April 8, 2018

925 years ago
1093

Religion
The new Winchester Cathedral was dedicated in Winchester, Hampshire, England by Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester.

875 years ago
1143

Died on this date
John II, 55. Byzantine Emperor, 1118-1143. John was the eldest son of Emperor Alexios I. During his reign he made alliances with the Holy Roman Empire in the west and forced back the Turks in the east, restoring many areas to Byzantine control. He died after accidentally cutting his hand with a poisoned arrow.

210 years ago
1808

Religion
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore was promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.

200 years ago
1818

Born on this date
Christian IX. King of Denmark, 1863-1906. Christian IX, the son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, was not in the direct line of succession to the throne, but was chosen as the heir to King Frederick VII, who seemed likely to die without children. King Christian IX became the first monarch of the House of Glücksburg, and was nicknamed the "father-in-law of Europe" because of his ties to the continent's royal families. He died on January 29, 1906 at the age of 87 and was succeeded by his son King Frederick VIII.

160 years ago
1858

Died on this date
Anton Diabelli, 76. Austrian composer and publisher. Mr. Diabelli was best known in his own time as a music publisher, but he wrote vocal music and works for piano and guitar, and is best known today for the waltz he composed that served as the basis for Ludwig van Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. Mr. Diabelli died after a long battle with atherosclerosis.

125 years ago
1893

Basketball
The first recorded college basketball game was played at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

110 years ago
1908

Academia
Harvard University voted to establish Harvard Business School.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
Glendon Swarthout. U.S. author. Mr. Swarthout wrote short stories and novels such as They Came to Cordura (1958); Where the Boys Are (1960); Bless the Beasts and Children (1970); and The Shootist (1975). He died of emphysema on September 23, 1992 at the age of 74.

Betty Ford. U.S. First Lady, 1974-1977. Mrs. Ford was born Elizabeth Bloomer in Chicago. She married insurance salesman William Warren in 1942, and the couple were divorced in 1947. A year later, Mrs. Warren married lawyer and aspiring politician Gerald Ford, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time a few weeks later. Mrs. Ford became First Lady when her husband succeeded Richard Nixon as President upon Mr. Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. She became addicted to alcohol and pills in the late 1970s, but recovered and founded the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic which has served as a second home for many a celebrity since 1982. Mrs. Ford died on July 8, 2011 at the age of 93.

80 years ago
1938

Environment
The Quebec Legislative Assembly passed a law creating Mont-Orford Provincial Park in the Eastern Townships.

75 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Richard Sears, 81. U.S. tennis player. Mr. Sears won the men's singles competition at the U.S. National Championships for seven straight years (1881-1887) and the men's doubles competition for six straight years (1882-1887), retiring after 1887.

Tomás Garrido Canabal, 51. Mexican politician. Mr. Garrido was a Marxist revolutionary and atheist who was known for his hatred and persecution of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Governor of Yucatan (May-June 1920) and Governor of Tabasco (May 1919-January 1920, 1923-1926, 1931-1934). When Lázaro Cárdenas became President of Mexico in 1934, he named Mr. Garrido as Secretary of Agriculture, but dismissed him in 1935, forced him into exile in Costa Rica, and disbanded his paramilitary groups after Mr. Garrido ordered his Red Shirts to kill Catholic activists in Mexico City seeking to return to Tabasco. Mr. Garrido was allowed to return to Mexico in 1941, and died of cancer in Los Angeles.

Otto Hampel, 45; Elise Hampel, 39. German resistance activists. From September 1940 until their arrest in the fall of 1942, Mr. and Mrs. Hampel left 200 handwritten postcards around Berlin denouncing the Nazi regime. They were convicted of "preparing for high treason," and were decapitated in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin.

Divorced on this date
Actress Lili Damita was granted a divorce from actor Errol Flynn in Hollywood.

War
German troops transferred their pressure on Soviet forces from Izyum to the Balakleya area, 25 miles to the north. The Japanese offensive north of Akyab, Burma was halted by U.K. troops.

Technology
The Rockefeller Foundation revealed that Massachusetts Institute of Technology was using a mechanical brain that was built with $130,500 of the Foundation's funds.

