April 7, 2014

400 years ago
1614

Died on this date
El Greco, 72 or 73. Cretian-born Spanish artist. El Greco, born Doménikos Theotokópoulos, was a precursor of Expressionism and Cubism in paintings such as The Disrobing of Christ (1577-1579) and The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (1586-1588).

290 years ago
1724

Music
Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion BWV 245 received its premiere performance at St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig.

275 years ago
1739

Died on this date
Dick Turpin, 33 or 34. U.K. criminal. Mr. Turpin was a highwayman who became celebrated in English popular culture after being hanged for horse theft on the Knavesmire gallows in York.

225 years ago
1789

Died on this date
Abdul Hamid I, 64. Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1774-1789. Abdul Hamid I, the son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730), succeeded his elder brother Mustafa III (1757-1774). He was succeeded on the throne by his nephew Selim III.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Gabriela Mistral. Chilean poet. Ms. Mistral, whose real name was Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945, becoming the first Latin American (and so far, only Latin American woman) to win the award. She spent her last years in the United States and died in Hempstead, New York on January 10, 1957 at the age of 67.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Ralph Flanagan. U.S. musician. Mr. Flanagan, born Ralph Flenniken, was a pianist who became an arranger for a number of big bands and led a band of his own in the late 1940s and 1950s, having hit singles with songs such as Hot Toddy and Singing Winds. Mr. Flanagan died on December 30, 1995 at the age of 81.

Transportation
H. B Kelliher, chief engineer of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, drove in the last spike of the western division of the line at Nechako River Crossing, west of Prince George, British Columbia.

75 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Charles Stockard, 60. U.S. anatomist and zoologist. Dr. Stockard conducted numerous experiments studying the growth and differentiation of germ line cells within embryos. His research on embryonic development in guinea pigs given alcohol demonstrated that alcohol consumption can lead to birth defects. Dr. Stockard's books included Hormones and Structural Development (1927) and The Physical Basis of Personality (1931).

Joseph Lyons, 59. Prime Minister of Australia, 1932-1939. Mr. Lyons was a member of the Labour Party when he served as Premier of Tasmania from 1923-1928. He resigned from the Labour Party in 1931 and led the United Australia Party, serving as Prime Minister from 1932 until his death from a heart attack. Mr. Lyons was the first Australian Prime Minister to die in office.

War
Italian forces invaded Albania.

70 years ago
1944

War
Soviet troops trapped five or six German divisions north of Razdelnaya, 40 miles north of Odessa. U.S. troops on the Anzio beachhead in Italy gained, in small-scale action, a new strong point northwest of Padiglione. A Japanese advance unit penetrating the outskirts of Kohima in the Indian state of Manipur was repulsed. Slovak Jews Rudolf Verba and Alfred Wetzler escaped from Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland.

World events
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali el-Gailani and 19 associates were arrested and held prisoner in Baghdad.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that no further action had been taken by the U.S. to recognize General Charles de Gaulle's French Committee of National Liberation, and added that the matter was one of self-determination for the French people.

U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius arrived in London for conferences with U.K. Foreign Minister Anthony Eden.

Politics and government
Southern U.S. Senators disclosed that "more than 1,000 amendments" had been prepared to delay and prevent action on the anti-poll tax bill that had been approved by the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate.

The Nebraska legislature ended its special session by passing a bill to liberalize voting laws for people in the armed forces and absentees working in war industries outside the state.

60 years ago
1954

At the movies
The Mad Magician, directed by John Brahm, and starring Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, and Eva Gabor, opened in theatres in Los Angeles.



Defense
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his "domino theory" speech during a news conference:

Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.



50 years ago
1964

On television tonight
The Fugitive, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Homecoming, with guest stars Shirley Knight, Richard Carlson, and Gloria Grahame

Died on this date
John Alan West, 53. U.K. murder victim. Mr. West, a truck driver, was murdered at his home in Seaton, Cumberland by Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, who had gone there with the intention of robbing him. The murderers were hanged in separate prisons on August 13, 1964, becoming the last people executed in Britain.

Technology
International Business Machines announced the System/360 mainframe computer system.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Toronto 3 @ Montreal 0 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
Chicago 2 @ Detroit 7 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

Don McKenney and Bobby Baun scored in the 2nd period and Andy Bathgate scored in the 3rd period as the Maple Leafs blanked the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. Johnny Bower made 25 saves to earn the shutout as he won the goaltending duel over Charlie Hodge, who made 29 saves.



