May 8, 2008

190 years ago
1818

Died on this date
Franz Ignaz Kaa, 78. German composer. Mr. Kaa was musical director of the Cologne cathedral, and was known for his string quartets.

150 years ago
1858

Born on this date
Dan Brouthers. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Brouthers played first base for 11 teams in three major leagues from 1879-1896 (plus a two-game comeback in 1904), batting .342 with 106 home runs and 1,296 runs batted in in 1,676 games. He led the National League in batting four times: 1882 (.368) and 1883 (.374) with the Buffalo Bisons; 1889 (.373) with the Boston Beaneaters; and 1892 (.335) with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Between his last two NL batting titles, Mr. Brouthers played for the Boston Reds in the Players’ League in 1890, and stayed with that team when it transferred to the American Association in 1891. He led the AA with a .350 batting percentage. Mr. Brouthers was an assistant watchman at the Polo Grounds in later years, and died on August 2, 1932 at the age of 74. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Mr. Brouthers' career batting average of .342 is the ninth best in major league history.

Society
U.S. abolitionist John Brown held an antislavery convention.

130 years ago
1878

Baseball
In a game against the Boston Red Caps, Providence Grays’ centre fielder Paul Hines caught a fly by Jack Burdock and started a triple play, racing in to touch third before Jack Manning could return, then throwing to second to nab Ezra Sutton. Some eyewitnesses contended that Mr. Sutton had passed third and was out when Mr. Hines touched the base, making it the only unassisted triple play by an outfielder. This contradicted the version by Mr. Manning, Jim O'Rourke and others present, which has been accepted generally as the correct account.

110 years ago
1898

Baseball
Rookie Harry Steinfeldt, the "wonder from Wonderville," replaced injured Bid McPhee at second base for the Cincinnati Reds, getting 3 hits against the Louisville Colonels, and handling 9 chances afield.

100 years ago
1908

Died on this date
Ludovic Halevy, 74. French author and playwright. Mr. Halevy became famous in the mid-1850s with his musical parody Orphée aux enfers, a collaboration with Hector Crémieux. He also achieved success with his humourous novels Monsieur et Madame Cardinal (1873) and Les Petites Cardinal, which poked fun at the lower levels of the Parisian middle class.

80 years ago
1928

War
Japan issued an ultimatum to the (Canton) Nationalist government demanding, among other things, that the Chinese withdraw seven miles from each side of the Shantung railroad. The Chinese rejected the ultimatum, whereupon fighting commenced along the railroad in the Tsinan district, and between that and the rail terminal on the Yellow Sea. The Japanese shelled Tsinan and split the Nationalist forces in two.

60 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)--Peggy Lee (9th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Sabre Dance--Woody Herman and his Orchestra
--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
2 Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)--Peggy Lee
3 Now is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song)--Bing Crosby
--Gracie Fields
--Margaret Whiting
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
4 Because--Perry Como
5 I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover--Art Mooney and his Orchestra
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--The Three Suns
--Uptown String Band
6 Haunted Heart--Perry Como
--Jo Stafford
7 Beg Your Pardon--Francis Craig and his Orchestra
--Frankie Carle and his Orchestra
--Larry Green and his Orchestra
8 Little White Lies--Dick Haymes
9 Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)--The Andrews Sisters
--Vaughn Horton and the Polka Debs
10 Baby Face--Art Mooney and his Orchestra
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters

Singles entering the chart were Heartbreaker by the Andrews Sisters (#29) and Melody Time by Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra (#40).

Died on this date
Alfred Holy, 81. Portuguese harpist and composer. Mr. Holy was solo harpist of the Prague German Opera, the Philharmonic of Vienna, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and others.

John Dolan, 80. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Dolan played for five major league teams in five seasons from 1890-1895, with a career record of 15 wins and 16 losses. His best year was 1891, when he went 12-11 with the Columbus Buckeyes in the American Association.

War
Arab commanders ordered a cease-fire in Jerusalem.

World events
An 11-man junta headed by Jose Figueres, leader of victorious right-wing leaders in the recent civil war, took power in Costa Rica.