Education
The U.S. Committee on Educational Reconstruction approved a plan drafted by Alonzo F. Myers to create a United Nations International Education Office to supervise postwar education in Axis and Axis-occupied countries.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, froze wages and prices, prohibited workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and barred rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.

U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Iranian Minister to the United States Mohammed Shayestoh signed a three-year reciprocal trade agreement providing for tariff reductions.

Labour
The U.S. Senate approved a $40-million mobile farm labour bill for the use of Mexican and Bahamian workers in order to meet critical shortage area needs in the United States.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Detroit 2 @ Boston 0 (Detroit won best-of-seven series 4-0)

Johnny Mowers posted his second straight shutout in goal as the Red Wings completed the series sweep of the Bruins at Boston Garden. Joe Carveth scored the Cup-winning goal at 12:09 of the 1st period.

70 years ago
1948

War
The Burmese government announced the start of operations against Communist guerrillas in central and southern Burma.

Politics and government
Siam's Supreme State Council called on Field Marshal Pibul Songgram to form a new government, after military pressure forced the resignation of Prime Minister Kuang Aphaiwong.

Economics and government
The British Columbia government of Premier Boss Johnson brought in a 3% sales tax, the province's first, to pay for increased social programs such as compulsory health insurance.

U.S. President Harry Truman urged Congress to increase the Export-Import Bank's loan authority by $500 million to finance development in Latin American countries.

Basketball
BAA
Semi-Finals
Chicago 72 @ Baltimore 89 (Baltimore won best-of-three series 2-0)

60 years ago
1958

Died on this date
George Jean Nathan, 76. U.S. drama critic and editor. Mr. Nathan co-founded and edited the magazines The American Mercury and The American Spectator, and edited The Smart Set.

Diplomacy
West Germany and the U.S.S.R. signed accords providing for the establishment of trade relations and mutual repatriation of German and Soviet citizens waiting to return home.

Defense
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower urged the U.S.S.R. to permit American and Soviet weapons experts to begin work together on "specific control measures" for "a dependable and agreed disarmament program."

The Japanese Defense Agency announced plans to purchase 300 U.S. Grumman Super Tiger F11F-1F jet interceptors.

Economics and finance
The Gordon Commission, set up by Parliament to survey Canada's economic future, reported that Canada's trade would be "increasingly focused" on the United States within the next 25 years to the detriment of its sales to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Environment
Israel agreed to alter the disputed Lake Huleh reclamation project on the basis of new United Nations surveys which showed that Israeli drainage canals would have to be shifted about 16 feet west to avoid touching Arab-owned land in the demilitarized zone claimed by both Syria and Israel.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Boston 1 @ Montreal 2 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Dickie Moore scored the winning goal on a pass from Jean Beliveau with 6:08 remaining in the 2nd period as the Canadiens edged the Bruins at the Montreal Forum.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Koi no Shizuku--Yukari Itō

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): I'm Coming Home--Tom Jones (3rd week at #1)

Music
The single Friends/Little Bird by the Beach Boys was released on Capitol Records.

War
Three days after Operation Pegasus had succeeded in lifting the siege of the U.S. Marine base at Khesanh, the main relief column arrived. Meanwhile, Operation Toan Thang I (Complete Victory), a five-nation allied force comprising 100,000 men, launched the biggest drive of the war to clean up Communist forces in the 11 provinces around Saigon, but failed to make contact with an estimated force of 18,000-20,000 believed to be there. Heavy B-52 raids commenced near the Cambodian border.

The Israeli army reported that a few dozen Israeli soldiers in helicopters had crossed 18 miles into Jordan to pursue and kill "about half a dozen" Arab infiltrators. The Israelis also destroyed a house used as a base by the terrorists, described as members of the Egyptian 141st Commando Battalion. A Jordanian note to the United Nations Security Council accused Israel of "new acts of aggression," while an Israeli note, admitting the incursion, explained that it was "in pursuit of saboteurs."

Politics and government
Oldrich Cernik succeeded Josef Lenart as Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia.

