On This Day In History.......

0374 Halley's Comet approaches within 0.0884 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
0527 Justinianus becomes compassionate emperor of Byzantium
0705 Greek pope John VII chosen as successor to John VI
1064 Body of bishop Eleutherius of Blandain moved to Doornik
1504 English guilds/corp goes under state control
1572 Bloys van Treslong conquers Brielle
1578 William Harvey of England discovers blood circulation
1581 Portugese Cortes subjects himself on Philip II
1663 Gemert fines unwed motherhood (50 guilder penalty)
1724 Henry Pelham becomes English minister of War
1724 Jonathan Swift publishes Drapier's letters
1748 Ruins of Pompeii found
1776 Friedrich von Klinger's "Sturm und Drang", premieres in Leipzig
1778 Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, creates "$" symbol
1789 House of Representatives 1st full meeting, New York NY, F Muhlenberg 1st speaker
1792 Gronings feminist Etta Palm demands women's right to divorce
1793 Volcano Unsen on Japan erupts killing about 53,000
1803 French law rules the use of intention
1826 Samuel Mory patents internal combustion engine
1836 Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reaches Cocos Islands
1850 San Francisco County government established
1853 Cincinnati becomes 1st US city to pay firefighters a regular salary
1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign, Jackson's Battle of Woodstock VA
1863 1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect
1865 Battle of 5 Forks VA, signalling end of Lee's army
1865 Battle at Blakely AL
1866 US Congress rejects presidential veto gives all equal rights in US
1867 Blacks vote in municipal election in Tuscumbia AL
1867 International Exhibition opens in Paris France
1867 Singapore, Penang & Malakka become British crown colonies
1868 Hampton Institute opens
1872 1st edition of The Standard
1873 British White Star steamship Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, 550+ die
1873 Mehmed Kemals play "Vatan" premeres in Constantinople
1876 1st official National League baseball game (Boston-6, Philadelphia-5)
1881 Anti-Jewish riots in Jerusalem
1881 Kingdom post office in Netherlands opens
1888 Soccer team Sparta forms in Rotterdam
1889 1st dishwashing machine marketed (Chicago)
1891 London-Paris telephone connection opens
1891 Painter Gauguin leaves Marseille for Tahiti
1899 North Carolina Mutual opens doors for business
1900 1st edition of Dutch newspaper "The People"
1905 British East African Protectorate becomes colony of Kenya
1910 Dumitru Dan (Romania) completed a 62,137 mile (100,000 m) walk
1916 1st US national women's swimming championships held
1918 England's Royal Flying Corps replaced by Royal Air Force
1918 Henry Miller's Theater opens at 124 W 43rd St New York NY
1920 Church disestablished in Wales
1920 Stanley Cup Ottawa Senators (NHL) beat Seattle (PCHA), 3 games to 2
1924 Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from British South Africa Co
1924 Imperial Airways is formed in Britain
1924 Hitler sentenced to 5 years labor but General Ludendorff acquitted
1925 1st transmission of Danish state radio
1926 Halsteren Soccer team forms in Halsteren
1927 1st automatic record changer introduced by His Master's Voice
1928 Chiang Kai-shek's army crosses Yang-tse
1929 Morehouse College, Spelman College & Atlanta University affiliate to form Atlanta University Center
1929 Austrian government of Ignaz Seipel falls
1929 Doorne's trailer factory in Einsdhoven Netherlands opens
1929 Louie Marx introduces Yo-Yo
1929 Luis Buñuel releases "Un Chien Andalou", 24-minute film
1930 "Blue Angel", starring unknown Marlene Dietrich, premieres in America
1931 Jackie Mitchell becomes 1st female in professional baseball
1931 Earthquake devastates Managua Nicaragua, kills 2,000
1933 Nazi Germany begins persecution of Jews boycotting Jewish businesses
1933 Hammond scores 336 vs New Zealand at Auckland, 47 fours 10 sixes
1933 Heinrich Himmler becomes Police Commander of Germany
1934 Bonnie & Clyde kill 2 police officers
1935 1st radio tube made of metal announced, Schenectady NY
1936 Orissa constitutes a province of British India
1937 Aden becomes British crown colony
1938 Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown NY
1938 Joe Louis KOs Harry Thomas in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1939 US recognizes Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war Pope Pius XII congratulates Generalissimo Franco's victory in Spain
1941 Navy takes over Treasure Island (San Francisco Bay)
1941 Lillian Hellman's "Watch on the Rhine", premieres in NYC
1941 Nazi's forbid Jews access to cafés
1941 Pro-German Rashid Ali al-Ghailani grabs power in Iraq
1942 México changes from 3 time zones to 2
1942 Allied air raid on harbor city Kupang Timor
1944 German Abwehr ends England spiel, after 132 killed
1944 Japanese troops conquer Jessami, East-India
1945 US forces launch invasion of Okinawa during WWII
1945 1st edition of Indonesia Merdeka publishes
1945 Canadian troop free Doetinchem, Enschede, Borculo & Eibergen
1945 Ruhrgebied sealed off by US 1st & 9th army
1945 Sons of Elburger Soccer team forms in Elburg
1946 400,000 US mine workers strike
1946 Tsunamis generated by a quake in Aleutian Trench strike Hilo HI
1946 Van Acker forms Belgian government (without CVP)
1946 Weight Watchers forms
1947 1st Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat
1948 H H H Johnson bowls West Indies to win vs England 10-96 match on debut
1952 Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow
1952 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1953 J van Bale appointed Governor of New Guinea
1953 KXMC TV channel 13 in Minot ND (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
1953 Walcott Worrell & Weekes all make centuries in innings vs India
1954 1st army helicopter battalion is formed, Fort Bragg NC
1954 US Air Force Academy established
1954 1st Dutch motorway, Amsterdam-Utrecht, opens
1954 Earthquake/tsunami ravage Aleutians, 200 killed
1954 WQED TV channel 13 in Pittsburgh PA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1955 Armed military action taken against bureaucratic strike in Amsterdam
1955 EOKA-bomb attacks against British government buildings in Cyprus
1955 WTVT TV channel 13 in Tampa-St Petersburg FL (CBS) 1st broadcast
1956 10th Tony Awards Diary of Anne Frank & Damn Yankees win
1956 KPIC TV channel 4 in Roseburg OR (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 Violent clashes in Algeria, at least 380 killed
1957 Trial begins in Budapest against participants october uprising
1957 World's biggest glass oven used
