April 17, 2017

525 years ago
1492

Exploration
Spain and Christopher Columbus signed the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.

125 years ago
1892

Died on this date
Alexander Mackenzie, 70. Prime Minister of Canada, 1873-1878. A native of the Pertshire hills of Scotland, Mr. Mackenzie moved to Canada at the age of 20, becoming a lawyer in Kingston and later in Sarnia, Ontrario. He became the first official leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 1872, and formed a government in November 1873 when the Conservative government of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald had lost the support of Parliament as a result of scandals concerning the awarding of contracts in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Liberals were rewarded with a majority of seats in the House of Commons in the federal election on January 22, 1874, but Canada was afflicted by a serious economic depression ove the next several years, and Mr. Macdonald's Conservatives were returned to power in the federal election of September 17, 1878. Achievements of Mr. Mackenzie's government included creation of the Supreme Court of Canada and introduction of the secret ballot into Canadian elections. Ironically, the first election in which voting was done by secret ballot was the one that defeated Mr. Mackenzie's government. Mr. Mackenzie resigned as Liberal leader upon his party's defeat and returned to private life in Sarnia.

110 years ago
1907

Society
The Ellis Island, New York immigration centre processed 11,747 people, more than on any other day.

80 years ago
1937

At the movies
The Warner Brothers cartoon Porky's Duck Hunt opened in theatres. It marked the first appearance of Daffy Duck, and Mel Blanc's first appearance as the voice of Porky Pig.


Porky's Duck Hunt (1937) by voiceman91

75 years ago
1942

Died on this date
Jean Perrin, 71. French physicist and chemist. Dr. Perrin was awarded the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his work on the discontinuous structure of matter, and especially for his discovery of sedimentation equilibrium." He fled to the United States after the Nazi invasion of France in 1940, and died in New York City.

War
In the largest daylight attack of World War II, an estimated 600 U.K. Royal Air Force fighters and bombers raided northern France for the sixth consecutive day. British forces destroyed oil fields at Yenangyuang, Burma and retreated on the Irrawaddy front under severe Japanese pressure.

Politics and government
The Vichy French cabinet of Prime Minister Francois Darlan resigned as Pierre Laval attempted to form a new government.

Diplomacy
U.S. Ambassador to France Admiral William Leahy was directed to return to the United States for consultations in view of the return of Pierre Laval to power in Vichy.

Journalism
The U.S. Army weekly newspaper Stars and Stripes published its first issue, in London.

70 years ago
1947

Radio
The George Foster Peabody Awards for 1946 were named by the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. The winners included news commentator William L. Shirer; Columbia Workshop (CBS); and Orchestras of the Nation (NBC).

War
A U.S. Court in Nuremberg sentenced Field Marshal Erhard Milch, deputy commander of the German Luftwaffe in World War II, to life imprisonment for extensive use of slave labour in aircraft construction.

Diplomacy
The United States granted de facto recognition to the Republic of Indonesia.

Labour
Despite threats from Democrats of a presidential veto, the U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate a bill containing numerous restrictions on union activity and collective bargaining.

Environment
U.S. Interior Secretary Julius Krug issued a report condemning most company-owned bituminous coal mining towns as "a menace to healthful living," and urging government-company-labour cooperation in their improvement.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Toronto 1 @ Montreal 3 (Toronto led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Rocket Richard scored 2 goals for the Canadiens as they averted elimination by the Maple Leafs at the Montreal Forum.

Basketball
BAA
Finals
Chicago 74 @ Philadelphia 85 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 2-0)

The Stags led the Warriors 69-68 in the 4th quarter at Philadelphia Arena, but Art Hillhouse scored 7 of his team's last 10 points as the Warriors came back to win. Chicago's Chet Carlisle led all scorers with 19 points; Howie Dallmar led Philadelphia with 18 points.

60 years ago
1957

Diplomacy
Cypriot Archbishop Makarios arrived in Athens, where he was greeted by Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Averoff, Greek Archbishop Dorotheos, and demonstrators favouring a union of Cyprus with Greece.

Defense
Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists disclosed the development of a gyroscope-operated "inertial guidance" system capable of steering a missile or other craft to any desired target without compass, radio, or radar.

Politics and government
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru named Krishna Menon as Defense Minister.

Society
U.S. Deputy Attorney General William Rogers rejected requests by Senators Clifford Case, Irving Ivese, and Jacob Javits (Republican--New York) to admit to the United States 5,000 Jewish refugees from Egypt.

Energy
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower endorsed a bill introduced by Representatives Joseph O'Hara (Republican--Minnesota) and Oren Harris (Democrat--Arkansas) to free natural gas producers from direct federal control.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Good Vibrations--The Beach Boys (4th week at #1)

Space
The United States launched the lunar probe Surveyor 3 from Cape Kennedy, Florida.

