April 2, 2021

220 years ago
1801

War
A British fleet defeated a smaller force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy in the Battle of Copenhagen.

180 years ago
1841

Born on this date
Clément Ader. French engineer and inventor. Mr. Ader improved on the telephone in 1878 and in 1881 invented the théâtrophone, a system of telephonic transmission where listeners received a separate channel for each ear, enabling stereophonic perception of the actors on a set; it was this invention which gave the first stereo transmission of opera performances, over a distance of 2 miles. He was best known for his prototype aircrafts, especially the Avion III, a steam-powered aircraft that failed to impress the French military when it was given a trial in 1897. Mr. Ader died on May 3, 1925 at the age of 84.

170 years ago
1851

Died on this date
Rama III, 63. King of Siam, 1824-1851. Rama III aka Nangklao acceded to the throne upon the death his father Rama II despite being the son of a concubine rather than of a queen. The establishment of Siam's military hegemony occurred during his reign. King Rama III died two days after his 63rd birthday; he fathered 51 children but hadn't raised any of his consorts to the position of queen, and the throne passed to his half-brother Prince Mongkut, who became King Rama IV.

150 years ago
1871

Canadiana
The Dominion of Canada's first census showed a population of 3,689,257, including 2,110,000 of British origin and 1,083,000 of French origin. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia accounted for a combined total of just over 19%.

130 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Jack Buchanan. U.K. actor. Mr. Buchanan was known for portraying debonair British gentlemen on stage and screen in a career lasting for more than three decades. He died of spinal cancer on October 20, 1957 at the age of 66.

Max Ernst. German-born painter and sculptor. Mr. Ernst was a pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism. He spent much of his life in France, and died on April 1, 1976, the day before his 85th birthday.

Died on this date
Albert Pike, 81. U.S. military officer and Freemason. Mr. Pike was a captain in a cavalry unit during the U.S.-Mexican War in the 1840s, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). He was best known for his involvement with and influence within Freemasonry; his book Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (first published in 1872) remains an influential textbook of Scottish Rite Freemasonic philosophy.

Ahmed Vefik Pasha, 67. Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, 1878, 1882. Vefik Pasha held various positions, and was Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) under Sultan Abdul Hamid II from February 4-April 18, 1878 and December 1-3, 1882.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Johnny Golden. U.S. golfer. Mr. Golden turned professional in 1915 and won 10 professional tournaments, including the Connecticut Open four straight years (1932-1935). He died on January 27, 1936 at the age of 39, three days after being admitted to hospital with pneumonia.

110 years ago
1911

Australiana
The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the first national census of the country. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as 4,455,005 - an increase of 681,204 people (18.05%) over the 1901 "Federation" Census.

100 years ago
1921

Politics and government
The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, was established.

90 years ago
1931

Economics and finance
The Toronto Stock Exchange and Montréal Stock Exchange made joint ticker arrangements.

80 years ago
1941

War
German troops massed along the Romanian and Hungarian borders with Yugoslavia, while Yugoslavia rejected Italian Duce Benito Mussolini's offer to mediate its border dispute with Germany. The Peruvian Navy announced that German freighters that had fled Peru on March 31 had been found aflame and sinking several hundred miles off the coast. Mexican marines seized 10 German ships at Tampico to prevent their scuttling. Noted British scientists Sir Lawrence Bragg and Charles Darwin arrived in Ottawa to do war research.

Diplomacy
Pope Pius XII received Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka at the Vatican in a conference lasting over an hour. The German and Italian embassies in the United States protested for the second time to the U.S. State Department over the seizure of their merchant ships.

Defense
U.K. Commanding Officer in East Asia Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham arrived in Manila to confer with U.S. Navy Admiral Thomas Hart and U.S. Army Major General Douglas MacArthur on defense plans for the Philippines. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Navy to prepare secret Hemispheric Defense Plan No. 1, calling for aggressive action by U.S. warships against German submarines in the western Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 324-1 in favour of a resolution authorizing its Military and Naval Affairs Committee to investigate the progress of the defense program, including the effects of labour strikes.

Politics and government
The Chinese government of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek named Kuo Tai-chi as Foreign Minister, replacing Wang Chung-hui, who became Secretary General of the Supreme National Defense Council.

Labour
200 Congress of Industrial Organizations United Auto Workers strikers and non-strikers were injured in clashes at Ford Motor Company's River Rouge plant, and Michigan state police were ordered to the scene. Ford personnel director Harry Bennett wired U.S. President Roosevelt, describing the incident as "a Communistic demonstration of violent terrorism." U.S. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins sent the 71-day Allis-Chalmers strike in Milwaukee to the National Defense Mediation Board. United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis said that he would oppose any move to submit the coal strike to the NDMB. Four striking miners were shot to death in a coal company commissary near Harlan, Kentucky.

