April 5, 2018

850 years ago
1168

Died on this date
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, 63 or 64. Chief Justiciar of England, 1154-1168. Lord Leicester was Chief Justiciar (roughly equal to Prime Minister) under King Henry II. He died in office and was succeeded as Chief Justiciar by Richard de Luci.

730 years ago
1288

Born on this date
Go-Fushimi. Emperor of Japan, 1298-1301. Go-Fushimi, also known as Fushimi II, succeeded his father Fushimi as Emperor. He abdicated in 1301, and died on May 17, 1336 at the age of 48.

450 years ago
1568

Born on this date
Urban VIII. Roman Catholic Pope, 1623-1644. Urban VIII, born Maffeo Barberini, succeeded Gregory XV. Pope Urban VIII expanded the papal territory, but incurred large debts that weakened his successors. He was a patron of the arts, but is perhaps best remembered as the pope who was on the throne during the debate with Galileo Galilei over the issue of whether the Earth is the centre of the universe. Pope Urban VIII died on July 29, 1644 at the age of 76, and was succeeded by Innocent X.

430 years ago
1588

Born on this date
Thomas Hobbes. English philosopher. Mr. Hobbes’ best-known works were Leviathan (1651) and Behemoth (1680). In Leviathan, Hobbes developed his political philosophy, arguing from a mechanistic view that life is simply the motions of the organism and that man is by nature a selfishly individualistic animal at constant war with all other men. In a state of nature, men are equal in their self-seeking and live out lives which are "nasty, brutish, and short"--or maybe it was Mr. Hobbes who was "nasty, brutish, and short." According to Mr. Hobbes, fear of violent death was the principal motive which caused men to create a state by contracting to surrender their natural rights and to submit to the absolute authority of a sovereign. Mr. Hobbes died on December 4, 1679 at the age of 91.

225 years ago
1793

Born on this date
Felix de Muelenaere. Prime Minister of Belgium, 1831-1832. Count de Muelenaere, a member of the Catholic Party, held various offices before and after serving as Prime Minister. He died on August 5, 1862 at the age of 69.

200 years ago
1818

War
Chile's independence movement, led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín, won a decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Maipú, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.

125 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Clas Thunberg. Finnish speed skater. Mr. Thunberg won three gold medals, a silver, and a bronze medal at the 1924 Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, and two gold medals at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. He won the gold medal at the world championships five times from 1923-1931, plus the bronze medal in 1922 and the silver medal in 1927. Mr. Thunberg died on April 28, 1973, 23 days after his 80th birthday.

Frithjof Andersen. Norwegian wrestler. Mr. Andersen won the bronze medal in the lightweight division of the men's Greco-Roman wrestling competition at the 1920 Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp. He died on July 24, 1975 at the age of 82.

110 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Bette Davis. U.S. actress. One of the most annoying and overrated actresses in movie history, Miss Davis possessed a remarkable ability to ruin with her ridiculous overacting most of the movies she starred in. For examples, see Bordertown (1935); The Petrified Forest (1935); Dark Victory (1939); Watch on the Rhine (1943); and All About Eve (1950). Now, Voyager (1942) is famous for the scene where Miss Davis and Paul Henreid blow cigarette smoke in each other’s faces; for some reason this is supposed to be regarded as romantic. Her acting was the kind that wins Academy Awards, and she won twice for Best Actress for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938). The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) and The Corn is Green (1945) are among the movies where Miss Davis toned down her performances, and she was very good in those; unfortunately, these were exceptions. Sometimes her overacting helped a movie, as in Storm Center (1956), and especially Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). Another movie from her later years that’s worth seeing is the little-seen The Whales of August (1987), co-starring Lillian Gish and Vincent Price. Bette Davis died of cancer in France on October 6, 1989 at the age of 81. Her last film appearance was in Wicked Stepmother, which was released eight months before her death.

Communications
The first dial telephones in Canada for general use went into service in Edmonton.

100 years ago
1918

Died on this date
Paul Vidal de La Blache, 73. French geographer. Professor Vidal de La Blache is regarded as the founder of modern French geography and the French School of Geopolitics. He promoted the idea of genre de vie, which is the belief that the lifestyle of a particular region reflects the economic, social, ideological and psychological identities imprinted on the landscape.

Siaosi (George) Tupou II, 43. King of Tonga, 1893-1918. Siaosi (George) Tupou II succeeded his great-grandfather Siaosi (George) Tupou I on the throne. Government corruption during his reign led to Tonga becoming a British protectorate in 1905. King Siaosi (George) Tupou II died during the flu epidemic and was succeeded on the throne by his daughter Sālote Tupou III.

