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Warehouse Loans---Part I---Why?
by Christopher Menkin

The “Sales makes it Happen” column on warehouse loans brought a lot of inquiries. They all centered on “where can I get one?”

Leasing News is going to start a “Warehouse Lender” list. It will require identification, if not a publically held company or bank. Leasing News also reserves the right to not list a company or individual or investors who may request to be included.

The advantage of such an instrument should not be viewed as a “working capital” loan, but a means to be able to pay vendors faster, and more important, to be able to make advances to vendors, and also participate in interim financing for transactions that require a period of time to complete, often called a “master lease.”

Why?

It is not uncommon to charge points up-front for this service, in addition to charging an interim rent on the money advanced, using the lease factor to determine the monthly payment. The profit is in the different between the bank interest payments and the interim rent. The actual lease does not begin until the “master lease” is complete.

In addition to satisfying the client and vendor, there are new opportunities, such as business from captive lessors whose company only finances their equipment or from banks and others who will not cover interior decorating fees, delivery fees, designer fees, high installations costs and often require a down payment, often up to 50%.

The entrée also brings in larger transactions that take a period of time to complete, such as large computer installations, telephone systems, and other expenses. At one time, most of the new office expansions were handled by American Leasing, and San Francisco Bay Area interior decorators referred a lot of business for their clients, many of them large law firms expanding or corporations moving into the area who wanted to maintain their prestige. This included many attorneys, other professionals, as well as corporate offices.

In addition, an account handled from the very beginning until basically they created a Utah Industrial Bank for credit cards mainly, was Fry’s Electronic business to businesses and corporations, as invoices would be paid immediately, and return items processed, until a mini-master lease was complete. They preferred accounts who paid promptly. This also applied to Dell, HP, and IBM who also referred business that their financing departments only would accept their equipment and also not cover other costs involved.

Other companies who were interested in high volume use warehouse lines to “store” leases and then sell them off in large packagers for a better rate of return.

The key in a “master” lease, no matter its size, was not a high interest rate or lease factor, but to realize the residual, often as a “PUT” and the profit from the up-front fee and interim rent until conclusion of the transaction. In addition to covering almost everything, no having a down payment, but also a fixed rate at a comparable bank rate was very appealing. There was not much selling needed.

In addition, obtaining a reputation to handle these types of leases brings more as most office equipment sales, and common in the computer industry, the salesman gets paid in full upon the signing of the sales order, not completion, so often they were not as involved as they should be or often were working on another sale to devote time to the problems that always arose, especially when handling special orders or large projects.

In addition, once a relationship is established, other leasing business almost always came from the customer, and as long as you performed, you had their business, meaning rate was not the deciding key, but doing the best you could to complete the process.

Next edition---“How To”

The Trouble with LEAF and Resource America
by Christopher Menkin

In writing this story, information was sent to Robert J. Hunter, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice-President for LEAF Corporation, who also sits on the Executive Board. It basically concerned the four funds.

When LEAF Corporation purchased several leasing companies in the past few years, many of them were broker oriented, and in reality the operations did not last long such as Allco, Dolphin Capital Corp, Pacific Capital, and more recently NetBank Leasing now known as LEAF Specialty-Finance, most likely is next to see employees let go. LEAF Specialty, run by Dwight Galloway, is no longer funding leases and down to under 20 employees; reportedly with the direction to find a buyer or close down.

Leasing News has been following LEAF Financial CEO and founder Crit DeMent since Fidelity Leasing which he headed as president and CEO, sold by Resource America on May 18, 2000 to European American Bank. DeMent then founded LEAF Financial Corporation as part of Resource America. It appears his first portfolio purchases was Premier Lease Services, L.C. of West Des Moines, Iowa July 2, 2004, a brokerage operation, as most of the portfolio’s he purchase also were broker oriented. His main operation was direct, emphasizing vendor relations and then franchise and captive lessors.

DeMent certainly has the knowledge and leadership, now seemingly to be moving more in the direction of vendor finance and captive lessors, something that originally built CIT into a major company before it started to move into consumer lending such as mortgages and student loans. In past purchases by DeMent, leasing brokers reported LEAF began calling their former lessees and brokers. Of course, when they purchased the company, it meant all their assets.

This brings it to today. In deference to the respect for Mr. Hunter, and in appreciation for his response, it is fitting to give him the first word in this article:

“I have received your e-mail and although it is LEAF’s corporate policy as a subsidiary of a public company not to respond to individual inquiries of this type, there are several very significant factual errors in your research that should be addressed and corrected if your objective is to provide ‘Independent unbiased and fair news about the Leasing Industry’.

Existing Credit Facilities- The active LEAF funds currently have both sufficient availability under their existing credit facilities and their revolving facilities provide the ability to fund additional leases monthly as payments are received. An assertion that there is no availability is simply not true. I am confident that if you review our public filings more closely you will see that we continue to renew and extend our existing credit facilities at market competitive rates.

Funding of New Leases- LEAF continues to actively originate and fund new leases in our core National Program and Vendor business segments. Any limitations to our broker originations were based upon that business line’s portfolio performance and a strategic decision to focus resources and our partner’s capital in our core markets to support and expand our new and existing and more profitable National Program and Vendor relationships.

“Although the unprecedented economic recession we have experienced over the past 2 years has affected the entire equipment leasing industry, the LEAF portfolio has performed consistent with the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25) survey. With the elimination of our underperforming business lines the portfolio performance of our core business performs significantly better than the MILF-25. For the long-term benefit of our investors, LEAF will continue to focus resources on our better performing and more profitable strategic business lines and limit or eliminate poorer performing and less strategic segments.

“I hope that this information will be helpful in clarifying the issues you addressed.”

Leasing News can only review what information is included in the most current SEC filing and press releases as well as to also what is recorded in the Leasing News archives. There may be banks that have extended or renegotiated the lines in the interim, but there have been neither press releases nor a comment from LEAF. Not only for public relations purposes, but also because LEAF certainly would want investors to know ASAP.

Mr. Hunter is widely respected in the leasing industry and has always been forthright with Leasing News, whether agreeing or not, he is willing to comment, make a statement, and clear up any misinformation. Leasing News believes he is sincere in what he believes and what he says.

Here are the facts in my research:

LEAF is structured into four funds;

LEAF Equity Appreciation Fund 1
LEAF Equity Appreciation Fund 2
LEAF Equipment Leasing Income Fund 3
LEAF Equipment Finance Fund 4

All of these funds have 10K reports, so they’re easy to research.

- All funds had losses last year
- non-performing assets are as high as 6.92%
- charge-off are 2%
- The 4 funds have max’d out their lending lines with all their banks, including; Wells Fargo Foothill ($75M),WestLB ($355M), DZ Bank ($150M), Key Finance ($53M), Morgan Stanley ($251M), HVB ($100M). They have no availability left on their lines. That’s why they can’t lend.

The lines with WestLB, Morgan Stanley, and HVB were due to terminate early 2010 and LEAF can’t refinance the balances. They have to over-collateralize the lines up to +22%. They’re paying interest as high as 24% on term debt. All the lines are floating rate so they also have to maintain the cost to hedge positions.