Defense
The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee issued a majority report stating that the U.S.S.R. may risk war with the U.S.A. even before it produced an atomic bomb. The report urged reintroduction of military conscription. 3,000 paratroopers in Camp Campbell, Kentucky began Operation Assembly, the largest U.S. military exercise since World War II. The Naval Ordnance Test Station for secret weapons at Inyokern, California officially opened the $8-million Michelson physics laboratory.

Politics and government
Conservative leaders Ivanoe Bonomi and Giovanni Gronchi were elected Presidents of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies, respectively, over Communist opposition.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Public Lands blocked action on statehood for Hawaii during the current session of Congress.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Clinton Anderson announced his resignation in order to seek the Democratic Party U.S. senatorial nomination in New Mexico.

Protest
Student rioting against University of Puerto Rico Chancellor Jaime Benitez forced the university in San Juan to close for the remainder of the term.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that covenants barring racial minority groups from owning or living on property were legally unenforceable.

Religion
The Methodist Church in the United States ended its Quadrennial General Convention in Boston after authorizing its Committee on Church Union to consider a merger with the Protestant Episcopal and Evangelical Churches.

Labour
Strikes against special meat and fat rations for Ruhr miners spread throughout the U.S. and U.K. zones of Germany, idling 90,000 workers in Hanover and 3,000 transit workers in Munich.

Baseball
An infield single by Johnny Blatnik of the Philadelphia Phillies in the 7th inning prevented a perfect game by Harry Brecheen of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won 5-0, with Brecheen pitching his third straight shutout.

At Griffith Stadium in Washington, Larry Doby pounded a 408-foot homer to center field, which hit the loudspeakers 35 feet high, to help the Cleveland Indians top the Washington Nationals 6-1. Mr. Doby's ball bounced back onto the field and was initially declared in play. The 8th inning three-run homer was the longest home run in the Stadium since Babe Ruth's shot in 1922, and is the first of Mr. Doby's four career inside-the-park homers. World War two veteran Gene Bearden made his first start, allowing just three hits. He walked four in the 9th inning to allow the lone run, as Washington finally scored after three straight shutouts.

The Philadelphia Athletics won their sixth straight game, pulling off a triple play while battering the Chicago White Sox 16-1. Winning pitcher Carl Scheib put the game away with an 8th-inning grand slam, and the Athletics were now tied for the American League lead with the Indians. Also that day, the Athletics purchased 37-year-old pitcher Nelson Potter from the St. Louis Browns for $20,000.

50 years ago
1958

Died on this date
Nasni Matni. Lebanese journalist. A supporter of the opposition in the civil war between President Camille Chamoun and rebelling Muslim leaders Saeb Salam and Rasjid Karame, Mr. Matni was murdered.

War
Indonesian Foreign Minister Subandrio said that he had reached agreement with U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Howard Jones on the prevention of foreign intervention in the Indonesian civil war.

Protest
U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon was prevented from addressing students at San Marcos University in Lima, Peru when demonstrators shouted hostile slogans and pelted the speaker's rostrum with rocks and fruit. Mr. Nixon was shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by protesters, and got a good look at one man who spat on him. "As I saw his legs go by, at least I had the satisfaction of planting a healthy kick on his shins...Nothing I did all day made me feel better."

Defense
In an address to West Berlin's House of Delegates, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles renewed the 1954 U.S. pledge to treat "any attack against Berlin from any quarter as an attack upon their forces and upon themselves."

Politics and government
French President Rene Cote named Pierre Pflimlin, Finance Minister in the cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Felix Gaillard, as Prime Minister-designate.

King Mohammed V of Morocco proclaimed a royal charter pledging replacement of the powerless Consultative Assembly with a National Deliberative Assembly empowered to pass the national budget and share legislative functions with the throne.

Scandal
A U.S. federal grand jury in New York indicted U.S. Representative Adam Clayton Powell (Democrat--New York) on charges of income tax invasion.

Popular culture
Disc jockey Alan Freed was indicted in Boston on charges of inciting the unlawful destruction of property during a rock and roll show in Boston Arena on May 3.

Energy
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced that it would end its monopoly on buying and selling uranium and would license the private sale of uranium ore for peaceful use.

Disasters
A collision of two commuter trains outside Rio de Janeiro caused 128 deaths and 300 injuries.

