On This Day in History....

0352 St Julius I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1065 Pilgrims under bishop Günther of Bamberg reach Jerusalem
1111 Pope Paschalis II crowns Henry V, Roman emperor
1204 4th Crusade occupies & plunders Constantinople
1229 Queen Blanche of Castilië & earl Raymond VII van Toulouse sign peace
1385 Willem van Oostervant weds Philip the Stout's daughter Margaretha (10)
1545 French king François I orders protestants of Vaudois to be killed
1583 William of Orange marries Louise de Coligny
1606 England adopts the Union Jack as its flag
1648 University of Harderwijk Netherlands solemn opens
1654 England, Ireland & Scotland unite
1709 1st edition of Tattler magazine in England
1713 Dutch State-General signs peace with France Netherlands loses Orange Princedom
1770 Townsend Acts repealed
1776 Halifax resolution for independence adopted by North Carolina
1782 Battle at Les Saintes West-Indies British fleet beats French
1787 Philadelphia's Free African Society forms
1811 1st US colonists on Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment WA
1826 Weber's opera "Oberon", premieres in London
1844 Texas became a US territory
1857 Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" published
1858 1st US billiards championship is held in Detroit (Michael J Phelan wins)
1859 Hibernia Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco incorporates
1861 Fort Sumter SC is shelled by Confederacy, starting the Civil War
1862 James Andrews steals Confederate train (General) at Kennesaw GA
1862 Union troops occupy Fort Pulaski GA
1863 Gunboat battle at Bayou Teche LA
1864 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest captures Fort Pillow TN
1864 Battle of Blair's Landing LA
1869 North Carolina legislature passes anti-Klan Law
1872 Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia KY (1 dead/$1,500)
1877 British annex Transvaal, in South Africa
1877 Catcher's mask 1st used in a baseball game
1883 French troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Borgnis-Desbordes occupy Bamako Senegal
1887 Henrik Ibsen's "Rosmersholm", premieres in Oslo
1892 George C Blickensderfer patents portable typewriter
1893 Battle at Hoornkrans Southwest-Africa German Schutztruppen chases away Hottentotten under Hendrik Witbooi
1894 British & Belgian secret accord on dividing Central-Africa
1896 Stamasia Portrisi is 1st woman to win a marathon (5:30 in Athens)
1898 Army transfers Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay to Navy
1905 Hippodrome arena opens (New York NY)
1905 French Dufaux brothers test helicopter
1907 Belgium government of De Stain de Naeyer, resigns
1908 Fire makes 17,000 homeless in Chelsea MA
1909 Philadelphia's Shibe Park (later Connie Mack Stadium) opens
1911 1st non-stop London-Paris flight (Pierre Prier in 3 hours 56 minutes)
1917 Bijou Theater opens at 222 W 45th St New York NY (Demolished in 1982)
1917 Domenico Scarlatti & Jean Cocteau's ballet premieres in Rome
1919 British Parliament passes a 48-hour work week with minimum wages
1926 Dutch Catholic Radio Broadcast (KRO) forms
1927 General Chiang Kai-shek begins counter revolution in Shanghai
1928 Assassination attempt on king Victor Emmanuel II of Italy
1930 4th Test Cricket West Indies vs England ends in a draw after nine days
1930 Wilfred Rhodes ends Test Cricket career aged 52 years 165 days
1931 Joe McCarthy debuts as New York Yankee manager
1931 Spanish voters reject the monarchy
1932 Emmanuel Chabriers & Balanchines ballet premieres in Monte Carlo
1933 Moffatt Field commissioned
1934 Highest velocity wind ever recorded on Mount Washington NH, 231 mph
1935 "Your Hit Parade", debuts on radio
1935 Germany prohibits publishing "not-Arian" writers
1935 Royal Proclamation sets design of Canada's new Jubilee Silver Dollar
1938 1st US law requiring medical tests for marriage licenses (New York)
1938 Stanley Cup Chicago Blackhawks beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 3 games to 1
1940 NFL cuts clipping penalty from 25 yards to 15 yards
1940 Italy annexes Albania
1941 Stanley Cup Boston Bruins sweep Detroit Red Wings in 4 games
1941 Vichy-France's head of government Admiral Dalan consults with Hitler
1942 9th Golf Masters Championship Byron Nelson wins, shooting a 280
1942 Japan kills about 400 Filipino officers in Bataan
1943 Allies conquer Soussa, North-Africa
1943 Dutch Catholic University Nijmegen closed
1944 Lillian Hellman's "Searching Wind", premieres in NYC
1945 Canadian troops liberate Nazi concentration camp Westerbork, Netherlands
1945 Harry Truman sworn in as 33rd US President
1945 Richard Strauss completes his "Metamorphosis"
1946 Syria gains independence from France
1951 Israeli Knesset officially designates April 13 as Holocaust Day
1952 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Houston Weathervane Golf Tournament
1952 Salaheddine Baccouche forms Tunisian government
1953 Keizo Yamada runs fastest marathon to date, at Boston
1953 17th Golf Masters Championship Ben Hogan wins, shooting a 274
