April 7, 2021

1,570 years ago
451

War
Attila the Hun sacked the town of Metz and attacked other cities in Gaul.

1,410 years ago
611

War
Maya King Uneh Chan of Calakmul sacked rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico.

520 years ago
1501

Died on this date
Minkhaung II, 54. King of Ava, 1480-1501. Minkhaung II acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Thihathura, and in 1485 made his 12-year-old son Thihathura II joint king. Minkhaung II's reign was the beginning of the decline of Ava's hold on Upper Burma. Thihathura II died a month before his father, and Minkhaung II was succeeded by his younger son Narapati II.

330 years ago
1691

Politics and government
Joseph Robineau de Villebon became Commandant--the de facto French commander--of Acadia.

190 years ago
1831

Politics and government
Emperor Pedro I of Brazil abdicated in favour of his son Dom Pedro II in order to return to his native Portugal and press his daughter Maria's claim to the Portuguese throne.

170 years ago
1851

Politics and government
Nova Scotia women were disenfranchised with the passage in the Assembly of the Franchise Act, which added the word "male" to voting requirements.

Communications
The Province of Canada Post Office printed a proof three-penny black, intended to be the first British North America postage stamp; one example survives and it was never issued.

130 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Ole Kirk Christiansen. Danish businessman. Mr. Christiansen founded the Lego Group toy company in 1932; he died of a heart attack on March 11, 1958 at the age of 66.

Died on this date
P. T. Barnum, 80. U.S. showman. Phineas Taylor Barnum promoted various attractions over several decades, but was best known for co-founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1881, which eventually merged with Ringling Brothers in 1919 to form Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Donald Winnicott. U.K. physician. Dr. Winnicott was a pediatrician and psychoanalyst who was influential in the field of object relations theory and developmental psychology. He was best known for his ideas on the true self and the false self, and the "good enough" parent. Dr. Winnicott served two terms as president of the British Psychoanalytical Society (1956-1959, 1965-1968), published more than 200 papers, and books such as Playing and Reality (1971). He died on January 25, 1971 at the age of 74, after the last of a series of heart attacks.

Exploration
An Arctic expedition led by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen reached 86°13.6′N, almost three degrees beyond the previous farthest north latitude.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Frank Seward, 83. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Seward played with the New York Giants (1943-1944), compiling a record of 3-3 with an earned run average of 5.15 in 26 games, batting .071 with 1 run batted in. He played almost 200 games in 7 seasons in the minor leagues (1942-1949); his best seasons were 1945 and 1946, when he was 18-13 and 15-13, respectively, with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Mr. Seward died on April 12, 2004, five days after his 83rd birthday.

80 years ago
1931

Baseball
The San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League opened 18,500-seat Seals Stadium with an 8-0 win over the Portland Beavers.

80 years ago
1941

War
German troops driving from Bulgaria reached the Aegean Sea through eastern Thrace after Greek forces abandoned part of the area. German bombers raided Belgrade for the fifth time.

Diplomacy
The United Kingdom severed relations with Hungary, charging that it had become a base of operations for German forces.

Politics and government
The New Jersey Assembly voted 52-2 in favour of a bill probiting Communists or people advocating the violent overthrow of the government from the election ballot.

Medicine
Dr. George C. Andrews of New York Presbyterian Hospital said that so-called "smoker's cancer" of the lower lip was not due to smoking, but was the result of a chronic inflammation of the lower lip from habitual sunburn.

Labour
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board ordered collective bargaining elections at Ford Motor Company's River Rouge and Lincoln plants near Detroit, as well as the Bethlehem Steel Company plant near Lackawanna, New York.

75 years ago
1946

War
In an agreement announced in Prague, Hungary promised to pay $300 million in reparations, with two-thirds going to Russia.

Diplomacy
Syria's independence from France was officially recognized.

U.S. District Judge Simon Rifkind, adviser on Jewish affairs to the U.S. military government in Germany, concluded a report on the problems of concentration camp survivors, and urged the immediate settlement of 100,000 Jews still in German and Austrian refugee camps.

Defense
The schedule for the Soviet evacuation of Manchuria, to be completed by April 16, 1946, was announced in Chungking.

The "Win the Peace" movement ended its three-day conference in Washington after registering opposition to military service, production of atomic bombs, the Spanish regime of Generalissimo Francisco Franco, and the granting of loans which may by used for "oppression of colonial peoples."

Protest
Communists led 10,000 demonstrators to the Tokyo residence of Japanese Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara, demanding his resignation.

Politics and government
Social Democrats in Berlin's western zones voted to expel Otto Grotewohl as party chairman for favouring a merger with the Communists.

A group of liberal farm and labour leaders meeting in Chicago set up a provisional committee headed by union leader A. Philip Randolph to explore possibilities of a third political party in the United States.

U.S. Senator James Mead (Democrat--New York) announced that he would not press charges against his former partner, Edward O'Dea, who was arrested in Buffalo after allegedly assaulting Sen. Mead in a hotel lobby.

