April 28, 2008

250 years ago
1758

Born on this date
James Monroe. 5th President of the United States, 1817-1825. Mr. Monroe, a Democratic-Republican, held various political and diplomatic offices in a career spanning more than 40 years, including Secretary of State (1811-1817) while also serving as Secretary of War (1814-1815) during the War of 1812. His time as President was known as the "Era of Good Feelings." Mr. Monroe was best known for his proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, warning European nations against further intervention in the Americas. Mr. Monroe died of heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831 at the age of 73.

220 years ago
1788

Americana
Maryland became the 7th state to ratify the Constitution.

190 years ago
1818

Defense
The U.S. Senate ratified, and President James Monroe proclaimed, the Rush-Bagot Convention of 1817, making it a lawful treaty of the United States. It limited naval forces on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.

160 years ago
1848

World events
France freed the last slaves in her colonies.

140 years ago
1868

Economics and finance
Canadian Finance Minister John Rose brought down the first Canadian budget after Confederation, for the government of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Harry Berthrong, 84. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Berthrong, a utility player, played 17 games with the Washington Olympics of the National Association in 1871, batting .233 with no home runs and 8 runs batted in. He was also an artist who was known for paintings of U.S. presidential candidates.

70 years ago
1938

Married on this date
King Zog I of Albania married Countess Geraldine of Hungary.

60 years ago
1948

Ballet
Igor Stravinsky conducted the premiere of his American ballet Orpheus at New York City Center.

War
British forces in Jaffa attacked Irgun Zvai Leumi troops to keep them from invading the city's port area, needed for the British evacuation from Palestine.

Defense
The Finnish Parliament approved the Russo-Finnish defense treaty.

Politics and government
A U.S. federal court in Washington imposed three-month prison sentences and $500 fines on Ernestina Fleischmann and Helen Bryan of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee for refusing to divulge the organization's records to the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities. The House Un-American Activities Committee approved a bill sponsored by Reps. Karl Mundt (Republican--South Dakota) and Richard Nixon (California) denying Communists non-elective federal jobs and passports, and requiring them to register with the Justice Department.

Transportation
An Air France Constellation made the first non-stop commercial flight between Paris and New York in 16 hours.

Religion
Speaking in Boston before the Quadrennial General Conference of the Methodist Church, Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of New York urged a union of U.S. Protestant churches.

Science
The National Academy of Science awarded the Charles Doolittle Walcott bronze medal for 1947 to Soviet geologist Aleksandr Vologdin for his work on Cambrian fossils.

Labour
Two brotherhoods of U.S. railway workers scheduled a national strike for May 11, following the end of a mandatory 30-day cooling-off period in a wage dispute with employers.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Witch Doctor--David Seville (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--3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Music Vendor)
1 Twilight Time--The Platters
2 He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)--Laurie London
--Mahalia Jackson
--Barbara McNair
--J. March
3 Oh Lonesome Me--Don Gibson
4 Return to Me--Dean Martin
5 Chanson d'Amour (Song of Love)--Art and Dotty Todd
--The Fontane Sisters
6 Witch Doctor--David Seville 7 Tequila--The Champs
--Eddie Platt and his Orchestra
--Stan Kenton and his Orchestra
8 Billy--Kathy Linden
9 Who's Sorry Now--Connie Francis
10 Wear My Ring Around Your Neck--Elvis Presley

Space
The United States launched Vanguard TV-5, but the satellite failed to achieve orbit.

Diplomacy
U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife Pat arrived in Montevideo to began an 18-day goodwill tour of eight Latin American countries.

Defense
The United States began its scheduled nuclear test series at the Marshall Islands proving grounds, while the United Kingdom performed an atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island.

Politics and government
King Gustaf VI of Sweden dissolved Parliament and ordered general elections, following the resignation of Prime Minister Tage Erlander's Socialist cabinet.

Environment
The United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea ended in Geneva after failing to produce an agreement on a new definition of territorial sea limits.

Law
Holding that Arkansas had no right to use troops to suppress "rights which it is the duty of the state to defend," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in St. Louis, dismissed suits against federal government actions enforcing school integration in Little Rock.

40 years ago
1968

Died on this date
Mortimer R. Proctor, 78. U.S. politician. Mr. Proctor, a Republican, was Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1941-1945 and Governor from 1945-1947. He died, appropriately, in Proctor, Vermont.

Canadiana
Walter Sitch, 98, of Halifax, became possibly Canada's first great-great-great-grandfather when his great-great-granddaughter gave birth to a son.

War
13 Arab infiltrators were killed by an Israeli patrol on the occupied West Bank.

Politics and government
In West Germany’s Landtag (state assembly) elections in Baden-Wurttemberg, the National Democratic Party (NPD), a neo-Nazi party formed in 1964, won 9.8% of the total votes and 12 of the 127 seats in the Landtag. The NPD’s share of the vote was higher than in any previous state election contested by the party. Observers viewed the election as a backlash vote after five days of student rioting in several major West German cities, as well as an indication of NPD’s prospects in the general elections for the Bundestag (federal parliament) in 1969. NPD gains hurt the Social Democratic Party (SPD) most.

