April 1, 2019

230 years ago
1789

Politics and government
In New York City, the United States House of Representatives held its first quorum, and elected Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker.

200 years ago
1819

Born on this date
Vikramatji Khimojiraj. Indian ruler. RanaShri Vikramatji Khimojiraj Sahib succeeded his father Khimojiraj Haloji as Maharaja of Porbandar in 1831, and ruled the princely state until his death on April 21, 1900, 20 days after his 81st birthday. He was succeeded by his grandson Bhavsinhji Madhavsinhji.

180 years ago
1839

Died on this date
Benjamin Pierce, 81. U.S. politician. Mr. Pierce, a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, was Governor of New Hampshire from 1827-1828 and 1829-1830.

130 years ago
1889

Academia
The University of Northern Colorado was established, as the Colorado State Normal School.

110 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Eddy Duchin. U.S. musician. Mr. Duchin was a jazz pianist who performed with Leo Reisman's band before leading a band of his own, achieving commercial success in the 1930s and '40s as a "sweet" band. He served with the U.S. Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, but was unable to regain his musical popularity after the war. Mr. Duchin died of leukemia on February 9, 1951 at the age of 41.

Abner Biberman. U.S. actor and director. Mr. Biberman played small roles in movies such as Gunga Din (1939) and The Roaring Twenties (1939). He directed several films, but was more active in television, where his work included four episodes of The Twilight Zone (1962-1964). Mr. Biberman died on June 20, 1977 at the age of 68.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Joseph Murray. U.S. physician. Dr. Murray was a surgeon who specialized in organ transplants and plastic and reconstructive surgery. He performed the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, and shared the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with E. Donnall Thomas "for their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease." Dr. Murray died on November 26, 2012 at the age of 93, after suffering a stroke.

80 years ago
1939

War
Generalíssimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announced the end of the Spanish Civil War, as the last of the Republican forces surrendered.

Transportation
Trans-Canada Airlines began scheduled transnational passenger service between Vancouver and Montréal, with stops in Ottawa, North Bay, Kapuskasing, Winnipeg, Regina and Lethbridge. The flight took 15 hours.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Boston 1 @ New York Rangers 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
Detroit 4 @ Toronto 5 (OT) (Toronto won best-of-three series 2-1)

Gordie Drillon scored his second goal of the game at 5:42 of the 1st overtime period to give the Maple Leafs their win over the Red Wings at Maple Leaf Gardens.

75 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Bésame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra with Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen (Best Seller--5th week at #1); Mairzy Doats--The Merry Macs (Jukebox--3rd week at #1)

War
Soviet forces captured Kablevo, reaching a point 24 miles northeast of Odessa. The U.S. Army reported that 1,058,000 enlisted men had been discharged from December 1, 1941-January 31, 1944. Navigation errors led to the accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.

Politics and government
The day after U.S. Representative John Coffee (Democrat--Washington) had accused Connecticut industrialist Vivien Kellems of treason and seditious conduct for urging businessmen not to pay income taxes, Miss Kellems, speaking from Toronto, said that Rep. Coffee "is a coward," and dared him to make his charges "outside of the House so I can hale you into court and put you in prison where you belong."

U.S. Senator Robert Wagner (Democrat--New York) urged the Democratic Party to renominate President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the party's candidate in the November 1944 election because "the people do not want to turn the Presidency over to some untried novice in the critical days ahead."

Baseball
A U.S. Coast Guard team led by former major league outfielder Dick Porter defeated the Boston Red Sox 23-16 in an exhibition game at Curtis Bay Navy Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland. Mr. Porter had finished his 6-year major league career with the Red Sox in 1934.

70 years ago
1949

On television tonight
Your Show Time, hosted and narrated by Arthur Shields, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Tenor, starring Julie Adams, Carol Brannon, Hugo Haas, and Lee Patrick

War
The Chinese Communist Party held unsuccessful peace talks with the Nationalist Party in Peking (Beijing), after three years of fighting in the Chinese Civil War.

Politics and government
Joey Smallwood, leader of the pro-Confederation movement, was sworn in as the first Premier of Newfoundland as a Canadian province, by Albert J. Walsh, Newfoundland's first Lieutenant Governor. In Ottawa, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent gave a speech welcoming Newfoundland to Confederation, and introduced Gordon Bradley, the first federal cabinet minister from Newfoundland, who was sworn in to the Privy Council and became Secretary of State of Canada. Mr. Bradley and St. Laurent also cut the first ceremonial chisel strokes onto a blank stone in Parliament that featured the Newfoundland Coat of arms.

The U.S. Hoover Commission on Reorganization of the Executive Branch issued its final report, attacking inefficiency in the administration of government business enterprises and urging the elimination of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Farmers Home Administration, and other agencies.

Society
The Government of Canada repealed Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years.

Education
New York Governor Thomas Dewey signed a bill ordering the State Board of Regents to eliminate "subversive" employees from public schools.

Economics and finance
Argentina revoked its agreement to supply most of the United Kingdom's meat imports, demanding higher prices.

The U.S. Senate passed a House of Representatives-approved bill providing $45.6 million in loans to farmers and ranchers in storm-stricken Western states.

60 years ago
1959

At the movies
Compulsion, directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Orson Welles, Diane Varsi, Dean Stockwell, and Bradford Dillman, opened in theatres.



Diplomacy
The Western foreign ministers meeting in Washington issued a final communique reiterating their refusal to accept the U.S.S.R.'s unilateral repudiation of its Berlin obligations or the substitution of East Germans for Soviet representatives in carrying out these obligations.

Defense
The Syrian Army partially mobilized and the Jordanian Army's general staff met in emergency session, following orders for a test mobilization of three Israeli Army reserve units.

U.S.S.R. authorities in East Berlin claimed that the 10,000-foot ceiling on Western flights to Berlin had the force of a "prescriptive right," warning that "there may be incidents if the Americans fly above the altitude again without negotiating."

Abominations
Dispatches from India reported that Communist Chinese troops had deported up to 15,000 Tibetans from Lhasa for forced labour.

Politics and government
Meade Alcorn resigned as U.S. Republican National Committee Chairman to return to his law practice in Connecticut.

Transportation
The St. Lawrence Seaway opened for business; it was officially dedicated on June 26 by Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower.

Law
Charles Edward Rivett-Carnac was appointed Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; he served until March 31, 1960.

50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Atlantis--Donovan (2nd week at #1)

Defense
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, entered service with the U.K. Royal Air Force.

Politics and government
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau created the Department of Regional Economic Expansion, with Jean Marchand as its first minister. The department was created in order to contribute to the revival of regions that were facing economic difficulties.

The ninth congress of the Chinese Communist Party opened in Peking, and immediately named party Chairman Mao Tse-Tung and defense Minister Lin Piao as leaders of the 176-member presidium that would direct its work. Premier Chou En-lai was elected secretary-general. Others elected to the presidium included Mao's wife, Chiang Ching; Lin's wife, Yeh Chun; Army chief of staff Huang Yung-sheng; foreign minister Chen Yi; and five army marshals, all of whom had been denounced at one time during the cultural revolution. The congress opened eight years later than scheduled.

Law
A United States Court in Boston declared unconstitutional a section of the Selective Service Act of 1967 under which religion was the only basis for conscientious objection. The court ruled that Congress discriminated against those who were atheists, agnostics, or had deep moral objections as the basis of their beliefs.

Society
Québec legalized civil marriages.

Hockey
CHL
Adams Cup
Quarter-Finals
Kansas City 0 @ Omaha 7 (Omaha won best-of-five series 3-1)

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Tragedy--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Heart of Glass--Blondie

Diplomacy
The Israeli cabinet formally ratified the peace treaty with Egypt.

Abominations
In the cruelest April Fool's joke ever played on the people of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini declared Iran to be an Islamic republic, officially overthrowing the Shah, after a referendum resulted in a vote of 99% in favour of the move.

Scandal
Former Congressman Otto Passman was found not guilty by a jury in Monroe, Louisiana of accepting bribes from South Korean rice dealer Tongsun Park.

Environment
U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. Mr. Carter and his advisers stressed that the situation was stable, but evacuation remained a possibility.

Communications
The cost of mailing a letter in Canada increased from 14c to 17c.

Oil
The Canadian National Energy Board raised the export tax on light crude oil $1.00 per barrel to $8.00.