Science
Carnegie Institute physicists H.W. Wells, J.W. Watts, and D.E. George revealed the discovery of clouds of electrically-charged gases that speed from the Sun into the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere, disrupting radio communications.

Oil
Iranian Prime Minister Ahmad Ghavam Salataneh disclosed an agreement between Iran and the U.S.S.R. giving the Soviet Union a 51% share of the Russian-Iranian Oil Company for 25 years, and 50% for the next 25 years after that.

Economics and finance
A White House report urged the United States Congress to extend price controls until June 30, 1947, claiming that the danger of inflation would be over by then. The U.S. Federal Housing Administration restored its pre-World War II Title I, Class 3 program to finance construction of homes in the $3,000-$5,000 price range.

Labour
The International Labor Orgainzation conference in Mexico City rejected a proposal presented by employer delegates to ban union participation in politics.

Disasters
A tornado struck Anniston, Alabama, killing four people and causing heavy damage.

Swimming
Joseph Verdeur of Philadelphia set world records of 2 minutes 19.5 seconds in the men's 200-yard breast stroke and 2 minutes 35.6 seconds in the men's 200-metre breast stroke.

Golf
Herman Keiser won the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, finishing with a 6-under par score of 282, one stroke ahead of Ben Hogan. First prize money was $2,500.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 2 @ Boston 3 (OT) (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Terry Reardon scored at 15:13 of the 1st overtime period for the Bruins as they averted a sweep by the Canadiens at Boston Garden.

70 years ago
1951

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): All My Love--Bing Crosby; Patti Page

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): If--Perry Como (Best Seller--5th week at #1; Disc Jockey--6th week at #1; Jukebox--2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 If--Perry Como
2 Be My Love--Mario Lanza
3 Mockin’ Bird Hill--Les Paul and Mary Ford
--Patti Page
4 My Heart Cries for You--Guy Mitchell
--Dinah Shore
--Vic Damone
--Jimmy Wakely
5 Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)--Patti Page
6 Aba Daba Honeymoon--Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter
7 You’re Just in Love--Perry Como
8 Beautiful Brown Eyes--Rosemary Clooney
9 Bring Back the Thrill--Eddie Fisher
10 The Tennessee Waltz--Patti Page
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Les Paul and Mary Ford
--Jo Stafford

Singles entering the chart were Let Me In by Bobby Wayne (#31); Lullaby of Broadway by Harry James and his Orchestra with Doris Day (#32); The Shot Gun Boogie by Tennessee Ernie (#34); and Christopher Columbus by Guy Mitchell (#37). Christopher Columbus was the B-side of Mr. Mitchell’s version of Sparrow in the Tree Top, charting at #11 with Bing Crosby’s version.

War
Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh directed his forces to abandon conventional attacks on French positions and resumed guerrilla raids. French sources viewed the changes as a result of the Viet Minh failure to capture Hanoi.

Israel filed a counter-complaint with the United Nations Security Council, charging Syrian armistice violations.

The first United Nations military cemetery in Korea was dedicated at Pusan.

Diplomacy
Foreign ministers of 21 American republics ended their two-week conference in Washington by signing resolutions on collective security and economic cooperation.

The Standing Committee of the Council of Europe's Consultative Assembly in Strasbourg recommended full and equal membership for West Germany in the Council.

Opera
The Metropolitan Opera in New York fired baritone Robert Merrill, accusing him of failing to finish the season and refusing to tour with the company. The conflict apparently arose from Mr. Merrill's acting and singing in the movie Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952). Mr. Merrill was soon rehired.

Medicine
The American Cancer Society reported that more than 50 hopeless cancer victims at George Washington University's cancer clinic had been relieved of pain and other symptoms following injections of poisonous mustard gases developed during World War II.

Labour
U.S. President Harry Truman's Commission on Migratory Labor issued a report urging a minimum wage and unemployment insurance coverage for the nation's one million migrant farm workers; a Taft-Hartley Act amendment authorizing some farm workers to organize and bargain collectively; a curb on the importation of cheap foreign farm labour; and the creation of a permanent Federal Commission on Migratory Farm Labor.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
New York 65 @ Rochester 92 (Rochester led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Arnie Risen scored 24 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and added 5 assists to lead the Royals over the Knickerbockers before 4,200 fans at Edgerton Park Arena.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Are You Sure--The Allisons

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: A Hundred Yards Over the Rim, starring Cliff Robertson and Miranda Jones

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Hot Love--T. Rex (3rd week at #1)

War
U.S. President Richard Nixon announced a plan to increase the rate of U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam, quickening the pace of Vietnamization.

