March 4, 2021

1,460 years ago
561

Died on this date
Pelagius I. Roman Catholic Pope, 556-561. Pelagius I, a member of a noble family, was appointed apocrisiarius--a legate from the Pope to the Emperor--and acquired great influence with Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Justinian arranged Pelagius I's election as pope to succeed Vigilius, a move that was unpopular in the Western church. Pelagius I was rumoured to have caused his predecessor's death, and was suspected of supporting monophysitism, but he worked to maintain public order in Rome and to correct abuses among the clergy. Pope Pelagius I was succeeded by John III.

650 years ago
1371

Died on this date
Jeanne d'Évreux, 60 or 61. Queen consort of France and Navarre, 1324-1328. Jeanne d'Évreux was the third wife of King Charles IV/I; she was queen consort until his death on February 1, 1328.

560 years ago
1461

Britannica
House of Lancaster King Henry VI was deposed by his House of York cousin, who then became King Edward IV.

340 years ago
1681

Americana
King Charles II of England granted a charter to William Penn for an area of land that later became Pennsylvania.

230 years ago
1791

Americana
Vermont entered the Union as the 14th state, and the first to join the U.S.A. after the original 13 colonies.

Canadiana
The Constitutional Act of 1791, which envisaged the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario), was introduced by the British House of Commons.

220 years ago
1801

Politics and government
Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated for his first term as the 3rd President of the United States of America.

210 years ago
1811

Died on this date
Mariano Moreno, 32. Argentine journalist, lawyer, and politician. Mr. Moreno began his career as a lawyer in Buenos Aires in the early 1800s, and founded the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres on June 7, 1810, earning recognition as Argentina's first journalist. He was Secretary of War and Government with the Prima Junta, which deposed Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros in May 1810. Mr. Moreno was given a diplomatic mission to Britain, but he took ill aboard ship and died shortly after being given an emetic. He suspected he had been poisoned, but that popular view has been questioned more recently.

200 years ago
1821

Politics and government
James Monroe was inaugurated for his second term as the 5th President of the United States of America.

180 years ago
1841

Politics and government
William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as the 9th President of the United States of America. At age 68, Mr. Harrison was the oldest president so far. It was a drizzly day in Washington, and Mr. Harrison chose to deliver a two-hour inaugural address without wearing a hat or overcoat. He spurned the closed carriage offered him, and rode on horseback instead.

170 years ago
1851

Died on this date
James Richardson, 41. U.K. explorer. Mr. Richardson was educated for evangelical Christian ministry, and wanted to eradicate the slave trade. He made an expedition in 1845 to the Sahara Desert, and led another expedition in 1850 into Sudan and to Lake Chad. Mr. Richardson died in Nigeria from an unknown illness; he recounted his travels and discoveries in several books.

160 years ago
1861

Politics and government
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for his first term as the 16th President of the United States of America. In his inaugural address, he appealed for national unity.

Americana
The first national flag of the Confederate States of America was adopted.

140 years ago
1881

Politics and government
James A. Garfield was inaugurated as the 20th President of the United States of America.

130 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Dazzy Vance. U.S. baseball pitcher. Charles Arthur Vance had brief trials with the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees in 1915 and 1918, but a chronically sore arm kept him in the minor leagues. In 1920, while pitching for the New Orleans Pelicans, Mr. Vance banged his arm on a table while playing poker, producing excruciating pain. The resulting emergency surgery removed the pain, and Mr. Vance made the major leagues to stay when he joined the Brooklyn Robins in 1922. He then led the National League in strikeouts from 1922-1928, while leading the league in wins twice (1924; 1925); shutouts four times (1922; 1925; 1928; 1930); earned run average three times (1924; 1928; 1930); and complete games twice (1924; 1927). Mr. Vance’s best season was probably 1924, when he was 28-6 with a 2.16 ERA, 30 complete games, and 262 strikeouts. His 2.61 ERA in 1930 was more than a run per game better than his closest NL competitor and more than 2 runs per game better than the National League average. His only World Series game was a relief appearance with the champion St. Louis Cardinals in 1934. Mr. Vance ended his major league career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1935. He won 197 games and lost 140 in his 16-year career, with all his wins coming after reaching the age of 31. Mr. Vance died of a heart attack on February 16, 1961, 16 days before his 70th birthday.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Kai Holm. Danish actor. Mr. Holm appeared in more than 40 movies and more than a dozen television programs in a career spanning almost 60 years. He died on July 10, 1985 at the age of 89.