1957 WYES TV channel 12 in New Orleans LA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1958 KVIQ TV channel 6 in Eureka CA (NBC/ABC/CBS) begins broadcasting
1958 Marshal Boelganin becomes director of Russian Staatsbank
1960 Mabry Harper catches a 25 lb Walleye in Tennessee
1960 U Nu elected premier of Burma
1960 France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria
1960 RCA TIROS (TV & Infra-Red Observation 'weather' Satellite) I launched
1961 Jim Bakker marries Tammy Faye
1963 NYC's newspapers resume publishing after a 114 day strike
1963 Soap operas "General Hospital" & "The Doctors" premier on TV
1963 New York Mets purchase Duke Snider from the Dodgers for $40,000
1964 John Lennon is reunited with his father Freddie after 17 years
1964 10ºF lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland OH in April
1964 Robert Lowell's "Benito Cereno", premieres in NYC
1965 Syncom 3, 1st geosynchronous communications satellite, passes from civilian to military control
1965 South Africa worker's union leader Henry Fazzie sentenced to 10 years
1966 1st world festival of black art (Dakar Senegal)
1966 China premier Tsjoe en-Lai starts "Cultural revolution"
1967 1st British ombudsman sir Edward Compton begins work
1968 KEMO (now KOFY) TV channel 20 in San Francisco CA (IND) 1st broadcast
1969 Royal Canadian Mint formally forms as a Crown Corp
1969 Seattle Pilots trade minor league outfielder Lou Piniella to Royals
1970 John Lennon & Yoko Ono release hoax they are having dual sex change operations
1970 Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, headed by Bud Selig, purchases the Seattle Pilots for $10,800,000; although negotiations were conducted over a period of months, it was not until March 13 when a federal bankruptcy referee declared the Pilots bankrupt
1970 President Richard Nixon signs bill limiting cigarette advertisements on 1/1/71
1971 United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership
1971 US/Canada ISIS 2 launched to study ionosphere
1972 30,000 attend Mar Y Sol rock concert, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
1972 Major league baseball players stages 1st collective strike
1973 Japan allows its citizens to own gold
1973 John & Yoko form a new country with no laws or boundaries, called Nutopia, its national anthem is silence
1973 Betsy Cullen wins LPGA Alamo Ladies Golf Classic
1974 Pioneer Hall opens
1974 Yourdon, Inc forms
1974 Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an Islamic Republic in Iran
1975 Cambodia President Lon Nol flees for Red Khmer
1976 Stephen Wozniak & Steven Jobs originate Apple Computer
1977 NFL decides to experiment with a 7th official in some preseason games
1977 Attempt for Moslem state in Chad fails
1979 Iran proclaimed an Islamic Republic following fall of Shah
1979 Joanne Carner wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open
1980 Wayne Gretzky breaks Bobby Orr's record with 103rd assist
1980 Baseball Players' Association votes to cancel 92 remaining exhibition games
1980 Failed assassination attempt on Iraqi vice-premier Tariq Aziz
1980 France performs nuclear test
1981 CNN airs a videotape that shows that Tamara Rand predicts that Reagan is in danger from someone named Jack Humley (a hoax)
1982 US formally transfers Canal Zone to Panamá
1982 Anguilla (dependent territory of UK) adopts constitution
1983 New York Islander Mike Bossy becomes 1st to score 60 goals in 3 consecutive seasons
1983 Anti-nuke demonstrators link arms in 14-mile human chain in England
1984 14th Easter Seal Telethon raises $24,600,000
1984 3rd NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Southern California beats Tennessee 72-61
1984 8 men record longest distance (13 miles) rowed in 24 hours
1985 47th NCAA Men's Basketball Champion Villanova beats Georgetown 84-75
1986 US sub Nathaniel Green runs aground in the Irish Sea
1986 World oil prices dip below $10 a barrel
1986 Delhi beats Haryana by innings & 141 to win Ranji Trophy
1989 1st New York Mets-New York Yankees game in NYC since 1983, Yankees win 4-3
1989 A Bartlett Giamatti replaces Ueberroth as 7th commissioner of baseball
1990 "Ha!" the Comedy Channel on cable tv begins transmitting
1990 CBS fires sportscaster Brent Mussburger
1990 It becomes illegal in Salem OR to be within 2' of nude dancers
1990 Jack Nicklaus wins 1st start on Senior PGA tour
1990 Wrestlemania VI (67,678 in Toronto); Ultimate Warrior beats Hulk Hogan for championship
1990 19th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Betsy King
1990 2nd Seniors Golf Tradition Jack Nicklaus wins
1990 9th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Stanford beats Auburn 88-81
1990 Guns & Roses' Duff divorces Mandy Brix, lead singer for Lame Flames
1991 Dwight Goodin signs $5.15 million 3 year contract with New York Mets
1991 US minimum wage goes from $3.80 to $4.25 per hour
1991 Warsaw Pact officially dissolves
1991 53rd NCAA Mens Basketball Champion Duke Bluedevils beats Kansas 72-65
1991 Iran releases British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years
1991 Supreme Court rules jurors can't be barred from serving due to race
1992 NFL decides to stay with 17 week schedule instead of expanded 18 games
1992 5th Largest wrestling crowd (64,287-Toronto SkyDome)
1992 Battleship USS Missouri (on which, Japan surrendered) decommissioned
1992 Last defendant in St John sex assault case sentenced to 3 years probation
1992 NHL players begin 1st strike in 75-year history
1992 Rocker Billy Idol fined $2,000 for hitting a woman
1992 Western Australia beats New South Wales by 44 runs to win the Sheffield Shield Final
1992 World's 7 wealthiest nations agree on $24 billion aid for former USSR
1993 Alan Bennett's "Madness of George III", premieres in London
1993 Stephane Powers weds Patrick de la Chenais
1994 Bob Feller Statue on Indians Plaza, dedicated
1995 Carlson Wagonlit Travel Agency begins charging $15 service fee
1995 New York Islanders retire Bobby Nystrom's uniform #23
1996 58th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Kentucky beats Syracuse 76-67
1996 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Boston MA on WBCN 104.1 FM (morning)
1997 69 year old Gordie Howe begins playing AHL game with Syracuse Crunch
1997 Comet Hale-Bopp Perihelion (0.914 AU)
1998 World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Minneapolis MN; Russians Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze win
2001 20th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship at St Louis
2002 64th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship at Georgia Dome Atlanta
_________________________________________________________________

