Civil war erupts in Rwanda a day after its leader and the President of Burundi are killed in a mysterious plane crash. In the months that follow, hundreds of thousands of minority Tutsis and Hutu intellectuals are slaughtered in the central African country.

 

 

 

1927

 

An audience in New York witnesses the first successful long-distance demonstration of television in the United States. They see Commerce Secretary and future President Herbert Hoover in images transmitted via telephone lines from Washington.

 

 

 

1947

 

Auto pioneer Henry Ford, father of the Model T Car and the modern assembly line, dies in Dearborn, Michigan at age 83.

 

 

 

1949

 

"I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair and send him on his way." 

 

In New York, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific starring Mary Martin opens on Broadway.

 

 

 

And 1915

 

"For you I cry, for you, dear, only..."

 

Billie Holiday, Lady Day, one of the great jazz and blues singers of all time is born in Philadelphia.

 

 

 

Today in History, April 7th, Ed Donahue, the Associated Press.