120 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Jean-Joseph Rabearivel. Malagasian poet. Mr. Rabearivel, whose year of birth may have been 1903, wrote two novels, an opera, and literary critiques, but was primarily regarded as Africa's first modern poet. He became an opium addict, and committed suicide by cyanide poisoning on June 22, 1937 at the age of 36 or 34.

Wilbur R. Franks. Canadian inventor. Dr. Franks, a native of Weston, Ontario, was a cancer researcher at the University of Toronto's Banting and Best Medical Research Institute, where he invented the anti-gravity suit, or G-suit. He died on January 4, 1986 at the age of 84.

Charles Goren. U.S. bridge player and author. Mr. Goren was a leading bridge player from the 1920s through the 1950s, and became famous as the leading expert on the game, writing several bestselling books and a widely-syndicated newspaper column. He died on April 3, 1991, 30 days after his 90th birthday.

Politics and government
William McKinley was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States of America.



110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick. U.K. actor. Mr. Greville, the nephew of Prime Minister Anthony Eden, inherited his earldom in 1928; he became the first British aristocrat to be offered a Hollywood contract, and was known as the "Duke of Hollywood." His only notable film was The Dawn Patrol (1938), in which he acted under the name Michael Brooke. The Earl of Warwick was a Conservative member of the House of Lords, and supported his uncle. He eventually moved to Rome to avoid British taxes, and died on January 20, 1984 at the age of 72.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Joan Greenwood. U.K. actress. Miss Greenwood had a stage career spanning almost 50 years, and appeared in movies such as Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949); The Man in the White Suit (1951); and Tom Jones (1963). She died as the result of acute bronchitis and asthma on February 28, 1987, four days before her 66th birthday.

Halim El-Dabh. Egyptian-born U.S. composer. Mr. El-Dabh was a pioneer of electronic music and musique concrète (using recorded sounds as raw material) in a 60-year career beginning in the mid-1940s. He moved to the United States in 1950, became an American citizen in 1961, and died on September 2, 2017 at the age of 96.

Politics and government
Warren G. Harding was inaugurated as President of the United States of America.



80 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Ludwig Quidde, 82. German activist and politician. Mr. Quidde, a pacifist was known for his criticism of Kaiser Wilhelm II. He and Ferdinand Buisson of France were awarded the 1927 Nobel Peace Prize "[For] contributions to Franco-German popular reconciliation." Mr. Quidde died 19 days before his 83rd birthday.

War
The United Kingdom launched Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands off Norway, the first large-scale British commando raid. Fish and whale oil processing plants were destroyed, 10 ships were sunk, and 215 Germans were captured. Greek leaders said they would fight to the end even if Germany invaded Greece.

Diplomacy
Yugoslavian Prince Regent Paul secretly visited German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler. A Nazi mission arrived in Turkey.

A U.S. federal grand jury indicted Dr. Friedrich Ernst Auhagen, founder of the American Fellowship Forum, for failing to register as a paid publicity agent for the German government.

A Gallup Poll estimated that eight million American voters supported some sort of postwar international federation of countries.

Defense
The U.S. State Department announced that the United States and Mexico were discussing mutual defense assistance.

U.S. Senator Gerald Nye (Republican--North Dakota) made the last set speech against the Lend-Lease bill, urging its defeat and attacking the United Kingdom as the greatest aggressor in all modern history.

Society
All Japanese-Canadians were registered by the federal government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King.

Labour
U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray protested the proposed creation of a labour mediation board for defense industries.

75 years ago
1946

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Symphony--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with Clyde Rogers (7th week at #1)
--Bing Crosby
--Jo Stafford
--Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
2 Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief--Betty Hutton
--Les Brown and his Orchestra
3 Personality--Johnny Mercer
4 Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra with Vaughn Monroe and the Norton Sisters
--Woody Herman and his Orchestra
5 I Can't Begin to Tell You--Bing Crosby with Carmen Cavallaro
--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Andy Russell
6 I'm Always Chasing Rainbows--Perry Como
--Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest
7 Oh! What it Seemed to Be--Frankie Carle and his Orchestra
--Frank Sinatra
--Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest
8 You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)--Les Brown and his Orchestra
--Perry Como
9 Day by Day--Frank Sinatra
10 It Might as Well Be Spring--Dick Haymes
--Paul Weston and his Orchestra with Margaret Whiting
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Atlanta, Ga. by Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra (#18); Shoo Fly Pie (And Apple Pan Dowdy), with versions by Stan Kenton and his Orchestra, and Dinah Shore (#27); Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop by Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra (#30); Give Me the Simple Life, with versions by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, and Bing Crosby and Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra (#35); Give Me a Little Kiss, Will You Huh? by Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest (#36); Don't Be a Baby, Baby by the Mills Brothers (#37); McNamara's Band by Bing Crosby and the Jesters (#38); and Don't You Remember Me, with versions by Frankie Carle and his Orchestra, and Johnny Desmond (#42).