Missing In Action....

1965 DAWSON DONALD 08/24/65 RELEASED CAPTURED SEARCHING FOR BROTHER-SIGHTED WRECKAG
1966 GRAYSON WILLIAM R. RIVERSIDE CA
1966 KRECH MELVIN T. MARINE ON ST CROIX MN
1967 GOVAN ROBERT A. WASHINGTON DC NEGAT SAR CONTACT
1967 JOURDENAIS GEORGE HENRY CENTRAL FALLS RI
1967 STANLEY ROBERT W. PORTLAND OR
1967 WILLIAMS DAVID R. MEMPHIS TN NEAGT SAR CONTACT
1972 WORTH JAMES F. HILLSIDE MD
1973 FITZGERALD FRANCES 04/73 RELEASED (HELD 3 DAYS)
1973 SOUTHERLAND DANIEL 07/73 RELEASED (HELD 3 DAYS)

Births which occurred on April 01:

1283 Ludwig IV of Baveria Roman Catholic Bavarian emperor (1314-47)
1578 William Harvey England, physician (discovered blood circulation)
1582 Gaspar de Crayer Flemish painter
1582 Thomas Simpson composer
1643 Christian Demelius composer
1697 Abbé Prévost French novelist/journalist (Manon Lescaut)
1721 Pieter Hellendaal Dutch violinist/organist/composer (Glees)
1725 François Bainville composer
1732 Franz Josef Haydn Austria, composer (Die Schöpfung)
1755 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin French politician/author (Physiologie du Goût)
1772 Ignaz Franz von Mosel composer
1785 J H Ferdinand Olivier German painter
1793 Edouard Corbière French captain/writer (Le negrier)
1802 Hubert Reis composer
1807 Fredrik Cygnaeus Finnish poet/literature critic
1809 Nikolai Gogol writer
1809 Willem Ruys J Dz Dutch ship owner
1815 Otto Von Bismarck Germany, chancellor (1866-90)
1817 Johannes J van Oosterzee Dutch theologist
1823 Simon Bolivar Buckner Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), died in 1914
1834 Isidore Edouard Legouix composer
1843 Ludwig Enneccerus German jurist
1847 Gavriil Musicescu composer
1847 Jules-Nicolas Crevaux French explorer (South America)
1852 Edward Austin Abbey US, painter (Quest of the Holy Grail)
1858 Arnold Aletrino Dutch physician-criminologist/author (From Life)
1858 Gaetano Mosca Italian sociologist (Circulation of Elite)
1864 Marie Jungius Dutch fairy tale writer
1865 Richard Zsigmondy Germany, chemist (Nobel-1925)
1866 Ferruccio D M B Busoni Italy, pianist/composer/conductor (Arlecchino)
1866 Johannes C H de Meÿere Dutch zoologist
1866 Sophonisba Breckenridge scholar/teacher/social activist
1868 Edmond Rostand France, poet/playwright (Cyrano de Bergerac)
1869 Peter A Egge Norwegian writer (De Droom)
1871 F Melius Christiansen composer
1872 Tadeusz Joteyko composer
1873 Sergei Vasilievitch Rachmaninov Novgorod Provine Russia, composer (Prelude in C# Minor)
1875 Edgar Wallace England, novelist/playwright/journalist (The Terror)
1878 Carl Sternheim German playwright (Hyperion/Tabula Rasa)
1883 Lon Chaney Colorado Springs CO, man of 1000 faces, actor (High Noon, Phantom of Opera)
1883 Aleksander V Aleksandrov Russian composer/conductor
1884 Laurette Taylor [Helen LM Cooney], US actress (Broadway)
1885 Clementine Ogilvy Spencer-Churchill (Hozier) British barones
1886 Wallace Beery Kansas City MO, actor (Alias a Gentleman, Dinner at 8, Ah Wilderness)
1886 Casimir von Paszthory composer
1887 Leonard Bloomfield US linguist
1893 Cicely Courtneidge Sydney Australia, actress (Double Exposure)
1895 Alberta Hunter African-American blues singer/composer (Downhearted Blues)
1897 Willem H van de Pol Dutch theologist (Christian Dilemma)
1898 Nita Naldi [Anita Donna Dooley] New York NY, actress (Blood & Sand)
1898 Pola Gojawiczynska Polish writer (Stolica)
1898 Roger Bastide French sociologist
1901 Boris Koutzen composer
1902 L P Jai cricketer (one Test India vs England 1934, scored 19 & 0)
1904 Juan Gil-Albert poet
1905 Gaston Eyskens PM of Belgium (1949, 1958-61, 1968-72)