Baseball
A 3-run home run by Smoky Burgess climaxed an 8-run 9th inning as the Cincinnati Redlegs overcame an 8-2 deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs 10-8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): What a Wonderful World/Cabaret--Louis Armstrong (3rd week at #1)

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Lady Madonna/The Inner Light--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)
2 Honey--Bobby Goldsboro
3 Young Girl--The Union Gap
4 Delilah--Tom Jones
5 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra
6 Valleri/Tapioca Tundra--The Monkees
7 Magical Mystery Tour (EP)--The Beatles
8 The Legend of Xanadu--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
9 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Company
10 Underneath the Arches/Friday Kind of Monday--Johnny Farnham

Singles entering the chart were Jumbo/The Singer Sang His Song by the Bee Gees (#22); The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp by O.C. Smith (#24); The Unicorn by the Irish Rovers (#27); Call Me Lightning by the Who (#33); and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus (#38).

At the movies
The Private Navy of Sgt.O'Farrell, directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller, opened in theatres.

Literature
The 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was awarded to William Styron for The Confessions of Nat Turner.

War
The government of Nigeria and the secessionist government of Biafra agreed on Kampala, Uganda as a site for peace negotiations. The civil war had reached an impasse after 10 months. Fearing genocide at the hands of other tribes if defeated, Biafra’s Ibo tribesmen fought on desperately, even though Nigeria’s well-equipped army of 85,000 men had captured all but one of Biafra’s major cities, including the capital of Enegu, squeezing the rebel army of about 35,000 into an interior area only a third as large as the 29,000 square miles it originally held. The federal government had stepped up its bombing, using Russian MiGs and Czechoslovakian Delfin jet pilots and bombs, with pilots believed to be Egyptian and Sudanese. Some 200,000 Ibo refugees had crowded into about 300 camps throughout Biafra, which claimed that the bombing raids were aimed at schools and hospitals.

Diplomacy
Gabon recognized Biafra as an independent state.

Politics and government
In a policy paper, former U.S. Vice President and current presidential candidate Richard Nixon asserted that the role of poverty as a cause of increased crime "has been grossly exaggerated" and attributed the rise to "the success of the criminals in this country."

Protest
Columbia University issued a report about the campus protests which had taken place during the last week of April. 707 people had been arrested; 524 were registered students, 181 were not Columbia students, and 2 were faculty members. Of the students, 239 were from Columbia College, representing 8.79% of the college’s total enrolment. Also, 111 Barnard College students were arrested, representing 6.01% of the undergraduate girls’ college’s total enrolment.

Crime
The Krays--twins Reginald and Ronnie, aged 34, and their 41-year-old brother Charlie--who ran one of the capital's biggest crime rackets, were arrested after a series of dawn raids in London. In March 1969, after an epic trial at the Old Bailey, they were jailed for life for the murders of George Cornell and Jack 'The Hat' McVitie, both members of the London underworld.

Health
At least 20 people died of bubonic plague in Lesotho.

Disasters
6 died and 30 were injured in a passenger express-freight train crash in Vijayavada, India.

Baseball
Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins, winning 4-0 before 6,298 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. There were no difficult plays behind him, but he went to 3 balls on a batter 7 times. Mr. Hunter struck out 11, including Harmon Killebrew 3 times, and drove in 3 of the Athletics’ runs, the other coming on a 2-out, bases-loaded walk to first baseman Danny Cater in the 8th inning. It was the third perfect game in the major leagues in five years (and the first in the American League since Charlie Robertson of the Detroit Tigers turned the trick in 1922), but turned out to be the last until Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians did it in 1981.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Southpaw--Pink Lady (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees

On television tonight
ABC in the United States aired Stars Salute Israel at 30.

The last Wayne and Shuster special of the season, featuring takeoffs on commercials and a skit titled Least of the Mohicans, aired on CBC. Later on CBC, Newsmagazine examined the federal Social Credit party, who had chosen Lorne Reznowski as its new leader the day before, and Man Alive showed The Devil, the Tube, and Mr. Muggeridge, an interview with British author Malcolm Muggeridge.

War
The UNIFIL force moved its headquarters from a site north of Tyre to a village in the Israeli-held strip along the Lebanon-Israel border.

Protest
Muslim anti-government riots began sweeping Iran.