75 years ago
1946

War
At the Nuremberg trials of accused Nazi war criminals, former German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop admitted supporting Fuehrer Adolf Hitler's repressive policies against Jews, but said that he did so in order not to upset the Fuehrer.

Defense
The U.S. Senate Atomic Energy Committee approved the revised Vandenberg amendment, calling for a military committee appointed by the Navy and War secretaries which would have jurisdiction over military applications of atomic energy.

Medicine
Dr. John Enders reported isolation of the virus that caused mumps, making serums and vaccines possible.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Boston 2 @ Montreal 3 (OT) (Montreal led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Jim Peters scored 16:55 into the 1st overtime period to give the Canadiens their second straight overtime win over the Bruins at the Montreal Forum.

70 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Mad Dullaghan, starring Glenn Langan, Stella Andrew, Berry Kroeger, and Doris Rich



Abominations
Communist Chinese press confirmed reports of mass executions of "counter-revolutionary" elements in Peking, Shanghai, Canton, Tientsin, Chungking, and other cities.

Energy
U.S. President Harry Truman asked Congress for an additional $51.3 million for the Atomic Energy Commission to build "urgent production and research facilities."

Economics and finance
The Western Allies lifted production curbs on the West German shipping, synthetic oil, and machine tool industries.

Labour
40,000 Congress of Industrial Organizations Textile Workers Union members struck throughout the southern United States for a 12c hourly increase in their minimum wage.

U.S. Senate Labor Committee Chairman James Murray (Democrat--Montana) established a subcommittee to study proposals for a code of ethics for government employees.

60 years ago
1961

Disasters
30 of 80 people aboard a motor launch drowned when it capsized in Shatt-al-Arab River in Iran.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
St. Louis 95 @ Boston 129 (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Tom Heinsohn scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Bill Russell scored 15 points and grabbed 31 rebounds to help the Celtics beat the Hawks before 11,531 fans at Boston Garden.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): (I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson (2nd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 A Summer Prayer for Peace--The Archies
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 Have You Ever Seen the Rain--Creedence Clearwater Revival
4 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
5 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
6 Home--Dave Mills
7 Silver Moon--Michael Nesmith & the First National Band
8 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin
9 Do It--Neil Diamond
10 No Matter What--Badfinger

Singles entering the chart were Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep, Cheep by Lally Stott (#18); and Vicki by Lance James (#19). Vicki was the title song of the movie.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 She's a Lady--Tom Jones (2nd week at #1)
2 Me and Bobby McGee--Janis Joplin
3 Oh What a Feeling--Crowbar
4 Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted--The Partridge Family
5 Help Me Make it Through the Night--Sammi Smith
6 I was Wondering--The Poppy Family
7 Another Day/Oh Woman, Oh Why--Paul McCartney
8 One Toke Over the Line--Brewer and Shipley
9 Free--Chicago
10 Blue Money--Van Morrison

Singles entering the chart were Power to the People by John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (#26); I Wish I Were by Andy Kim (#27); Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom) by the Staple Singers (#28); Jodie by Joey Gregorash (#29); and When Love is Near by the Original Caste (#30).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKVN)
1 Another Day/Oh Woman, Oh Why--Paul McCartney
2 Oh What a Feeling--Crowbar
3 Wild World--Cat Stevens
4 One Toke Over the Line--Brewer and Shipley
5 What is Life--George Harrison
6 Put Your Hand in the Hand--Ocean
7 Me and Bobby McGee--Janis Joplin
8 Free--Chicago
9 Oye Como Va--Santana
10 A Country Boy Named Willy--Spring

Singles entering the chart were C'mon by Poco (#26); Hats Off to the Stranger by Lighthouse (#27); Who Do You Love by Tom Rush (#28); We were Always Strangers by Boz Scaggs (#29); and Joy to the World by Three Dog Night (#30). Who Do You Love was a new version of the song that had originally been released as a single by Mr. Rush in 1966.