Labour
The trucking industry in the United States locked out 300,000 Teamsters as the union called for selective nationwide strikes after rejecting a tentative three-year contract.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 3 @ Boston 3
Toronto 6 @ Buffalo 3

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Esatto--Francesco Salvi (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): I Only Wanna Be with You--Samantha Fox (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Pour toi Arménie--Charles Aznavour and various artists (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Like a Prayer--Madonna (2nd week at #1)

Austria's top 10 (Ö3)
1 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals (3rd week at #1)
2 Das Phantom der Oper--Alexander Goebel & Luzia Nistler
3 Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart--Marc Almond featuring Gene Pitney
4 Twist in My Sobriety--Tanita Tikaram
5 In the Air Tonight ('88 Remix)--Phil Collins
6 Listen to the Voices--Labi Siffre
7 Buffalo Stance--Neneh Cherry
8 You Got It--Roy Orbison
9 Like a Prayer--Madonna
10 First Time--Robin Beck

Singles entering the chart were Like a Prayer; Leave Me Alone by Michael Jackson (#24); and Ballad of the Streets by Simple Minds (#28).

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Alles Kan Een Mens Gelukkig Maken--René Froger & Het Goede Doel (2nd week at #1)
2 Like a Prayer--Madonna
3 Straight Up--Paula Abdul
4 Eternal Flame--Bangles
5 Belfast Child (EP track)--Simple Minds
6 Everybody Needs Somebody to Love--The Blues Brothers
7 This Time I Know it's for Real--Donna Summer
8 Wild Thing--Tone Lōc
9 Anything for You--Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine
10 Mijn Naam is Jaap--André Van Duin presenteert: Jaap Aap en de Apen

Singles entering the chart were Have a Little Faith in Me by John Hiatt (#24); Je Bent Alles by Jan Ten Hoopen (#25); The Look by Roxette (#27); I Can Do This by Monie Love (#32); That's the Way Love Is by Ten City (#33); and Real Love by El DeBarge (#35).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Eternal Flame--Bangles
2 Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli
3 The Look--Roxette
4 My Heart Can't Tell You No--Rod Stewart
5 The Living Years--Mike + the Mechanics
6 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals
7 Walk the Dinosaur--Was (Not Was)
8 Stand--R.E.M.
9 Dreamin'--Vanessa Williams
10 Lost in Your Eyes--Debbie Gibson

Singles entering the chart were Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson (#62); I'll Be Loving You (Forever) by New Kids on the Block (#68); Buffalo Stance by Neneh Cherry (#83); When Love Comes to Town by U2 with B.B. King (#89); Come Out Fighting by Easterhouse (#91); Baby Baby by Eighth Wonder (#93); and Repetition by Information Society (#94).

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Eternal Flame--Bangles
2 Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli
3 The Look--Roxette
4 My Heart Can't Tell You No--Rod Stewart
5 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals
6 The Living Years--Mike + the Mechanics
7 Walk the Dinosaur--Was (Not Was)
8 Paradise City--Guns 'N' Roses
9 You're Not Alone--Chicago
10 Dreamin'--Vanessa Williams

Singles entering the chart were Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson (#60); I'll Be Loving You (Forever) by New Kids on the Block (#65); Downtown by One 2 Many (#74); Walking Through Walls by Escape Club (#80); The Different Story (World Of Lust And Crime) by Peter Schilling (#82); Come Out Fighting by Easterhouse (#85); When Love Comes to Town by U2 with B.B. King (#87); and Every Little Step by Bobby Brown (#89).

Economics and finance
The British government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher introduced a new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), in Scotland.

Hockey
NHL
Philadelphia 2 @ Montreal 2

25 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Sleeping in My Car--Roxette (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Streets of Philadelphia--Bruce Springsteen (2nd week at #1)

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate held steady in March at 6.5%.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Jesse Stone, 97. U.S. musician. Mr. Stone was a rhythm and blues pianist, songwriter, producer, and arranger, who was active from the late 1920s through the 1950s, and has been credited with helping to create the sound of rock and roll. He wrote songs such as Shake, Rattle and Roll, Flip, Flop and Fly, and Don't Let Go under his own name or using the pseudonym Charles Calhoun.

Abominations
Nunavut, formerly part of the Northwest Territories, came into existence as a separate Canadian territory. Prime Minister Jean Chretien was among those on hand to observe the event in the territorial capital of Iqaluit. The territory, whose population of 25,000 (spread throughout 820,000 square miles) was mostly Inuit, was created ostensibly for the purpose of granting the Inuit more autonomy in exchange for the Inuit dropping land claims against the federal government. In reality, the creation of Nunavut just added another layer of bureaucracy, and the social problems that existed before were, and are, still around. Nunavut has been a disaster, which is exactly what knowledgeable people, including this blogger, predicted. The late Justice Jack Sissons criticized the first attempt at the creation of a third territory in the early 1960s as a move by the "bright boys" in Ottawa to increase their power.

Politics and government
Paul Okalik was sworn in as the first Premier of Nunavut.

War
The Serbian news agency reported that three captured American soldiers would be tried by a military court. Another report concluded that the Serbs had killed 800 ethnic Albanians in the past week.

Crime
New Jersey resident David L. Smith was arrested and charged with originating the "Melissa" email virus, which infected more than a million computers worldwide.

Business
The merger of British Petroleum PLC and the Amoco Corporation was announced, to be known as BP Amoco PLC, with annual revenues expected to approach $100 billion. The new company said that it now planned to acquire the American firm Atlantic Richfield Company. The merger was expected to cost 2,000 employees, most of them Americans, their jobs. The new company would rank first in oil and gas production in Great Britain and the United States.

Labour
A legally-binding minimum wage was introduced in Britain for the first time. Effective immediately, all adults were to be paid at least £3.60 per hour, and workers under the age of 22 were to get no less than £3 per hour.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 5 Edmonton 1

10 years ago
2009

Politics and government
Benjamin Netanyahu took office as Israel's Prime Minister for a second time.

Economics and finance
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper obtained an agreement at the G20 summit to extend for 12 months a pledge not to raise trade barriers.

March 31, 2019

520 years ago
1499

Born on this date
Pius IV. Roman Catholic Pope, 1560-1565. Pius IV, born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was distantly related to the Medicis of Florence. He became a cardinal in 1549, and succeeded Paul IV as Pope. He convened the final session of the Council of Trent in January 1562, and achieved a successful conclusion of the Council two years later. A plot against Pope Pius IV was discovered and crushed in 1565, but he died on December 9 of that year at the age of 66, and was succeeded as Pope by Pius V.

500 years ago
1519

Born on this date
Henri II. King of France, 1547-1559. Henry II, the second son of King François I, spent four years in captivity in Spain as a hostage in exchange for his father, and became the heir upon the death of his older brother François in 1536. Henri II acceded to the throne upon the death of his father, on Henri's 28th birthday. King Henri's reign was characterized by war against Italy and persecution of Protestants. On June 30, 1559, Henri II was participating in a jousting tournament, and suffered a freak injury when fragments from his opponent's splintered lance penetrated his eye; an infection set in that proved untreatable, and King Henri II died on July 10, 1559 at the age of 40.

210 years ago
1809

Born on this date
Nikolai Gogol. Ukrainian-born Russian author and playwright. Mr. Gogol was regarded as a satirist of political corruption in the Russian Empire. His works included the novel Taras Bulba (1835); the play Marriage (1842); and the short stories Diary of a Madman (1835) and The Overcoat (1842). Mr. Gogol suffered from depression in later years, and after a period of refusing all food, died on March 4, 1852, 27 days before his 43rd birthday.

Otto Lindblad. Swedish composer. Mr. Lindblad was best known for writing Kungssången, the Swedish royal anthem. He died after a long illness on January 26, 1864 at the age of 55.

200 years ago
1819

Born on this date
Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. Chancellor of Germany, 1894-1900. Prince Chlodwig was one of the most prominent liberal politicians of his time. He was Minister President of Bavaria from 1866-1870, influencing the union of Bavaria with the North German Confederation. Prince Chlodwig was Governor of Alsace-Lorraine from 1885-1894, and then succeeded Leo von Caprivi as Chancellor. As Chancellor, Prince Chlodwig seldom appeared in Parliament, granting great independence to his secretaries of state. He resigned on October 17, 1900, and died on July 6, 1901 at the age of 82.

130 years ago
1889

Franciana
The Eiffel Tower was officially opened in Paris, as French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French flag from atop the tower to mark its completion.

125 years ago
1894

Soccer
English FA Cup
Final @ Goodison Park, Liverpool
Notts County 4 Bolton Wanderers 1

120 years ago
1899

War
Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, was captured by American forces.

110 years ago
1909

Europeana
Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Frank Akins. U.S. football player. Mr. Akins was a running back at Washington State University. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1943, and played with them from 1943-1946, rushing for a total of 1,142 yards and 7 touchdowns, and catching 15 passes for 99 yards. Mr. Akins was a high school teacher in Anderson, California after his playing days, and died on July 6, 1992 at the age of 73.

