April 15, 2008

270 years ago
1738

Opera
Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, premiered at King's Theatre, Haymarket, London.

220 years ago
1788

Died on this date
Giuseppe Bonno, 77. Austrian composer. Mr. Bonno composed a number of operas and oratorios, largely forgotten today.

120 years ago
1888

Died on this date
Matthew Arnold, 65. U.K. poet and author. Mr. Arnold, for both his poetry and prose, is highly regarded for addressing the intellectual and spiritual climate of England in the mid-late 19th century, particularly the decline in traditional religious belief.

90 years ago
1918

Baseball
The Boston Red Sox opened the American League season with a 7-1 win over the Philadelphia Athletics, as pitcher Babe Ruth gave up just 4 hits.

80 years ago
1928

Aviation
Captain George H. Wilkins and Lieutenant Carl B. Eielson landed on Dead Man’s Island, near Spitzbergen, Norway, 10 hours and 20 minutes after leaving Point Barrow, Alaska.

A Canadian relief plane, with C.A. "Duke" Schiller and Dr. Louis Cuisinier aboard, arrived at Greenly Island from Sept-Iles, Quebec, to aid the crew of the Bremen, stranded on a transatlantic flight. Dr. Cuisinier stayed to help repair the Bremen, while Mr. Schiller left with Commandant James Fitzmaurice of the Bremen to a meeting with Miss Herta Junkers, daughter of the Bremen's builder. This flight was to take several days.

Adventure
Toichio Araki arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, nine days after he and Ryvkichi Matsui had departed Tokyo to circle the globe in opposite directions. Mr. Araki was heading east.

Americana
President Calvin Coolidge, at Statuary Hall, National Capitol, dedicated and accepted for the nation, as a gift from Tennessee, the statue of Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States.

75 years ago
1933

At the movies
The World Gone Mad aka The Public Be Hanged, directed by Christy Cabanne, and starring Pat O'Brien, Evelyn Brent, Neil Hamilton, Mary Brian, and Louis Calhern, opened in theatres.



60 years ago
1948

At the movies
No Orchids for Miss Blandish, written, produced, and directed by St. John L. Clowes, and starring Jack La Rue, Hugh McDermott, and Linden Travers, opened in theatres in the United Kingdom.





Literature
Toward World Peace, former U.S. Vice President and current third-party presidential candidate Henry Wallace's statement on international politics, was published in New York by Harcourt, Brace.

Died on this date
Alfred Church Lane, 85. U.S. geologist. Dr. Lane authored 1,087 publications, served as Michigan's state geologist from 1899-1909, and was chairman for the Committee on the Measurement of Geologic Time for the National Research Council from 1922-1946.

Manuel Roxas, 56. 5th President of the Philippines, 1946-1948. Mr. Roxas, a member of the Nacionalista Party and then the Liberal Party, held numerous offices in a lengthy political career, serving as the 3rd and last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from May 28-July 4, 1946,and the 1st President of the Third Philippine Republic from July 4, 1946 until his death from a heart attack. He was succeeded by Vice President Elpidio Quirino.

World events
The Brazilian government began a roundup of Communists after an explosion at the Villa Military ammunition depot caused at least 34 deaths near Rio de Janeiro.

Defense
The U.S. House of Representatives authorized $822 million to increase the size of the Air Force, despite pleas from President Harry Truman and Defense Secretary James Forrestal for greater balance between the services in defense expenditures. The House also rejected a bill sponsored by Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (Democrat--New York) banning racial segregation in the Air Force.

Politics and government
Tennessee's Democratic Convention defeated a resolution opposing U.S. President Truman and voted to send its 40-man delegation to the Democratic National Convention without instructions.

