual acts with two teenagers.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Hartford 4 @ Quebec 5 (OT) (Quebec won best-of-seven series 4-2)
Philadelphia 5 @ New York Rangers 0 (Philadelphia won best-of-seven series 4-2)
Washington 4 @ New York Islanders 5 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
St. Louis 0 @ Toronto 4 (Toronto won best-of-seven series 4-2)
Calgary 1 @ Winnipeg 6 (Winnipeg won best-of-seven series 4-2)

20 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Andy Russell, 72. U.S. musician. Mr. Russell, born Andrés Rábago, was of Mexican ancestry, and was a drummer and singer in the bands of Gus Arnheim and Alvino Rey before achieving popularity in the mid-to-late-1940s, singing romantic ballads such as Bésame Mucho and Amor, performing in both English and Spanish. He peaked in popularity in the United States from 1944-1948, releasing 12 singles that reached the Billboard top 10, with I'll Close My Eyes reaching #1 in 1947. Mr. Russell moved to Mexico in 1954, and hosted the television variety program El Show de Andy Russell in Argentina from 1956-1965. He returned to the United States in 1966, and had several hits on the easy listening charts in 1967-1968. Mr. Russell continued to have success in the Latin American market until his retirement in 1989. He died after a stroke.

Neville Brand, 71. U.S. actor. One of the most-decorated soldiers of World War II, Mr. Brand appeared in many movies and television programs, usually as a villain. His most notable movie appearance was in Stalag 17 (1953), and he was memorable playing Al Capone in several episodes of the television series The Untouchables (1959-1961).

World events
Mohammed Najibullah, who had headed a Communist government in Afghanistan, resigned as President and took refuge under the protection of the United Nations in Kabul as rebel armies closed in on the capital city.

Crime
David Milgaard, in prison since 1970 for a murder he’d denied committing, was freed from Stony Mountain Penitentiary in Prince Albert following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that had quashed his conviction, and the decision by the government of Saskatchewan not to retry him.

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Robert Urich, 55. U.S. actor. Mr. Urich was best known as the star of the television series Vega$ (1978-1981) and Spenser: For Hire (1985-1988).

Politics and government
Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and his cabinet resigned in order to take responsibility for mistakes made by the government when Dutch peacemakers had been unable to protect the town of Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina from being destroyed by Bosnian Serbs in 1995.

Labour
A one-day general strike in Italy idled 13 million workers and virtually shut down the country.