80 years ago
1939

At the movies
The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Sidney Lanfield, and starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson, opened in theatres. It was the first of 14 movies featuring the two actors in their respective roles.



75 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You'll Never Know--Vera Lynn and the Joe Loss Orchestra (2nd month at #1)

Died on this date
Maurice Blackburn, 63. Australian politician. Mr. Blackburn was a member of the Labour Party for most of his career, sitting in the Victorian Legislative Assembly (1914-1917, 1925-1934) before entering federal politics, representing Bourke in the Australian House of Representatives (1934-1943). His anti-war and pro-Soviet views led to his expulsion from the Labour Party in 1935; he returned in 1937, but was expelled again in 1941, continuing to sit in Parliament as an independent. Mr. Blackburn was defeated in the 1943 federal election, and died of a brain tumour; his wife Doris won his seat as an Independent Labour candidate in 1946, representing Bourke until 1949.

Mineichi Koga, 58. Japanese military officer. Admiral Koga, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, was killed in a plane crash between Palau and Davao during a typhoon while overseeing the withdrawal of the Combined Fleet from its Palau headquarters.

War
The Royal Air Force's bomber command suffered its heaviest loss when 94 bombers of about 1,000 failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg. Nazi raids on the Anzio beachhead in Italy forced U.S. troops to retreat 1½ miles southwest of Aprilia. Allied troops advanced about one mile and seized Mount Marrone, 13 miles northeast of Cassino. Soviet forces captured the Black Sea port of Ochakov, 38 miles east of Odessa. British forces abandoned their forward Burmese base of Tiddim, 100 miles south of Imphal in the Indian state of Manipur, in the face of Japanese assaults.

World events
The government of Colombia announced that "concerted revolutionary activity" had been suppressed in the town of Purification with the arrest of 75 people.

Politics and government
The U.S. congressional bill to allow absentee votes from members of the armed services became law without the signature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who called the "states' rights" measure "inadequate," and asked its amendment to provide wider and freer use of the short federal ballot.

New York Governor Thomas Dewey telephoned his supporters in Oregon to withdraw his name from the May 19 Republican Party primary for the nomination for President of the United States in the November 1944 election.

Representative John Coffee (Democrat--Washington) accused Connecticut industrialist Vivien Kellems of treason and seditious conduct for urging businessmen not to pay income taxes.

Oil
The U.S.S.R. announced the cancellation of Japanese oil concessions in northern Sakhalin, 26 years in advance of treaty expiration, in view of "operations of our Allies in the Pacific."

70 years ago
1949

Theatre
The Traitor by Herman Wouk, a dramatic treatment of a college professor's decision to give atomic secrets to Soviet spies, opened at the 48th Street Theatre on Broadway in New York to favourable reviews. It was directed by Jed Harris, and starred Wesley Addy, Jean Hagen, Lee Tracy, and Richard Derr.

Died on this date
Willard Dow. U.S. chemical executive. Mr. Dow was president of the Dow Chemical Company.

Canadiana
Newfoundland and its dependency of Labrador joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province, called Newfoundland, as the British North America Act 1949 was proclaimed.



Defense
Speaking in Boston at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mid-Century Convocation, former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill praised the United States for preventing Soviet conquest of Western Europe, and called for expansion of the North Atlantic security pact into a "world instrument capable of...giving security against aggression." In identical notes to the seven sponsoring nations of the North Atlantic pact, the U.S.S.R.charged them with forming an "openly aggressive" alliance in violation of the United Nations Charter.

Politics and government
The U.S.S.R. government announced the appointment of Pravda editor D.T. Shepilov to replace Mikhail Suslov as head of the Communist Party Central Committee's Propaganda and Agitation Section.

Labour
An agreement to merge the 110,000 members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen with the 80,000-member Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was signed in Cleveland by representatives of both unions.

The Canadian Seamen's Union struck against East Coast seagoing shippers after the latter signed contracts with the rival American Federation of Labor Seafarers' International Union.

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

60 years ago
1959

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Devil's Laughter, starring Alfred Ryder, Patrick Westwood, and Ben Wright



War
French Army headquarters in Algiers reported that 1,172 rebels had been killed, wounded, or captured in sharply increased fighting in Algeria during the past week.

World events
The Dalai Lama, evading pursuing Communist Chinese troops, reached sanctuary in India after a 300-mile trek through mountainous country south of Lhasa.

Diplomacy
The British, French, and West German foreign ministers met in Washington with acting U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter to discuss the report of a Western working group on German reunification.

The Mexican government ordered two U.S.S.R. embassy officials to leave Mexico for alleged involvement in the nationwide railroad strike.

Defense
U.S. military authorities in Germany charged that agreements establishing air access routes to Berlin contained no reference to a ceiling for flights on those routes.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Boston 2 @Toronto 3 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
Montreal 1 @ Chicago 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

Frank Mahovlich scored on a powerplay at 11:21 of the 1st overtime period to give the Maple Leafs their win over the Bruins at Maple Leaf Gardens.

50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Blue Light Yokohama--Ayumi Ishida (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Las Flechas Del Amor (Little Arrows)--Karina (3rd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Time of the Season--The Zombies
2 Traces--Classics IV
3 Dizzy--Tommy Roe
4 Galveston--Glen Campbell
5 Indian Giver--1910 Fruitgum Co.
6 Things I'd Like to Say--The New Colony Six
7 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
8 My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)--David Ruffin
9 Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon--Paul Revere and the Raiders
10 You've Made Me So Very Happy--Blood, Sweat & Tears

Singles entering the chart were Wishful Sinful by the Doors (#81); In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me) by the Foundations (#92); My Way by Frank Sinatra (#93); To Know You is to Love You by Bobby Vinton (#94); Tricia Tell Your Daddy by Andy Kim (#95); When You Dance by Jay and the Americans (#96); I Love My Baby by Archie Bell & the Drells (#97); With Pen in Hand by Vikki Carr (#98); You Came, You Saw, You Conquered! by the Ronettes (#99); and Rhythm of the Rain by Gary Lewis and the Playboys (#100).

Americana
The United States observed a national day of mourning for Dwight D. Eisenhower, the nation's 34th President, who had died three days earlier. A funeral service was held in Washington National Cathedral, where Rev. Edward Elson, Gen. Eisenhower's pastor and minister of National Presbyterian Church, offered a pastoral prayer. Episcopal Dean Francis Sayre, a close friend, opened the services, and Rt. Rev. William Creighton, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, closed them. President Richard Nixon, who had served as General Eisenhower's Vice President, commented, "It was the character of the man; not what he did, but what he was, that so captured the trust and faith and affection of his own people and of the people of the world."



Diplomacy
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson concluded his five-day visit to Nigeria. He had met with Nigeria's military leader, Major General Yakubu Gowon, but their talks resulted in no change in the strategy of Nigeria's war against its rebellious province of Biafra, or the United Kingdom's support for the Nigerian regime.

Britain and the Caribbean island of Anguilla signed a truce ending two weeks of turmoil, invasion, and protest.

The U.S.S.R. sharply criticized the leaders of Czechoslovakia for allowing liberal forces to spread "nationalist and anti-Soviet slander" in demonstrations that followed a Czechoslovak hockey victory three days earlier.

Disasters
34 bodies were recovered in the explosion of a coal mine near Musquiz, Mexico. 134 were still missing and presumed dead.

