April 7, 2019

280 years ago
1739

Died on this date
Dick Turpin, 33 or 34. U.K. criminal. Mr. Turpin was a highwayman who became celebrated in English popular culture after being hanged for horse theft on the Knavesmire gallows in York.

230 years ago
1789

Died on this date
Abdul Hamid I, 64. Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1774-1789. Abdul Hamid I, the son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730), succeeded his elder brother Mustafa III (1757-1774). He was succeeded on the throne by his nephew Selim III.

170 years ago
1849

Disasters
A major fire in Toronto started at 1 A.M. from an unknown cause, behind a tavern near the St. Lawrence Market. The blaze caught some hay then spread rapidly, destroying several city blocks in the downtown core and many buildings, including St. James Cathedral.

160 years ago
1859

Born on this date
Walter Camp. U.S. football player, coach, and sportswriter. Mr. Camp, known as the "Father of American football," played halfback at Yale University from 1876-1881 and coached at Yale (1888-1892) and Stanford University (1892, 1894-1895), compiling a record of 79-5-3 and leading Yale to national championships in 1888, 1891, and 1892. He devised many of American football's basic features, including the line of scrimmage and the system of downs. Mr. Camp wrote nearly 30 books and 250 magazine articles, and pioneered the selection of the "All-America" team. He died on March 14, 1925, 24 days before his 66th birthday, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1951.

150 years ago
1869

Crime
Prince Edward Island's last public hanging took place in Charlottetown.

130 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Gabriela Mistral. Chilean poet. Ms. Mistral, whose real name was Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945, becoming the first Latin American (and so far, only Latin American woman) to win the award. She spent her last years in the United States and died in Hempstead, New York on January 10, 1957 at the age of 67.

120 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Robert Casadesus. French musician and composer. Mr. Casadesus was a concert pianist, and later a teacher of piano, for 30 years before fleeing France for the United States during World War II, performing concerts to raise money for French war relief. He returned to France after the war and resumed his teaching and performing career. Mr. Casadesus composed orchestral and chamber works, as well as works for piano. He died on September 19, 1972 at the age of 73.

Politics and government
New Brunswick's Women's Enfranchisement Association flooded the Legislature with 12 petitions, containing almost 4,000 signatures, asking for a suffrage bill.

110 years ago
1909

Academia
Saskatoon was chosen as the site of the University of Saskatchewan.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Roger Lemelin. Canadian author and journalist. Mr. Lemelin wrote the novel Les Plouffe (1948), which inspired the CBC/Radio-Canada television series La famille Plouffe (1953-1959). He was publisher of the Montreal newspaper La Presse from 1972-1981. Mr. Lemelin died on March 16, 1992, 22 days before his 73rd birthday.

Edoardo Mangiarotti. Italian fencer. Mr. Mangiarotti won 19 world championships and Olympic titles from 1936-1960. He won 13 Olympic medals, including six gold medals. Mr. Mangiarotti died on May 25, 2012 at the age of 93.

80 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Charles Stockard, 60. U.S. anatomist and zoologist. Dr. Stockard conducted numerous experiments studying the growth and differentiation of germ line cells within embryos. His research on embryonic development in guinea pigs given alcohol demonstrated that alcohol consumption can lead to birth defects. Dr. Stockard's books included Hormones and Structural Development (1927) and The Physical Basis of Personality (1931).

Joseph Lyons, 59. Prime Minister of Australia, 1932-1939. Mr. Lyons was a member of the Labour Party when he served as Premier of Tasmania from 1923-1928. He resigned from the Labour Party in 1931 and led the United Australia Party, serving as Prime Minister from 1932 until his death from a heart attack. Mr. Lyons was the first Australian Prime Minister to die in office.

War
Italian forces invaded Albania.

75 years ago
1944

War
Soviet troops trapped five or six German divisions north of Razdelnaya, 40 miles north of Odessa. U.S. troops on the Anzio beachhead in Italy gained, in small-scale action, a new strong point northwest of Padiglione. A Japanese advance unit penetrating the outskirts of Kohima in the Indian state of Manipur was repulsed. Slovak Jews Rudolf Verba and Alfred Wetzler escaped from Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland.

