June 2, 2008

910 years ago
1098

War
The first Siege of Antioch ended as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later.

160 years ago
1848

Politics and government
The Slavic Congress began in Prague.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Pierre Bovard, 22. Swiss man. Mr. Bovard was standing on the Canadian side of the brink of Horseshoe Falls when he shot himself and fell 160 feet to the river's edge.

World events
Marshal Chang Tso-lin, ruler of Peking and North China for two years, began to evacuate the capital, leaving a Committee of Elders in charge.

Politics and government
Richard Squires led his Liberal Party to victory in the Newfoundland dominion election, taking 19 of 40 seats in the House of Assembly. The Liberals were able to form a minority government with the support of the Fishermen's Protective Union, led by J.H. Scammell, who won 9 seats. The Liberals' total was 9 more than in the most recent election in 1924, when they had been known as the Liberal-Progressive Party. The governing Liberal-Conservative Progressive Party, led by Premier Frederick Alderdice, dropped from 25 seats to 12.

Scandal
Walter Cravens, former President of the Kansas City Joint Stock Land Bank, was sentenced in Kansas City to six years in federal penitentiary and fined $25,000. Alice Todd, former secretary of the company, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

60 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Karl Gebhardt, 50; Waldemar Hoven, 45; Karl Brandt, 44; Joachim Mrugowsky, 42. German physicians. Viktor Brack, 43; Wolfram Sievers, 42. German bureaucrat. Rudolf Brandt, 39. German lawyer.

Drs. Gebhart, Hoven, K. Brandt, Mrugowsky, and R. Brandt, and Messrs. Brack and Sievers were hanged at Landsberg Prison in Bavaria, having been convicted on August 20, 1947 of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Defense
The U.S. Army's European Command transferred its headquarters from Frankfurt to Heidelberg.

Law
The British House of Lords rejected the five-year trial abolition of capital punishment approved earlier by the House of Commons.

Society
The U.S. Senate and passed to the House of Representatives a bill authorizing the immigration of 200,000 European refugees over the next two years, stipulating that half of the quota must come from Baltic states overrun by the U.S.S.R. and that all immigrants must have spent time in Central European refugee camps.

Religion
Pope Pius XII proclaimed 1950 a Holy Year, and urged Roman Catholics to visit Rome as a "shining example" of international and interracial unity.

Politics and government
U.S. President Harry Truman appointed Herbert Bergson as head of the Justice Department's antitrust division.

Labour
White House talks aimed at settling the U.S. railroad industry's contract dispute ended in failure.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): All I Have to Do is Dream/Claudette--The Everly Brothers (Best Seller--4th week at #1); All I Have to Do is Dream--The Everly Brothers (Disc Jockey--3rd week at #1; Top 100--3rd week at #1)

Space
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate a bill to create a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Administration to direct all space research and exploration.

Diplomacy
In a message to Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba and King Mohammed V of Morocco, French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle assured the North African leaders of his desire to settle outstanding differences and improve relations.

Politics and government
The French National Assembly voted to grant Prime Minister de Gaulle's demand for authority to rule France by decree for six months.

The Socialist-Liberal coalition government of Belgian Prime Minister Achille Van Acker resigned.

Labour
Despite the expiration of their contracts with the major automobile manufacturers, the United Auto Workers of America obeyed union orders and reported to work.

Health
Reports from Bangkok indicated that a cholera epidemic in Thailand had claimed 106 lives.

Disasters
All 45 passengers and crew members aboard a Mexican Aeronaves airliner en route to Mexico City were killed when it crashed in mountains near Guadalajara.

40 years ago
1968

Died on this date
André Mathieu, 39. Canadian musician and composer. Mr. Mathieu, a native of Montreal, was a child prodigy, learned to play piano at an early age and began composing at the age of 4. He was acclaimed as the "Canadian Mozart," reaching his peak while still in his teens. Studies in Europe in his late teens went badly, and he returned to Montreal, where he continued to compose, but was undone by drinking and emotional problems, leading to his early death.

Ted Watkins, 27. U.S.-born football player. Mr. Watkins was an offensive end at University of the Pacific and with the Ottawa Rough Riders (1963-1966) and Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1967) of the Canadian Football League. He made the Eastern Football Conference All-Star team in each of his first three seasons with the Rough Riders, and made the All-Canadian team in 1965, as he and Whit Tucker combined to form the CFL's most explosive receiving duo. Mr. Watkins caught 32 passes for 569 yards in his rookie season and made the EFC All-Star team despite not scoring a touchdown until the playoffs. He caught 24 for 551 yards--an excellent 23.0 average--and 3 touchdowns in 1966, when he helped the Rough Riders win the EFC championship. Mr. Watkins was traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1967, and caught 35 passes for 550 yards and 3 touchdowns. He caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Joe Zuger to help the Tiger-Cats defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 24-1 in the Grey Cup, becoming the only man to play with the EFC representative in both the 1966 and 1967 Grey Cups. Mr. Watkins was reported to be a supporter of the Black Power movement, and edited a magazine of Negro poetry. He was expected to be back with the Tiger-Cats in 1968, but was shot to death in Stockton, California by the owner of a liquor store that Mr. Watkins and his brother were apparently attempting to rob.

Economics and finance
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced export controls on silver in order to cut speculation; Canadians now had to get permission to export the metal.

Golf
Bob Lunn won his second straight tournament, winning the Atlanta Golf Classic with a score of 280. First prize money was $23,000.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Rivers of Babylon--Boney M. (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler

Boxing
Bob Hazelton (18-10) was knocked down twice in the 2nd round, but recovered and scored a technical knockout of former world light heavyweight champion Bob Foster (56-8-1) in the 2nd round of a heavyweight bout at Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas. It was the last professional fight for Mr. Foster, who had scored a 10-round technical knockout of Mr. Hazelton nine months earlier.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Washington 94 @ Seattle 98 (Seattle led best-of-seven series 3-2)



20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Gimme Hope Jo'anna--Eddy Grant

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Got to Be Certain--Kylie Minogue (2nd week at #1)

Basketball
NBA
Western Conference
Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 103 @ Dallas 105 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

10 years ago
1998

Education
Voters in California passed Proposition 227, requiring that all schoolchildren be taught in English.

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