Hockey
IIHF Men's World Championships
U.S.S.R. 3 Canada 2

Baseball
After a walk to Bernie Carbo and a ground out, the Kansas City Royals intentionally walked Jim Rice to pitch to Carl Yastrzemski, who clouted a 3-run home run as the Red Sox, down 5-4, beat the Royals 8-4. Mike Stanley was the winning pitcher over Dennis Leonard.

25 years ago
1983

Politics and government
Spain's ruling socialist party swept municipal elections.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): One Tree Hill--U2 (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Heart--Pet Shop Boys

Died on this date
Robert A Heinlein, 80. U.S. author. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers," Mr. Heinlein set a high standard for "hard science" fiction. Mr. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke were known as the "Big Three" of science fiction authors for many years. Among Mr. Heinlein’s novels were Red Planet (1949); The Puppet Masters (1951); and Starship Troopers (1959). His 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land has been called "The Bible of the hippie movement" for its advocacy of liberal sexual mores. Mr. Heinlein was known for saying that man is not a rational creature, but a rationalizing creature.

Politics and government
Francois Mitterrand was elected to a second seven-year term as President of France, with 54% of the vote.

Scandal
The New York Times reported that U.S. Vice President George Bush had been told in 1985 by Everett Briggs, U.S. Ambassador to Panama, that Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was involved in drug smuggling. Mr. Briggs denied the report; Mr. Bush had repeatedly said that he had no knowledge that early about Mr. Noriega’s activities.

Crime
A jury in Seattle convicted Stella Nickell of two counts of murder. She became the first person to be found guilty of violating the U.S. Federal Anti-Tampering Act after putting cyanide in Excedrin capsules. Mrs. Nickell was convicted of the murders of her husband Bruce and Susan Snow, who had taken a poisoned capsule from a bottle that Mrs. Nickell had tampered with and placed on a store shelf.

Labour
Talks at Gdansk, Poland between workers and the shipyard management broke down over recognition of the independent labour federation Solidarity.

Communications
A fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office triggered an extended 1AESS network outage. It was considered at the time to be the "worst telecommunications disaster in U.S. telephone industry history" and still ranks as the worst to occur on Mother's Day.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference
Finals
Boston 1 @ New Jersey 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

Amateur officials worked the game at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey as NHL officials walked out to protest a restraining order obtained by the Devils against the suspension of head coach Jim Schoenfeld for allegedly pushing referee "Donut Don" Koharski after the previous game. Little John Ziegler, the President of the National Hockey League, was occupied by a family emergency and was unable to deal with the situation.

Basketball
NBA
Playoffs
Eastern Conference
First Round
Milwaukee 111 @ Atlanta 121 (Atlanta won best-of-five series 3-2)
Cleveland 101 @ Chicago 107 (Chicago won best-of-five series 3-2)
Washington 78 @ Detroit 99 (Detroit won best-of-five series 3-2)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Utah 91 @ Los Angeles Lakers 110 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Baseball
Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Doug Drabek took a no-hitter into the 9th inning before allowing a pinch single by Randy Ready and a home run by Marvell Wynne, but won a 6-2 two-hitter over the San Diego Padres.

10 years ago
1998

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
Montreal 2 @ Buffalo 3 (OT) (Buffalo led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
St. Louis 4 @ Detroit 2 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Geoff Sanderson scored his second goal of the game at 2:37 of the 1st overtime period as the Sabres edged the Canadiens at Marine Midland Arena.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
Chicago 103 @ Charlotte 89 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Seattle 103 @ Los Angeles Lakers 119 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Baseball
The Colorado Rockies topped the Montreal Expos 7-5 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, despite 5 hits by Montreal shortstop Mark Grudzielanek.

St. Louis Cardinals’ first baseman Mark McGwire hit his 400th career home run in a 9-2 loss to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. He was the 27th player to reach 400, and did so in fewer at bats than anyone in history: 4,726. Babe Ruth had taken 127 more at-bats, having held the old record.

A bit behind Mr. McGwire was Andres Galarraga of Atlanta, who clubbed his 300th home run in the Braves' 3-2 loss to the San Diego Padres at Turner Field. Tony Gwynn of the Padres homered off Tom Glavine.

Charlie Hayes, playing first base, snagged Jeff Blauser's line drive and started the San Francisco Giants' first triple play since 1980. Mr. Hayes also had 4 hits in the 14-inning 5-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.