On This Day in History....

0607 Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1451 Alam Shah of Delhi resigns throne
1524 Pope Clemens VII fires Netherlands inquisitor-General French Van de Holly
1529 2nd Parliament of Spiers bans Lutheranism
1539 Charles, protestant German monarch, signs Treaty of Frankrfurt
1552 Mauritius of Saksen captures Karel
1587 Sir Frances Drake sails into Cadiz Spain & sinks Spanish fleet
1591 Chartres surrenders to king Henri IV in France
1619 Theatrum Anatomicum opens in Amsterdam
1713 Emperor Karel VI ends Pragmatic Sanctions
1770 Amsterdam buys Van Aerssens family 1/3 part of Suriname
1770 Captain James Cook 1st sees Australia
1774 CW Glucks opera "Iphigenia in Aulis", premieres in Paris France
1775 Minutemen Captain John Parker orders not to fire unless fired upon
1775 Revolution begins-Lexington Common, shot "heard round the world"
1782 Netherlands recognizes US
1825 33 patriotic exiles return to Uruguay
1836 Nikolai Gogol's "Revisor", premieres in St Petersburg
1837 Cheyney University forms as the Institute for Colored Youth
1839 Treaty of London constitutes Belgium an independent kingdom and Luxembourg a Grand Duchy
1852 California Historical Society forms
1853 Netherlands Van Hall government forms
1861 Baltimore riots - 4 soldiers, 9 civilians killed
1861 Lincoln orders blockade of Confederate ports (Civil War)
1863 Union troops/fleet occupy Fort Huger VA
1864 Naval Engagement at Cherbourg, FR USS Kearsage vs CSS Alabama
1874 Barracks on Alcatraz Island destroyed in fire
1877 The opera "Les Cloches de Corneville" is produced (Paris France)
1890 Henry Morton Stanley is inaugurated in Brussels
1894 Jules Massenet's opera "Werther", premieres in NYC
1896 Herzl's "The Jewish State" is published
1897 1st Boston Marathon won by John McDermott of New York in 2:55:10
1897 1st performance of Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande"
1898 2nd Boston Marathon won by Ron McDonald of Massachusetts in 2:42:00
1899 3rd Boston Marathon won by Lawrence Brignolia of Massachusetts in 2:54:38
1900 4th Boston Marathon won by Jim Caffrey of Canada in 2:39:44.4
1900 Highest scoring opening game, Phillies beat Braves 19-17 in 10
1901 5th Boston Marathon won by Jim Caffrey of Canada in 2:29:23.6
1902 6th Boston Marathon won by Sam Mellor of New York in 2:43:12
1904 8th Boston Marathon won by Michael Spring of New York in 2:38:04.4
1904 Much of Toronto destroyed by fire
1905 9th Boston Marathon won by Fred Lorz of New York in 2:38:25.4
1906 10th Boston Marathon won by Tim Ford of Massachusetts in 2:45:45
1906 Belgian naval education ship Comte The Stain de Naeyer sets sail
1907 11th Boston Marathon won by Tom Longboat of Canada in 2:24:24
1909 13th Boston Marathon won by Henri Renaud of New Hampshire in 2:53:36.8
1909 Joan of Arc, declared a saint
1910 14th Boston Marathon won by Fred Cameron of Canada in 2:28:52.4
1910 Halley's comet seen by naked eye 1st time this trip (Curacao)
1911 15th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar of Massachusetts in 2:21:39.6
1911 George Bernard Shaw's "Fanny's First Play", premieres in London
1912 16th Boston Marathon won by Mike Ryan of New York in 2:21:18.2
1913 17th Boston Marathon won by Fritz Carlson of Minnesota in 2:25:14.8
1915 19th Boston Marathon won by Edouard Fabre of Canada in 2:31:41.2
1916 "Bing Boys are Here" opens in London
1916 20th Boston Marathon won by Arthur Roth of Massachusetts in 2:27:16.4
1916 Italians troops conquer Colonel di Lana at Merano
1917 21st Boston Marathon won by Bill Kennedy of New York in 2:28:37.2
1919 23rd Boston Marathon won by Carl Linder of Massachusetts in 2:29:13.4
1919 André Messager 's opera "Monsieur Beaucaire" is produced (London)
1919 French assembly decides on 8 hour work day
1919 Leslie Irvin of US makes 1st parachute jump & free fall
1920 24th Boston Marathon won by Peter Trivoulidas of Greece in 2:29:31
1921 25th Boston Marathon won by Frank Zuna of New Jersey in 2:18:57.6
1921 Funeral of last German Emperoress, Augusta Victoria
1922 26th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar of Massachusetts in 2:18 10
1923 27th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar of Massachusetts in 2:23:37.4
1923 New Egyptian law allows suffrage for men, except soldiers
1924 "National Barn Dance" premieres on WLS Chicago
1924 28th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar of Massachusetts in 2:29:40.2
1926 30th Boston Marathon won by Johnny Miles of Canada in 2:25:40.4
1927 "Vagabond King" opens in London
1927 31st Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar of Massachusetts in 2:40:22.2
1928 32nd Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar of Massachusetts in 2:37:07.8
1928 Japanese troops occupies Sjantung-schiereiland
1928 New York Yankees are out of 1st place for 1st time since May 1926
1929 33rd Boston Marathon won by Johnny Miles of Canada in 2:33:08.6
1930 Clarence DeMar wins his 7th Boston Marathon
1930 34th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar of Massachusetts in 2:34:48.2
1932 36th Boston Marathon won by Paul de Bruyn of Germany in 2:33:36.4
1932 President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week
1933 FDR announces US will leave the gold standard
1933 37th Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson of Rhode Island in 2:31:01.6
1934 Shirley Temple appears in her 1st movie, "Stand Up & Cheer"
1934 38th Boston Marathon won by Dave Komonen of Canada in 2:32:53.8
1935 39th Boston Marathon won by John A Kelley of Massachusetts in 2:32:07.4
1936 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Palestine
1937 41st Boston Marathon won by Walter Young of Canada in 2:33:20
1938 42nd Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson of Rhode Island in 2:35:34.8
1938 Phil Emmett Mueller & Dodger Ernie Koy both homer in their 1st at bat
1939 Connecticut finally approves Bill of Rights (148 years late)
1939 43rd Boston Marathon won by Ellison Brown of Rhode Island in 2:28:51.8
1940 "Lake Shore Ltd" derails, killing 34 near Little Falls NY
1940 44th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:28:28.6
1940 Dutch prime minister De Geer declares state of siege
1941 45th Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson of Rhode Island in 2:30:38
1941 Bertolt Brecht's "Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder", premieres in Zürich
1941 Bulgarian troops invade Macedonia
1941 Milk rationed in Holland
1942 46th Boston Marathon won by Joe Smith of Massachusetts in 2:26:51.2
1943 Jews attack Nazi occupation forces at Warsaw Ghetto under Mordechai Anielewicz
1943 47th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:28:25.8
1944 Gerard Cote wins his 2nd straight & 3rd career Boston Marathon
1944 Allied fleet attack Sabang Sumatra
1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Carousel" opens on Broadway
1945 49th Boston Marathon won by John A Kelley of Massachusetts in 2:30:40.2
1945 US aircraft carrier Franklin is heavily damaged in Japanese air raid
1946 Yankees switch from 3rd base to 1st base dug out
1947 AAU record for a 25' rope climb is set in 4.7 seconds
1947 51st Boston Marathon won by Yun Bok Soh of Korea in 2:25:39
1947 French ship explodes in Texas City harbor, kills about 522
1947 Stanley Cup Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montréal Canadiens, 4 games to 2
1948 52nd Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:31:02
1948 ABC-TV network begins
1948 Chiang Kai-shek elected President of Nationalist China
1949 Yankees dedicate a plaque for Babe Ruth
1949 53rd Boston Marathon won by Gosta Leandersson of Sweden in 2:31:50.8
1950 54th Boston Marathon won by Kee Yong Ham of Korea in 2:32:39
1951 "Tree Grows in Brooklyn" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 267 performances