1953 KFDX TV channel 3 in Wichita Falls TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 Bill Haley & the Comets record "Rock Around the Clock"
1954 Joe Turner releases "Shake, Rattle & Roll"
1954 18th Golf Masters Championship Sam Snead beats Ben Hogan to win his 3rd Masters tournament, shooting a 289
1954 8th NBA Championship Minneapolis Lakers beat Syracuse Nationals, 4 games to 3
1954 Belgian Van Houtte government resigns
1955 1st game in Kansas City, Kansas City A's beat Detroit Tigers, 6-2
1955 Salk polio vaccine safe & effective; 4 billion dimes marched
1956 Bandaranaike government forms in Ceylon
1957 Jim Spalding set a 2088 pin nine-game bowling record
1957 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1958 12th NBA Championship St Louis Hawks beat Boston Celtics, 4 games to 2
1958 Flemish Open air museum opens in Bokrijk
1959 13th Tony Awards J B & Redhead win
1959 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1959 France Observator reports torture practice by French army in Algeria
1960 Bill Veeck & Chicago Comiskey Park debut the "Exploding Scoreboard"
1960 Bert Haanstra wins Oscar for "Glass"
1961 Douglas MacArthur declines offer to become baseball commissioner
1961 Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin becomes 1st person to orbit Earth (Vostok 1)
1961 3rd Grammy Awards Theme From a Summer Place wins, Ray Charles wins 4
1962 San Mateo County withdraws from BART district (San Francisco Bay area)
1963 Beatles "From Me to You" is released in UK
1963 Birmingham police use dogs & cattle prods on peaceful demonstrators
1964 28th Golf Masters Championship Arnold Palmer wins, shooting a 276
1964 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Baton Rouge Ladies' Golf Open Invitational
1965 1st National League game at Houston's Astrodome (Philadelphia Phillies beat Houston Astros 2-0)
1966 Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium opens; Pittsburgh Pirates beat Atlanta Braves 3-2
1966 Rocker Jan Berry crashes his Corvette into a parked truck
1966 1st B-52 bombing on North Vietnam
1969 Simon & Garfunkel releases "The Boxer"
1970 Yankees dedicate plaques to Mickey Mantle & Joe DiMaggio
1973 France recognizes North Vietnam
1973 Sudan adopts constitution
1973 Swaziland suspends constitution
1975 Linda Ronstadt releases "When Will I Be Loved"
1976 India set 403 to win by West Indies; they get them, 6 wickets 7 overs spare
1979 Soyuz 33 returns to Earth
1980 Milwaukee beats Boston Red Sox, 18-1 (Cooper & Money hit grand slams)
1980 US Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow games
1980 BCMA (Black Consciousness Movement of Azania) forms
1981 Maiden voyage Space Transit System-space shuttle Columbia launched
1981 45th Golf Masters Championship Tom Watson wins, shooting a 280
1981 Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA American Defender/WRAL Golf Classic
1981 Emmy News & Documentaries Award presentation
1982 3 CBS employees shot to death in NYC parking lot
1983 Harold Washington becomes Chicago's 1st black mayor
1983 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1985 16th Shuttle Mission (51D)-Discovery 4 launched-with Senator Jake Garn
1986 20,000 mine workers protest closing of Hasselt Belgium mines
1987 Texaco files for bankruptcy
1987 51st Golf Masters Championship Larry Mize wins, shooting a 285
1987 Ahmed Salah wins 2nd World Cup marathon (2:10:55)
1987 Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Kyocera Inamori Golf Classic
1988 Frank Robinson replaces Cal Ripkin as manager of the Baltimore Orioles
1988 New Jersey Devils 4-2 over New York Islanders-Devils lead 3-2 in 1st round
1988 Harvard University patents genetically engineered mouse (1st for animal life)
1988 Sonny Bono elected mayor of Palm Springs CA
1989 Peter Ueberroth deal to purchase Eastern Airlines falls through
1989 3rd Soul Train Music Awards Anita Baker wins
1990 1st meeting of East German democratically elected parliament, acknowledges responsibility for Nazi holocaust & asks for forgiveness
1990 Greyhound Bus hires new drivers to replace strikers
1990 James Brown moves to a work-release center after serving 15 months
1991 2,500th episode of Entertainment Tonight airs
1991 US announces closing of 31 major US military bases
1991 Nepalese Congress party wins general elections
1992 "Streetcar Named Desire" opens at Ethel Barrymore Theater NYC for 137 performances
1992 2nd lowest NBA scoring game - Detroit Piston 72, New York Knicks 61
1992 Earthquake rocks Germany
1992 Euro Disney opens in Marne-la-Vallee France
1992 Lynn Gunther of California threatens to blow herself up in front of UN
1992 Matt Young no-hits Cleveland, but loses 2-1
1992 New York Mets lose 1st 3 home games for 1st time since 1962
1992 Trump Shuttle becomes US Air Shuttle
1992 53rd PGA Seniors Golf Championship Lee Trevino wins
1992 56th Golf Masters Championship; Fred Couples wins, shooting a 275
1992 Actress Lisa Bonet files for divorce from singer Lenny Kravitz
1998 62nd Golf Masters Championship Mark O’Meara wins
___________________________________________________________________

