April 12, 2021

270 years ago
1751

Defense
New France Governor Jacques-Pierre de La Jonquière required Acadians in French territory north of the Missaguash River or moving to French territory to take an oath of allegiance to France and join the militia.

225 years ago
1796

Born on this date
George N. Briggs. U.S. politician. Mr. Briggs, a Whig, represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives (1831-1843) and was Governor of Massachusetts (1844-1851). He supported capital punishment and opposed the Mexican-American War. In 1861, Mr. Briggs was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to a diplomatic mission to the South American Granadine Confederation (roughly present-day Colombia and Panama), but before Mr. Briggs could take up his position he died on September 12, 1861 at the age of 65, eight days after accidentally being shot when his gun discharged after he dropped it.

220 years ago
1801

Born on this date
Joseph Lanner. Austrian composer and conductor. Mr. Lanner was a friend and musical rival of Johann Strauss I in Vienna, as both men were known for composing and conducting waltzes. Mr. Lanner fell ill during a typhus epidemic in Vienna and died on April 14, 1843, two days after his 42nd birthday.

190 years ago
1831

Disasters
Broughton Suspension Bridge near Manchester, England, collapsed, reportedly because of mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step across the bridge. No soldiers were killed, but 20 were injured.

170 years ago
1851

Born on this date
Edward Walter Maunder. U.K. astronomer. Mr. Maunder worked at the Royal Observatory, where he was known for his study of sunspots and the solar magnetic cycle that led to his identification of the period from 1645-1715 that is now known as the Maunder Minimum. Mr. Maunder was one of the founders of the British Astronomical Association in 1890; he was the first editor of its journal, and was succeeded in that position by his wife and colleague Annie. Mr. Maunder died on March 21, 1928, 22 days before his 77th birthday.

160 years ago
1861

War
The American Civil War began when Confederate States of America troops bombarded Fort Sumter, in the harbour of Charleston, South Carolina, beginning at 4:30 A.M.



150 years ago
1871

Born on this date
Ioannas Metaxas. Prime Minister of Greece, 1936-1941. Lieutenant General Metaxas was a member of the Freethinkers' Party from 1922-1936; he governed constitutionally for the first four months of his tenure, but governed after that as the dictator of the 4th of August regime. He was succeded as Prime Minister by Alexandros Koryzis. Mr. Metaxas died on January 29, 1941 at the age of 69.

120 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Lowell Stockman. U.S. politician. Mr. Stockman, a Republican, represented Oregon's 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1943-1953). He died on August 9, 1962 at the age of 61.

110 years ago
1911

Baseball
With U.S. President William Howard Taft on hand to throw out the first ball, the Washington Nationals overcame an early 4-0 deficit and defeated the Boston Red Sox 8-5 in their season opener at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

Bobby Byrne had 5 hits, a base on balls, and 5 runs batted in to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 14-0 rout of the Cincinnati Reds in the season opener at Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati. Dot Miller added 4 hits and Honus Wagner 3. Babe Adams (1-0) pitched a 4-hit shutout, while Art Fromme (0-1) took the loss. Jesse Tannehill relieved Mr. Fromme in the 5th inning and allowed 6 hits and 7 runs in 4.1 innings, walking 3 batters and striking out 1, striking out in his only plate appearance in the 507th and last game of his 15-year major league career.

100 years ago
1921

At the movies
Dream Street, directed by D.W. Griffith, and starring Carol Dempster, Charles Emmett Mack, Ralph Graves, and Tyrone Power, Sr., opened in theatres.



Born on this date
Robert Cliche. Canadian politician and judge. Mr. Cliche, a native of Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec, led the Quebec New Democratic Party in the mid-1960s, and ran unsuccessfully as an NDP candidate in the federal elections of 1965 and 1968. He was appointed a judge of the Provincial Court of Quebec in 1972, and from 1974-1975 chaired the Royal Commission investigating the exercise of trade-union freedom in Quebec's construction industry. Mr. Cliche died in Quebec City on September 15, 1978 at the age of 57.