The reason why LEAF was showing a profit on the parent’s year end financials is that the “investors” take the first losses in the funds while LEAF still gets its management fees. What about the investors? If I were one, I would want to know some answers.

Aside from the performance dilemma of the four LEAF funds and the losses the respective private investors are incurring, according to the most recent 2/2010 10K report for RAI, when LEAF first started, they established a revolving warehouse line with National City Bank. The revolver is floating rate and is suppose to be used to park lease transactions before being sold into their funds. That $150M revolver was inherited by PNC Bank when Nat City went ka-put. PNC subsequently started to reduce the revolver from $150M to $125M (12/09) to $115M (1/10) to $107.5M (2/10) to $100M (3/10). Basically cutting down the line availability by 1/3. The PNC revolver was due to mature on March 31, 2010. There are no press releases from LEAF saying the revolver with PNC has been re-negotiated. That would be major news for them. So the big question is will PNC continue the revolver relationship with LEAF? We know that PNC (itself) is reorganizing. For example they are exiting the manufacturing sector, including machine tools, and other segments. We know they don’t like small ticket, which is what LEAF is all about. Being that PNC has already cut down the LEAF line by 1/3, raised rates on the remaining line, added more restrictive covenants on the line – does that sounds like they intend to renew?

It seems that LEAF has been surviving from cash flows created from portfolio run-off and with putting fixed rate transactions in the floating rate PNC warehouse line, as well as originating management fees. That may be the only source of funds they have for operations. Conceptually, if all the bank revolving lines for the 4 funds and the PNC revolver can’t be re-negotiated or extended, then they may be turned into term debt and allowed to amortize out. Most of the lines are over collateralized anyway. But except of excess run-off that won’t give LEAF much funding for continuing or growing new business.

Again, all we can analyze is the SEC filings, and the most recent 1st quarter divulges much of what can be observed as stated above.

“Originations of new equipment financing for the three months ended December 31, 2009 were $46.6 million as compared to $148.4 million for the three months, ended December 31, 2008, a decrease of $101.8 million (69%). Our originations have been and we expect they will continue to be impacted by the state of the credit markets and the reduced ability of our funds to reduce obtain financing to acquire portfolios of leases and loans from us.

“Our borrowing capacity under our warehouse line of credit was reduced from $150.0 million to $125.0 million as December 31, 2009. We expect that our finance revenues will continue to decline next quarter as the limit on our borrowings was further reduced to $100.0 million in the January 29, 2010 amendment, which extended of the credit facility to March 31, 2010. The lower credit limit requires us to reduce the size of the portfolio of leases and loans we originate and hold on our balance sheet prior to selling them to our investment entities, thereby decreasing our commercial finance revenues.

Page 32, Resource America 1st Quarter SEC Filing, 2010

“In conjunction with the January 29, 2010 amendment that extended the maturity of the facility to March 31, 2010, the limit on borrowings was further reduced to $100.0 million. As a result, LEAF expects that it will monitor and scale back its commercial finance business to accommodate the limited availability of debt financing to its investment entities, including if necessary, the sale of certain portfolio assets to meet required repayment of this facility (could this be Dwight Galloway’s operation in Columbia, South Carolina? editor)

Page 43, Resource America 1st Quarter SEC Filing, 2010

“As a result of the reduction in our warehouse borrowings and the sale of commercial finance assets to our investment entities, the commercial finance assets we managed for our own account at December 31, 2009 decreased by $29.0 million (17%) to $135.0 million as compared to $164.0 million at December 31,2008… “

“As of December 31, 2009, we managed approximately 98,000 leases and loans that had an average original finance value of $25,000 with an average term of 54 months as compared to approximately 105,000 leases and loans that had an average original finance value of $23,000 with an average term of 52 months as of December 31, 2008.”

Page 32, Resource America 1st quarter SEC Filing, 2010

“Revenues—Three Months Ended December 31, 2009 as compared to the prior year period. We attribute these decreases primarily to the following:

$3.7 million decrease in commercial finance revenues. our finance revenues decreased principally due to the deconsolidation of LCFF, a $195.00 million portfolio, as of March 2009 and to a lesser extent, from the reduced borrowing limit under our warehouse line of credit,

A $755,000 decrease in asset acquisition fees, resulting from the decrease in leases sold to our investment entities to $30.9 million. The difficulty in obtaining and maintaining debt financing by our investment funds has limited their ability to acquire equipment financing from us. Consequently, we have reduced our commercial finance originations to match the asset acquisition capabilities of our funds, and

a $1.7 million decrease in management fees. Our management fees include fees we receive to service the commercial finance assets we manage, offering fees earned for raising capital in our investment entities as well as fees received for originating loans for those entities. During the three months ended December 31, 2009, management fees earned to service leases decreased by $707,000 due to runoff in assets under management and the discontinuance of management fees from LEAF I which has entered its liquidation phase. In addition, net capitalized loan origination costs decreased by $1.0 million as a result of reduced originations.

“Costs and expenses---Three Months Ended December 21, 2009 as Compared to the Three Months Ended December 31, 2009. We attribute the decrease primarily to:

a $1.5 million reduction in wages and benefits. In response to lower origination volume and assets under management, we have reduced payroll and other overhead costs and have continued to eliminate redundant positions. In total, we have reduced the number of full-time employees in our commercial finance operation by 106 to 271 as of December 31,2009 from 377 at December 31, 2008; and

a $1.4 million reduction in other costs and expenses. This decrease is due to the decline in assets managed, which resulted in reduced costs to service our portfolio, primarily legal costs, and to our ongoing cost saving and consolidation efforts. These efforts target eliminating overhead redundancies occurring through our acquisitions and taking advantage of efficiencies obtained by operating on a single platform.”

Page 35, Resource America 1st Quarter SEC Filing, 2010

Resource America is the “parent” of LEAF Financial Corporation, showing a net income attributable to common shareholders of $971,000 for the first quarter of 2010 compared to a loss from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders of $3.3 million for the first quarter of 2009.

Jonathan Cohen, Resource America CEO and President commented, "Our first fiscal quarter showed solid profitability after the two previous quarters were essentially break even.

“We are seeing the benefits from having narrowed our focus on our real estate, corporate loans and leasing businesses. In doing so, we have tailored our approach and our business models to changed economic times, but we have maintained our long-standing objective of developing and growing businesses with scalable platforms.

“The financial crisis of 2007-2009 did cause great damage, but we are now seeing many opportunities in our businesses. Including commitments from institutional and joint venture partners, we have approximately $500.0 million of capital to invest.

“As we continue to raise capital in this environment for our managed businesses, including Resource Capital, Resource Real Estate Opportunity REIT, Inc. and Apidos Opportunity Fund, we will focus on profitability across all of our businesses."

Mr. Cohen did not note leasing. The SEC filing officially acknowledges much downsizing and a change of direction away from the lease broker marketplace especially. The reason may be a better rate of return and control of loses, or it may simply be the availability of credit, or both?