90 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Chauncey DePew, 93. U.S. railroad executive and politician. Mr. DePew, a lawyer from Peekskill, New York, became the attorney for New York & Harlem Railroad in 1866, taking the same position for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad three years later. In 1876 he moved up to become general counsel and director of the whole "Vanderbilt System." Six years later he began serving on the executive board of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad as second vice president. In 1885, he was elected president of the railroad and served until 1898. Mr. DePew also held positions with other railroads and companies too numerous to mention here. After serving in New York state politics in various positions beginning in 1862, and participating in the national Republican Party in the 1880s and 1890s, Mr. DePew was elected to the United States Senate in 1898. He served two terms from 1899-1911.

Economics and finance
The $5,210,000 of gold which had been received in New York from the Soviet Union on February 21 and which had been the centre of international financial and legal turmoil, was sent back to Europe on the steamship Dresden.

Swimming
Mercedes Gleitze of London swam the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarfa, Spain to Punta Leona, Morocco, covering the 24 miles in 12 ½ hours.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
New York Rangers 0 @ Montreal Maroons 2 (Montreal led best-of-five series 1-0)

80 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Verner Lehtimäki, 47. Finnish revolutionist. Mr. Lehtimäki was a socialist who served in the Red Guards during the Finnish Civil War in 1918, and eventually settled in the U.S.S.R. and became a Soviet citizen. He was arrested in January 1938 during Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's Great Purge, and was executed. Mr. Lehtimäki was officially rehabilitated in 1957.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Chicago 3 @ Toronto 1 (Chicago led best-of-five series 1-0)

Shortly before game time at Maple Leaf Gardens, the Black Hawks announced that goaltender Mike Karakas would be unable to play because of a broken toe. National Hockey League teams didn't dress backup goalies in those days, so Chicago coach and general manager Bill Stewart asked if they could use New York Rangers' goalie Dave Kerr, who was in attendance. Maple Leafs' owner Conn Smythe refused, and suggested that the Black Hawks use substitute Paul Goodman instead. Mr. Goodman couldn't be found, but someone remembered that Alfie Moore, a New York Americans farmhand, was living in Toronto. According to legend, Mr. Moore hadn't been able to get a ticket to the game, and was sitting in a pub near the Gardens waiting for the radio broadcast to begin when the Black Hawks found him. And of course, Mr. Moore played the game of his life; his sensational play sparked Chicago to a 3-1 win.

75 years ago
1943

War
The Bolivian Council of National Defense asked President Enrique Penaranda del Castillo to declare war on the Axis. U.S. bomber aircraft accidentally caused more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel; the target was the Erla factory one kilometre from the residential area that was hit. Soviet troops captured more territory in the Kuban area in their drive on the German base of Novorossiisk on the Black Sea. 10,000 Japanese troops, supported by fighter planes, launched an attack in China east of Shaokwang in Shantung Province.

Economics and finance
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau laid before the Senate a$5-billion postwar currency stabilization plan based on a gold-backed international exchange bookkeeping currency called "Unitas," worth $10.

Disasters
A famine in Honan Province affecting 3 million-7 million people was called China's worst disaster since the start of war against Japan.

70 years ago
1948

Literature
Missouri Waltz: The Inside Story of the Pendergast Machine by former U.S. District Attorney Maurice Milligan was published in New York by Scribners.

President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War by Charles Beard was published in New Haven, Connecticut by Yale University Press.

War
A U.S. court in Nuremberg acquitted Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach and 11 other Krupp directors of conspiring with the German government to wage wars of aggression. The defendants remained on trial on charges of abusing slave labour and plundering occupied territories.

Politics and government
U.S. delegate Warren Austin presented the American Palestine trusteeship plan to the United Nations Security Council, indicating that the United States would seek to include the U.S.S.R. from administration of the trusteeship.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman named Studebaker Corporation President Paul Hoffman, a Republican, to supervise the European Recovery Program as economic cooperation administrator.

Disasters
A British transport plane flying to Berlin collided with a Soviet fighter and crashed near the Gatow airport in the British sector of Berlin, killing 14 passengers and the Soviet pilot. The U.S.S.R. apologized for the incident and promised not to violate air corridors to Berlin in the future.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Der lachende Vagabund--Fred Bertelmann (11th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Hello, le soleil brille--Annie Cordy (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Magic Moments/Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como (6th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Tequila--The Champs (4th week at #1)
2 Lollipop--The Chordettes
--Ronald and Ruby
3 Who's Sorry Now--Connie Francis
4 Sweet Little Sixteen--Chuck Berry
5 Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como
6 It's Too Soon to Know--Pat Boone
7 Are You Sincere--Andy Williams
8 He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)--Laurie London
9 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)--The Four Preps
10 Breathless--Jerry Lee Lewis

Singles entering the chart were Twilight Time by the Platters (#35); For Your Love by Ed Townsend (#44); To Be Loved by Jackie Wilson (#49); Skinny Minnie by Bill Haley and his Comets (#54); Teacher's Pet by Doris Day (#59); Looking Back by Nat "King" Cole (#60); and Midnight by Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra (also #60). Teacher's Pet was the title song of the movie, which co-starred Miss Day.

