1581 – Huibert Duifhuis, Roman Catholic pastor (Rotterdam/Utrecht), dies
1917 – Arthur Graeme West, British writer and war poet (The Diary of a Dead Officer), killed by a sniper at about 25
1978 – Ray Noble, English bandleader, comedian and actor (The Very Thought of You), dies at 74
1987 – Tom Sestak, American football player (b. 1936)
1995 – Gracita Morales, Spanish actress (Operation Mata Hari), dies at 66
1996 – Ron Brown, American Secretary of Commerce, dies in an air accident aged 54
2003 – Homer Banks, American singer and songwriter (Be What You Are), dies at 61
2007 – Eddie Robinson, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Grambling 408 wins), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 88
2013 – Robert Ward, American composer (Pantaloon), dies at 95
2018 – David Edgerton, American entrepreneur and founder of Burger King, dies of complications of surgery at 90
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 3rd April 2021
1882 – Wood block alarm invented, when alarm rang, it dropped 20 wood blocks
1933 – Then longest North American hockey game requires a 1:44:46 overtime as Maple Leaf Ken Doraty scores to beat Canadiens 1-0
1946 – Netherlands-German postal relations resume
1957 – Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame” premieres in London
1978 – 50th Academy Awards: “Annie Hall”, Richard Dreyfuss and Diane Keaton win
1979 – Belgium’s Martens government forms
1987 – MLB Chicago Cubs trade Dennis Eckersley to Oakland A’s for 3 minor league players
1989 – “Sunrise” a Gannett newspaper begins publishing for Bronx
2012 – Spanish unemployment reaches record high, youth unemployment stands at 50%
2019 – San Antonio coach Geg Popovich is ejected after an NBA record low 63 seconds in the Spurs 113-85 loss in Denver; receives 2 technical fouls in a verbal confrontation with a referee
Today in History for 3rd April 2021
Historical Events
1919 – Austria expels all Habsburgers
1941 – Walton’s overture “Scapino” premieres in Chicago
1941 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warns Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that a German invasion is imminent
1980 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1988 – 7th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Louisiana Tech beats Auburn, 56-54; Lady Techsters Erica Westbrooks MOP
2020 – 27 people swept off a ferry and feared dead in the Solomon Islands during Cyclone Harold
Famous Birthdays
1649 – Joseph François Salomon, French composer, born in Toulon, France (d. 1732)
1798 – Charles Wilkes, American Antarctic explorer and naval officer (Union Navy), born in NYC, New York (d. 1877)
1825 – Adolf Rzepko, Polish composer, born in Prague (d. 1892)
1927 – Éva Székely, Hungarian swimmer (Olympic gold 200m breaststroke 1952; silver 1956; first WR 400m individual medley 1953), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2020)
1975 – Koji Uehara, Japanese professional baseball pitcher, born in Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan
1987 – Jay Bruce, American MLB baseball outfielder, since 2008; 3x All-Star (Cincinnati Reds, and 5 other teams) player, born in Beaumont, Texas
Famous Deaths
1827 – Ernst Chladni, German physicist and musician (Estimating the speed of sound Chladni’s law), dies at 70
1897 – Johannes Brahms, German composer and conductor (Hung Dances), dies at 63
1941 – Pal Teleki-von Szek, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-21, 39-41), committed suicide at 61
1993 – Klaas Schenk, Dutch speed skater and coach (coach 1952, 56, 60 Winter Olympics; father of triple gold medallist Ard), dies at 86
2007 – Eddie Robinson, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Grambling 408 wins), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 88
2007 – Marion Eames, Welsh novelist (b. 1921)
Famous Deaths for 2nd April 2021
1742 – James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist (b. 1675)
1876 – Paul van Vlissingen, Dutch ship owner, dies at 78
1922 – Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (inkblot test – Rorschach test), dies at 37
1930 – Zewditu, Empress of Ethiopia (1916-30), dies at 53
1932 – John Morrill, American baseball first baseman and manager (National League pennant: 1877, 78, 83; Boston Red Caps/Beaneaters), dies of pneumonia at 77
