On This Day in History......

0757 Paolo Orsini replaces his brother Pope Stephen II, as Paul I
1220 German king Frederick II grants bishops sovereign rights
1478 Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo & kill Giuliano de'Medici
1478 Easter is celebrated for the first time
1514 Copernicus makes his 1st observations of Saturn
1532 Sultan Suleiman through Hungary on away to Vienna
1564 William Shakespeare baptized
1607 1st British to establish an American colony land at Cape Henry VA
1654 Jews are expelled from Brazil
1655 Dutch West Indies Company denies Peter Stuyvesant's desire to exclude Jews from New Amsterdam
1677 Emperor Leopold I forms University of Innsbruck
1709 Frisian viceroy Johan Willem Friso marries countess Maria Louisa
1721 Smallpox vaccination 1st administrated
1755 1st Russian university opens (Moscow)
1777 Sybil Ludington, 16, rode from New York to Connecticut rallying her father's militia
1803 Meteorites fall in L'Aigle, France
1814 King Louis XVIII lands on Calais, from England
1819 Odd Fellows Lodge is established
1828 Russia declares war on Turkey to support Greece's independence
1835 Frédéric Chopins "Grand Polonaise Brillante", premieres in Paris France
1841 "Bombay Gazette" begins publishing on silk
1853 Dutch King William III disbands 2nd Chamber
1855 Composer Gioacchino Rossini leaves Italy
1865 Battle of Durham Station NC (Greensboro)
1865 Battle of Fort Tobacco VA
1865 Confederate General J E Johnston surrenders Army of Tennessee, at Durham NC
1887 Huntsville Electric Company is established to sell electricity
1890 Henry Morton Stanley inaugurated in London
1893 1st Cleveland Board of Park Commissioners forms
1900 American League opener in Cleveland draws 6,500
1904 Bell Telephone Company of Antwerp Belgium forms
1905 Cubs Jack McCarthy becomes only major league player to throw out 3 runners at the plate in 1 game, all were ends of a double play
1906 1st motion pictures shown in Hawaii
1907 Jamestown VA Tercentenary Exposition opens
1912 1st homerun hit at Fenway Park (Hugh Bradley, Red Sox)
1913 Panamá-Pacific International Exposition opens in San Francisco
1913 Sun Yet San calls for revolt against President Yuan Shikai in China
1915 Italy secretly signes Pact of London with Britain, France & Russia
1920 H Shapley & H D Curtis hold "great debate" on nature of nebulae
1923 English prince Albert (George VI) marries lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
1925 Pulitzer prize awarded to Edna Ferber for "So big"
1926 Karachai Autonomous Region is established in RSFSR (until 1943)
1926 Germany & Russia sign neutrality/peace treaty
1928 Madame Tussaud's waxworks exhibition opens in London
1929 1st non-stop England to India flight lands
1931 Lou Gehrig hits a homerun but is called out for passing a runner, the mistake costs him American League home run crown; he & Babe Ruth tie for season
1932 Jean Anouilh's "L'Ermine", premieres in Paris France
1933 Jewish students are barred from school in Germany
1935 Frank Boucher is given the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship permanently for winning it 7 of 11 years
1936 Dmitri Shostakovitch completes his 4th Symphony
1937 German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain
1938 Austrian Jews required to register property above 5,000 Reichsmarks
1941 A tradition begins, 1st organ at a baseball stadium (Chicago Cubs)
1941 Potatoes rationed in Holland
1942 Colliery explosion kills 1,549 at Honkeiko Manchuria
1942 Luftwaffe bombs Bath
1944 1st B-29 attacked by Japanese fighters, one fighter shot down
1944 Papandreou government in Greece forms
1945 Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, leader of France's Vichy collaborationist regime during WWII, arrested for treason
1947 "Bless the Bride" musical opens in London
1948 The XP-86 prototype for the Sabre Jet first "officially" breaks the sound barrier. The first operational F-86A Sabres entered service in May of the same year
1950 Last horse race at Havre de Grace Track in Maryland is run
1950 University of Miami ends William & Mary straight tennis match victories at 82
1951 Queen Juliana opens Brielsche Mausoleum
1952 US minesweeper "Hobson" rams aircraft carrier "Wasp", kills 176
1952 Patty Berg scores 64, best competitive round of golf by a woman
1954 Nationwide test of Salk anti-polio vaccine begins
1954 Far Eastern Affairs conference opens in Geneva
1957 Jamestown VA 350th Anniversary Festival opens
1959 Cuba invades Panamá
1959 Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Betsy Rawls Golf Open
1961 French paratroopers' revolt suppressed in Algeria
1961 Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961
1962 1st Lockheed A-12 flies
1962 Boston Red Sox Bill Monbouquette no-hits Chicago White Sox 1-0
1962 US/UK launch Ariel; 1st international payload
1962 Ariel 1 Launch (1st UK Satellite)
1962 Ranger 4 crash lands on (backside of) Moon
1964 Tanganyika & Zanzibar unite to form Tanzania (Tanzanian Union Day)
1964 18th NBA Championship Boston Celtics beat San Francisco Warriors, 4 games to 1
1964 Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1965 Ives' 4th Symphony premieres
1966 Arnold "Red" Auerbach retires as Boston Celtic's coach
1967 "Hallelujah, Baby!" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 293 performances
1967 KSPS TV channel 7 in Spokane WA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1967 San Marco 2 Launch (1st Equatorial Launch)