Environment
Ripple Rock, a reef just below the surface of Seymour Narrows near Campbell River, British Columbia, was blown up with 1.2 tons of Nitramex in the world's largest non-nuclear explosion to date. The reef was a shipping hazard that had sunk or damaged 119 vessels and caused the death of over 100 people.

Agriculture
Tunisia received $200,000 worth of American wheat, the shipment of a $1-billion gift of U.S. food for Tunisian refugees made homeless in the Algerian war.

Disasters
93 deaths were reported in a two-week cholera epidemic in Calcutta.

Track and field
Al Oerter set a world record with a discus throw of 202 feet 6 inches at the University of Arkansas relays in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
New York 2 @ Boston 8 (Boston won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Jerry Toppazzini scored 3 goals and Fleming Mackell added 2 as the Bruins eliminated the Rangers at Boston Garden to advance to the finals against the Montreal Canadiens.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 109 @ St. Louis 98 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Why or Where or When--Mr. Lee Grant (2nd week at #1)

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Lady Madonna--The Beatles
2 Playboy--Gene and Debbe
3 Jennifer Eccles--The Hollies
4 Summertime Blues--Blue Cheer
5 Young Girl--The Union Gap
6 Valleri--The Monkees
7 The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde--Georgie Fame
8 The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann
9 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra
10 The Unicorn--The Irish Rovers
Pick of the Week: Rainbow Woman--Lee Hazlewood
New this week: Greasy Heart--Jefferson Airplane
The Legend of Xanadu--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
Does Your Mama Know About Me--Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers
Lonely Street--Brook Benton

Died on this date
Jefferson Davis, 84. U.S. hobo. Mr. Davis, the American "hobo king," founded Hobos of America in 1908. Mr. Davis explained that hobos were those who travelled to find seasonal work, but who never took a man's job from him or undercut the union wage.

Giuseppe Paris, 72. Italian gymnast. Mr. Paris won a gold medal in the men's team competition, European system at the 1920 Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp, and a gold medal in the men's team competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Music
Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, plus Sheb Wooley, Wynn Stewart, Freddie Hart, Tommy Collins, Dick Curtess, Kay Adams, and Ben Colder performed at the Stampede Corral in Calgary. Tickets were priced at $2.50-$4.00.

War
Operation Pegasus, the force of 30,000 American and South Vietnamese troops sent on April 1 to relieve the U.S. Marine base at Khesanh, succeeded in lifting the siege, 76 days after a North Vietnamese force of 20,000 had surrounded the 6,000-man garrison. Much of the North Vietnamese force was believed to have withdrawn to Laos before Operation Pegasus began. A relief column from Calu, 15 miles to the east, met little resistance as it moved along the only overland supply road to the base. Operation Pegasus was led by Maj. Gen. John J. Tolson, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which supplied most of the troops.

Politics and government
Rev. Ralph Abernathy, 42, was named to succeed Martin Luther King, Jr., who had been assassinated the day before, as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark flew to Memphis, where he said that the FBI was hunting the assassin, a white man who was reported to have been seen fleeing the area in a late-model car, in several states.

The Liberal Party of Canada’s leadership convention continued at the Ottawa Civic Centre with the candidates’ speeches. Perhaps the most unusual speech was, in retrospect, the most remarkable. Ernst Zundel, a largely-ignored "fringe" candidate from Toronto, used his speaking time to denounce what he saw as discrimination against German-Canadians.

From Lubor Zink’s column in the Toronto Telegram that day:

Talking to delegates I find that most of those who support Trudeau cannot explain what attracts them to the man. Their commitment, bordering often on hero-worship, is largely emotional. Those who oppose him, recall that only five years ago Mr. Trudeau derided the Liberal Party as a bunch of idiots, campaigned for the New Democrats, and "preached socialism."

An unexpected reason for opposing Trudeau came from a Quebec delegate who told me that "all the separatists hope we’ll elect him because they are certain that a Federal Government under Trudeau will assure and hasten Quebec’s separation."

Americana
U.S. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson officially opened HemisFair '68 in San Antonio, Texas.

Boxing
Leotis Martin (25-3) knocked Karl Mildenberger (56-5-3) down 3 times and finally out in the 7th round of their heavyweight bout at Festhalle in Frankfurt, West Germany.