U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who had officially declared his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination the day before, stated on a television program that he would run on the record of the Johnson administration, but added that "I am my own man."

Disasters
Five members of the Lamar State College of Technology track team, along with their coach, were killed in a plane crash at Beaumont, Texas. The plane’s pilot was also killed.

Golf
Miller Barber won the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in Dallas with a score of 270. First prize money was $20,000.

Carol Mann won the Raleigh Ladies' Golf Invitational in Raleigh, North Carolina with a score of 214. First prize money was $2,250. It was Miss Mann's second straight win on the LPGA tour.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Chicago 3 @ Montreal 4 (OT) (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Jacques Lemaire scored at 2:14 of the 1st overtime period for the Canadiens as they eliminated the Black Hawks at the Montreal Forum.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 105 @ Los Angeles 118 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler (8th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Rivers of Babylon--Boney M. (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: How Deep is Your Love--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Mohammed Daoud Khan, 68. 1st President of Afghanistan, 1973-1978; Prime Minister of Afghanistan, 1953-1963. Mr. Daoud held various cabinet posts before serving as Prime Minister. He was forced to resign as a result of deteriorating relations with Pakistan. 10 years later, Mr. Daoud seized power from his cousin and brother-in-law King Zahir in a bloodless coup and proclaimed a republic, with himself as President. In the late 1970s, Mr. Daoud decided to diminish Afghan relations with the U.S.S.R. and pursue friendlier relations with the West. In what was called the Saur Revolution, a coup by members of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) deposed Mr. Daoud and assassinated him and most of the members of his family.

Defense
Major General John K. Singlaub, who had been relieved the previous year as chief of staff of United States troops in South Korea for criticizing President Jimmy Carter’s planned troop withdrawal, "agreed to retire" from the Army after calling President Carter’s decision to defer deployment of the neutron bomb "ridiculous" and "militarily unsound."

Politics and government
Byron Hove, Rhodesia’s black Justice Minister (there was also a white Justice Minister), was fired after criticizing the Rhodesian courts.

Weather
Calgary experienced its first thunderstorm of the year.

Labour
The J.B. Stevens Company and the National Labor Relations Board announced an agreement to settle a suit involving charges by the AFL-CIO Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. On January 24 the NLRB had sought a U.S. district court injunction to enjoin the second-largest textile company in the United States from illegal anti-union activity. Under the agreement, the request for the injunction was withdrawn, and the company agreed to rehire 13 of the 15 employees the union contended had been fired because of union organizing. A boycott of the J.B. Stevens company, a symbol of anti-union resistance in the south, had been maintained by organized labour for a year.

Hockey
WHA
Avco World Trophy
Semi-Finals
Quebec 1 @ New England 5 (New England led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
San Antonio 100 @ Washington 103 (Washington won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Milwaukee 117 @ Denver 112 (Denver led best-of-seven series 3-2)

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
Canada's top 12
1 Jeopardy--Greg Kihn Band
2 Mr. Roboto--Styx
3 She Blinded Me With Science--Thomas Dolby
4 Twistin' By The Pool--Dire Straits
5 Midnight Blue--Louise Tucker
6 Beat It--Michael Jackson
7 Safety Dance--Men Without Hats
8 Let's Dance--David Bowie
9 Even Now--Bob Seger
10 Some Kind of Friend--Barry Manilow
11 Shy Boy--Bananarama
12 Whirly Girl--Oxo

Louise Tucker was the only artist credited on the record label of Midnight Blue, but the male vocalist, Charlie Skarbek, was given equal credit on the 45's picture sleeve. The first radio station in the Edmonton area to play Midnight Blue was the St. Albert station CKST (1070 AM). It wasn't exactly a "big league" station, and played mostly oldies, but it occasionally played new songs before the other stations did. Another song from this time that was heard on CKST before it was heard on the other stations was Words by F-R David, which didn't catch on elsewhere until about August. She Blinded Me With Science was a truly annoying song. I haven't heard it since the spring of 1983, and that's fine with me.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Ronald Reagan named former Senator Richard Stone, a Democrat from Florida, to be his special envoy to Central America.

Hockey
Prince of Wales Conference
Finals
New York Islanders 1 @ Boston 4 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

IIHF World Men's Championship
Czechoslovakia 5 Canada 4

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Always on My Mind--Pet Shop Boys (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Heart--Pet Shop Boys

Died on this date
B.W. Stevenson, 38. U.S. musician. Mr. Stevenson was best known for his single My Maria, which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1973. He died after a heart valve operation.

Matthew Fedor, 4. Canadian medical patient. A boy from Ottawa, Matthew was the first Canadian to receive a bone-marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney concluded their two-day summit in Washington.

