1585 - The expedition organized by Sir Walter Raleigh departed England for what became Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony.
    1674 - French Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette erected a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan, in present-day Illinois. His log cabin became the first building of a settlement that afterward grew to become the city of Chicago.
    1682 - Robert La Salle discovered the mouth of the Mississippi River, claimed it and all lands that touch it for France and named it Louisiana.
    1731 - “War of Jenkin’s Ear.” Spanish guard Acosta boarded and plundered the British ship Rebecca off Jamaica, and, among other outrages, cut off the ear of English master mariner Robert Jenkins. This had repercussions in the southern Colonies. It took several years to brew. Smuggling was quite common on the open seas, including plundering of smaller ships. He exhibited the ear in the House of Commons and so aroused public opinion that the government of the British Prime Minister Robert Walpole reluctantly declared war on October 23, 1739. Basically, the war was one of commercial rivalry between England and Spain.  By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), which ended Queen Anne’s War, Britain was to be allowed to participate in slave traffic with the Spanish colonies. A special Spanish fleet, however, interfered with this activity and the Spanish also objected to the English logwooders operating on the coast of Honduras. The other cause of the war was the continued dispute over the boundary of Spanish Florida in relation to Georgia. As soon as war was declared, Gov. James Edward Oglethorpe called on citizens of Georgia and South Carolina to join in an invasion of Florida. The Spanish retaliated by attempting to invade those colonies by sea. By 1739, Oglethorpe had completed military fortifications on Amelia, Cumberland, St. Andrew’s, and St. Simon’s islands as a line of defense against possible Spanish encroachment.  He also had reached peace agreements with the Creeks and other Indian tribes in the region. 
    1768 – John Hancock refused to allow two British customs agents to go below deck of his ship.  This is considered by some to be the first act of physical resistance to British authority in the colonies.
    1783 - General Washington bids his officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, in lower Manhattan.
    1816 - The first all-black US religious denomination, the American Methodist Episcopal Church, was organized at Philadelphia with Richard Allen, a former slave who had bought his freedom, as the first bishop.
    1824 - Birthday of Anna Holstein who wrote a book anonymously “Three Years in Field Hospitals of the Army of the Potomac”  about her battlefield nursing of troops for three years during the Civil War including Antietam.
    1833 - The first free public library was established in Peterborough, NH. The funds for its creation came from state monies that had originally been appropriated for a state university and were then distributed to towns to use for educational purposes. An earlier, but unsuccessful attempt to establish a free public library was made in New Orleans, LA, by the philanthropist Judah Touro, who founded the Touro Free Library Society in 1824.
    1860 - What is believed to be the world's oldest recording was made by French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville when he recorded a young lady, believed by historians to be his daughter, singing "Au Clair de la Lune". The song was captured on a "phonautograph", a device that engraved sound waves onto a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp. The event took place 17 years before Thomas Edison invented his phonograph.
    1860 - Birthday of Emily Hobhouse, who braved war and the military to minister to Boer women and children in English concentration camps during the Boer War.
    1864 - Union surgeon Mary Edwards Walker was captured by Confederate troops and arrested as a spy during the Civil War.
      1865 - At 1:30 PM General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, and his 26,765 troops, surrendered to Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant, commander-in-chief of the Union Army, ending four years of civil war. The meeting took place in the house of Wilmer McLean at the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Confederate soldiers were permitted to keep their horses and go free to their homes, while Confederate officers were allowed to retain their swords and side arms as well. Grant wrote the terms of surrender. Formal surrender took place at the Courthouse on April 12. Death toll for the Civil War is estimated at 500,000 men.
http://memory.loc.gov/a   
    1866 - A Civil Rights Act was passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto, who wanted to "punish the South" instead of following President Lincoln's reconstruction plan. The act granted citizenship to all persons born in the U.S., except Indians. It declared that all citizens had the same civil rights and provided for the punishment of persons who prevented free exercise of these rights. The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed when the constitutionality of the first section of this act was questioned.
    1867 - Passing by a single vote, the Senate ratified the treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska.
