April 15, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Murray Blakely, Harold Riemer, and Danielle Wessel!

570 years ago
1450

War
Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attacked and nearly annihilated English forces in the Battle of Formigny, ending English domination in northern France.

170 years ago
1850

Americana
The city of San Francisco was incorporated.

130 years ago
1890

Law
Pierre-Amand Landry was appointed New Brunswick's first Acadian judge.

Transportation
Northwest Territories Lieutenant Governor Edgar Dewdney turned the sod on the Calgary and Edmonton Railway (C&E) in Calgary.

120 years ago
1900

War
Filipino guerrillas launched a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and began a four-day siege of Catubig.

110 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Sulo Bärlund. Finnish shot putter. Mr. Bärlund won a silver medal at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. He died on April 13, 1986, two days before his 76th birthday.

100 years ago
1920

Born on this date
Thomas Szasz. Hungarian-born U.S. psychiatrist. Dr. Szasz moved to the United States in 1938. He worked at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis from 1951-1956, and obtained a tenured position at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse in 1962. Dr. Szasz was known for books such as The Myth of Mental Illness (1961) and The Manufacture of Madness (1970), criticizing what he saw as the social control aims of modern medicine, and arguing that "mental illness" wasn't like physical illness, but was rather a term used to describe problems in living. Dr. Szasz opposed civil commitment and involuntary psychiatric treatment, but believed in and practiced psychotherapy between consenting adults. He was suffering chronic pain after a fall when he committed suicide on September 8, 2012 at the age of 92.

Richard von Weizsäcker. President of West Germany/Germany, 1984-1994. Mr. Weizsäcker joined the Christian Democratic Union in 1954, and was first elected to the Bundestag in 1969. He was Governing Mayor of West Berlin (1981-1984), and was then elected President of West Germany. Mr. Weizsäcker was re-elected in 1989, and was President when West and East Germany reunited in October 1990. He was one of Germany's most popular Presidents, and was highly regarded for his impartiality. Mr. Weizsäcker died on January 31, 2015 at the age of 94.

Crime
A paymaster and guard for a shoe company were murdered in South Braintree, Massachusetts by two men who got away with $15,000. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, both anarchists, were arrested.

Economics and finance
The Royal Canadian Mint released the new Canadian small cent coin.

90 years ago
1930

At the movies
King of Jazz, directed by John Murray Anderson, starring John Boles, Jeanie Lang, and Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, opened at the Criterion Theater in Los Angeles.



Baseball
The Philadelphia Athletics opened defense of their American League pennant with a 6-2 win over the New York Yankees before 38,000 fans at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, with Lefty Grove (1-0) winning over George Pipgras (0-1). The game marked the debut for Bob Shawkey as manager of the Yankees. In the 3rd inning, Babe Ruth drove in 2 runs with a blast that hit a tree of loudspeakers jutting into the field of play in right-center field; despite protests from the Yankees that the hit should have been called a home run, it was ruled a ground-rule double.

80 years ago
1940

War
The Allies began their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik, which was occupied by Nazi Germany; the Nazis repulsed the attack.

Diplomacy
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Hachirō Arita warned against any change in the status of the Netherlands East Indies in view of developments in Europe and Japan's economic ties to the Indies.

Protest
Police in Rio de Janeiro arrested 51 Communists for allegedly plotting a nationwide revolt.

Politics and government
Major Vidkun Quisling resigned as Prime Minister of the German-sponsored Norwegian cabinet and was succeeded by Ingolf Christensen.

Former U.S. President Herbert Hoover called for American political and military isolation from world affairs. He also said it would be "a sign of degeneration" if the American people permitted the federal government to control the training of youth.

A Gallup Poll indicated that 53% of American voters would support President Franklin D. Roosevelt over U.S. Senator Arthur Vandenberg (Republican--Michigan) in the 1940 U.S. presidential election.

75 years ago
1945

Died on this date
Hermann Florstedt, 50. German SS officer. Standartenführer Florstedt was Commandant of Majdanek concentration camp in Poland. He was charged with stealing from the Third Reich to enrich himself, and was executed by the SS.

War
The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany was liberated by British and Canadian troops. German forces destroyed one of two U.S. 9th Army bridgeheads across the Elbe River near Magdeburg. Japanese forces launched a third massed kamikaze attack against the U.S. 5th Fleet off Okinawa; 165 kamikaze planes sank one American vessel and damaged six.

World events
Yugoslavian dictator Marshal Josip Tito said that the people of Istria and Trieste "desire to be incorporated into the new Yugoslavia."

