April 21, 2008

110 years ago
1898

Baseball
At Philadelphia’s then-new Baker Bowl, Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher Bill Duggleby hit a grand slam in his first major league at bat. In 1968 Bobby Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit a grand slam in his first game (in his third at bat) against the Dodgers, but Mr. Duggleby's feat wasn’t accomplished again until August 31, 2005, when Jeremy Hermida of the Florida Marlins homered with the bases full against the Cardinals. Mr. Duggleby finished his career with a total of 6 home runs.

80 years ago
1928

At the movies
The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed and co-written by Carl Theodor Dreyer, and starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti, received its premiere screening at the Palads Teatret in Copenhagen.

Aviation
Captain George H. Wilkins and Lt. Carl B. Nielson, an Alaska mail flyer, landed in Spitzbergen, Norway in an airplane which they had flown "over the top of the world, south of the Pole from Point Barrow, Alaska," where they departed on April 15.

Scandal
In Washington, Harry F. Sinclair, head of the oil corporations bearing his name and co-defendant with former Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall in the criminal and civil court actions arising from the Teapot Dome oil lease scandal of 1923, was acquitted by a District of Columbia jury of conspiring with Mr. Fall to defraud the government. This was the second trial for Mr. Sinclair; the first ended in a mistrial because of allegations of jury shadowing. Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Fall were tried together in the original trial, but severance was granted for the second trial because of Mr. Fall’s illness.

60 years ago
1948

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King set a record of 20 years, 10 months, and 10 days of service as Prime Minister of a Commonwealth country.

Basketball
BAA
Finals
Philadelphia 73 @ Baltimore 88 (Baltimore won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Chick Reiser scored 16 points and Buddy Jeannette and Paul Hoffman each scored 15 to help the Bullets defeat the Warriors before 4,500 fans at Baltimore Arena to win their first Basketball Association of America championship, ending the Warrior's reign as champions. Philadelphia's Joe Fulks led all scorers with 28 points.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Twilight Time--The Platters (Best Seller--1st week at #1; Top 100--1st week at #1); He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)--Laurie London (Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Music Vendor)
1 He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)--Laurie London
--Mahalia Jackson
--Barbara McNair
--J. March
2 Twilight Time--The Platters
3 Tequila--The Champs
--Eddie Platt and his Orchestra
--Stan Kenton and his Orchestra
4 Oh Lonesome Me--Don Gibson
5 Billy--Kathy Linden
6 Who's Sorry Now--Connie Francis
7 Lollipop--The Chordettes
--Ronald & Ruby
8 Lazy Mary--Lou Monte
9 For Your Love--Ed Townsend
10 Return to Me--Dean Martin

Baseball
Frank House of the Kansas City Athletics scored two runs as a pinch hitter in an 8-run 8th inning as the Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians 9-4. Mr. House's feat was just the sixth such occurrence in major league history.

40 years ago
1968

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the satellite Molniya 1-H, eighth satellite in their Orbita network for domestic communications.

War
One American and at least three North Koreans were killed when a U.S. 2nd Infantry Division patrol was attacked by North Korean troops inside the Demilitarized Zone. Three Americans were wounded in the attack.

Golf
Don January won the Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas with a score of 276. First prize money was $30,000.

Steve Reid won the Azalea Open in Wilmington, North Carolina in a playoff after posting a four-round score of 271. First prize money was $5,000.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Minnesota 3 @ St. Louis 5 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Los Angeles 101 @ Boston 107 (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Rivers of Babylon--Boney M.

#1 single in France: How Deep is Your Love--Bee Gees

At the movies
Silver Bears, starring Michael Caine, Cybill Shepherd, and many others, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Thomas Wyatt Turner, 101. U.S. biologist, botanist, and civil rights activist. Dr. Turner taught biology at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and later taught at various public schools in Baltimore, Maryland before becoming a professor of botany at Howard University from 1914 to 1924. He was frequently consulted by the United States government about agricultural problems, especially plant diseases. Dr. Turner was a founding member, in 1909, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1925 he founded Federated Colored Catholics.

Sandy Denny, 31. U.K. singer-songwriter. Miss Denny was regarded as Britain’s pre-eminent folk rock singer in the 1960s and 1970s, as a solo performer, and, especially, as a member of the group Fairport Convention. Miss Denny was also, at various times, a member of The Strawbs, Fotheringay, and The Bunch. In both 1971 and 1972 she was voted "Best Female Singer" by Melody Maker magazine. Unfortunately, by the mid-’70s, heavy smoking and drinking had taken their toll on both her voice and her life. In March 1978, while on a vacation with her parents, Miss Denny fell down a flight of stairs at a cottage. A month later, she collapsed at a friend’s home, and died of a brain hemorrhage.

Music
American jazz trumpeter Don Ellis's last known public performance took place at the Westside Room in Century City, California. He died on December 17, 1978 of a heart attack at the age of 44.

War
U.S. president Jimmy Carter announced that only 800 troops and 2,600 support personnel would be withdrawn from South Korea in 1978. In 1977 President Carter had said that about 32,000 troops would leave over a 4- to 5-year period. The reason for the slowdown was Congressional inaction on Mr. Carter’s proposed transfer of $800 million in military equipment and $275 million in arms credits to the South Korean government.