    1879 - Birthday of W.C. Fields, stage and motion picture actor (“My Little Chickadee”), screenwriter and expert juggler. Born Claude William Dukenfield at Philadelphia, PA; died Dec 25, 1946, at Pasadena, CA. He wrote his own epitaph: "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
    1883 – “Gasoline Alley” creator, Frank King was born in Cashton, WI.  In addition to innovations with color and page design, King introduced real-time continuity in comic strips by showing his characters aging over generations. The success of “Gasoline Alley” escalated until it was published in over 300 daily newspapers with a daily combined readership of over 27,000,000.  King died in 1969
    1887 - Birthday of American composer Florence Beatrice Price, Little Rock, Arkansas.  Considered the first black woman in the United States to win recognition as a composer. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Frederick Stock, premiered her Symphony in E Minor on June 15, 1933. Price wrote other extended works for orchestra, chamber works, art songs, works for violin, organ anthems, piano pieces, and spiritual arrangements. Some of her more popular works are: “Three Little Negro Dances”, ”Songs to a Dark Virgin”, “My Soul's Been Anchored in de Lord”, and “Moon Bridge”. Died: 3 June 1953, Chicago, Illinois.
http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Price.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Price
    1898 - Paul Robeson, born at Princeton, NJ, was an All-American football player at Rutgers University, class valedictorian, and received his law degree from Columbia University in 1923. After being seen by Eugene O'Neill in an amateur stage production, he was offered a part in O'Neill's play “The Emperor Jones”. His performance in that play with the Provincetown Players established him as an actor. Without ever having taken a voice lesson, he also became a popular singer. His stage credits include “Show Boat”, “Porgy and Bess”, and “The Hairy Ape and Othello”, which enjoyed the longest Broadway run of a Shakespeare play.  His film credits also include “King Solomon's Mines” and “Song of Freedom”, among others.  In 1950, he was denied a passport by the US for refusing to sign an affidavit stating whether he was or ever had been a member of the Communist Party. The action was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1958. He became politically involved in response to the Spanish Civil War, fascism, and social injustices. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with communism, and criticism of the United States government caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Ill health forced him into retirement from his career. Robeson died at Philadelphia, PA, Jan 23, 1976.
    1898 - Earle Louis “Curly” Lambeau, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and executive, was born at Green Bay, WI. Lambeau played college football at Notre Dame and then founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919. He played for the Packers from their inception through 1927 and coached them from 1919 through 1949. He shares the distinction with George Halas of coaching his team to the most NFL championships, with six, all of which occurred prior to the Super Bowl era.  Inducted as a charter member of the Hall of Fame in 1963. Died at Sturgeon Bay, WI. June 1, 1965.  Two months thereafter, the team renamed its stadium Lambeau Field in his memory.
    1903 – Ward Bond was born in Benkelman, NE.  His rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 films and the television series “Wagon Train”.  Bond has also been in 11 films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, which may be more than any other actor.  Bond also made 23 films with John Wayne with whom he also played football at USC.  Bond was a tackle on the school’s first national championship team in 1928.  He died in 1960.
    1904 - Trumpeter Sharkey Bonano born Milneburg, LA.
http://schools.bigchalk.com/members/lakeshorelinks/themusic/jazz/
josephgustafsharkeybonano
    1905 – Sen. J. William Fulbright was born in Chester, MO.  He was elected to the Senate in 1944, unseating incumbent Hattie Carraway, the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate. He promoted the passage of legislation establishing the Fulbright Program in 1946, a program of educational grants (Fulbright Fellowships and Fulbright Scholarships), sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the State Department, governments in other countries, and the private sector. The program was established to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. It is considered one of the most prestigious award programs and it operates in 155 countries. He died in DC in 1995.
   1912 – Fenway Park opened with the Boston Red Sox defeating Harvard 2-0 in an exhibition game. Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Roger Clemens, and Babe Ruth played ball at Fenway and faced the ‘Green Monster’, the huge wall in left field. Until the Humane Society ordered him to stop, Ted Williams used to take rifle shots at the many pigeons that flew around the stadium. In 1954, a ball thrown to stop a player from making a double out of a single, hit a pigeon in flight. Allegedly, the bird fell to the ground, got up and then flew away to safer territory. The ball deflected right to the second baseman, who put the tag on the runner. The first season game was on April 20, 1912.