Missing In Action.....

1966 CONWAY JAMES B. FRANKLIN TN
1966 GLASSON WILLIAM A. LOS ANGELES CA
1966 HARRIS REUBEN COLUMBUS OH
1966 JORDAN LARRY M. SAN JOSE CA
1966 PUGH KENNETH W. LANCASTER CA 12/16/75 PRG RETURNED ASHES
1967 CLAY WILLIAM C. III HENDERSON NC REMAINS RETURNED '95 IDENTIFIED 02/25/97
1969 DE SOTO ERNEST L. MANNING AR
1969 HALL FREDERICK M. WAYNESVILLE NC
1969 LAMP ARNOLD WILLIAM JR HEBRON OH REMAINS IDENTIFIED19 JULY 95
1970 TABB ROBERT ERNEST 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG

Births which occurred on April 12:

1500 Joachim Camerarius [Liebhard Kammerer] German humanist
1573 Jacques Bonfrère Dutch bible expert
1579 François de Bassompierre marshal of France
1626 Paul Hainlein composer
1692 Giuseppe Tartini composer, Istria
1695 Caspar Burman historian/mayor (Utrecht Netherlands)
1716 Felice de' Giardini composer
1722 Pietro Nardini composer
1724 Lyman Hall US physician (signed Declaration of Independence)
1727 Gaspare Gabellone composer
1760 Juan Manuel Olivares composer
1764 Dirk van den Boetzelaer regent of Holland
1769 Giovanni Agostino Perotti composer
1777 Henry Clay [the Great Compromiser] US politician
1788 Johann Erik Nordblom composer
1791 Francis Preston Blair newspaper editor (Washington Globe)
1792 John George Lambton London, statesman (1st Earl of Durham)
1793 Ferdinand I the Good Natured, Emperor of Austria/king of Hungary
1794 Germinal P Dandelin Belgian mathematician (geometry)
1801 Henry de Cock Dutch reformed vicar/secession leader
1801 Josef Franz Karl Lanner Austria, composer/violist
1802 François MP Liberman French relig leader (Congregation of Heart)
1815 Henry Hugo Pierson composer
1823 Aleksandr Ostrovsky Russian playwright (Artists & Admirers)
1827 Edward Mollenhauer composer
1831 Constantin Meunier Belgian painter/sculptor
1831 George Burgwyn Anderson Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1831 Grenville Mellen Dodge Major General (Union volunteers)
1838 John Shaw Billings US, librarian/army physician
1839 Victorin de Joncieres composer
1840 Edmond Audran composer
1851 Emil Liebling composer
1852 [Carl L] Ferdinand von Lindemann German mathematician
1856 William M Conway English historian/explorer (Spitzbergen)
1863 Raul d'Avila Pompeia Brazilian writer (Boarding School)
1869 Henri-Désiré Landru French sex murderer
1871 Ioannis Metaxas Greek General/dictator (1936-41)
1878 Richard B Goldschmidt German/US zoologist
1879 Frederick G Melcher US, publisher/editor/founded children book week
1883 Imogen Cunningham photographer (1965 ASMP award)
1884 Otto Meyerhof Germany, psychologist/biochemist (Nobel-1922)
1885 Robert Délaunay French painter
1889 Pierre-Étienne Flandin French premier (1934-35)/Minister of Foreign affairs
1892 Johnny Dodds early jazz clarinettist
1894 Francisco H Craveiro Lopes Portuguese General/President (1951-58)
1898 Sir Grantley H Adams President of Barbados
1902 Louis J M Beel premier of Netherlands (1946-48, 58-59)
1903 Jan Tinbergen Dutch economist/UN advisor (Nobel 1969)
1904 Harald James Penrose pilot
1905 Inger J Hagerup-Halsír Norwegian poet
1908 Carlos Lleras Restrepo President of Colombia
1908 John T Hughes Bishop to Forces
1908 Virginia Cherrill actress (Lake Extra, Brat, City Lights, Delicious)
1910 Jürgen Rausch German philosopher/author (End of the Playboys)
