On April 1, 1960, the first true weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral. (TIROS stood for "Television Infrared Observation Satellite.")
On this date:
In 1789, The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City; Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first speaker.
In 1853, Cincinnati, Ohio, established a fire department made up of city employees. Cincinnati was the first U.S. city to pay its firefighters a regular salary. [Leading directly to the end of the glibertarian paradise that America once was. — Ed.]
In 1873, composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Russia.
In 1918, the Royal Air Force was established in Britain. Two months later, Britain began bombing industrial targets in Germany from bases in France.
In 1924, Adolf Hitler was sent to prison for five years after failing in his first effort to take over Germany by force, the unsuccessful "Beer Hall Putsch" in the German state of Bavaria.
In 1933, Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
In 1939, the United States recognized the government of Gen. Francisco Franco in Spain, the same day Franco went on radio to declare victory in the Spanish Civil War.
In 1945, American forces launched the amphibious invasion of Okinawa.
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a $1.85 billion emergency housing measure.
In 1963, most of New York City's daily newspapers resumed publishing after settlement was reached in a 114-day strike.
In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.
In 1976, Apple Computer founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
In 1979, Iran declared itself an Islamic Republic.
In 1982, the United States transferred control of the Panama Canal Zone to the government of Panama.
In 1984, recording star Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father, Marvin Gay (cq) Sr. in Los Angeles, the day before his 45th birthday. (The elder Gay pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and received probation.)
In 1986, world oil prices dipped to less than $10 a barrel.
In 1987, in his first major speech on the epidemic, President Ronald Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1."
In 1991, Moscow food stores closed to curb panic buying in anticipation of government price increases.
In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush announced a $24 billion aid package to the former Soviet republics.
In 1996, an outbreak of "mad cow" disease forced Britain to plan the mass slaughter of cows.
In 1998, a U.S. judge dismissed the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones against U.S. President Bill Clinton.
In 1999, Canada created a new territory, Nunavut, as a means of providing autonomy for the Inuit people. A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with originating the "Melissa" e-mail virus, which infected more than 1 million computers worldwide. (David L. Smith later pleaded guilty to various state and federal charges.) The United States branded as an illegal abduction the capture of three U.S. Army soldiers near the Macedonian-Yugoslav border; President Bill Clinton demanded their immediate release.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton, speaking at a fund-raiser for his wife's Senate campaign, accused New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of enlisting a "right-wing venom machine" against Hillary Rodham Clinton. Michelle Kwan won her third World Figure Skating title.
In 2001, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour armed standoff with police at his Belgrade villa. A U.S. Navy spy plane collided with a Chinese jetfighter off the coast of China. The Chinese plane crashed into the ocean; the damaged U.S. plane landed on the Chinese island of Hainan, where its 24 crewmembers were held for 11 days.
In 2002, the United States and Pakistan announced the capture of a top al-Qaida leader, a major break in their war on terrorism.
In 2003, American troops rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, where she had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed nine days earlier.
In 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law new protections for the unborn that for the first time made it a separate federal crime to harm a fetus during an assault on the mother. Michigan won the NIT championship with a 62-55 victory over Rutgers.
In 2005, the Vatican reported that Pope John Paul II was near death, his breathing shallow and his heart and kidneys failing. President Bill Clinton's former national security adviser, Sandy Berger, pleaded guilty to sneaking classified documents out of the National Archives; he was later sentenced to two years' probation. Also in 2005, all nine people aboard an Australian navy helicopter on a relief mission to earthquake-struck Indonesia died when the aircraft crashed.
In 2006, all 19 people on board a Brazilian commuter flight were found dead following a crash in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro.
In 2007, a magnitude 8 earthquake in the South Pacific triggered a tsunami that sent waves several feet high into the western Solomon Islands.
In 2008, the Pentagon made public a legal memo dated March 14, 2003, that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects, saying that President George W. Bush's wartime authority trumped any international ban on torture. (The memo was rescinded in December 2003.) Top executives of the country's five biggest oil companies told a skeptical Congress they knew record fuel prices were hurting people, but argued it wasn't their fault and their huge profits were in line with other industries.
In 2009, President Barack Obama, in London for an economic crisis summit, sought to rally the world's top and emerging powers to help cope with a global downturn; chanting protesters clashed with riot police in the British capital. Benjamin Netanyahu took office as Israel's prime minister. Sixteen people were killed when a Super Puma helicopter crashed into the North Sea off Scotland's northeast coast. Sweden became the fifth European nation to legalize same-sex marriages. Others are the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Spain. In a college baseball blowout, Eastern Kentucky was leading Kentucky State 49-1 when the teams stopped playing after five innings (they also agreed to cancel the second game of a scheduled double-header).
Today's Birthdays: Author Anne McCaffrey is 84. Actress Jane Powell is 82. Actress Grace Lee Whitney is 80. Actress Debbie Reynolds is 78. Country singer Jim Ed Brown is 76. Actor Don Hastings is 76. Blues singer Eddie King is 72. Actress Ali MacGraw is 72. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rudolph Isley is 71. Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro is 71. Grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower David Eisenhower is 63. Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff is 62.
Birthday Extra: German military theorist Prince Otto von Bismarck (1815); Italian pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni (1866); actors Lon Chaney Sr. (1883) Wallace Beery (1885) and Toshiro Mifune (1920); authors William Manchester ("Death of a President") (1922); football coach Bo Schembechler (1929).
1 April In Entertainment
In 1957, Cadence Records released the single "Bye Bye Love" by the Everly Brothers.
In 1963, the soap opera "General Hospital" premiered on ABC.
In 1966, David Bowie's first single, "Do Anything You Say," backed with "Good Morning Girl," was released in Britain.
In 1969, the Beach Boys announced a lawsuit against Capitol Records. The band was asking for more than $2 million in royalties and producer's fees. The Beach Boys also announced the formation of a new record label, called Brother Records.
In 1984, recording star Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father, Marvin Gay (cq) Sr. in Los Angeles, the day before his 45th birthday. (The elder Gay pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and received probation.)
In 1985, singer David Lee Roth left Van Halen.
In 1992, Billy Idol pleaded no contest to punching a woman in the face. He was fined and told to make public service announcements against alcohol and drug use.
In 1983, guitarist Dave Mustaine left Metallica. He went on to form Megadeth.
In 1993, the producers of the country TV comedy series "Hee Haw" announced that the show would leave the air, after a 25-year run.
In 2002, actress Tawny Kitaen was arrested for allegedly attacking her husband, Cleveland Indians pitcher Chuck Finley.
In 2004, actress Carrie Snodgress died in Los Angeles at age 57.
Thought for Today: "Our wisdom comes from our experience, and our experience comes from our foolishness." — Sacha Guitry, Russian-born French actor-writer-director (1885-1957).
1 comment:
Happy birthday, Gil.
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