April 27, 1967: The 1967 International and Universal Exposition opens in Montreal. It is Canada's official celebration of the Centennial of its independence, and Quebec's coming-out party for the Province's "Quiet Revolution," not to mention for the Metro, Montreal's new subway system.
The fair was originally scheduled for Moscow, in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, but the Soviet Union decided to bow out, mainly for logistical reasons. Canada was happy to take it on, and so was everybody who could have made money off it: It remains the most profitable, and best-attended, World's Fair ever.
The theme for this World's Fair was "Man and His World," and the centerpiece was a geodesic dome designed by R. Buckminster Fuller. A geodesic dome is a heimspherical thin-shell structure based on a "geodesic polyhedron." The rigid triangular elements of the dome distribute stress throughout the structure, making geodesic domes able to withstand very heavy loads.
But it turned out not to be fireproof: It burned in 1975, leaving only the outer skeleton. Nevertheless, it is one of the few surviving structures from the Expo, and is now known as the Montreal Biosphere. It helped inspire Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center.
The Fair was remembered for a visit from President Charles de Gaulle of France, where he stood on the balcony of Montreal's City Hall, and shouted, "Vive le Québec libre !" and stoked the Quebec nationalism movement; and the Fair's nickname, Expo 67, being adapted for the expansion baseball team that was awarded the next year: The Montreal Expos.
Today, the islands that hosted the world exhibition are mainly used as parkland and for recreational use, with only a few remaining structures from Expo 67 to show that the event was held there.
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April 27, 1967 was a Thursday. Game 4 was played in the Stanley Cup Finals. Appropriately enough, it was between Canada's 2 NHL teams, the 2-time defending Champion Montreal Canadiens, and the team that had won the previous 3 Cups, the Toronto Maple Leafs. But it was in Toronto, at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Canadiens won, 6-2, to tie the series.
But the Leafs won Game 5 in Montreal and Game 6 in Toronto, and won the Cup. They have not even been to the Finals since. The Canadiens have since been to the Finals 12 times, winning them 10 times.
Three days earlier, the Philadelphia 76ers had won the NBA Championship, beating the San Francisco Warriors in 6 games. Football was out of season. These baseball games were played:
* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 3-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ferguson Jenkins pitched a 3-hit shutout. Ernie Banks did not play.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk. Willie Stargell went 0-for-3.
* In the only game scheduled in the American League, the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-3 with a walk. Rookie Rod Carew, not yet the great hitter that he would become, went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Larry Dierker outpitched Bob Gibson. Joe Morgan went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs. The Cards got 3 hits from Curt Flood, and 2 hits each from Mike Shannon, Tim McCarver and Bobby Tolan, but it wasn't enough.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Claude Osteen pitched a 4-hit shutout. Ron Hunt went 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.
* And the Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Pete Rose did not play. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Willie McCovey hit a home run.
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