1911 Darrell A Amyx US archaeologist (Greek Ceramics)
1911 Geoff Chubb cricketer (South Africa pace bowler vs England 1951-52 aged 40)
1912 Georges Franju France, director (Judex, L'homme sans visage)
1912 Herbert Mills singer, (Mills Brothers)
1912 Eric Feldary Budapest Hungary, actor (16 Fathoms Deep)
1912 Harold Maguire British air marshal
1913 Gabor Jodal composer
1915 Emil [Theodore] Petaja US, sci-fi author (Star Mill, Tramontane)
1916 Brian Connell writer/broadcaster
1917 M Marie Widlow St Louis MO, softball pitcher (Hall of Fame 1957)
1917 Vinoo Mankad cricketer (India's greatest all-rounder to his time)
1918 Edward John Stanley 18th Earl of Derby, English landowner/multi-millionaire
1919 Istvan Anhalt composer
1919 Lady Ricketts CEO (National Association of Citizens' Advice Bureaux)
1919 Maurice Girodias French publisher
1919 Wilson Charles Geoffery Baldwin hero
1920 Robert Fizdale Chicago IL, pianist (Misia)
1920 H R Hewitt CEO (Johnson Matthey)
1921 A W Mabbs archivist
1923 Ann Miller [Lucille Ann Collier] Houston TX, dancer/actress (On the Town)
1923 Maria Callas opera singer (Carmen)
1923 E C Meade British chartered accountant
1924 Julius Moormann student/resistance fighter (WWII)
1924 Sergiu Natra composer
1925 Johnny Jordan England, cameraman (You Only Live Twice)
1927 Jane Withers Atlanta GA, actress (All Together Now, Josephine the plumber)
1927 Patrick Meehan petty criminal
1928 Brooklyn Supreme Belgium, stallion, heaviest known horse (1450 kg)
1928 Hardy Kruger Berlin Germany, actor (Barry Lyndon, Wrong is Right)
1928 Uwe Kitzinger president (Templeton College-Oxford)
1929 Elspet Gray (Lady Rix), actress (4 Weddings & a Funeral, Solo, Tenko)
1930 Betty Clooney Maysville KY, singer (Jack Paar Show)
1930 Bryan Magee writer
1930 Lou A de Graaf Dutch Assistant Secretary of Social Affairs (VDA)
1930 Uwe Kitzinger president (Templeton College, Oxford)
1931 Billy Vaughn Glasgow KY, singer (Chapel by the Sea)
1931 Martin Boykan composer
1932 Tiny Tim [Herbert Butros Khaury] New York NY, singer (Tip Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me)
1932 Henri Lazarof composer
1932 Jack Gelber US, playwright (Connection, Apple)
1933 Montserrat Caballé Barcelona Spain, soprano (Mimi-La Boheme)
1935 Wendy Savage obstetrician/gynaecologist
1936 Charles Napier actor (Night Stalker, Rambo)
1936 Kennedy A Simmonds premier (St Kitts & Nevis, 1983-95)
1937 Igor Petrovich Volk Russia, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-12)
1937 Raymond Ceulemans Belgian world champion billiards player
1939 Alan Ayckbourn London, playwright
1940 Herbie Hancock Chicago IL, pianist (I Thought it was You)
1941 Julio B Euson Aruban singer (I Use the Soap)
1942 Frank Bank Hollywood CA, actor (Lumpy-Leave it to Beaver)
1942 Bill Bryden theatre director
1942 Daniel Winslow Schmidt composer
1943 Charles Ludlam New York NY, playwright/actor (Big Easy)
1944 John Kay [Joachim F Krauledat] Tilsit East Prussia Germany, rocker (Steppenwolf-Hour of the World)
1944 Karel Kryl folk singer
1945 Hilary Nicolle educationist
1946 Ed[ward] O'Neill Youngstown OH, actor (Michael Mooney-Big Apple, Al Bundy-Married with Children)
1946 Peter L de Baan Dutch actor/director/playwright (Leonce & Lena)
1946 René Krijnen Dutch keyboardist (Les Baroques)
1947 Dan Lauria actor (Jack Arnold-Wonder Years) (1947 approximately)