Basketball
BAA
Finals
Philadelphia 70 @ Baltimore 72 (Baltimore led best-of-seven series 2-1)

50 years ago
1958

Business
Canadian Pacific opened the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 1 @ Boston 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

Baseball
Ruben Gomez pitched a 6-hitter and added 2 singles, a run, and a run batted in for the San Francisco Giants as they routed the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-0 before 23,448 fans at Seals Stadium in San Francisco in the first major league game ever played in California, and the first for the former New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers since their relocations after the 1957 season. Among the players making their major league debuts was San Francisco first baseman Orlando Cepeda, who batted 1 for 5 with a solo home run, making 13 putouts and an assist, and participating in a double play.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Hana no Kubikazari/Ginga no Romance--The Tigers

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): I'm Coming Home--Tom Jones (4th week at #1)

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos 213, which met in space with Cosmos 212, launched the previous day. The satellites met, coupled, rode together and decoupled automatically, showing a maneuvering capability not yet shown by the United States, although the U.S. had performed more manned dockings. They were coupled in space for 89.8 minutes, covering approximately 123-127 miles. Both satellites later landed softly in Soviet territory a day apart.

Hockey
CPHL
Adams Cup
Semi-Finals
Fort Worth 6 @ Kansas City 3 (Fort Worth won best-of-five series 3-1)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Division Finals
Boston 122 @ Philadelphia 104 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Baseball
At the Astrodome, the New York Mets and Houston Astros played the longest game in National League history. The six hour and six-minute contest, in which each team had 79 at-bats and 11 hits, ended in the 24th inning when Bob Aspromonte's grounder went through the legs of shortstop Al Weis to give the Astros a 1-0 win. It set the mark as the longest NL game played to completion, the longest major league night game, and the first 23 innings were the longest major league scoreless game. The game tied the American League's longest complete game (Philadelphia Athletics 4, Boston Red Sox 1 in 24 innings on September 1, 1906).

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Un'emozione da poco--Anna Oxa (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Rivers of Babylon--Boney M.

#1 single in Ireland: Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs (Lowry's Song)--Brian and Michael (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs (Lowry's Song)--Brian and Michael (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Night Fever--Bee Gees (5th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)
2 Only a Fool--The Mighty Sparrow with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
3 U.O. Me (You Owe Me)--Luv'
4 Wuthering Heights--Kate Bush
5 Argentina--Conquistador
6 Fantasy--Earth, Wind & Fire
7 Rosita--George Baker
8 Denis--Blondie
9 Come Back My Love--Darts
10 Same Old Song--Pussycat

Singles entering the chart were Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring by Boney M. (#13); With a Little Luck by Wings (#16); Amor, Amor by Rod McKuen (#25); and Substitute by Clout (#29).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Night Fever--Bee Gees (5th week at #1)
2 Can't Smile Without You--Barry Manilow
3 Dust in the Wind--Kansas
4 Lay Down Sally--Eric Clapton
5 If I Can't Have You--Yvonne Elliman
6 Jack and Jill--Raydio
7 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees
8 Running on Empty--Jackson Browne
9 Thunder Island--Jay Ferguson
10 Emotion--Samantha Sang

Singles entering the chart were Ego by Elton John (#49); Shadow Dancing by Andy Gibb (#51); Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty (#87); You Belong to Me by Carly Simon (#88); Ocean of Thoughts and Dreams by the Dramatics (#97); I Could Have Loved You by the Moments (#98); Do You Wanna Dance by the Ramones (#99); and The Groove Line by Heatwave (#100).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Night Fever--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)
2 Can't Smile Without You--Barry Manilow
3 Lay Down Sally--Eric Clapton
4 Dust in the Wind--Kansas
5 If I Can't Have You--Yvonne Elliman
6 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees
7 Jack and Jill--Raydio
8 The Circle is Small--Gordon Lightfoot
9 Ebony Eyes--Bob Welch
10 Goodbye Girl--David Gates

Singles entering the chart were Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon (#78); You're the One that I Want by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta (#80); That's Your Secret by Sea Level (#82); Kings and Queens by Aerosmith (#85); Never Get Enough of Your Love by L.T.D. (#89); Make You Feel Love Again by Wet Willie (#94); Every Kinda People by Robert Palmer (#96); Maybe Your Heart by Christopher Ward (#97); Wheel in the Sky by Journey (#98); Coming Home by the Ian Thomas Band (#99); and Bombs Away by Bob Weir (#100).

Terrorism
The kidnappers of Aldo Moro announced that the "trial" of the former Italian Prime Minister had been completed, and that he had been sentenced to death.