1968 Students seize administration building at Ohio State
1968 US underground nuclear test, "Boxcar", 1 megaton device
1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1969 "Celebration" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 110 performances
1969 "George M!" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 435 performances
1969 Firestone World Bowling Tournament (Mercury Open) won by Jim Godman
1970 "Company" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 690 performances
1971 Heaviest rains ever in Bahia district of Brazil, 15" in 24 hours
1971 San Francisco lightship replaced by automatic buoy
1971 Turkey state of siege proclaimed
1973 "2 Gentlemen of Verona", musical opens in London
1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1974 Landslide in Huancavelica Province Peru creates a natural dam
1974 Nw York Yankees trade Peterson, Beene, Kline & Buskey to Cleveland Indians for Chambliss, Tidrow & Upshaw
1974 Malta adopts constitution
1975 Pittsburgh Penguins 0-New York Islanders 1-Quarterfinals-Islanders win series 4-3
1975 Philadelphia Phillies Mike Schmidt's 2 homeruns ties National League record of 11 homeruns in April
1976 Pan Am begins non-stop flights New York-Tokyo
1977 New York's famed disco Studio 54 opens
1978 NASA launches space vehicle S-201
1978 France sends troops to Chad
1980 Iran begins scattering US hostages from the US Embassy
1980 Longest jump by a jet boat is set at 120'
1980 Philadelphia Phillies' Steve Carlton pitches his 6th 1-hitter (beats St Louis Cardinals)
1980 Gerard Nijboer runs Dutch record marathon (2:09:01)
1980 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1981 "Copperfield" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 13 performances
1981 Beth Solomon wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
1981 Largest US bank robbery (Tucson AZ), more than $33 million stolen
1982 Argentina surrenders to Britain on South Georgia near Falkland Island
1982 Rod Stewart is mugged, the gunman steals his $50,000 Porsche
1982 CBS radio begins youth oriented broadcast Radio Radio
1982 Gene Michael becomes New York Yankee manager for 2nd time
1983 Boston Bruins 2-New York Islanders 5-Wales Conference Championship-Islanders hold 1-0 lead
1983 Dow Jones Industrial Average breaks 1200 for 1st time
1983 San Antonio spurs beat Denver Nuggets, 152-133 in NBA playoff game
1984 Liverpool's Cavern Club reopens
1984 President Ronald Reagan visits China
1986 Actor/body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger weds newscaster Maria Shriver
1986 Baseball game between California Angels & Minnesota Twins delayed for 9 minutes by strong winds
1986 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Marshall Holman
1986 France performs nuclear test
1986 Worst nuclear disaster, 4th reactor at Chernobyl USSR explodes, 31 die
1987 "Barbara Cook A Concert..." closes at Ambassador NYC after 13 performances
1988 1st TNN Viewers Choice Awards-Randy Travis wins in 5 categories
1988 NBA approves addition of 3rd referee in the 1988-89 season
1988 New York Mets' Davey Johnson becomes 2nd manager to record 400 victory in 1st 4 years (Al Lopez did it 1st)
1989 AT&T announces New Jersey's 201 area code will split into 908 & 201
1989 Mike Tyson is ticketed for driving 71 MPH in 30 mile zone in Albany
1990 126 die in a (6.9) earthquake in China
1990 Danny Wood of New Kids, steps on a stuffed animal & twists his ankle
1990 New York court of appeals ends 2½ year legal battle over 1988 America's Cup by refusing jurisdiction of the case
1990 Nolan Ryan ties Bob Feller's record of pitching 12 1-hitters
1990 "Accomplice" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 52 performances
1991 "Dinosaurs" premieres on ABC-TV
1991 23 killed in Kansas & Oklahoma by tornadoes
1991 Soccer star Diego Maradona, suspended for using cocaine, arrested in Argentina for possession & distribution of illegal narcotics
1992 "Grand Hotel" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 1,018 performances
1992 "Growing Pains", final episode on ABC TV
1992 "Jelly's Last Jam" opens at Virginia Theater NYC for 569 performances
1992 "Master Builder" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 45 performances
1992 "Metro" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 13 performances
1992 "Who's The Boss", final episode after 8 years on ABC TV
1992 Alex Haley, (Roots), wins 1992 Ellis Island Award, posthumously
1992 Maggie Will wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic
1992 Ozzie Smith steals his 500th base
1993 "Shakespeare for My Father" opens at Helen Hayes NYC for 266 performances
1993 Boeing 737 crashes at Aurangabad, kills 56
1993 NBC announces Conan O'Brien to replace David Letterman
1993 STS-55 (Columbia) launches into orbit
1994 1st multi-racial election in South Africa begins [3 days] Dr Nomaza Paintin in New Zealand is 1st black South African to vote
1994 26.9ºC in Prestebakke Norway (Norwegian April high temp record)
1994 Mad About You actress Leila Kenzel (33) weds Neil Monaco (34)
1994 Taiwan Airbus A-300 crashes at Nagoya Japan, 262 killed
1995 Baseball season begins after lengthy strike
1995 Coors Field, opens in Denver, Rockies beat Mets 11-9 in 14 innings
1996 Shaun Pollock takes 4 wickets in 4 balls for Warwickshire in B&H
1996 Sotherby ends 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million
1997 "Life", opens at Barrymore Theater NYC
========================================================