1947 David Letterman Indianapolis IN, comedian (Late Night)
1947 Wayne Northrop Sumner WA, actor (Michael-Dynasty)
1948 Raphick Jumadeen cricketer (West Indies slow left-armer of the 70's)
1950 David Cassidy New York NY, singer/actor (Keith-Partridge Family)
1950 Tom Werner owner (San Diego Padres)/producer (Roseanne, Cosby Show)
1951 Jakson Spires rock drummer/songwriter (Blackfoot)
1952 Alexis Arguello Managua Nicaragua, featherweight boxer (1974 champion)
1952 Fred McCarren Butler PA, actor (Free Country, Amanda's)
1952 J D Nicholas English guitarist (Heatwave, Commodores)
1954 Marvin Johnson US, middleweight boxer (Olympics-bronze-1972)
1954 Pat Travers Toronto Ontario Canada, rock guitarist (Boom Boom, Out Go The Lights)
1956 Andy Garcia [Andrés Arturo García Menéndez] Havana Cube, actor (Stand & Deliver, 8 Million Ways to Die)
1956 Alexander Briley vocalist (YMCA-Village People)
1956 Doris Baaten Dutch actress (Sesame Street, Fien)
1958 Tony James rocker (Sigue Sigue Sputnik-Love Missile F-111)
1958 Will Sergeant rock guitarist (Echo & Bunnymen-Killing Moon, Heaven Up Here)
1959 Elissa Leeds New York NY, actress (Cissy-Dorothy)
1959 Pascal Barré France, sprint relay team/twin brother of Patrick (Olympics-bronze-1980)
1959 Patrick Barré France, sprint relay team/twin brother of Pascal (Olympics-bronze-1980)
1961 D D Verni heavy metal rocker (Overkill-Hello From the Gutter)
1961 Julius Kariuki Kenya, 3K steeplechaser (Olympics-gold-1988)
1964 Mike Macfarlane Stockton CA, catcher (Kansas City Royals)
1965 Elaine Zayak New Jersey, figure skater (Olympics-6th-1984)
1966 Jeffrey Hunter WLAF defensive end (London Monarchs)
1966 Lorenzo White NFL running back (Cleveland Browns)
1966 Theo Blanco WLAF receiver (Amsterdam Admirals)
1967 Bobby Abrams NFL outside linebacker (New England Patriots)
1967 Donna Andrews Lynchburg VA, LPGA golfer (1994 Nabisco Dinah Shore)
1967 Kirk Everist Houston TX, water polo driver (Olympics-96)
1967 Mellow Man Ace [Ulpiano Sergio Reyez] Havana Cuba, Spanish rapper/actor (Only the Strong)
1968 Adam Graves Toronto Ontario Canada, NHL left wing (New York Rangers)
1968 Alicia Coppola actress (Lorna Devon-Another World)
1968 Neal Fort CFL tackle (Montréal Alouettes)
1969 Michael Jackson NFL wide receiver (Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens)
1970 Patrick Brugnoli hockey forward (Team Italy 1998)
1971 Shannen Doherty Memphis TN, actress (Little House, Bev Hills 90210)
1971 Fernando Meligeni Argentina, tennis star
1971 Kent Manderville Edmonton, NHL left wing (Edmonton Oilers)
1971 Tyrone Chatman CFL linebacker (British Columbia Lions)
1973 Antonio Osuna Sinaloa México, pitcher (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1973 Claudia Jordan Miss Rhode Island-USA (1997, top 10)
1973 Pamela Polk Berlin WI, Miss Wisconsin-America (1996)
1974 Kabir Khan cricketer (Pakistani slow left-armer 1994- )
1974 Roman Hamrlik Gottwaldov Czechoslovakia, NHL defenseman (Lightning, Olympics-gold-98)
1975 Marcie Alberts WNBA guard (Cleveland Rockers)
1975 Sofie Rahman Miss Hong Kong-Universe (1996)
1978 Eddie Robinson actor (Neil Atwater-Swan's Crossing)
1979 Claire Danes New York NY, actress (Angela-My So Called Life, Romeo & Juliet)
_________________________________________________________________