    1913 - Birthday of John Presper Eckert, Jr., co-inventor with John W. Mauchly of ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), which was first demonstrated at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia Feb 14, 1946. This is generally considered the birth of the computer age. Originally designed to process artillery calculations for the Army, ENIAC was also used in the Manhattan Project. Eckert and Mauchly formed Electronic Control Company, which later became Unisys Corporation. Eckert was born at Philadelphia and died at Bryn Mawr, PA, June 3, 1995.
    1913 - Following an inter-league exhibition game against the Yankees on April 5, 1913, the Brooklyn Dodgers opened their new ballpark, Ebbets Field, but lost to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0, before a crowd of 10,000.  Ebbets Field was named for Charles Ebbets, the club’s principal owner, and built at a cost of $750,000. It remained the Dodgers’ home until they abandoned Brooklyn for Los Angeles after the 1957 season. (and some of us never forgive them. editor )
    1915 - Automobile tycoon Henry Ford sails for Europe from Hoboken, NJ, aboard the Ford Peace Ship. He intends to end World War I. He would fail.
    1920 - Jazz accordionist Art Van Damme’s birthday in Norway, MI.
http://www.artvandamme.com/
    1922 - Harmonica-guitarist Toots Thielmans was born in Brussels, Belgium.
http://www.tootsthielemans.com/
    1926 – Hugh Hefner was born in Chicago.  Working as a copywriter for Esquire, he left after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he mortgaged his furniture, generating a bank loan of $600, and raised $8,000 from 45 investors, including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture, but because she believed in her son."), to launch “Playboy”. The undated first issue, published in December 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot and sold over 50,000 copies. (Hefner, who never met Monroe, bought the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery).  The sociological impact of what he brought to American life’s mores can be debated endlessly, but most must agree that there was significant impact and change.
    1928 - Mae West made her glamorous debut on Broadway in the classic production of "Diamond Lil".
http://www.maewest.net/old/
    1928 - Birthday of folksinger and satirist, very popular in the 1950's, Tom Lehrer, in NYC.
http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/
http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22863
    1932 - Guitarist/singer Carl Perkins was born in Tiptonville, TN.  He wrote "Blue Suede Shoes" which Elvis Presley turned into a hit record in 1956. Perkins' own version was on the charts as well. Perkins' career came to an abrupt halt in March of '56 when he was involved in a car accident which almost claimed his life. After playing in Norfolk, VA on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed to NYC for a March 24 appearance on “The Perry Como Show”. After hitting the back of a pickup truck, their car went into a ditch of water about a foot deep, and Perkins was lying face down in the water. Drummer Holland rolled Perkins over, saving him from drowning. He had suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body in the crash. Perkins remained unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup truck, Thomas Phillips, a 40-year-old farmer, died when he was thrown into the steering wheel.  Carl's brother, Jay, had a fractured neck along with severe internal injuries, later dying from these complications. He resumed his career after several months in hospital, but he never had another hit of the magnitude of "Blue Suede Shoes." Perkins died January 19, 1998.
http://www.history-of-rock.com/perkins.htm
http://www.hotshotdigital.com/OldRock/CarlPerkinsBio.html
http://www.rockabillytennessee.com/legend_carl_perkins.htm
    1937 – Marty Krofft was born in Montreal.  With his brother Sid, they were a team of television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs in the USA, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.  They are largely known for a unique brand of ambitious fantasy programs, often featuring large-headed puppets, high concept plots, and extensive use of low-budget special effects. The team also dominated the arena of celebrity music/variety programs during the period.
    1939 - On an Easter Sunday, African-American contralto Marian Anderson sang to an open-air concert from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at Washington, DC, to an audience of 75,000, after having been denied use of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Constitution Hall. The event became an American anti-discrimination cause célèbre and led First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to resign from the DAR. 