1951 55th Boston Marathon won by Shigeki Tanaka of Japan in 2:27:45
1951 General Douglas MacArthur ends his military career
1952 56th Boston Marathon won by Doroteo Flores of Guatemala in 2:31:53
1953 Louise Suggs wins LPGA San Diego Golf Open
1953 WAFB TV channel 9 in Baton Rouge LA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1954 7-time winner of the Boston Marathon, 65-year-old Clarence Demar, runs his last race at Boston finishing 78th
1954 58th Boston Marathon won by Veikko Karvonen of Finland in 2:20:39
1955 59th Boston Marathon won by Hideo Hamamura of Japan in 2:18:22
1956 US actress Grace Kelly marries Monaco's Prince Rainier III (civil ceremony)
1956 1st major league baseball game in New Jersey, Dodgers beat Phillies in Roosevelt Stadium
1956 60th Boston Marathon won by Antti Viskari of Finland in 2:14:14
1958 62nd Boston Marathon won by Franjo Mihalic of Yugoslavia in 2:25:54
1959 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Dallas Civitan Golf Open
1959 Uprising in La Paz Bolivia, fails
1960 Baseball uniforms begin displaying player's names on their backs
1960 Comiskey Park's famed "exploding" scoreboard begins operating
1960 64th Boston Marathon won by Paavo Kotila of Finland in 2:20:54
1961 65th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:39
1962 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to an altitude of 6,900 meter
1962 66th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:48
1963 "Hot Spot" opens at the Majestic Theater NYC for 43 performances
1963 67th Boston Marathon won by Aurele Vandendriessche of Belgium in 2:18:58
1964 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Invitational
1964 Rightist coup in Laos, Suvanna Phuma remains premier
1964 Roger Sessions' opera "Montezuma", premieres in West-Berlin
1965 T.A.M.I. Show premieres in London
1965 1st all news radio station (WINS 1010 AM in NYC) begins operating
1965 69th Boston Marathon won by Morio Shigematsu of Japan in 2:16:33
1965 At a cost of $20,000, the outer Astrodome ceiling is painted because of sun's glare, this causes the grass to die and eventually led to the installation of Astroturf
1966 Roberta Bignay becomes the 1st woman to run in the Boston Marathon
1966 70th Boston Marathon won by Kenji Kimihara of Japan in 2:17:11
1966 In 1st regular season game at Anaheim Stadium, Angels lose 3-1 to Chicago
1967 Beatles sign a contract to stay together for 10 years (they don't)
1967 US Surveyor III lands on Moon
1967 "Casino Royale" premieres
1967 71st Boston Marathon won by Dave McKenzie of New Zealand in 2:15:45
1967 Yugoslav author Mihaljo Mihaljov sentenced 4½ years
1968 72nd Boston Marathon won by Amby Burfoot (1st American to win since 1957) of Connecticut in 2:22:17
1968 Belgian construction workers strike
1968 National League owners approve expansion for 2 new teams
1969 "Oliver", Cliff Robertson & Katharine Hepburn win 51st Academy Awards
1970 "Look to the Lilies" closes at Lunt-Fontanne NYC after 25 performances
1970 24th Tony Awards Borstal Boy & Applause win
1970 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational
1971 Sierra Leone becomes a republic (National Day)
1971 USSR Salyut 1 launched; 1st manned lab in orbit
1971 75th Boston Marathon won by Alvaro Mejia of Colombia in 2:18:45
1971 Charles Manson sentenced to life (Sharon Tate murder)
1972 Bangladesh becomes a member of British Commonwealth
1972 Hungary revises constitution
1972 Micki Grant's musical "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" opens at Playhouse NYC for 1,065 performances
1972 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1973 Barbra Streisand records "Between Yesterday & Tomorrow"
1973 George Steinbrenner replaces Mike Burke with Gabe Paul as Yankee president
1973 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1974 Baltimore Oriole Al Bumbry hits an inside-the-park homerun against the New York Yankees
1975 India launches 1st satellite with help of USSR
1976 5th Boston Women's Marathon won by Kim Merritt of Wisconsin in 2:47:10
1976 80th Boston Marathon won by Jack Fultz of Washington DC in 2:20:19
1978 Yitzhak Navron elected 5th President of Israel
1979 FCC raids & shuts down pirate radio station WFAT (Brooklyn NY)
1979 Following a 6-3 loss to the Orioles, Yankees Goose Gossage & Cliff Johnson brawl, Gossage sustains a sprained ligament in his left thumb
1981 Beth Daniel wins LPGA Florida Lady Citrus Golf
1981 Oakland A's runs record to 11-0
1981 Rochester Red Wings & Pawtucket Red Sox play to 2-2 tie in 32 innings, game suspended at 4:07 AM (Pawtucket later wins in 33rd)
1981 William Finn's musical "March of Falsettos", premieres in NYC
1982 Rosie Ruiz, marathon race cheater, arrested for forgery
1982 Sally Ride announced as 1st woman astronaut
1982 USSR Salyut 7 space station put into orbit
1982 11th Boston Women's Marathon won by Charlotte Teske of Germany in 2:29:33
1982 86th Boston Marathon won by Alberto Salazar of Oregon in 2:08:51
1982 Guinon Bluford announced as 1st black astronaut
1983 France performs nuclear test
1984 Nemesis, death star of dinosaurs 1st appears in print (Nature magazine)
1985 16th Space Shuttle Mission (51-D)-Discovery 4 returns to Earth
1985 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1986 Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1987 Jacqueline Blanc, sets women's downhill ski speed record (124.902 mph)
1987 Los Angeles Clippers end season with a terrible 12-70 record
1987 Brendon Kuruppu scores 201 on Test Cricket debut (Sri Lanka vs New Zealand)
1987 Gregory Robertson does 200-mph free fall to save unconscious skydiver
1987 Jan Stephenson wins LPGA Santa Barbara Golf Open
1987 Last wild condor captured on California wildlife reserve
1987 Milwaukee Brewers score 5 runs in 9th to win 6-4 & record 12th straight American League win
1987 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1989 Kevin Elster (New York Mets), sets errorless shortstop mark at 73
1989 Republic Day in Sierra Leone
1989 Gun turret explodes on USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors
1990 Detroit Pistons & Philadelphia 76'ers get into a fight accruing $162,500 in fines (an NBA record)
1990 Marla Maples appears on ABC's Prime-Time
1990 Contra guerrillas, leftist Sandinistas & incoming government agree to truce in Nicaragua's civil war
1991 Battle of the Ages-Heavyweight champion Evander Hollyfield beats 42 year old George Foreman in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1991 Greyhound Bus posts $195 million loss for 1990
1992 Balki & Mary Ann wed on "Perfect Strangers"
1992 "4 Baboons Adoring the Sun" closes at Beaumont NYC after 38 performances
1992 Dottie Mochrie wins LPGA Sega Women's Golf Championship
1993 22nd Boston Women's Marathon won by Olga Markova of Russia in 2:25:27
1993 97th Boston Marathon won by Cosmas N'deti of Kenya in 2:09:33
1993 Branch Dividians/FBI 51 day standoff in Waco TX ends with the deaths of 4 FBI Agents and numerous deaths from suicide of the cult members
1993 Fire in psychiatric institute in South Korea, kills 40
1994 15th Emmy Sports Award presentation
1994 Graeme Obree bicycles world record 10km (11:25.88)
1994 Inkatha ends boycott of South African multi-racial election
1994 Rodney King award $3,800,000 in compensation of police beating
1994 Supreme Court outlaws excluding people from juries because of gender
1995 Chopper 4 1st used on WNBC TV (NYC) news
1995 Truck bomb outside Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, kills 168 & injures 500
1996 Rangers scores 16 in 8th vs Orioles
1996 South Africa defeats Pakistan to win the Pepsi Cup in Sharjah
1997 Renee Slaughter, crowned 14th Miss Hawaiian Tropic International
1997 San Diego Padres & St Louis Cardinals play at Aloha Stadium Hawaii
=====================================================