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Le Freak--Chic

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Tragedy--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor (3rd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Fire!--Pointer Sisters (4th week at #1)
2 Lay Your Love on Me--Racey
3 Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)--The Jacksons
4 Tragedy--Bee Gees
5 The Runner--The Three Degrees
6 Ruthless Queen--Kayak
7 The Wild Places--Duncan Browne
8 Chiquitita--ABBA
9 Mama Leone--Bino
10 In the Navy--Village People

Singles entering the chart were The Logical Song by Supertramp (#26); Opzij by De Wonderlijke Avonturen Van Herman Van Veen (#28); Equinoxe by Jean Michel Jarre (#29); The Story of Buddy Holly by Familee (#32); Sarah Smiles by Bram Tchaikovsky (#33); and Switch by Benelux & Nancy Dee (#38).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Tragedy--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)
2 I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor
3 What a Fool Believes--The Doobie Brothers
4 Heaven Knows--Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams
5 Shake Your Groove Thing--Peaches & Herb
6 Sultans of Swing--Dire Straits
7 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?--Rod Stewart
8 Knock on Wood--Amii Stewart
9 What You Won't Do for Love--Bobby Caldwell
10 Don't Cry Out Loud--Melissa Manchester

Singles entering the chart were Goodnight Tonight by Wings (#38); Rhumba Girl by Nicolette Larson (#84); Heart to Heart by Errol Sober (#85); I Don't Want Nobody Else (To Dance with You) by Narada Michael Walden (#86); I'll Come Running by Livingston Taylor (#87); You Says it All by Randy Brown (#88); Makin' It by David Naughton (#89); I Need You by the Euclid Beach Band (#90); I Never Said I Love You by Orsa Lia (#92); and Hot Number by Foxy (#93).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Tragedy--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)
2 What a Fool Believes--The Doobie Brothers
3 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?--Rod Stewart
4 I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor
5 Shake Your Groove Thing--Peaches & Herb
6 Sultans of Swing--Dire Straits
7 Knock on Wood--Amii Stewart
8 Every Time I Think of You--The Babys
9 Music Box Dancer--Frank Mills
10 Lady--Little River Band

Singles entering the chart were Goodnight Tonight by Wings (#41); Rhumba Girl by Nicolette Larson (#84); Give Me an Inch by Ian Matthews (#85); Who Do You Love? by George Thorogood and the Destroyers (#86); Diamonds by Chris Rea (#87); I'll Come Running by Livingston Taylor (#89); and I Need You by the Euclid Beach Band (#99).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Tragedy--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)
2 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?--Rod Stewart
3 I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor
4 Heaven Knows--Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams
5 I Just Fall in Love Again--Anne Murray
6 A Little More Love--Olivia Newton-John
7 Rasputin--Boney M.
8 (Boogie Woogie) Dancin' Shoes--Claudja Barry
9 Don't Cry Out Loud--Melissa Manchester
10 Shake Your Groove Thing--Peaches & Herb

Singles entering the chart were Here Comes the Night by Streetheart (#84); In the Navy by Village People (#90); Goodnight Tonight by Wings (#95); Renegade by Styx (#96); Stay the Night by the Faragher Brothers (#97); Here Comes the Night by the Beach Boys (#98); Dancer by Gino Soccio (#99); and Our Love is Insane by Desmond Child and Rouge (#100).

Diplomacy
Foreign ministers of 18 Arab nations plus the Palestine Liberation Organization announced the severing of relations with Egypt and the imposition of a total economic boycott against Egypt as a result of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

Politics and government
Initial returns of a nationwide referendum showed overwhelming support by Iranian voters for the Islamic republic favoured by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Environment
Federal inspectors at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania said that the damaged reactor was cooling down, but that a "crisis" and the possibility of a non-nuclear pressure explosion still existed. Leading Congressional figures demanded tighter federal controls over the nuclear industry.

Curling
Air Canada Silver Broom
Final @ Berne, Switzerland
Norway (Kristian Sørum) 5 Switzerland (Peter Attinger, Jr.) 4

Hockey
NHL
Pittsburgh 3 @ Montreal 5
Minnesota 2 @ Toronto 6

Guy Lafleur scored his 50th goal of the season to help the Canadiens defeat the Penguins at the Montreal Forum.

The Maple Leafs clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs with their win over the North Stars at Maple Leaf Gardens.

30 years ago
1989

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

25 years ago
1994

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

World events
South African President F.W. de Klerk declared a state of emergency in the "homeland" of KwaZulu after almost two weeks of rioting had left 150 people dead.

Diplomacy
The Palestine Liberation Organization resumed talks with Israel after the latter agreed to permit the deployment of lightly-armed foreign observers in Hebron. The observers would have no power to settle disputes.

Science
The journal Nature reported the discovery in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported, in its final revision of gross domestic product for 1993, that the economy had grown at an annual rate of 7.0% during the last quarter of the year.

20 years ago
1999

War
Three American soldiers, members of a peacekeeping force in Macedonia that was in the process of withdrawing, were captured by Serb forces near the Yugoslav-Macedonian border.

Crime
Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. They were acquitted in 2000.

Business
The Ford Motor Company completed the purchase of Volvo Cars, a unit of Sweden's Volvo A.B., for $6.45 billion. The Volvo Cars division specialized in medium-priced luxury cars and station wagons.

10 years ago
2009

Died on this date
Raúl Alfonsín, 82. 46th President of Argentina, 1983-1989. Mr. Alfonsín was regarded as the "father of modern democracy in Argentina," serving as the first democratically-elected President after seven years of military dictatorship. A member of the Radical Civic Union, he served in state and national politics beginning in 1958, opposing the military dictatorship that seized power in 1966, and the later military dictatorship that took power in 1976. When Mr. Alfonsín took office as President, he prosecuted crimes that been committed by the military during the "Dirty War." His economic policies produced hyperinflation, leading to riots and Mr. Alfonsín's defeat by Judicialist Party candidate Carlos Menem in the 1989 presidential election. Mr. Alfonsín served three terms as President of the Radical Civic Union (1983-1991, 1993-1995, 1999-2001), and was a member of the constituent assembly that worked on amending the Argentine constitution in 1994. His last office was as a Senator from 2001-2002. Mr. Alfonsín died of lung cancer.

March 30, 2019

375 years ago
1644

War
Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and his militia, aided by force of 30 settlers, defeated a large band of marauding Iroquois on the site of the Place d'Armes in Montreal. The Iroquois had massacred several habitant families.

320 years ago
1699

Religion
Guru Gobind Singh established the Sikh warrior group Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.

210 years ago
1809

Britannica
The Labrador Act gave Labrador to Newfoundland, with all the watersheds flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The boundaries were later disputed by Quebec; the Privy Council made the final decision in 1927 in favour of Newfoundland.

175 years ago
1844

Born on this date
Paul Verlaine. French poet. Mr. Verlaine was associated with the Decadent movement, and was known for collections such as Romances sans paroles (1874) and Sagesse (1880). He descended into drug addiction, drunkenness, and poverty, and died on January 8, 1896 at the age of 51.

War
One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti took place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros, when Dominican troops led by General José María Imbert defeated an outnumbering force of the Haitian Army led by General Jean-Louis Pierrot.

140 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Coen de Koning. Dutch speed skater and cyclist. Mr. de Koning won the world allround championship in 1905, and the Dutch allround championship in 1903, 1905, and 1912; he won the silver medal in the European Championships in 1904, and the bronze medal in 1906. Mr. de Koning died on July 29, 1954 at the age of 75.

130 years ago
1889

Soccer
English FA Cup
Final @ Kennington Oval, London
Preston North End 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

125 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Tommy Green. U.K. race walker. Mr. Green served in World War I, and held various jobs before taking up race walking in 1926. He won numerous competitions over the next few years, culminating in a gold medal in the men's 50-kilometre walk at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932. Mr. Walker retired from competitive walking in 1936, and worked as a publican. He died on March 29, 1975, the day before his 81st birthday.

Abominations
The Women's Enfranchisement Association of New Brunswick was organized in Saint John, under the presidency of Sarah Manning.

120 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Indian author. Mr. Bandyopadhyay wrote short stories, novels, and screenplays. He was best known for creating the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi, who appeared in 32 stories from 1932-1970. Mr. Bandyopadhyay died on September 22, 1970 at the age of 71.

Science
The German Society of Chemistry issued an invitation to other national scientific organizations to appoint delegates to the International Committee on Atomic Weights.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
McGeorge Bundy. U.S. political adviser. Mr. Bundy was an egghead who served in the administrations of U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson as National Security Advisor from 1961-1966, where he was one of the people responsible for the escalation of the Vietnam War. He died on September 16, 1996 at the age of 77.

80 years ago
1939

War
Prime Minister Mackenzie King said that Canada would not conscript men for foreign service.

Defense
The German Heinkel He 100 fighter set a world airspeed record of 463 miles per hour (745 kilometres per hour).

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
New York Rangers 2 @ Boston 1 (OT) (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Toronto 1 @ Detroit 3 (Best-of-three series tied 1-1)

Clint "Snuffy" Smith scored at 17:19 of the 1st overtime period to give the Rangers their win over the Bruins at Boston Garden.

75 years ago
1944

War
Allied bombers conducted their most severe bombing run on Sofia, Bulgaria. Along the east coast of England, 795 aircraft were dispatched, including 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos, for an Allied bombing run on Nuremberg. The bombers met resistance at the coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands from German fighters. Soviet forces captured Cernauti in northern Bukovina. U.S. troops occupied Pityilu Island in the Admiralty Islands.

