March 29, 2009

460 years ago
1549

Braziliana
The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, was founded.

240 years ago
1769

Born on this date
Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia. Prime Minister of France, 1832-1834, 1839-1840, 1840-1847. Marshal of the Empire Soult served in the Revolutionary Wars in the 1790s and the Penisular War against Portugal (1808-1812), engaging in large-scale looting in the latter. Marshal Soult fought in Germany and in the Battle of Waterloo (1815), suffering several defeats by Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington. Marshal Soult went into exile in Germany until being recalled to France in 1819. He created the French Foreign Legion in 1831, and served three terms as Prime Minister, also serving as Minister of War (1830-1834, 1840-1845). Marshal Soult died on November 26, 1851 at the age of 82.

210 years ago
1799

Born on this date
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1852, 1858-1859, 1866-1868. The Earl of Derby led the Conservative Party from 1846-1868, and remains the party's longest-serving leader. He held several cabinet posts before becoming Conservative Party leader, including Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1833-1834, 1841-1845). Lord Derby has been credited by creating the modern Conservative Party, derived from the Whig Party, which dissolved in 1859. He retired from politics on the advice of his doctor, and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Benjamin Disraeli. Lord Derby died on October 23, 1869 at the age of 70.

200 years ago
1809

World events
King Gustav IV of Sweden abdicated after a coup d'état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledged allegiance to Czar Aleksandr I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.

160 years ago
1849

Britannica
The United Kingdom annexed the Punjab.

130 years ago
1879

War
British forces defeated 20,000 Zulus in the Battle of Kambula in South Africa.

Soccer
English FA Cup
Final @ Kennington Oval, London
Old Etonians 1 Clapham Rovers 0

Charles Clerke scored in the 59th minute.

120 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Warner Baxter. U.S. actor and inventor. Mr. Baxter won the 1928-29 Academy Award for Best Actor for playing the Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona (1928), becoming the first to win the award for a sound film. He starred in the Crime Doctor series of 10 detective movies from 1943-1948. Mr. Baxter co-invented a revolving searchlight for use in law enforcement, and helped to develop a radio device to allow emergency vehicles to alter traffic signals from two blocks away. He died of pneumonia on May 7, 1951 at the age of 62.

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Lavrentiy Beria. U.S.S.R. politician. Mr. Beria was chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus (NKVD) under dictator Josef Stalin during World War II, serving as Minister of Internal Affairs (1938-1945), and Deputy Premier from 1941. He was responsible for organizing the Katyn Forest massacre of Polish military officers in 1940, and was known as a sexual predator, getting away with numerous rapes and perhaps murders of women. Upon the death of Mr. Stalin in March 1953, Mr. Beria resumed the office of Minister of Internal Affairs, and was also First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. He soon lost a power struggle with Nikita Khrushchev, and was arrested for treason in June. He and six co-defendants were convicted in a secret trial, and on December 23, 1953, at the age of 54, Mr. Beria was executed by General Pavel Batitsky, who shot him through the forehead after stuffing a rag in Mr. Beria's mouth to stifle the pleas for his life.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Moon Mullican. U.S. musician. Aubrey Wilson Mullican was a country singer whose hillbilly boogie piano playing influenced rockabilly artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis. Mr. Mullican's popularity was centred in the southeastern United States, although he had eight top 10 hits on the Billboard country chart, with I'll Sail My Ship Alone reaching #1 in 1950. He died at the age of 57 on January 1, 1967, the day after suffering a heart attack.

Defense
George Foster, M.P. (Conservative--Toronto North) introduced a resolution in the House of Commons to establish a Canadian Naval Service.

90 years ago
1919

Labour
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba passed the Industrial Conditions Act, setting up a joint council to settle labour disputes.

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 4 @ Seattle 3 (OT) (Best-of-five series tied 2-2-1)

In a game played under National Hockey League rules, Frank Foyston and Jack Walker scored in the 1st period and Mr. Walker scored in the 2nd to give the Metropolitans a 3-0 lead, but Odie Cleghorn and Newsy Lalonde scored for the Canadiens, and Mr. Lalonde scored again with 2:55 remaining in regulation time to tie the score. Jack McDonald scored in overtime to enable the Canadiens to avoid elimination, necessitating a sixth and deciding game at Seattle Ice Arena. The influenza epidemic was having such an effect on the teams that some players had to be hospitalized after the game, and others carried home. It was the last game for Montreal defenceman Joe Hall, who died from influenza-related pneumonia a week later.