Hockey
CPHL
Adams Cup
Semi-Finals
Oklahoma City 2 @ Tulsa 4 (Tulsa led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Division Finals
Boston 127 @ Philadelphia 118 (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Western Division Finals
San Francisco 105 @ Los Angeles 133 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 1-0)

ABA
Western Division Finals
Dallas 99 @ New Orleans 104 (New Orleans led best-of-seven series 1-0)

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Denis--Blondie (2nd week at #1)

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 6 @ Toronto 3

CHL
Dallas 5 @ Fort Worth 7
Kansas City 6 @ Tulsa 4

30 years ago
1988

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Angel

Died on this date
Alf Kjellin, 68. Swedish-born U.S. actor and director. Mr. Kjellin acted in movies and television programs in Sweden before moving to the United States, where he appeared in films such as Ship of Fools (1965), and directed television programs.

Terrorism
A Kuwait Airways jet with 112 people aboard was hijacked by Arabic-speaking gunmen, and was forced to land at Mashhad, Iran, where they released 24 female hostages and a man with a heart condition.

Defense
A force of United States Marines, ultimately numbering 1,300, began arriving in Panama to assume security duty at U.S. bases.

World events
Juan Ramon Matta, a suspected drug dealer, was seized in Honduras by U.S. authorities and taken to the United States. The U.S. believed that Mr. Matta was linked to Colombia’s Medellin cocaine cartel; he was also a suspect in the 1985 murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Mexico. The seizure of Mr. Matta provoked violent demonstrations in Honduras.

Politics and government
The contest for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States moved to Wisconsin. Michael Dukakis won with 48% of the vote; Jesse Jackson took 28%, Al Gore 17%, and Paul Simon 5%. Vice-President George Bush won the Republican primary.

Rose Mofford, the Arizona Secretary of State who had been serving serving as acting Governor during the impeachment trial of Evan Mecham, was sworn in as Mr. Mecham’s successor, one day after Mr. Mecham had been removed from office after being convicted by the state Senate of obstruction of justice.

U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announced that he had chosen John Shepherd, former president of the American Bar Association, to be the new deputy attorney general.

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): All that She Wants--Ace of Base (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Divya Bharti, 19. Indian actress. Miss Bharti appeared in a number of Bollywood films in the early 1990s, and was praised as "the most interesting young actress of her generation." She died under mysterious circumstances when she fell from a five-storey apartment building in Versova Mumbai.

Crime
Four Canadian peacekeepers accused in the beating death in March of a Somali civilian at the Canadian compound in Somalia were released in Ottawa, but were not allowed to leave the armed forces base there.

Basketball
NCAA
Men's Championship @ New Orleans
Final
North Carolina 77 Michigan 71

The Tar Heels were leading the Wolverines 73-71 with 11 seconds remaining in regulation time at the Louisiana Superdome and Michigan was in possession of the ball, but Chris Webber of the Wolverines was assessed a technical foul for signalling for a time out, apparently unaware that his team had used up all of its time outs. The Tar Heels then put the game away to win their third championship, their second under head coach Dean Smith.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Charles Frank, 87. S.A.-born U.K. physicist. Sir Charles was a theoretical physicist best known for his work on crystal dislocations.

Cozy Powell, 50. U.K. musician. Colin Powell was a drummer with rock bands such as the Jeff Beck Group; Rainbow; and Black Sabbath. He was killed in a car accident while legally drunk, driving over 100 miles per hour, not wearing a seat belt, and talking on a cell phone.

Transportation
In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opened to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this date
Walt Masterson, 87. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Masterson played with the Washington Nationals (1939-1942, 1945-1949, 1952-1953); Boston Red Sox (1949-1952); and Detroit Tigers (1956), compiling a record of 78-100 with an earned run average of 4.15 in 399 games, and batting .140 with no home runs and 26 runs batted in in 402 games. His best season was 1947, when he was 12-16 with a 3.13 ERA. Mr. Masterson was the starting pitcher for the American League in the 1948 Major League All-Star Game. He was the pitching coach of the Texas Rangers in 1972, and baseball coach at George Mason University from 1980-1981. Mr. Masterson died of a stroke.

Charlton Heston, 84. U.S. actor. Mr. Heston, born John Charles Carter, was best known for his starring roles in large-scale epic films. He won the Academy Award for his starring role as the title character in Ben-Hur (1959), while earning fame for movies such as The Ten Commandments (1956); El Cid (1961); and Planet of the Apes (1968). Mr. Heston was a civil rights activist in the 1960s, and President of the Screen Actors Guild from 1965-1971, and of the National Rifle Association from 1998-2003. He died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.