Missing In Action......

1966 ANDERSON WARREN L. CAMDEN MI RADIO CONTACT LOST
1966 REILLY EDWARD D. PHILADELPHIA PA INTERRO PAPERS FOUND REMAINS RETURNED 08/22/89
1966 TUCKER JAMES H. PAUNEE OK ALL CONTACT LOST
1967 AUSTIN CHARLES D. NEW CANAAN CT SURVIVAL UNLIKELY
1967 DUDASH JOHN F. MANVILLE NJ REMAINS RETURNED 06/03/83
1967 ESTOCIN MICHAEL J. TURTLE CREEK PA
1967 MEYER ALTON B. FREDERICKSBURG TN 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV
1967 MEYER WILLIAM TAYLOR MI REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85
1967 RIATE ALFONSO R. DELL GARDENS CA 03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 MC DANIEL JOHN LEWIS GIBSONVILLE NC
1968 STOW LILBURN RAY VICI OK
1968 TODD LARRY RICHARD CHAMBLEE GA
1969 EAST JAMES BOYD JR. OKLAHOMA CITY OK REMAINS RETURNED ID 07/28/97
1970 ELLIOTT ARTICE W. TERRELL TX 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1972 AMESBURY HARRY A. JR. MORRISON IL "CRASH, NO SIGN SUBJ"
1972 COOKE CALVIN C. JR. WASHINGTON DC "CRASH, NO SIGN SUBJ"
1972 DUNN RICHARD E. TERRYVILLE CT "CRASH, NO SIGN SUBJ- 1 REMAINS RECOVERED"
1972 HOSKINS DONALD R. MADISON IN "CRASH, 1 REMAINS RECOVERED, NOT SUBJS"
1972 HIRONS ALAN NOT ON OFFICIAL DIA LIST.
1972 RUSSELL RICHARD L. SNYDER TX "CRASH, 1 REMAINS RECOVERED, NO SIGN SUBJ"
1972 REYNOLDS TERRY L. GRAINFIELD KS
1972 WEISMAN KURT F. JASPER IN 02/75 REMAINS RETURNED

Births which occurred on April 26:

0121 Antonius Marcus Aurelius [Marcus A Verus], Emperor of Rome (161-180)
1319 Jean II the Good, king of France (1350-64)
1538 Giovanni P Lomazzo Italian writer/poet (Trattato)
1567 Nicolas Forme composer
1573 Marie de'Medici Queen of France
1603 Francesco Nigetti composer
1637 Philip J van Lichtenbergh Governor of Suriname, baptized
1648 Pedro II King of Portugal (1683-1706)
1711 David Hume England, empiricist/philosopher (Treatise of Human Nature)
1718 Esek Hopkins US, 1st commander-in-chief (US Navy)
1726 Pasquale Paoli Corsican freedom fighter
1776 Joan M Kemper Dutch lawyer (designed civil code law book)
1782 Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Sicily wife of Louis Phillip of Austria
1785 John James Audubon Haiti, bird watcher/artist
1787 Ludwig Uhland writer
1796 Auguste-Matthieu Panseron composer
1798 Ferdinand Eugène Delacroix French painter/lithograph/etcher (Journal)
1806 Ludwig Friedrich Hetsch composer
1808 Martha Finley children's book author
1812 Alfred Krupp German arms merchant
1820 Alice Cary Cincinnati OH, American poet (Cincinnati Sentinel)
1822 Frederick Law Olmsted architect/writer (designed Central Park)
1822 Jan Albert van Eyken composer/organist
1827 Charles Edward Hovey Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1834 Artemus Ward [Charles Farrar Browne] humorist
1834 Horatio Richmond Palmer composer
1836 Erminnie Adelle Platt US, ethnologist (Iriquois-English Dictionary)
1839 Cyrus Hamblin Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1841 Wilhelm Scherer German literature historian
1860 Alphonse Ariëns Dutch pastor
1863 Arno Holz writer
1863 Charles Haslewood Shannon lithographer/painter
1868 Harold Sidney Harmsworth 1st Viscount Rothermere/Newspaper publisher
1868 Robert Herrick US writer (Common lot)
1873 Otto zur Linde German author (Charon)
1874 J H "Biddy" Anderson cricketer (one Test South Africa vs Australia 1902)
1875 Syngman Rhee Whanghai Province South Korea, President of South Korea (1948-60)
1878 Ethel Griffies actress (Billy Liar, Birds, We Live Again)
1879 Sir Owen Williams Richardson England, physicist (Nobel 1928)
1880 Mikhail Fokine Russia, choreographer/founder of modern dance
1884 Harry Sothern actor (Dr Huer-Buck Rogers)
1886 Ma Rainey [Gertrude Pridgett] "Mother of the Blues", US blues singer
1888 Aleksandr Mikhailov USSR, astronomer
1889 Ludwig Wittgenstein Austria, philosopher (Tractatus)
1890 Edgar "E Livingstone" Kennedy US actor/director (My Old Dutch)
1893 Anita Loos author (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
1895 Rudolf Hess Hitler's Deputy Führer, only prisoner at Spandau
1897 Olga Chekova Russia, actress (Italian Strawhat, Cry of the Children)
1898 Vicente Aleixandre Spain, poet (Ambito, Bird of Paper, Nobel 1977)
1898 Edward PF Eagan Denver CO, boxer (Olympics-gold-20)/bobsledder (Olympics-gold-32)
1898 John Grierson documentary film maker
1899 Guinn "Big Boy" Williams Decatur TX, actor (Circus Boy, Hoedown, Country Fair, Blackmail)
19-- Diego Verdaguer Buenos Aires Argentina, Spanish singer (Estoy Celoso)
19-- Ron McLarty Providence RI, actor (Sergeant Frank Belson-Spenser For Hire)
1900 Charles Richter Ohio, Earthquakes seismologist (Richter scale)
1900 Douglas Sirk director (Zu Neuen Ufern, Boefje)
1900 James Sutherland English literature scholar/actor (Rob Roy 1953)
1903 Geoffrey Worthington Air vice-marshall
1903 Niven Busch US screenwriter (Postman Always Rings Twice)
1904 Paul E "Cardinal" Leger archbishop (Montréal Québec Canada)
1904 William "Count" Basie jazz pianist (Policy Man, Blazing Saddles)
1905 Charles K Feldman [Gould] New York NY, producer (Casino Royale)
1905 Denis O'Dea Dublin, actor (Esther & the King, Treasure Island)
1905 Jean Vigo France, actor/director (Zero For Conduct, L'Atlante)
1906 Gracie Allen Mrs George Burns, comedienne (George Burns Show)
1906 Leopold Spinner composer
1907 Theun de Vries writer (February; PC Hooft prize 1981)
1909 Richard Howorth cricketer (English all-rounder, three county doubles)
1910 Erland von Koch composer
1910 Ernst Tittel composer
1910 Johan Doorn Dutch journalist/resistance fighter (Orange Newspaper)
1910 Tomoyuki Tanaka director (Godzilla)
1911 Marianne Hoppe Rostock Germany (Bei Thea, Liebrauen)
1912 A[lfred] E[lton] Van Vogt Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, science fiction writer (Cosmic Encounter)
1914 Bernard Malamud Brooklyn NY, novelist (Fixer, The Natural Pulitizer 1967)
1914 Charlie Chester British comedian (Never Say Die)
1914 Horace Leonard Gold Sci-Fi writer/editor
1914 James William Rouse US builder (shopping malls/Columbia MD)
1914 Wilfred Howard Mellers composer
1916 Morris L West Australia, novelist (Shoes of the Fisherman)
1916 Arnoldus Christian Vlok van Wyk composer
1917 I[eoh] M[ing] Pei Canton China, architect (1961 Brunner Prize)
1917 Sal "The Barber" Maglie pitcher (New York Giants, 8th best won-lost percentage)
1918 Fanny Blankers-Koen Holland, 100 meter/200 meter dash, Hurdler (Olympics-gold-1948)
1918 Stafford Repp California, actor (Chief O'Hara-Batman, Plunder Road)
1918 Jack Morpurgo American Literature scholar (Leeds University)
1920 Juan C Lampe Aruba, pianist/composer