Missing In Action.......

1961 BAKER LEO AL SHOT DOWN BAY OF PIGS 1961 - NATIONAL GUARD CAPTURED/SHOT BURIED WITH UNCLAIMED CUBAN INVADERS
1961 RAY "THOMAS ""PETE""" BIRMINGHAM AL SHOT DOWN BAY OF PIGS 1961 - CAPTURED/SHOT 1979 - CASTRO FROZE REMAINS NATIONAL GUARD
1966 ADAMS LEE A. WILLITS CA
1966 BROWN JOSEPH O. NORWALK CT "REMAINS RETURNED, IDENTIFIED 12/03/98"
1966 ROBBINS RICHARD J. CLEVELAND OH 09/27/96 REMAINS RETURNED
1967 HAMILTON JOHN S. SILVER CITY NM NO CHUTE BEEP REMAINS RETURNED 10/97
1967 MADISON THOMAS M. TUSKEGEE AL 03/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1967 STERLING THOMAS JAMES AUSTIN TX 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1968 BLODGETT DOUGLAS R. ALEXANDRIA VA
1968 DENNIS WILLIAM R. PITTSBURGH PA
1968 GONZALEZ JESUS A. PITTSBURGH PA
1968 HOUSH ANTHONY F. NEWTON IL
1968 LORD ARTHUR JAMES SAVANNAH GA "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 MILLARD CHARLES W. WILSON NC "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 SHAFER PHILIP R. GRAND JUNCTION CO "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 WALLACE MICHAEL J. ANN ARBOR MI
1968 WERDEHOFF MICHAEL M. TOLEDO OH "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 WILBURN JOHN E. LUTHER OK

