April 26, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Lynn Weiss!

220 years ago
1794

War
British and Austrian forces commanded by the Duke of York defeated French forces commanded by René-Bernard Chapuy in the Battle of Beaumont in France.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Ludwig Wittgenstein. Austro-Hungarian-born U.K. philosopher. Dr. Wittgenstein worked primarily in logic, and the philosophies of mathematics, mind, and language. He was a a contemporary of Bertrand Russell and Karl Popper, and taught at the University of Cambridge from 1939-1947. Dr. Wittgenstein died on April 29, 1951, three days after his 62nd birthday. His book Philosophical Investigations, considered a classic in the field, was published in 1953.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Rudolf Hess. German politician. Mr. Hess was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi regime in the 1930s and early 1940s. He was captured in Scotland in 1941 after flying solo on an apparent attempt at a peace mission. Tried at Nuremberg after World War II, he was sentenced to life in Spandau Prison in Berlin. The Soviets always refused permission for Mr. Hess to be released, and he was the prison's only inmate for the last 30 years of his life, which ended when he reportedly committed suicide on August 17, 1987 at the age of 93.

110 years ago
1904

Born on this date
Paul-Émile Léger. Canadian clergyman. Cardinal Léger was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montreal from 1950-1968, and was named a cardinal by Pope Pius XII in 1953. He died on November 13, 1991 at the age of 87.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Bernard Malamud. U.S. author. Mr. Malamud was best known for his novels The Natural (1952) and The Fixer (1966). He died on March 18, 1986 at the age of 71.

70 years ago
1944

Died on this date
Violette Morris, 51. French athlete. Miss Morris excelled at various sports, particularly the shot put and javelin. She won the gold medal in both events at the 1921 Women's World Games; in the 1922 Women's World Games she won another gold medal in the shot put, and the silver medal in the javelin. Miss Morris became a spy for Nazi Germany in 1936, and continued through World War II. She was assassinated in an ambush by French Resistance forces.

War
British planes sank three German convoy ships off Norway. Canadian warships sank a German destroyer off France. German General Heinrich Kreipe was abducted by Allied commandos from occupied Crete. Soviet forces sank five German transport ships off Sevastopol. Chinese and American forces in northern Burma made a six-mile advance through the Mogaung Valley to a point 10 miles from Kamaing.

Diplomacy
Archbishop of York Cyril Garbett defended British policy in India and Palestine, indicating that without previous Hindu-Muslim agreement, independence for India would be meaningless. He said that the 1917 Balfour Declaration mandating Palestine as a Jewish homeland did not intend for all of Palestine to be a Jewish home.

U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson said that U.S. Army Lieutenant General George Patton's April 15 statement that the U.S.A. and U.K. were destined to rule the world "represents Patton's personal views" and not that of the War Department.

Politics and government
Georgios Papandreou became Prime Minister of the Greek government-in-exile based in Cairo.

Defense
U.S. Army service forces chief Lieutenant General Brehon Somervell said that unity of command of U.S. armed forces should begin now.

Labour
U.S. Army troops took possession of the Chicago plant of Montgomery Ward, which had rejected President Franklin D. Roosevelt's order to recognize a Congress of Industrial Organizations union. Montgomery Ward board chairman Sewell Avery was carried out of his office by U.S. soldiers.

60 years ago
1954

Diplomacy
The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, began. Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester Pearson led the Canadian delegation.

50 years ago
1964

Died on this date
E. J. Pratt, 82. Canadian poet. Mr. Pratt, a native of Western Bay, Newfoundland, was a Methodist minister before becoming an English professor. He was regarded as the foremost Canadian poet of the first half of the 20th century.