Politics and government
Former House of Commons Speaker Roland Michener took office as Governor General of Canada; he succeeded Georges Vanier, who had died in office on March 5, 1967.

Canadiana
Prime Minister Lester Pearson announced the creation of the Order of Canada, effective July 1, 1967, to honour outstanding citizens for service to Canada or humanity at large. The honour would be granted by the Governor General, and new Governor General Roland Michener would be the first to hold the Order.

Boxing
Nino Benvenuti (72-1) won a 15-round unanimous decision over defending champion Emile Griffith (52-8) to win the world middleweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York.



Henry Cooper (34-13-1) won a 10-round decision over Boston Jacobs (6-4) in a heavyweight bout at De Montford Hall in Leicester, Leicestershire, England.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Don't Give Up on Us--David Soul (5th week at #1)

Politics and government
The People's Christian Party captured the greatest number of seats in both houses of parliament in the Belgian general election, taking 56 of 212 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 28 of 106 seats in the Senate. Prime Minister Leo Tindemans formed a four-party coalition government.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
New York Islanders 4 @ Buffalo 3 (New York won best-of-seven series 4-0)
Philadelphia 6 @ Toronto 5 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
Montreal 4 @ St. Louis 1 (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-0)
Boston 4 @ Los Angeles 7 (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Billy MacMillan scored the winning goal with 12:18 remaining in regulation time as the Islanders completed their sweep of the Sabres at War Memorial Auditorium.

Lanny McDonald scored 4 goals for the Maple Leafs and they led the Flyers 6-3 with 6 minutes left in the 3rd period at Maple Leaf Gardens, but they completely collapsed, and Reg Leach scored the winning goal with 50 seconds remaining in the 1st overtime period to win the game for Philadelphia. Viewers in Calgary were upset when the local CBC television station suffered some sort of power failure and went off the air just as the game was going into overtime, and none of the overtime was shown there.

WHA
Avco World Trophy
Quarter-Finals
Houston 2 @ Edmonton 7 (Houston led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Winnipeg 4 @ San Diego 6 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Respectable--Mel and Kim (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Cornelius Van Til, 91. Dutch-born U.S. theologian. Dr. Van Til moved with his family to Indiana at the age of 10. He graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, and served as a minister with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for more than 40 years. Dr. Van Til was one of the founders of Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, and taught there for 43 years. He has been credited as the originator of presuppositional apologetics, and argued that there is no neutral common ground between Christians and non-Christians because their presuppositions, their ultimate principles of interpretation, are different, but common ground can be found because Christians act inconsistently with their presuppositions. Dr. Van Til died 16 days before his 92nd birthday. He has had a tremendous influence on Christian reconstructionists/theonomists such as Rousas Rushdoony and Greg Bahnsen.

Dick Shawn, 63. U.S. comedian and actor. Mr. Shawn, born Richard Schulefand, was a successful stand-up comedian for 35 years, and appeared in numerous television programs and movies such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and The Producers (1967). He was performing at Mandeville Hall on the campus of the University of California at San Diego when he collapsed face-down on the stage. The audience initially believed it to be part of his routine, but in fact he had suffered a fatal heart attack.

Terrorism
Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka stopped three buses and three other vehicles along a state highway, identified which travellers were members of the country’s Sinhalese minority, and attacked them with machine guns and grenades, killing 127 and wounding 60.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Das Boot--U96 (13th week at #1)

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Don't Let Go (Love)--En Vogue (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Perseeseen--Klamydia (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Chaim Herzog, 78. 6th President of Israel, 1983-1993. Major-General Herzog, a native of Dublin, moved to Palestine in 1935. He served in the Jewish defense force Haganah during the Arab revolt of 1936-1939, and in the British Army during World War II, before serving in the Israeli Defense Forces until his retirement in 1962. Mr. Herzog was Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1975-1978, and was elected to the Knesset in 1981 as a member of the Alignment. He served two full terms as President.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Montreal 2 @ New Jersey 5 (New Jersey led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Ottawa 1 @ Buffalo 3 (Buffalo led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Pittsburgh 1 @ Philadelphia 5 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 1-0)
New York Rangers 0 @ Florida 3 (Florida led best-of-seven series 1-0)

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Kitty Carlisle, 96. U.S. actress and singer. Miss Carlisle, born Catherine Conn, appeared in various plays and in movies such as A Night at the Opera (1935) and Radio Days (1987), but was best known as a panelist on television game shows. She was a regular panelist on To Tell the Truth from 1956-1978.

10 years ago
2007

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Conference Quarter-Finals
Atlanta 0 @ New York Rangers 7 (New York led best-of-seven series 3-0)
Ottawa 2 @ Pittsburgh 1 (Ottawa led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Anaheim 1 @ Minnesota 4 (Anaheim led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Vancouver 2 @ Dallas 1 (Vancouver led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Detroit 2 @ Calgary 3 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 2-1)