1947 – Joe Hardstaff Sr., English cricket batsman (5 Tests; umpire 21 Tests), dies at 64
1961 – Wallingford Riegger, American composer (Bacchangle), dies at 75
1974 – Georges Pompidou, French President (1969-1974) and Prime Minister (1962-1968), dies in Paris at 62
2003 – (Charles) Edwin Starr [Hatcher], American soul and RandB singer (War), dies of a heart attack at 61
2020 – Patricia Bosworth, American actor, journalist, writer, and biographer, dies of COVID-19 complications at 86
Historical Events for 2nd April 2021
1755 – Commodore William James captures the pirate fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India
1916 – German troops overtake Bois de Caillette
1917 – Jeannette Rankin (Rep-R-Montana) begins her term as 1st woman member of US House of Reps
1969 – Toronto center Forbes Kennedy sets a Stanley Cup playoff record for most penalties in one game with 8 as the Maple Leafs crash 10-0 to the Bruins at Boston; Boston’s first NHL playoff victory in 10 years
1970 – Meghalaya becomes autonomous state within India’s Assam state
1989 – WrestleMania V, Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, NJ: Hulk Hogan beats Randy “Macho Man” Savage for WWF Heavyweight title
1991 – Rotterdam Daily Newspaper begins publishing
1992 – Mafia boss John Gotti is found guilty of 5 murders (Paul Castellano, Thomas Bilotti, Robert DiBernardo, Liborio Milito and Louis Dibono), plus conspiracy to murder, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion
1995 – NY Police Department and NY Transit Police merge into one organization
2019 – OKC guard Russell Westbrook becomes 2nd player in NBA history to have 20+ points, rebounds and assists in a game; records 20-20-21 in 119-103 win over LA Lakers
Today in History for 2nd April 2021
Historical Events
1804 – Forty merchantmen are wrecked when a convoy led by HMS Apollo runs aground off Portugal.
1877 – 1st Easter egg roll held on White House lawn
1960 – Cuba buys oil from USSR
1981 – Heavy battle between Christian militia and Syrian army in East Lebanon
1986 – NYC Mayor Ed Koch signs and brings the Gay Rights Bill into effect
1993 – Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mark Price has his consecutive free throw streak end at 77, during a 114-113 loss at Charlotte; falls 1 short of Calvin Murphy’s NBA record of 78 straight free throws
Famous Birthdays
1735 – Christian Gotthilf Tag, German composer, born in Beierfeld, Germany (d. 1811)
1781 – Bhagwan Swaminarayan, Indian yogi and religious leader, born in Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh, India (d. 1830)
1805 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author of 150 fairy tales (The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen), born in Odense, Denmark (d. 1875)
1814 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor of weaving machine, born in West Boylston, Massachusetts (d. 1879)
1911 – Charles “Honi” Coles, American actor and tap dancer (Tito Suarez-Dirty Dancing), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1992)
1983 – Felix Borja, Ecuadorian soccer forward (22 caps; El Nacional), born in San Lorenzo, Ecuador
Famous Deaths
1416 – Ferdinand I the Righteous, King of Aragon and Sicily, dies at 52
1705 – Johann Löhner, German composer, dies at 59
1941 – Pál Teleki, prime minister of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1 and 1939-41), dies at 61
1956 – Chester Clute, actor (Niagara Falls), dies at 65
1958 – Josei Toda, Japanese second president of the Buddhist association Soka Gakkai (b. 1900)
1966 – C. S. Forester, English historical novelist (Horatio Hornblower), dies at 66
Famous Deaths for 1st April 2021
1832 – Robert the Hermit, US ex-slave/hermit in Massachusetts, dies
1869 – Anthony Gerhard Alexander van Rappard, Dutch politician, dies at 69
1925 – Francis William Davenport, English composer, dies at 77
1933 – Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, 22nd Governor of New South Wales (1908-13) and Viceroy of British India (1916-21), dies at 64
1955 – Silvio d’Amico, Italian theater critic (Il Teatro Italian), dies at 68
1973 – Arthur Wood, English cricket wicketkeeper (4 Tests, 11 dismissals), dies at 74