80 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)--Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell (3rd week at #1)

War
Italian and German troops captured Bardia, Libya. German bombers struck the Greek city of Piraeus, damaging British troop tansports and harbour facilities. The U.S.S.R. criticized the Hungarian invasion of Yugoslavia.

Defense
The government in German-occupied Denmark declared void the agreement announced on April 10 between the U.S.A. and Danish Minister to the United States Hendrick de Kauffmann, placing Greenland under U.S. protection.

Labour
U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace charged that "foreign agents" were "sabotaging our labor organizations to the great disadvantage of labor itself." The U.S. National Defense Mediation Board announced a settlement of the 76-day strike of 650 Congress of Industrial Organizations United Auto Workers members at the Standard Tool Company in Cleveland.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Boston 3 @ Detroit 1 (Boston won best-of-seven series 4-0)

Bobby Bauer scored the winning goal at 8:43 of the 2nd period at Olympia Stadium as the Bruins defeated the Red Wings at Olympia Stadium to win their second Stanley Cup in three years. They didn’t win it again until 1970.

75 years ago
1946

War
Chen Kung-po, President of the Japanese puppet government in Nanking during World War II, was condemned to death in Soochow as a war criminal.

After three days of talks in the Netherlands, Dutch and British officials reached substantial agreement on the witihdrawal of British troops from Indonesia.

Diplomacy
The United States Senate confirmed William Pawley as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil.

Politics and government
Earl Alexander of Tunis was named Governor General of Canada, replacing the Earl of Athlone.

Americana
On the first anniversary of the death of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his successor, Harry Truman, dedicated the Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, New York as a national shrine.



Medicine
Evidence was presented to a meeting of the American Chemical Society that sub-microscopic, virus-like substances were among the causes of cancer.

70 years ago
1951

War
80 Communist jets challenged 115 U.S. bombers and fighters near the Yalu River in the biggest air battle of the Korean War to date. The U.S. Air Force claimed eight MiGs destroyed while admitting no American plane losses.

Protest
Anti-British riots in the Iranian oil city of Abadan caused 11 deaths when fired into a crowd of demonstrators.

Politics and government
Hollywood screenwriter Richard Collins, who claimed to have belonged to the Communist Party USA from 1938-1947, gave the U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee the names of 21 screenwriters and directors who he claimed were former Communists.

The White House reported that messages it was receiving since the previous day's dismissal by President Harry Truman of General Douglas MacArthur as Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command were running 75% in favour of Gen. MacArthur.

Economics and finance
The U.S. National Production Authority announced that steel, copper, and aluminum would be rationed to industrial users beginning July 1, 1951.

Business
Remington-Rand Inc. President James Rand said that Gen. Douglas MacArthur would join his firm in 90 days as a director and active executive, reportedly at $100,000 per year.

60 years ago
1961

Space
The U.S.S.R. became the first nation to put a man in space when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit of Earth aboard Vostok 1.







War
U.S. President John F. Kennedy said that "there will not under any conditions be an intervention in Cuba by United States armed forces.." He added that the U.S. government would do "everything it possibly can...to make sure that there are no Americans involved in any actions inside Cuba."

Politics and government
U.S. President Kennedy addressed space, Cuba, and other issues in a news conference at the State Department auditorium in Washington.



Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Chicago 1 @ Detroit 2 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

Bruce MacGregor scored with 6:50 remaining in regulation time to break a 1-1 tie as the Red Wings edged the Black Hawks at Olympia Stadium, with Terry Sawchuk winning the goaltending duel over Glenn Hall.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Shiretoko Ryojô--Tokiko Kato (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Ed Lafitte, 85. U.S. baseball pitcher. Dr. Lafitte played with the Detroit Tigers (1909, 1911-1912); Brooklyn Tip-Tops (1914-1915); and Buffalo Blues (1915), compiling a record of 37-35 with an earned run average of 3.33 in 106 games, batting .220 with 2 home runs and 23 runs batted in in 108 games. He was 95-89 in 6 seasons in the minor leagues (1908-1916). Dr. Lafitte became a dentist during his playing career, and practiced in Philadelphia, retiring in 1961. He pitched a no-hitter for the Tip-Tops in the Federal League, but was also noted for serving with the U.S. Army in World War I, and pitching a 2-1 complete game loss to the Herb Pennock and the Navy in London on July 4, 1918 in front of the British royal family, including King George V. Dr. Lafitte reconstructed teeth and jaws of wounded soldiers during his time overseas. He died five days after his 85th birthday.