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Submarine Caves

War
At the trial in Nuremberg of accused Nazi war criminals, defense lawyers for Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, and Wilhelm Frick declared that their clients were pro-Jewish humanitarians who resisted Nazi excesses.

Diplomacy
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King reported that a network of undercover agents was operating through the Soviet embassy in Ottawa under direct instructions from Moscow to obtain atomic secrets. The announcement was a result of revelations from Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk at the Soviet embassy, who had defected several months earlier. Fred Rose, a Labour-Progressive (i.e., Communist) member of the House of Commons from Montreal, and 13 others were arrested and charged with spying for the U.S.S.R.

United Nations Secretary-General Trygve Lie named four assistant secretaries: Benjamin Cohen (Chile); Henry Laugier (France); Ivan Kerno (Czechoslovakia); and Victor Hoo (China).

The governments of the U.S.A., U.K., and France issued a statement declaring that "so long as General Franco continues in control of Spain, the Spanish people cannot expect full and cordial association" with other nations.

Defense
U.K. Royal Navy Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten deactivated Indochina as a territory within the Allied Southeast Asia Command, ending British military assistance to French forces in the area.

The United Kingdom and France announced an agreement to begin withdrawing their troops from Syria, with complete evacuation by April 30, 1946.

Iranian Prime Minister Ahmad Gavam Saltaneh protested the U.S.S.R.'s decision to keep troops in Iran.

Politics and government
Field Marshal Carl Gustav Mannerheim, 78, resigned as President of Finland because of ill health.

The Puerto Rican legislature overrode Governor Rexford Tugwell's veto of bills giving the island a voice in choosing its governor and calling for a plebiscite on its political status.

A U.S. Senate-House of Representatives committee on legislative reorganization recommended a 37-point program calling for restrictions on deficit financing; curbs on lobbies; a congressional pay raise; and a reduction in the number of committees.

Protest
17 Egyptians and 2 British soldiers were killed and 299 cilvilians and 2 British soldiers were wounded in riots in Alexandria protesting continued British presence in Egypt.

Scandal
U.S. military police in Tokyo arrested four Americans and seven Japanese, alleged operators of a 13-million-yen black market ring.

Business
The U.S. Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to bar the sale of the Pullman Company to 43 railroads on the grounds that this would perpetuate a monopoly.

Labour
New York garment industry mediator Arthur Meyer granted 400,000 International Ladies' Garment Workers Union members a weekly pay increase of $2-5.

70 years ago
1951

Diplomacy
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Miller, Jr. told Argentine President Juan Peron that his policies aroused so much public condemnation in the United States that it was increasingly difficult for the U.S. government to cooperate with Argentina.

Politics and government
The U.S. State Department claimed that Communism was losing strength in Western Europe on the basis of figures which showed declining party membership over a five-year period.

Labour
A U.S. Senate Labor subcommittee majority report charged that Southern employers, law enforcemnt officers, and churches had conducted a large campaign to destroy textile workers unions "in shocking violation" of the Taft-Hartley Act.

Golf
Jim Ferrier won the St. Petersburg (Florida) Open.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: 24.000 baci--Adriano Celentano (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Ramona--Blue Diamonds (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Dutch Top 40): Wooden Heart--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Walk Right Back--The Everly Brothers (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra (4th week at #1)
2 Pony Time--Chubby Checker
3 Surrender--Elvis Presley
4 Wheels--The String-A-Longs
--[Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra]
5 Don't Worry--Marty Robbins
6 Where the Boys Are--Connie Francis
7 Shop Around--The Miracles
8 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles
9 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
--[Mantovani & his Orchestra]
10 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka

Singles entering the chart were Find Another Girl by Jerry Butler (#76); Pony Express by Danny and the Juniors (#78); More than I Can Say by Bobby Vee (#81); I Don't Know Why aka But I Do by Clarence "Frogman" Henry (#82); To Be Loved (Forever) by the Pentagons (#93); Early Every Morning (Early Every Evening Too) by Dinah Washington (#96); Take Good Care of Her by Adam Wade (#97); Lonely Blue Nights by Rosie (#99); On the Rebound by Floyd Cramer (#100); Bumble Boogie by B. Bumble and the Stingers (also #100); and Hide Away by Freddy King (also #100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Surrender--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)
2 "D" in Love--Cliff Richard and the Shadows
3 Three Wheels on My Wagon--Dick Van Dyke
4 Little Miss Stuck-Up--The Playmates
5 Ebony Eyes--The Everly Brothers
6 Top Forty, News, Weather and Sports--Mark Dinning
7 Model Girl--Johnny Maestro
8 Where the Boys Are--Connie Francis
9 Happy Birthday Blues--Kathy Young with the Innocents
10 Asia Minor--Kokomo

