April 20, 2008

110 years ago
1898

War
United States President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.

100 years ago
1908

Died on this date
Henry Chadwick, 83. U.K.-born U.S. baseball historian. Mr. Chadwick was one of the prime movers in the rise of baseball to its unprecedented popularity at the turn of the 20th century. He began publishing Beadle’s Dime Base Ball Player, the first baseball guide, in 1860; it ran through 1881. Mr. Chadwick later took over editing the Spalding Guide. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1938.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
E.E. Ries, 65. U.S. scientist. Mr. Ries was the discoverer of alternating electric current. In 1913 he filed a patent application for recording sound on film, but the patent wasn’t granted until 1923.

75 years ago
1933

Baseball
Chicago White Sox outfielder Al Simmons made an unassisted double play against the St. Louis Browns.

At the Polo Grounds, umpire Charlie Pfirman officiated in his 1,700th consecutive National League game, as Carl Hubbell pitched the New York Giants to a 1-0 victory over Fred Frankhouse and the Boston Braves.

70 years ago
1938

Baseball
Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians pitched the first of 12 career one-hitters, beating the St. Louis Browns 9-0.

50 years ago
1958

On the radio
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 3, starring Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley, on BBC Light Programme

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents on CBS
Tonight's episode: Fatal Figures, starring John McGiver and Vivian Nathan

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 5 @ Boston 3 (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Boom Boom Geoffrion's second goal of the game, with 34 seconds remaining in the 2nd period,proved to be the winner as the Canadiens beat the Bruins at Boston Garden to win their third straight Stanley Cup championship. The Bruins, down 4-1, cut the Canadiens’ lead to 4-3 with four minutes left in regulation time, but Doug Harvey scored into an empty net in the last minute to clinch the victory for Montreal.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K.: Congratulations--Cliff Richard (2nd week at #1)
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Honey--Bobby Goldsboro (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Rudolf Dirks, 91. German-born U.S. cartoonist. Mr. Dirks created the comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids, which was first published in the December 12, 1897 issue of American Humorist, a Sunday supplement to the New York Journal, a newspaper owned by William Randolph Hearst. After a series of legal battles with the Hearst organization between 1912 and 1914 (Mr. Dirks wanted to take a break from the strip, but the Hearst organization tried to prevent him from doing so), Mr. Dirks left The Katzenjammer Kids to be done by others at the Hearst papers, while he came up with a virtually identical strip, originally called Hanz und Fritz, and from 1918 on The Captain and the Kids, for the rival Pulitzer newspapers. Mr. Dirks continued to sign his name to that strip (although, beginning in 1946, his son John gradually assumed more of the work) until his death.

Abominations
Canada went under permanent foreign occupation when Pierre Trudeau officially took office as Prime Minister. His predecessor, Lester Pearson, wanted to leave office on April 22 in order to give him exactly five years as Prime Minister, but Mr. Trudeau, for reasons unknown (perhaps because it was Adolf Hitler’s birthday) insisted on moving the date up to April 20.

Politics and government
Former British cabinet minister Enoch Powell, addressing the West Midlands Area Conservative Political Centre in Birmingham, England, delivered his most famous speech, which was popularly misnamed Rivers of Blood, warning of the dangers of increased non-white immigration to Britain. The speech effectively ended Mr. Powell’s political career, but he proved to be prophetic. For the full text of Mr. Powell’s speech, go here.

Adventure
A U.S. Air Force plane, flying over Ralph Plaisted’s North Pole expeditionary party, confirmed that they were indeed at the pole. Mr. Plaisted and his associates became the first people to have their claim verified.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Chicago 1 @ Montreal 4 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Jean Beliveau scored 3 goals for the Canadiens as they defeated the Black Hawks at the Montreal Forum. Chicago coach Billy Reay was penalized twice with bench minors--the first for delay of game, and the second for calling referee John Ashley a "homer."

CPHL
Adams Cup
Finals
Fort Worth 1 @ Tulsa 2 (OT) (Tulsa led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Doug Barrie scored at 1:13 of the 1st overtime period to give the Oilers their win over the Wings at Assembly Center.

Basketball
ABA
Finals
New Orleans 109 @ Pittsburgh 100 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Baseball
Detroit Tigers' pitcher Jon Warden, the last man to make the team in spring training, picked up his third win in as many relief appearances as Detroit beat the Chicago White Sox 4-1 in 10 innings at White Sox Park.

Disasters
A South African Airways Boeing 707 crashed on takeoff at Windhoek, South West Africa, killing 122; there were 6 survivors.


30 years ago
1978

World events
A Korean Air Lines Boeing 707 passenger plane was forced down when it strayed over Soviet territory near the Arctic Circle on a flight from Paris to Seoul. The jet, carrying 113 people, was forced to crash-land on a frozen lake when a Soviet jet fighter began firing at the plane. Two were killed and 13 injured in the landing.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance began three days of meetings with Soviet leaders in Moscow, mainly for the purpose of making progress in Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT).

Terrorism
The kidnappers of Aldo Moro released a photograph of the former Italian Prime Minister that showed that he was still alive. Mr. Moro's wife Eleonora appealed, in vain, to the government to negotiate his release.

Hockey
WHA
Avco World Trophy
Quarter-Finals
Houston 1 @ Quebec 5 (Quebec led best-of-seven series 2-1)

25 years ago
1983

Weather
It was another hot and beautiful day in Edmonton. Those of us in university were able to be outside studying for exams. It was especially enjoyable if you were able to spend some of that time in the company of a lovely lady.

Politics and government
A United States Senate committee approved a bill providing more economic and military aid to Lebanon, as requested by President Ronald Reagan, but required that the president obtain congressional approval for any expanded U.S. military role in Lebanon.

Diplomacy
Talks on the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon were continuing. It was reported that Israel had dropped demands for military outposts inside Lebanon, but was insisting on joint Israeli-Lebanese patrols. Israel also wanted a continued role for Major Saad Haddad, a pro-Israel commander disliked by Lebanese leaders.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
New York Islanders 7 New York Rangers 2
Calgary 1 @ Edmonton 9 (Edmonton won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Baseball
George Brett belted three home runs, the last a two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning, and drove in seven runs to lead the Royals to an 8-7 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Allt som jag känner--Tone Norum and Tommy Nilsson (10th week at #1)

World events
The Washington Post reported that the 10-member inner cabinet of Israel had discussed in advance the assassination of Palestine Liberation Organization military leader Khalil al-Wazir, alias Abu Jihad, who had been gunned down on April 16.

Terrorism
Algerian officials negotiated the release of the more than 30 hostages remaining from a Kuwait Airways airliner that had been hijacked on April 5 and flown to Mashhad, Iran, and eventually to Algiers on April 13.

Scandal
U.S. President Ronald Reagan met with Deputy Attorney General Arnold Burns and William Weld, chief of the justice department's criminal division, both of whom had resigned in March in protest against the leadership of Attorney General Edwin Meese. It was reported that Mr. Weld had told President Reagan that he would have sought an indictment against Mr. Meese if he had been the independent counsel. Another blow came that day when John Shepherd withdrew as Mr. Burns's replacement. Mr. Shepherd's membership in two private clubs, one all-white and one all-male, had become an issue, and he had also been accused of improprieties, which he denied, by a former bookkeeper.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Boston 4 @ Montreal 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Baseball
Claudell Washington hit the 10,000th home run in New York Yankees history in a 7-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

The Baltimore Orioles set a major league record by losing their 14th consecutive game to start the season. An 8-6 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers pushed the Orioles past the 1904 Washington Senators and the 1920 Detroit Tigers for the worst start in major league history.