Norm Ullman scored 3 goals for the second time in the series and added 2 assists as the Red Wings routed the Black Hawks at Olympia Stadium. Glenn Hall played the first 2 periods in goal for Chicago, but was replaced by Denis DeJordy in the 3rd period.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Love of the Common People--Paul Young

#1 single in Flanders (VRT Top 30): Love Is A Battlefield--Pat Benatar

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Love Is a Battlefield--Pat Benatar (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Hello--Lionel Richie (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Hello--Lionel Richie (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Footloose--Kenny Loggins (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Footloose--Kenny Loggins (2nd week at #1)
2 Somebody's Watching Me--Rockwell
3 Jump--Van Halen
4 Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)--Phil Collins
5 I Want a New Drug--Huey Lewis and the News
6 Here Comes the Rain Again--Eurythmics
7 Eat It--"Weird Al" Yankovic
8 Automatic--Pointer Sisters
9 Girls Just Want to Have Fun--Cyndi Lauper
10 Hold Me Now--Thompson Twins

Singles entering the chart were Oh Sherrie by Steve Perry (#47); Let's Hear it for the Boy by Deniece Williams (#57); Run Runaway by Slade (#77); Olympia by Sergio Mendes (#83); Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (#84); Give by Missing Persons (#86); She's Strange by Cameo (#87); and Communication by Spandau Ballet (#89). Let's Hear it for the Boy was from the movie Footloose (1984).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Girls Just Want to Have Fun--Cyndi Lauper (2nd week at #1)
2 Somebody's Watching Me--Rockwell
3 Footloose--Kenny Loggins
4 99 Red Balloons--Nena
5 Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)--Phil Collins
6 Jump--Van Halen
7 Thriller--Michael Jackson
8 Eat It--"Weird Al" Yankovic
9 I Want a New Drug--Huey Lewis and the News
10 Miss Me Blind--Culture Club

Singles entering the chart were Breakdance by Irene Cara (#42); To All the Girls I've Loved Before by Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson (#44); Listen to the Radio by Pukka Orchestra (#48); and You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want) by Joe Jackson (#50).

Died on this date
Frank Church, 59. U.S. politician. Mr. Church, a Democrat, represented Idaho in the United States Senate from 1957-1981. He was best known for heading the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities--better known as the Church Commitee--that issued reports in 1975 and 1976 on abuses of power by U.S. government intelligence agencies.

Space
The crew of U.S. space shuttle mission STS-41-C (STS-13) deployed a module designed to test the durability of materials in space.

Politics and government
Former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale won the Wisconsin caucuses in the contest for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States in the November 1984 election.

Economics and finance
U.S. Special Trade Representative William Brock and Japanese Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Yamamura reached an accord in Washington whereby Japan agreed to increase the amount of beef and citrus products imported from the United States.

Baseball
Jack Morris (2-0) pitched a no-hitter for the Detroit Tigers as they blanked the Chicago White Sox 4-0 before 24,616 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago.



25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Looking for Freedom--David Hasselhoff (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had lunch with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in London. Speaking at London's Guildhall, Mr. Gorbachev said that the U.S.S.R. was seeking to build an "open, democratic and free society."

Terrorism
A gunman hijacked a bus near Montreal and drove it to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where he was disarmed by police.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had declined to 4.9%, the lowest figure since 1973.

Disasters
The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine Komsomolets caught fire and sank in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway, killing 42 sailors. 27 crewmen were rescued by Soviet fishing boats.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Jos sulla on toinen--Taikapeili (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 40. Prime Minister of Rwanda, 1993-1994. Miss Uwilingiyimana, a member of the Democratic Republican Movement, was a Hutu, and was assassinated during the first day of large-scale fighting between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda.

Abominations
Hutu extremists in Rwanda began massacring ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

Terrorism
Auburn Calloway attempted to hijack FedEx Express Flight 705--a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 cargo jet carrying electronics across the United States from Memphis, Tennessee to San Jose, California--and crash it to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy. The crew, despite suffering serious injuries, subdued him and landed the aircraft safely.

10 years ago
2004

War
The United States reported evidence that Shiite and Sunni leaders in Iraq were uniting against the U.S.-led occupation.