April 4, 2008

190 years ago
1818

Americana
Congress adopted a U.S. flag with one star for each state. The union then consisted of 20 states.

80 years ago
1928

Diplomacy
The island of Las Palmas (Miangas), lying between the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, belonged to Holland, according to a decision handed down by Professor Max Huber, a Swiss statesman who had been arbitrating a dispute between the United States and the Netherlands respecting the island’s sovereignty.

75 years ago
1933

Hockey
The Stanley Cup finals opened at Madison Square Garden, with the New York Rangers easily defeating the weary Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1. The Maple Leafs were playing just hours after winning their semi-final series against the Boston Bruins 1-0 in a game that wasn't decided until 4:06 of the sixth overtime period.

60 years ago
1948

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on MBS, starring John Stanley and Alfred Shirley
Tonight's episode: The Adventure of Lady Waverley's Imitation Pearls

Politics and government
Algeria's first legislative elections as a French colony resulted in a victory for pro-French and Gaullist candidates.

Academia
New York Governor Thomas Dewey signed a bill establishing a state university system.

Figure skating
Dick Button and Gretchen Merrill retained their respective U.S. men's and women's titles at the national championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Detroit 4 @ New York 2 (Detroit won best-of-seven series 4-2)

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Magic Moments--Perry Como (6th week at #1)

40 years ago
1968

At the movies
The Party, directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Peter Sellers as bumbling Indian movie actor Hrundi V. Bakshi, was released. It was a big hit in Edmonton then, and in the 1980s, when it was regularly shown at the Princess Theatre every New Year's Eve. For one showing in 1981, the Princess offered half-price admission to "shoeless East Indian types," which was politically incorrect even by 1981 standards.



Died on this date
Martin Luther King, Jr., 39. U.S. clergyman and civil rights activist. "Dr." King (he plagiarized to get his doctorate), born Michael King, was gunned down (see also here) as he stood on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee; he was in the city to encourage striking sanitation workers. James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder, but promptly changed his mind three days after pleading guilty, and spent his remaining 30 years claiming that he was a fall guy for a larger conspiracy. The King family supported Mr. Ray's bid for a new trial. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had quite a dossier on Rev. King, but in 1977 the files were ordered sealed for 50 years, which I find very suspicious; we have to wait only another 9 years until the files are released. In the meantime, the reader might want to do a Google search on "Martin Luther King" and "prostitutes," and see how many entries come up.





Space
The United States launched Apollo 6, the second unmanned test of the Saturn V rocket (see video). In contrast to the flawless Apollo 4 mission of five months earlier, Apollo 6 experienced a few problems. While the S-I first stage was still thrusting, the vehicle began showing pogo (a strong vibration) that hadn’t been anticipated. Because of the pogo, part of the adapter between the S-IVB third stage and the Apollo command service module (CSM) came apart. The first stage shut down as planned, and the S-II second stage fired up, but four minutes into a planned six-minute burn, two of the five engines on that stage shut down, resulting in the vehicle flying lower and slower than it should have. The burn then went too long, resulting in the vehicle being at too high an altitude, and pointing toward the earth. It then pitched itself too far upward, went into orbit thrusting backward, and ended up in an elliptical, instead of circular, orbit. The S-IVB third stage didn’t restart as scheduled after two orbits, and the CSM was separated from that stage and the engine on the service module lit up for a 7-minute, 22-second burn, sending the CSM into an elliptical orbit, simulating a high-speed re-entry from a moon mission. The command module ended up safely in the Pacific Ocean. Had it been a manned mission, the escape tower would have been commanded to fire after the S-II engine failures, and the spacecraft would have pulled away from the Saturn for a parachute landing in the Pacific Ocean. The problems of Apollo 6 initially made it appear that another unmanned Saturn V test would be needed before manned flights could be made, but space program experts determined that the pogo problem could be solved. The S-II engine failure was eventually traced to a wiring problem, and the S-IVB failure to a rupture in the propellant feed line. It was possible to fix all of these problems without requiring a third unmanned Saturn V mission.







War
The United Nations Security Council urged the stationing of UN observers on the Israeli-Jordanian cease-fire line to prevent further violence. Jordan opposed the UN patrols on its territory because of fears that this could permanently solidify Israel’s hold on Jordan’s west bank.

Hockey
It was the first season of National Hockey League expansion, and the first in which the Stanley Cup playoffs opened on four fronts. The format pitted the first place team in each division against the third place team, and second against fourth. In Series A, the Eastern Division-leading Montreal Canadiens edged the Boston Bruins 2-1 at the Montreal Forum; Series B opened with the New York Rangers defeating the Chicago Black Hawks 3-1 at home in the new Madison Square Garden. The expansion teams of the Western Division got their first taste of playoff action as the St. Louis Blues edged the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 in the Series C opener, in a goaltending duel between Glenn Hall of the Blues and Bernie Parent of the Flyers. It marked the Flyers’ first game at home in a month, since heavy winds had damaged the roof of the Spectrum. At the Forum in Los Angeles, Series D opened with the hometown Kings edged the Minnesota North Stars 2-1.

