Director of Space Flight Development, testified before Congress in support of a NASA request for $3 million in Fiscal Year 1960 for research into techniques and problems of space rendezvous. He explained what these funds would be used for. The logistic support of a crewed space laboratory, a possible post-Mercury development, would depend on the resolution of certain key problems to make rendezvous in orbit practical, among them the establishment of referencing methods for fixing the relative positions of two vehicles in space; the development of accurate, lightweight target acquisition equipment to enable the supply craft to locate the space station; the development of very accurate guidance and control systems to permit precise determination of flight paths; and the development of reliable propulsion systems for maneuvering in orbit. Your Hit Parade was broadcast for the last time. Died: Omaha, 27, American thoroughbred racehorse and winner of the 1935 Triple Crown, died at the age of 24 on a farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska. The horse was buried somewhere on the Ak-Sar-Ben Raceway grounds, but the location has been lost. April 25, 1959 (Saturday) The St. Lawrence Seaway opened at . The icebreaker D'Iberville was at the front of 70 ships that would sail from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Ontario, starting at Montreal. At the same time, away in Ogdensburg, New York, 19 cargo ships began the journey from the other end of the seaway. The project had taken five years and cost $475,000,000 with a majority of the funding from Canada. The Seaway was dedicated on June 26, 1959. At the Nazareth, Pennsylvania, Motor Speedway, 19-year-old Mario Andretti made his racing debut, winning the race in a 1948 Hudson. In Poplarville, Mississippi, a lynch mob kidnapped 23-year-old Mack Charles Parker from his jail cell. His body was found on May 4 in the Pearl River, where he was thrown after being tortured and killed. A force of about 80 rebels invaded Panama from the Caribbean Sea in an attempt to overthrow the government there. Although Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro denounced the attack along with other OAS members, it was alleged that he had sponsored the attack. April 26, 1959 (Sunday) The Caravelle jet airliner, produced by the French manufacturer Sud Aviation, made its first commercial flight as the SE 210 began service with Scandinavian Airlines System. Reds pitcher Willard Schmidt became the first major league baseball player to