April 29, 2008

Born on this date
Happy birthday, Irina "Ira" Zabelina!

380 years ago
1628

World events
Sweden and Denmark signed a defense treaty against the Duke of Wallenstein.

320 years ago
1688

Died on this date
Friedrich Wilhelm (Frederick William), 68. Elector of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia. Friedrich Wilhelm, of the house of Hohenzollern, was popularly known as the Great Elector because of his military and political skill, which eventually resulted in Prussia moving up from duchy to kingdom.

190 years ago
1818

Born on this date
Aleksandr II. Czar of Russia, 1855-1881; King of Poland, 1855-1864. Aleksandr II succeeded his father Nicholas I on the thrones of Russia and Poland, the latter of which became obsolete when Poland was annexed by Russia in 1864. Czar Aleksandr was known as "Aleksandr the Liberator" for emancipating Russia's serfs in 1861, and was proposing other reforms to counter revolutionary movements when he was assassinated by a bomb on March 13, 1881 at the age of 62. He was succeeded on the Russian throne by his son Aleksandr III.

90 years ago
1918

Baseball
Cleveland Indians’ centre fielder Tris Speaker executed the record-tying fourth unassisted double play of his career in an 8-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

80 years ago
1928

World events
50,000 men held in jail or under police surveillance throughout Brazil as revolutionaries were freed by a Supreme Court decision restoring their normal civil rights.

Europeana
The Turkish parliament voted to supplant the Arabic alphabet with the Latin, and gave the country 15 years to become accustomed. A new dictionary was to be prepared so that the new alphabet could be taught in schools. Newspapers were to be printed partly in Arabic and partly in Latin characters, with the latter to be used for all official documents.

75 years ago
1933

Baseball
In a strange play at home plate, catcher Luke Sewell of the Washington Nationals tagged out two New York Yankees’ runners on the same play. Lou Gehrig had held up, thinking a fly ball would be caught. Dixie Walker closed up on him, and both were tagged out by Mr. Sewell as they tried to score.

60 years ago
1948

Baseball
St. Louis Cardinals’ relief pitcher Ted Wilks lost his first game in 77 consecutive appearances dating back to September 8, 1945. Mr. Wilks posted a 12-0 record during the streak which included four starts.

50 years ago
1958

Theatre
The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opened at the Drury Lane theatre in London to an enthusiastic reception.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Hana no Kubikazari/Ginga no Romance--The Tigers (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): La, la, la--Massiel (2nd week at #1)

Theatre
Hair: The American Tribal Love Rock Musical, which had played off-Broadway in 1967, opened at the Biltmore Theatre in New York City, the first of 1,750 performances there. Music was by Galt MacDermot, with book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado. The director was Tom O’Horgan. Among the cast members on opening night were Diane Keaton and Melba Moore, as well as Mr. Ragni and Mr. Rado. The production, which was one of the first major theatrical productions to feature nudity, closed on July 1, 1972. Several of the songs from Hair became hit singles in 1969: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Fifth Dimension); Hair (The Cowsills); Good Morning Starshine (Eddie Rambeau; Strawberry Alarm Clock; Oliver); and Easy to Be Hard (Three Dog Night).

Died on this date
Anthony Boucher, 56. U.S. editor, writer, and critic. Mr. Boucher was (with J. Francis McComas) the founding editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction from 1949 to 1958. He wrote mystery reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Times, and helped in founding Mystery Writers of America in 1946. Mr. Boucher’s San Francisco Chronicle reviews earned him MWA’s Edgar Award in 1946. Mr. Boucher was also known as a devotee of Sherlock Holmes. From 1944-1947 he teamed with Denis Green to write the scripts for The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes radio series. When that series left the Mutual Broadcasting System in the summer of 1946, it was replaced in its time slot by The Casebook of Gregory Hood, created and written by Mr. Boucher. During this period he also scripted more than 100 episodes of The Adventures of Ellery Queen.

Politics and government
Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who had succeeded Martin Luther King, Jr. as leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, arrived in Washington with a delegation, three days in advance of the beginning of a poor people's march which "Dr." King had planned. Rev. Abernathy met with cabinet members and Congressmen to present a long list of legislative demands, including 2 million jobs, massive housing programs, larger welfare payments, and a guaranteed minimum income for everyone--in other words, socialist welfare state handouts given to blacks, and paid for by whites.

Academia
Columbia University President Grayson Kirk called on New York City police to clear university buildings of student protesters who had been occupying the buildings for several days.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Minnesota 2 @ St. Louis 3 (OT) (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Bill McCreary scored at 17:27 of the 1st overtime period to give the Blues their win over the North Stars at St. Louis Arena.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Figli delle stelle--Alan Sorrenti

#1 single in Switzerland: Rivers of Babylon--Boney M. (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Night Fever--Bee Gees

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Night Fever--Bee Gees

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Night Fever--Bee Gees (7th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring--Boney M.
2 Only a Fool--The Mighty Sparrow with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
3 Argentina--Conquistador
4 U.O. Me (You Owe Me)--Luv'
5 Come Back My Love--Darts
6 With a Little Luck--Wings
7 Substitute--Clout
8 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees
9 Starship 109--Mistral
10 Wuthering Heights--Kate Bush

Singles entering the chart were Night Fever by the Bee Gees (#13); Light Up My Eyes by Champagne (#19); Ça Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand (#24); Het Stadje Kufstein by De Migra's (#30); 't is OK by Harmony (#35); and Bourne to Satisfy by Joe Bourne (#38).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Night Fever--Bee Gees (7th week at #1)
2 If I Can't Have You--Yvonne Elliman
3 Can't Smile Without You--Barry Manilow
4 The Closer I Get to You--Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
5 With a Little Luck--Wings
6 Running on Empty--Jackson Browne
7 Jack and Jill--Raydio
8 Dust in the Wind--Kansas
9 Goodbye Girl--David Gates
10 Lay Down Sally--Eric Clapton

Singles entering the chart were I was Only Joking by Rod Stewart (#70); The Wanderer by Leif Garrett (#83); Almost Summer by Celebration featuring Mike Love (#85); Where Have You Been All My Life by Fotomaker (#94); Give a Little by Robert John (#95); Oh How Happy by the Skyliners (#96); Weekend Lover by Odyssey (#97); I'm on My Way by Captain & Tennille (#98); and Africanism/Gimme Some Lovin' by the Kongas (#99). Almost Summer was the title song of the movie.