30 years ago
1978

Hockey
CHL
Fort Worth 3 @ Dallas 2
Salt Lake City 3 @ Kansas City 2

25 years ago
1983

On the radio
In what might have been the only worthwhile program he ever broadcast (certainly the only good one I ever heard), Dick MacLean’s morning talk show on the Edmonton station CFRN featured Ottawa Sun columnist Lubor Zink and fellow traveller Robin Denton arguing the merits of missile deployment. Predictably, Mr. Denton parroted the Soviet line, ranting about U.S. missiles while making no mention of Soviet missiles. Mr. Zink, on the other hand, told the truth.

Died on this date
Gloria Swanson, 86. U.S. actress. The 4’ 11 ½" silent movie queen began her screen career in 1915, and spent her early years as an actress in slapstick Mack Sennett comedies. She eventually took on more dramatic roles, and her salary rose accordingly, to $6,500 U.S. per week by 1923. Miss Swanson spent money as fast as she made it; it was estimated that she made $8 million in the 1920s, and spent almost all of it. Miss Swanson’s favourite of her movies was reportedly Madame Sans-Gene (1925), which is now lost. Another one of her favourites was Beyond the Rocks (1922), her only movie with Rudolf Valentino. This was considered a lost movie until a print was discovered in a private collection in the Netherlands a few years ago. Among her notable movies were Sadie Thompson (1928) and Queen Kelly (1929). Miss Swanson made the transition to sound in the late 1920s and early 1930s, but the kind of characters she usually played went out of fashion. She acted on stage through the 1940s, then made a big comeback on screen with her most memorable role, that of faded silent star Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (1950). According to the script, Norma Desmond was only 50 years old, but when you watch the movie, it’s hard not to get the impression that the character seems much older. If you’re wondering what movie it is that Norma Desmond is screening in Sunset Blvd., it’s Queen Kelly. Miss Swanson was nominated for the Academy Award for best actress for Sadie Thompson (1928); The Trespasser (1929); and Sunset Blvd. (1950). Her last film role was as herself in Airport 1975 (1974). As her acting roles declined in the 1950s and beyond, Miss Swanson kept busy as a clothes designer, founded Essence of Nature cosmetics, and became a prominent promoter of health foods. She also appeared occasionally as a guest on The Carol Burnett Show. Gloria Swanson was married at least six times and had numerous affairs, the most notable of which was with Joseph P. Kennedy; in fact, it was Mr. Kennedy who financed Queen Kelly.

Space
The space shuttle Challenger lifted off on its maiden voyage from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Challenger crew of four consisted of Paul Weitz (commander); Karol Bobko (pilot); Story Musgrave (mission specialist); and Donald Peterson (mission specialist). Mr. Weitz had been aboard the first Skylab mission in 1973. The shuttle carried a 5,000-pound Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, the first of a group that was to handle communications from other space vehicles.

Protest
Four days of anti-American demonstrations in Britain, West Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands concluded. The 200,000 Commies, fellow travellers and useful idiots were opposed to deployment of U.S. Cruise and Pershing missiles. In England, demonstrators formed a chain 14 miles long between a U.S. Air Force base and an armaments factory.

World events
The United States granted political asylum to Hu Na, China's leading female tennis player, who had defected in July 1982. The Justice Department said that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had granted Hu Na's request because of her "well-grounded fear of persecution" if she returned to China. Hu said she had resisted pressure from Chinese officials to join the Communist party because she feared that she might later get caught up in a political purge.

Labour
Steelworkers at British Steel Corporation went on strike.

Basketball
The North Carolina State University Wolfpack, under coach Jim Valvano, upset the University of Houston Cougars 54-52 to win the NCAA Division I men's championship. The Houston squad, nicknamed Phi Slamma Jamma, blew a 52-46 lead with three minutes to play. It was the second title for the Wolfpack; the first came in 1974.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue (4th week at #1)

Scandal
The Arizona Senate convicted Governor Evan Mecham by a vote of 21-9 of obstructing justice, and removed him from office. It had been charged that Mr. Mecham, a fine upstanding Mormon and Republican, had sought to interfere in the investigation of a death threat by an aide to a grand jury witness. The Senate also voted 26-4 to convict Mr. Mecham of an illegal loan of $80,000 in state money to his automobile dealership.

Politics and government
Michael Dukakis won a narrow victory over Jesse Jackson in the Colorado caucus as the contest for the 1988 Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States continued.

Basketball
NCAA
Men's championship
Final
Kansas 83 Oklahoma 79

Danny Manning grabbed 18 rebounds and scored 31 points, including the last 4 points of the game from the free-throw line in the final seconds, as the Jayhawks, under Coach Larry Brown, upset the Sooners. It was the second title for the Jayhawks; the first came under coach Phog Allen in 1952.

Baseball
Toronto Blue Jays' designated hitter George Bell became the first major league player to hit 3 home runs on opening day as the Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 before 40,648 fans at Royals Stadium. All of Mr. Bell's home runs were hit off Kansas City starting pitcher Bret Saberhagen.





Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds each hit 2 home runs and their teammates added 2 more homers as the New York Mets opened the season with a 10-6 win over the Montreal Expos before 55,413 fans at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mr. Strawberry's second home run travelled 535 feet and was believed to be the longest ever hit at Olympic Stadium. The Mets' total of 6 homers was a single team record for opening day.