TV actor Hugh Dillon

Events in 1963 and 31-5

Events in the world in the birth year of Hugh Dillon

• France and West Germany sign treaty of cooperation ending four centuries of conflict (Jan. 22).
• Pope John XXIII dies (June 3), and is succeeded June 21 by Cardinal Montini, who becomes Paul VI.
• British Secretary of War John Profumo resigns in the wake of an affair with Christine Keeler, a teenage showgirl who was also involved with the Soviet naval attaché (June).
• Washington-to-Moscow "hot line" communications link opens, designed to reduce risk of accidental war (Aug. 30). Background: cold war
• Kenya achieves independence.
• There are 15,000 US military advisers in South Vietnam. Background: Vietnam War
• 32 independent African nations establish the Organization for African Unity.

Birthday Hugh Dillon (31-5) in history

• Day 31-5 year 1790: The first U.S. Copyright Law was enacted, protecting books, maps, and other original materials.
• Day 31-5 year 1889: Heavy rains caused the South Fork Dam to collapse, sending 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pa. Over 2,200 people were killed and the town was nearly destroyed.
• Day 31-5 year 1911: The hull of the Titanic was launched in Belfast. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, “Not even God himself could sink this ship.”
• Day 31-5 year 1961: South Africa became an independent republic.
• Day 31-5 year 1962: Former Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel.
• Day 31-5 year 1970: An earthquake in Peru left more than 50,000 dead.
• Day 31-5 year 2004: Alberta Martin, 97, one of the last widows of a U.S. Civil War veteran, died. She had married Confederate veteran William Martin in 1927 when she was 21 and he was 81.
• Day 31-5 year 2010: Nine people are dead after an Israeli navy commando attacks a flotilla of cargo ships and passenger boats on their way to Gaza to provide aid and supplies for the area.