From Lubor Zink’s column in that day's Toronto Telegram, two days after Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau had been elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, to take office as Prime Minister on April 20:

When it was all over, I listened for comment amid the roar of Trudeau worshippers.
A delegate from Quebec said: "Good-bye Canada."
A Soviet delegate said: "Excellent choice. Trudeau will make Canada progressive."
A Cabinet minister muttered: "The Seven Days boys are in charge now."
A woman, taking off her delegate’s badge, said: This isn’t my party any more. God help us all."

Protest
Four days after Negro civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis, his widow Coretta led a march of 42,000 demonstrators in Memphis.

Disasters
BOAC Flight 712, a Boeing 707-465 jet, caught fire shortly after take off from London Heathrow Airport bound for Sydney via Zurich and Singapore. The plane made a successful emergency landing, but confusion over checklists contributed to the deaths of 5 of the 127 people on board, including stewardess Barbara Jane Harrison, 22, who was awarded a posthumous George Cross for heroism, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.

Golf
Billy Casper won the Greater Greensboro Open with a score of 267. First prize money was $27,500.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Un'emozione da poco--Anna Oxa

#1 single in Switzerland: Mull of Kintyre--Wings (11th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs (Lowry's Song)--Brian and Michael

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs (Lowry's Song)--Brian and Michael

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Night Fever--Bee Gees (4th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees
2 Only a Fool--The Mighty Sparrow with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
3 Denis--Blondie
4 Wuthering Heights--Kate Bush
5 U.O. Me (You Owe Me)--Luv'
6 Fantasy--Earth, Wind & Fire
7 Rosita--George Baker
8 Big City--Tol Hansse
9 Argentina--Conquistador
10 Same Old Song--Pussycat

Singles entering the chart were Come Back My Love by the Darts (#16); Starship 109 by Mistral (#19); It Takes Two to Tango by Richard Myhill (#32); and Tiroler Holzhacker Bub'n by Boemerang (#33).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Night Fever--Bee Gees (4th week at #1)
2 Can't Smile Without You--Barry Manilow
3 Lay Down Sally--Eric Clapton
4 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees
5 Dust in the Wind--Kansas
6 Thunder Island--Jay Ferguson
7 Jack and Jill--Raydio
8 If I Can't Have You--Yvonne Elliman
9 Emotion--Samantha Sang
10 Running on Empty--Jackson Browne

Singles entering the chart were Yank Me, Crank Me by Ted Nugent (#76); Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore by Angel (#79); Because the Night by the Patti Smith Group (#81); Heartless by Heart (#82); You Got That Right by Lynyrd Skynyrd (#86); Since You Been Gone by Head East (#88); I Want You to Be Mine by Kayak (#95); It's a Heartache by Juice Newton (#96); All the Way Lover by Millie Jackson (#97); Isn't it Always Love by Karla Bonoff (#98); and You're the Love by Seals and Crofts (#99).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Night Fever--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)
2 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees
3 Emotion--Samantha Sang
4 I Go Crazy--Paul Davis
5 Can't Smile Without You--Barry Manilow
6 Lay Down Sally--Eric Clapton
7 (Love Is) Thicker than Water--Andy Gibb
8 Thunder Island--Jay Ferguson
9 Jack and Jill--Raydio
10 Dust in the Wind--Kansas

Singles entering the chart were Do You Believe in Magic by Shaun Cassidy (#87); It's a Heartache by Bonnie Tyler (#92); Sweet Misery by Teaze (#97); Reaching for the Sky by Peabo Bryson (#98); Cara Mia by the Raes (#99); and Stay Awhile with Me by Patsy Gallant (#100).