1905 "Mother" Clara Hale US social worker (founded Hale House)
1905 Winfried P I Zillig German opera composer/conductor (Fantasia Irica)
1906 Ned Glass Poland, actor (Sol-Julia, Uncle Moe-Bridget Loves Bernie)
1906 Sigve Lie Norway, yachtsman (Olympics-gold-1948, 52)
1907 Walter Kaufmann composer
1908 Abraham H Maslow US psychologist (humanistic psychology)
1909 Abner Biberman Milwaukee WI, director/actor (Imhook-Kodiak)
1911 Evert H "Bep" Bakhuys Dutch soccer star/writer
1911 Ferdinand J Kranenburg Dutch Secretary of Defense (Socialist Democrat)
1911 Günther Rennert Essen Germany, opera director/producer
1914 Carla van Neste Belgian violinist
1915 Art Lund Salt Lake City UT, singer (Ken Murray Show)
1915 Willy Dixon blues artist (Mellow Down Easy)
1917 Leon Janney Ogden UT, actor (Hawk)
1917 Johnny Andrews Boston MA, singer/host (Songs at Twilight)
1920 Toshiro Mifune Tsing-tao China, writer/actor (Shogun)
1920 Joan Frances Will actress
1921 Douglas Allenbrook composer
1921 William L Bergsma Oakland CA, composer (Fortunate Island)
1922 William Manchester Attleboro MA, historian (Death of a President)
1923 Bobby Jordan Harrison NY, actor (Bowery Champs, Kid Dynamite, Flying Wild)
1924 Gunther Becker composer
1925 Sala Burton (Representative-Democrat-CA, 1983- )
1926 Anne [Inez] McCaffrey US, sci-fi author (Crystal Singer, Dragonflight, Dragondrums)
1926 Lyndon Brook actor (Invasion, Reach for the Sky)
1927 Amos Milburn rocker
1928 George Grizzard Roanoke Rapids NC, actor (Wrong is Right, Bachelor Party, Attica)
1928 Herbert Klein newscaster/press secretary
1928 Jane Powell Portland OR, singer/actress (7 Brides for 7 Brothers)
1928 Dimitri Frenkel Frank Dutch writer/director (Hadimassa)
1929 Milan Kundera Czechoslovakia, poet/writer (Unbearable Lightness of Being, L'art du Roman, Joke)
1930 Grace Lee Whitney Ann Arbor MI, actress (Yeoman Rand-Star Trek)
1930 Joan Franks-Williams composer
1931 George Baker Bulgaria, actor (Goodbye Mr Chips, Curse of the Fly)
1931 Rolf Hochhuth German playwright (Deputy)
1932 Debbie Reynolds El Paso TX, actress (Singin' in the Rain)
1932 Gordon Jump Dayton OH, actor (Arthur Carlson-WKRP, Growing Pains)
1932 Alex[ander Colleridge Vanderpuiye Baka] Tetteh-Lartey broadcaster, lawyer and actor (Caught, Laughter of God)
1932 Jiri Smutny composer
1933 Dan Flavin US minimalist sculptor
1934 Don Hastings Brooklyn NY, actor (Captain Video, Bob-As the World Turns)
1934 Jim Ed Brown Sparkman AR, country singer (Nashville on the Road)
1935 Hans H Boswinkel actor/director (Surprise Attack, Tutorials in Love)
1935 John Murray cricketer (England 1961-67, 1st wk called Murray to play Tests)
1939 Ali MacGraw Pound Ridge NY, actress (Love Story, Goodbye Columbus)
1939 Phil Niekro knuckleball pitcher (New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves)
1939 Rudolph Isley Cincinnati OH, rocker (Isley Brothers-Shout)
1941 Ajit Wadekar cricketer (stalwart Indian batsman & captain)
1942 Alan Blakley rocker (Brian Poole & The Tremeloes)
1942 Danny Brooks rocker (Dovells)
1942 Phil Margo Brooklyn NY, rock vocalist (Tokens-Lion Sleeps Tonight)
1942 Samuel R[ay] Delany Jr US, sci-fi author (Towers of Toron, Dhalgren, Neveryona)
1944 Carol White England, actress (Daddy's Gone a Hunting)
1945 Heather Young Bremerton WA, actress (Betty-Land of Giants)
1946 John Barbata drummer (Turtles-Happy Together, Eleanor)
1946 Arthur Conley US soul singer (Sweet Soul Music)
1946 Ronnie "Plonk" Lane London England , rock bassist (Small Faces-Hey Girl)
1946 William Frederick Fisher Dallas TX, MD/astronaut (STS 51-I)
1947 David Eisenhower grandson of President Dwight, married Julie Nixon