Politics and government
Patriotic Front thug Robert Mugabe said that the new Rhodesian state should have a one-party Marxist government.

Disasters
At least 43 people were killed and over 100 injured when two trains collided between Bologna and Florence, Italy.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Preliminary Round
New York Rangers 1 @ Buffalo 4 (Buffalo won best-of-three series 2-1)

25 years ago
1983

Baseball
Detroit Tigers pitcher Milt Wilcox was one out away from a perfect game when pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston singled, and Wilcox settled for a 6-0 one-hitter over the Chicago White Sox. This was only the third time in major league history a perfect game bid had been stopped with one out to go.

Hockey
The Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 5-1 at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

Popular culture
A Disneyland theme park opened near Tokyo, Japan, drawing 25,000 visitors on its first day.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue (2nd week at #1)

At the movies
Tales from the Gimli Hospital, written and directed by Guy Maddin, and starring Kyle McCulloch, Michael Gottli, and Angela Heck, received its premiere screening in Canada.



Died on this date
Kenneth Williams, 62. U.K. actor and comedian. Mr. Williams was a member of the cast of the BBC radio program Hancock's Half-Hour in the 1950s, and achieved greater popularity as one of the stars of the "Carry On" movies from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Youri Egorov, 33. U.S.S.R. musician. Mr. Egorov was a classical pianist who was a popular concert performer from 1978-1987. He made many recordings, especially of the compositions of Chopin, Scarlatti, and Schumann. Mr. Egorov was a sodomite who gave his last performance several months before his death from AIDS.

Defense
The U.S. Navy destroyed two mines in the Persian Gulf, near where the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts had been struck the day before during Operation Earnest Will, protecting Kuwaiti oil tankers from attacks by Iran. President Ronald Reagan, persuaded that the mines were the work of Iran, approved an attack on two Iranian offshore oil platforms.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the index of prices charged by producers for finished goods had risen 0.6% in March.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Pol Pot, 73. Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea, 1976-1979. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge movement he led were behind the deaths of approximately 1.7 million Cambodians in the so-called "killing fields" during the late 1970s. Pol Pot, born Saloth Sar, became head of the underground Cambodian Communist Party in 1962 after becoming converted to Marxism while studying in Paris. He and his guerrillas came to power in 1975 after a war against the US-backed Cambodian government. The dictator immediately set about realizing his vision of an agrarian utopia, abolishing money, private property and religion. His troops forced people to leave the cities to set up rural collectives where many thousands died of disease and starvation. Anyone suspected of being an "intellectual" was an enemy of the new state and hundreds of thousands of the educated middle-classes were tortured and executed. In 1997 Pol Pot was deposed as leader of the Khmer Rouge and a special Khmer Rouge tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment at the movement's headquarters in northern Cambodia. News of Pol Pot's death came just hours after guerrilla officials said they were prepared to surrender him to end fighting with Cambodian government troops. However, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, closely involved in the U.S. bombing of Cambodia, said he thought the Khmer Rouge might have killed Pol Pot.

Literature
Mordecai Richler was awarded the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for his novel Barney's Version.

World events
Somali gunmen kidnapped nine Red Cross workers in Mogadishu, even as main faction leaders reached an agreement at a conference in Nairobi, Kenya to set up a new government.

Israel released Ahmad Qatamesh, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner held without trial. Mr. Qatamesh had been jailed on suspicion of being a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Baseball
The first-ever American League-National League doubleheader took place in New York. The Yankees were forced to come to Shea Stadium after a beam fell into the stands at Yankee Stadium on April 13. The Yankees earned their first victory in Queens in 22 years as they defeated the Angels 6-3. Former Mets star Darryl Strawberry, the all-time home run leader at Shea, added to his total with a shot into the left field bleachers. In the regularly-scheduled night game, the Mets beat the Cubs 2-1. The Yankees, who played at Shea in 1974 and 1975 while Yankee Stadium was renovated, drew a crowd of 40,743, a dramatic contrast to the gathering of 16,012 who showed up for the Mets game at night.