April 16, 2008

520 years ago
1488

Born on this date
Jungjong. King of Korea, 1506-1544. Jungjong, born Yi Yeok, acceded to the throne of the Joseon dynasty as a result of a coup that deposed his half-brother Yeonsangun. Jungjong was regarded as a weak king; the Confucian scholar Jo Gwang-jo was the major governing influence during the early years of his reign, and the later years were marked by struggles among various conservative factions. Jungjong died on November 29, 1544 at the age of 56, and was succeeded on the throne by his son Injong.

100 years ago
1908

Americana
Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.

80 years ago
1928

Americana
President Calvin Coolidge, speaking in Washington at the 1928 convention of Daughters of the American Revolution, said:

If the American Revolution had one note that was more dominant than another it was the principle that the people were competent to run their own business and manage their own government. That was the paean of emancipation that rang high and clear through the whole period. It was an appeal to the people to emerge from their weakness and rely on their own strength and courage to conquer for themselves a place of power and freedom."

Baseball
Boston Braves’ pitcher Charlie Robertson had his glove removed from the game by umpire George Moran after the Brooklyn Dodgers complained that the ball was acting strangely. The Boston hurler still managed to win 3-2.

70 years ago
1938

Baseball
The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitcher Dizzy Dean to the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Curt Davis and Clyde Shoun, outfielder Tuck Stainback, and $185,000. In 1937 Mr. Dean had won 13 games and lost 10, with an earned run average of 2.70. He suffered a broken toe in the All-Star game when hit by a line drive off the bat of Earl Averill, and when he came back later in the season, he favoured the injury, and ended up hurting his pitching arm, which never recovered.

60 years ago
1948

On television today
The super station WGN-TV televised a major league baseball game for the first time. With Jack Brickhouse doing the play-by-play, the White Sox beat the Cubs 4-1 in the first game of the Windy City Classic at Wrigley Field.

At the movies
Ruthless, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Zachary Scott, Louis Hayward, Diana Lynn, and Sydney Greenstreet, opened in theatres.



40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Lady Madonna--The Beatles (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Edna Ferber, 82. U.S. novelist and playwright. Miss Ferber was a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and spent part of her childhood in Ottumwa, Iowa before settling in Appleton, Wisconsin. She eventually moved to New York, where she became part of the Algonquin Round Table, the circle of wits who met over drinks every day at the Algonquin Hotel. Her novels usually featured a strong female protagonist and a secondary character who had been a victim of discrimination. Miss Ferber’s first novel, Dawn O’Hara, was published in 1911. So Big, published in 1924, won the Pulitzer Prize. She wrote several plays with George S. Kaufman, including Dinner at Eight (1932) and Stage Door (1936). In addition to several of those mentioned above, a number of Miss Ferber’s works were made into movies and plays (including musicals). These include Show Boat (1926); Cimarron (1929); Saratoga Trunk (1941); Giant (1952); and Ice Palace (1958). Her last novel, A Kind of Magic, was published in 1963.

Fay Bainter, 74. U.S. actress. Miss Bainter appeared in numerous Broadway productions, beginning with The Rose of Panama in 1912. In 1934 she appeared in Dodsworth, and made her movie debut the same year in This Side of Heaven. In 1938 Miss Bainter became the first actress to be nominated for Academy Awards as Actress (White Banners) and Supporting Actress (Jezebel) in the same year; she won for Jezebel. Among other movies to feature Miss Bainter were Our Town (1940); The Human Comedy (1943); and State Fair (1945). Her final film appearance, for which she was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar, was The Children’s Hour, in 1961. Miss Bainter’s final Broadway appearance was in Gayden, which had a brief run in May 1949. Since Miss Bainter’s husband, Reginald Venable, was a military officer, she’s buried alongside him in Arlington National Cemetery.

Boxing
Curtis Cokes (50-9-3) retained his world welterweight title with a technical knockout of Willi Ludick (28-3) at 34 seconds of the 5th round at Memorial Auditorium in Dallas.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
New York 1 @ Chicago 4 (Chicago won best-of-seven series 4-2)
Philadelphia 2 @ St. Louis 1 (2OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
Los Angeles 3 @ Minnesota 4 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

Don Blackburn scored at 11:18 of the 2nd overtime period to give the Flyers their win over the Blues at St. Louis Arena.

Milan Marcetta scored at 9:11 of the 1st overtime period to give the North Stars their win over the Kings at Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Tania--John Rowles (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
F.W. Davis, 91. U.S. inventor. Mr. Davis invented the power steering unit for automobiles.

Lucius D. Clay, 80. U.S. military officer. The youngest Brigadier General in the U.S. Army during World War II, Gen. Clay succeeded Dwight Eisenhower as Military Governor of Germany on March 15, 1947. When the Soviets began the blockade of Berlin in 1948, Gen. Clay directed the Berlin airlift, and retired in May 1949, days after the blockade was lifted.