1921 Harry Knutton Major-General/Director-General (London City & Guilds Institute)
1921 Jimmy Giuffre jazz musician
1921 Margaret Gowing professor (history, science)
1922 Mike Kellin Hartford CT, actor (Honestly Celeste, Fitz & Bones)
1922 James Holt medieval historian
1922 Jeanne Sauvé 1st female Governor-General (Canada, 1984-90)
1922 Margaret Scott founder (Australian Ballet School)
1922 Paul-Andre Gaillard composer
1922 Pol Bury Belgian sculptor
1923 Oliver Millar Surveyor (Queen's Pictures)
1924 Russell Nype Zion IL, singer/actor (Burton Farley-Dorothy)
1926 Preston "Bob" Tisch NFL co-owner (New York Giants)
1926 Anton PO Ekström Swedish writer (Summer Dances)
1926 David Coleman sports commentator
1926 Michael Joughin CEO (Scottish Hydro-Electric)
1926 Oldrich Frantisek Korte composer
1927 Anne McLaren biologist/zoologist/actress (Things to Come)
1927 Jack Douglas comedian (My Brother Was an Only Child, Jack Paar Show)
1928 Gordon Downey British Comptroller General/Reader Representative (Independent)
1928 Hertha Kräftner writer
1930 Roger Moens Belgium, 800 meter runner (Olympics-silver-1960)
1930 Derek Waring actor (Barnacle Bill, Arthur-Heart of the Country)
1930 Justin Gosling principal (St Edmund Hall Oxford)
1933 Carol Burnett San Antonio TX, comedian/actress (Annie, 4 Seasons)
1934 J Micheal McCloskey environmentalist, Sierra Club chairman
1936 Edward Cazalet British High Court Judge
1937 Robert Boozer Omaha NE, basketball player (Olympics-gold-1960)
1938 Duane Eddy Phoenix AZ, guitarist (Peter Gunn, Cannonball)
1938 Maurice Williams rocker
1938 Willie Wood bowler
1939 Roger Buckley British High Court Judge
1940 Giorgio Moroder Ortisei Italy, composer/producer/singer (Top Gun, Metropolis, Electric Dreams, Cat People, Let it Ride)
1941 John Battle MP
1942 Bobby Rydell Philadelphia PA, rock singer (Wild One, Bye Bye Birdie)
1942 Claudine Auger Paris France, Miss France-Universe (1958)/actress (Thunderball)
1942 Vitali Andreyevich Grishchenko Russia, cosmonaut
1943 Gary Wright Creskill NJ, singer/keyboardist (Dream Weaver, Spooky Tooth-Love Is Alive)
1944 David O'B Martin (Representative-Republican-NY, 1981- )
1944 Martha Rockwell Providence RI, skier (Mount Washington)
1945 V K Ramaswamy cricketer (Indian Test umpire stood in 1996 World Cup)
1947 Donna Elizabeth De Varona Greenwich CT, swimmer (Olympics-2 gold-64)
1947 Gervase Frank Ashworth Jackson-Stops architectural adviser
1948 Boyd Matson TV host/correspondent (National Geographic Explorer)
1948 Gerry Sikorski (Representative-Democrat-MN, 1983- )
1949 Jimmy Hall rocker (Wet Willie)
1950 Howard "Leon" Reeder rock guitarist (Champaign)
1950 Peter Schaufuss director of ballet (Deutsche Opera Berlin)
1951 Lynne Jones MP
1952 Popo Simon Molefe Secretary-General (South Africa UDF)
1956 Koo Stark [Kathleen Dee-Anne] photographer/actress (Emily)
1958 Giancarlo Esposito actor (Bob Roberts, School Daze, King of New York)
1958 Johnny "Earl of" Dumfries racing driver
1959 Ann O'Neill Toowoomba Queensland, golfer (1989 Downs District Champion)
1960 Roger Taylor England, rock drummer (Duran Duran-Hungry Like the Wolf)
1961 Albert Lawrence Jamaica, 4X100 meter relayer (Olympics-silver-1984)
1961 Joan Chen [Chen Chong] Shanghai China, actress (Heaven & Earth)
1961 Nancy Scranton Centralia IL, golfer (1991 du Maurier Ltd Classic)
1962 Graham "Skin" Skinner rocker (Hipsway)
1962 Michael Damian San Diego CA, actor/singer (Joseph & Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat/Young & the Restless)
1963 Bill Wennington NBA center (Chicago Bulls)
1963 Thomas Searle hockey defenseman (Team Austria 1998)
1964 Tod Bass Los Angeles CA, actor (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
1966 Heather Rattray Moline IL, actress (Lily-As the World Turns)
1966 Andrea Temesvari Budapest Hungary, tennis star (1983, 1984, 1985 US Clay Courts)
1967 Klaus Merk Augsburg Germany, hockey goaltender (Team Germany 1998)
1967 Matt Peterson Chicago IL, Nike golfer (1992 Hawkeye Open-7th)
1968 Ahmed Elmaghraby Suez Egypt, US field hockey forward (Olympics-96)
1971 Ryan Yarborough NFL wide receiver (Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets)
1972 Francisco Cordova Veracruz México, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1972 Marco Rivera NFL/WLAF guard (Scottish Claymores, Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1972 Natrone Means NFL running back (San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars)
1973 Damien Munoz Miss Colorado-USA (1997)
1973 Mark Davis NBA guard/forward (Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves)
1973 Tracy Kathleen Hayes Wheaton IL, Miss Illinois-America (5th-1996)
1975 Jabbar Threats defensive end (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1975 Trudi Ferguson Miss Jamaica-Universe (1996)
1976 Sarah Tueting ice hockey goalie (USA, Olympics-98)
1979 Sean Fox actor (3 Ninjas Kick Back, Calendar Girl)
1980 Jordana Brewster Panamá, actress (Nikki Graves-As the World Turns)
1980 Marne Patterson Sherman Oaks CA, actress (Nicole-Something So Right)
1984 Ryan O'Donohue Pomona CA, actress (Byrds of Paradise, Boys are Back)
=====================================================