Died on this date
Ford Frick, 83. U.S. baseball executive. Mr. Frick was President of the National League from 1934-1951, and Commissioner of Baseball from 1951-1965. His most controversial decision as Commissioner was the ruling that the single season home run records of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris should be listed separately because Mr. Ruth’s season was 8 games shorter. It was later revealed that Mr. Frick had served as a ghostwriter for Mr. Ruth earlier in his career. He was also one of the last people to see the Babe alive; he visited him in the hospital the day before the Babe died. Mr. Frick was also accused by some of favouring the National League in his decisions as Commissioner, such as how expansion teams in the 1960s were to be stocked. As National League President, Mr. Frick enforced the lowering of the colour bar, and threatened to suspend any players who planned to protest the presence of Jackie Robinson in the league. Before becoming a baseball executive, Ford Frick was a sportswriter, first in the Midwest, then in New York. He also appeared on radio, and pioneered the daily radio sportscast. Mr. Frick was hired by the National League as its publicity director in 1934; he became NL President later that year. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970, and died after a series of strokes.

Dick Risenhoover, 51. U.S. sportscaster. Mr. Risenhoover played baseball with the University of Texas Longhorns when they won the College World Series in 1950, and scored the winning run in the Series. He became a high school teacher and coach before moving into sportscasting, becoming best known for broadcasting games of the Texas Rangers from their first season in 1972 through 1977. Malignant tumours were discovered in Mr. Risenhoover's liver in 1978, and he died eight hours before the start of the Rangers' regular season opening game, a 2-1 win over the defending World Series champion New York Yankees at Texas Stadium in the NBC Game of the Week.

Politics and government
In the Philippines, the People’s Force party, opponents of the government of President Ferdinand Marcos, charged that hundreds of its poll watchers had been forced away from the polling places during the parliamentary elections the day before.

Crime
Michael Townley, a 35-year-old American, was extradited from Chile to the United States as a suspect in the 1976 murder in Washington, D.C. of Orlando Letelier, former Chilean Ambassador to the United States.

Economics and finance
The heads of state of the European Community concluded their two-day annual meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark with a decision to formulate an economic recovery plan independently of the United States. The plan called for closer coordination of the members’ currencies to protect them from the dollar’s weakness. The West German mark, already linked with the Belgian, Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian currencies, would also be linked with the British pound and the French franc. The Europeans also rejected the American demand for a new nuclear fuel supply treaty.

Hockey
NHL
Boston 3 @ Toronto 1

Rookie Bob Miller scored into an empty net to clinch the victory for the Bruins over the Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens in the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast. For Mr. Miller, the goal was his 20th of the season, giving the Bruins a league record of 11 players with 20 or more goals in the same season. The other Bruins in that club were: Peter McNab (41); Terry O’Reilly (29); Stan Jonathan (27); Bobby Schmautz (27); Rick Middleton (25); Jean Ratelle (25); Wayne Cashman (24); Gregg Sheppard (23); and Don Marcotte (20). Larry Hopkins played his first National Hockey League game as a forward with the Maple Leafs, wearing jersey #12.

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue

Scandal
The Assemblies of God defrocked Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, and Mr. Swaggart resigned from the church. After Mr. Swaggart had been caught in adultery, the AoG had suspended him from preaching for a year, but Mr. Swaggart had refused to accept the punishment, arguing that it would cripple his ministry and his Bible college. Obviously, Mr. Swaggart didn’t think that the standards laid down in the Bible applied to him, so he took his balls and went home.

World events
800 U.S. Marines arrived in Panama for a planned jungle training program, while President Ronald Reagan invoked the 1977 Emergency Economic Powers Act that forbade U.S. companies and individuals to make any payments to the Panamanian government. The action blocked all Panamanian government assets in the United States.

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Onpa kadulla mittaa--Kolmas Nainen (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Marian Anderson, 96. U.S. singer. One of the most famous contraltos of the 20th century, Miss Anderson performed in concerts and recitals from 1925-1965. The most famous incident of her career occurred in 1939, when the Daughters of the American Revolution refused her permission to sing in their Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. because she was a Negress. A huge protest resulted, and Miss Anderson delivered her recital on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on April 9, in front of a racially-mixed crowd of 75,000 and a nationwide radio audience of millions.

Diplomacy
The Republic of Macedonia joined the United Nations.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Bill Clinton submitted a budget to Congress of $1.52 trillion. The budget contained proposals for reducing the government deficit while increasing expenditures for public works, education, and retraining unemployed people.

Hockey
NHL
Winnipeg 5 Toronto 3