Singles entering the chart were Lonely Blue Nights by Rosie (#41); Portrait of My Love by Steve Lawrence (#44); I've Told Every Little Star by Linda Scott (#45); Age for Love by Jimmy Charles (#47); Call Me Anytime by Frankie Avalon (#48); I Told You So by Jimmy Jones (#49); and A Night with Daddy "G" by the Church Street Five (#50).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Surrender--Elvis Presley
2 Three Wheels on My Wagon--Dick Van Dyke
3 A Scottish Soldier (Green Hills of Tyrol)--Andy Stewart
4 The Touchables--Dickie Goodman
5 Ebony Eyes/Walk Right Back--The Everly Brothers
6 Model Girl--Johnny Maestro
7 Two--Del Erickson
8 Top Forty, News, Weather and Sports--Mark Dinning
9 Where the Boys Are--Connie Francis
10 Donald, Where's Your Troosers?--Andy Stewart

Singles entering the chart were Walk Right Back; Green Grass of Texas by the Texans (#28); I Don't Know Why by Clarence "Frogman" Henry (#29); Ling-Ting-Tong by Buddy Knox (#30); Be My Boy by the Paris Sisters (#33); A Hundred Pounds of Clay by Gene McDaniels (#35); Orange Blossom Special by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#36); Love or Money by the Blackwells (#37); Think Twice by Brook Benton (#38); Dedicated to the One I Love by the Shirelles (#39); and I Told You So by Jimmy Jones (#40).

On television tonight
The Roaring 20's, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Vamp

Diplomacy
John Diefenbaker began a three-day visit to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Dublin, Ireland, becoming the first Canadian Prime Minister to officially visit Ireland.

Americana
U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that he had designated his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, as the director of the newly-formed Peace Corps, an agency created to send Americans abroad to help foreign countries meet their needs for manpower. Mr. Shriver, a Chicago business and civic leader, had directed the planning of the Peace Corps.

Economics and finance
West Germany increased the value of the mark by 5% to halt inflation and to defend the mark’s value. The revaluation was expected to ease pressure on the U.S. dollar, but West Germany denied that the mark’s revaluation had been urged by the United States.

Labour
Jean Marchand was elected president of the Canadian Confédération des syndicats nationaux (Confederation of National Trade Unions) (CSN), following the resignation of Roger Mathieu.

Boxing
Gene Fullmer (53-4-2) retained his National Boxing Association world middleweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over former champion Sugar Ray Robinson (143-9-3) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The two had fought a 15-round draw in Los Angeles three months earlier. Mr. Fullmer had won the title from Mr. Robinson with a 15-round decision in January 1957, only to lose it to Mr. Robinson on a 5-round knockout in the rematch four months later.



50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (8th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (6th week at #1)

Married on this date
Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 52, and Margaret Sinclair, 22. The Canadian Prime Minister surprised the country by marrying the daughter of James Sinclair, who had been Canada’s Minister of Fisheries in the Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent from 1952-1957. 12 people attended the private ceremony at a church in North Vancouver. The bride’s relatives thought they were gathering for a family portrait, while the Prime Minister’s aides thought the couple were skiing.

Terrorism
Turkish leftist kidnapped four U.S. airmen and threatened to kill them unless they received a ransom of $400,000.

War
U.S. President Richard Nixon said in a press conference that U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam would "go forward at the present rate" and that the offensive in Laos that had begun on February 8 was going well. Meanwhile, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong delegates boycotted the Paris peace talks to protest U.S. bombing and what they said were U.S. "threats of war."

Boxing
Hiroshi Kobayashi (61-8-4) retained his World Boxing Association world super featherweight title with a unanimous 15-round decision over Ricardo Arredondo (54-5) at Nihon University Auditorium in Tokyo.



40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Woman--John Lennon (2nd week at #1)
2 Celebration--Kool & The Gang
3 Turn Me Loose--Loverboy
4 A Little in Love--Cliff Richard
5 9 to 5--Dolly Parton
6 The Best of Times--Styx
7 Living in a Fantasy--Leo Sayer
8 The Tide is High--Blondie
9 Keep on Loving You--REO Speedwagon
10 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon

Singles entering the chart were Rapture by Blondie (#12); Just Between You and Me by April Wine (#15); and Fade Away by Bruce Springsteen (#20).