Deaths which occurred on April 26:

0757 Stephen II Pope (752-57), dies
1196 Alfonso II King of Aragon (1162-96), dies
1444 Robert Campin South Netherlands painter/porter of Doornik, dies at about 65
1478 Giuliano de' Medici Medeheerser of Florence, murdered at about 24
1558 Jean François Fernel French physician, dies
1648 Christoph Thomas Walliser composer, dies at 79
1703 Georg Christoph Leuttner composer, dies at 58
1726 Jeremy Collier English bishop/historian/opponent to theater, dies at 75
1731 Daniel Defoe English author (Robinson Crusoe), dies at about 70
1785 Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff composer, dies at 40
1789 Peter I Panin Russian General (Pugatshov-uprising), dies at about 67
1805 Jean BG d'ansse the Villoison classic (Anecdota Graeca), dies at 55
1827 Bernardo Ottani composer, dies at 90
1865 Charles J Sax Belgian inventor (saxophone), dies at 74
1865 John Wilkes Booth assassin, is shot dead near Bowling Green VA at 27
1907 Pietro Plantania composer, dies at 79
1910 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Norwegian writer (Mary, Nobel 1903), dies at 77
1920 Srinivasa Ramanujan Indian math genius ('pi'/Notebooks), dies at 32
1922 Hans Sommer composer, dies at 84
1924 Josef Labor composer, dies at 82
1932 Bill Lockwood cricketer (43 wickets in 12 Tests for England), dies
1938 Edmund Husserl German philosopher (study of phenomenon), dies at 79
1940 Carl Bosch German chemist (BASF, IG Farben, Nobel 1931), dies at 65
1941 Jean Demoor Belgian physician/physiologist/educationalist, dies at 74
1946 Hermann Keyserling count/philosopher (Unsterblichkeit), dies at 65
1951 John Alden Carpenter US composer (Sea Drift), dies at 75
1952 Charles L Baars Dutch actor (Women Tamers), dies at 59
1956 Edward Arnold actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington), dies at 66
1958 Joe Small cricketer (West Indies all-rounder in 1928 series), dies
1958 Johan N C "Joan" Collette painter, dies at 68
1960 Wander J de Haas Dut physicist (Einstein-De Haas effect), dies at 82
1961 Gail Russell actress (Calcutta, Moonrise, El Paso), dies at 36
1964 Edwin John Pratt Canadian poet (Towards the Last Spike), dies at 81
1964 Pieter van der Lijn Dutch geologist (Boulder Book), dies at 93
1965 Aaron Avshalomov composer, dies at 70
1970 Gypsy Rose Lee [Rose Louise Hovick] stripper/actress (Pruitts of Southampton), dies rom cancer at 56
1970 John Knittel writer, dies at 79
1970 Paul Celan writer, dies at 49 [or May 5]
1972 Margaret A R Bonds US pianist/composer/arranger, dies at 59
1973 Irene Ryan actress (Granny-Beverly Hillbillies), dies at 69
1976 Allan Jackson newscaster (Youth Takes a Stand), dies at 60
1976 Neil McCallum actor (Pete-Saber of London), dies at 45
1976 Sidney James actor (Lavander Hill Mob, Carry On), dies at 65
1980 Cicely Courtneidge actress (Double Exposure), dies at 87
1981 Jim Davis actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas), dies at 65
1981 Madge Evans TV panelist (Masquerade Party), dies at 71
1981 Robert Davi dies at 54
1982 Dame Celia Johnson British actress, dies of a stroke at 73
1982 Celia Johnson British actress (Jean Brodie), dies of stroke at 73
1982 Ville Ritola Finnish 5/10km runner (Olympics-gold-1924, 28), dies
1983 Bronislaw Kaper composer, dies at 81
1983 Vaughn Taylor actor (Johnny Jupiter), dies at 72
1984 Count Basie jazz piano great, dies at 78
1984 Henry Rowland actor (Rogue's Regiment), dies at 70
1984 May McAvoy actress (Ben Hur), dies after a heart attack at 82
1984 William "Count" Basie jazz piano great, dies on 80th birthday
1986 [William] Broderick Crawford actor (Highway Patrol), dies at 74
1986 Bessie Love actress (Broadway Melody, Isadora), dies at 87
1989 Lucille Ball comedienne/actress (I Love Lucy), dies of a massive heart attack at 78
1990 Carlos Pizarro Leongomez Colombian presidential candidate, assassinated
1991 Carmine Coppola composer/father of Francis Ford Coppola, dies
1991 Emily McLaughlin US actress (Jessie-General Hospital), dies at 61
1992 Alberta Vaughn actress (Wild Horse, Silver Devil), dies at 87
1992 Clyde Hartley entertainer, dies at 68
1995 Alexander Knox actor/writer (Gorky Park, Accident), dies at 88
1996 Burton Stein historian, dies at 69
1996 John Norrie McArthur malariologist/microscopist, dies at 94
1996 Stirling Silliphant screenwriter, dies at 78
1997 Joey Faye comic (Fruit of the Loom grapes), dies at 86
1997 Peng Zhen mayor of Beijing China (1951-66), dies
1997 Yegorov Russian leader (1994-95), dies