Politics and government
South African Foreign Minister Roelof Botha, meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and British Foreign Secretary David Owen, gave strong backing to the Anglo-American plan for transition to black rule in Rhodesia.

Disasters
The Messina area of Italy was hit by a severe earthquake.

Golf
A week after winning the Masters, Gary Player won the Tournament of Champions in Carlsbad, California with a score of 281. First prize money was $45,000.

Hockey
WHA
Avco World Trophy
Quarter-Finals
Edmonton 1 @ New England 4 (New England led best-of-seven series 2-0)
Quebec 3 @ Houston 4 (Houston led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Birmingham 3 @ Winnipeg 8 (Winnipeg led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
New York 90 @ Philadelphia 130 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Washington 103 @ San Antonio 114 (San Antonio led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Western Conference
First Round
Los Angeles 102 @ Seattle 111 (Seattle won best-of-three series 2-1)

Baseball
Bob Forsch pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals as they shut out the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 before 11,495 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.



The Boston Red Sox scored 4 runs in the 3rd inning on their way to an 8-6 win over the Texas Rangers before 22,168 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. The game is best remembered for a wild pitch thrown by Texas reliever Len Barker in the bottom of the 7th inning that went on top of the backstop netting.



25 years ago
1983

Terrorism
Brazil detained four Libyan airplanes on route to Nicaragua after finding weapons, explosives, and ammunition aboard the planes.

Baseball
Steve Garvey of the San Diego Padres played in his 1,118th consecutive major league game, breaking the National League record held by Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs. His streak began with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1975.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): L'Amore Rubato--Luca Barbarossa

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Gimme Hope Jo'anna--Eddy Grant

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Gimme Hope Jo'anna--Eddy Grant (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You--Glenn Medeiros (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Heart--Pet Shop Boys (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Heart--Pet Shop Boys

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Heart--Pet Shop Boys (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean
2 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson
3 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
4 Devil Inside--INXS
5 Wishing Well--Terence Trent D'Arby
6 Where Do Broken Hearts Go--Whitney Houston
7 Girlfriend--Pebbles
8 Rocket 2 U--The Jets
9 Some Kind of Lover--Jody Watley
10 Angel--Aerosmith

Singles entering the chart were One More Try by George Michael (#39); Everything Your Heart Desires by Daryl Hall John Oates (#47); Together Forever by Rick Astley (#67); Circle in the Sand by Belinda Carlisle (#72); Like a Child by Noel (#82); Should I Say Yes? by Nu Shooz (#85); Englishman in New York by Sting (#86); and Dreamin' of Love by Stevie B (#88).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean (2nd week at #1)
2 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
3 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson
4 Endless Summer Nights--Richard Marx
5 I Saw Him Standing There--Tiffany
6 Devil Inside--INXS
7 Wishing Well--Terence Trent D'Arby
8 Push It--Salt-N-Pepa
9 Father Figure--George Michael
10 Check it Out--John Cougar Mellencamp

Singles entering the chart were Englishman in New York by Sting (#83); Everything Your Heart Desires by Daryl Hall John Oates (#85); Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) by Samantha Fox (#87); Carmelia by Dan Hill (#89); One Good Reason by Paul Carrack (#94); One Day in Your Life by 54-40 (#96); Underneath the Radar by Underworld (#97); and Gimme Some Kinda Sign by the Satellites (#98).

Canada's top 10 (The Record)
1 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean
2 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
3 Pump Up the Volume--M/A/R/R/S
4 Wishing Well--Terence Trent D'Arby
5 I Saw Him Standing There--Tiffany
6 She's Like the Wind--Patrick Swayze (featuring Wendy Fraser)
7 Push It--Salt-N-Pepa
8 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson
9 Endless Summer Nights--Richard Marx
10 Father Figure--George Michael

Died on this date
Khalil al-Wazir, 53. Palestinian terrorist. In Tunis, nine masked attackers killed two bodyguards and a driver before breaking into the home of Palestine Liberation Organization military chief Khalil al-Wazir and killing him. Subsequent reports said that altogether, 30 to 40 raiders had been put ashore in Tunis from an Israeli missile boat, and that the operation had been carried out by Israeli intelligence agents, and naval and army units. Mr. al-Wazir, who went by the name Abu Jihad, had been co-ordinating the Palestinian uprising in the territories occupied by Israel, which regarded him as being responsible for terrorist raids against Israel. On hearing of the assassination, Palestinians in the territories rioted, and 14 were shot to death by Israeli soldiers in the bloodiest day since the beginning of the current unrest.

Politics and government
Michael Dukakis won the Arizona caucus in the contest for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Hockey
NHL
Division Semi-Finals
Philadelphia 4 @ Washington 5 (OT) (Washington won best-of-seven series 4-3)

Curling
Pat Ryan of Canada defeated Switzerland 4-2 in a semi-final game to advance to the final of the world men’s curling championship at Lausanne, Switzerland.