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Counting the Beat--The Swingers

#1 single in Switzerland: Shaddap You Face--Joe Dolce Music Theatre

Died on this date
Yasuhiko Asaka, 93. Japanese royal family member. Prince Yasuhiko was a founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese royal family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was commander of Japanese forces in the final assault on Nanking in December 1937 and was alleged to have been a perpetrator of the massacre known as the Rape of Nanking, but was never charged. Prince Yasuhiko was stripped of his royal status in 1947, converted to Roman Catholicism in 1951, and spent his later years playing golf and designing golf courses.

Joe Louis, 66. U.S. boxer. Joseph Louis Barrow, the "Brown Bomber," compiled a professional record of 66-3 and was world heavyweight champion from 1937-1949, earning a reputation as one of the sport's all-time greats, setting a record that still stands with 25 consecutive successful title defenses. He experienced tax and drug problems after his boxing career, and ended up working as a greeter at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Mr. Louis died of cardiac arrest the day after attending the world heavyweight title fight between champion Larry Holmes and challenger Trevor Berbick.

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Columbia, with the crew of John Young (Commander) and Robert Crippen (Pilot) aboard, lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin mission STS-1. It was the first space shuttle flight and the first manned flight for the United States since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975. Mr. Young became the first astronaut to go into space five times; his other missions were Gemini 3 (1965); Gemini 10 (1966); Apollo 10 (1969); and Apollo 16 (1972).









Golf
Tom Watson shot a 1-under-par 71 to win the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia to finish with an 8-under-par total of 280, 2 strokes ahead of Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus. It was Mr. Watson's second Masters title and fifth major tournament victory. First prize money was $60,000.



Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Preliminary Round
Philadelphia 3 @ Quebec 4 (OT) (Best-of-five series tied 2-2)
Los Angeles 3 @ New York Rangers 6 (New York won best-of-five series 3-1)
St. Louis 3 @ Pittsburgh 6 (Best-of-five series tied 2-2)

Dale Hunter scored 37 seconds into overtime to give the Nordiques their win over the Flyers at Le Colisee.

30 years ago
1991

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Detroit 1 @ St. Louis 6 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Minnesota 6 @ Chicago 0 (Minnesota led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Edmonton 3 @ Calgary 5 (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Vancouver 4 @ Los Angeles 7 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 3-2)

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Children--Robert Miles

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Aon Focal Eile--Richie Kavanagh (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leader Jean Charest made it clear that his party would not unite with the Reform Party.

Hockey
NHL
Chicago 3 @ Detroit 5

The Red Wings defeated the Blackhawks at Joe Louis Arena to become the first National Hockey League team with 61 wins in a regular season; they also matched the NHL record of 36 home wins in a season, set by the 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Harvey Ball, 79. U.S. artist. Mr. Ball was a commercial artist who founded Harvey Ball Advertising in his native Worcester, Massachusetts in 1959. In 1963, he created the smiley face for State Mutual Life Assurance Company as a morale booster for the company. Mr. Ball wasn't motivated by desire for financial gain, and made just $45 for his design. He founded the World Smile Foundation in 1999 as a non-profit charitable trust that supports children's causes. Mr. Ball died of liver failure following a short illness.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Karim Fakhrawi, 48-49 (?). Bahraini journalist. Mr. Fakhrawi co-founded the newspaper Al-Wasat in 2002 and was a member of the opposition group Al-Wefaq. He was taken into police custody on April 5, 2011 and died a week later, after being tortured. Mr. Fakhrawi died two days after Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri became the first journalist to die in police custody during the Bahraini uprising.