Business
General Motors announced that sales in 1943 were a record $3,796,115,800, with 93.3% of the production in munitions.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Toronto 0 @ Montreal 11 (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-1)
Chicago 5 @ Detroit 2 (Chicago won best-of-seven series 4-1)

The Canadiens erupted for 7 goals in the 3rd period as they embarrassed the Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens. The rout set a record for the most lopsided game in modern Stanley Cup history, and the Canadiens also set playoff records for the fastest 4 goals (2 minutes, 35 seconds) and fastest 5 goals (3 minutes, 36 seconds) by one team. Toe Blake scored at 7:58 of the 3rd period, and scored again at 8:37; he was followed by Maurice "Rocket" Richard (9:17); Ray Getliffe (10:33); and Buddy O'Connor (11:34).

Doug Bentley scored 3 goals for the Black Hawks as they eliminated the Red Wings at Olympia Stadium.

Basketball
NCAA
The University of Utah defeated St. John's University 43-36 to win the unofficial national college championship.

70 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Friedrich Bergius, 64. German chemist. Dr. Bergius shared the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Carl Bosch "[for] their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high pressure methods." He was best known for the Bergius process for producing synthetic fuel from coal. Dr. Bergius worked with the notorious chemical company IG Farben during World War II, and fled Germany after the war, eventually settling in Buenos Aires, where he worked as an adviser to the Ministry of Industry.

World events
The Syrian Army seized power in the country, following a wave of demonstrations protesting armistice negotiations with Israel. Army Chief of Staff Husni Zayim was named temporary head of state, and promised to continue armistice talks.

Defense
U.S. President Harry Truman signed a bill authorizing the construction of a U.S.-Canadian radar system to protect North America from air attack.

Portugal and Iceland agreed to participate in the North Atlantic security system, the last of 12 member states to give their formal consent.

Protest
A riot broke out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík after the announcement that Iceland was joining NATO. Thousands participated, rocks were thrown, windows of the House of the Althing were smashed, and arrests were made.

Politics and government
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities Chairman John Wood introduced a bill barring federal employees and defense workers from belonging or contributing to the Communist Party or front groups.

Crime
Former Communist Louis Budenz completed eight days of testimony as the first prosecution witness in the New York trial of 11 U.S. Communist Party leaders. He charged that American Communists were directed from Moscow and were dedicated to overthrowing the U.S. government.

Indianica
15 princely states merged to form the Union of Greater Rajastan, a new state in the Indian Dominion.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Toronto 3 @ Boston 2 (Toronto won best-of-seven series 4-1)

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mariquilla--José Luís y su Guitarra (7th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Venus--Frankie Avalon (4th week at #1)
2 Come Softly to Me--The Fleetwoods
3 Charlie Brown--The Coasters
4 It's Just a Matter of Time--Brook Benton
5 Tragedy--Thomas Wayne with the DeLons
6 Alvin's Harmonica--David Seville and the Chipmunks
7 Never Be Anyone Else But You--Ricky Nelson
8 Pink Shoe Laces--Dodie Stevens
9 I've Had It--The Bell Notes
10 It's Late--Ricky Nelson

Singles entering the chart were I Need Your Love Tonight by Elvis Presley (#33); Take a Message to Mary (#61)/Poor Jenny (#69) by the Everly Brothers; Guess Who by Jesse Belvin (#70); Turn Me Loose by Fabian (#79); Three Stars by Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires (#82); Rockin' Crickets by the Hot-Toddys featuring Bill Pennell (#87); Who's That Knocking by the Genies (#88); Hawaiian War Chant by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#89); French Foreign Legion by Frank Sinatra (#90); A House of Love by Scott Garrett (#92); Star Love by the Playmates (#93); Raining in My Heart by Buddy Holly (#95); Almost Grown by Chuck Berry (#96); I Miss You So by Paul Anka (#97); Boom-A-Dip-Dip by Stan Robinson (#98); "Yep!" by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#99); and The Chick by Lee and Paul (#100). Three Stars was a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, who had been killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 It's Late/Never Be Anyone Else But You--Ricky Nelson
2 Come Softly to Me--The Fleetwoods
3 Venus--Frankie Avalon
4 I Need Your Love Tonight/(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I--Elvis Presley
5 Sea Cruise--Frankie Ford
6 I've Had It--The Bell Notes
7 Charlie Brown--The Coasters
8 Guitar Boogie Shuffle--The Virtues
9 Stagger Lee--Lloyd Price
10 It Doesn't Matter Anymore--Buddy Holly

Singles entering the chart were Enchanted by the Platters (#33); I Miss You So by Paul Anka (#37); "Yep!" by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#43); Someone by Johnny Mathis (#48); Guess Who by Jesse Belvin (#49); Yeah Yeah (Class Cutter) by Dale Hawkins (#50); Being True to One Another by Tony Bennett (#53); Boom-a-Dip-Dip by Stan Robinson (#54); Three Stars by Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires (#57); Lovey Dovey by Clyde McPhatter (#58); Secret Love by Jimmy Ricks (#59); and I Never Felt Like This by Jack Scott (#60).

Died on this date
Byron Quimby, 70. U.S. military aviator. Colonel Quimby originated aerobatics and stunt flying.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. agreed to participate in a foreign ministers meeting in Geneva, with an agenda suggested by the West.

Japan offered to submit the recurrent Soviet-Japanese dispute over northern Pacific fishing rights to the World Court.

Defense
A Japanese District Court in Tokyo ruled that the presence of U.S. military forces in Japan was contrary to Japanese law and that the U.S.-Japanese security treaty violated the anti-war preamble of the Japanese constitution.

The U.S. House of Representatives Defense Appropriations subcommittee released testimony by two Joint Chiefs of Staff members that the United States had considerably more atomic retaliatory strength than it needed to destroy the U.S.S.R.

Protest
6,000 members of the U.K.'s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ended a 53-mile march with a rally in Trafalgar Square in London demanding the banning of nuclear weapons and U.S. military bases in Britain.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two separate cases that defendants could could be tried for the same offense in both federal and state courts.

50 years ago
1969

Yellowknifiana
The annual Caribou Carnival ended, the first one attended by this blogger.

Crime
One Detroit policeman was killed and a second policeman and four civilians were wounded in an apparent shootout between the police and members of a Negro separatist group. The firing erupted inside and outside a church in the heart of the area where the 1967 riots took place. In the subsequent arrest of 135 people, all but two were later released.

Americana
After a three-hour military procession along Constitution Avenue, the body of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower lay in state at the Capitol. At least 55,000 people filed past the bier in 24 hours, including French President Charles de Gaulle, who saluted the coffin twice.

Hockey
IIHF World Championships
Group A @ Stockholm
Finland (2-8) 7 U.S.A. (0-10) 3
Sweden (8-2) 1 Czechoslovakia (8-2) 0
U.S.S.R. (8-2) 4 Canada (4-6) 2

Juha Rantasila and Jorma Peltonen each scored 2 goals to help the Finns defeat the Americans, who were dropped to Group B in 1970.

Roger Olsson scored the game's only goal in the 1st period as the Swedes edged the Czechoslovakians.

Boris Mikhailov scored 2 goals, and Igor Romishevsky and Aleksandr Maltsev each scored 1 as the Soviets defeated the Canadians. Ab Demarco and Bill Heindl scored for Canada in what turned out to be Canada's last game in world championship competition until 1977. Canada withdrew from international competition in 1970 because of the International Ice Hockey Federation's refusal to allow Canada to use professional players.

The U.S.S.R. finished first, Sweden second, and Czechoslovakia third on the basis of goal differential. The Soviets scored 59 goals and allowed 23 for a differential of +36; Sweden scored 45 and allowed 19 (+26); and Czechoslovakia scored 40 and allowed 20 (+20).

CHL
Adams Cup
Quarter-Finals
Omaha 3 @ Kansas City 1 (Omaha led best-of-five series 2-1)
Houston 1 @ Dallas 3 (Dallas won best-of-five series 3-0)

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Y.M.C.A.--Village People (8th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heart of Glass--Blondie (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Born to Be Alive--Patrick Hernandez (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: An Apple for the Teacher

Airey Neave, 63. U.K. politician. Mr. Neave was a Lieutenant Colonel in World War II, and became the first British prisoner to escape from Colditz Castle. A Conservative, he represented Abingdon in the House of Commons from 1953 until his death. Mr. Neary began serving as shadow secretary for Northern Ireland in 1974, and was a close adviser to party leader Margaret Thatcher. He was assassinated by a car bomb as he left the Palace of Westminster car park. The Irish National Liberation Army claimed responsibility.

Environment
Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh issued an emergency warning that children and pregnant women should be evacuated from the vicinity of the Three Mile Island nuclear power accident. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission warned Congress that a core meltdown was still possible at the reactor.