World events
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali el-Gailani and 19 associates were arrested and held prisoner in Baghdad.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that no further action had been taken by the U.S. to recognize General Charles de Gaulle's French Committee of National Liberation, and added that the matter was one of self-determination for the French people.

U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius arrived in London for conferences with U.K. Foreign Minister Anthony Eden.

Politics and government
Southern U.S. Senators disclosed that "more than 1,000 amendments" had been prepared to delay and prevent action on the anti-poll tax bill that had been approved by the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate.

The Nebraska legislature ended its special session by passing a bill to liberalize voting laws for people in the armed forces and absentees working in war industries outside the state.

70 years ago
1949

At the movies
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, directed by Tay Garnett, and starring Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, William Bendix, and Cedric Hardwicke, received its premiere screening in New York City.

Theatre
The musical South Pacific, with songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, directed by Joshua Logan, and starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, opened at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway in New York, with a record advance ticket sale of $500,000.

War
Chinese Communists launched a new attack in the Nanking area, capturing the Yangtze River port of Yicheng.

Politics and government
County council elections in Britain resulted in heavy losses for the Labour Party, which lost its majority in the London County Council. The results were interpreted as an expression of dissatisfaction with the austerity budget presented by the national Labour Party government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee.

Economics and finance
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Charles Brannan presented Congress with a plan, endorsed by the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau, to replace existing agricultural price supports with a farm income supplement program, to be used if free market prices fell below a certain level.

60 years ago
1959

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Return of Mitchell Campion, starring Patrick O'Neal and Lilyan Chauvin



Television
The George Foster Peabody Awards for distinguished achievement in television and radio were presented to the Huntley-Brinkley Report; Playhouse 90; The Steve Allen Show; and Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

World events
French authorities confiscated 581 tons of arms and ammunition from a Czechoslovakian freighter at the Mers-el-Kebir naval base near Oran, charging that the cargo was destined for Algerian nationalists.

Politics and government
Konrad Adenauer announced at a Christian Democratic Union meeting in Bonn that he would resign as Chancellor of West Germany to succeed Theodor Heuss as President in September.

Democratic Party incumbent Richard Daley defeated Timothy Sheehan to win re-election as Mayor of Chicago.

Defense
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated General Leonard Heaton, commander of Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center, as Army Surgeon General.

Society
51 years of prohibition of alcohol in Oklahoma ended when voters in a referendum favoured its repeal, by a margin of 80,000 votes.

Boxing
Zora Folley (45-3-2) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Willi Besmanoff (39-16-7) in a heavyweight bout in Denver.

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

Bob Pulford scored with 11:24 remaining in regulation time to tie the score, and Gerry Ehman scored with 2:33 remaining to break a 2-2 tie as the Maple Leafs eliminated the Bruins at Boston Garden. Mr. Ehman's goal was his 6th of the series, and his second game-winning goal.



Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 123 @ Minneapolis 110 (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-0)

Tom Heinsohn scored 26 points and Bob Cousy added 23 points and 19 assists, while Bill Russell scored 8 points and grabbed 30 rebounds to help the Celtics defeat the Lakers before 11,272 fans at Minneapolis Armory. Larry Foust led Minneapolis scorers with 26 points, while Elgin Baylor made just 6 of 23 field goal attempts and scored 14 points.