Deaths which occurred on April 12:

0352 Julius I pope (337-52), dies
1550 Claude of Lorraine duke of Guise, dies at 53
1555 Johanna de Wanzinnige Queen of Castilie (1504-20), dies at 75
1690 Miguel Gomez Camargo composer, dies at 71
1704 John Hudde 21x mayor of Amsterdam, dies at 76
1748 William Kent English sculptor/architect (Kensington Palace), dies
1760 Baron Ernst Gottlieb composer, dies at 64
1777 Claude-Prosper J de Crébillon French writer (Le sopha), dies at 70
1788 Carl Joseph Toeschi composer, dies at 56
1788 Carlo Antonio Campioni composer, dies at 67
1795 Rainieri de Calzabigi Italian literary, dies at 80
1797 Josef Antonin Stepan composer, dies at 71
1817 Charles Messier "comet ferret" & catalogs famous "M objects", dies
1828 Jean Henri Appelius Dutch lawyer/minister of Finance, dies at 60
1845 Henry M baron the Kock officer/politician, dies at 65
1859 John Emde German evangelist, dies at about 84
1864 Thomas Green US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 50
1878 William M "Boss" Tweed New York politician, dies
1896 Alexander Ritter composer, dies at 62
1909 Hermann Kotzchmar composer, dies at 79
1910 William G Sumner US sociologist/politicologist (Folkways), dies at 69
1912 Clara Barton organized American Red Cross, dies at 90
1914 Josef Nesvera composer, dies at 71
1922 Frantisek Ondricek composer, dies at 64
1938 Feodor Chaliapine Russian author (Man & Mark), dies at 65
1938 Serafín Alvarez Quintéro Spanish playwright (Piropos), dies at 67
1942 Johannes E Akkeringa Dutch painter/etcher, dies at 80
1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt 32nd US President (1933-1945, Democrat), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs GA at 63
1946 August Borms Flemish nazi collaborator, executed at 67
1946 F Guicciardi writer, dies
1947 Christian F L Leipoldt South African writer (Die Moormansgat), dies
1951 Harold Vincent Milligan composer, dies at 62
1954 Pim [Willem JH] Mulier Dutch journalist/sports-organizer, dies at 89
1956 José Moscardo Ituarte Spanish General (Alcázar 1936), dies at 77
1959 Ernest Willem Mulder composer, dies at 60
1959 James Gleason dies at 76
1961 Nils-Eric Fougstedt composer, dies at 50
1961 Philippine "Pine" Belder [Mary de Klerk] actress, dies at 93
1965 Linda Darnell US actress (Dakota Incident), dies at 43
1966 Sumokil President of Republic South Moluccas, executed
1972 C W Ceram [Kurt Marek] German/US writer (1st American), dies at 57
1972 Henri Potiron composer, dies at 89
1974 Carl Jaffe dies at 72
1975 Joséphine Baker US/French revue artist (Folies-Bergère), dies at 68
1976 Paul Ford actor (Phil Silvers Show), dies at 74
1977 Philip K Wrigley baseball owner (Chicago Cubs), dies at 82
1980 William R Tolbert Jr Liberian President & 27 others killed in coup
1980 Stanley De Silva cricketer (motor bike Sri Lanka '79 World Cup), dies
1981 Hans Chemin-Petit composer, dies at 78
1981 Hendrik F Andriessen Dutch organist/composer (Te Deum), dies at 88
1981 Joe Louis [Brown bomber] US heavyweight champion (1937-49), dies at 66
1984 Ruth Taylor actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), dies at 76
1987 Ewan Calague economist/statistician (Social Security) dies at 90
1988 Alan Stewart Paton writer, dies
1989 Abbie Hoffman yippie peace activist of the 60's, dies at 52
1989 Sugar Ray Robinson [Walker Smith Jr] world welterweight champion (1946-51)/5-time middleweight champion, dies of Alzheimers at 67
1990 Henry Kendrick dies
1991 James Schuyler US poet (Pulitzer 1980), dies
1992 Joe Medwick vocalist, dies at 61
1993 Isaac Rojas Vice President of Argentina (1955-58), dies
1993 Patience Jarvis dies of melanoma at 56
1994 Harry la Fontaine Danish/US resistance fighter/producer, dies at 81
1994 Jean Carmet dies at 72
1994 Q T Macon blues vocal/guitar, dies at 60
1995 Chris Pyne trombonist, dies at 56
1996 Marthe Robert essayist/translator, dies at 82
1996 Nancy Sheehan writer, dies at 69
1996 William Wilkinson businessman/conservationist, dies at 63
1997 George Wald scientist, dies at 90

1770 British repeal hated Townshend Act

On this fateful day in 1770, the British government moves to mollify outraged colonists by repealing most of the clauses of the hated Townshend Act. Initially passed on June 29, 1767, the Townshend Act constituted an attempt by the British government to consolidate fiscal and political power over the American colonies by placing import taxes on many of the British products bought by Americans, including lead, paper, paint, glass and tea.