80 years ago
1929

On the radio
Musician Don Messer made his first radio appearance, with the New Brunswick Lumberjacks, on CFBO in Saint John.

Died on this date
Hugh John Macdonald, 79. Canadian politician and magistrate. Sir Hugh John, a native of Kingston and the only surviving son of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, moved to Winnipeg in 1872 to set up a law practice. A Conservative, he represented Winnipeg in the Canadian House of Commons from 1891-1893, serving with his father until Sir John A.'s death on June 6, 1891. Sir Hugh John resigned from politics in 1893, but was appointed Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs by Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper in 1896. Sir Hugh John was elected to the House of Commons for Winnipeg again in 1896, but his election was voided in 1897, and he didn't contest the subsequent by-election. He led the Conservative Party of Manitoba to an upset victory in the 1899 Manitoba provincial election, serving as Premier of Manitoba from December 1899-October 1900, when he resigned to again enter federal politics. Sir Hugh John was defeated by Interior Minister Clifford Sifton in Brandon in the 1900 federal election, and never ran for office again. He was appointed Police Magistrate of Winnipeg in 1911, and was in office during the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, ordering the internment of immigrants who'd been arrested. Sir Hugh John died 16 days after his 79th birthday.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Boston 2 @ New York Rangers 1 (Boston won best-of-three series 2-0)

Bill Carson scored with 1:58 remaining in regulation time to break a 1-1 tie as the Bruins edged the defending champion Rangers to win their first Stanley Cup championship and became the first American team in the National Hockey League to win the Stanley Cup.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis, on MBS

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Cabin B-13, starring Charles Korvin and Eleanor Lynn

Literature
Their Finest Hour, the second volume of Winston Churchill's history of the Second World War, was published by Houghton Mifflin.

World events
The Czechoslovakian government announced the conviction of U.S. soldiers George Jones and Clarence Hill on espionage charges, following a secret trial. Mr. Jones was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Mr. Hill received a 12-year sentence.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department denied permission for a tour of the United States to 18 Soviet and Eastern European delegates to the Cultural and Scientific Conference for World Peace in New York, directing them to leave the U.S.A. within a "reasonable time."

Defense
Marshal Vasili Sokolovsky, head of the Soviet military administration in Germany, was named First Deputy Armed Forces Minister; he was succeeded in his German position by General Vasili Chuikov, leader of the defense of Stalingrad during World War II and Soviet military governor in Thuringia.

U.S. Defense Secretary Louis Johnson named General Joseph McCartney as his chief assistant in supervising armed forces unification.

Energy
The University of Rochester dedicated the world's second-largest cyclotron, costing $1.5 million and capable of accelerating protons to speeds of 250 million volts.

Business
Westinghouse announced a 20%-50% decrease in radio prices, while Jones & Laughlin and Inland Steel dropped prices of several semi-finished products.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Detroit 3 @ Montreal 1 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
Boston 1 @ Toronto 3 (Toronto led best-of-seven series 3-1)

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): La marche des gosses--Annie Cordy (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Kind Waitress, starring Rick Jason, Olive Deering, and Celia Lovsky

At the movies
Some Like it Hot, written, directed, and produced by Billy Wilder, and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon , opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Johnny Allen, 54. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Allen pitched in 352 games for five teams during a 13-year major league career from 1932-1944. His winning percentage of .654 (142 wins, 75 losses) included a 17-4 record for an American League-leading .810 in his rookie season with the World Series champion New Yankees; 13-6, .684 with the Yankees in 1935; 20-10, .667 with the Cleveland Indians in 1936; and 15-1, .938 with the Indians in 1937. Mr. Allen was known for his hot temper, and opposition players enjoyed taunting him. His only loss of 1937 came in his last game of the season, and he attempted to slug teammate Odell "Bad News" Hale after the game, blaming Mr. Hale's error for the loss. An injury suffered during the 1938 All-Star Game break shortened Mr. Allen's career. He became a minor league umpire after his playing days, eventually becoming umpire-in-chief of the Carolina League, retiring in 1953. Mr. Allen died of a heart ailment.

Barthélemy Boganda, 48. Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, 1958-1959. Rev. Boganda, a Roman Catholic priest, was first elected to the French National Assembly in 1946, opposing the French colonial regime in what was then known as Oubangui-Chari. He left the priesthood to get married, remaining active in politics. On December 1, 1958, the Central African Republic was declared as an autonomous region within the French Community, and Mr. Boganda took office as Prime Minister a week later, with the intention of becoming the C.A.R.'s first President. He and everyone else aboard a plane en route from Berbérati to Bangui were killed when it exploded in mid-air; sabotage was widely suspected, and traces of explosives were reportedly discovered in the wreckage. Suspects included the French secret service and Mrs. Boganda, from whom Mr. Boganda had become estranged. Mr. Boganda, who was killed six days before his 49th birthday, was succeeded as Prime Minister by his cousin, Interior Minister David Dacko.