1948 Jimmy Cliff Reggae singer
1948 Simon Crowe rock drummer (Boomtown Rats-Maxinguaye)
1948 Y Y Williams Welsh rugby player
1949 Gill Scott-Heron US, writer/poet/singer (Whities on the Moon)
1950 Ed[uardus] Nijpels Dutch minister of Environment (VVD)
1950 Leonard van Spirit Dutch/British fruit/food magnate
1952 Annette O'Toole Houston TX, actress (Cat People, Superman III)
1952 Billy Currie rock keyboardist/violinist (Ultravox-We Came to Dance)
1952 Rey Robinson US, 100 meter sprinter (Olympics-1972)
1952 Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi Tripoli Libya, bomber (Pan Am 103)
1953 Aftab Baloch cricketer (Pakistani in 2 Tests, scored 428 for Sind 74)
1953 Barry Sonnenfeld director (When Harry Met Sally, Big, Misery)
1954 Jeff Porcaro Los Angeles CA, drummer/percussionist (Toto-Roxanne, Africa)
1955 Danny Joe Pohl Mount Pleasant MI, PGA golfer (1986 Colonial)
1955 Stan Ridway rocker (Wall Of Voodoo)
1957 David Gower cricketer (elegant England left-handed batsman 1978-92)
1957 Donald William Hammond Frederick MD, PGA golfer (1986 Bob Hope)
1957 Peter Deutsch (Representative-Democrat-FL)
1958 Anton Innauer Austria, 70 meter ski jumper (Olympics-gold-1980)
1961 Mark White rock guitarist (ABC-All of My Heart)
1961 Jennifer Runyon actress (Cindy-A Very Brady Christmas, Gwendolyn-Charles in Charge)
1961 Jim Jeffcoat NFL defensive end (Buffalo Bills)
1962 Phillip Schofield TV personality/designer (Nightfire)
1962 Rich Amaral Visalia CA, outfielder (Seattle Mariners)
1964 John Morris cricketer (England right-hand batsman vs India 1990)
1964 Kevin Duckworth NBA center (Milwaukee Bucks)
1964 Scott Stevens Kitchener, NHL defenseman (New Jersey Devils, Team Canada)
1965 John "Jumbo" Elliot NFL tackle (New York Giants, New York Jets)
1965 Mark Jackson NBA guard (Indiana Pacers)
1965 Peter O'Toole Irish pop bassist (Hothouse Flowers-People, Home, Don't Go)
1966 Dave Vankoughnett CFL corner (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
1966 Odie Harris NFL safety/defensive back (Houston Oilers)
1968 Joel Smeenge NFL defensive end (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1969 Traci Lin-Tavi New York NY, actress (Ryan's Hope, F/X, Fright Night 2)
1969 Andrew Vlahov Australian basketball forward (Olympics-1988, 92, 96)
1969 Arnaud Boetsch Meulam France, tennis star (1985 European Junior)
1969 Frank Castillo El Paso TX, pitcher (Chicago Cubs)
1969 John Forest soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles)
1969 Kevin Dean Madison, NHL defenseman (New Jersey Devils)
1970 Mark Wheeler NFL defensive tackle (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots)
1970 Wes Barnett St Joseph MO, 238lb (108kg) weightlifter (Olympics-6th-92, 96)
1970 Wyatt Jones Honolulu HI, kayak (alternate-Olympics-96)
1971 Daniel Vacek Prague Czechoslovakia, tennis star
1971 Ernest Jones NFL defensive end (Saints, Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1971 Jessica Collins [Capogna] actress (Dinah Lee Mayberry-Loving)
1972 Kenny Gales NFL/WLAF cornerback (Chicago Bears, Barcelona Dragons)
1972 Mike McCoy WLAF quarterback (Amsterdam Admirals)
1973 Ferdy Vierklau soccer player (FC Utrecht)
1973 Stephen Fleming cricketer (New Zealand left-handed Test batsman 1994-)
1975 Kristine Quance 100 meter breaststroke/200 meter medley (Olympics-96)
1975 Magdalena Maleeva Sofia Bulgaria, tennis star (1995 Chicago Moscow)
1976 Clarence Seedorf Surinam/Dutch soccer player (Ajax, Real Madrid)
1980 Bryan Buffinton Ridgewood NJ, actor (Bill Lewis Jr-Guiding Light)
1982 Sam Huntington actor (Jungle 2 Jungle)
____________________________________________________________________