Resource America SEC, First Quarter, 2010:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Resource_America_Quarterly.pdf

Full Resource America Press Release:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Resource_America_IR_Feb_10.pdf

Bank Beat---Former Bank President Looks for a Job

The seven branches of Beach First National Bank, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina were closed Friday with Bank of North Carolina, Thomasville, North Carolina assuming deposits and operations.

As of December 31, 2009, Beach First National Bank had approximately $585.1 million in total assets and $516.0 million in total deposits.

"Beach First National Bank was organized in 1996 by a group of Myrtle Beach business leaders to meet the financial needs of small-to-mid-sized businesses and individuals in our communities, with emphasis on maintaining a personal one-on-one relationship with each customer."

www.beachfirst.com

At December 31, 2008, the Company had loans that were secured by real estate of approximately $482.7 million, or 87.53%, of the loan portfolio, commercial loans of $59 million, and consumer loans of $9.7 million. Walt Standish was removed from his role as the bank's chief executive officer early February of this year, a position he held for 10 years, but stayed on as the president until March 1st, when he was finally let go. In less than ten days from being shown the door, the bank was declared insolvent and taken over by the FDIC.

Standish worked for worked for Bank of America for 25 years, leaving his job as a senior vice president in Charlotte, N.C. in 2000 to head Beach First National. He told thesunnews.com he wants to remain in Myrtle Beach.

"I don't know what opportunities in or out of Myrtle Beach might open up," he told thesunnews.com, who added he is looking at jobs both in banking or otherwise. He more than likely has a pension from Bank of America.

The FDIC and Bank of North Carolina entered into a loss-share transaction on $497.9 million of Beach First National Bank's assets. Bank of North Carolina will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement.

The bank had gone from 158 to 131 employees from year-end 2008 to year-end 2009. Equity had dropped from $55.4 million to $25.3 million. As with most of the banks who have failed, they had not made a profit in several years. 2008 year-end the bank lost $2.8 million and 2009 year-end they lost $29.5 million after losses in real estate of $21.6 million ($10.9 million in 1-4 residential) and $8.9 million in construction and land development, plus $3 million in commercial and loans, $447,000 in loans to individuals. Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio: 5.43%.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $130.3 million. Investors in Beach First National lost all their investment in the bank or its holding company.

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2010/pr10073.html

Previous Bank Beat columns:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Bank_Beat.htm

List of Bank Failures:
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

Leasing 102
by Mr. Terry Winders, CLP

Equipment Cost?

God bless financial people and their loan attorneys because they love to put the equipment cost in or on the lease agreement. They claim it is necessary to have an amount displayed to determine the stipulated loss value if a loss occurs. Let me tell you why this is not a good idea. To begin with we usually prefer the lessee select the vendor and the equipment to avoid liability for equipment performance, however, we are the ones paying for it and once in a while you may want to renegotiate the purchase price. If you can get a discount by explaining to the vendor that a lower price helps you both win the deal then you can either lower the customer’s payment, to be more competitive, or increase your margin. This helps packager and funder alike.

An accountant is required to discount the rental stream on a capital lease to determine its net present value for straight line depreciation purposes. If you place the equipment cost on the lease agreement then the accountant will use it as the net present value and your rate is there for all to see. A lease is a long term “use” agreement and there is no requirement that the equipment cost be disclosed. When the documents do not state the equipment cost then the accountant must use the firms “incremental borrowing rate” (average cost of money under like circumstances) as a discount factor to determine the net present value of the rent stream. If it is lower than your rate the net present value will be higher than the actual cost making your rate appear lower because the accountant subtracts the net present value of the rent from the total rent to determine the amount of the interest. In this situation when a customer asks your rate you can respond by saying it is equal to the lessee’s incremental borrowing rate instead of the stream rate. If your competition has listed the equipment cost on their documents you may look cheaper if the lessee looks at the total interest charge.

Too often we approach capital leasing like a fancy loan and forget the advantages leasing offers. There are many capital lease programs and structures that support the lessee’s need to reflect costs on different timing that financing allows. Remember that any time a cash payment is not equaled by offsetting expense the lessee’s equity is lowered. Terms that match use and not terms of equal years gives leasing an edge over straight financing.

A stipulated loss schedule can be a formula instead of dollar amount or it could be the remaining rents plus the value of the equipment at termination “or” the value of the equipment at the time of the early termination whichever is greater. Usually the remaining rent is sufficient to cover the tax consequences in this type of formula.

The correct way to approach early termination due to default or loss due to destruction on non-cancelable leases is to require the remaining payments plus the current value of the equipment. It is after all your equipment and you have loss all of the future rents and the future rents from a release or sale. You can always ask for less or negotiate the stipulated loss value but to tie it to the equipment cost is too much like lending. Also remember that a $1 purchase option does not exist if the lease does not reach termination. That is what non-cancelable means. So an early payoff or purchase is left up to the lessor.

In addition the equipment cost should be investigated for a number of reasons. The cost may include soft costs, delivery fees, or set up costs and training. Your residuals should only be on hard costs. On occasion more than one seller is involved and additional commissions add no value and increase your risk. The IRS only allows you to depreciate the fair value of the equipment and if your cost is too high then a portion of your capital recover benefits will be denied in an audit.

Opportunities exist when investigating equipment cost to explore the value of the attachments and to obtain a “proper” and complete description. You should understand what you are leasing and how much it costs to be a lessor and not a lender.

Mr. Terry Winders, CLP, has been a teacher, consultant, expert witness for the leasing industry for thirty years and can be reached at leaseconsulting@msn.com or 502-327-8666.

He invites your questions and queries.

Previous #102 Columns:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Leasing_102/Index.htm

Little Rock, Ark.

Meet and learn from Mr. Terry Winders, CLP

Leasing #102 columnist for Leasing News,
long time educator and trainer

Sales and Operations
click here for course information and to register

June 9, 10, until Noon on the 11th
Little Rock, Arkansas
Hosted by Arvest Equipment Finance

$395.00 Paid in Advance for first person from company
$345 with each additional attendee

"Certified Leasing Professionals attending this seminar will earn CPEs (Continuing Professional Education)
Credits toward their recertification"

(This ad is a “trade” for the writing of this column. Opinions
contained in the column are those of Mr. Terry Winders, CLP)

Alexa Report: Leasing Web Site Popularity

Rankings are divided into United States only and World Wide, among all web sites. The lower the number, the most visited. The higher the number, the less visited and rank among all the web sites on the internet. The list includes lease association and trade publication for the leasing industry.