Politics and government
The Panchen Lama informed Communist Chinese leaders that he would serve as Tibetan ruler only until the return to Lhasa of the Dalai Lama.

The U.S. government reported that at least 22 relatives of 17 Senators were on the Senate payroll and that two other Senators had employed relatives within the past year.

Health
Chemist Linus Pauling charged that new fallout data multiplied by five his estimate that each 20 megatons of nuclear fission detonations would cause 15,000 defective births and 15,000 cases of leukemia and bone cancer in people now living.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da/While My Guitar Gently Weeps--The Beatles (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Casatchok--Rika Zaraï

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Ma che freddo fa--Nada (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Atlantis--Donovan

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Wages of Love--Muriel Day

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?--Peter Sarstedt (4th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Why--The Cats (2nd week at #1)
2 First of May--The Bee Gees
3 Don Juan--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
4 Sorry Suzanne--The Hollies
5 Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)--Peter Sarstedt
6 Atlantis--Donovan
7 Spooky's Day Off--Swinging Soul Machine
8 Love is Love--Barry Ryan
9 Baby Won't You Leave Me Alone--The Web (with John L. Watson)
10 To Love Somebody--Nina Simone

Singles entering the chart were The Walls Fell Down by the Marbles (#20); Azzurro by Adriano Celentano (#34); Daydream by the Wallace Collection (#36); Ensemble by Mireille Mathieu (#39); and The Last Seven Days by Gloria (#40).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Dizzy--Tommy Roe (3rd week at #1)
2 Traces--Classics IV
3 Time of the Season--The Zombies
4 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
5 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 Run Away Child, Running Wild--The Temptations
7 Indian Giver--1910 Fruitgum Co.
8 Galveston--Glen Campbell
9 My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)--David Ruffin
10 Only the Strong Survive--Jerry Butler

Singles entering the chart were My Way by Frank Sinatra (#69); Mini-Skirt Minnie by Wilson Pickett (#76); Mercy by Ohio Express (#77); Wishful Sinful by the Doors (#79); There Never was a Time by Jeannie C. Riley (#86); Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin (#94); One Eye Open by Maskman and the Agents (#95); Zazueira by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (#96); Something's on Her Mind by the 4 Seasons (#98); and I Love My Baby by Archie Bell & the Drells (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Time of the Season--The Zombies
2 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
3 Dizzy--Tommy Roe
4 Traces--Classics IV
5 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 Indian Giver--1910 Fruitgum Co.
7 Galveston--Glen Campbell
8 Run Away Child, Running Wild--The Temptations
9 You've Made Me So Very Happy--Blood, Sweat & Tears
10 My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)--David Ruffin

Singles entering the chart were Wishful Sinful by the Doors (#60); In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me) by the Foundations (#63); To Know You is to Love You by Bobby Vinton (#72); When You Dance by Jay and the Americans (#78); I Love My Baby by Archie Bell & the Drells (#85); I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I’ll Get it Myself) by James Brown (#88); Tricia Tell Your Daddy by Andy Kim (#92); It's a Groovy World! by the Unifics (#93); With Pen in Hand by Vikki Carr (#94); Rhythm of the Rain by Gary Lewis and the Playboys (#95); Emmaretta by Deep Purple (#97); More Today than Yesterday by the Spiral Starecase (#98); and A Million to One by Brian Hyland (#100).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 Things I'd Like to Say--The New Colony Six
2 Indian Giver--1910 Fruitgum Co.
3 Dizzy--Tommy Roe
4 Build Me Up Buttercup--The Foundations
5 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
7 Galveston--Glen Campbell
8 Rock Me--Steppenwolf
9 Something's Happening--Herman's Hermits
10 Johnny One Time--Brenda Lee
Pick hit of the week: In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)--The Foundations

Defense
The New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was formed.

Americana
The body of former President Dwight Eisenhower was put on public view in Washington National Cathedral after a brief service for the immediate family and close friends.

Disasters
Two earthquakes hit the Danakil depression of Ethiopia, killing 20 and injuring more than 150.

