April 1, 2017

190 years ago
1827

Born on this date
John Patteson. U.K. clergyman. Rev. Patteson was an Anglican priest who was named Bishop of Melanesia in 1861, and learned 23 of Melanesia's more than 1,000 languages, translating some scriptures into the Mota language. He worked with the colonial government to suppress "blackbirders"--traders who coerced or kidnapped local people into harsh labour conditions--despite slavery already being illegal. Rev. Patteson took boys from the local villages and educated them, then returning them to their people to lead the next generation, but often enountered resistance from natives who didn't want the boys to depart. Rev. Patteson was killed on the island of Nukapu in the Solomon Islands, where he had landed alone. There are differing accounts as to the circumstances of his death on September 20, 1871 at the age of 44; one account states that he was mistaken for a blackbirder, and another says that he was killed in revenge for the abduction of five men by a blackbirder several days earlier.

150 years ago
1867

Britannica
Singapore became a British crown colony.

130 years ago
1887

Politics and government
Alexander Davie was sworn in as Premier of British Columbia, replacing William Smithe as Conservative Party leader.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Melville Shavelson. U.S. screenwriter and director. Mr. Shavelson was best known for his work on movies that starred Bob Hope. Mr. Shavelson's films included The Princess and the Pirate (1944); The Great Lover (1949); and The Seven Little Foys (1955). He died at the age of 90 on August 8, 2007.

Died on this date
Scott Joplin, 48 or 49. U.S. musician and composer. Mr. Joplin was a pianist and was known as the "King of Ragtime." His compositions included Maple Leaf Rag (1899); The Entertainer (1902); and Solace (1909). Mr. Joplin died of syphilitic dementia.

90 years ago
1927

Labour
The United States Department of Labor put an immigration quota on Canadians looking for work in the U.S.A.

80 years ago
1937

War
Jaén, Spain was bombed by German forces who were supporting Francoist Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War.

Defense
The Royal New Zealand Air Force was formed as an independent air force.

Britannica
Aden became a British crown colony.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Detroit 2 @ Montreal Canadiens 1 (3 OT) (Detroit won best-of-five series 3-2)

Hec Kilrea scored at 11:09 of the 3rd overtime period as the Red Wings eliminated the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum.

75 years ago
1942

Movies
Two days after actor Lew Ayres was interned in a conscientious objectors' camp for refusing to bear arms in the United States Army, all motion pictures in which Mr. Ayres appeared were banned by Balaban & Katz from being screened in 100 Chicago theatres which the company operated.

War
Malta's anti-aircraft defense claimed heavy enemy losses as German bombers pounded the island. British troops abandoned Prome, Burma, 150 miles north of Rangoon, to Japanese forces. The new Pacific War Council met in Washington for the first time, with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presiding. The Australian government called all men aged 18-35 for immediate war service on the recommendation of General Sir Thomas Blamey, chief of Allied ground forces.

Politics and government
Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose was quoted by Berlin radio as having broadcast an appeal to the Indian people not to accept the British plan for Indian independence, but to put their faith in the Axis. Working committees representing 4.5 million Sikhs in Punjab and the extremist Hindu Mahasabha group rejected the British plan for Indian independence from British rule.

Economics and finance
The Canadian Department of Munitions and Supply put gasoline on coupon rationing, and proclaimed a national speed limit of 40 miles per hour. U.S. Commerce Secretary Jesse Jones announced in Washington that 25 companies had signed contracts to raise U.S. synthetic rubber production to 700,000 tons by the end of 1943.

Medicine
Dr. David Climenko of Winthrop Chemical Company reported a synthetic non-habit forming substitute for morphine, named demerol, had been successfully tested on 800 people.

70 years ago
1947

Died on this date
George II, 56. King of Greece, 1922-1924, 1935-1947. George II acceded to the throne upon the abdication of his father Constantine I, but was forced into exile and deposed when a republic was declared. He returned when a plebiscite resulted in the restoration of the monarchy, but was forced into exile in England again during World War II. King George II died of arteriosclerosis six months after returning to Greece, and was succeeded on the throne by his younger brother Paul.

Space
A new comet entering the solar system was discovered by the Harvard Obswervatory at Mazelspoort, South Africa.

Diplomacy
The Big Four meeting in Moscow of foreign ministers issued a formal statement admitting failure to agree on the level of German reparations or the degree to which German industry should be allowed to rebuild.

Defense
The U.K. House of Commons passed a peacetime conscription bill.

Protest
The only mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy began.

Politics and government
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities asked Attorney General Tom Clark to start prosecuting Communists as unregistered foreign agents.

In a record voter turnout, Democratic Party candidate Martin Kennelly was elected Mayor of Chicago over Republican Party candidate Russell Root.

Economics and finance
Preparing for independence, Burma dropped its currency link with India.

60 years ago
1957

On television tonight
Panorama, on BBC

Tonight's broadcast of the news program featured an April Fool's Day item, reported by Richard Dimbleby, about spaghetti crops in Switzerland.



Diplomacy
U.K. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan rejected Egypt's draft declaration on the Suez Canal as an "unsatisfactory document." The U.S. State Department removed restrictions on travel by American citizens in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

Clark Gregory, U.S. technical aid administrator for Iran, temporarily suspended aid activities after expressing dissatisfaction with measures taken against the bandits responsible for the recent murders of two U.S. aid officials.