Labour
A three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld the dismissal of the suit of Washington Senators’ outfielder Curt Flood against organized baseball. Mr. Flood, who had refused to report to the Philadelphia Phillies after being traded by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1969, was challenging the reserve clause of the standard baseball contract that allowed the team to renew a player’s contract year after year and to trade him without his consent.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Montreal 1 @ Boston 3 (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Toronto 4 @ New York 5 (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Philadelphia 2 @ Chicago 5 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Minnesota 3 @ St. Louis 2 (Minnesota led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Montreal coach Al MacNeil elected to play Ken Dryden in goal at Boston Garden. Mr. Dryden had played in 6 regular season games with the Canadiens and had won them all. This was his first Stanley Cup game.

Bob Nevin’s goal with 3 seconds remaining in the 2nd period sparked the Rangers to a comeback win over the Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden.

Cesare Maniago made 42 saves in goal for the North Stars as they defeated the Blues at St. Louis Arena.

40 years ago
1981

Died on this date
Norman Taurog, 82. U.S. movie director. Mr. Taurog directed 180 movies from 1920-1968, including six films starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the 1950s, and nine starring Elvis Presley in the 1960s. Mr. Taurog won an Academy Award for Best Director for Skippy (1931), and was nominated for an Oscar for Boys Town (1938). He retired when he began to go blind.

Kit Lambert, 45. U.K. record producer and manager. Mr. Lambert, the son of composer Constant Lambert, was an assistant director for several movies in the early 1960s before discovering the rock group The Who and deciding to act as their manager. He influenced Pete Townshend to create the rock opera Tommy (1969), but drug use and allegations of missing funds led to Mr. Lambert's dismissal by the band in 1974. Mr. Lambert's increasing drug use resulted in him being made a ward of the Court of Protection. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage, reportedly after drinking heavily and being beaten up by a drug dealer over a debt and pushed down the stairs of a sodomite nightclub.

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Unchained Melody--The Righteous Brothers (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Joyride--Roxette

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Joyride--Roxette (2nd week at #1)
2 Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)--C & C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams
3 Secret Love--Bee Gees
4 No Coke--Dr. Alban
5 Crazy--Seal
6 Kränk di net--Jazz Gitti & her Disco Killers
7 Hello Afrika--Dr. Alban featuring Leila K.
8 Blue Hotel--Chris Isaak
9 Sister Soul & Mr. Beat--Beat 4 Feet featuring Kim Cooper
10 Sucker DJ (A Witch for Love)--Dimples D

Singles entering the chart were Should I Stay or Should I Go by the Clash (#14); I Wanna Give You Devotion by Nomad featuring MC Mikee Freedom (#18); and Rhythm of My Heart by Rod Stewart (#20).

On television tonight
Separate But Equal: Part I, on ABC

This made-for-television movie about the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case before the U.S. Supreme Court starred Sidney Poitier as Thurgood Marshall, Burt Lancaster as John W. Davis, and Richard Kiley as Chief Justice Earl Warren. It was Mr. Lancaster's last performance.



Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Montreal 4 @ Buffalo 5 (Buffalo led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Boston 6 @ Hartford 3 (Boston led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Pittsburgh 4 @ New Jersey 3 (Pittsburgh led best-of-seven series 2-1)
New York Rangers 6 @ Washington 0 (New York led best-of-seven series 2-1)

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Get Down on It--Peter Andre featuring Past to Present

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Macarena--Los Del Rio (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Children--Robert Miles (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): Ooh Aah...Just a Little Bit--Gina G

On television tonight
To Sir, with Love II, starring Sidney Poitier, on CBS

This made-for-television movie was a sequel to the theatrical film To Sir, with Love (1967), which starred Mr. Poitier as the same character.

Died on this date
Luis Aloma, 72. Cuban-born U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Aloma played in the farm systems of the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers from 1944-1949 before making it to the major leagues with the Chicago White Sox from 1950-1953, compiling a record of 18-3 with an earned run average of 3.44 and 15 saves in 116 games. His best minor league season was 1948, when he was 19-6 with a 1.77 ERA in 28 games with the Havana Cubanos of the Class C Florida International League.

Defense
North Korean troops concluded three days of military exercises in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

Protest
A week-long uprising by 1,000 inmates in the maximum security prison in Sierra Chica, Argentina ended, while 5,000 inmates in 18 other prisons throughout the country rebelled in sympathy. Complaints focused on overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and the slowness of the justice system.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Beatrice Straight, 86. U.S. actress. Miss Straight won a Tony Award for her starring performance in The Crucible (1953) and an Academy Award for her brief supporting performance in Network (1976).

David Graf, 50. U.S. actor. Mr. Graf appeared in several television programs and movies in a 20-year career. He was best known for playing Sergeant Eugene Tackleberry in the seven-film Police Academy series (1984-1994). Mr. Graf died of a heart attack at his brother-in-law's wedding, nine days before his 51st birthday.

Space
The robotic spacecraft Mars Odyssey was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.



10 years ago
2011

Defense
The Israel Defense Forces used their Iron Dome missile system to successfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile intercept ever.