Hockey
IIHF World Championships
Group A @ Stockholm
Canada (4-5) 6 Finland (1-8) 1
Sweden (7-2) 10 U.S.A. (0-9) 4

Steve King, Ken Stephanson, Bill Heindl, Gary Begg, Morris Mott, and Fran Huck scored for Canada, while Lauri Mononen scored for Finland in what turned out to be Canada's last win in world championship competition until 1977.

Kjell-Rune Milton and Lars-Göran Nilsson each scored 3 goals for the Swedes as they beat the Americans. Sweden led 6-2 after the 1st period.

CHL
Adams Cup
Quarter-Finals
Kansas City 4 @ Omaha 1 (Best-of-five series tied 1-1)
Dallas 3 @ Houston 1 (Dallas led best-of-five series 2-0)

Semi-Finals
Tulsa 1 @ Oklahoma City 6 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

30 years ago
1979

Died on this date
Ray Ventura, 70. French musician. Mr. Ventura was a jazz pianist who began performing with the Collegiate Five combo in 1925, later known as the Collegians on recordings from 1928 through the 1930s. Mr. Ventura eventually led the band, and led a big band in South America and France in the 1940s. He was the uncle of singer Sacha Distel, and died 18 days before his 71st birthday.

Luke Easter, 63. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Easter, a first baseman, stood 6'4½" and weighed 240 pounds. He played in the Negro leagues in the late 1940s; with the Homestead Grays in 1948, he hit .363 in 58 games, helping the Grays win the last Negro World Series. The Cleveland Indians signed him in 1949 and assigned him to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. He hit .363 with the Padres, with 25 home runs and 92 runs batted in in just 80 games. Mr. Easter was called up to the Indians later in the season, hitting just .222 with no home runs in 21 games. From 1950-1952 Mr. Easter averaged just under 29 home runs and just over 102 RBIs per season; his 31 home runs in 1952 were just one behind teammate Larry Doby for the American League lead, and his ratio of home runs per at bats was the AL's best. An ankle injury that slowed him down ended his major league career, but he spent many productive years in the International League, leading the IL in home runs and RBIs with the Buffalo Bisons in 1955 and 1956, when he was over 40 years of age. With the Rochester Red Wings, he hit 15 home runs and drove in 60 runs in 249 at bats at the age of 46. In 1957, Mr. Easter became the first batter to hit a home run over the scoreboard in center field at Buffalo's Offermann Stadium, doing it twice that year. He played 491 games with the Indians from 1949-1954, batting .274 with 93 home runs and 340 runs batted in; he batted .270 with 5 homers and 26 RBIs in the Negro National League (1947-1948), and .299 with 247 home runs and 843 RBIs in 1,327 games in the minors (1949-1964). Mr. Easter was carrying the payroll for a construction company that he worked for in Euclid, Ohio, when he was shot to death by two robbers after refusing to hand over the money. He was elected to the International League Hall of Fame in 2008.

World events
Argentina's military regime allowed the Inter-American Human Rights Commission to investigate charges that it had violently repressed suspected "subversives,' indicating a letup in the general crackdown against leftists.

Environment
The radiation leak continued at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, releasing unspecified levels of radiation over a four-county area, and prompting anti-nuclear protests and demands by public officials that emergency steps be taken to safeguard the public.

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
Edmonton's top 24 (CHED)
1 Footloose--Kenny Loggins
2 Somebody's Watching Me--Rockwell
3 Miss Me Blind--Culture Club
4 I Want a New Drug--Huey Lewis and the News
5 Against All Odds--Phil Collins
6 Jump--Van Halen
7 Radio Ga Ga--Queen
8 Hold Me Now--Thompson Twins
9 Hello--Lionel Richie
10 Runner--Manfred Mann's Earth Band
11 Come Back and Stay--Paul Young
12 Adult Education--Daryl Hall and John Oates
13 Hyperactive--Thomas Dolby
14 Thriller--Michael Jackson
15 Don't Bite--Pretty Rough
16 Got a Hold on Me--Christine McVie
17 This Could Be the Right One--April Wine
18 Girls Just Want to Have Fun--Cyndi Lauper
19 Girls--Dwight Twilley
20 Joanna--Kool & The Gang
21 Leave It--Yes
22 You Might Think--The Cars
23 Don't Answer Me--Alan Parsons Project
24 Love Somebody--Rick Springfield

Labour
Lynn Williams of Toronto became the first Canadian to be elected president of the United Steelworkers of America.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the Index of Leading Economic Indicators had risen 0.7% in February.