Births which occurred on April 19:

1320 Pedro I King of Portugal (1357-67)
1605 Orazio Benevoli composer
1660 Sebastian Duron composer
1700 Georg Abraham Schneider composer
1715 James Nares composer
1721 Roger Sherman signer (Declaration of Independence, Constitution)
1721 Thomas McKean attorney (signed Declaration of Independence) [or 3/19]
1728 Francisco Albergati Capacelli Italian playwright
1737 Geert Reinders Dutch cattle breeder/inoculation propagandist
1768 Adrian H Haworth English entomologist/botanist
1771 Giuseppe Cartufo composer
1772 David Ricardo economist
1775 Battle of Lexington & Concord-American Revolution
1785 Alexandre Pierre François Boely composer
1795 Christian Gottfried Ehrenburg German zoologist
1798 Franz Joseph Glaser composer
1798 Heinrich Maria von Hess historical painter
1801 Gustav T Fechner [Dr Mises] German philosopher/physicist
1805 Charles Edmond-Hénri de Coussemaker Belgian musicologist/historian
1817 John Philip painter
1821 Mortimer Dormer Leggett Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1896
1830 Rudolf Cornely German bible expert/jesuit
1832 José Echegaray y Eizaguirre mathematician/dramatist (Nobel 1904)
1832 Lucretia Rudolph Garfield US 1st lady (1881-1885)
1838 August[us] Allebé Dutch painter/lithographer
1840 Andrea Bezzola writer
1850 Edward John Gregory painter/engraver
1850 Theo Mann-Bouwmeester Dutch actress (Pink Bernd, Hedda Gabler)
1857 Lucien Levy-Bruhl philosopher
1858 May Robson [Mary J Robison] Melbourne Australia, actress (Apple Annie)
1858 Siegfried Ochs composer
1861 Warden Oncle [Edward Vermeulen] Flemish farmer/writer
1863 Felix Blumenfeld composer
1866 Henri Deterding Dutch oil magnate (Royal Oil, Shell)
1868 Max Von Schillings German composer/conductor (Der Pfeifertag)
1873 Sydney Barnes cricketer (probably England's greatest bowler)
1874 Firmin Baes Flemish painter
1876 Hendrik Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin/king of Netherlands
1877 Ole Evinrude inventor (outboard marine engine)
1879 Richard Scheibe German sculptor (Adler mit Hakenkreuz)
1883 Getúlio Vargas President of Brazil (1930-45, 1951-54), modernizer
1888 William L Axt composer
1890 Lou Bandy [Lodewijk F Dieben] revue-artist (Look for the Sun)
1891 Francoise Rosay Paris France, actress (Interlude, Women in Prison, Saraband)
1891 Ricardo Bacchelli Italian writer/poet (La Ronda)
1892 Germaine Tailleferre [Les Six] Pau-St-Maur France, composer
1897 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney sculptor/art benefactor
1897 Vivienne Segal Philadelphia PA, Broadway actress (Pal Joey)
1898 Constance Talmadge Brooklyn NY, comedienne/actress (Intolerance)
1898 Sybil Andrews English/Canadian painter
19-- Robert Tyler [Barry Kaufman] Stockton CA, actor (Trucker McKenzie-Loving)
1900 Allen Jenkins New York NY, actor (Girl Habit, Fugitive from a Chain Gang)
1900 Richard Arthur Warren Hughes English writer (Fiction as Truth)
1903 Eliot Ness untouchable (Prohibition Agent for Department of Treasury-Chicago, Untouchables)
1905 John S "Jimmy" Thach US pilot/Admiral (WWII)
1905 Tommy Benford jazz drummer
1907 Alan Wheatley England, actor (Adventure of Robin Hood)
1907 Gino Contilli composer
1907 Lina Basquette San Mateo CA, actress (Paradise Park, Pleasure, Goldie)
1910 Andrew Gilchrist historian/diplomat
1911 Francesco Maria Saraceni composer
1912 Glenn T Seaborg head of Atomic Energy Commission/chemist/discovered Plutonium/Nobel 1951
1912 William Murray teacher/educationalist
1913 Cyril English British educator
1914 Andrew Wilkinson pediatrician
1915 Dorian Le Gallienne composer
1915 Harry Craft baseball manager
1917 Johnny Hoes Dutch musician/producer (Wished I'd stayed with my Mom)
1919 Gil Langley cricketer (Australian wicket-keeper 1951-56)
1920 Frank Fontaine Cambridge MA, comedian (Crazy Guggenheim)
1921 Glyn England CEO (CEGB, Windcluster Ltd)
1921 Will Ogdon composer
1922 Erich Hartmann German WWII pilot (downed 352 Russian aircrafts)
1922 Luigi Barbbarito reverend (Apostolic ProNuncio)
1925 Hugh O'Brian [Krampke] Rochester NY, actor (Wyatt Earp, Search)
1927 Don Barbour Greencastle IN, singer (4 Freshmen)
1928 Alexis Korner Paris France, musician (Blues Inc-Bootleg Him)
1928 John Horlock British vice-chancellor (Open College)
1929 Edward Crook Detroit MI, middleweight boxer (Olympics-gold-1960)
1931 Alex Webster football coach (New York Giants)
1931 Denis Henry British high court judge
1931 Garfield Morgan Brtish actor (Odessa File, To Catch a Spy)
1931 Hendrick J "Kobie" Coetsee South Africa minister of Defense/Justice