Labour
The Teamsters reached a tentative accord with the trucking industry on wage issues in a proposed three-year master freight contract, covering 300,000 union members. The present contract expired on April 1, 1979.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): Like a Prayer--Madonna

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Paradise City--Guns N' Roses

25 years ago
1994

Football
NFL
Former University of Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer was named as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, succeeding Jimmy Johnson, who had resigned the previous day after leading the Cowboys to two straight Super Bowl championships.

20 years ago
1999

Politics and government
Nunavut's new legislature and mace were unveiled in Iqaluit.

Health
A jury in Multnomah County (Oregon) Circuit Court awarded $81 million to the family of a cigarette smoker who died of lung cancer. Attorneys for the plaintiffs presented documents from cigarette maker Philip Morris showing an apparent effort by the company to conceal the health threats and addictiveness of smoking. The jury's award, including $79.5 million in punitive damages, was the highest ever awarded against a tobacco company. Philip Morris said that the award would be appealed.

10 years ago
2009

Terrorism
12 gunmen attacked the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore, Pakistan and held it for several hours before security forces could retake it. Responsibility was claimed by the terrorist organizations Tehrik-i-Taliban and Fedayeen al-Islam.

Law
The British Columbia Supreme Court struck down sections of the government's "gag law" that limited pre-election advertising by unregistered third parties.

Business
U.S. President Barack Obama asserted unprecedented government control over the auto industry, rejecting General Motors' and Chrysler's restructuring plans, and engineering the ouster of GM's chief executive, Rick Wagoner.

March 29, 2019

470 years ago
1549

Braziliana
The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, was founded.

250 years ago
1769

Born on this date
Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia. Prime Minister of France, 1832-1834, 1839-1840, 1840-1847. Marshal of the Empire Soult served in the Revolutionary Wars in the 1790s and the Penisular War against Portugal (1808-1812), engaging in large-scale looting in the latter. Marshal Soult fought in Germany and in the Battle of Waterloo (1815), suffering several defeats by Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington. Marshal Soult went into exile in Germany until being recalled to France in 1819. He created the French Foreign Legion in 1831, and served three terms as Prime Minister, also serving as Minister of War (1830-1834, 1840-1845). Marshal Soult died on November 26, 1851 at the age of 82.

220 years ago
1799

Born on this date
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1852, 1858-1859, 1866-1868. The Earl of Derby led the Conservative Party from 1846-1868, and remains the party's longest-serving leader. He held several cabinet posts before becoming Conservative Party leader, including Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1833-1834, 1841-1845). Lord Derby has been credited by creating the modern Conservative Party, derived from the Whig Party, which dissolved in 1859. He retired from politics on the advice of his doctor, and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Benjamin Disraeli. Lord Derby died on October 23, 1869 at the age of 70.

210 years ago
1809

World events
King Gustav IV of Sweden abdicated after a coup d'état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledged allegiance to Czar Aleksandr I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.

170 years ago
1849

Britannica
The United Kingdom annexed the Punjab.

140 years ago
1879

War
British forces defeated 20,000 Zulus in the Battle of Kambula in South Africa.

Soccer
English FA Cup
Final @ Kennington Oval, London
Old Etonians 1 Clapham Rovers 0

Charles Clerke scored in the 59th minute.

130 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Warner Baxter. U.S. actor and inventor. Mr. Baxter won the 1928-29 Academy Award for Best Actor for playing the Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona (1928), becoming the first to win the award for a sound film. He starred in the Crime Doctor series of 10 detective movies from 1943-1948. Mr. Baxter co-invented a revolving searchlight for use in law enforcement, and helped to develop a radio device to allow emergency vehicles to alter traffic signals from two blocks away. He died of pneumonia on May 7, 1951 at the age of 62.

Howard Lindsay. U.S. playwright, actor, and producer. Mr. Lindsay, born Herman Nelke, teamed with Russel Crouse to write Broadway plays from 1935-1962, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for State of the Union (1946). Mr. Lindsay also wrote and acted with his wife Dorothy Stickney, and the two co-starred in Life with Father on Broadway in New York in 1939. Mr. Lindsay died on February 11, 1968 at the age of 78.

120 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Lavrentiy Beria. U.S.S.R. politician. Mr. Beria was chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus (NKVD) under dictator Josef Stalin during World War II, serving as Minister of Internal Affairs (1938-1945), and Deputy Premier from 1941. He was responsible for organizing the Katyn Forest massacre of Polish military officers in 1940, and was known as a sexual predator, getting away with numerous rapes and perhaps murders of women. Upon the death of Mr. Stalin in March 1953, Mr. Beria resumed the office of Minister of Internal Affairs, and was also First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. He soon lost a power struggle with Nikita Khrushchev, and was arrested for treason in June. He and six co-defendants were convicted in a secret trial, and on December 23, 1953, at the age of 54, Mr. Beria was executed by General Pavel Batitsky, who shot him through the forehead after stuffing a rag in Mr. Beria's mouth to stifle the pleas for his life.

110 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Moon Mullican. U.S. musician. Aubrey Wilson Mullican was a country singer whose hillbilly boogie piano playing influenced rockabilly artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis. Mr. Mullican's popularity was centred in the southeastern United States, although he had eight top 10 hits on the Billboard country chart, with I'll Sail My Ship Alone reaching #1 in 1950. He died at the age of 57 on January 1, 1967, the day after suffering a heart attack.

Defense
George Foster, M.P. (Conservative--Toronto North) introduced a resolution in the House of Commons to establish a Canadian Naval Service.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Eileen Heckart. U.S. actress. Miss Heckart, born Anna Eileen Herbert, had a career spanning nearly 60 years, usually playing supporting roles in plays, movies, and television programs. She won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Butterflies are Free (1972); two Emmy Awards; and a Tony Award in 2000 for lifetime achievement. Miss Heckart died of lung cancer on December 31, 2001 at the age of 82.

Labour
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba passed the Industrial Conditions Act, setting up a joint council to settle labour disputes.

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 4 @ Seattle 3 (OT) (Best-of-five series tied 2-2-1)

In a game played under National Hockey League rules, Frank Foyston and Jack Walker scored in the 1st period and Mr. Walker scored in the 2nd to give the Metropolitans a 3-0 lead, but Odie Cleghorn and Newsy Lalonde scored for the Canadiens, and Mr. Lalonde scored again with 2:55 remaining in regulation time to tie the score. Jack McDonald scored in overtime to enable the Canadiens to avoid elimination, necessitating a sixth and deciding game at Seattle Ice Arena. The influenza epidemic was having such an effect on the teams that some players had to be hospitalized after the game, and others carried home. It was the last game for Montreal defenceman Joe Hall, who died from influenza-related pneumonia a week later.

90 years ago
1929

On the radio
Musician Don Messer made his first radio appearance, with the New Brunswick Lumberjacks, on CFBO in Saint John.

Died on this date
Hugh John Macdonald, 79. Canadian politician and magistrate. Sir Hugh John, a native of Kingston and the only surviving son of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, moved to Winnipeg in 1872 to set up a law practice. A Conservative, he represented Winnipeg in the Canadian House of Commons from 1891-1893, serving with his father until Sir John A.'s death on June 6, 1891. Sir Hugh John resigned from politics in 1893, but was appointed Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs by Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper in 1896. Sir Hugh John was elected to the House of Commons for Winnipeg again in 1896, but his election was voided in 1897, and he didn't contest the subsequent by-election. He led the Conservative Party of Manitoba to an upset victory in the 1899 Manitoba provincial election, serving as Premier of Manitoba from December 1899-October 1900, when he resigned to again enter federal politics. Sir Hugh John was defeated by Interior Minister Clifford Sifton in Brandon in the 1900 federal election, and never ran for office again. He was appointed Police Magistrate of Winnipeg in 1911, and was in office during the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, ordering the internment of immigrants who'd been arrested. Sir Hugh John died 16 days after his 79th birthday.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Boston 2 @ New York Rangers 1 (Boston won best-of-three series 2-0)

Bill Carson scored with 1:58 remaining in regulation time to break a 1-1 tie as the Bruins edged the defending champion Rangers to win their first Stanley Cup championship and became the first American team in the National Hockey League to win the Stanley Cup.

75 years ago
1944

War
Allied forces withdrew from the eastern slopes of Mount Cassino in Italy, leaving the Nazis in control of all heights dominating the highway entering the Liri Valley. Nazi assaults at the Anzio beachhead were driven off. Soviet troops crossed the Prut River and reached the outskirts of Cernauti, capital of northern Bukovina. The U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked Japanese positions on the Palau Islands, 550 miles east of the Philippines, and Woleai and Yap Islands, east of the Palaus, destroying all enemy ships.