1711 David Hume is born

On this day in 1711 (by the old style Gregorian calendar, or May 7, by the new style calendar), David Hume is born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Although Hume died on August 25, 1776, when the American Revolution was barely underway, his essay “Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth” greatly affected the ideas of the drafters of the federal Constitution in 1787. Most famously, James Madison contemplated Hume’s proposals for an ideal government and, more precisely, Hume’s thoughts regarding the prevention of faction as he constructed his argument in favor of the Constitution in “Federalist X.”

In establishing a government for the new nation, Madison was particularly concerned with avoiding a tyranny of the majority, defined as the largest faction in a republic pursuing its interests while ignoring or suppressing the interests and voices of all opposition. Hume, and most political theorists of the 18th century, believed that the only way to control faction, or what today would be called special interests, was to created small republics, where the common interest of all would be self-evident. Therefore, no majority block could take control at the expense of a significant minority.

Madison respectfully rejected the “Humean” logic he had so carefully studied, and argued that the best way to prevent one faction from driving out all opposing interest was to create such large republics that no one special interest could motivate a majority to tyrannize their opposition. Even in a small republic, he argued, one or two individuals might be tyrannized by what the majority deemed to be the common interest. In a large republic, so many factions and interests would exist that they would have to find a means of peaceful coexistence. Madison successfully took a term that struck fear in Hume’s heart—faction--and presented it as a great benefit of the new American system of federalism. In his eyes, faction would be a positive force in the new, and diverse, United States.
========================================================

1865 Johnston surrenders

Confederate General Joseph Johnston officially surrenders his army to General William T. Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina. After the surrender of General Robert E. Lee's force on April 9, Johnston's army was the last hope of the Confederacy.
========================================================

1865 Death of John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

Twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford's Theater in Washington on the night of April 14. Booth was a Maryland native and a strong supporter of the Confederacy. As the war entered its final stages, Booth hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the president. He enlisted the aid of several associates, but the opportunity never presented itself. After the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army at Appomattox Court House on April 9, Booth changed the plan to a simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. Only Lincoln was actually killed, however. Seward was stabbed by Lewis Paine but survived, while the man assigned to kill Johnson did not carry out his assignment.

After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln's box seat. He landed hard, breaking his leg, before escaping to a waiting horse behind the theater. Many in the audience recognized Booth, so the army was soon hot on his trail. Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, made their way across the Anacostia River and headed toward southern Maryland. The pair stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd's home, and Mudd treated Booth's leg. This earned Mudd a life sentence in prison when he was implicated as part of the conspiracy, but the sentence was later commuted. Booth found refuge for several days at the home of Thomas A. Jones, a Confederate agent, before securing a boat to row across the Potomac to Virginia.

After receiving aid from several Confederate sympathizers, Booth's luck finally ran out. The countryside was swarming with military units looking for Booth, although few shared information since there was a $20,000 reward. While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett, Federal troops arrived on their search but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth, but he was shot while still inside. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands, muttering "Useless, useless," as he died. He was secretly buried in the floor of the Old Penitentiary in Washington.
========================================================

1915 Allies sign Treaty of London

On April 26, 1915, after receiving the promise of significant territorial gains, Italy signs the Treaty of London, committing itself to enter World War I on the side of the Allies.

With the threat of imminent war looming in July 1914, the Italian army under Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna had begun preparing for war against France, according to Italy’s membership in the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Under the terms of that agreement, however, Italy was only bound to defend its allies if one of them was attacked first. Italian Prime Minister Antonio Salandra deemed the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia late that month an act of aggression, declaring that Italy was free of its alliance obligations, and was officially neutral. In the first year of war, both sides—the Central Powers and the Entente, as the British-French-Russian axis was known—attempted to recruit neutral countries including Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, to join the war on their side. Italy, more than any other country, was clear about its aims for joining the war effort: to gain the most possible territory for itself and raise its status from a minor to a great power.