Disasters
Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737 jetliner, landed safely despite having a 20-foot-long hole open in the fuselage during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu. The escaping air swept stewardess Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing to her death in the ocean, but the pilot, Captain Robert Schornstheimer, landed the plane on Maui 15 minutes later, with one engine aflame. 61 of the 95 aboard suffered injuries. Structural failure, metal fatigue, and corrosion were regarded as the most likely causes of the incident. The jet had been in use for 19 years.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference
Division Finals
Washington 7 @ New Jersey 2 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

Basketball
NBA
Playoffs
Eastern Conference
First Round
Cleveland 93 @ Chicago 104 (Chicago led best-of-five series 1-0)
Washington 87 @ Detroit 96 (Detroit led best-of-five series 1-0)

Western Conference
First Round
Houston 110 @ Dallas 120 (Dallas led best-of-five series 1-0)
Utah 96 @ Portland 108 (Portland led best-of-five series 1-0)

Baseball
The Minnesota Twins released pitcher Steve Carlton, ending his 24-year Hall of Fame major league career. In 4 games with Minnesota in 1988 he was 0-1 with an earned run average of 16.76. His career record was 329-244 with a 3.22 ERA in 741 games.

The Baltimore Orioles' record for 1988 reached 0-21 with a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins before 23,006 fans in a Thursdy afternoon game at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. The defeat was the 15th straight for manager Frank Robinson after replacing Cal Ripken, Sr. 6 games into the season.

Darnell Coles singled home Bobby Bonilla with 1 out in the top of the 10th inning to break a 1-1 tie as the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the San Francisco Giants 2-1 before 10,520 fans in an afternoon game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Jerome Bixby, 75. U.S. author. Mr. Bixby wrote science fiction and Western short stories, screenplays, and teleplays. He wrote four episodes of Star Trek (1967-1969), but was perhaps best known for his short story It's a Good Life (1953), which was adapted in 1961 into a memorable episode of The Twilight Zone, and into a less memorable segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Eastern Conference
Quarter-Finals
New Jersey 3 @ Ottawa 4 (Ottawa led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Washington 3 @ Boston 0 (Washington led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Western Conference
Quarter-Finals
Dallas 0 @ San Jose 1 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
Colorado 3 @ Edmonton 1 (Colorado led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Detroit 4 @ Phoenix 2 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

Andrei Zyuzin scored at 6:31 of the 1st overtime period as the Sharks edged the Stars at San Jose Arena.

Basketball
NBA
Playoffs
Eastern Conference
First Round
Charlotte 64 @ Atlanta 96 (Charlotte led best-of-five series 2-1)
Miami 91 @ New York 85 (Miami led best-of-five series 2-1)

Western Conference
First Round
Los Angeles Lakers 94 @ Portland 99 (Los Angeles led best-of-five series 2-1)
Seattle 90 @ Minnesota 98 (Minnesota led best-of-five series 2-1)

Baseball
Texas Rangers’ right fielder Juan Gonzalez hit a 2-run home run in the Rangers’ 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins before 8,570 fans at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. The blast gave Mr. Gonzalez a total of 35 runs batted in, a major league record for the month of April.

The Cleveland Indians scored 3 runs after 2 were out and nobody on base in the top of the 9th inning to break a 1-1 tie as they beat the Chicago White Sox 4-1 before 13,208 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

Pinch hitter Kevin Jordan hit a 3-run home run with 2 out in the top of the 10th inning to enable the Philadelphia Phillies to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 11-8 before 15,890 fans at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. Philadelphia first baseman Rico Brogna batted 4 for 4 with 2 home runs, 2 bases on balls, 3 runs, and 3 runs batted in as the Phillies overcame a 5-0 deficit after 3 innings.

The Houston Astros came back from a 3-0 deficit with a run in the 8th inning, 2 in the 9th, and another in the 10th to defeat the New York Mets 4-3 before 14,943 fans at the Astrodome. Tim Bogar scored the winning run on a single by Sean Berry with none out and the bases loaded. Houston right fielder Derek Bell batted 4 for 6 with a run.

Dante Bichette had 3 singles and a double, and Neifi Perez had 3 singles and 3 runs batted in to help the Colorado Rockies defeat the Florida Marlins 8-7 before 47,346 fans at Coors Field in Denver. The Marlins scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th inning and had the potential tying run on first base, but Curt Leskanic entered the game and struck out pinch hitter John Roskos for the final out.

Matt Luke hit a 2-run home run and Hideo Nomo hit his first homer in the major leagues, a solo blast, as the Los Angeles Dodgers scored all their runs in the 7th inning and withstood a 2-run rally in the 9th to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 before 29,791 fans at Dodger Stadium. Milwaukee left fielder Eric Owens hit his only major league home run of the season and only homer in a Milwaukee uniform, a 2-run shot with 2 out in the 9th. Mr. Nomo pitched a 3-hit complete game, walking 2 batters and striking out 11, to improve his 1998 record to 2-3.