Deaths which occurred on April 01:

1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine wife of Louis VII & Henry II, dies at 81
1205 Amalrik II King of Cyprus/Jerusalem, dies
1548 Sigismund I the Elder, King of Poland, dies at 81
1611 Gillis van Valkenborch Flemish painter, buried at about 72
1734 Louis Lully composer, dies at 69
1799 Narciso Casanovas composer, dies at 52
1807 Louis François Chambray composer, dies at 69
1807 Miklós Révai Hungarian linguistic/poet, dies at 57
1807 Vaclav Josef Bartolomej Praupner composer, dies at 61
1814 Jozef de Ferraris French/Austrian General/cartographer, dies at 87
1830 Carl Borromaus Neuner composer, dies at 51
1832 Robert the Hermit US ex-slave/hermit in Massachusetts, dies
1866 Aime Ambroise Simon Leborne composer, dies at 98
1866 Johannes C H de Meijere Dutch zoologist, dies
1869 Anthony G O Ridder van Rappard Minister of Reformed Worship, dies at 69
1870 Patrick Gass Sergeant of Lewis & Clark Expedition, dies at 98
1878 Eugene Gautier composer, dies at 56
1901 François M Raoult Fren physicist/chemist (Law of Raoult), dies at 70
1910 Andreas Aschenbach German painter/engraver, dies at 94
1914 Rube Waddell baseballer, dies at 37 of TB
1915 Johann Joseph Abert composer, dies at 82
1916 Gabrielle Petit Belgian resistance fighter, executed
1916 Sjoerd van der Schaaf Frisian journalist/writer (Abbingawâld), dies
1917 Scott Joplin ragtime composer (Sting), dies at 48
1918 Karl Fritjof Valentin composer, dies at 64
1922 Charles I emperor (Austria)/King of Hungary (Charles IV), dies
1925 Francis William Davenport composer, dies at 77
1930 Zawditu 1st reigning female monarch of Ethiopia, dies
1930 Cosima Liszt wife of Austrian composer Richard Wagner, dies at 92
1933 Frederick Lord Chelmsford viceroy of British-India (1916-21), dies at 64
1936 Mikhail Vladimirovich Ivanov-Boretsky composer, dies at 61
1941 Hippolyte Delehaye Flemish historian, dies at 81
1946 Noah Beery actor (Beau Geste, Cimarron Kid, Mammy), dies at 62
1947 George II king of Greece, dies at 56
1950 Charles R Drew surgeon/developer of blood bank concept, dies at 45
1951 Clement D'Hooghe composer, dies at 51
1952 Ferenc Molnár Hungarian playwright (Farkas, Tester), dies at 76
1955 Silvio d'Amico Italian theater critic (Il Teatro Italian), dies at 68
1957 Gheorge Tatarescu premier Romania (1933-37, 39-40), dies
1960 Piet[er O] Bakker Dutch journalist/writer (Ciske), dies at 62
1964 Bozidar Kunc composer, dies at 60
1965 Henry D G Crerar Canadian General (WWI, Normandy), dies at 76
1966 Karl B Adam German theologist (Jesus Christ), dies at 89
1968 Lev D Landau Russian physicist (Nobel 1962), dies at 59
1969 Helena Rubinstein US cosmetic manufacturer, dies at about 89
1973 Arthur Wood cricket wicket-keeper (England 1938-39), dies
1974 Alfred Ernest Whitehead composer, dies at 86
1975 Eugeen Yoors Flemish draftsman/glass painter, dies at 95
1976 Freddie Lennon father of John Lennon (Beatles), dies at 63
1976 Max Ernst German/French surrealist painter/sculptor, dies at 85
1976 Miroslav Ponc composer, dies at 73
1976 S Constantine Timoshenko Russian marshal, dies at 75
1979 Marinus Peijnenburg Dutch politician, dies at 51
1981 D[ennis] F[eltham] Jones sci-fi author (Colossus), dies at 65
1984 Marvin Gaye shot to death by his father Marvin Gaye Sr in Los Angeles CA at 44
1988 Jim Jordan actor (Fibber McGee), dies from a blod clot at 91
1988 Marius W Holtrop economist/president (Netherlands Bank), dies at 85
1989 Henk Gortzak Dutch MP (CPN/PSP), dies at 57
1991 Richard Thorpe director (MGM), dies at 95
1991 Martha Graham US, choreographer (Appalachian Spring), dies at 96
1991 Paulo Muwanga chief of Uganda (1980), dies
1992 Juanito soccer star (Madrid Real 1977-87), dies at 37 in car crash
1993 Alan Kulwicki stock car racer, dies in plane crash at 38
1993 Ihsan Mohamed Salem [Yunis Awad] Palestinian Al-Fatah leader, killed
1993 Juan of Borbon y Battemberg father of king Juan Carlos I, dies
1993 Wayne Mack sportscaster/actor (Storyville), dies of cancer at 68
1994 Leon Degrelle Belgium General, dies
1994 Robert Doisneau French photographer (The Kiss), dies at 81
1994 Rosalind Laura Burke aviatrix, dies at 86
1994 Stuart Sloan war hero/test pilot, dies at 72
1995 Cheryl Waltz author/film producer, dies at 50
1995 Francisco Moncion dancer, dies at 73
1995 Johnny Nicholss footballer, dies at 63
1995 Lucie Rie potter, dies at 93
1995 Richard Pool naval Officer, dies at 75
1995 Sampson DeBrier actor (Inauguration of Pleasure Dome), dies at 86
1996 Alfredo Nobre Coast PM of Portugal (1978), dies
1996 Edwin H "Buddy" Morris music publisher, dies at 89
1996 John Alwyne Kitching zoologist, dies at 87
1996 John McSheery dies of heart attack while umpiring a game, at 51
1996 Mario Viegas actor (The Jew, Divine Comedy), dies at 47
1997 Jolie Gabor mother of Zsa Zsa & Eva, dies at 97
1997 Nancy Woodhull news editor (USA Today), dies of cancer at 52