70 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra; Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake--Eileen Barton with the New Yorkers (Best Seller--1st week at #1; Disc Jockey--4th week at #1; Jukebox--1st week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Music! Music! Music!--Teresa Brewer (4th week at #1)
2 "The Third Man" Theme--Anton Karas
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
3 If I Knew You Were Comin’ (I’d’ve Baked a Cake)--Eileen Barton with the New Yorkers
--Georgia Gibbs
4 Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy--Red Foley
--Bing Crosby
5 I Said My Pajamas (And Put on My Pray’rs)--Tony Martin and Fran warren
6 Daddy’s Little Girl--The Mills Brothers
--Dick Todd
7 It Isn’t Fair--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
8 Dearie--Ray Bolger and Ethel Merman
--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
9 There’s No Tomorrow--Tony Martin
10 Rag Mop--The Ames Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra
--Johnnie Lee Wills and his Boys

Singles entering the chart were Black Lace by Frankie Laine (#33); Rain by the Frank Petty Trio (#34); Darn it Baby, That's Love by Tony Martin and Fran Warren (#39); and You're Always There by Evelyn Knight (#40).

Television
Vladimir Zworykin of RCA laboratories told an Institute of Radio Engineers meeting in Boston that three-dimensional television had been developed for industrial and scientific use by RCA.

Politics and government
Exiled Belgian King Leopold III offered to let his son Prince Baudoin, 19, assume the throne "temporarily" if Parliament first called the king home to carry out the transfer.

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Tom Connally (Democrat--Texas) proposed the creation of eight subcommittees under his authority to specialize in various phases of foreign affairs.

Religion
The Polish government announced an agreement with the Roman Catholic Church recognizing the government's authority in all except religious matters.

Disasters
The Communist Chinese government reported that famine had affected 40 million people since 1949 and 7 million people were now in a "most serious plight."

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Detroit 4 New York 0 @ Toronto (Detroit led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Gerry Couture's powerplay goal at 14:14 of the 1st period held up as the winner for the Red Wings as they shut out the Rangers at Maple Leaf Gardens. George Gee, Sid Abel, and Marty Pavelich also scored, while Harry Lumley earned his first shutout of the series in goal.

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): My Old Man's a Dustman--Lonnie Donegan (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: A Nice Place to Visit, starring Larry Blyden and Sebastian Cabot

Space
The U.S.A. launched Discoverer 11, a satellite whose purpose was the study of propulsion, communication, recovery techniques, and cosmic radiation.

Protest
Ella Baker led a conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina that resulted in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Bridge Over Troubled Water--Simon & Garfunkel (4th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Ein kleines Glück--Adamo (5th week at #1)
2 Let it Be--The Beatles
3 Whole Lotta Love--Led Zeppelin
4 Instant Karma!--Lennon
5 Grüezi wohl, Frau Stirnimaa!--Die Minstrels
6 Heya--J.J. Light
7 Oh Lady Mary--Peter Alexander
8 Mademoiselle Ninette--The Soulful Dynamics
9 Travelin' Band--Creedence Clearwater Revival
10 August October--Robin Gibb

Singles entering the chart were Let it Be; Instant Karma!; Grüezi wohl, Frau Stirnimaa!; Mademoiselle Ninette; Travelin' Band; August October; Ein Photo von Christina by Wolfgang (#11); Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel (#13); Rub a Dub Dub by the Equals (#16); and Deine Tränen sind auch meine by Heintje (#17).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKVN)
1 American Woman/No Sugar Tonight--The Guess Who
2 Let it Be--The Beatles
3 Something's Burning--Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
4 Come and Get It--Badfinger
5 Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)--Edison Lighthouse
6 Shilo--Neil Diamond
7 Instant Karma (We All Shine On)--John Ono Lennon (With the Plastic Ono Band)
8 Spirit in the Sky--Norman Greenbaum
9 You, Me and Mexico--Edward Bear
10 Celebrate--Three Dog Night

This was the first edition of the CKVN Top 30 chart; click on the link to see the entire chart. CKVN had been known as CFUN until 1969.

Died on this date
Ripper Collins, 66. U.S. baseball player. James Anthony Collins, who acquired his nickname from an occasion on which he ripped a cover loose from a baseball when he hit it, was a first baseman and outfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals (1931-1936); Chicago Cubs (1937-1938); and Pittsburgh Pirates (1941), batting .296 with 135 home runs and 659 runs batted in in 1,084 games. He helped the Cardinals win World Series championships in 1931 and 1934, tying for the National League lead in home runs and leading the NL in slugging average in 1934. Mr. Collins helped the Cubs win the National League pennant in 1938, and batted .277 with no homers and 3 RBIs in 13 World Series games. He played more than 1,500 games in 15 seasons in the minor leagues (1923-1947), including five seasons (1942-1946) as playing manager with the Albany Senators of the Class A Eastern League. Mr. Collins managed five more seasons (1947-1950, 1961) in the minor leagues, and was a coach in the Chicago Cubs' organization in the 1960s. He was a scout with the Cardinals when he died of a heart attack.

