April 3, 1996: Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown is 1 of 35 people killed in the crash of a plane on an official U.S. trade mission, outside Dubrovnik, Croatia. He was 54 years old.
Ronald Harmon Brown was born on August 1, 1941 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Harlem, the world-famous black neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, living in the Theresa Hotel, which his father managed. He graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont, and got his law degree from St. John's University in Queens. In between, he served in the U.S. Army, during the Vietnam War, though he saw no combat, and rose to the rank of Captain.
He worked for the National Urban League, a major civil rights group, before working on Ted Kennedy's Presidential campaign in 1980. He became a major Washington lawyer, and ran Jesse Jackson's Presidential campaign in 1988. On February 10, 1989, he was elected Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the 1st black Chairman of either major party.
He ran the 1992 Democratic National Convention, at Madison Square Garden in New York, at which Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas was nominated for President. When Clinton won, he rewarded Brown by appointing him to be the 1st black Secretary of Commerce.
With the economy in recession as Clinton took office, Brown began a policy of taking major American businessmen and financiers on foreign trips, to convince international businessmen to invest in America. It was one of several Clinton initiatives on the economy, and they worked: By the Spring of 1996, the economy was booming.
It was on such a mission, to help normalize economic relations with Croatia, once part of the Communist nation of Yugoslavia, that Brown and 34 others died in the crash of a U.S. Air Force CT-43 (a modified Boeing 737) on approach to Dubrovnik Airport.
An Air Force investigation suggested pilot error as the cause. Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, knowing of resistance to Brown as the leading black official in Clinton's executive branch, suspected foul play and a cover-up, but no evidence of this has ever come forward.
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April 3, 1996 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that Theodore Kaczynski, the terrorist known as the Unabomber, was arrested. I have a separate entry for that event.
These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Andy Pettitte outpitched Jack McDowell. Rookie Derek Jeter went 3-for-3 with a walk.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3 at Shea Stadium.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 15-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Tom Glavine was the winning pitcher. Ryan Klesko and Javy López hit home runs, and Fred McGriff went 3-for-4 with 6 RBIs. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 16-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Tony Gwynn went 4-for-4, while Ken Caminiti went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Gary Disarcina singled Garret Anderson home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-4 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Football was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Orlando Magic, 98-85 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 100-94 at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 102-87 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 105-89 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Charlotte Hornets, 98-83 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 117-96 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Houston Rockets, 118-103 at Key Arena in Seattle.
* And the Vancouver Grizzlies beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-103 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
There were 10 games in the NHL:
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.
* The Ottawa Senators beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2 at the Corel Centre (now that Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Dallas Stars, 3-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche, 6-3 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Edmonton Oilers, 1-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
* The Detroit Red Wings and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 2-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders, the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the San Jose Sharks were not scheduled.
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