1789 First U.S. House of Representatives elects speaker

On this day in 1789, the first U.S. House of Representatives, meeting in New York City, reaches quorum and elects Pennsylvania Representative Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg as its first speaker.

Muhlenberg, a Lutheran minister and the former president of the Pennsylvania convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution, was the son of Henry Augustus Muhlenberg and grandson of Johann Conrad Weiser, two of the leading Germans in colonial Pennsylvania. His brother, Major General John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, also served in the first House of Representatives.

Like his father, Frederick Muhlenberg studied theology at Germany’s University of Halle. He returned to Pennsylvania to be ordained in 1770 at the age of 20 and preached in Stouchsburg and Lebanon until 1774. Muhlenberg began preaching in New York City later that year, but returned to Pennsylvania upon the British invasion of New York in 1776. For three years, he served as pastor to congregations in New Hanover, Oley and New Goshenhoppen before embarking on a political career.

Muhlenberg was a member of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1780 and speaker of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives from 1780 to 1783. He presided over the Pennsylvania ratifying convention of 1787, and then served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 to 1797. He was speaker during the first and third Congresses.

Frederick did not enter into military service during the American Revolution. His brother, John Peter, however, earned renown for removing his pastoral robes to reveal a military uniform underneath while proclaiming his support for the war from his pulpit in Virginia.
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1865 Battle of Five Forks

Confederate General Robert E. Lee's supply line into Petersburg, Virginia, is closed when Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant collapse the end of Lee's lines around Petersburg. The Confederates suffer heavy casualties, and the battle triggered Lee's retreat from Petersburg as the two armies began a race that would end a week later at Appomattox Court House.

For nearly a year, Grant had laid siege to Lee's army in an elaborate network of trenches that ran from Petersburg to the Confederate capital at Richmond, 25 miles north. Lee's hungry army slowly dwindled through the winter of 1864-65 as Grant's army swelled with well-fed reinforcements. On March 25, Lee attacked part of the Union trenches at Fort Stedman in a desperate attempt to break the siege and split Grant's force. When that attack failed, Grant began mobilizing his forces along the entire 40-mile front. Southwest of Petersburg, Grant sent General Philip Sheridan against Lee's right flank.

Sheridan moved forward on March 31, but the tough Confederates halted his advance. Sheridan moved troops to cut the railroad that ran from the southwest into Petersburg, but the focus of the battle became Five Forks, a road intersection that provided the key to Lee's supply line. Lee instructed his commander there, General George Pickett, to "Hold Five Forks at all hazards." On April 1, Sheridan's men slammed into Pickett's troops. Pickett had his force poorly positioned, and he was taking a long lunch with his staff when the attack occurred. General Gouverneur K. Warren's V Corps supported Sheridan, and the 27,000 Yankee troops soon crushed Pickett's command of 10,000. The Union lost 1,000 casualties, but nearly 5,000 of Pickett's men were killed, wounded, or captured. During the battle, Sheridan, with the approval of Grant, removed Warren from command despite Warren's effective deployment of his troops. It appears that a long-simmering feud between the two was the cause, but Warren was not officially cleared of any wrongdoing by a court of inquiry until 1882.

The vital intersection was in Union hands, and Lee's supply line was cut. Grant now attacked all along the Petersburg-Richmond front and Lee evacuated the cities. The two armies began a race west, but Lee could not outrun Grant. The Confederate leader surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9.
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1865 Florida Governor commits suicide

Worn down by the stresses of his office, Florida Governor John Milton commits suicide at his plantation, Sylvania. Milton was a capable governor who valiantly defended his state and supplied provisions to the Confederacy, but by the end of the war much of Florida was occupied by Union forces and the state's finances were depleted. Just before his death, Milton addressed the Florida legislature and said that Yankees "have developed a character so odious that death would be preferable to reunion with them." Milton was 57 when he put a pistol to his head.
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1918 British Royal Air Force is founded

On April 1, 1918, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) is formed as an amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). The RAF took its place beside the British navy and army as a separate military service with its own ministry.