Alexa Ranks Leasing Media Web Sites
US rankings

Rank	4/9/2009	3/9/2010	WEBSITE NAME
1.	45,245	42,853	www.leasingnews.org Leasing News
2.	141,472	697,988	www.elfaonline.org
3.	203,861	168,085	www.naelb.org* National Assoc. of Equip Leasing Brokers
4.	207,045	284,188	www.monitordaily.com Monitor Daily
5.	239,478	172,625	www.ibaa.org Ind Community Bankers of America
6.	578,845	510,163	www.lessors.com eLessors Networking Association
7.	388,335	no data	www.nefassociation.org National Equipment Finance Assoc.
8.	779,861	639,488	www.clpfoundation.org CLP Foundation
9.	655,777	753,419	www.cfa.com Commercial Finance Association

	no data	1,104,615	www.Worldleasingnews.com World Leasing News
	no data	no data	w www.leasefoundation.org Equip. Leasing & Fin Fndn
	no data	no data	www.iicl.org Institute of International Container Lessors
	no data	no data	www.executivecaliber.ws Exec Caliber-Jeffrey Taylor
	no data	no data	www.aglf.org Assoc of Government Leasing Financing
	no data	no data	www.Leasingpress.com Leasing Press
	no data	no data	www.leasingnotes.com Leasing Notes
	no data	no data	www.leaseassistant.org Lease Assistant
	no data	no data	www.leasecollect.org Lean -Lease Enforcement Att Net
	no data	no data	www.nationalfunding.org
	no data	no data	www.lesseeadvocate.com Lessee Advocate

Alexa Ranks Leasing Media Web Sites
World rankings

Rank	4/9/2009	3/9/2010	WEBSITE NAME
1.	203,289	206,092	www.leasingnews.org Leasing News
2.	638,065	511,131	www.ibaa.org Ind Community Bankers of America
3.	775,088	811,265	www.naelb.org* National Assoc. of Equip Leasing Brokers
4.	846,542	941,401	www.elfaonline.org
5.	996,068	971,811	www.monitordaily.com Monitor Daily
6.	1,711,478	2,461,221	www.cfa.com Commercial Finance Association
7.	2,131,643	1,501,026	www.lessors.com eLessors Networking Association
8.	2,252,510	2,522,534	www.Worldleasingnews.com World Leasing News
9.	2,306,613	4,564,824	www.nefassociation.org National Equipment Finance Assoc.
10.	2,699,506	2,431,502	w www.leasefoundation.org Equip. Leasing & Fin Fndn
11.	2,778,247	2,997,636	www.clpfoundation.org CLP Foundation
12.	4,529,081	4,629,419	www.aglf.org Assoc of Government Leasing Financing
13.	5,014,103	4,385,440	www.iicl.org Institute of International Container Lessors
14.	9,205,280	3,405,139	www.leasinglife.co.uk The Journal for Asset Finance
15.	10,276,129	12,766,112	www.executivecaliber.ws Exec Caliber-Jeffrey Taylor
16.	12,899,808	12,334,700	www.leasingnotes.com Leasing Notes
17.	13,987,604	19,837,593	www.leasecollect.org Lean -Lease Enforcement Att Net
18.	14,143,684	9,225,813	www.nationalfunding.org
19.	16,384,864	7,374,464	www.lesseeadvocate.com Lessee Advocate
20.	20,805,133	19,665,457	www.Leasingpress.com Leasing Press

David G. Mayer's Business Leasing and Finance News is not included in the Alexa report list as it does not have its own individual site and Alexa finds Patton Boggs, LLP Attorneys at Law. The rating is not valid as it includes all those who visit and communicate with the law firm. When Business Leasing and Finance News has its own individual web site, it will be included in the Alexa survey.

*It should be noted that NAELB web site "list serve" requires logging onto their site, meaing their e-mails are counted as a visit to the site, whereas they are "list serve" communication. These are technically visits to the web site, but primarily to use "list serve."

The Alexa tool bar works on most browsers. They are partnered with Google. You may download their free tool bar A graph and analysis of the last three months are available.