    1941 - The US aircraft carrier Lexington departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to deliver aircraft to Midway Island. Because of this mission, the Lexington inadvertently avoided the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 07 December. It was later to play a pivotal role in the Japanese defeat at Midway. Other US ships were not as lucky. Japanese carrier-based planes attacked the bulk of the US Pacific fleet moored in Pearl Harbor, sinking or severely damaging nineteen naval vessels, including eight battleships.
    1941 – The PGA established the Golf Hall of Fame
    1943 - Terry Knight, lead singer of Terry Knight and the Pack, was born in Flint, Michigan. The group was the forerunner to the most successful American rock band of the 1970's, Grand Funk Railroad. Knight managed Grand Funk - but did not perform with them - until a bitter series of lawsuits between him and the group in 1973.
    1943 - BOOKER, ROBERT D., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, 34th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Fondouk, Tunisia, 9 April 1943. Entered service at: Callaway, Nebr. Born: 11 July 1920, Callaway, Nebr. G.O. No.: 34, 25 April 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action. On 9 April 1943 in the vicinity of Fondouk, Tunisia, Pvt. Booker, while engaged in action against the enemy, carried a light machinegun and a box of ammunition over 200 yards of open ground. He continued to advance despite the fact that 2 enemy machineguns and several mortars were using him as an individual target. Although enemy artillery also began to register on him, upon reaching his objective he immediately commenced firing. After being wounded he silenced 1 enemy machinegun and was beginning to fire at the other when he received a second mortal wound. With his last remaining strength he encouraged the members of his squad and directed their fire. Pvt. Booker acted without regard for his own safety. His initiative and courage against insurmountable odds are an example of the highest standard of self-sacrifice and fidelity to duty.
    1944 - Emil Stucchio, lead singer of the Classics, was born in Brooklyn, New York. The one national hit for this street-corner group was "Til Then" in June 1963.
    1945 – Hall of Fame sportswriter Peter Gammons was born in Boston.
    1945 - MOSKALA, EDWARD J.,  Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company C, 383d Infantry, 96th Infantry Division. Place and date: Kakazu Ridge, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 9 April 1945. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 6 November 1921, Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 21, 26 February 1946. Citation: He was the leading element when grenade explosions and concentrated machinegun and mortar fire halted the unit's attack on Kakazu Ridge, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands. With utter disregard for his personal safety, he charged 40 yards through withering, grazing fire and wiped out 2 machinegun nests with well-aimed grenades and deadly accurate fire from his automatic rifle. When strong counterattacks and fierce enemy resistance from other positions forced his company to withdraw, he voluntarily remained behind with 8 others to cover the maneuver. Fighting from a critically dangerous position for 3 hours, he killed more than 25 Japanese before following his surviving companions through screening smoke down the face of the ridge to a gorge where it was discovered that one of the group had been left behind, wounded. Unhesitatingly, Pvt. Moskala climbed the bullet-swept slope to assist in the rescue, and, returning to lower ground, volunteered to protect other wounded while the bulk of the troops quickly took up more favorable positions. He had saved another casualty and killed 4 enemy infiltrators when he was struck and mortally wounded himself while aiding still another disabled soldier. With gallant initiative, unfaltering courage, and heroic determination to destroy the enemy, Pvt. Moskala gave his life in his complete devotion to his company's mission and his comrades' well-being. His intrepid conduct provided a lasting inspiration for those with whom he served
    1945 – The US established the Atomic Energy Commission.
