Sunday, April 3

This Day In History

• 1776   Harvard College conferred the first honorary Doctor of Laws degree to George Washington.
• 1860   The Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif.
• 1865   Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
• 1882   Outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a member of his gang, reportedly for a $10,000 reward.
• 1930   Ras Tafari became Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.
• 1933   First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt informed newspaper reporters that beer would be served at the White House. This followed the March 22 legislation legalizing ‘3.2’ beer.
• 1936   Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J., for the kidnap-murder of the Lindbergh baby.
• 1946   Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed in the Philippines.
• 1948   President Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which would foster the recovery of war-torn Europe.
• 1968   Less than 24 hours before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ''mountaintop'' speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers.
• 1968   North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.
• 1990   Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan died at age 66.
• 1996   Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.
• 1996   An Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.
• 1998   The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time.
• 2000   A federal judge in Washington ruled that Microsoft Corp. had violated U.S. antitrust laws by keeping ''an oppressive thumb'' on competitors during the race to link Americans to the Internet.

Happy Birthday To

• 1783   Washington Irving (author: Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Life of Washington; died Nov 28, 1859)
• 1823   William M. (Marcy) ‘Boss’ Tweed (political boss: New York City: known for his Tweed ‘Ring’ which stole thirty to two hundred million dollars from NYC; died [in prison] Apr 12, 1878)
• 1898   George Jessel (comedian, actor: Valley of the Dolls, Diary of a Young Comic; died May 24, 1981)
• 1924   Marlon Brando (Academy Award-winning actor: On the Waterfront [1954], The Godfather [1972]; Apocalypse Now, Last Tango in Paris, One-eyed Jacks; Emmy Award: Roots: Next Generation)
• 1924   Doris Day (Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff) (singer: Whatever Will Be, Will Be, Everybody Loves a Lover, Sentimental Journey; actress: Young at Heart, Pillow Talk, April in Paris, Lullaby of Broadway)
• 1944   Tony Orlando (Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis) (singer: Halfway to Paradise, Bless You; group: Tony Orlando and Dawn: Knock Three Times, Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree, Candida)
• 1958   Alec Baldwin (Alexander Rae Baldwin III) (actor: Pearl Harbor, The Hunt for Red October, Beetlejuice, The Getaway, Married to the Mob, Talk Radio, Working Girl, Miami Blues, Knots Landing)
• 1961   Eddie Murphy (comedian: Saturday Night Live; actor: 48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Doctor Dolittle)