In April 1911, eight years after the American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first-ever flight of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft, an air battalion of the British army's Royal Engineers was formed at Larkhill in Wiltshire. The battalion consisted of aircraft, airship, balloon and man-carrying kite companies. In December 1911, the British navy formed the Royal Naval Flying School at Eastchurch, Kent. The following May, both were absorbed into the newly created Royal Flying Corps, which established a new flying school at Upavon, Wiltshire, and formed new airplane squadrons. In July 1914 the specialized requirements of the navy led to the creation of RNAS.

Barely more than a month later, on August 4, Britain declared war on Germany and entered World War I. At the time, the RFC had 84 aircraft, while the RNAS had 71 aircraft and seven airships. Later that month, four RFC squadrons were deployed to France to support the British Expeditionary Force. During the next two years, Germany took the lead in air strategy with technologies like the zeppelin airship and the manual machine gun. England’s towns and cities subsequently underwent damaging bombing raids and its pilots were defeated in the skies by German flying aces such as Manfred von Richthofen, dubbed “The Red Baron.”

Repeated German air raids led British military planners to push for the creation of a separate air ministry, which would carry out strategic bombing against Germany. On April 1, 1918, as a result of these efforts, the RAF was formed, along with a female branch of the service, the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF).

By the war's end in November 1918, the RAF had dropped 5,500 tons of bombs and claimed 2,953 enemy aircraft destroyed, gaining clear air superiority along the Western Front and contributing to the Allied victory over Germany and the other Central Powers. It had also become the largest air force in the world at the time, with some 300,000 officers and airmen—plus 25,000 members of the WRAF—and more than 22,000 aircraft.
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1945 U.S. troops land on Okinawa

On this day in 1945, after suffering the loss of 116 planes and damage to three aircraft carriers, 50,000 U.S. combat troops of the 10th Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner Jr., land on the southwest coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa, 350 miles south of Kyushu, the southern main island of Japan.

Determined to seize Okinawa as a base of operations for the army ground and air forces for a later assault on mainland Japan, more than 1,300 ships converged on the island, finally putting ashore 50,000 combat troops on April 1. The Americans quickly seized two airfields and advanced inland to cut the island's waist. They battled nearly 120,000 Japanese army, militia, and labor troops under the command of Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima.

The Japanese surprised the American forces with a change in strategy, drawing them into the mainland rather than confronting them at the water's edge. While Americans landed without loss of men, they would suffer more than 50,000 casualties, including more than 12,000 deaths, as the Japanese staged a desperate defense of the island, a defense that included waves of kamikaze ("divine wind") air attacks. Eventually, these suicide raids proved counterproductive, as the Japanese finally ran out of planes and resolve, with some 4,000 finally surrendering. Japanese casualties numbered some 117,000.

Lieutenant Buckner, son of a Civil War general, was among the casualties, killed by enemy artillery fire just three days before the Japanese surrender. Japanese General Ushijima committed ritual suicide upon defeat of his forces.

The 1952 film Okinawa starring Pat O'Brien, is one of several movies to depict this decisive episode in the history of the war.
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1972 North Vietnamese launch Nguyen Hue Offensive

Following three days of the heaviest artillery and rocket bombardment of the war, between 12,000 and 15,000 soldiers of Hanoi's 304th Division--supported by tanks, artillery, and antiaircraft units equipped with surface-to-air missiles--sweep across the Demilitarized Zone. They routed the South Vietnamese 3rd Division and drove them toward their rear bases.

This attack was the opening move of the North Vietnamese Nguyen Hue Offensive (later called the "Easter Offensive"), a massive invasion by North Vietnamese forces designed to strike the blow that would win them the war. The attacking force included 14 infantry divisions and 26 separate regiments, with more than 120,000 troops and approximately 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles. The main North Vietnamese objectives, in addition to Quang Tri in the north, were Kontum in the Central Highlands, and An Loc farther to the south.

North Vietnam had a number of objectives in launching the offensive: impressing the communist world and its own people with its determination; capitalizing on U.S. antiwar sentiment and possibly hurting President Richard Nixon's chances for re-election; proving that "Vietnamization" was a failure; damaging the South Vietnamese forces and government stability; gaining as much territory as possible before a possible truce; and accelerating negotiations on their own terms.

Initially, the South Vietnamese defenders were almost overwhelmed, particularly in the northernmost provinces, where they abandoned their positions in Quang Tri and fled south in the face of the enemy onslaught. At Kontum and An Loc, the South Vietnamese were more successful in defending against the attacks, but only after weeks of bitter fighting. Although the South Vietnamese suffered heavy casualties, they managed to hold their own with the aid of U.S. advisors and American airpower. Fighting continued all over South Vietnam into the summer months, but eventually the South Vietnamese forces prevailed against the invaders and retook Quang Tri in September. With the communist invasion blunted, President Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese victory proved the viability of his Vietnamization program, instituted in 1969 to increase the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces.