April 3 1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida. He had sighted the land the day before. 1776 - George Washington received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard College . 1829 - James Carrington patented the coffee mill. 1860 - The first Pony Express riders left St. Joseph, MO and Sacramento, CA. The trip across country took about 10 days. The Pony Express only lasted about a year and a half. 1865 - Union forces occupy Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. 1866 - Rudolph Eickemeyer and G. Osterheld patented a blocking and shaping machine for hats. 1882 - The American outlaw Jesse James was shot in the back and killed by Robert Ford for a $5,000 reward. There was later controversy over whether it was actually Jesse James that had been killed. 1910 - Alaskas Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America was climbed. 1933 - First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt informed newspaper reporters that beer would be served at the White House. This followed the March 22 legislation that legalized 3.2 beer. 1936 - Richard Bruno Hauptmann was executed for the kidnapping and death of the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. 1942 - The Japanese began their all-out assault on the U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan. 1946 - Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed in the Philippines. 1948 - U.S. President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan to revive war-torn Europe. It was $5 billion in aid for 16 countries. 1949 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis debuted on radio on the Martin and Lewis Show. The NBC program ran until 1952. 1953 - TV Guide was published for the first time. 1967 - The U.S. State Department said that Hanoi might be brainwashing American prisoners. 1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his mountaintop speech just 24 hours before he was assassinated. 1968 - North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks. 1972 - Charlie Chaplin returned to the U.S. after a twenty-year absence. 1979 - Jane Byrne became the first female mayor in Chicago. 1982 - John Chancellor stepped down as anchor of the The NBC Nightly News. Roger Mudd and Tom Brokaw became the co-anchors of the show. 1983 - It was reported that Vietnamese occupation forces had overrun a key insurgent base in western Cambodia. 1984 - Sikh terrorists killed a member of the Indian Parliament in his home. 1984 - Col. Lansana Konte became the new president of Guinea when the armed forces seized power after the death of Sekou Toure. 1985 - The U.S. charged that Israel violated the Geneva Convention by deporting Shiite prisoners. 1986 - The U.S. national debt hit $2 trillion. 1987 - Riots disrupted mass during the Popes visit to Santiago, Chili. 1993 - The Norman Rockwell Museum opened in Stockbridge, MA. 1996 - An Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard. 1996 - Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski was arrested. He pled guilty in January 1998 to five Unabomber attacks in exchange for a life sentence without chance for parole. 1998 - The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time. 2000 - A U.S. federal judge ruled that Microsoft had violated U.S. antitrust laws by keeping an oppressive thumb on its competitors. Microsoft said that they would appeal the ruling. 2000 - The Nasdaq set a one-day record when it lost 349.15 points to close at 4,233.68. 2010 - The Wi-Fi version of the Apple iPad went on sale. Music History 1627 - Composer Johann Caspar Kerll was born. 1889 - Composer Grigoras Dinicu was born. 1895 - Composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was born. 1955 - Fred Astaire appeared on television for the first time on The Toast of the Town with Ed Sullivan. 1956 - Elvis Presley performed on The Milton Berle Show. The show was broadcast live from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock. Elvis played the songs Heartbreak Hotel, Money, Honey, and Blue Suede Shoes. 1959 - The BBC banned the Coasters song Charlie Brown because of the word spitball. Two weeks later the BBC changed its position on the song. 1960 - The Everly Brothers made their British concert debut. 1965 - Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs was released. 1969 - Jim Morrison was arrested by the FBI for interstate flight, which stemmed from obscenity charges after a Miami concert. 1975 - Steve Miller was charged with setting fire to the clothes and personal effects of a friend, Benita DiOrio, and resisting arrest. The charges were dropped the next day. 1978 - Chers TV special with guest Rod Stewart aired on ABC. 1989 - Pepsi dismissed Madonna as a spokesperson after her Like a Prayer video was called blasphemous by the Vatican. 1996 - MC Hammer filed for bankruptcy. 1998 - Dave Navarro left the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 2008 - Apple became the number one music seller in the United States. Birthdays Washington Irving 1783 - Author (Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) Edward Everett Hale 1822 William M. (Marcy) Boss Tweed 1823 - Political boss, known for his Tweed Ring that stole millions of dollars from New York City John Burroughs 1837 - Author Gertrude Ma Rainey 1888 George Jessel 1898 - Comedian, actor Sally Rand 1904 Herb Caen 1916 Jan Sterling (Adriance) 1923 - Actress Doris Day (Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff) 1924 - Singer, actress Marlon Brando 1924 - Actor (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) Don Gibson 1928 - Songwriter, singer Miyoshi Umeki 1923 - Actress Helmut Kohl 1930 - Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1982-1998 Rod Funseth 1933 - Golfer Jane Goodall 1934 - Anthropologist, author Jimmy McGriff 1936 Sandra Spuzich 1937 - Golfer Jeff Barry 1938 Jan Barry 1941 - Songwriter, singer (Jan and Dean) Marsha Mason 1942 - Actress Wayne Newton 1942 - Singer Jonathan Lynn 1943 - Actor, director, writer Tony Orlando (Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis) 1944 - Singer Barry Pritchard 1944 - Musician (The Fortunes) Bernie (Bernard) Parent 1945 - Hockey goalie Richard Manuel 1945 - Musician (The Band) Dee Murray 1946 - Musician (Elton Johns band) Donny Anderson 1949 - Football player Richard Thompson 1949 - Musician (Fairport Convention) Mel Schacher 1951 - Musician (Grand Funk Railroad) Alec Baldwin (Alexander Rae Baldwin III) 1958 - Actor David Hyde Pierce 1959 - Actor (Frasier) Eddie Murphy 1961 - Comedian (Saturday Night Live), actor (48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop, Doctor Doolittle) Sebastian Bach 1968 - Singer (Skid Row) Wes Berggren 1971 - Musician (Tripping Daisy) Jennie Garth 1972 - Actress (Beverly Hills 90210) Leona Lewis 1985 - Singer Amanda Bynes 1986 - Actress Today in Disaster History 1974 - A series of 148 tornadoes struck 13 states within 16 hours. The Super Tornado Outbreak killed 330 and injured 5,484. (April 3-4) Today in Sports History 1977 - Montreal Canadiens became the first team in NHL history to win 60 games in a season. They beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 to end the season with a record of 60-8-12. 1985 - The Major League Baseball Players Association agreed to a proposal of the team owners to expand the 1985 League Championship Series from the best-of-five games to best-of-seven. 2002 - Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards) announced that he was done for the season due to a knee injury. 2006 - U.S. President Bush threw out the first pitch at the Cincinnati Reds opening home game.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 11:00:54 +0000
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