1932 Andrea Mead Lawrence Rutland VT, alpine slalom skier (Olympics-2 gold-52)
1933 Dick Sargent Carmel CA, actor (Darrin-Bewitched)
1933 Jayne Mansfield [Vera Jane Palmer] Bryn Mawr PA, actress (Guide for the Married Man, Girl Can't Help It, Too Hot to Handle)
1933 Harold "Dickie" Bird cricketer (noted England Test umpire)
1934 Dickie Goodman parody singer (Flying Saucer)
1934 Jan Helge Guttorm Bark composer
1934 John Roch high court judge
1935 Dudley Moore London England, actor (10, Arthur, Bedazzled, 6 Weeks)
1936 Csaba Szabo composer
1936 Ruby Johnson US singer (I'll Run Your Hurt Away)
1936 Wilfried Martens premier (Belgium, 1979-81, 1981-92)
1937 Elinor Donahue Tacoma WA, actress (Betty Anderson-Father Knows Best, Gladys Peterson-Get a Life)
1938 Jonathan Tunick composer
1939 Ellen Weston New York NY, actress (Betty-SWAT)
1939 E Clay Shaw Jr (Representative-Republican-FL, 1981- )
1939 Michael John Macaulay cricketer (Transvaal, Western Province, Orange Free State, North Eastern Transvaal, Eastern Province & South Africa)
1940 Algy Cluff CEO (Spectator, Cluff Resources)
1941 Alan Price Fatfield Durham England, rock keyboardist (Animals-House of the Rising Sun)
1941 Michel Roux chef de cuisine
1943 Mike Kelly rocker (Duprees)
1944 Mark "Flo" Volman rocker (Flo & Eddie, Turtles-Eleanor)/DJ (WKRK)
1944 Bernard Worrell US keyboardist (Funkadelic-Cosmic Slop)
1944 Margo MacDonald Scottish national broadcaster
1945 Nuria Ortiz México, skeet shooter (Olympics-13th-1968)
1946 Leon Wessels South Africa lawyer/underminister of Law & Order
1946 Tim Curry Cheshire England, actor (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
1946 Viktor Viktorovich Zabolotsky Russia, cosmonaut (BST-02)
1947 Frits Castricum journalist/Dutch MP (PvdA)
1947 Murray Perahia New York NY, pianist (Avery Fischer Prize-1975, Grammy 1988)
1947 Wilf Stevenson director (British Film Institute)
1949 Myra McCulloch teacher academic/administrator
1949 Paloma Picasso [Gilot] Paris France, artist/jewelry designer/actress (Immoral Tales)
1950 Jeff Hammond cricketer (Australian fast bowler on 1973 West Indies tour)
1950 Marc Demeyer Belgian bicyclist (Paris-Brussel '74)
1952 Adny Shernoff rocker
1953 Sara Simeoni Italy, high jumper (Olympics-gold-1980)
1954 Trevor Francis British soccer manager
1956 Lori West Denver CO, LPGA golfer (1994 State Farm-5th)
1956 Sue Barker England, tennis star
1957 [Boaz] Boo Watson keyboardist (Midnight Star-No Parking)
1957 Belinda Lipscomb vocalist (Midnight Star-No Parking)
1957 Rod Morgenstein rocker (Winger)
1960 Frank Viola Hempstead NY, pitcher (Minnesota Twins, New York Mets/Cy Young-1988)
1961 Richard Phelps British pentathlete
1962 Al Unser Jr Indy-car racer (over 10 wins)
1962 Christa Teno Tecumseh Ontario Canada, LPGA golfer (1989 Mitsubishi-44th)
1964 Harris Barton NFL tackle (San Francisco 49ers)
1964 Scott Kamienicki pitcher (New York Yankees)
1965 Melita Rühn Romania, horse vaulter (Olympics-bronze-1980)
1966 Paul Reiffel cricketer (Victorian & Australian pace bowler)
1966 Randolph Keys NBA forward (Milwaukee Bucks)
1968 Ashley Taylor Judd [Ciminella] Granada Hills CA, actress (Kuffs, Sisters)
1968 Brent Mayne Loma Linda CA, catcher (New York Mets)
1968 Keith McCants NFL defensive end (Arizona Cardinals)
1968 Roger Reinson CFL linebacker (Calgary Stampeders)
1968 Thomas Nock Zurich Switzerland, actor (Tartort, Gemini-Twin Stars)
1969 Carlos Reyes Miami FL, pitcher (Oakland A's)
1969 Danelle Marie Folta Hammond IN, playmate (April 1995)
1969 James Westphal Oak Park IL, 10k runner
1970 Luis Miguel Vera Cruz México, Spanish singer
1970 Michael Barrow NFL linebacker (Houston Oilers, Carolina Panthers)
1970 Rick Hamilton WLAF linebacker (Barcelona Dragons)
1971 Otis Scott Gainesville FL, 400 meter/800 meter runner
1972 Eric Jack NFL cornerback (Atlanta Falcons)
1972 Jeff Wilkins NFL kicker (San Francisco 49ers)
1974 Ante Moric Australian soccer midfielder (Olyroos, Olympics-96)
1975 Jason Gillespie cricketer (SA fast bowler, Australia 1996)
1975 Nazarena Almada Miss Argentina-Universe (1997)
1975 Temoc Suarez Greenwood SC, soccer forward (Olympics-gold-96)
1976 Vanessa Guzman Miss México-Universe (1996)
1978 Adrienne Parker Miss Tennessee Teen-USA (1996)
1978 Whitney Metzler 400 meter medley swimmer (Olympics-8th-96)
1979 Challen Sievers Downers Grove IL, rhythmic gymnast (Olympics-96)
1979 Mariah Billado Miss Vermont Teen-USA (1997)
======================================================

Deaths which occurred on April 19:

0843 Judith French empress/2nd wife of Louis de Vrome, dies
1044 Gothelo duke of Netherlands-Lotharingen, dies
1054 Leo IX [Bruno von Egesheim und Dagsburg] Pope (1049-54), dies at 51
1390 Robert II King of Scotland, dies
1529 John Cuspinianus [Spiessheimer] German physician, dies at about 55
1560 Philipp Melanchton [Schwazerd] church reformer, dies at 63
1567 Michael Stifel German theologist/mathematician, dies at about 79
1588 Paolo Veronese [Cagliari] painter, dies
1608 Earl of Dorset poet/statesman, dies
1645 Anton van Diemen Governor-General (Netherlands East Indies), dies at about 51
1645 William Smith composer, dies at 42
1658 Robert Rich 2nd earl of Warwick English Lord High Admiral, dies at 70
1689 Christina Queen of Sweden (1644-54), dies
1706 Galenus Abrahamsz de Haen Dutch baptist leader, dies
1739 Nicholas Saunderson mathematician, dies
1768 Filippo della Valle Italian sculptor, dies at about 70
1770 Esprit Joseph Antoine Blanchard composer, dies at 74
1772 Johann Peter Kellner composer, dies at 66
1773 Florian Johann Deller composer, dies at 43
1776 Jacob Israel Emden [Jacob ben Tswi] German rabbi, dies at 78
1791 Richard Price nonconformist minister/writer (Alabi's World), dies
1799 Pieter Hellendaal violinist/organist/composer (Glees), dies at 78
1813 Benjamin Rush physician/abolotionist (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 67
1824 [George Gorden Noel] "Lord" Byron poet, dies at 36
1852 Vasili A Zjukovski Russian folk poet/translator (Homerus), dies at 69
1862 Simon Fraser Canadian explorer, dies
1862 Louis Powell Harvey US Governor of Wisconsin, drowns
1867 Robert Smirke British architect, dies
1870 Andreas Schelfhout painter/etcher/lithographer, dies at 83
1870 Camille Marie Stamaty composer, dies at 59
1870 William Henry Havergal composer, dies at 77
1874 Owen Jones architect, dies
1876 Samuel Sebastian Wesley composer, dies at 65
1881 Benjamin Disraeli 1st Earl (Beaconsfield)/novelist, dies
1881 Michel Abeloos Flemish sculptor, dies at 53
1882 Charles Robert Darwin evolutionist (Origin of Species), dies
1889 Warren De La Rue astronomer/chemist, dies
1893 John Addington Symonds critic/poet, dies
1895 George Scharf critic, dies
1895 Victor J van Hinsbergh South Netherlands engraver (PTT-stempels), dies at 70
1900 Ivan K Aïvazovski Russian painter (harbor scenes), dies at 82
1906 Pierre Curie French physicist/chemist (Nobel 1903), dies
1914 Charles Pierce philosopher/scientist, dies
1923 Thomas Paine Westendorf composer, dies at 75
1926 Squire Bancroft [Butterfield] actor/manager (Haymarket), dies at 84
1932 Wladyslaw Rzepko composer, dies at 77
1937 William M Conway English historian/explorer (Spitzbergen), dies at 81
1938 Henry John Newbolt poet/author (Studies Green & Gray), dies at 75
1938 Marie-Clémentine "Suzanne" Valadon French acrobat/model, dies at 72
1941 Johanna Muller-Hermann composer, dies at 63
1943 Alexander Schmorell German resistance fighter, beheaded
1943 Gustave Doret composer, dies at 76
1943 Kurt Huber German resistance fighter, beheaded
1943 Willy Graf German resistance fighter, beheaded
1944 Tommy Hitchcock polo player (Westchester Cup 1924, 27), dies at 44
1945 J P Heyboer resistance fighter, executed
1950 Tyrwhitt-Wilson 14th baron Berners/composer, dies at 66
1954 Joe Laurie Jr comedian (Can You Top This?), dies at 61
1956 Ernst R Curtius German literature historian, dies at 70
1956 Léon N H Jungschlaeger head military intelligence Netherlands-Indies, dies at 52
1956 Lionel K P "Buster" Crabb British diver (WWII), dies at 47
1957 Charles Funk Encylopediest (Funk & Wagnalls), dies at 76
1957 Johan W Albarda 1st Dutch SDAP minister (1939-45), dies at 79
1964 Cyril Merry cricketer (West Indies batsman in 2 Tests 1933), dies
1965 George Davis actor (Private Lives, Devil May Care), dies at 75
1966 Väinö A Tanner Finnish premier (1926-27)/minister, dies at 85
1967 Conrad Adenauer West Germany chancellor (1949-63), dies at 91
1968 Tommy Bridges US baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers), dies at 61
1969 Casper Höweler music critic, dies at 71
1972 Adolf Bach German philologist/sociologist, dies at 82
1978 Emile de Strijker Belgian philosopher, dies at 70
1980 Alfred [Joseph] Hitchcock dies in Los Angeles CA from renal failure at 80
1980 Ethel Wilson actress (Aunt Harriet-Aldrich Family), dies at 88
1980 Tony Beckley actor (Assault, When a Stranger Calls), dies at 51
1981 Ernst Levy composer, dies at 85
1983 Lorene Scott actress (Faraway Hill), dies at 74
1983 Jerzy Andrzejewski writer (Ashes & Diamonds), dies at 73
1986 Alvin Childress actor (Amos-Amos 'n' Andy), dies at 78
1986 Dag Ivar Wiren composer, dies at 80
1987 Maxwell D Taylor US commander 101st airborne (WWII), dies at 85
1987 Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum Actor (Mr Green Jeans), dies at 77
1989 Daphne Du Maurier English writer (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn), dies at 82
1990 Vladislav Ivanovich Gulyayev Russia, cosmonaut, dies at 52
1992 Alice Mary Riley entertainer, dies of cancer at 51
1992 Frankie [Francis Alex] Howerd actor (Mr Mustard-Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Carry on Doctor, Up the Front, That Was the Week That Was), dies from a heart attack at 70
1992 Pat Thompson actress (Strictly Ballroom), dies at 51
1992 Robert F Clayton drummer (Jody Grind), dies at 26 in a car crash
1992 Robert Paul Haynes bassist (Jody Grind), dies at 26 in a car crash
1993 David Koresh [Vernon Howell] cult leader (Davidians), suicide
1993 George Mickelson Governor of South Dakota, & 7 others, die in a plane crash
1994 Frederick Ferrari crazy Gang Member, dies at 81
1994 Larry Davis blues Singer/Guitarist, dies at 57
1994 Louis Simmonds bookseller, dies at 87
1994 Michael Carreras film Director, dies at 67
1994 Michel van Rooy Dutch actor (Doctor Vlimmen, The Attack), dies at 43
1995 "King" Herbert Whitaker tenor sax, dies at 66
1995 Igor Hajek translator/writer, dies at 64
1995 J[oseph] Peter Grace CEO (W R Grace), dies at 82
1995 Kenneth Burslam Gardner librarian/Orientalist, dies at 70
1996 Bernard Edwards bass player, dies at 44
1996 Norman Oldfield cricketer (scored 99 runs in Test for England), dies
1996 Peg Ridge peace campaigner, dies at 72