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     1721 - John Hanson, first U.S. President under the Articles of Confederation, was born in Maryland. He was the heir of one of the greatest family traditions in the colonies and became the patriarch of a long line of American patriots – his great-grandfather died at Lutzen beside the great King Gustavus Aldophus of Sweden; his grandfather was one of the founders of New Sweden along the Delaware River in Maryland; one of his nephews was the military secretary to George Washington; another was a signer of the Declaration; still another was a signer of the Constitution; yet another was Governor of Maryland during the Revolution; and still another was a member of the first Congress; two sons were killed in action with the Continental Army; a grandson served as a member of Congress under the new Constitution; and another grandson was a Maryland Senator. Thus, even if Hanson had not served as President himself, he would have greatly contributed to the life of the nation through his ancestry and progeny.The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the Revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress.
He was the first President to serve a full term after the full ratification of the Articles of Confederation – and like so many of the Southern and New England Founders, he was strongly opposed to the Constitution when it was first discussed.The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve a one-year term during any three-year period. He remained a confirmed anti-federalist until his untimely death. Six other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office. George Washington was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today. And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.
    1787 - The Contrast, by Robert Tyler, became the first professional United States play to be presented on the stage.
    1813-the first federal government mandated of factory standardization was made with a contract specifying interchangeable parts. The contract was with Colonel Simeon North of Berlin, CT. The contract was for 20,000 pistols at $7 each to be produced within five years. It stipulate that the “component parts of the pistols are to correspond so exactly that any limb or part of one pistol may be fitted to any other pistol of the 20,000”. Colonel North established his pistol factory in 1810 in Saddle Hill, a suburb of Middletown. The factory produced about 10,000 pistols a year.
    1818 --The US Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot amendment to form an unarmed US-Canada border.
    1849 - a severe freeze from Georgia to Texas killed cotton -- snow lay on the ground at Charleston, South Carolina.
    1850-California Legislature passed the Foreign Miners Tax that required non-American
born miners to pay a monthly $20 tax. This was the first anti-Chinese
legislation in California. It was a lot of money in its day.
    1851 – Famous lighthouse storm occurred in New England. Massive tidal flooding with storm force winds. Gigantic waves destroyed Minot Light at Cohasset, Massachusetts with two keepers lost. Great shipping losses and coastal erosion occurred..”
    1854--Birthday of Lucy Craft Laney, a free black woman opened what became the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in Augusta, Georgia, that grew from five students in a basement to a four-acre campus of almost 1,000 students.
    1861- President Abraham Lincoln made a call for volunteers to serve three months, the day after the surrender of Fort Sumter, South Carolina. His call was for 75,000 volunteers. The first regiment to respond to the call was the Ringgold Light Artillery of Reading ,PA, known as the "First Defenders," commanded by Dr. John Keys. Their first engagement took place on September 24,1861, at Hanging Rocks, West Virginia. When men were not volunteering, a draft was called with a fee if you did not join. More than one hundred thousand soldiers were hired to fight for the North. Many of these were immigrants, expressly brought over, says Shelby Foote,” by companies newly formed to supply the demand.”. More than eighty-five thousand Americans who were drafted in the war got out of going by paying a $300 commutation fee. Among these were banker J.P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., father of President Theodore Roosevelt. So many young men with means remained civilians that northern universities were able to enroll about as many students from the North during the war as they had before when students came also from the South. No doubt the people who stayed home later suffered guilt feelings, but the fact is they did stay home. And more than two hundred thousand Americans who joined the Union Army subsequently deserted.( Sherby Foote, The Civil War: A Narrative(1863).
    1863- Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia. One million dollars was appropriated to compensate owners of freed slaves, and $100,000 was set aside to pay district slaves who wished to emigrate to Haiti, Liberia or any other country outside the US. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr16.html
    1865-Birthday of Grace Livingston Hill - U.S. author. She published more than 78 novels from 1887 to 1947 that sold more than four million copies. Almost all of the books use a girl protagonist, usually in a rural environment, who faces a series of moral and physical challenges and solves them with great moral fortitude and certainty. They are being reprinted today.
    1868 - In the United States, the Senate voted on one count in the impeachment proceedings of President Andrew Johnson. The vote fell one short of the two-thirds majority needed to take action. On May 26, further charges similarly failed and he was acquitted.
    1867-Birthday of Wilbur Wrigh, born at Milville, IN, aviation pioneer. Died at Dayton, OH,
May 30, 1912.
    1869-the first Consul who was African-American was Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, consul general to Haiti, where he served from this date until November 27,1877.
    1873 - In the Colfax Massacre in Grant Parish, Louisiana, 60 blacks were killed. The dispute over the government of Louisiana continued to escalate. Republican officers of Grants Parrish were holed up in the city of Colfax. Blacks from the surrounding area feared an attack, so they entrenched themselves in front of the court house. A huge white mob attacked. The day was a massacre, as somewhere between 60 and 100 local blacks were killed even as they tried to surrender. The white mob suffered only 3 casualties. The battle for the courthouse of Colfax, Louisiana has been renamed the Colfax Massacre. All of the blacks in the area and governor Kellogg were spared only because the President ordered the federal troops to intercede and stop the white mob before they moved to another area, killing all the blacks and their white sympathizers. The New Orleans Times' headline the next day read, "War at Last!!" They also warned other white sympathizers to beware. The majority of the white people in Louisiana supported the "Colfax Massacre," and the systematic annihilation of blacks and the white sympathizer governments.
    1880 - A tornado near Marshall, MO, carried the heavy timbers of an entire home a distance of twelve miles.
    1889-Birthday of Charles Spencer Chaplin, better known as “Charlie Chaplin,” famed film comedian, who portrayed “The Little Tramp,”
born in London, England. Film debut in 1914. Knighted in 1975. Died at Vevey, Switzerland, Dec. 25,1977. In his autobiography Chaplin wrote: “There are more valid facts and details in works for art than there are in history books.”
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~pringle/silent/chaplin/filmography.html
    1900 - The first book of postage stamps was issued, selling two-cent stamps in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps.
    1905 - An endowment for a college teachers’ pension fund was established by Andrew Carnegie, who donated $10,000,000 of personal money to create the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
    1900-Birthday of Polly Adler - Russian-born American operator of the most famous New York house of prostitution. After having been raped while working as mill girl in a Brooklyn factory, she had an illegal abortion from the resultance pregnancy. She then abandoned her orthodox Jewish life and sought the bright lights of show business. Almost accidentally she began procuring women for gangster friends to avoid poverty. She vowed "to be the best goddamn madam in America." With a combination of panache, publicity, and bribery she did so, hosting the sensual pleasures of government officials, actors, business tycoons, and gangsters for several decades. Arrested a number of times, she served only 24 days in jail (her male clients none) from 1924 to 1943 when she retired and moved to Los Angeles. Even "reformer" Thomas Dewey, the New York city district attorney who parlayed crime into a bid for the presidency was unable to close her down. Her autobiography A House is Not a Home (1952) was an international best seller translated into most languages and it was made into a movie.
    1905-birthday of Memphis “Piano” Red, Germantown, TN
    1908-The first Oakland car is sold to a private owner. The Oakland Car Company was the creation of Edward Murphy, the founder of the Pontiac Buggy Company. Murphy was one of the most respected designers in the carriage industry. He decided to enter the car business, and invited Alanson Brush, the designer of the Brush Runabout, to join him. Brush had been a chief engineer at Cadillac; his contract with Cadillac included a no-competition clause that had just ended when he met Murphy. Anxious to get back into the design race, Brush built a car for Murphy that was ready in 1908. Oakland ran independently for less than a year before it was purchased by William C. Durant and absorbed into Durant's holding company, General Motors. Durant's purchase of Oakland is often regarded as mysterious, considering the company had enjoyed little success and had produced less than a thousand cars at the time Durant purchased it. Often accused on "intuitive" business practices, Durant claimed that his purchase of Oakland, while exhausting his cash flow, provided GM with a more impressive portfolio on which to base their stock interest. Nevertheless his decision to purchase Oakland, later called Pontiac, forced Durant out of control of GM.
    1908- Utah. Natural Bridges National Monument was established http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/natural_bridges/national_monument.html
    1909-Birthday of Eudora Welty, short story writer and novelist, her stories focus on small town Mississippi. She won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for The Optimist's Daughter.
    1911-birthday of pianist Alton Purnell, New Orleans, LA http://www.interstatecd.com/bio/biopage.P+++++9465.html
    1919-birthday of Merce Cunningham, dancer, choreographer, born Centralia, WA. http://www.merce.org/
    1919--Birthday of American composer Arthur St Germaine
    1919--- singer and actor Howard Keel was born in Gillespie, Illinois. Keel's strong baritone was featured in such 1950's movie musicals as "Annie Get Your Gun," "Show Boat, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Kismet." His career was revived in the 1980's with a featured role on the television series "Dallas."
    1924—Birthday of Henry Mancini, born at Cleveland, OH. Mancini made his mark in Hollywood composing film scores and songs. He was a perennial winner at the Oscar and Grammy award ceremonies during the 1960's and '70s, and in fact has won more of both than any other pop artist. He won 20 Grammy Awards and four Oscar. Mancini wrote "Moon River," song of the year in 1961, and "Days of Wine and Roses," which won the same award two years later. score for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s Mancini's "Music From Peter Gunn" was album of the year in 1958. And his recording of "Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet," on which he played piano, was a million-seller in 1969. Also film score for ‘Victor/Victoria. He also composed the pink Panther, and Mr. Lucky. Henry Mancini died of cancer in Beverly Hills, California, on June 14th, 1994.
    1929 - The first Oscar awards by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were presented during a quiet dinner-and-ceremony presentation in Los Angeles. The first Academy Awards went to actress Janet Gaynor and actor Emil Jannings. The best film was "Wings."
The 1927–1928 Academy Awards were presented May 16, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, Calif. The awards were named Oscars in 1931. The root of the name "Oscar" is contested. One biography of Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, bandleader Harmon Oscar Nelson. Another claimed origin is that of the Academy’s Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, who first saw the award in 1931 and made reference of the statuette reminding her of her Uncle Oscar (Levy 2003). Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick’s naming and seized the name in his byline, "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'" Both Oscar and Academy Award are registered trademarks of the Academy, fiercely protected through litigation and threats thereof. Since 1950, the statuettes have been legally encumbered by the requirement that neither winners nor their heirs may sell the statuettes without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for $1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy keeps the statuette. Academy Awards not protected by this agreement have been sold in public auctions and private deals for six-figure sums.This rule is highly controversial, since it implies that the winner doesn't own the award. The case of Michael Todd's grandson trying to sell Todd's Oscar statuette illustrates that there are many who do not agree with this idea. When Todd's grandson attempted to sell Todd's Oscar statuette to a movie prop collector, the Academy won the legal battle by getting a permanent injunction. Although some Oscar sales transactions have been successful, the buyers have subsequently returned the statuettes to the Academy, which keeps them in its treasury.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0147914.html
    1929- birthday of vocalist Ed Townsend, Fayetteville, TN
http://home.earthlink.net/~drbeetle/OurHistory.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000008V0/ref=ase_avsearch-musicasin-20/
002-9883931-7701629
    1929- '50s pop and rhythm-and-blues singer Roy Hamilton was born in Cleveland. Audiences regularly stormed the stage when he performed his hits, such as "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Unchained Melody," which was the top r'n'b song of 1955. Hamilton died of a heart attack on July 20th, 1969.
    1929- The Yankees become first team to wear numbers on uniforms.
    1930—Jazz flutist Herbie Mann birthday
http://www.herbiemannmusic.com/
http://www.jimnewsom.com/HerbieMann.html
    1931-Birthday of singer, actress Edie Adams, born Elizabether Edith Enke at Kingston, PA. Perhaps best known as the wife of the late great comedian and early television star Ernie Kovaks.
    1935-birthdy of singer Bobby Vinton, Canonsburg, PA.
http://www.bobbyvinton.com/
    1933 - Franklin Falls, New Hampshire was buried under 35 inches of snow.
    1935 - The radio comedy program, Fibber McGee and Molly, starring Jim and Marian Jordan, premiered on the NBC Blue Network.
    1937 - One of Stan Laurel's and Oliver Hardy's best features, Way Out West, opened in theaters. Critics liked it, saying the film moved well, and the comic duo performed a charming soft-shoe dance. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Film Score.
    1935- On snowy day and near freezing day as the band plays Jingle Bells at Boston's Braves Field, Babe Ruth makes his National league debut as he homers and singles off Giants' legend Carl Hubbell. Although the Braves beat New York,4-2, the team will go on to win only 37 more games this season.
    1937-birthday of vocalist Artie “Blues Boy” White, Vicksburg, MS http://www.interstatecd.com/bio/biopage.P++++++573.html
    1938-Gene Krupa’s first big band debuts at Steel Pier, Atlantic City.
    1939-- Dusty Springfield, Britain's leading female vocalist in the mid-1960's, was born in London. Her real name is Mary Isobel Catherine O'Brien. She took her stage name from a folk group called the Springfields, which she formed with her brother Tom. After the Springfields broke up in 1963, Dusty had a successful solo career, with such hits as "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "Wishin' and Hopin'." She also sang the original theme song for "The Six-Million-Dollar Man," but the song was later dropped from the television series.
In 1987, Springfield combined with the Pet Shop Boys for a top-ten hit, "What Have I Done To Deserve This?". The Pet Shop Boys later co-wrote and produced tracks for her 1990 album 'Reputation' - which included the PSB penned hits 'In Private' and 'Nothing Has Been Proved'. 'Nothing Has Been Proved' was also included in the Bridget Fonda film, 'Scandal'.
    1940 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: ``In the Mood,'' Glenn Miller Orchestra. The recording receives a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1938.
    1940- WGN-TV in Chicago televised a baseball game for the first time. Jack Brickhouse did the play-by-play as the White Sox defeated the Cubs, 4-1, in an exhibition game at Wrigley Field.
    1940--the first major league no-hitter baseball game on opening day; Bob Feller of the American League Cleveland Indians retired 15 men in a row from the fourth inning to the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox.
    1940- On Opening Day, Franklin D. Roosevelt's errant ceremonial first pitch smashes a Washington Post camera. The Chief Executive is not charged with a wild pitch as Red Sox hurler Lefty Grove blanks the Senators, 1-0.
    1940 - Bob Feller earned the first no-hit, no-run game thrown on an opening day of the baseball season, when the Cleveland Indians shut out the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
    1941 - German troops entered Sarajevo and the city's main synagogue was destroyed.
    1943-- Hallucinogenic effects of LSD discovered in Basel, Switzerland, Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist working at the Sandoz pharmaceutical research laboratory, accidentally consumed LSD-25, a synthetic drug he had created in 1938 as part of his research into the medicinal value of lysergic acid compounds. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations.
Widespread use of the so-called "mind-expanding" drug did not begin until the 1960s, when counter-culture figures such as Albert M. Hubbard, Timothy Leary, and Ken Kesey publicly expounded on the benefits of using LSD as a recreational drug. The manufacture, sale, possession, and use of LSD, known to cause negative reactions in many of those who take it, was eventually made illegal across the United States.
    1944 -- The destroyer USS Laffey survives horrific damage from attacks by 22 Kamikazee Japanese aircraft off Okinawa.
    1944 - an F4 tornado tracked 40 miles through Franklin, Hart, and Elbert counties in Georgia and through Anderson and Abbeville counties in South Carolina. 25 were killed and 120 were injured. Damage totaled $1 million.