Boxing
Alphonse Halimi (19-0) won the world bantamweight title with a 15-round decision over defending champion Mario D'Agata (44-5-3) at Palais des Sports in Paris. The fight was interrupted for 15 minutes when a lamp caught fire in the hall.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever--The Beatles

#1 single in France: Hey Joe--Johnny Hallyday (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Cuore matto--Little Tony (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Let's Spend the Night Together--The Rolling Stones

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): This is My Song--Petula Clark; Harry Secombe

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)--Engelbert Humperdinck (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)--Engelbert Humperdinck (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Happy Together--The Turtles (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Happy Together--The Turtles
2 Dedicated to the One I Love--The Mamas and the Papas
3 There's a Kind of Hush--Herman's Hermits
4 Penny Lane--The Beatles
5 I Think We're Alone Now--Tommy James and the Shondells
6 Sock it To Me--Baby!--Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
7 For What it's Worth--Buffalo Springfield
8 My Cup Runneth Over--Ed Ames
9 This is My Song--Petula Clark
10 Strawberry Fields Forever--The Beatles

Singles entering the chart were Love Eyes by Nancy Sinatra (#72); I Found a Love (Part 1) by Wilson Pickett (#74); Close Your Eyes by Peaches and Herb (#75); You Got What it Takes by the Dave Clark Five (#76); Alfie by Dionne Warwick (#83); My Back Pages by the Byrds (#85); Buy for Me the Rain by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (#86); Cry to Me by Freddie Scott (#87); Get Me to the World on Time by the Electric Prunes (#88); Music to Watch Girls By by Andy Williams (#89); Take Me by Brenda Lee (#95); Ain't Gonna Rest (Till I Get You) by the Five Stairsteps (#98); Live by the Merry-Go-Round (#99); I Can't Make it Anymore by Spyder Turner (#100); Danny Boy by Ray Price (also #100); and The Whole World is a Stage by the Fantastic Four (also #100).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You--The Monkees
2 Happy Together--The Turtles
3 Sock it To Me--Baby!--Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
4 Dedicated to the One I Love--The Mamas and the Papas
5 Canada--The Young Canada Singers
6 Penny Lane--The Beatles
7 There's a Kind of Hush--Herman's Hermits
8 For What it's Worth--Buffalo Springfield
9 Baby I Need Your Lovin'--Johnny Rivers
10 Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye--The Casinos

Singles entering the chart were Simple Deed by the Paupers (#59); I'm a Man by the Spencer Davis Group (#66); Sunday for Tea by Peter and Gordon (#75); I'll Try Anything by Dusty Springfield (#81); Danny Boy by Ray Price (#87); Oh That's Good No That's Bad by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (#89); Girl I Need You by the Artistics (#91); Love Eyes by Nancy Sinatra (#93); Can't Get Enough of You Baby by ? and the Mysterians (#95); Close Your Eyes by Peaches and Herb (#97); Walkin' in the Sunshine by Roger Miller (#98); Music to Watch Girls By by Andy Williams (#99); and Dead End Street by Lou Rawls (#100).

On television tonight
In an April Fool's Day stunt inspired by the BBC's broadcast of 10 years earlier, HSV-7 in Melbourne, Australia presented a story reported by Dan Webb about worms infesting spaghetti farms in Victoria.



Music
The Beatles were in studio one at Abbey Road in London, where they began recording the song Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise).

Politics and government
South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu signed the country's new constitution.

Disasters
Robert Gauchie, a bush pilot forced down in a remote section of the Northwest Territories, was found by rescue workers after a 58-day search.

Hockey
CPHL
Adams Cup
Semi-Finals
Oklahoma City 5 @ Houston 1 (Oklahoma City led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Omaha 5 @ Memphis 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Shenandoah--Jan Lindblad (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Living Next Door to Alice--Smokie (9th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Les chansons françaises--La Bande à Basile (2nd week at #1)

At the movies
Black Sunday, directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Robert Shaw and Bruce Dern, opened in theatres.

Diplomacy
U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet Presidium Chairman Nikolai Podgorny concluded a state visit to Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia, the first by a Soviet leader to southern Africa.

Politics and government
Brazilian President Ernesto Geisel suspended Congress after it refused a government-sponsored judicial reform bill.

The United States Senate adopted a strict code of ethics for its members.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Caravan of Love--The Housemartins (8th week at #1)

Died on this date
Henri Cochet, 85. French tennis player. Mr. Cochet was one of the "Four Musketeers" who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He won 22 major tournaments, including seven Grand Slam singles, five doubles and three mixed doubles, as well as silver medals in the men's singles and doubles events at the 1924 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Mr. Cochet was ranked as the world's number one player from 1928-1931. He turned professional in 1933 and had less success, but regained his amateur standing in December 1941, playing until 1956, while also coaching and running a sporting goods store. Mr. Cochet and the other Musketeers--Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, and René Lacoste--were inducted together into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.

Health
In his first major speech on the epidemic, U.S. President Ronald Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1."

Baseball
The New York Mets were informed by major league baseball that Dwight Gooden, their 22-year-old pitching ace who had posted a 24-4 record in 1985 and helped them to the World Series championship in 1986, had tested positive for cocaine. He missed the first two months of the season in a rehabilitation centre.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): To Be with You--Mr. Big

Died on this date
Michael Havers, Baron Havers, 69. U.K. politician. Sir Michael, a Conservative, represented Wimbledon in the House of Commons from 1970-1987, and was Attorney General for England and Wales from 1972-1974 in the government of Prime Minister Edward Heath, and held the same position for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1979-1987. He became Baron Havers in 1987 and served as Lord Chancellor from June 13-October 26, 1987, when he resigned because of ill health.

Labour
The National Hockey League Players Association launched a players' strike the, first in the NHL's 75-year history; the walkout ended 10 days later.

Scandal
The U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee released the names of 22 of the worst offenders among the more than 300 members and former members of the House who had written overdraft cheques at the House bank.

20 years ago
1997

Space
Comet Hale–Bopp was seen passing at perihelion.