1775 The American Revolution begins

On this day in 1775, at about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed Minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town's common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and, after a moment's hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the "shot heard around the world" was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others were wounded; only one British soldier was injured. The American Revolution had begun.

By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had reached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against the Patriot arsenal at Concord and capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington.

The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a military action by the British for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes were ordered to set out to rouse the militiamen and warn Adams and Hancock. When the British troops arrived at Lexington, Adams, Hancock and Revere had already fled to Philadelphia, and a group of militiamen were waiting. The Patriots were routed within minutes, but warfare had begun, leading to calls to arms across the Massachusetts countryside.

When the British troops reached Concord at about 7 a.m., they found themselves encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots. They managed to destroy the military supplies the Americans had collected, but were soon advanced upon by a gang of Minutemen, who inflicted numerous casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Frances Smith, the overall commander of the British force, ordered his men to return to Boston without directly engaging the Americans. As the British retraced their 16-mile journey, their lines were constantly beset by Patriot marksmen firing at them guerrilla-style from behind trees, rocks and stone walls. At Lexington, Captain Parker's militia had its revenge, killing several British soldiers as the Redcoats hastily marched through town. By the time the British finally reached the safety of Boston, nearly 300 British soldiers had been killed, wounded or were missing in action. The Patriots suffered fewer than 100 casualties.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolution, a conflict that would escalate from a colonial uprising into a world war that, seven years later, would give birth to an independent United States of America.
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1861 Baltimore Riots

Residents of Baltimore, Maryland, attack a Union regiment while the group makes its way to Washington, D.C.

Baltimore's hostilities to the North were already well known, as just two percent of the city's voters cast their ballots for Abraham Lincoln while nearly half supported John Breckinridge, the Southern Democratic Party candidate. Lincoln was to pass through Baltimore on his way to Washington for his inauguration, but death threats forced the president-elect to slip through the city in the middle of the night in disguise.

Baltimore was a cauldron of secessionist feeling, and these tensions boiled over on April 18. Pro-Confederate volunteers gathered at Bolton Station to hurl insults and rocks at Pennsylvania troops as they changed trains en route to Washington. Now, on April 19, the 6th Massachusetts regiment disembarked from a train and was met with an even more hostile crowd. Tensions rose as the 11 companies of the 6th arrived. Cobblestones rained down on the soldiers as they prepared to transfer from the President Street Station to Camden Station. Shots were fired, and when the smoke cleared four Massachusetts soldiers lay dead along with 12 Baltimoreans, while 36 troops and an undetermined number of civilians were wounded.

Washington was effectively cut off from the North. In the following months, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus and hundreds of secessionist leaders were rounded up. Within six months, the Union was again in control of Baltimore.
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1865 Lincoln's Funeral

A pall shrouds the nation's capital on the day of President Lincoln's funeral. His body lay in the East Room of the White House, where members of the Supreme Court, Congressional leaders, diplomats, and military leaders filed by. The casket was then moved to the rotunda of the Capitol, where thousands paid respect to their martyred leader.
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1919 Discussion of Italian claims begins at Paris peace conference

On April 19, 1919, the Saturday before Easter, tense and complicated negotiations begin at the Paris peace conference over Italy’s claims to territory in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

“The Italians must somehow be mollified,” wrote Britain’s foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, “and the only question is how to mollify them at the smallest cost to mankind.” Italy had agreed to enter World War I in the spring of 1915 after the Entente promised to fulfill its national dream and give it undisputed control over the land around its northeastern border, including the Tyrol region, where many Italians then lived under Austro-Hungarian control. When the actual Treaty of London—which committed Italy to join the war on the side of the Allies—was drawn up in April 1915, however, the Allies had thrown in far more territory from Austria-Hungary, including parts of Dalmatia and numerous islands along the Adriatic coast, as well as the Albanian port city of Vlore (Italian: Valona) and territory from the Ottoman Empire. The Italian delegation in Paris, led by Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando and Sidney Sonnino, Italy’s foreign minister, had argued from the beginning of the conference that they considered the Treaty of London to be a solemn, binding agreement that should dictate the terms of the peace.

For their part, the British and French by 1919 deeply regretted making such promises. They felt that Italy had done little to contribute to the Allied victory: its army had delayed and then bungled their attack on Austria-Hungary, its ships had not honored their promise to patrol the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas and its government had repeatedly asked the other Allies for resources that it then refused to put into the war effort. A British diplomat reported from the conference that the delegates’ attitude toward Italy “has been one of supreme contempt up to now and now it is one of extreme annoyance. They all say that the signal for an armistice was the signal for Italy to begin the fight.”