Politics and government
A report from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities said that the Congress of Industrial Organizations' Committee for Political Action was Communist-dominated and that Sidney Hillman had replaced Earl Browder "as the Communist political leader in the United States."

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill authorizing American participation in the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

The U.S. Office of Price Administration announced the end of rationing for all frozen fruits and vegetables effective April 2.

Labour
Montgomery Ward & Company labour relations manager John Barr told the U.S. National War Labor Board that the firm would not obey a board directive to renew a contract with the Congress of Industrial Organizations United Retail, Wholesale and Warehouse Workers Union because it had pending a court decision to declare the directive illegal.

70 years ago
1949

On the radio
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis, on MBS

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Cabin B-13, starring Charles Korvin and Eleanor Lynn

Literature
Their Finest Hour, the second volume of Winston Churchill's history of the Second World War, was published by Houghton Mifflin.

World events
The Czechoslovakian government announced the conviction of U.S. soldiers George Jones and Clarence Hill on espionage charges, following a secret trial. Mr. Jones was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Mr. Hill received a 12-year sentence.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department denied permission for a tour of the United States to 18 Soviet and Eastern European delegates to the Cultural and Scientific Conference for World Peace in New York, directing them to leave the U.S.A. within a "reasonable time."

Defense
Marshal Vasili Sokolovsky, head of the Soviet military administration in Germany, was named First Deputy Armed Forces Minister; he was succeeded in his German position by General Vasili Chuikov, leader of the defense of Stalingrad during World War II and Soviet military governor in Thuringia.

U.S. Defense Secretary Louis Johnson named General Joseph McCartney as his chief assistant in supervising armed forces unification.

Energy
The University of Rochester dedicated the world's second-largest cyclotron, costing $1.5 million and capable of accelerating protons to speeds of 250 million volts.

Business
Westinghouse announced a 20%-50% decrease in radio prices, while Jones & Laughlin and Inland Steel dropped prices of several semi-finished products.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Detroit 3 @ Montreal 1 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
Boston 1 @ Toronto 3 (Toronto led best-of-seven series 3-1)

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): La marche des gosses--Annie Cordy (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Kind Waitress, starring Rick Jason, Olive Deering, and Celia Lovsky

At the movies
Some Like it Hot, written, directed, and produced by Billy Wilder, and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon , opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Johnny Allen, 54. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Allen pitched in 352 games for five teams during a 13-year major league career from 1932-1944. His winning percentage of .654 (142 wins, 75 losses) included a 17-4 record for an American League-leading .810 in his rookie season with the World Series champion New Yankees; 13-6, .684 with the Yankees in 1935; 20-10, .667 with the Cleveland Indians in 1936; and 15-1, .938 with the Indians in 1937. Mr. Allen was known for his hot temper, and opposition players enjoyed taunting him. His only loss of 1937 came in his last game of the season, and he attempted to slug teammate Odell "Bad News" Hale after the game, blaming Mr. Hale's error for the loss. An injury suffered during the 1938 All-Star Game break shortened Mr. Allen's career. He became a minor league umpire after his playing days, eventually becoming umpire-in-chief of the Carolina League, retiring in 1953. Mr. Allen died of a heart ailment.

Barthélemy Boganda, 48. Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, 1958-1959. Rev. Boganda, a Roman Catholic priest, was first elected to the French National Assembly in 1946, opposing the French colonial regime in what was then known as Oubangui-Chari. He left the priesthood to get married, remaining active in politics. On December 1, 1958, the Central African Republic was declared as an autonomous region within the French Community, and Mr. Boganda took office as Prime Minister a week later, with the intention of becoming the C.A.R.'s first President. He and everyone else aboard a plane en route from Berbérati to Bangui were killed when it exploded in mid-air; sabotage was widely suspected, and traces of explosives were reportedly discovered in the wreckage. Suspects included the French secret service and Mrs. Boganda, from whom Mr. Boganda had become estranged. Mr. Boganda, who was killed six days before his 49th birthday, was succeeded as Prime Minister by his cousin, Interior Minister David Dacko.

Politics and government
The Panchen Lama informed Communist Chinese leaders that he would serve as Tibetan ruler only until the return to Lhasa of the Dalai Lama.

The U.S. government reported that at least 22 relatives of 17 Senators were on the Senate payroll and that two other Senators had employed relatives within the past year.

Health
Chemist Linus Pauling charged that new fallout data multiplied by five his estimate that each 20 megatons of nuclear fission detonations would cause 15,000 defective births and 15,000 cases of leukemia and bone cancer in people now living.

50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da/While My Guitar Gently Weeps--The Beatles (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Casatchok--Rika Zaraï

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Ma che freddo fa--Nada (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Atlantis--Donovan

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Wages of Love--Muriel Day

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?--Peter Sarstedt (4th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Why--The Cats (2nd week at #1)
2 First of May--The Bee Gees
3 Don Juan--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
4 Sorry Suzanne--The Hollies
5 Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)--Peter Sarstedt
6 Atlantis--Donovan
7 Spooky's Day Off--Swinging Soul Machine
8 Love is Love--Barry Ryan
9 Baby Won't You Leave Me Alone--The Web (with John L. Watson)
10 To Love Somebody--Nina Simone

Singles entering the chart were The Walls Fell Down by the Marbles (#20); Azzurro by Adriano Celentano (#34); Daydream by the Wallace Collection (#36); Ensemble by Mireille Mathieu (#39); and The Last Seven Days by Gloria (#40).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Dizzy--Tommy Roe (3rd week at #1)
2 Traces--Classics IV
3 Time of the Season--The Zombies
4 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
5 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 Run Away Child, Running Wild--The Temptations
7 Indian Giver--1910 Fruitgum Co.
8 Galveston--Glen Campbell
9 My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)--David Ruffin
10 Only the Strong Survive--Jerry Butler

Singles entering the chart were My Way by Frank Sinatra (#69); Mini-Skirt Minnie by Wilson Pickett (#76); Mercy by Ohio Express (#77); Wishful Sinful by the Doors (#79); There Never was a Time by Jeannie C. Riley (#86); Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin (#94); One Eye Open by Maskman and the Agents (#95); Zazueira by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (#96); Something's on Her Mind by the 4 Seasons (#98); and I Love My Baby by Archie Bell & the Drells (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Time of the Season--The Zombies
2 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
3 Dizzy--Tommy Roe
4 Traces--Classics IV
5 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 Indian Giver--1910 Fruitgum Co.
7 Galveston--Glen Campbell
8 Run Away Child, Running Wild--The Temptations
9 You've Made Me So Very Happy--Blood, Sweat & Tears
10 My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)--David Ruffin

Singles entering the chart were Wishful Sinful by the Doors (#60); In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me) by the Foundations (#63); To Know You is to Love You by Bobby Vinton (#72); When You Dance by Jay and the Americans (#78); I Love My Baby by Archie Bell & the Drells (#85); I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I’ll Get it Myself) by James Brown (#88); Tricia Tell Your Daddy by Andy Kim (#92); It's a Groovy World! by the Unifics (#93); With Pen in Hand by Vikki Carr (#94); Rhythm of the Rain by Gary Lewis and the Playboys (#95); Emmaretta by Deep Purple (#97); More Today than Yesterday by the Spiral Starecase (#98); and A Million to One by Brian Hyland (#100).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 Things I'd Like to Say--The New Colony Six
2 Indian Giver--1910 Fruitgum Co.
3 Dizzy--Tommy Roe
4 Build Me Up Buttercup--The Foundations
5 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
7 Galveston--Glen Campbell
8 Rock Me--Steppenwolf
9 Something's Happening--Herman's Hermits
10 Johnny One Time--Brenda Lee
Pick hit of the week: In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)--The Foundations

Defense
The New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was formed.

Americana
The body of former President Dwight Eisenhower was put on public view in Washington National Cathedral after a brief service for the immediate family and close friends.

Disasters
Two earthquakes hit the Danakil depression of Ethiopia, killing 20 and injuring more than 150.

Hockey
IIHF World Championships
Group A @ Stockholm
Canada (4-5) 6 Finland (1-8) 1
Sweden (7-2) 10 U.S.A. (0-9) 4

Steve King, Ken Stephanson, Bill Heindl, Gary Begg, Morris Mott, and Fran Huck scored for Canada, while Lauri Mononen scored for Finland in what turned out to be Canada's last win in world championship competition until 1977.

Kjell-Rune Milton and Lars-Göran Nilsson each scored 3 goals for the Swedes as they beat the Americans. Sweden led 6-2 after the 1st period.

