This Week in History: March 31 – April 6
Monday March 31
1850 – US population hits 23,191,876 (Black population: 3,638,808 (15.7%))
1878 – Jack Johnson is 1st black to hold a heavyweight boxing title
1918 – 1st daylight savings time in US goes into effect
1933 – German Republic gives power to Hitler
1965 – US ordered the 1st combat troops to Vietnam
1979 – My wife Carrie was born… Happy Birthday!
Tuesday April 1
1853 - Cincinnati became 1st US city to pay fire fighters a regular salary
1863 – 1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect
1933 – Nazi Germany begins persecution of Jews boycotting Jewish businesses
1938 – Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, NY
1945 – US forces invade Okinawa during WW II
1952 – Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow
1963 – Soap operas “General Hospital” & “Doctors” premier on TV
1980 – Wayne Gretzky breaks Bobby Orr’s record with 103rd assist
1986 – World oil prices dip below $10 a barrel
1996 – Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Boston MA on WBCN 104.1 FM (morn)
Wednesday April 2
1827 – Joseph Dixon begins manufacturing lead pencils
1866 – Pres Johnson ends war in Ala, Ark, Fla, Ga, Miss, La, NC, SC, Tn & Va
1872 – George B Brayton patents gasoline powered engine
1912 – Titanic undergoes sea trials under its own power
1932 – Charles Lindbergh turns over $50,000 as ransom for kidnapped son
1954 – Plans to build Disneyland 1st announced
1970 – 2 men begin ascent of south face of Annapurna I, highest final stage in a wall climb in world
1977 – Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors,” album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks
1987 – IBM introduces PS/2 & OS/2
1992 – John Gotti found guilty in death of Paul Castallanos
Thursday April 3
1922 – Stalin appointed General Secretary of Communist Party
1933 – 1st airplane flight over Mt Everest
1941 – Churchill warns Stalin of German invasion
1945 – Nazi’s begin evacuation of camp Buchenwald
1949 – North Atlantic Treaty, pact signed by US, Britain, France & Canada
1968 – N Vietnam agrees to meet US reps to set up preliminary peace talks
1995 – Howard Stern gets in trouble for disparaging remarks about Selena
Friday April 4
1862 – Battle of Yorktown begins
1932 – Vitamin C 1st isolated, CC King, Univ of Pittsburgh
1945 – US forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany
1966 – Pirate Radio Scotland changes name to Radio Ireland
1983 – 6th space shuttle mission, Challenger 1 launched
1992 – Jury deliberations begin in Noriega case
1994 – Netscape Communications founded as Mosaic Communications
Saturday April 5
1893 – Cleveland passes Park Act (forerunner of Metroparks)
1896 – 1st modern Olympic Games officially opens in Athens
1941 – In SF, Castro & Fillmore streetcars replaced by buses
1954 – Elvis Presley records his debut single, “That’s All Right”
1962 – NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to 54,600 m
1974 – Then tallest building, World Trade Center opens in NYC (110 stories)
1988 – Democratic convention picks Michael Dukakis as their pres candidate
Sunday April 6
1830 – Joseph Smith & 5 others organizes Mormon church in Seneca Co, NY
1869 – 1st plastic, Celluloid, patented
1893 – Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City dedicated
1909 – North Pole reached by Americans Robert Peary & Matthew Henson
1925 – 1st film shown on an airplane (British Air)
1930 – Hostess Twinkies invented by bakery executive James Dewar
1943 – British & US army link up in Africa during WW II
1945 – Japanese giant battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa
1954 – TV Dinner was 1st put on sale by Swanson & Sons
1976 – 1st quadrophonic movie track: “Ladies & Gentlemen the Rolling Stones”
1980 – Post It Notes, introduced
1987 – Sugar Ray Leonard upsets Marvelous Marvin Hagler
1992 – Microsoft announced Windows 3.1, upgrading Windows 3.0