George Goldner, 52. U.S. music executive. Mr. Goldner founded or co-founded several record labels in the 1950s and '60s, and was responsible for discovering and promoting rock and roll artists such as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers; Little Anthony and the Imperials; and the Crows. He died of a heart attack.

Roger Hagberg, 31. U.S. football player. Mr. Hagberg was a fullback with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers when they were U.S. national champions in 1960. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League and the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League in 1961, but joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League instead. He was a member of the Grey Cup championship teams of 1961 and 1962, but was slowed by illness in 1963, and his slow recovery led to his release from the Blue Bombers midway through the 1964 season. In four seasons with the Blue Bombers, Mr. Hagberg played in 45 regular season games, rushing 443 times for 2,137 yards (4.8 average per carry) and 13 touchdowns, while catching 55 passes for 610 yards (11.0 average) and 2 touchdowns. His best season was 1962, when he rushed for 856 yards and 4 touchdowns, and caught 29 passes for 373 yards and 2 TDs. He joined the Raiders in 1965, and was a member of the team that won the AFL championship in 1967, playing in Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers on January 14, 1968. Mr. Hagberg's last game was the 1969 AFL championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs, played on January 4, 1970. In five years with the Raiders, He played in 68 regular season games, rushing 194 times for 766 yards (3.9-yard average) with 4 touchdowns, and caught 58 passes for 645 yards (11.1 average) and 4 touchdowns. Mr. Hagberg holds the distinction of being the first player to play in a Super Bowl (1968) after playing in a Grey Cup (1961). He was still an active player at the time of his death, which occurred when he was thrown out of his car on a highway near Lafayette, California and was hit by one, and possibly two, other vehicles as he lay on the pavement. A witness told police that the driver of one of the cars parked his vehicle, walked back down the darkened highway to look at Mr. Hagberg's body, and then left the scene.

Space
The Apollo 13 crew of Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert remained in the lunar module Aquarius as they continued their return to earth.

War
During the Cambodian Civil War, a massacre of the Vietnamese minority resulted in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.

Diplomacy
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, representing 15 western European nations, passed a resolution accusing the military regime in Greece of "torture and other ill treatment" of political prisoners.

Protest
Violence marred protests against the Vietnam War on the first anniversary of Vietnam Moratorium day. The protest was held on April 15--the deadline for Americans to file income tax returns--to draw a connection between the war and high levels of taxation.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Boston 4 @ New York 1 (Boston won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Terry Sawchuk finished the game in goal for the Rangers in relief of starter Ed Giacomin; for Mr. Sawchuk, it was the last game of his 21-year NHL career. Six weeks later, he was dead under mysterious circumstances.

CHL
Adams Cup
Finals
Iowa 2 @ Omaha 4 (Omaha led best-of-seven series 2-1)

40 years ago
1980

Hit parade
Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (7th week at #1)
2 Sun of Jamaica--Goombay Dance Band
3 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan--Marianne Faithfull
4 I Have a Dream--ABBA
5 Rapper's Delight--Sugarhill Gang
6 Confusion--Electric Light Orchestra
7 Boat on the River--Styx
8 Que sera mi vida (If You Should Go)--Gibson Brothers
9 I Do the Rock--Tim Curry
10 Lucifer--The Alan Parsons Project

Singles entering the chart were Boat on the River; Atomic by Blondie (#11); and Voices by Cheap Trick (#18).

Died on this date
Raymond Bailey, 75. U.S. actor. Mr. Bailey appeared in plays, films, and television programs from the 1940s through the early 1970s, but was best known for playing banker Milburn Drysdale in the television comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971). He died of a heart attack, three weeks before his 76th birthday, after years of suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Jean-Paul Sartre, 74. French philosopher. Mr. Sartre was one of the major figures in the philosophy of existentialism, addressing the conflict between "conformity" and an "authentic" way of being. His books included L'Être et le Néant (Being and Nothingness) (1943) and L'existentialisme est un humanisme (Existentialism is a Humanism) (1946). Mr. Sartre was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his work, which rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest for truth, has exerted a far-reaching influence on our age." He was a public intellectual, supportive of Communist regimes. Mr. Sartre died from edema of the lung.

World events
Two days after a military coup d’etat, the Liberian capital of Monrovia was reported calm after stringent security measures had been put into effect.

Politics and government
The campaign leading to the May 20 referendum in Quebec on the province's "sovereignty-association" with Canada officially began. Premier and Parti Québécois leader René Lévesque led the "Yes" campaign, while the "No" campaign was led by Liberal Party leader Claude Ryan.

