April 1, 2013

720 years ago
1293

Religion
Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.

140 years ago
1873

Disasters
547 people died when the British steamer RMS Atlantic sank off Nova Scotia.

130 years ago
1883

Born on this date
Laurette Taylor. U.S. actress. Miss Taylor, born Loretta Cooney, was best known for starring in the play (1912) and movie (1922) Peg o' My Heart, written for her by her husband, playwright J. Hartley Manners. Heavy drinking contributed to a decline in Miss Taylor's career in the late 1920s, but she made a successful comeback by playing Amanda Wingfield in the original Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie (1945), winning the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Miss Taylor died of a coronary thrombosis on December 7, 1946 at the age of 63.

120 years ago
1893

Defense
The United States Navy established the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

80 years ago
1933

Abominations
Under the leadership of Julius Streicher, Germany's Nazi regime organized a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany, ushering in a series of anti-Semitic acts.

70 years ago
1943

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Boston 2 @ Detroit 6 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 1-0)

60 years ago
1953

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: The Wrong Green

Boxing
Former world heavywewight champion Ezzard Charles (81-8-1) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Rex Layne (40-7-2) at Winterland Arena in San Francisco. It was the third fight between them, with Mr. Charles winning two.



50 years ago
1963

On television today
The soap opera General Hospital broadcast its first episode on ABC.

40 years ago
1973

Environment
Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, was launched in India's Corbett National Park.

Disasters
Tornadoes and heavy storms killed eight people and injured several hundred in Georgia and South Carolina.

At least 7 people died and 25 were injured when an explosion demolished a three-storey building in Cincinnati.

Hockey
NHL
Norm Ullman's 20th goal of the season, with 29 seconds remaining in the game, enabled the Toronto Maple Leafs to end their season with a 4-4 tie against the Chicago Black Hawks at Chicago Stadium in the regular Sunday broadcast on CBC radio. The Maple Leafs came back from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits, with George Ferguson scoring the third Toronto goal at 10:37 of the 3rd period. Stan Mikita scored a goal and 2 assists for the Black Hawks. Ron Low made 33 saves in his 42nd and last game in a Toronto uniform.

Pete Mahovlich scored 2 goals and an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Boston Bruins 5-3 at Boston Garden in the last regular season game for both teams. The Canadiens finished the 78-game season with just 10 losses, a record low figure at the time. Dale Hoganson assisted on one of the Montreal goals; it was his second and last point as a Canadien, and his last National Hockey League game. Don Marcotte scored twice for Boston.

Gilbert Perreault, Larry Mickey, and Jim Lorentz scored for the Buffalo Sabres as they defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-1 at War Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo in the last regular season game for both teams. Buffalo goalie Roger Crozier's bid for a shutout ended early, as Wayne Merrick scored just 1:54 into the game to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.

Jean Pronovost scored with 1:13 remaining in the game to complete the Pittsburgh Penguins' comeback from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 at Civic Arena in Pittsburgh in the Penguins' last game of the season. Dave Schultz scored 2 goals for the Flyers, while Rick MacLeish also scored for Philadelphia, finishing the season with 50 goals and 50 assists.

Tim Ecclestone scored with 3:24 remaining in the game to enable the Detroit Red Wings to finish their season with a 3-3 tie against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Bob Nystrom scored his first National Hockey League goal with 8:47 remaining in the game and Billy Harris scored 1 minute 56 seconds later to enable the New York Islanders to gain a 4-4 tie against the Atlanta Flames at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta in the last game of both expansion teams' first season.

WHA
Tom Webster scored his 51st, 52nd, and 53rd goals of the season to help the New England Whalers defeat the Quebec Nordiques 8-3 at Boston Arena in the last regular season game for both teams. The Sunday afternoon match was telecast in Canada by CBC, and was the last World Hockey Association regular season game ever telecast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Baseball
Nolan Ryan pitched a 2-hit complete game for the California Angels as they edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 before 21,099 fans on a windy Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, winning the annual Freeway Series between the teams 2 games to 1. Jim Spencer singled home both California runs in the top of the 1st inning, while the Dodgers scored their run in the bottom of the 1st without benefit of a hit. Mr. Ryan struck out 9 batters and walked 5 in evening his spring record at 3-3, while Los Angeles starter Tommy John took the loss, falling to 0-2 for the spring.