50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Blue Light Yokohama--Ayumi Ishida (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Las Flechas Del Amor (Little Arrows)--Karina (4th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
2 Galveston--Glen Campbell
3 Time of the Season--The Zombies
4 You've Made Me So Very Happy--Blood, Sweat & Tears
5 Traces--Classics IV
6 My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)--David Ruffin
7 Rock Me--Steppenwolf
8 Only the Strong Survive--Jerry Butler
9 Dizzy--Tommy Roe
10 Don't Give in to Him--Gary Puckett and the Union Gap

Singles entering the chart were Pinball Wizard by the Who (#69); Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin (#74); The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel (#84); Grazing in the Grass by the Friends of Distinction (#86); Gitarzan by Ray Stevens (#87); Emmaretta by Deep Purple (#88); Nothing But a Heartache by the Flirtations (#89); More Today than Yesterday by the Spiral Starecase (#91); Something's Happening by Herman's Hermits (#93); It's a Groovy World by the Unifics (#94); A Million to One by Brian Hyland (#95); Love is All I Have to Give by the Checkmates, Ltd. (#96); Back in the U.S.S.R. by Chubby Checker (#97); I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I’ll Get it Myself) by James Brown (#98); November Snow by Rejoice (#99); and Born Again by Sam & Dave (#100).

Died on this date
Emilio Arenales Catalán, 46. Guatemalan diplomat and politician. Dr. Arenales began serving in various offices with the United Nations in 1946. He was Guatemala's Foreign Minister (1966-1969) and president of the 23rd General Assembly of the United Nations (1968-1969).

Technology
Request for Comments 1, titled Host Software, written by Steve Crocker of the University of California at Los Angeles as part of ARPANET--forerunner of the Internet--was published.

Law
The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that laws against reading obscene material in the privacy of one’s home were unconstitutional. Justice Thurgood Marshall declared, "Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds."

Medicine
Haskell Karp, the man who had been kept alive in Houston for 63 hours with the first artificial human heart, received the transplanted heart of a woman.

Economics and finance
The United States withdrew the threat of economic sanctions against Peru. In a move designed to foster Latin American confidence in the new United States administration, Secretary of State William Rogers announced an indefinite extension of a legally required aid cutoff in response to the expropriation of American oil facilities in Peru.

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Le Freak--Chic (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Tragedy--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor (4th week at #1)

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

Singles entering the chart were Greenpeace by Teach In (#23); Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday by Boney M. (#25); One Way Ticket by Eruption (#29); Room with a View by Deco (#33); Goodnight Tonight by Wings (#37); Trash by Roxy Music (#38); and Colorado by Xandra (#39).

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

Singles entering the chart were Old Time Rock & Roll by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band (#72); Diamonds by Chris Rea (#75); It Must Be Love by Alton McClain and Destiny (#77); Just the Same Way by Journey (#81); Give Me an Inch by Ian Matthews (#85); Body Heat by Alicia Bridges (#86); I (Who Have Nothing) by Sylvester (#87); Dancer by Gino Soccio (#88); Love is Gonna Come at Last by Badfinger (#89); (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Sammy Hagar (#90); and High on Your Love Suite by Rick James (#91).

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

Singles entering the chart were The Logical Song by Supertramp (#84); Old Time Rock & Roll by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band (#85); (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Sammy Hagar (#86); (Boogie Woogie) Dancin' Shoes by Claudja Barry (#87); Little Bit of Soap by Nigel Olsson (#88); You Says it All by Randy Brown (#89); Love is Gonna Come at Last by Badfinger (#90); and I Don't Want Nobody Else (To Dance with You) by Narada Michael Walden (#98).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Tragedy--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)
2 I Just Fall in Love Again--Anne Murray
3 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?--Rod Stewart
4 I Will Survive--Gloria Gaynor
5 Heaven Knows--Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams
6 What a Fool Believes--The Doobie Brothers
7 (Boogie Woogie) Dancin' Shoes--Claudja Barry
8 Rasputin--Boney M.
9 Shake Your Groove Thing--Peaches & Herb
10 Forever in Blue Jeans--Neil Diamond

Singles entering the chart were The Logical Song by Supertramp (#90); Holiday by Myles (#92); Such a Woman by Tycoon (#95); Get Used to It by Roger Voudouris (#96); Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy by Bad Company (#97); Sweet Lui-Louise by Ironhorse (#98); Don't You Write Her Off by McGuinn, Clark and Hillman (#99); and Love Takes Time by Orleans (#100).