Died on this date
Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, 80. German military officer. Konteradmiral Puttkamer joined the Imperial German Navy in 1917 and served on two ships in World War I. He was the naval adjutant to Fuehrer Adolf Hitler during World War II, and was at Mr. Hitler's Berghof home in Bavaria, obeying the Fuehrer's order to destroy his private papers and belongings, when Mr. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. Konteradmiral Puttkamer was arrested after the German surrender to Allied forces, and was in captivity until 1947. He died 20 days before his 81st birthday.

Torin Thatcher, 76. U.K. actor. Mr. Thatcher began his career on stage in 1927 and in movies in 1934, often playing flashy villains. His movies included Blackbeard the Pirate (1952); The Robe (1953); and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). Mr. Thatcher moved to Hollywood in the 1950s, and died of cancer.

Labour
The Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled that Westroc Industries in Mississauga had the right to lock out employees in July.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 5 @ New York Rangers 5
Winnipeg 3 @ Montreal 9

Guy Lafleur scored his 1,000th career National Hockey League point for the Canadiens in their rout of the Jets at the Montreal Forum.



30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Oh! Yeah!/Love Story wa Totsuzen ni--Kazumasa Oda (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Bad Boys--Inner Circle

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)--C+C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams

War
Iraq began releasing allied prisoners of war. Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah returned to his country for the first time since Iraq's invasion.

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Falling into You--Céline Dion

#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Spaceman--Babylon Zoo (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Lemon Tree--Fools Garden (2nd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Missing--Everything But the Girl (3rd week at #1)
2 One of Us--Joan Osborne
3 Time--Hootie & the Blowfish
4 The World I Know--Collective Soul
5 Wonderwall--Oasis
6 Ironic--Alanis Morissette
7 One Sweet Day--Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men
8 1979--Smashing Pumpkins
9 I Want to Come Over--Melissa Etheridge
10 Don't Cry--Seal

Singles entering the chart were Some Bridges by Jackson Browne (#87); California Love by 2Pac (#98); Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones (#92); Who Do U Love by Deborah Cox (#93); Sittin' Up in My Room by Brandy (#94); Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion (#95); Shoe Box by Barenaked Ladies (#97); and She's Just Killing Me by ZZ Top (#98).

Died on this date
Minnie Pearl, 83. U.S. comedienne and singer. Miss Pearl, born Sarah Colley, appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville from 1940-1991 and on the television program Hee Haw from 1969-1991.

John Sauer, 70. U.S. football coach and sportscaster. Mr. Sauer was head coach of The Citadel Bulldogs from 1955-1956, compiling a record of 8-9-1. He was head coach of the College All-Stars when they lost to the Green Bay Packers in the College All-Star Games in 1966 and 1967. Mr. Sauer was a colour commentator on CBS telecasts of National Football League games from 1963-1974 and radio broadcasts of University of Pittsburgh football games from 1974-1994.

Terrorism
Two days of suicide bombings by the Arab terrorist organization Hamas concluded with 33 dead in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Hamas claimed that the bombings were in retaliation for the assassination of Yahya Ayyash by Israeli security forces.

Disasters
A train carrying hazardous materials derailed in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, causing the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Harold Stassen, 93. U.S. politician. Mr. Stassen, a Republican, was Governor of Minnesota (1939-1943), interrupting his career to serve with the U.S. Navy in World War II. He ran for the Republican Party U.S. presidential nomination nine times from 1944-1992, but didn't come close to winning after 1952, eventually becoming a national joke. Mr. Stassen was president of the American Baptist Convention in the 1960s, and was known for supporting Negro civil rights.

Jim Rhodes, 91. U.S. politician. Mr. Rhodes, a Republican, was a businessman before entering politics, holding various offices, including Mayor of Columbus (1944-1952), before serving four terms as Governor of Ohio (1963-1971, 1975-1983). He attracted notoriety in 1970 when he sent National Guard troops on to the campus of Kent State University, where, on May 4, they opened fire on protesters, killing four people and wounding nine.

Fred Lasswell, 84. U.S. cartoonist. Mr. Lasswell began apprenticing under Billy DeBeck on the comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith in 1934, and took over the strip upon Mr. DeBeck;s death in 1942, writing and drawing it until he died in his sleep. He was awarded the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1963 as the year's outstanding cartoonist.

Terrorism
A bomb exploded outside the main news centre of the British Broadcasting Corporation in London. The bomb, said by police to be the work of an Irish dissident group called the Real IRA, killed no one, but a London Underground worker suffered deep cuts to one eye.

War
Three Macedonian soldiers were killed during fights with ethnic Albanian rebels.

Music
Bruce Cockburn was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.