    1944- Jack Casady, bass player with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, was born in Washington, DC. The Airplane was one of the most important groups to emerge from the San Francisco area during the 1960's. "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" were their big hits. Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen from the Airplane formed the group Hot Tuna in 1970.
    1945 - Troops of the United States 7th Army entered the German city of Nuremberg.
    1945 - The Nazi concentration camps at Belsen and Buchenwald are liberated by British and American forces respectively. Jena is captured by US 3rd Army units. To the south, US 7th Army forces take Bamberg.
    1946-singer Al Green was born in Forest City, Arkansas. Such hits as "Let's Stay Together," "I'm Still In Love With You" and "You Ought To Be With Me" made him one of the leading soul music stars of the 1970's. Many of his later recordings were gospel records, and he became a minister in a Memphis Pentecostal church.
    1946 - The musical, Annie Get Your Gun, featuring songs by Irving Berlin and starring Ethel Merman, debuted on Broadway.
    1947-birthday of Lewis Ferdinand Alcindor,Jr., who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, great basketball play and Hall of Fame center, born New York, NY.
    1947—Considered the worst industrial disaster in US history. The French-owned Grandcamp, docked at the oil and port town of Texas city, TX, and carrying a load of ammonium nitrate, was discovered to have a smoldering fire in her hold. At 9:12am, as onlookers gathered and a small firefighting team attempted to extinguish the blaze, the ship exploded with tremendous force, immediately killing everyone at the dock area. The resulting fires destroyed the nearby Monsanto Chemical Company and spread through oil pipelines into the city. At 1:00am, another ship, the High Flyer, exploded. The city was left defenseless due to the deaths of almost the entire fire department. there were 576 known casualties, but the most estimate tat at least 100 more died in the conflagrations. Thousands were injured. The fires burned for a week. The disaster prompted new regulations on handling chemicals. With thousands of lawsuits the US Congress passed a special act to settle claims in 1956.
    1947-- Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War:" Multimillionaire and financier Bernard Baruch, in a speech given during the unveiling of his portrait in the South Carolina House of Representatives, describing relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, says: "Let us not be deceived — we are today in the midst of a cold war.".
He called for longer workweeks, no-strike pledges from unions, and no-layoff pledges from management. It was imperative that US business and industry pull itself together, Baruch warned. "Let us not be deceived-we are today in the midst of a cold war. Our enemies are to be found abroad and at home. Let us never forget this: Our unrest is the heart of their success. The peace of the world is the hope and the goal of our political system; it is the despair and defeat of those who stand against us. We can depend only on ourselves."
The phrase stuck, and for over 40 years it was a mainstay in the language of American diplomacy. Baruch had served as an advisor to presidents on economic and foreign policy issues since the days of Woodrow Wilson. In 1919, he was one of the US advisers at the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War I. During the 1930s, he frequently advised Franklin D. Roosevelt and members of Congress on international finance and issues of neutrality. After World War II, he remained a trusted adviser to the new administration of Harry S. Truman.
    1947 - Zoomar a device that create close-up and long distance camera shots from a stationary camera a lens, was demonstrated by NBC-TV in New York City. The lens would later be scaled down to be used by regular photographers, and not just for television. Today there are many kinds of close-up/long distance lenses, including the zoom lens which was named after the original Zoomar.
    1948 -The future super station WGN-TV televises a baseball game for the first time. With Jack Brickhouse doing the play-by-play, the White Sox beat the Cubs 4-1 in the first game of the Windy City Classic played at Wrigley Field.
    1949--Birthday of American composer Robert E. Cucinotta
    1951 - Peabo Bryson is born in Greenville, S.C. He scores several top 10 hits on Billboard's R&B and Soul charts, the biggest of which is the No. 2 song ``I'm So into You,'' a 1978 release by Michael Zager's Moon Band featuring Peabo Bryson. Bryson's biggest pop hit is the top 10 song ``If Ever You're in My Arms Again'' in 1984.
    1953 - Bill Haley and His Comets made it to the "Billboard" music charts for the first time with "Crazy Man Crazy". The tune went to number six and became the first rock ’n’ roll record to make the pop music chart.
    1953 - Titanic, starring Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, and Thelma Ritter, opened in United States theaters. Filmed in black and white, this gripping film about the sinking of the mighty ship Titanic won an Oscar for Best Script for producer Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard Breen.
    1956-CBS unveiled the first national rock & roll show, ABC airs its own: "Rhythm on Parade," which is broadcast live from the Flam Show Bar in Detroit.
    1957 - Polly Bergen starred in "The Helen Morgan Story" in CBS television's presentation of "Playhouse 90".
    1957 - For the first time, television showed an annual stockholders’ meeting. Shareholders of the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF) watched TV screens in New York City and Chicago, Illinois.
    1957-Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" went to #1 on the Cash Box best seller list and The Billboard Pop chart, where it would stay for the next eight weeks.
    1958--- Van Cliburn became the first American to win the Tchaikovsky International Piano Contest in Moscow. As a result of his success, Van Cliburn's debut album, a recording of Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto Number One," became the first classical LP to sell a million copies.
    1959-Five weeks after it entered the Billboard Hot 100, "Pink Shoelaces" by 13 year old Dodie Stevens tops out at #3. She would go on to sing with Sergio Mendes and Brazil '77 as well as Mac Davis, but never had another Top 40 hit.
    1960 - A research study reported that TV commercials “in living color” were over three times more effective than black and white commercials.
    1962---Top Hits
Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Slow Twistin’ - Chubby Checker
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
    1963-"Surfin' USA" by the Beach Boys was released in the US, where it will become the group's second Billboard chart-maker, reaching #3. The song was a note-for-note copy of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" with new lyrics. After Berry sued, he was granted royalties and all further issues of the song gave him writing credit.
    1964- The Mets new home, Shea Stadium, is christened with Dodgers' Holy Water from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and Giants' Holy Water from the Harlem River at the location where it flowed passed the Polo Grounds.
    1965--the Hollies began their first US tour at the Brooklyn Paramount in New York. It wasn't until the following year that the group cracked the US top ten with "Bus Stop." The English group has had only one very minor hit in America, their Hot 100 cover of Doris Troy's "Just One Look."
    1965-"Dang Me!" Roger Miller wins in five categories at the seventh annual Grammy Awards.
    1965-Birthday of Latin American rapper Gerardo, whose full name is Gerardo Mejia the Third.
    1965 -- Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is released.
    1967 - Random House published Ira Levin's controversial novel Rosemary's Baby. The best-selling novel was about satanic worshippers and how they involved an innocent woman to bear the child of Satan. The novel was later adapted into a successful film, with ingenue actress Mia Farrow cast in the role of Rosemary. The Catholic Church condemned the film, which contained a disturbing rape scene with the Devil. During its filming, her husband, Frank Sinatra, filed for divorce.
    1968-Although he had written many of his earlier hits, Bobby Goldsboro enjoys his only US number one record with "Honey", a song composed by Bobby Russell.
    1968 - Baseball’s longest night game came to a close after 24 innings. The game, won by the Houston Astros, took six hours, six minutes to play.
    1970---Top Hits
Let It Be - The Beatles
ABC - The Jackson 5
Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum
Tennessee Bird Walk - Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
    1971-Firthday of famed Lejana singer, Selena, born Selena Quintanilla at Lake Jackson, TX. Died March 31,1995 at Corpus Chrisit,TX, murdered by the president of her fan club.
    1972-Apollo 16: Astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke, Jr and Thomas K. Mattingly II (command module pilot) began an 11-day mission that included 71-hour exploration of moon (Apr 20-23). Landing module (LM) named Orion. Splashdown in Pacific Ocean within a mile of target, Apr 27.