Religion
Dr. Carl McIntire, president of the International Council of Christian Churches, held his 14th annual Faith and Freedom Rally in the Club Room of the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (8th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (7th week at #1)
2 Dub Be Good to Me--Beats International
3 Pump ab das Bier--Werner
4 Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic
5 The Power--Snap!
6 The Message is Love--Arthur Baker and the Backbeat Disciples featuring Al Green
7 Got to Get--Rob 'n' Raz featuring Leila K.
8 Dangerous--Roxette
9 Das erste Mal tat's noch weh--Stefan Waggershausen & Viktor Lazlo
10 I Don't Know Anybody Else--Black Box

Singles entering the chart were Das erste Mal tat's noch weh; and Ding Dong by Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung (#29).

Died on this date
Greta Garbo, 84. Swedish-born U.S. actress. Miss Garbo, born Greta Gustaffson began her career in Sweden, appearing in silent films such as The Joyless Street (1925), before moving to Hollywood, where she became a major star in movies such as Flesh and the Devil (1927); Anna Christie (1930); Mata Hari (1931); Grand Hotel (1932); Queen Christina (1933); Anna Karenina (1935); Camille (1936); Ninotchka (1939); and Two-Faced Woman (1941). Several later projects failed to materialize, and Miss Garbo retired and withdrew from the public eye.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Montreal 4 @ Buffalo 2 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Boston 2 @ Hartford 3 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
New Jersey 2 @ Washington 3 (Washington won best-of-seven series 4-2)

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Here's Johnny!--Hocus Pocus (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Sarajevo's børn - Gi dem et håb--Various artists (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Alice, Who the **** is Alice?--Gompie (title censored by blogger) (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Wallonia (Ultratop 40): Zombie--The Cranberries (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Zombie--The Cranberries (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Think Twice--Céline Dion

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Back for Good--Take That (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 This is How We Do It--Montell Jordan
2 Red Light Special--TLC
3 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
4 Take a Bow--Madonna
5 Run Away--Real McCoy
6 Freak Like Me--Adina Howard
7 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
8 Big Poppa/Warning--The Notorious B.I.G.
9 I Know--Dionne Farris
10 Creep--TLC

Singles entering the chart were Come Back by Londonbeat (#62); Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? by Bryan Adams (#66); Give it 2 You by Da Brat (#77); Craziest by Naughty by Nature (#84); I Like by Kut Klose (#85); Crazy Love by Brian McKnight (#88); and Move it to the Rhythm by Technotronic featuring Ya Kid K (#94). Crazy Love was from the movie Jason's Lyric (1994).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Know--Dionne Farris
2 Red Light Special--TLC
3 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
4 Run Away--Real McCoy
5 Take a Bow--Madonna
6 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
7 Big Poppa/Warning--The Notorious B.I.G.
8 Tell Me When--The Human League
9 If I Wanted To/Like the Way I Do--Melissa Etheridge
10 This is How We Do It--Montell Jordan

Singles entering the chart were Bedtime Story by Madonna (#37); I'm Goin' Down by Mary J. Blige (#41); Lay Down Your Love by 4 P.M. (#69); 1-Luv by E-40 (featuring Levity) (#76); Rollin' Wit Dane by Dana Dane (#77); Daddy's Home by Spanish Fly (#79); Connection by Elastica (#86); Wonderful by Adam Ant (#87); and Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? by Bryan Adams (#92).

Hockey
NHL
Winnipeg 5 Toronto 1

20 years ago
2000

Died on this date
David Stevens. Zimbabwean crime victim. Mr. Stevens became the first of many white farmers in Zimbabwe to be murdered by Negro squatters occupying his land.

Crime
A 15-year-old Montreal high school student known as "Mafiaboy" was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in connection with an attack in February on several popular websites, including those of Amazon, Yahoo, and CNN.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Conference Quarter-Finals
Ottawa 1 @ Toronto 5 (Toronto led best-of-seven series 2-0)
Washington 1 @ Pittsburgh 2 (OT) (Pittsburgh led best-of-seven series 2-0)
Los Angeles 5 @ Detroit 8 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 2-0)
San Jose 4 @ St. Louis 2 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)
Phoenix 1 @ Colorado 3 (Colorado led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Baseball
Cal Ripken, Jr. batted 3 for 5 and recorded his 3,000th career major league hit as his Baltimore Orioles defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-4 before 18,745 fans at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Mr. Ripken's 3,000th hit was a single off Hector Carrasco in the 7th inning.



10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Michael Pataki, 72. U.S. actor. Mr. Pataki appeared in numerous plays, movies, and television programs. He was perhaps best known for his co-starring role as Officer Peter Gallagher in the television series Get Christie Love! (1974-1975). Mr. Pataki died of cancer.