1993 – Nicanor Zabaleta, Spanish harpist, dies at 86
1995 – H. Adams Carter, American mountaineer (Alpine Club President 1954-58; editor American Alpine Journal 1960-95), dies at 80
2013 – Nicolae Martinescu, Romanian Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold 100kg 1972), dies at 73
2015 – Eddie LeBaron, American NFL quarterback (Pro Bowl 1955, 57, 58, 62; Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys), dies at 85
Historical Events for 1st April 2021
1857 – Herman Melville publishes The Confidence-Man
1919 – Stanley Cup Final, Seattle Ice Arena, Seattle, WA: With Montreal Canadiens (NHL) and Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) tied at 2-2-1, trophy not awarded due to worldwide flu epidemic
1931 – Jackie Mitchell becomes the second female (after Lizzie Arlington 1898) in organised baseball when she signs with the Chattanooga Lookouts Baseball Club
1933 – Nazi Germany begins persecution of Jews by boycotting Jewish businesses
1933 – Scotland beats Ireland, 8-6 at Lansdowne Road, Dublin to win the Home Nations Rugby Championship and Triple Crown
1947 – 1st Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat
1954 – WQED TV channel 13 in Pittsburgh, PA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1957 – World’s biggest glass oven used
1984 – 14th Easter Seal Telethon raises $24,600,000
1992 – Rocker Billy Idol fined $2,000 for hitting a woman
Today in History for 1st April 2021
Historical Events
705 – Greek pope John VII chosen as successor to John VI
1905 – British East African Protectorate becomes colony of Kenya
1939 – US recognizes Francisco Franco’s government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war. Pope Pius XII congratulates Generalissimo Franco’s victory in Spain
1946 – The Malayan Union is formed as a federation of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca
1992 – Battleship USS Missouri, on which the Japanese surrender took place, decommissioned
2001 – 20th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Notre Dame beats Purdue, 68-66; Fighting Irish forward Ruth Riley is named Most Outstanding Player
Famous Birthdays
1621 – Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, ninth Nanak, 9th of 10 Guru of the Sikhs, born in Amritsar, India (d. 1675)
1911 – Joe Fortenberry, American basketball forward (captain Olympic gold 1936), born in Leo, Texas (d. 1993)
1932 – Gordon Jump, American actor (Arthur Carlson-WKRP, Growing Pains), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 2003)
1940 – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and political activist, founder of the Green Belt Movement, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (2004) and Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (2006), born in Ihithe village, Kenya (d. 2011)
1949 – Sammy Nelson, Irish soccer left back (51 caps Northern Ireland; Arsenal), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
1980 – Bryan Buffinton, actor (Bill Lewis Jr-Guiding Light), born in Ridgewood, New Jersey
Famous Deaths
1799 – Narciso Casanovas, composer, dies at 52
1960 – Piet[er O] Bakker, Dutch journalist/writer (Ciske), dies at 62
1979 – Bruno Coquatrix, French music impresario (b. 1910)
1990 – Russell Vis, American Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold freestyle lightweight 1924), dies at 89
1996 – Alfredo Nobre Coast, Prime Minister of Portugal (1978), dies
2004 – Nilo Soruco, Bolivian singer and songwriter, dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 31st March 2021
1340 – Ivan I of Moscow, Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of Vladimir (b. 1288)
1877 – Antoine Cournot, French philosopher and mathematician (rule of Cournot), dies at 75
1938 – Willem Kloos, Dutch poet and critic (New Guide), dies at 78
1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (Senate Majority Leader), dies at 74
1974 – Andrea Checci, actress (2 Women, Assassin, Black Sunday), dies at 57
1990 – Lillian “Miss” Miller, audience member (Merv Griffin, Tonight), dies
1997 – Edwin Alberian, TV celebrity (Clarabell), dies at 76
1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist (b. 1922)
2003 – H.S.M. Coxeter, English-born geometer (b. 1907)
2017 – James Rosenquist, American pop artist, dies at 83