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Amos Moses--Jerry Reed (2nd week at #1)
2 Where Evil Grows--The Poppy Family
3 Patricia--Ronnie Hawkins
4 Oh What a Feeling--Crowbar
5 She’s a Lady--Tom Jones
6 Mozart Symphony No. 40 in G Minor 1st Movement--The Manuel Da Falla Orchestra
7 I Am...I Said--Neil Diamond
8 What is Life--George Harrison
9 Put Your Hand in the Hand--Ocean
10 Another Day--Paul McCartney

Mozart Symphony No. 40 in G Minor 1st Movement was the B-side of Beethoven 9th Symphony in D Minor "Choral" 4th Movement "Ode to Joy," a version of which had been released the previous year with English lyrics under the title Song of Joy, with Miguel Rios credited as the artist.

War
Rising violence in East Pakistan, which had recently declared its independence as Bangladesh, prompted the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., and other nations to appeal to Pakistani President Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan to halt the fighting and resolve the conflict peacefully.

Boxing
Ruben Olivares (62-1-1) regained the world bantamweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over defending champion Chucho Castillo (41-11-2) at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Mr. Olivares had won a decision over Mr. Castillo a year earlier before losing the title to Mr. Castillo on a 14-round technical knockout on October 16, 1970.



40 years ago
1981

World events
General Prem Tinsulanonda declared that he was still Prime Minister of Thailand despite the previous day’s military coup and that he had the backing of King Rama IX.

War
The nine-man mission whose attempt to negotiate a settlement to the Iran-Iraq war had ended in failure on April 1 announced that they would send two members back for more discussion.

30 years ago
1991

War
France and Turkey asked the United Nations to intervene on behalf of insurgents in Iraq, while the U.S. State Department reiterated its hands-off policy toward the insurrection by Kurds and Shiites against the Iraqi dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

Politics and government
Bill Vander Zalm resigned as Premier of British Columbia after a commissioner found that the premier had violated B.C.'s conflict-of-interest guidelines. The conflict-of-interest concerned the sale of Mr. Vander Zalm's botanical garden and Christian theme park Fantasy Gardens to a Taiwanese businessman. Mr. Vander Zalm insisted that the sale had been a family business decision handled by his wife Lillian. Conflict-of-interest commissioner Ted Hughes found that Mr. Vander Zalm found that the premier had been actively involved in the sale and had accorded the buyer, Tan Yu, "red-carpet treatment," and had set up meetings for Tan with prominent provincial officials. Mr. Vander Zalm was succeeded by Rita Johnston, the first woman to become premier of a Canadian province.

25 years ago
1996

Health
The U.S. Defense Department stated that a study of 18,598 Gulf War veterans failed to establish the existence of the alleged Gulf War Syndrome.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Gary Gearhart, 77. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Gearhart was an outfielder with the New York Giants (1947), batting .246 with 6 home runs and 17 runs batted in in 73 games. He played in more than 1,000 games in 11 minor league seasons (1944-1946, 1948-1956), and worked as a scout with the New York Mets for 14 years.

Diplomacy
U.S. President George W. Bush demanded the return of the U.S. Navy spy plane and its 24-man crew, who were being held by Chinese authorities on the island of Hainan after colliding with a Chinese fighter jet the previous day.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, certifying that Yugoslavia was complying with The Hague tribunal that was trying former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, released economic aid to Yugoslavia.

Weather
A major snowstorm hit Newfoundland during a strike by provincial workers, resulting in the roads not being cleared. The blizzard capped a winter that had set a record for snowfall.

Basketball
NCAA
Men’s Championship
Fina l@ Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis
Duke 82 Arizona 72

Mike Dunleavy scored 21 points, 18 in the second half, to lead the Blue Devils to their third men’s title. Mr. Dunleavy was successful on 5 three-point attempts. Shane Battier scored 18 points for Duke, and was named the most valuable player of the "final four" playoff series.



Baseball
Roger Clemens (1-0) struck out 5 Kansas City Royals to break Walter Johnson’s American League career record of 3,508 as he helped the New York Yankees defeat the Royals 7-3 before an opening day crowd of 55,814 at Yankee Stadium. Joe Randa was Mr. Clemens’ 3,509th victim. New York catcher Jorge Posada batted 3 for 4 with a home run, double, and 4 runs batted in. His homer came off relief pitcher Tony Cogan, who allowed 2 hits and 1 run--earned--in 1/3 inning with 1 base on balls and no strikeouts in his major league debut.

The Seattle Mariners rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 before an opening day crowd of 45,911 at Safeco Field in Seattle. Seattle leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki batted 2 for 5 with a run, and contributed to the rally that produced the winning run in the 8th inning of his first major league game.

10 years ago
2011

Disasters
Highly radioactive water leaked into the sea from a crack at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, which had experienced a disaster on March 11, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.