30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Twisting by the Pool--Dire Straits (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Too Shy--Kajagoogoo

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had declined from 10.2% to 10.1% in March.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Tell it to My Heart--Taylor Dayne (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Jim Jordan, 91. U.S. actor. Mr. Jordan was the male star of the radio series Fibber McGee and Molly, with Molly being played by Mr. Jordan’s real-life wife Marian. The Jordans began their radio careers on WENR in Chicago in 1927 doing two series: Luke and Mirandy, and The Smith Family. In 1931 they created a series called Smackout for WMAQ in Chicago. All these series were situation comedies in rural settings. Smackout was picked up by the National Broadcasting Company in April 1933 and ran until August 1935. Fibber McGee and Molly, a series developed by Mr. Jordan, began running on NBC on April 16, 1935. It took five years to become a big hit, but it eventually became one of the most popular series on radio, running until mid-1953. Fibber and Molly made appearances in short segments on the NBC series Monitor from 1957-1959 under the title Just Molly and Me. The Jordans were set to renew their contract with NBC when Marian died of cancer in 1961.

World events
The United States sent more Marines into Panama, while the Pentagon rejected a charge by Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega that the U.S. was planning military action against his regime. U.S. officials said the move was intended to demonstrate support for ousted President Eric Delvalle and others who opposed Gen. Noriega.

Diplomacy
A 60-day case-fire between the Sandanista government of Nicaragua and Contra rebels formally took effect.

Scandal
James McKay, the independent counsel investigating U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese on a variety of matters, said that he did not plan to seek an indictment of him, "based on the evidence developed to date."

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had continued to edge downward to 5.5% in March.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 3 @ Detroit 7

Los Angeles 6 @ Calgary 3

Shawn Burr scored 2 goals and Adam Oates added a goal and 3 assists for the Red Wings as they beat the Maple Leafs at Joe Louis Arena in the last Maple Leafs’ game to be telecast on the independent Hamilton station CHCH, and the last for Erik Thomas as TV play-by-play broadcaster. Mr. Thomas decided to observe the occasion (which also happened to be April Fools’ Day) by spicing up his call of the game with some voice impressions. His Danny Gallivan impression was so good that it fooled me; I thought Mr. Gallivan had actually taken over the mike for a few minutes. Mr. Thomas’s antics were more entertaining than the game.

Luc Robitaille scored his 49th and 50th goals of the season to help the Kings defeat the Flames at Olympic Saddledome.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Onpa kadulla mittaa--Kolmas Nainen

Died on this date
Alan Kulwicki, 38. U.S. race car driver. Mr. Kulwicki was a stock car driver who was NASCAR's Rookie of the Year in 1986, and winner of the Winston Cup championship in 1992. He was killed in a plane crash in Tennessee after making a promotional appearance in Knoxville.

Terrorism
The United States indicted four Palestinians on charges of plotting to kill Jews and blow up the Israeli embassy in Washington as part of Abu Nidal's terrorist network.

Television
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission ordered cuts in the prices of cable TV services and ordered cable companies to cancel any increases imposed since Congress had voted to regulate the industry.

10 years ago
2003

War
The U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division attacked the Iraqi Republican Guard's Medina Division north of Karbala and within 50 miles of Baghdad, while the U.S. 1st Marine Division attacked the Baghdad division 70 miles southeast of the city. U.S. forces announced the rescue from an Iraqi hospital of injured Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, one of a group of soldiers from the 50th Maintenance Company who had been ambushed near Nasiriyah on March 22. U.S. officials said that some human remains found when Pfc. Lynch was found were apparently those of soldiers in the same convoy.

Law
Newfoundland and Labrador became the first province in Canada to ban the use of hand-held cellphones while driving.

Politics and government
Following 10 years of negotiations, the government of Canada granted Yukon Territory full control of its natural resources.

Health
Authorities in Hong Kong evacuated 240 residents of a housing complex where 213 people had developed flu-like symptoms resembling those of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Schools were closed in Hong Kong, where many people were weaing masks.