Football
NFL
The Baltimore Colts moved all of their belongings from Owings Mills, Maryland to Indianapolis in a convoy of 12 moving vans that left in the middle of the night.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Like a Prayer--Madonna (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Did I Tell You--Jerry Williams (6th week at #1)

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1988 were presented at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Rain Man won for Best Picture (Mark Johnson, Producer); Director (Barry Levinson); Actor (Dustin Hoffman); and Original Screenplay (Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow). Other awards included: Actress--Jodie Foster (The Accused); Supporting Actor--Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda); Supporting Actress--Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist); Original Song--Let the River Run (Working Girl); Original Score--Dave Grusin (The Milagro Beanfield War); and Foreign Language Film--Pelle the Conqueror.

Music
The New Zealand/Australian pop group Crowded House played a gig for 80 people in the basement of Grant Harvey's home in Calgary. The 23-year-old film student won a MuchMusic contest that asked contestants what their house would look like if Crowded House paid a visit; his 4-minute, $87 video production won out over hundreds of other contestants.

Terrorism
The leader of Belgium's Muslim community and a colleague were shot to death in Brussels. Two days later, a pro-Iranian terrorist group claimed that it had killed the leader because he had criticized the fatwa (legal judgment) of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini against British author Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses (1988) was regarded as disrespectful toward the prophet Muhammad.

Environment
Five days after the U.S. tanker Exxon Valdez had spilled 240,000 barrels of oil into Prince William Sound in Alaska, the spill had extended to 45 miles.

Scandal
Michael Milken, head of the so-called "junk bond" division of the Wall Street investment firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, was indicted along with his brother and a third DBL employee on 98 counts of racketeering, mail fraud, securities fraud, and other criminal charges. The indictment charged that Mr. Milken had led a conspiracy to defraud DBL clients, shareholders, and the investing public. Mr. Milken, who had received $550 million in compensation from the firm in 1987, said that he would plead not guilty to all charges.

Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese concluded two days of testimony at the trial of former National Security Council member Oliver North, who was facing 12 charges in relation to his involvement with the mid-1980s Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal. Mr. Meese testified that as the scandal unfolded, the administration of President Ronald Reagan had feared the possibility that Mr. Reagan would be impeached.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the Index of Leading Economic Indicators had declined 0.3% in February.

Hockey
NHL
Sergei Priakin, the first Soviet player allowed to play in North America by the U.S.S.R. Ice Hockey Federation, signed with the Calgary Flames.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Joe Williams, 80. U.S. musician. Mr. Williams, born Joseph Goreed, was a jazz pianist and singer who performed as a soloist and with bands such as those of Count Basie and Lionel Hampton in a performing career that spanned more than 60 years until his death. His best-know recording was Every Day I Have the Blues (1955), during his seven-year period (1954-1961) as lead singer with the Count Basie Orchestra.

World events
Former Paraguayan President Raul Cubas Grau went to Brazil, where he was granted political asylum. Luis Angel Gonzalez Macchi, President of the Senate, was sworn in as his successor.

Crime
United States Marine Captain Joseph Schweitzer, navigator on a plane that had snapped a ski-lift cable above a valley in Italy in 1998, causing 20 deaths, pleaded guilty to obstruction and conspiracy for destroying a videotape that had recorded part of the flight.

The case of James Hanratty was sent back to the U.K. Court of Appeal, 37 years after he had been hanged for the notorious A6 murder in Bedfordshire. Mr. Hanratty was hanged in Bedford Prison in April 1962 after being convicted of the murder of government scientist Michael Gregsten, 36, and assaulting Valerie Storie, 22, his laboratory assistant and mistress. DNA evidence subsequently indicated that Mr. Hanratty was the killer, and the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction in 2002.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time. The final charge saw the Dow jump 184.54 points to rise slightly above the barrier at 10,006.78. The average of 30 large companies had been advancing steeply over the past several years, although it had skidded badly, almost 20% at one point in 1998 because of fears about the Asian financial crisis. The rebound left many smaller companies behind, and they were still showing declines in 1999.

Disasters
The strongest earthquake to hit the foothills of the Himalayas in more than 90 years killed at least 100 people in the Chamoli district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand).

Hockey
NHL
Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers scored his 894th and last career National Hockey League goal, in a game against the New York Islanders.

Basketball
NCAA
Men's Championship
Final
Connecticut 77 Duke 74

The Huskies upset the Blue Devils to win their first National Collegiate Athletic Association men's title. Heavily-favoured Duke carried a 32-game winning streak into the game. Richard Hamilton, named the most valuable player in the finals, scored 27 points for Connecticut.