Sales Qualifications

When you create a list of qualifications to begin to look for a sales person, it should cover the "level" of expertise you think can do the job. It certainly revolves around the type of business and markets you service, as well
as the dollar market you are seeking. Leasing has a lot of levels and requires very different skill sets for each market. It is more than a book of business. It is knowledge gained from reading, attending classes, conferences, and experience in closing leases. If you are in the Capital non-tax leasing market, you may think that all is needed is a rate card and an aggressive attitude.

However, equipment leasing sales at all levels needs an understanding of income tax requirements, accounting classification rules, and contract legal do's and don'ts to carry on a "correct" discussion with a vendor or a direct contact. So your interview process should contain questions to help you determine their level of knowledge on our rules of the game so you will know what additional training may be required.

Many leasing companies require salespeople to filter out the quality of the credit so the system does not get bogged down with undoable transactions. 

Accordingly, add credit and financial questions to your list. There are many books on reviewing financials, courses available, and being able to spot problems but it does take some understanding of accounting and math.

Therefore add questions on credit and see if they can operate a financial calculator. I believe the day of the rate card is almost over and even if it is in use, a modification may be required to save a deal once in a while.

I also believe very strongly in self-education as a good salesman wants to know more about what he has to offer and be able to explain it to a client while building a relationship.

I have said before the best salesperson is the one that likes the products in the industry that they call on. That is not a strong requirement, but it sure helps. Also some people get hung up on education. Sales smarts does not always come from degrees, but from eagerness and aggressiveness. Wanting to learn more is a good trait. Becoming a Certified Leasing and Finance Professional means you know your business.

The best salespeople that worked for me always were organized, were the first one out in the morning and the last one to stop in the evening, and were available to the customer base 24/7. Look for organizational skills and good communication capabilities. If someone is not able to present leasing in a clear understandable manner, it will be hard for the customer to follow along.

Also they need to be a good listener. If they cut you off or fail to wait until you have completed your thoughts before responding they will not make a good impression on anyone.

Also you need to have a good opening presentation on your company and your goals but after that let them do most of the talking with your prepared questions leafing the way. The more you know about banking, finance, leasing, and why companies succeed, the more you will be able to help your client in making a financial decision.

Now that I have posted about qualifications, I must admit still hiring good sales people is usually a crap shoot and it takes a long time to find someone to fit your needs.  

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

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Devine Jazz Cruise May 6-May 11, 2016
San Francisco to Vancouver on Crystal Serenity

Not too late. You can still sign up. Quail Financial Solutions CEO Jeff Rudin invites you to join his leasing friends for the jazz cruise as well as the four golf stops along the way. Sail with jazz musicians Michael Paulo, Gregg Karukas, Ray Parker Jr., Ira Nepus, David Inamine, Garin Poliahu, and Kiki Ebsen
Golf and Jazz. If you're a golfer, come join Jeff and play some of the finest courses on the West Coast.

TCP Harding Park - San Francisco, California - May 6th
Washington National Golf Club - Seattle, Washington - May 9
Bear Mountain Resort - Victoria, British Columbia - May 10
Northlands Golf Course - Vancouver, British Columbia - May 11

Golf Opportunity Information:
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/GolfOpportunitiesJan2016.pdf
Cruise Information
https://www.divinejazzcruise.com/
Or email Jeff Rudin: JeffR@quailcap.com

Maltipoo
Atlanta, Georgia Adopt-a-Dog

Felix
Male
Maltipoo
Weight: 10 pounds
Age: 8 months

"We honestly don't even need to write a bio for Felix. His overwhelming cuteness should sell itself. He is a scrumptious fellow who is reportedly great with kids, adults and other dogs. He is snuggly and affectionate. He seems like he will be a great fit for almost any home that can provide him with forever. If you are interested in adopting Felix rush on down to see if he is the right fit!"

Maltipoo Breed Information - Vetstreet
www.vetstreet.com
This cute little dog is a cross of a Maltese and a Toy or Miniature Poodle. ... With the intelligence of the Poodle and the sweetness of the Maltese, the Maltipoo is a smart, darling dog and a loving companion. ...

Atlanta Pet Rescue & Adoption
4874 S Atlanta Rd SE
Atlanta, GA 30339
Office: (404)815-6680
Email: info@atlantapetrescue.org

Adoption Hours
Tues, Wed, Fri:-  11 am to 5 pm
Thursday    -       11 am to 7 pm
Saturday:   -       12 pm to 5 pm
Sunday:     -       1 pm to 5 pm

Adopt a Pet
http://www.adoptapet.com/

[headlines]
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LeaseDimensions Updated in Back Office Companies
Lease and Loan Servicer

Full List: Back Office Companies
http://www.leasingnews.org/Ag_leasing/backoffice.htm

((Please Click on Bulletin Board to learn more information))
(Leasing News provides this ad “gratis” as a means
to help support the growth of Lease Police)

News Briefs---

Former St. Louis banker Shaun Hayes, developer Michael Litz indicted for bank fraud
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/former-banker-shaun-hayes-developer-michael-litz-indicted-for-bank/article_afc3bf5c-c946-58bd-932d-f74c8c789093.html

Quiet Luther Burbank Savings, Sonoma County’s biggest bank, is adding to its successful formula
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/5492340-181/quiet-luther-burbank-savings-sonoma?ref=menu

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--You May Have Missed It

Americans spend 80% of their watch-time with TV
http://www.rapidtvnews.com/2016041642500/americans-spend-80-of-their-watch-time-with-tv.html?utm_campaign=americans-spend-80-of-their-watch-time-with-tv

[headlines]
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SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

How to Feed a Vegetarian
Meeting the Needs of Meatless Eaters
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/
nutrition_articles.asp?id=1152&page=2

[headlines]
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The Tax Poem

Tax his land, tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor, tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.

Tax his cow, tax his goat,
Tax his pants, tax his coat.
Tax his ties, tax his shirts,
Tax his work, tax his dirt.

Tax his chew, tax his smoke,
Teach him taxes are no joke.
Tax his car, tax his grass,
Tax the roads he must pass.

Tax his food, tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his sodas, tax his beers,
If he cries, tax his tears.

Tax his bills, tax his gas,
Tax his notes, tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know ,
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.
Tax his coffin, tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.

Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"
And when he's gone, we won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance tax.

- -Author unknown

[headlines]
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Sports Briefs----

Curry misses Warriors practice, remains questionable for Game 2
http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_29778446/curry-misses-warriors-practice-remains-questionable-game-2?source=top_stories_bar

13 Surprising Facts About NBA Star Steph Curry
http://thesportsdrop.com/13-surprising-facts-about-nba-star-steph-curry/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13_curry_facts_ob

49ers’ business model for stadium is fizzling
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/nevius/article/49ers-business-model-for-stadium-is-fizzling-7251897.php

[headlines]
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California Nuts Briefs---

The tax man cometh, and California rich – getting richer – pay most
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article71944477.html#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter

Staggering drop in VTA bus ridership may signal dramatic changes
http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_29778497/staggering-drop-vta-bus-ridership-may-signal-dramatic?source=rss

[headlines]
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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

Napa’s Fish Friendly Farming bolsters vineyard certification
     to get Sonoma County OK
http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/sonomacounty/5501240-181/napa-fish-friendly-farming-vineyard-sustainable

The Annual Women of the Vine Global Symposium a Resounding Success
http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=167615

Terroir speaks for itself in Santa Cruz Mountains
http://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/article/Terroir-speaks-for-itself-in-Santa-Cruz-Mountains-7246439.php?t=8819156863a5dbcf1d&cmpid=twitter-premium

Inglenook Focuses on the Long-Term to Regain Its Glory
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/dining/francis-ford-coppola-inglenook-wine.html?ref=dining&_r=1

Free Mobile Wine Program
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2010/2_26.htm#mobile

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

     1631 - English colony of Massachusetts Bay granted Puritans voting rights and John Winthrop was elected 1st governor of Massachusetts. 
    1675 - Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-80), a Mohawk-Algonquian, was baptized as Catherine. She was the first Native American proposed for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Raised by an anti-Christian uncle after her parents died when she was four, when she was 19, she followed in her mother's footsteps and was baptized Christian. It is said she faced bigotry by Mohawks who opposed Christianity and saw it destroying their way of life. She was pious and refused to marry, taking a devout vow of perpetual virginity, further separating her from the Indian culture. It is said she lived a "life of great spirituality and asceticism." After her death at age 24, miracles were attributed to her and, in 1884, a plenary council of the Roman Catholic Church, meeting in the U.S., petitioned Rome for her canonization. The move was seen as a step to influence Indians to accept the church that accepted them as well as to recognize miracles attributed to her. Under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, she was beatified in 1980 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012.  Various miracles and supernatural events are attributed to her intercession.    
    1689 – Bostonians rebel against Sir Edmund Andros. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served as governor of the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginian and Maryland. His tenure in New England was authoritarian and turbulent, as his views were decidedly pro-Anglican, a negative quality in a region home to many Puritans. His actions in New England resulted in this overthrow.
    1775 - Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott started at about 10pm to warn American patriots between Boston, Massachusetts and Concord, Massachusetts of the approaching British. Revere never completed the ride as he was captured by the British. The poem only remembers the one rider. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem about Paul Revere, published in 1861, was written to impress northerners during the Civil War of the necessity of fighting for liberty:
“One, if by land, and two, if by sea:
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm
For the country fold to be up and to arm.”
From Richard Shenkman’s “I love Paul Revere whether he rode on Not:
President Harding worries about Paul Revere:
“Imagine for a moment in 1923, Al Capone is assembling an army of gun-toting henchmen in Chicago. (They will number 700 before he is through.) Cotton farmers in the South are sunk in depression. The Ku Klux Klan is on the rise. Newspaper headlines tell of corruption in the Veterans Bureau (the director has had to resign). Rumors in the capital hint of the coming Teapot Dome Scandal (Eventually two secretaries in the cabinet will go to jail, convicted of corruption.) But these are not the things that concern the president of the United Sates. What worries Warren Harding---touring the country on a campaign swing that will prove to be his last---is a recent attack on the legend of Paul Revere. An iconoclast had noted that Revere never completed the ride made famous by Longfellow. Before giving warning to Concord, Revere was discovered by the British and captured. They kept his horse, but released him, not knowing his mission, but wanting his horse as “tribute.” Dawes horse fell during the long and rough trip and could not finish. Harding, however, told the crowd he didn’t care. “I love the story of Paul Revere,” the president intoned in his most presidential-sounding voice, “whether he rode or not.” The fact is Paul Revere did ride, but it was Samuel Prescott who finished and actually made the warning known. The Minutemen were prepared for the British attack on April 19.
    1818 - A regiment of Indians and blacks is defeated at the Battle of Suwanna, in Florida, ending the first Seminole War.
    1829 - Birthday of Katherine Russell (Mother Mary Baptist), Newry, Ireland.  She established homes in San Francisco for prostitutes, unemployed women, the aged and infirmed, and founded St. Mary’s Hospital
in San Francisco. A House of Mercy for unemployed women opened in 1855, a Magdalene Asylum for prostitutes in 1861, and the home for the aged and infirmed in 1872. The daughter of a well-to-do family, she became a nun in her native Ireland. She headed a group of eight sisters sent to San Francisco to establish a convent and school. During a cholera epidemic, her order worked with the city to care for dependent patients at a government hospital. Religious problems arose and Mother Mary purchased the building and named it St. Mary's Hospital, the first Catholic hospital on the Pacific coast. Under her direction the convent opened branches and hospitals in several California cities.
    1831 – The University of Alabama was founded.  UA is the oldest and the largest of the public universities in Alabama. The General Assembly of Alabama established a seminary on December 18, 1820, named it "The University of the State of Alabama", and created a Board of Trustees to manage the construction and operation of the university.  The board chose as the site of the campus a place which was then just outside the city limits of Tuscaloosa, the state capital at the time.  The university's charter was presented to the first university president, Alva Woods, in the name of Christ Episcopal Church.
    1839 - Violinist Frantz Jehin-Prume (d. 1899), the first musician of international reputation to choose Canada as his home, was born in Spa, Belgium. He made many successful concert tours of Europe and in 1863 was appointed "violinist of the king's own music" by Leopold the First of Belgium. Jehin-Prume later visited Mexico, then toured the US and Canada. He settled in Montreal in 1871, becoming a Canadian citizen. Jehin-Prume and his wife, the singer Rosita del Vecchio, played an important role in the development of Montreal's musical life. In 1891, he formed Quebec's first professional chamber music society. Jehin-Prume continued to give concerts and also was a prodigious composer. But in 1896, failing health forced him to reduce his activities. Frantz Jehin-Prune is considered one of the most accomplished musicians in Canadian history.
    1847 - U.S. forces defeat Mexicans at Cerro Gordo in one of the bloodiest battles of the war, one of the turning points of the war. After
purchasing all the land from France, the Southwest was seized in
war with Mexico.
http://www.multied.com/mexican/cerramore.html
    1856 - Senator J.B. Weller of California urged passage of a bill to authorize and facilitate the construction of a railroad and magnetic telegraph to the West.
    1857 - Birthday of Clarence Darrow (d. 1938), at Kinsman, OH. American attorney often associated with unpopular causes, from the Pullman strike in 1894 to the Scottsboro case in 1932.  At the Scopes trial, July 13, 1925, Darrow said: "I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment, to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure--that is all that agnosticism means."
    1864 - At Poison Springs, Arkansas, Confederate soldiers under the command of General Samuel Maxey capture a Union forage train and slaughter black troops escorting the expedition. The Battle of Poison Springs was part of broad Union offensive in the region of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. General Nathaniel Banks had led a Yankee force through Louisiana in March and April, but a defeat in northwestern Louisiana at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8 sent Banks in retreat. Union forces nearby in Arkansas were moving towards Banks' projected thrust into Texas with the intention of securing southwestern Arkansas for the Federals. Union General Frederick Steele occupied Camden, Arkansas, on April 15. Two days later, he sent Colonel John Williams and 1,100 of his 14,000-man force to gather 5,000 bushels of corn discovered west of Camden. The force arrived to find that Confederate marauders had destroyed half of the store, but the Yankees loaded the rest into some 200 wagons and prepared to return to Camden. On the way back Maxey and 3,600 Confederates intercepted them. Maxey placed General John Marmaduke in charge of the attack that ensued. Williams positioned part of his force, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, between the wagon train the Confederate lines. The regiment was the first black unit in the army, comprised primarily of ex-slaves. The determined soldiers of the 1st Kansas stopped the first two Rebel attacks, but they were running low on ammunition. A third assault overwhelmed the Kansans, and the rout was on. Williams gathered the remnants of his force and retreated from the abandoned wagons. More than 300 Yankee troops were killed, wounded, or captured, while the Confederates lost just 13 killed and 81 wounded. Most shocking was the Rebel treatment of the black troops. No black troops were captured, and those left wounded on the battlefield were brutally killed, scalped, and stripped. The Washington Telegraph, the major Confederate newspaper in Arkansas, justified the atrocity by declaring "We cannot treat Negroes taken in arms as prisoners of war without a destruction of social system for which we contend."
    1865 - Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate Joseph Johnston signed a broad political peace agreement at Durham Station, North Carolina. The agreement promised a general amnesty for all Southerners and pledged federal recognition of all Southern state governments after their officials took an oath of allegiance to the US. The new administration reneged on this and Sherman was roundly criticized publicly in drawing up the agreement that former President Lincoln and General Grant had instructed him to negotiate. The agreement was rejected by President Andrew Johnson and Sherman and Johnston were forced to reach a new agreement with terms virtually the same as those given Robert E. Lee.
    1880 - Birthday of Samuel Earl “Wahoo Sam” Crawford, Wahoo, Nebraska. Wahoo Sam played in the Majors for 20 years with the Detroit Tigers, racking up a career batting average of .309. His record of 312 career triples still stands. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957.
    1880 - A major tornado outbreak occurred from Arkansas to Michigan with 22 tornadoes rated F2 or greater. Three F4 tornadoes in Missouri did most of the killing with 68 people killed at Marshfield, Missouri. Another F4 tornado in Missouri was on the ground for 93 miles. 165 people were killed in this outbreak and over 500 were injured.
    1899 - At age 26, John McGraw made his managerial debut with the Baltimore Orioles of the National league. McGraw leads them to a 5 - 3 victory over the New York Giants, a team he will later manage for more than 30 years.
    1906 - Over 3,000 lives were lost in the San Francisco earthquake, subsequently measured at approximately 7.8 magnitude as the Richter Scale had not been invented yet, primarily due to the fire that practically destroyed San Francisco; some 10,000 acres were affected, as far as Mendocino, where farms near the coast actually fell into the ocean. While much damage was caused by the earthquake, it was the seventh Great Fire that burned for four days that contributed to the deaths. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of trapped persons died when South-of-Market tenements collapsed as the ground liquefied beneath them. The earthquake shock was felt from Coos Bay, Oregon, to Los Angeles, and as far east as central Nevada, an area of about 375,000 square miles, approximately half of which was in the Pacific Ocean. There were 135 aftershocks on April 18, and 22 on April 19.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr18.html
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0418.html 
    1913 - Birthday of American composer Kent Kennan (d. 2003), Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
    1921 - Birthday of Barbara Hale, DeKalb, IL.  Actor best known for her TV portrayal of Perry Mason's dutiful secretary Della Street.
    1922 - Birthday of calypso music pioneer Lord Kitchener (d. 2000), born Aldwyn Roberts in Trinidad and Tobago. 
http://www.calypsoworld.org/noflash/artists-20.htm 
http://www.nalis.gov.tt/Biography/History_LORDKITCHENER_
PeopleOfTheCentury.htm
    1923 - More than 74,000 fans attended Opening Day festivities as the New York Yankees inaugurated their new stadium. The stadium was built from 1922 to 1923 for $2.4 million ($32 million in 2014 dollars). The stadium's construction was paid entirely by Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert.  Babe Ruth christened it with a game-winning three-run homer into the right-field bleachers. In his coverage of the game for the New York Evening Telegram, sportswriter Fred Lieb described Yankee Stadium as “The House That Ruth Built,” and the name stuck.
    1924 - Simon and Schuster, Inc. published the first "Crossword Puzzle Book". 
    1925 - The Woman's World Fair, in Chicago opened. The exhibits showed women's progress in major industries and professions and historians considered it as a landmark in the recognition of women's contribution to civilization.
    1927 - Canadian composer and pianist Marian Grudeff (d. 2006) was born in Toronto. She and another Canadian, Ray Jessel, were engaged by producer Alexander H. Cohen to write songs for the musical "Baker Street," which premiered in Boston in December, 1964. After revisions, the show opened in New York the following February. "Baker Street," based on the story of Sherlock Holmes, was called one of the best musicals of the 1960's.
    1929 - Red Nichols and his Five Pennies recorded the Glenn Miller arrangement of "Indiana" for Brunswick Records in New York City. Players included Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and Jack Teagarden. A 1959 movie
starring Danny Kaye was made about Red Nichols.
http://www.duke.edu/~cfc/
http://www.redhotjazz.com/redn.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Pennies
    1934 - Birthday of vocalist Neal Kimble, New Orleans, LA
    1934 - J. F. Cantrell opened the first Laundromat. He called it the ”washateria” in Fort Worth, Texas. Four electric washing machines were rented by the hour to those who wished to do their laundry. Hot water and electricity were supplied, but users were obliged to furnish their own soap.
    1936 - The singing cowboy, Gene Autry, records "Back in the Saddle Again," his signature song that he co-wrote with Ray Whitley.  Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. 
    1938 - Singer Charlie Pride birthday, Sledge, MS.  In total, he has garnered 39 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. 
http://www.charleypride.com/
    1939 - Announcer Red Barber called the action in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 7-3 loss to the New York Giants, marking the first time a regular-season Brooklyn game was broadcast on the radio.
    1941 - Sidney Bechet, playing six instruments, records “Blues of Bechet,” (Victor 27485)
http://www.lahamjat.com/video/moonoverharlem.html
    1941 - Birthday of singer Wilson Pickett (d. 2006), Prattville, AL.  A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. Among his best-known hits are "In the Midnight Hour" (which he co-wrote), "Land of 1,000 Dances", "Mustang Sally", and "Funky Broadway."  Pickett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, in recognition of his impact on songwriting and recording. 
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=167
    1941 - Mike Vickers, saxophone player and guitarist with the British group Manfred Mann, was born in Southampton, England. Leader Manfred Mann, whose real name is Manfred Lubowitz, immigrated to England from South Africa in the early 1960's. His group became part of the "British Invasion" of the North American record charts with such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," "Pretty Flamingo" and "Mighty Quinn." After the demise of his group, Manfred Mann formed another band called Chapter Three in 1969. In the following decade, this evolved into Manfred Mann's Earth Band, a heavy metal group.
    1942 - Birthday of Peter Kornel “Pete” Gogolak, Budapest, Hungary.  The son of a physician, Gogolak came to the US with his family as a teen, following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and settled in upstate New York.  He played college football at Cornell University as a place-kicker, where he was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity (Ralph Mango’s Fraternity brother).  He is generally regarded as the first soccer-style kicker in pro football as he was selected in the twelfth round of the AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills, bringing yet another innovation to the upstart league that had become known for its experimentation.  In 1965, he scored 115 points and was selected by his peers as a Sporting News All-AFL player. He made 28 of 46 field goal attempts and connected on all 31 extra point attempts.  In 1966, after playing two seasons for the AFL's Bills, he joined the NFL's Giants in May after playing out his option, sparking the "war between the leagues" and effectively expediting the subsequent AFL-NFL merger agreement in June.  In 2010, the New York Giants announced that Gogolak would be included in the team's new Ring of Honor to be displayed at all home games in their new stadium.
    1942 - The Toronto Maple Leafs completed the greatest comeback in Stanley Cup playoff history by defeating the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1, in Game 7 of the finals. The Leafs were down three games to none before they evened the series with 4-3, 9-3, and 3-0 victories.
    1942 - 16 B-25 airplanes of the 17th Bombardment Group, 8th Air force, led by Colonel James Harold Doolittle, took off from U.S.S. Hornet, the first air raid to strike the Japanese homeland and provided a terrific boost to US morale.  Up to that point, the war was going poorly for the US after the Pearl Harbor attacks. Traveling low over the water, they dropped bombs on the cities of Tokyo, Kobe, and Nagoya, and then continued straight on until they ran out of fuel and crash-landed in the Chinese countryside. Fifteen aircraft reached China, but all crashed, while the 16th landed in the Soviet Union. All but three of the 80 crew members initially survived the mission. Eight soldiers were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of those were later executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen complete crews, except for one crewman who was killed in action, returned either to the United States or to American forces.  The attack cast doubt in Japan on the ability of its military leaders to defend their home islands. It also contributed to Admiral Yamamoto’s decision to attack Midway, an attack that turned into a decisive strategic defeat of the Japanese Navy by the U.S. Navy.  Doolittle, who initially believed that loss of all his aircraft would lead to his being court-martialed, received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two steps to brigadier general.    
    1943 - Traveling in a bomber, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, is shot down by American P-38 fighters.
    1944 - California experienced its worst hailstorm of record. Damage mounted to 2 million dollars as 2 consecutive storms devastated the Sacramento Valley destroying the fruit crop.
    1944 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “It's Love-Love-Love,'' Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians. It is one of Lombardo's 26 No. 1 pop songs. Lombardo's is the only dance band to ever sell more than 100 million records.
    1945 - Ernie Pyle was killed by enemy fire on the island of Ie Shima. After his death, President Harry S. Truman spoke of how Pyle "told the story of the American fighting man as the American fighting men wanted it told." He was buried in his hometown of Dana, Indiana, next to local soldiers who had fallen in battle. Pyle, born in Dana, Indiana, first began writing a column for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain in 1935. Eventually syndicated to some 200 U.S. newspapers, Pyle's column, which related the lives and hopes of typical citizens, captured America's affection. In 1942, after the United States entered World War II, Pyle went overseas as a war correspondent. He covered the North Africa campaign, the invasions of Sicily and Italy, and on June 7, 1944, went ashore at Normandy the day after Allied forces landed. Pyle, who always wrote about the experiences of enlisted men rather than the battles they participated in, described the D-Day scene: "It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore. Men were sleeping on the sand, some of them sleeping forever. Men were floating in the water, but they didn't know they were in the water, for they were dead." The same year, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished correspondence and, in 1945, traveled to the Pacific to cover the war against Japan.
    1945 - The last German forces resisting in the Ruhr Pocket surrender. Field Marshal Model, commanding German Army Group B inside the pocket, commits suicide. About 325,000 German prisoners have been taken in this area by the Allied forces. Meanwhile, the US 9th Army captures Magdeburg and troops of US 3rd Army cross the Czechoslovakian border after a rapid advance.
    1945 - DALY, MICHAEL J., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Captain (then Lieutenant), U.S. Army, Company A, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Nuremberg, Germany, 18 April 1945. Entered service at: Southport, Conn. Born: 15 September 1924, New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: Early in the morning of 18 April 1945, he led his company through the shell-battered, sniper-infested wreckage of Nuremberg, Germany. When bl1stering machinegun fire caught his unit in an exposed position, he ordered his men to take cover, dashed forward alone, and, as bullets whined about him, shot the 3-man gun crew with his carbine. Continuing the advance at the head of his company, he located an enemy patrol armed with rocket launchers which threatened friendly armor. He again went forward alone, secured a vantage point and opened fire on the Germans. Immediately he became the target for concentrated machine pistol and rocket fire, which blasted the rubble about him. Calmly, he continued to shoot at the patrol until he had killed all 6 enemy infantrymen. Continuing boldly far in front of his company, he entered a park, where as his men advanced, a German machinegun opened up on them without warning. With his carbine, he killed the gunner; and then, from a completely exposed position, he directed machinegun fire on the remainder of the crew until all were dead. In a final duel, he wiped out a third machinegun emplacement with rifle fire at a range of 10 yards. By fearlessly engaging in 4 single-handed fire fights with a desperate, powerfully armed enemy, Lt. Daly, voluntarily taking all major risks himself and protecting his men at every opportunity, killed 15 Germans, silenced 3 enemy machineguns and wiped out an entire enemy patrol. His heroism during the lone bitter struggle with fanatical enemy forces was an inspiration to the valiant Americans who took Nuremberg.
    1946 - MERRELL, JOSEPH F., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company I, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Lohe, Germany, 18 April 1945. Entered service at: Staten Island, N.Y. Birth: Staten Island, N.Y. G.O. No.: 21, 26 February 1946. Citation: He made a gallant, 1-man attack against vastly superior enemy forces near Lohe, Germany. His unit, attempting a quick conquest of hostile hill positions that would open the route to Nuremberg before the enemy could organize his defense of that city, was pinned down by brutal fire from rifles, machine pistols, and 2 heavy machineguns. Entirely on his own initiative, Pvt. Merrell began a single-handed assault. He ran 100 yards through concentrated fire, barely escaping death at each stride, and at pointblank range engaged 4 German machine pistol men with his rifle, killing all of them while their bullets ripped his uniform. As he started forward again, his rifle was smashed by a sniper's bullet, leaving him armed only with 3 grenades. But he did not hesitate. He zigzagged 200 yards through a hail of bullets to within 10 yards of the first machinegun, where he hurled 2 grenades and then rushed the position ready to fight with his bare hands if necessary. In the emplacement he seized a Luger pistol and killed what Germans had survived the grenade blast. Rearmed, he crawled toward the second machinegun located 30 yards away, killing 4 Germans in camouflaged foxholes on the way, but himself receiving a critical wound in the abdomen. And yet he went on, staggering, bleeding, disregarding bullets which tore through the folds of his clothing and glanced off his helmet. He threw his last grenade into the machinegun nest and stumbled on to wipe out the crew. He had completed this self-appointed task when a machine pistol burst killed him instantly. In his spectacular 1-man attack Pvt. Merrell killed 6 Germans in the first machinegun emplacement, 7 in the next, and an additional 10 infantrymen who were astride his path to the weapons which would have decimated his unit had he not assumed the burden of the assault and stormed the enemy positions with utter fearlessness, intrepidity of the highest order, and a willingness to sacrifice his own life so that his comrades could go on to victory.
    1946 - Lead vocalist Skip Spence (d. 1999) of Moby Grape is born in Windsor, Ontario.
    1946 – Jackie Robinson made his minor league debut for the Montreal Royals, the International League farm club of the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black person to play Organized Baseball in the 20th century.  Robinson smashed a home run and three singles on his way to winning the league batting championship.
    1950 - The first transatlantic jet passenger trip is completed.
    1950 - At Fenway Park, to the delight of 31,822 fans, Boston ripped Yankees starter Allie Reynolds with a five-run 4th inning to drive him from the game and take a 9 - 0 lead. But the Yankees scored four runs in the 6th off Mel Parnell and then, down 10 - 4, unloaded for nine runs in the 8th. Billy Martin became the first player in Major League history to get two base hits in one inning in his first game.  Boo Ferriss, pitching in his last game, allowed the last two runs in the 9th inning as the Yankees chalked up a 15 - 10 victory, the biggest blown lead the Red Sox have ever had at Fenway Park; on June 4, 1989, they'll blow a 10-run lead at home.
    1954 - Birthday of American composer Robert Greenberg, Brooklyn.
    1956 - Top Hits
“Heartbreak Hotel”/”I Was the One” - Elvis Presley
“The Poor People of Paris” - Les Baxter
“Long Tall Sally” - Little Richard
“Blue Suede Shoes” - Carl Perkins
    1957 - Army reserve Lieutenant Buddy Knox whose "Party Doll" was a recent Number One, is called up for six months of active duty. Roulette Records' A&R team, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore rush Knox to the studio to cut over 20 songs to ensure his career does not stall while he's in uniform. It does anyway.
    1958 – In LA, the Dodgers played their first game at the Coliseum in front of a crowd of 78,672. Carl Erskine won, besting Al Worthington and the SF Giants, 6-5.  It was the Dodgers first home game in California after moving from Brooklyn the previous winter.
    1959 - Birthday of Susan Faludi in Queens, NYC.  Author and journalist.  Known especially for her exploration of the depiction of women by the news media, she won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism. Her best known book is “Backlash, the Undeclared War against Women.” She worked for the New York Times, San Jose Mercury, and Miami Herald among other newspapers and was managing editor of the Harvard Crimson when she attended that university.
    1960 - Dr. William M. Chardack inserted a wire implant into the heart of Frank Henefelt, a cardiac patient, to test the invention by Dr. Chardack and engineer Wilson Greatbatch, both of Buffalo, NY, patented this day. The battery-powered pulse generator unit tested successfully and was implanted into Henefelt’s abdomen. He lived for 2.5 years with the device. Swedish doctors first implanted a similar device in 1958.
    1964 - Top Hits
“Can’t Buy Me Love” - The Beatles
“Twist and Shout” - The Beatles
“Suspicion” - Terry Stafford
“Understand Your Man” - Johnny Cash
    1965 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “Game of Love,'' Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders.
    1966 - 38th Annual Academy Awards celebration at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Bob Hope was the host, for the sixth time. He received a gold medal, the Honorary Award for unique and distinguished service to the film industry and the Academy. Other award recipients included Shelley Winters for her Best Supporting Actress role in "A Patch of Blue"; Martin Balsam, Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "A Thousand Clowns". The Best Actor Oscar went to my former Latimer Road neighbor in the Pacific Palisades, Lee Marvin ("Cat Ballou"); and Julie Christie picked up the Best Actress Oscar ("Darling"). The Oscar for the Best Music/Song from a 1965 movie was "The Shadow of Your Smile" from "The Sandpiper" (Johnny Mandel-music, Paul Francis Webster-lyrics). It’s a good thing that the "Oscars" were being broadcast in color this night (the first time) because the Best Director and Best Picture winner was "The Sound of Music" (Robert Wise, producer and director). 
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0149013.html
    1971 - The Diana Ross television musical special “Diana,” featuring guest stars Jackson 5, Bill Cosby, and Danny Thomas, airs on ABC.
    1972 - Top Hits
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” - Roberta Flack
“I Gotcha” - Joe Tex
“Rockin’ Robin” - Michael Jackson
“My Hang-Up is You” - Freddie Hart
    1974 - James Brown, the ‘Godfather of Soul’, received a gold record this day for the single, "The Payback". Of the 44 hits that Brown would put on the charts over three decades, he received only one other gold record -- for "Get on the Good Foot - Part 1" in 1972. His biggest pop hits include: "I Got You (I Feel Good)" at number three in 1965, "Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag" at number eight in 1965, "It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World" at number eight in 1966, "I Got The Feelin’" at number six in 1968 and "Living in America" at number four in 1986. This song was featured in the Sylvester Stallone film, "Rocky IV". He had been in and out of jail for “Spousal Abuse” and other ailments, but started the singing-dance craze imitated by all those followed him in Rhythm n Blues, including Michael Jackson.
http://www.funky-stuff.com/jamesbrown/ 
http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/
    1975 - James Benton Parsons (1911-93) was appointed chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court by President John F. Kennedy. He is the first African-American chief justice of a state supreme court.
http://www.jtbf.org/five_firsts/james_b_parsons.htm
    1975 - Alice Cooper's first TV special, "Welcome to My Nightmare: The Making of a Record Album" airs.
    1977 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “Don't Leave Me This Way,'' Thelma Houston.
    1978 - The U.S. Senate approves the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama. 
    1980 - Top Hits
“Another Brick in the Wall” - Pink Floyd
“Call Me” - Blondie
“Ride like the Wind” - Christopher Cross
“Honky Tonk Blues” - Charley Pride
    1981 - British progressive rock band Yes announces its break-up. During its 13-year career, the group became one of the world's most popular exponents of intricate, mystical, symphonic rock, despite the fact that they only had one big chart hit, "Roundabout." It went to #13 in 1972. Of course, they reunite on numerous occasions over the years.
    1981 – The longest professional baseball game in organized baseball history began at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, RI. The game was suspended at 4:00 the next morning and was finally completed on June 23.  The Pawtucket Red Sox played the Rochester Red Wings for 33 innings, with eight hours and 25 minutes of playing time. 32 innings were played April 18/19 and the final 33rd inning was played June 23, 1981. Pawtucket won the game, 3–2. Future Red Sox Hall of Famer Wade Boggs drove in the tying run in the bottom of the 21st inning after a Rochester run.  The PawSox included Marty Barrett and Rich Gedman who went on to star for the Boston Red Sox, while future Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr played 3B for the Red Wings.
    1983 - A suicide bomber kills 63, including U.S. Marines at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon.
    1983 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “Come on Eileen,'' Dexys Midnight Runners.
    1985 - Tulane University abolished its 72-year-old basketball program, and shocked the college sports world with the announcement. The school said that charges of fixed games, drug use and payments to players contributed to the shutdown of the basketball program. 
    1985 - Wham's "Make It Big" LP is released in China, making it the first Western album to be released there.
    1985 - Liberace breaks his own record at Radio City Music Hall, pulling in two million dollars for his latest engagement.
    1987 - When her newest release reached the top of the Billboard chart, Aretha Franklin set a record for the artist with the longest gap between US #1 singles. It had been 19 years, 10 months from "Respect" (June 1967) to "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" (With George Michael).
    1987 - The Philadelphia Phillies’ Mike Schmidt hit the 500th home run of his career with two outs in the sixth inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Phillies rallied to win, 8-6. Schmidt finished his career with 548 homers, seventh on the all-time list at the time.
    1988 - Miles Davis played at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House view the Original Poster for this event at Wolfgang's Vault.
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/
    1988 - Top Hits
“Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car” - Billy Ocean
“Devil Inside” - INXS
“Where Do Broken Hearts Go” - Whitney Houston
“I Wanna Dance with You” - Eddie Rabbitt
    1990 - Heavy snow blanketed the west central valleys and southwest mountains of Colorado with up to 18 inches of snow. Nine cities from the Mid-Mississippi Valley to the Middle Atlantic Coast Region reported record low temperatures for the date, including Fort Wayne, IN, with a reading of 23 degrees.
    1992 - Albums by Def Leppard, Bruce Springsteen and Wynonna debut in the top four spots on Billboard's pop album chart. The albums are Def Leppard's “Adrenalize,'' Springsteen's “Human Touch'' and “Lucky Town'' and Wynonna's “Wynonna.'' (Wynonna Judd launches her solo career with the album and drops her last name to distance herself from her success as half of the mother-daughter duo, The Judds.)
    1995 – Arguably the NFL’s greatest QB, Joe Montana, retired in front of a huge crowd at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco.  In 16 seasons, 14 of which were with the San Francisco 49ers, he won four Super Bowls and was the first three-time Super Bowl MVP. He also holds Super Bowl career records for most passes without an interception (122 in 4 games) and the all-time highest quarterback rating of 127.8. Montana was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, his first year of eligibility, with teammate Ronnie Lott.
    1998 - Country group Diamond Rio are inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. The band opens their performance with their first number one hit "Meet in the Middle.
    2001 - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee approved a plan to give sex change benefits to city employees.
    2003 - In four barricaded cottages in conquered Baghdad, Iraq, US troops find $656 million in US currency, in $100 bills stacked inside galvanized aluminum boxes sealed with blue strapping tape and green seals stamped "Bank of Jordan." On 22 April 2003, in the same Baghdad neighborhood, US troops would find another $112 million, similarly packed, hidden in seven dog kennels.

NBA Champions:
    1962 - Boston Celtics
Stanley Cup Champions:
    1942 - Toronto Maple Leafs
    1959 - Montreal Canadiens
    1963 - Toronto Maple Leafs