    1947 - Baseball Commissioner A.B. ”Happy” Chandler suspended Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher for one year because of Durocher’s habit of consorting with unsavory characters, including gamblers. Burt Shotton took over for Durocher and managed the Dodgers to the National League Pennant.  The Commissioner discovered Durocher and actor George Raft might have run a rigged crap game that took an active ballplayer for a large sum of money. (The player's identity was never confirmed officially, but a former pitcher, Elden Auker, wrote in his 2002 memoir that it was a then-current Tiger pitcher, Dizzy Trout.)  Before being suspended, however, Durocher played a noteworthy role in erasing baseball's color line. In the spring of 1947, he let it be known that he would not tolerate the dissent of those players on the team who opposed Jackie Robinson's joining the club, saying: "I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes… I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded."  Durocher returned for the 1948 season, but his outspoken personality and poor results on the field caused friction with Dodger President Branch Rickey, and on July 16, Durocher, Rickey and New York Giants’ owner, Horace Stoneham negotiated a deal whereby Durocher was let out of his Brooklyn contract to take over the Dodgers' cross-town rivals. He enjoyed perhaps his greatest success with the Giants, and possibly a measure of sweet revenge against the Dodgers, as the Giants won the 1951 NL pennant in a playoff against Brooklyn, ultimately triumphing on Bobby Thomson’s historic game-winning "Shot 'Heard 'Round The World" home run.  Durocher is also credited with the nurturing of future Hall of Famer Willie Mays during that 1951 season.
    1947 - The southern plains Tri-State tornado tracked 170 miles through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. This tornado episode was probably a family of tornadoes. Nevertheless, damage was at the F5 level (winds 260 mph plus). 181 people were killed, 970 others were injured, and total damage was $9.7 million. Woodward, Oklahoma was hit hard with 101 fatalities. The entire town of Glazier, Texas was destroyed and never rebuilt as a town. A man looking out his front door was swept by a tornado from his home near Higgins TX and carried two hundred feet over trees. The bodies of two people, thought to be together at Glazier, TX, were found three miles apart.
    1947 - The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride, began through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the Supreme Court’s 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.
    1948 - Birthday of Phil Wright, lead singer of the English quintet Paper Lace, who’s "The Night Chicago Died" went to number one in 1974.
    1953 - Warner Brothers, the first of the major Hollywood studios to introduce 3-D motion pictures, chose this day to premiere "The House of Wax" at the Paramount Theatre in New York City. The stage show preceding the movie was headed by singer Eddie Fisher. The film's stars, Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk and Frank Lovejoy attended the premiere.
    1953 - A 14-year-old Elvis Presley appears in his high school's minstrel show singing the Stanley Brothers' "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me," then is called back to perform Teresa Brewer's "Till I Waltz Again With You."
    1954 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “Wanted,'' Perry Como.
    1955 - Top Hits
“The Ballad of Davy Crocket” - Bill Hayes
“Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” - Perez Prado
“Unchained Melody” - Les Baxter
“In the Jailhouse Now” - Webb Pierce
    1956 - Singer Nat King Cole is beaten up by a group of racial segregationists in Birmingham, Alabama.
    1956 - Gene Vincent recorded "Be Bop-A-Lula"
    1959 - NASA selected the first seven astronauts, dubbed the mercury Seven:  Scott Carpenter, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Donald Slayton.
    1959 - Little League mounds are moved back two feet (46 feet) in an effort to protect the batter.
    1961 - New York Museum of Modern Art hangs Matisse's Le Bateau upside down for 47 days.
    1961 – LA’s Pacific Electric Railway, once the largest electric railway in the world, ended operations.
    1961 – Congress declared April 9 as “Bataan Day” in the Philippines to commemorate the fall of Bataan to the Japanese during World War II.
    1962 - The 34th Annual Academy Awards held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles, hosted by comedian Bob Hope. "West Side Story" was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture (Robert Wise, producer); Best Director (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins); Best Supporting Actor and Actress (George Chakiris, Rita Moreno); Best Cinematography/Color (Daniel L. Fapp); Best Art Direction/Set Decoration/Color (Boris Leven, Victor A. Gangelin); Best Costume Design/Color (Irene Sharaff); Best Sound (Fred Hynes-Todd-AO SSD & Gordon Sawyer-Samuel Goldwyn SSD); Best Film Editing (Thomas Stanford); Best Music/Scoring of a Musical Picture (Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal). The Best Actor award went to Maximilian Schell for his role in "Judgment at Nuremberg", and for the first time in Oscar history, the Best Actress award went to an actress in a foreign film, Sophia Loren for the lead in "La Ciociara" (or "Two Women"). "The Hustler", "Splendor in the Grass" and "The Guns of Navarone" won a total of four Oscars. Now, back to musicals -- the Best Music/Song was "Moon River" (Henry Mancini-music, Johnny Mercer-lyrics) from "Breakfast at Tiffany’s". The list of comedic and musical movies from 1961 that were nominated but didn’t win is equally impressive: "The Absent-Minded Professor", "The Parent Trap", "The Children’s Hour", "Babes in Toyland", "Pocketful of Miracles", "Flower Drum Song", "Fanny".