Crime
Thieves stole the Rubens painting The Three Graces and nine other Flemish works from Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Montreal 4 @ Detroit 2 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Boston 4 @ Chicago 3 (OT) (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-0)
New York Islanders 0 @ Toronto 2 (New York led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Peter McNab scored at 10:17 of the 1st overtime period to give the Bruins their win over the Black Hawks at Chicago Stadium.

Mike Palmateer posted the shutout in goal for the Maple Leafs to win the goaltending duel over Glenn Resch as they blanked the Islanders at Maple Leaf Gardens.



WHA
Avco World Trophy
Quarter-Finals
New England 9 @ Edmonton 1 (New England led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Houston 0 @ Quebec 3 (Quebec led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Winnipeg 5 @ Birmingham 1 (Winnipeg led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
San Antonio 105 @ Washington 118 (Washington led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Milwaukee 111 @ Denver 127 (Denver led best-of-seven series 2-0)
Seattle 93 @ Portland 96 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

25 years ago
1983

Died on this date
Walter Slezak, 80. Austria-Hungary-born U.S. actor. Mr. Slezak, a native of Vienna, appeared in silent films in Germany, beginning with Sodom und Gomorrha in 1922. He made his first Broadway appearance at the end of 1930 in Meet My Sister, and eventually settled in the United States, although he didn’t appear in a Hollywood movie until Once Upon a Honeymoon in 1942. He was memorable as a resourceful Nazi in Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944), but became a more familiar presence on screen (usually as a villain) in comedies such as The Princess and the Pirate (1944); The Inspector General (1949); Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950); and Bedtime for Bonzo (1951). A return to Broadway brought him a Tony award in 1955 as Best Actor (Musical) for Fanny. Mr. Slezak’s last Broadway appearance took place in The Gazebo, which ran from December 1958 to June 1959. Mr. Slezak made many appearances in television shows, starting with Suspense in 1950-1951, where he appeared in five episodes. In 1966 he played Clock King in a two-part episode of Batman; his last appearance came in a two-part episode of The Love Boat in 1980. By 1983 he was suffering from several illnesses; he shot himself in the back yard of his home in Flower Hill, New York.

World events
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that the United States was expelling three Soviet diplomats for espionage.

Defense
Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifying before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, endorsed the proposals of a commission appointed by President Ronald Reagan which recommended building and deploying MX missiles in silos in Nebraska and Wyoming.

Politics and government
John Glenn, former astronaut and current United States Senator from Ohio, announced from his hometown of New Concord his candidacy for the 1984 Democratic party nomination for President of the United States. Meanwhile, the Democrats chose San Francisco as the site of their convention, to be held in July 1984.

20 years ago
1988

Died on this date
I.A.L. Diamond, 67. Romanian-born U.S. screenwriter. Mr. Diamond was best-known for his screenplays written with and for Billy Wilder from the late 1950s through 1981: Love in the Afternoon (1957); Some Like it Hot (1959); The Apartment (1960); One, Two, Three (1961); Irma La Douce (1963); Kiss Me, Stupid (1964); The Fortune Cookie (1966); The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970); Avanti! (1972); The Front Page (1974); Fedora (1978); and Buddy Buddy (1981). Some of these movies are regarded as classics; the screenplay for The Apartment won the Academy Award. However, Kiss Me, Stupid was a disaster that almost ended Mr. Wilder’s career, and Buddy Buddy was so bad that it did end the careers of both Mr. Wilder and Mr. Diamond. Other movies for which Mr. Diamond wrote screenplays included Murder in the Blue Room (1944); Monkey Business (1952); Merry Andrew (1958); and Cactus Flower (1969).

Politics and government
Al Gore, United States Senator from Tennessee, ended his active campaign for the 1988 Democratic party U.S. presidential nomination after taking just 10% of the vote in the New York primary two days earlier.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 312-107 to approve a trade bill that would mandate tougher steps by the United States government to open up foreign markets and punish unfair trade practices by other countries. Some protection would be granted to industries injured by imports, and the windfall profits tax on oil would be repealed. President Ronald Reagan threatened to veto the bill because he objected to a provision requiring that workers receive 60 days’ notice of a plant closing or layoffs. Mr. Reagan argued that this would discourage the creation of jobs and the expansion of business.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference
Division Finals
St. Louis 0 @ Detroit 6 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 2-0)
Edmonton 5 @ Calgary 4 (OT) (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Wayne Gretzky's second goal of the game, a shorthanded goal at 7:54 of the 1st overtime period, gave the Oilers their win over the Flames at Olympic Saddledome.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Peter Lind Hayes, 82. U.S. actor and songwriter. Mr. Hayes and his wife Mary Healy often appeared on television together, including such shows as The Peter Lind Hayes Show (1950-51) and Peter Loves Mary (1960-61). They were the original singers of the jingle See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet, in 1950. Mr. Hayes and Miss Healy also had major roles in the movie The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953), the only movie ever written by Dr. Seuss.