The formation in December 1918 of a Yugoslav state caused more strain between Italy and its allies at the peace conference. Britain and France supported this new state, and wanted Italy to see that its former claims on South Slav territory and Dalmatia no longer made sense. The Italian government, driven by public opinion among its people, was unwilling to give up these claims, and was firmly opposed to recognition of the new Yugoslav state at the peace conference. Britain and France reluctantly obliged, and were prepared to honor the Treaty of London, although they resented it. The American president, Woodrow Wilson, however, felt differently. He proclaimed that the United States would recognize no such secret treaties (though he had been shown the Treaty of London during the war, he claimed not to remember having seen it) and held fast to his professed dedication to the self-determination of the Yugoslavs, refusing to bend to many of Italy’s demands, including, most sensationally, its claims on Fiume, a small port city on the Adriatic Sea, where Slavs slightly outnumbered the Italian inhabitants.

The negotiations that opened April 19 were intended to last six days. Orlando and Sonnino held firm, warning the other delegates of the possibility of civil war in Italy if their demands were not met and pointing to the escalating conflicts between the radicalizing Socialist Party and the nationalist right with their armed fasci di combattimenti. Resistance to the Italian claims was fierce, led by Wilson, who wrote a statement arguing that the Treaty of London must be set aside and reminding Italy that it should be satisfied with receiving the territory of the Trentino and the Tyrol, where the majority of the population was Italian.

On April 24, the day after Wilson’s statement was published, the Italian delegation left Paris and returned to Rome, where they were met with a frenzied demonstration of patriotism and anti-Americanism. This incident threatened the entire conference, as the German delegation was about to arrive in Paris to receive their terms. The Italians did not return to the negotiations until May 5, joining the deliberations with Germany late; in the final Treaty of Versailles, signed in June, they nonetheless received a permanent seat on the League of Nations, the Tyrol and a share of the German reparations.

Many Italians were bitterly disappointed with their post-war lot, however, and conflict continued over Fiume and other territories in the Adriatic. In September 1919, the poet, playwright and rabid nationalist Gabriele D’Annunzio—who had coined the phrase “mutilated victory” in reference to the peace negotiations in Paris—and his supporters seized Fiume. They remained there some 15 months in complete defiance of the Italian government before Italy and Yugoslavia finally reached an agreement in November 1920, settling the boundaries between the two countries and making Fiume a free state. Benito Mussolini, the future fascist dictator, watched and waited during this period, learning much from D’Annunzio’s charismatic example.
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1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising put down

On this day in 1943, Waffen SS attacks Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto.

Shortly after the German invasion of Poland, in September 1939, nearly 400,000 Polish Jews were confined to a 3.5-square-mile area that normally housed about 250,000. The "ghetto" was sealed off with a 10-foot-high wall. Anyone caught leaving was shot on sight. As if this weren't bad enough, the Nazis strictly controlled the amount of food that was brought into the ghetto, forcing Jews to live on a bowl of soup a day. By July 1942, about 80,000 Jews had died.

On July 22, 1942, Heinrich Himmler ordered that Jews be "resettled" to extermination camps, such as Treblinka. Two months later, more than 300,000 Jews had been sent to the gas chambers. Less than two years after the internment in the ghetto, only 60,000 Jews remained. But those who survived formed a Jewish Fighting Organization, called ZOB, which managed to smuggle in weapons from anti-Nazi Poles. Armed, they were able to resist further deportations by attacking Germans from rooftops, cellars, and attics. A severe winter and a shortage of trains also prevented the SS from deporting more Jews to death camps.

But spring brought Nazi retaliation. On April 19, 1943, Passover, Himmler sent more than 2,000 Waffen SS soldiers to combat the Jewish resistance. German tanks, howitzers, machine guns, and flamethrowers were met with Jewish pistols, rifles, homemade grenades, and Molotov cocktails. The Jews were able to fend off the German assault for 28 days. Finally, SS General Jurgen Stroop set the entire ghetto block, now reduced to an area 1,000 yards by 300 yards, on fire and blew up the synagogue. By May, 56,065 Jews were dead. It is estimated that the Germans lost 300, with 1,000 wounded.
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1967 Air Force pilot cited for bravery

Over North Vietnam, Air Force Maj. Leo K. Thorsness, from the 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, and his electronic warfare officer, Capt. Harold E. Johnson, destroy two enemy surface-to-air missile sites, and then shoot down a MiG-17 before escorting search-and-rescue helicopters to a downed aircrew. Although his F-105 fighter-bomber was very low on fuel, Major Thorsness attacked four more MiG-17s in an effort to draw the enemy aircraft away from the downed aircrew. Awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageous action this day, Major Thorsness did not receive his medal until 1973--on April 30, 1967, he was shot down over North Vietnam and spent the next six years as a prisoner of war.
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1971 Vietnam Veterans Against the War demonstrate

As a prelude to a massive antiwar protest, Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five-day demonstration in Washington, D.C. The generally peaceful protest, called Dewey Canyon III in honor of the operation of the same name conducted in Laos, ended on April 23 with about 1,000 veterans throwing their combat ribbons, helmets, and uniforms on the Capitol steps, along with toy weapons. Earlier, they had lobbied with their congressmen, laid wreaths in Arlington National Cemetery, and staged mock "search and destroy" missions.

On April 24, a massive rally of about 200,000 took place on the Mall in Washington, D.C. A simultaneous protest was held by 156,000 demonstrators in San Francisco, but that rally, described as the largest such protest to date on the West Coast, ended prematurely when militants took over the stage and protest coordinators were forced to cancel the last few speeches. The comparatively orderly demonstrations in Washington, D.C., ended on April 26 when the demonstrators changed their tactics to aggressive "people lobbying," with the avowed purpose of "shutting down the government." Five thousand police officers, backed by 12,000 troops, out-maneuvered the demonstrators and prevented them from blocking access to government buildings.