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148869.html
    1962 - Keeping an Laotian prince waiting in the White House, President Kennedy opens up the Washington's $23-million dollar D.C. Stadium by tossing the ceremonial first pitch. Despite a rain delay, the chief executive stays for the entire game and enjoys seeing Mickey Vernon’s Senators beat the Tigers, 4-1.
    1963 - Top Hits
“He’s So Fine” - The Chiffons
“South Street” - The Orlons
“Can’t Get Used to Losing You” - Andy Williams
“Still” - Bill Anderson
    1965 - Bruce Johnston joins the Beach Boys as permanent replacement for Brian Wilson. I went to University High School with Bruce, who played Piano in my dance band, and I played in his rock ’n ’roll band.  He also wrote the popular song, “I Write the Songs."
    1965 - "TIME" magazine featured a cover with the entire "Peanuts" gang. It was a good day for Charlie Brown.
    1965 - Sixteen-year-old Lawrence Bradford of New York City was the first black page appointed to the US Senate
    1965 - Dubbed the “Eight Wonder of the World,” the Houston Astrodome opened with an exhibition game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. President Lyndon Johnson attended the game, and Texas governor John Connally threw out the ceremonial first pitch, as President Johnson arrived late. Mickey Mantle hit the first indoor home run, but the Astros prevailed, 2-1, in 12 innings.
    1966 - The late, great San Francisco Chronicle Columnist, "Mr. San Francisco," Herb Caen won a special Pulitzer Prize for his continuing contribution as a voice and conscience of the city. He was a good friend to many of us.
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/caen/
    1966 - Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves A Woman" is released.
    1966 - The Righteous Brothers' "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" hits #1
    1967 - The Sopwith Camel, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Country Joe & the Fish, Grateful Dead play at the San Francisco Longshoreman's Hall.  The Doors play before their first large crowd when they appear (along with Jefferson Airplane) in front of 3,000 at a show in Venice, CA.
http://images.wolfgangsvault.com/images/catalog/thumb/LSH670409-B-HB.jpg
    1967 – The maiden flight of the Boeing 737.
    1969 – The Chicago Eight – Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Friones, and Lee Weiner - plead not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic national Convention in Chicago.
    1970 - Paul McCartney announces the official break-up of the Beatles.
    1970 - Grateful Dead and Miles Davis Quintet play at the San Francisco Fillmore East.
    1971 - General Motors recalls 6,700,000 vehicles vulnerable to motor mount failure. It is the largest voluntary safety recall in the industry's history.
    1971 - Top Hits
“Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” - The Temptations
“For All We Know” - Carpenters
“What’s Going On” - Marvin Gaye
“After the Fire is Gone” - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
    1973 - Tommy Aaron became the second native son from Georgia to win the Masters golf title at Augusta. The first Georgian to accomplish the feat was Claude Harmon in 1948.
    1973 - Rock group Queen has its debut performance at the Marquee Theater in London. The group's biggest hits are “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,'' “Another One Bites the Dust'' and “We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You.''
    1973 - Otto Kerner, former governor of Illinois, was convicted for his role in an illegal racetrack scheme.
    1974 – San Diego Padres owner Ray Kroc addressed fans:  "Ladies & gentlemen, I suffer with you.  I've never seen such stupid baseball playing in my life".
    1974 - Bruce Springsteen meets rock critic Jon Landau, who would go on to manage the singer and successfully hype him as "rock and roll's future."
    1977 - The Swedish pop group Abba made its debut at number one on the American pop charts, as "Dancing Queenrecord in the U.S. http://abba.muziek.net/
    1979 - The 51st Annual Academy Awards ceremony at Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (L.A. Music Center), with Johnny Carson as the host. The Best Picture" became the most popular
, "The Deer Hunter" (Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, Michael Cimino, John Peverall, producers), also won for Best Director (Michael Cimino); Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken); Best Film Editing (Peter Zinner); and Best Sound (Richard Portman, William McCaughey, Aaron Rochin, C. Darin Knight). The Best Actor and Actress awards for performances in "Coming Home" were awarded to Jon Voight and Jane Fonda, respectively. This 1978 film also won a golden statuette for Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt, Robert C. Jones). The intense "Midnight Express" won for Best Music/Original Score (Giorgio Moroder) and Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Oliver Stone). The Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Maggie Smith in "California Suite", the Best Music/Song Oscar, for "Last Dance" from "Thank God It’s Friday", went to Paul Jabara.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0149424.html
    1979 - Top Hits
“I Will Survive” - Gloria Gaynor
“What a Fool Believes” - The Doobie Brothers
“Sultans of Swing“- Dire Straits
“I Just Fall in Love Again” - Anne Murray
    1980 - Two days prior to the start of the season, the Durham Bulls uniforms are stolen. Atlanta's minor league director, Hank Aaron, sends the team a set of used Braves uniforms to wear on the road as the team decides to wear its road uniforms at home.
    1981 – Fernandomania began:  In his first start, LA Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela beat the Houston Astros 2-0.  In 1981, the 20-year-old Valenzuela took Los Angeles and MLB by storm, winning his first 8 decisions and leading the Dodgers to the World Series. That year, Valenzuela became the only player in Major League history to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young Award in the same season, adding the Silver Slugger Award and the World Series championship for good measure. With his youthful charm, a devastating screwball, a Ruthian physique", and a connection with Los Angeles' large Latino community, Valenzuela touched off the early '80s craze dubbed "Fernandomania".  Games at Dodger Stadium became must-see events and generated a cacophony in the stands.  Many fans had always brought transistor radios to the games to listen to Vin Scully announcing the game.  Fernando brought many Latin fans to the ballpark for the first time and they would listen to the Spanish translation by Jaime Jerrin.  Even if you did not have a radio of your own, you could hear easily both broadcasts...add a Dodger Dog and a beer, and…
    1984 – The 56th Annual Academy of Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, with Johnny Carson as host. "Terms of Endearment" (James L. Brooks, producer) was voted Best Picture of 1983. "Terms" also won for Best Director (James L. Brooks, again ... and, again for Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium); and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson); and for Best Actress (Shirley MacLaine).  MacLaine had been nominated five times over 26 years before winning the statuette. Of course, since she could see into the future, she knew that this would happen. Robert Duvall picked up the Best Actor Award ("Tender Mercies") and the Best Supporting Actress title was bestowed on Linda Hunt for "The Year of Living Dangerously". A foreign film, "Fanny och Alexander", won three Academy Awards: Best Costume Design (Marik Vos-Lundh), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Anna Asp, Susanne Lingheim), and Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist). Another film that endeared itself to audiences in 1983 was "The Right Stuff", honored for Best Music/Original Score (Bill Conti); Best Effects/Sound Effects Editing (Jay Boekelheide); Best Film Editing (Glenn Farr, Lisa Fruchtman, Stephen A. Rotter, Douglas Stewart, Tom Rolf); and Best Sound (Mark Berger, Thomas Scott, Randy Thom, David MacMillan). Put the whole evening together and you get the Best Music/Song: "Flashdance...What a Feeling" (Giorgio Moroder-music, Keith Forsey and Irene Cara-lyrics) from the movie, "Flashdance".
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0149580.html
    1985 - Tom Seaver broke a major-league baseball record, held by Walter Johnson, as he started his 15th opening-day game. The Chicago White Sox defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2. With the win, ‘Tom Terrific’ extended his opening day record to 7-1. He had thrown openers for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox.
    1987 - Top Hits
“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” - Starship
“Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” - Genesis
“Come Go with Me” - Expose
“Ocean Front Property” - George Strait
    1988 - Residents of Sioux City, Iowa awoke to find 2 inches of snow on the ground following a record high of 88 degrees the previous afternoon.