Died on this date
Amir Habbas Hoveida, 59. Iranian politician. Mr. Hoveida, who had served as Prime Minister from 1965-1977 and was a close adviser to the Shah, was executed in Tehran after a summary trial by an Islamic court.

Protest
3,000 anti-nuclear demonstrators protested the launching of the first Trident missile nuclear submarine in Groton, Connecticut.

Hockey
NHL
Washington 3 @ Montreal 10
Buffalo 2 @ Toronto 6

Baseball
Ken Forsch pitched a no-hitter as the Houston Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-0 before 24,325 fans at the Astrodome. Just under a year earlier, Ken's brother Bob had pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals.



The Montreal Expos scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th inning to take a 6-5 lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates before 8,700 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, and with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th and runners on first and third bases, Pittsburgh first baseman Willie Stargell grounded back to Montreal pitcher Elias Sosa for what should have been the third out. Mr. Sosa made an error that allowed pinch runner Matt Alexander to score the tying run, and then catcher Gary Carter made an error that allowed Dave Parker to score the winning run as the Pirates won 7-6.

George Hendrick led off the bottom of the 9th inning with a double and scored on a single by Ken Reitz to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies before 15,294 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

Rick Waits pitched a 1-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Mike Torrez as the Cleveland Indians scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning and shut out the Boston Red Sox 3-0 before 47,231 fans at Cleveland Stadium. Jerry Remy's leadoff single in the 6th inning was the only hit off Mr. Waits. Mr. Torrez allowed just 4 hits in 7 2/3 innings, but a single, stolen base, three bases on balls, and a double by Duane Kuiper off relief pitcher Tom Burgmeier produced all the runs.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Looking for Freedom--David Hasselhoff (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had lunch with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in London. Speaking at London's Guildhall, Mr. Gorbachev said that the U.S.S.R. was seeking to build an "open, democratic and free society."

Terrorism
A gunman hijacked a bus near Montreal and drove it to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where he was disarmed by police.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had declined to 4.9%, the lowest figure since 1973.

Disasters
The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine Komsomolets caught fire and sank in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway, killing 42 sailors. 27 crewmen were rescued by Soviet fishing boats.

25 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Jos sulla on toinen--Taikapeili (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 40. Prime Minister of Rwanda, 1993-1994. Miss Uwilingiyimana, a member of the Democratic Republican Movement, was a Hutu, and was assassinated during the first day of large-scale fighting between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda.

Abominations
Hutu extremists in Rwanda began massacring ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

Terrorism
Auburn Calloway attempted to hijack FedEx Express Flight 705--a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 cargo jet carrying electronics across the United States from Memphis, Tennessee to San Jose, California--and crash it to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy. The crew, despite suffering serious injuries, subdued him and landed the aircraft safely.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Heinz Lehmann, 87. German-born Canadian psychiatrist. Dr. Lehmann emigrated to Canada in 1937; in 1947 he was appointed Clinical Director of Douglas Hospital in Montreal. Dr. Lehmann was chairman of the McGill University Psychiatry Department from 1971-1975, and served on the LeDain Commission on the non-medical use of drugs from 1969-1972. He was best known for his use of chlorpromazine for the treatment of schizophrenia in 1950s earning recognition as the "father of modern psychopharmacology." Dr. Lehmann supported decriminalization of marijuana use, and was a member of the American Psychiatric Association committee that removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973.

War
NATO reported that Serb forces had burned 50 villages in the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo since April 4.

Diplomacy
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, continuing his visit to the United States, lifted an import ban on wheat from the Pacific northwest and on United States Department of Agriculture-inspected meat and poultry products.

Economics and finance
The World Trade Organization ruled in favour of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with Europe over bananas.

10 years ago
2009

Died on this date
Dave Arneson, 61. U.S. game designer. Mr. Arneson and Gary Gygax co-created the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons in the early 1970s. Mr. Arneson died after a two-year battle with cancer.

Crime
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.

Protest
Mass protests began across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election were fraudulent.

Abominations
Vermont became the fourth U.S. state to legalize sodomite/lesbian "marriage."