The measure bore the name of its sponsor, Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the Exchequer, who was notoriously conservative in his understanding of colonial rights. Townshend’s annual Revenue Act levied a controversial package of taxes on the colonists, including duties on lead, painters’ colors, paper and tea. The chancellor also undermined the colonial judiciary by increasing the power of the British navy’s vice-admiralty courts over American colonists and initiating an American Board of Customs Commissioners charged with enforcing his new import taxes. These taxes were used at least in part to fund the salaries of colonial governors and judges to ensure their financial, and thus political, independence from the colonial assemblies. Townshend also moved British troops from the western frontier to the eastern seaboard, where they were both less expensive to supply and more troubling to colonists, who feared that they were being asked to cover the expenses of their own military oppression.

Riotous protest of the Townshend Acts in the colonies often invoked the phrase “no taxation without representation.” Colonists eventually decided not to import British goods until the act was repealed and to boycott any goods that were imported in violation of their non-importation agreement. Colonial anger culminated in the deadly Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.

Also on March 5, Townshend’s successor (he had died soon after proposing the hated act), Lord Frederick North, asked Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts except for the duty on tea; he considered all the duties bad for trade and, thus, expensive for the British empire. However, he wished to avoid the appearance of weakness in the face of colonial protest and thus left the tea tax in place. This strategy successfully divided colonial merchants, eager, for their own enrichment, to resume trade in all British goods barring tea, from colonial craftsmen, who profited from non-importation agreements, and wished to leave them in place as long as the tax on tea remained in effect.
____________________________________________________________________

1861 Fort Sumter fired upon

The American Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

The fort had been the source of tension between the Union and Confederacy for several months. After South Carolina seceded, the state demanded the fort be turned over but Union officials refused. A supply ship, the "Star of the West," tried to reach Fort Sumter on January 9, but the shore batteries opened fire and drove it away. For both sides, Sumter was a symbol of sovereignty. The Union could not allow it to fall to the Confederates, although throughout the Deep South other federal installations had been seized. For South Carolinians, secession meant little if the Yankees still held the stronghold. The issue hung in the air when Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, stating in his inauguration address: "You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors."

Lincoln did not try to send reinforcements but he did send in food. This way, Lincoln could characterize the operation as a humanitarian mission, bringing, in his words, "food for hungry men." He sent word to the Confederates in Charleston of his intentions on April 6. The Confederate Congress at Montgomery, Alabama, had decided on February 15 that Sumter and other forts must be acquired "either by negotiation or force." Negotiation, it seemed, had failed. The Confederates demanded surrender of the fort, but Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter, refused.

At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, the Confederate guns opened fire. For thirty-three hours, the shore batteries lobbed 4,000 shells in the direction of the fort. Finally, the garrison inside the battered fort raised the white flag. No one on either side had been killed, although two Union soldiers died when the departing soldiers fired a gun salute, and some cartridges exploded prematurely. It was a nearly bloodless beginning to America's bloodiest war.
____________________________________________________________________

1864 Fort Pillow Massacre

Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's troops overwhelm Fort Pillow and 580 Union troops on the Mississippi River. More than half of the Yankee defenders were killed in what many believe was a needless massacre of soldiers who were trying to surrender. Most disturbing, two-thirds of the black troops inside the fort were killed while only one-third of the white soldiers perished.
__________________________________________________________________

1865 Surrender of Mobile, Alabama

The last major Confederate port city falls when Mobile, Alabama, surrenders to Union troops.
__________________________________________________________________

1917 Canadians capture Vimy Ridge

After three days of fierce combat and over 10,000 casualties suffered, the Canadian Corps seizes the previously German-held Vimy Ridge in northern France on April 12, 1917.

Many historians have pointed to the victory at Vimy Ridge during World War I as a moment of greatness for Canada, when it emerged from Britain’s shadow to attain its own measure of military achievement. As a result of the victory, earned despite the failure of the larger Allied offensive of which it was a part, Canadian forces earned a reputation for efficiency and strength on the battlefield.

The Allied offensive—masterminded by the French commander in chief, Robert Nivelle—began Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, as British and Canadian forces launched simultaneous attacks on German positions at Arras and Vimy Ridge, a heavily fortified, seven-kilometer-long raised stretch of land with a sweeping view of the Allied lines. The first day was overwhelmingly successful for the Allies, as the British punched through the Hindenburg Line—the defensive positions to which Germany had retreated in February 1917—and overran sections of two German trench lines within two hours, taking 5,600 prisoners.