    1989 - Eighteen cities in the southwestern U.S. reported new record high temperatures for the date. The afternoon high of 80 degrees at Eureka, CA established a record for the month of April.
    1991 - A large portion of the east was battered by severe thunderstorms with 503 severe weather events reported. 38 tornadoes touched down with the most significant one beginning its 18 mile path at Guthrie, Kentucky. This tornado, rated F2, did over $500,000 in damage. 3 inch diameter hailstones fell in Switzerland County in Indiana. 2 people were killed and 86 were injured from intense straight line thunderstorm winds exceeding 100 mph in West Virginia. Gatesburg, Pennsylvania reported a wind gust to 90 mph.
    1993 - The Colorado Rockies played their first official National League game defeating the Montreal Expos, 11-4, behind first-inning home runs from leadoff hitter Eric Young and Charles Hayes. 80,277 fans packed Denver’s Mile High Stadium to set a major league Opening Day attendance record, surpassing the 78,672 who saw the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers open the 1958 season at the Los Angeles Coliseum
    1995 - Glasgow, Montana recorded 12.2 inches of snow in 24 hours -- its greatest 24 hour snowfall on record.
    1996 - Frank Kucharski of Chester, Connecticut attends his 22nd consecutive Yankee season opener at the stadium.
    2000 - In a pair of legal setbacks for Al Gore, a Florida state judge refused to overturn George W. Bush's certified presidential election victory in Florida and the US Supreme Court set aside a ruling that had allowed manual recounts.
    2000 - PepsiCo agrees to pay $13.4 billion to acquire Quaker Oats.
    2000 - Indian first baseman Jim Thome strikes out five times to tie a major league record. Cleveland prevails posting a 17-4 victory over the Devil Rays.
    2000 - The Twins beat the Royals, 13-7, as both teams each hit three consecutive home runs in the same game for the first time in Major League history. Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones and Matt Lecroy connect consecutively in the sixth for Minnesota and Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye and Hector Carrasco go back-to-back-to-back for Kansas City.
    2001 - Willie Stargell, the all-time Pirate career leader in home runs, RBIs and extra base hits, dies from kidney problems at the age of 61. After leading the Bucs to the 1979 World Championship, 'Pops', a career .282 hitter, became the oldest player (39) to win a MVP award when he shares the award with Keith Hernandez.
    2001 - Pittsburgh's PNC Park makes its major league debut as hometown product, Sean Casey, leads the visiting Reds past the Pirates, 8-2. The Cincinnati first baseman, who hit the first home run at Miller Park three days ago, goes 4-for-4 and again has the honor of hitting the first round tripper in a major league park's history. The bat, which is used to hit both historic homers, is sent the Hall of Fame.
    2003 - Baghdad fell to U.S. forces, ending the invasion of Iraqi but resulting in widespread looting.
    2004 - The Yankees and Joe Torre agree to three-year extension. The contract also includes an additional six-year deal in which the 62-year old manager will serve as a team advisor through the 2013 season.
    2008 - Elton John performed in concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall to raise funds for Hillary Clinton's US Presidential campaign. With ticket prices ranging from $125 to $2,300, the effort took in over $2.5 million.
    2012 – “The Lion King” becomes highest grossing Broadway show after overtaking “The Phantom of the Opera”.
    2012 – Facebook acquired Instagram for @1 billion.
    2014 - A flaw in OpenSSL, the encryption method for many websites, has been identified, potentially compromising user security data across the Internet; web users are urged to change login names and passwords immediately…now the new normal.
    2014 - The University of Connecticut achieved a second championship as the women's basketball team took home the NCAA championship title after a 79-58 victory over Notre Dame.  The men's basketball team won the NCAA title this season, defeating Kentucky, 60-54.

NBA Champions
    1959 - Boston Celtics
    1960 - Boston Celtics

Stanley Cup Champions
    1932 - Toronto Maple Leafs
    1935 - Montreal Maroons
    1946 - Montreal Canadiens