In reality, Italy’s geographical position—bounded on all sides by the sea, and thus subject to pressure from Britain’s great navy—inclined it to favor the Entente. Moreover, past interactions between Italy and Austria-Hungary had been driven more by mutual animosity than alliance, as the Italians had been forced to push the Austrians out of their peninsula in order to achieve unification in 1860. In making a bid for Italy’s allegiance in World War I, the Central Powers clashed over Germany’s desire to promise the Italians the Trentino region (now occupied by Austria) in return for their entrance into the war. Though Austria-Hungary agreed to cede the Trentino in March 1915, their army’s sorry performance against Russia gave the Italians more bargaining power and led them to demand even more territory.

The Entente, for its part, offered much more substantial gains of territory—most of which currently fell within the Austro-Hungarian Empire—and it was under these terms that Italy signed the Treaty of London on April 26, 1915. Italy was promised the fulfillment of its national dream: control over territory on its border with Austria-Hungary stretching from Trentino through the South Tyrol to Trieste. In the treaty, the Allies gave them that and more, including parts of Dalmatia and numerous islands along Austria-Hungary’s Adriatic coast; the Albanian port city of Vlore (Italian: Valona) and a central protectorate in Albania; and territory from the Ottoman Empire.

Carrying out its part of the bargain, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary (but not on Germany) on May 23. The Allies seemingly faced a more difficult task in the fulfillment of their own obligations: another secret treaty, signed March 20, had promised Russia control of Constantinople and the Dardanelles. Both treaties depended on an Allied victory at the Gallipoli Peninsula for their promised gains, which at this point seemed in no way secure. A naval attack against the Dardanelles on March 18 had failed miserably; a massive Anglo-French land invasion, begun the day before the Treaty of London was signed, would soon be stymied by a stiff Turkish resistance.
=======================================================

1894 Rudolf Hess is born

Rudolf Hess, Nazi party secretary and deputy to Adolf Hitler who caused an international sensation when he parachuted into Scotland in an attempt to negotiate a truce between Britain and Germany, is born on this day in Alexandria, Egypt.

Hess joined the Nazi Party as early as 1920 and became a friend and confidant to Hitler, editing much of Mein Kampf as it was dictated to him in Landsberg Prison, where both landed after the famous, and failed, November 1923 Munich beer hall putsch. On May 10, 1941, the day Hitler planned to invade Russia, Hess parachuted into Scotland, hoping to negotiate peace with Britain, in the person of the Duke of Hamilton, whom Hess claimed to have met at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Such a peace would have prevented Germany from fighting on two fronts and greatly increased Hess's own prestige within the Nazi regime, many of whose members saw Hess as little more than a yes-man and sycophant (his nickname was "the Brown Mouse").

Hess did, in fact, find peace--in the Tower of London, where the British imprisoned him, the last man ever to be held there under lock and key. After the war, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Spandau prison by the Nuremberg tribunal. He died, in prison, in 1987.
======================================================

1971 U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam at five-year low

The U.S. command in Saigon announces that the U.S. force level in Vietnam is 281,400 men, the lowest since July 1966.

These figures were a direct result of President Richard Nixon's new "Vietnamization" strategy, which he had announced at the Midway Conference in June 1969. This strategy was a three-pronged program to disengage the United States from the war in Vietnam. The program required that efforts be increased to improve the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces so that they could assume responsibility for the war against the North Vietnamese. Then, as the South Vietnamese became more capable, U.S. forces would be withdrawn from South Vietnam. At the same time, U.S. negotiators would continue to try to reach a negotiated settlement to the war with the communists at the Paris peace talks. The announcement represented a significant change in the nature of the U.S. commitment to the war.

The first U.S. soldiers were withdrawn in the fall of 1969 and the withdrawals continued periodically through 1972. Simultaneously, the U.S. increased the advisory effort and provided massive amounts of new equipment and weapons to the South Vietnamese. When the North Vietnamese launched the massive "Easter Offensive" invasion in spring 1972, the South Vietnamese wavered, but eventually rallied with U.S. support and prevailed over the North Vietnamese. Nixon proclaimed that the South Vietnamese victory validated his strategy.
=====================================================

1972 Nixon announces additional troop withdrawals

President Nixon, despite the ongoing communist offensive, announces that another 20,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Vietnam in May and June, reducing authorized troop strength to 49,000. Nixon emphasized that while U.S. ground troops were being withdrawn, sea and air support for the South Vietnamese would continue. In fact, the U.S. Navy doubled the number of its fighting ships off Vietnam.