The Canadians, attacking over a stretch of land littered with the dead of previous French attacks on the same positions, also moved swiftly in the first hours of the offensive, as four Canadian divisions stormed the ridge at 5:30 am on April 9, moving forward under cover of a punishing artillery barrage that forced the Germans to hunker down in their trenches and away from their machine guns. More than 15,000 Canadian infantry troops attacked Vimy Ridge that day, overrunning the German positions and taking 4,000 prisoners.

Three more days of heavy fighting resulted in victory on April 12, when control of Vimy was in Canadian hands. Though the Nivelle Offensive as a whole failed miserably, the Canadian operation had proved a success, albeit a costly one: 3,598 Canadian soldiers were killed and another 7,000 were wounded. Vimy Ridge became a shining example of Canada’s effort in the Great War, and one that served as a symbol of the sacrifice the young British dominion had made for the Allied cause. As Brigadier-General A.E. Ross famously declared after the war, “in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.” In 1922, the French government ceded Vimy Ridge and the land surrounding it to Canada; the gleaming white marble Vimy Memorial was unveiled in 1936 as a testament to the more than 60,000 Canadians who died in service during World War I.
____________________________________________________________________

1945 FDR dies

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in his home at Warm Springs, Georgia, on this day in 1945. The only man to be elected to four terms as president of the United States, Roosevelt is remembered--by friends and enemies alike-- for his New Deal social policies and his leadership during wartime.

Roosevelt was elected to a third term in 1940 with the promise of maintaining American neutrality as far as foreign wars were concerned: "Let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of American people sending its armies to European fields." But as Hitler's war spread, and the desperation of Britain grew, the president fought for passage in Congress of the Lend-Lease Act, in March 1941,which committed financial aid to Great Britain and other allies. In August, Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to proclaim the Atlantic Charter, which would become the basis of the United Nations; they also drafted a statement to the effect that the United States "would be compelled to take countermeasures" should Japan further encroach in the southwest Pacific.

Despite ongoing negotiations with Japan, that "further encroachment" took the form of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, "--a day that would live in infamy." The next day Roosevelt requested, and received, a declaration of war against Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

Certain wartime decisions by Roosevelt proved controversial, such as the demand of unconditional surrender of the Axis powers, which some claim prolonged the war. Another was the acquiescence to Joseph Stalin of certain territories in the Far East in exchange for his support in the war against Japan. Roosevelt is often accused of being too naýve where Stalin was concerned, especially in regards to "Uncle Joe's" own imperial desires.
_________________________________________________________________

1961 Rostow recommends escalation of effort

Walt W. Rostow, senior White House specialist on Southeast Asia and a principal architect of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine, delivers a memorandum to President John F. Kennedy asserting that the time has come for "gearing up the whole Vietnam operation." Rostow's proposals, almost all of which eventually became policy, included: a visit to Vietnam by the vice president; increasing the number of American Special Forces; increasing funds for South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem; and "persuading Diem to move more rapidly to broaden the base of his government, as well as to decrease its centralization and improve its efficiency."
_____________________________________________________________________

1975 U.S. Embassy in Cambodia evacuated

In Cambodia, the U.S. ambassador and his staff leave Phnom Penh when the U.S. Navy conducts its evacuation effort, Operation Eagle. On April 3, 1975, as the communist Khmer Rouge forces closed in for the final assault on the capital city, U.S. forces were put on alert for the impending embassy evacuation. An 11-man Marine element flew into the city to prepare for the arrival of the U.S. evacuation helicopters. On April 10, U.S. Ambassador Gunther Dean asked Washington that the evacuation begin no later than April 12.

At 8:50 a.m. on April 12, an Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service HH-53 landed a four-man Air Force combat control team to coordinate the operation. Three minutes later, it guided in a Marine Corps helicopter with the first element of the Marine security force. Marine and Air Force helicopters then carried 276 evacuees--including 82 Americans, 159 Cambodians, and 35 foreign nationals--to the safety of U.S. Navy assault carriers in the Gulf of Thailand. By 10 a.m., the Marine contingency force, the advance 11-man element, and the combat control team had been evacuated without any casualties.

On April 16, the Lon Nol government surrendered to the Khmer Rouge, ending five years of war. With the surrender, the victorious Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh and set about to reorder Cambodian society, which resulted in a killing spree and the notorious "killing fields." Eventually, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were murdered or died from exhaustion, hunger, and disease.