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Night Fever--Bee Gees (5th week at #1)
2 Can't Smile Without You--Barry Manilow
3 If I Can't Have You--Yvonne Elliman
4 Dust in the Wind--Kansas
5 Jack and Jill--Raydio
6 The Circle is Small--Gordon Lightfoot
7 Ebony Eyes--Bob Welch
8 Running on Empty--Jackson Browne
9 Goodbye Girl--David Gates
10 Lay Down Sally--Eric Clapton

Singles entering the chart were Ego by Elton John (#72); Shadow Dancing by Andy Gibb (#81); Deacon Blues by Steely Dan (#90); I Can't Stand the Rain by Eruption (#92); Since You Been Gone by Head East (#93); Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty (#95); The Ringing in My Ear (Midnight Song) by David Bradstreet (#97); Because the Night by the Patti Smith Group (#98); and They Call Her Easy by Van Dyke (#100). They Call Her Easy, originally a track from the album Short Stories (1973) by Harry Chapin, was the B-side of Ridin' High, and had received airplay in Calgary three months earlier.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Toronto 2 @ New York Islanders 1 (OT) (Toronto won best-of-seven series 4-3)

Lanny McDonald scored at 4:13 of the 1st overtime period to give the Maple Leafs their win over the Islanders at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, enabling them to advance to the semi-finals for the first time since 1967. Ed Westfall scored in the first period for the Islanders, who should have been leading by more than one goal, but were continually thwarted by Maple Leafs’ goalie Mike Palmateer. Ian Turnbull scored off a pass by Pat Boutette in the second period to tie the game. The result marked the first time that the Maple Leafs had advanced to the semi-finals since their last Stanley Cup win in 1967. Roger Neilson, in his first season in the National Hockey League, was the winning coach; Al Arbour was the losing head coach. Dan Kelly, who by that time was the voice of the St. Louis Blues, called the play-by-play for Hockey Night in Canada that night. The winning goal, and indeed, the entire game, are still replayed on Canadian television occasionally to this day, so few have playoff highlights for the Maple Leafs been in the last 41 years.

Baseball
In a game which lasted only 1 hour 33 minutes, the St. Louis Cardinals tied a franchise record for the quickest nine-inning game played in their history, beating the Dodgers 1-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The game also marked a victory for Ken Boyer in his managerial debut, four days after replacing the fired Vern Rapp.

25 years ago
1983

World events
The Swiss government ordered the Soviet news agency Novosti to close its office in Bern because members of the staff had sought to influence antinuclear and dissident youth movements.

Politics and government
Harold Washington was sworn in as Chicago's first black mayor, promising to freeze city hiring and salary increases in order to overcome a fiscal crunch.

Italian Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani resigned, following the decision of the Socialist Party on April 22 to withdraw from the ruling coalition.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heart--Pet Shop Boys (2nd week at #1)

Married on this date
Two celebrity weddings took place: U.S. actors Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson; and journalist Diane Sawyer and movie director Mike Nichols.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had risen 0.8% in March.

Basketball
NBA
Playoffs
Eastern Conference
First Round
Milwaukee 107 @ Atlanta 110 (Atlanta led best-of-five series 1-0)
New York 92 @ Boston 112 (Boston led best-of-five series 1-0)

Western Conference
First Round
Seattle 123 @ Denver 126 (Denver led best-of-five series 1-0)
San Antonio 110 @ Los Angeles Lakers 122 (Los Angeles led best-of-five series 1-0)

Baseball
The Baltimore Orioles ended their record 21-game season-opening losing streak by whipping the Chicago White Sox 9-0 on a combined four-hitter by Mark Williamson and Dave Schmidt. The story of the 1988 Orioles is one of those told in the book On a Clear Day They Could See Seventh Place: Baseball’s Worst Teams (1991) by George Robinson and Charles Salzberg.

10 years ago
1998

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Eastern Conference
Quarter-Finals
Pittsburgh 6 @ Montreal 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
Philadelphia 1 @ Buffalo 4 (Buffalo led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Western Conference
Quarter-Finals
St. Louis 2 @ Los Angeles 1 (St. Louis won best-of-seven series 4-0)

Craig Conroy's goal at 3:22 of the 3rd period gave the Blues a 2-0 lead and proved to be the winning goal as they eliminated the Kings in the last National Hockey Game at Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. Jozef Stumpel scored at 8:00 of the 3rd period for the Kings to spoil Grant Fuhr's bid for a shutout.

Basketball
NBA
Playoffs
Eastern Conference
First Round
Chicago 116 @ New Jersey 101 (Chicago won best-of-five series 3-0)

Western Conference
First Round
Phoenix 80 @ San Antonio 99 (San Antonio won best-of-five series 3-1)
Utah 85 @ Houston 89 (Houston led best-of-five series 2-1)