    1972 --US resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong after 4 years. In an effort to help blunt the ongoing North Vietnamese Nguyen Hue Offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong after a four-year lull. In the first use of B-52s against both Hanoi and Haiphong, and the first attacks against both cities since November 1968, 18 B-52s and about 100 US Navy and Air Force fighter-bombers struck supply dumps near Haiphong's harbor. Sixty fighter-bombers hit petroleum storage facilities near Hanoi, with another wave of planes striking later in the afternoon.
    1972- The orchestral rock ensemble known as the Electric Light Orchestra played its first live show at the Reading (RED'-DING) Festival in England. Their debut album, released in 1971, featured guest soloists from the London Symphony Orchestra.
    1973 - Ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney, with the group, Wings, starred in his first television special, "James Paul McCartney". The show featured the new group, which included Paul’s wife, Linda on keyboards and backing vocals.
    1974-Paul McCartney's LP "Band On The Run" topped the Billboard album chart. It went on to sell over 6 million copies world-wide.
    1975 - A single storm brought 119 inches of snow to Crater Lake, Oregon, establishing a state record.
    1977-Stevie Wonder enters the soul chart with what will be another of his many Number One hits. "Sir Duke" is a tribute to Duke Ellington which will top the charts next month.
    1977-Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" is released
    1977 -- The ban on women attending West Point is lifted.
    1978 - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Forsch tossed a no-hitter, downing the Phillies 5-0. A year later, his brother, Ken, would repeat the feat with the Houston Astros, making them the first brothers to pitch major league no-hitters. Bob tossed a second no-hitter in September, 1983, setting a record for Cardinal pitchers.
    1978—Top Hits
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
Someone Loves You Honey - Charley Pride
    1978-at the first US power-lifting championships held in Nasua, NH, Jan Todd, a teacher from Nova Scotia, broke her own world record with a dead lift of 453 ¼ pounds. Cindy Reinhoudt won the award for best lifter after squatting 385 pounds, bench pressing 205 pounds and dead-lifting 385 pounds for a 975-pound total.
    1979-the first Coast Guard ship commander who was a woman was Lieutenant(j.g.) Beverly Gwin Kelley, who was appointed to command the 95-foot cutter Cape Newagen, with a crew of 14, based in Maalaea, Maui, HI. Her assignment included search missions, boating safety, antipollution patrols, and law enforcement.
    1979-Gloria Gaynor earns a platinum 45 for her hits "I Will Survive." It's the biggest hit of her career and a Number One record for three weeks in March. 1981 - Bette Davis Eyes, by Kim Carnes, rocketed to the Number 1 spot on Billboard's record charts on this date, and remained there for 9 weeks. Carnes received a personal thank-you letter for the song from actress Bette Davis, saying that it had impressed her young grandson.
    1980 - US boycotted the Summer Olympics in Moscow.
    1980-The 1950s musical Grease finally closes its Broadway show after 3,883 performances and earning over $8-million. To this day, it is twelfth on the all-time appearance list.
    1982 - Queen Elizabeth proclaimed Canada's new constitution, severing the last colonial links with Britain.
    1985 - Mickey Mantle, banned for several years from baseball, was reinstated. His first act was to throw the first pitch at a home game in New York between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. Mantle was given a standing ovation.
    1985-"We Are The World", the Quincy Jones produced effort that raised millions to help feed starving people in Africa, topped the Billboard singles chart. The 45 artists that recorded the effort on January 28th were asked to "check their egos at the door."
    1986 - Jack Nicklaus won his sixth Masters Tournament with a 9 under par 279.
    1986---Top Hits
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
Manic Monday - Bangles
She and I – Alabama
    1987 - A slow moving storm system produced heavy rain over North Carolina and the Middle Atlantic Coast States. More than six inches of rain drenched parts of Virginia, and flooding in Virginia claimed three lives. Floodwaters along the James River inundated parts of Richmond VA. 1987 - It was a grand day in New York Harbor. "Bobro 400", a huge barge, set sail within eyesight of the Statue of Liberty with 3,200 tons of garbage that nobody wanted. The floating trash heap soon became America’s most well-traveled garbage can as it began an eight-week, 6,000 mile odyssey in search of a willing dumping site. "Bobro 400" returned to New York Harbor after the lengthy journey - and brought all that garbage back with it!
    1987-twist king Chubby Checker, jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and conductor Leopold Stokowski were among the first ten inductees of the Philadelphia Music Foundation Hall of Fame. The others honored for making their mark on music in Philadelphia were singers Pearl Bailey, Mario Lanza and Bobby Rydell, jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, rock 'n' roll pioneer Bill Haley and blues singer Bessie Smith.
    1990 - Thunderstorms developing along a stationary front produced large hail and damaging winds across Oklahoma, with 99 reports of large hail and damaging winds during the evening and early nighttime hours. Thunderstorms produced baseball size hail south of Carney, and wind gusts to 100 mph in the Oklahoma City area which swept away many Federal tax returns being transported from a mail cart to a waiting truck about the time of the midnight deadline. Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City reported a record wind gust of 92 mph.
    1991 - Queen Elizabeth, on a tour of the United States, became the first monarch to address Congress.
    1993 - The quirky film Benny and Joon, starring Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn, and Julianne Moore, opened across the country. Depp received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.
    1995 - The European Union and Canada ended a bitter dispute over fishing rights in the north Atlantic with a deal both sides said would protect threatened fish stocks.
    1996-the Chicago Bulls became the first NBA team to win 80 games in the regular season by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 86-90. After this game, Chicago’s record stood at 70-9. The Bulls finished the year at 72-10 and won their fourth NBA title in six years.
    1989 - Madonna's hit single Like a Prayer was certified platinum.
    1996 --France Telecom starts Web service. France Telecom unveils a new consumer Internet service, Wanadoo, designed to bring the Internet to a mass audience. Some fourteen million French customers already used the Minitel, a national online system introduced in 1984, which allowed customers to view train schedules, book tickets, and perform other transactions. The company said it would work with Microsoft to develop the network but would distribute both Netscape and Microsoft Internet browsers. France Telecom hoped to avoid cannibalizing its Minitel online service by building Minitel access into Wanadoo. Contrary to popular belief, over 20 countries have a better internet system with a higher percentage of users, including a very high percentage of users with high speed capabilities.
    1997 -Extending their losing streak to 12 with a 4-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies, Cubs set the record for worst start in league history surpassing the overall NL record of 0-11 established by the Detroit Wolverines 1884.
    1998-- Pentagon computers found vulnerable to hackers. he Pentagon announces that a team of ethical hackers discovered security flaws in Defense Department computers. After two weeks of hacking, the security team accessed a US electric power grid that would let the hackers shut down power across the country. The previous February, the Pentagon's unclassified computers had been hit with an organized hack attack targeting personnel records. The Pentagon said it planned to spend about $1 billion a year for several years to improve its computer security.
    1998 --Apple outpaces profit expectations. Apple bounced back from two years of losses: Quarterly reports, released on 16 April 1998, showed that Apple exceeded analysts' profit expectations for the second straight quarter. For the first time in two years, Macintosh shipments began to increase. Apple's recovery would continue with the introduction of the popular iMac the following May.
    1999 - VH1 debuts an Internet radio station, VH1 atWork, with the exclusive live webcast of the "Divas Live" concert. The 24-hour service at www.vh1.com and America Online (keyword: VH1) is the first major branded audio service from MTV Networks.
    2001--- First Union Corp., the 6th largest US bank, announces that it is buying competitor Wachovia Corp. for $13.4 billion in stock, to make under the Wachovia name the 4th biggest US banking company, with $324 billion in assets, trailing only Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America. Analysts doubt that the two disparate corporate cultures of Wachovia and First Union can merge efficiently.
    2005 - Switchfoot, the Crabb Family and Casting Crowns are the big winners at the 36th annual Gospel Music Assn. Dove Awards, held at Nashville's Grand Ole OpryHouse. Switchfoot is named artist of the year and wins honors for rock contemporary song and shortform video for "Dare You to Move."

    1939—Boston Bruins
    1949 Toronto Maple Leafs
    1953 Montreal Canadiens
    1954 Detroit Red Wings
    1957 Montreal Canadiens
    1961 Chicago Blackhawks

The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. What could be simpler?

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