World events
Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, later known as Tanzania.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
San Francisco 99 @ Boston 105 (Boston won best-of-seven series 4-1)

The Celtics defeated the Warriors at Boston Garden to win their sixth straight NBA championship and seventh in the previous eight years.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: The Air That I Breathe--The Hollies (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Eddie Anderson, 73. U.S. football coach. Dr. Anderson coached at several colleges in a 39-year career, amassing a record of 201-136-15. 130 of his wins came at Holy Cross, where he coached for 21 years (1933-1938, 1950-1964). Dr. Anderson was an ear, nose, and throat specialist, and he devoted full time to his medical practice after retiring from coaching in 1964.

Baseball
The Cleveland Indians traded first baseman Chris Chambliss and pitchers Dick Tidrow and Cecil Unpshaw to the New York Yankees for pitchers Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline, Fred Beene, and Tom Buskey. The key player in the trade was Mr. Chambliss, the 1971 American League Rookie of the Year, who was batting .328 in 17 games with Cleveland in 1974.

Former Pittsburgh Pirates' star pitcher Steve Blass made his debut with the Charleston Charlies of the International League after being demoted by the Pirates. He walked the first 2 Rochester Red Wings he faced, threw a wild pitch, and hit a batter to load the bases. 2 infield errors made the score 3-0, and singles by Curt Motton, Jim Hutto, and Rob Andrews gave Rochester a 5-0 lead. Mr. Blass, whose wildness had suddenly appeared in 1973, then pitched 2 scoreless innings without walking or hitting a batter before leaving for a pinch hitter in the 4th inning. Charleston came back to win the game 8-7, sparing Mr. Blass the loss.

30 years ago
1984

Died on this date
Count Basie, 79. U.S. musician. Born William James Basie, Count Basie was a prominent jazz pianist and bandleader from the 1930s through the 1950s. His theme songs were One O'Clock Jump and April in Paris.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Ronald Reagan arrived in Beijing to begin a six-day vist to China.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference Finals
Montreal 4 @ New York Islanders 2 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Basketball
NBA
Quarter-Finals
Eastern Division
New Jersey 101 @ Philadelphia 98 (New Jersey won best-of-five series 3-2)

Buck Williams and Micheal Ray Richardson led the Nets as they eliminated the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers at the Spectrum.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Like a Prayer--Madonna (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Like a Prayer--Madonna (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Lucille Ball, 77. U.S. actress and producer. Miss Ball appeared in a number of movies in the 1930s and '40s before achieving stardom in the radio comedy series My Favorite Husband (1948-1951). She then became one of television's biggest stars with the series I Love Lucy (1951-1957); The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960); The Lucy Show (1962-1968); and Here's Lucy (1968-1974). With her first husband, Desi Arnaz, Miss Ball founded Desilu studios, which she began running in 1962, with great success.

Ihei Aoki. Japanese bureaucrat. Mr. Aoki was the secretary to Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, who had announced the previous day that he would resign over allegations of improper dealings with Recruit Company. Mr. Aoki believed to be a middleman in financial dealings between Mr. Takeshita and Recruit Company, committed suicide.

Journalism
The Chinese People's Daily published the April 26 Editorial, which inflamed the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the gross national product had grown at an annual rate of 5.5% in the first quarter of 1989.

Disasters
The deadliest tornado in world history struck central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Chicago 4 St. Louis 2

20 years ago
1994

Politics and government
The day after the Japanese Diet had elected Tsutomu Hata of the Japan Renewal Party (Shinseito) as the country's new Prime Minister, replacing Morihio Hosokawa, the Social Democratic Party pulled out of the ruling coalition, saying that they believed they were going to be squeezed out of the government. The other parties in the coalition were more conservative. The defection left Mr. Hata's government without a majority in the lower house of the Diet.

Voting began in South Africa's first general-suffrage elections.

Disasters
China Airlines Flight 140 an Airbus A300B4-622R, crashed at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Vancouver 2 @ Calgary 1 (OT) (Calgary led best-of-seven series 3-2)

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Hubert Selby, Jr., 75. U.S. author. Mr. Selby was known for his novels Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964) and Requiem for a Dream (1978).