CHL
Adams Cup
Quarter-Finals
Kansas City 4 @ Omaha 1 (Best-of-five series tied 1-1)
Dallas 3 @ Houston 1 (Dallas led best-of-five series 2-0)

Semi-Finals
Tulsa 1 @ Oklahoma City 6 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

40 years ago
1979

Died on this date
Ray Ventura, 70. French musician. Mr. Ventura was a jazz pianist who began performing with the Collegiate Five combo in 1925, later known as the Collegians on recordings from 1928 through the 1930s. Mr. Ventura eventually led the band, and led a big band in South America and France in the 1940s. He was the uncle of singer Sacha Distel, and died 18 days before his 71st birthday.

Luke Easter, 63. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Easter, a first baseman, stood 6'4½" and weighed 240 pounds. He played in the Negro leagues in the late 1940s; with the Homestead Grays in 1948, he hit .363 in 58 games, helping the Grays win the last Negro World Series. The Cleveland Indians signed him in 1949 and assigned him to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. He hit .363 with the Padres, with 25 home runs and 92 runs batted in in just 80 games. Mr. Easter was called up to the Indians later in the season, hitting just .222 with no home runs in 21 games. From 1950-1952 Mr. Easter averaged just under 29 home runs and just over 102 RBIs per season; his 31 home runs in 1952 were just one behind teammate Larry Doby for the American League lead, and his ratio of home runs per at bats was the AL's best. An ankle injury that slowed him down ended his major league career, but he spent many productive years in the International League, leading the IL in home runs and RBIs with the Buffalo Bisons in 1955 and 1956, when he was over 40 years of age. With the Rochester Red Wings, he hit 15 home runs and drove in 60 runs in 249 at bats at the age of 46. In 1957, Mr. Easter became the first batter to hit a home run over the scoreboard in center field at Buffalo's Offermann Stadium, doing it twice that year. He played 491 games with the Indians from 1949-1954, batting .274 with 93 home runs and 340 runs batted in; he batted .270 with 5 homers and 26 RBIs in the Negro National League (1947-1948), and .299 with 247 home runs and 843 RBIs in 1,327 games in the minors (1949-1964). Mr. Easter was carrying the payroll for a construction company that he worked for in Euclid, Ohio, when he was shot to death by two robbers after refusing to hand over the money. He was elected to the International League Hall of Fame in 2008.

World events
Argentina's military regime allowed the Inter-American Human Rights Commission to investigate charges that it had violently repressed suspected "subversives,' indicating a letup in the general crackdown against leftists.

Environment
The radiation leak continued at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, releasing unspecified levels of radiation over a four-county area, and prompting anti-nuclear protests and demands by public officials that emergency steps be taken to safeguard the public.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Like a Prayer--Madonna (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Did I Tell You--Jerry Williams (6th week at #1)

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1988 were presented at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Rain Man won for Best Picture (Mark Johnson, Producer); Director (Barry Levinson); Actor (Dustin Hoffman); and Original Screenplay (Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow). Other awards included: Actress--Jodie Foster (The Accused); Supporting Actor--Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda); Supporting Actress--Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist); Original Song--Let the River Run (Working Girl); Original Score--Dave Grusin (The Milagro Beanfield War); and Foreign Language Film--Pelle the Conqueror.

Music
The New Zealand/Australian pop group Crowded House played a gig for 80 people in the basement of Grant Harvey's home in Calgary. The 23-year-old film student won a MuchMusic contest that asked contestants what their house would look like if Crowded House paid a visit; his 4-minute, $87 video production won out over hundreds of other contestants.

Terrorism
The leader of Belgium's Muslim community and a colleague were shot to death in Brussels. Two days later, a pro-Iranian terrorist group claimed that it had killed the leader because he had criticized the fatwa (legal judgment) of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini against British author Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses (1988) was regarded as disrespectful toward the prophet Muhammad.

Environment
Five days after the U.S. tanker Exxon Valdez had spilled 240,000 barrels of oil into Prince William Sound in Alaska, the spill had extended to 45 miles.

Scandal
Michael Milken, head of the so-called "junk bond" division of the Wall Street investment firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, was indicted along with his brother and a third DBL employee on 98 counts of racketeering, mail fraud, securities fraud, and other criminal charges. The indictment charged that Mr. Milken had led a conspiracy to defraud DBL clients, shareholders, and the investing public. Mr. Milken, who had received $550 million in compensation from the firm in 1987, said that he would plead not guilty to all charges.

Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese concluded two days of testimony at the trial of former National Security Council member Oliver North, who was facing 12 charges in relation to his involvement with the mid-1980s Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal. Mr. Meese testified that as the scandal unfolded, the administration of President Ronald Reagan had feared the possibility that Mr. Reagan would be impeached.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the Index of Leading Economic Indicators had declined 0.3% in February.

Hockey
NHL
Sergei Priakin, the first Soviet player allowed to play in North America by the U.S.S.R. Ice Hockey Federation, signed with the Calgary Flames.

25 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Bill Travers, 62. U.K. actor. Mr. Travers was known for his starring roles in movies such as Bhowani Junction (1956) and Born Free (1966), the latter of which inspired him to spend the rest of his life as an animal welfare advocate.

Abominations
Evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders signed the joint declaration Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the 3rd Millennium. Dave Hunt provided an excellent commentary on the event in The Berean Call's May 1994 newsletter, The Gospel Betrayed.

War
Bosnian Serbs stepped up their bombardment of Gorazde, 35 miles southeast of Sarajevo, which they had first surrounded in May 1993. Gorazde had been intended to be one of six "safe areas" established under a United Nations agreement in May 1993, but few steps had been taken to protect the city.

Politics and government
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, who had served as Mexico's secretary of the budget and then as secretary of education, was chosen as the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)'s candidate in the upcoming presidential election, six days after the assassination of the PRI's previous candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta. A second suspect was arrested by Mexican federal agents in Tijuana.

Football
NFL
Jimmy Johnson, who had led the Dallas Cowboys to Super Bowl championships after the 1992 and 1993 seasons, resigned as the team's head coach. Mr. Johnson and team owner Jerry Jones had differing opinions over who was more responsible for the team's recent success.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Joe Williams, 80. U.S. musician. Mr. Williams, born Joseph Goreed, was a jazz pianist and singer who performed as a soloist and with bands such as those of Count Basie and Lionel Hampton in a performing career that spanned more than 60 years until his death. His best-know recording was Every Day I Have the Blues (1955), during his seven-year period (1954-1961) as lead singer with the Count Basie Orchestra.

World events
Former Paraguayan President Raul Cubas Grau went to Brazil, where he was granted political asylum. Luis Angel Gonzalez Macchi, President of the Senate, was sworn in as his successor.

Crime
United States Marine Captain Joseph Schweitzer, navigator on a plane that had snapped a ski-lift cable above a valley in Italy in 1998, causing 20 deaths, pled guilty to obstruction and conspiracy for destroying a videotape that had recorded part of the flight.

The case of James Hanratty was sent back to the U.K. Court of Appeal, 37 years after he had been hanged for the notorious A6 murder in Bedfordshire. Mr. Hanratty was hanged in Bedford Prison in April 1962 after being convicted of the murder of government scientist Michael Gregsten, 36, and assaulting Valerie Storie, 22, his laboratory assistant and mistress. DNA evidence subsequently indicated that Mr. Hanratty was the killer, and the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction in 2002.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time. The final charge saw the Dow jump 184.54 points to rise slightly above the barrier at 10,006.78. The average of 30 large companies had been advancing steeply over the past several years, although it had skidded badly, almost 20% at one point in 1998 because of fears about the Asian financial crisis. The rebound left many smaller companies behind, and they were still showing declines in 1999.

Disasters
The strongest earthquake to hit the foothills of the Himalayas in more than 90 years--magnitude 6.8--killed 103 people in the Chamoli district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand).

Hockey
NHL
Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers scored his 894th and last career National Hockey League goal, in a game against the New York Islanders.

Basketball
NCAA
Men's Championship
Final
Connecticut 77 Duke 74

The Huskies upset the Blue Devils to win their first National Collegiate Athletic Association men's title. Heavily-favoured Duke carried a 32-game winning streak into the game. Richard Hamilton, named the most valuable player in the finals, scored 27 points for Connecticut.

10 years ago
2009

Died on this date
Andy Hallett, 33. U.S. actor and singer. Mr. Hallett played Lorne in the television series Angel (2000-2004), and often sang on the show. He developed a heart condition in 2004 as a result of a dental infection, and died of congestive heart failure.

Crime
Researchers at the University of Toronto discovered GhostNet, a cyber spying network largely based in the People's Republic of China.