May 11, 2009

230 years ago
1779

Died on this date
John Hart, 65-72 (?). U.S. politician. Mr. Hart served in the New Jersey colonial Assembly from 1761-1771, and with the Second Continental Congress in 1776. He was elected to the newly-formed New Jersey General Assembly in 1776, and was chosen as its first Speaker, serving until his death after a long bout with kidney stones.

120 years ago
1889

Died on this date
John Cadbury, 86. U.K. businessman. Mr. Cadbury, a chocolatier from Birmingham, England, developed the modern chocolate bar and founded the Cadbury Company.

Crime
U.S. Army paymaster Major Joseph Wham and his escort of 11 Buffalo Soldiers were ambushed while transporting over $28,000 in gold and silver coins from Fort Grant, Arizona Territory to Fort Thomas. Eight soldiers were wounded, and Sergeant Benjamin Brown and Corporal Isaiah Mays were awarded the Medal of Honor.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Ellis Dungan. U.S. film director and producer. Mr. Dungan was best known for his work in India, where he was predominantly a director of Tamil-language movies from 1936-1950, introducing American moviemaking techniques to Tamil cinema. He returned to the United States and settled in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1958, where he started his own company and made documentary films for the next 30 years. Mr. Dungan died on December 1, 2001 at the age of 92.

90 years ago
1919

Baseball
Hod Eller pitched a no-hitter, striking out 8 and improving his 1919 record to 3-0, as the Cincinnati Reds blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 before 5,500 fans at Redland Field in Cincinnati. Losing pitcher Jakie May gave up 8 hits and 5 stolen bases.

The New York Yankees hosted their first legal Sunday game, with 3,000 in attendance at the Polo Grounds. Yankees' pitcher Jack Quinn and Washington Nationals' ace Walter Johnson engaged in a classic pitching duel, which was called at 6 P.M. by Yankees' owner Jake Ruppert with the score tied 0-0 after 12 innings. Mr. Johnson gave up a single in the 1st inning, then retired 28 straight batters before giving up a walk in the 10th and finishing with a 2-hitter. Mr. Quinn allowed 10 hits in going the distance.

80 years ago
1929

Baseball
The Detroit Tigers scored 6 runs in the 3rd inning, 2 in the 4th, and 3 in the 5th as they beat the New York Yankees 13-7 before 35,000 fans at Navin Field in Detroit. Pitcher Roy Sherid, center fielder Samuel Byrd, and second baseman Lyn Lary all made their major league debuts with the Yankees, although none of them started the game.

After 25 consecutive complete games, Chicago White Sox pitcher Tommy Thomas left after 5 innings of a 9-2 loss to the Washington Nationals, which was called after 7 innings because of heavy rain at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Winning pitcher Sad Sam Jones pitched a 6-hit complete game.

The Boston Red Sox scored 6 runs in the 4th inning as they overcame an early 2-0 deficit and beat the St. Louis Browns 8-2 before 3,000 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

Chuck Klein batted 4 for 4 with 2 home runs, 3 runs, 5 runs batted in, and 2 sacrifices, while Don Hurst was 4 for 5 with 2 homers, a double, 2 runs, and 4 RBIs to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-6 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.

Larry Benton pitched a 2-hitter and Bill Terry drove in 5 runs with a single and a grand slam as the New York Giants shut out the Chicago Cubs 6-0 before 45,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York.

The St. Louis Cardinals scored 3 runs in the 4th inning and withstood a 2-run 9th inning rally to defeat the Brooklyn Robins 3-2 before 8,000 fans at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Harvey Hendrick was on third base with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning, but Jesse Haines, who pitched a 7-hitter to improve his 1929 record to 4-0, struck out Billy Rhiel and Del Bissonette to end the game. Losing pitcher Watty Clark allowed just 4 hits and 2 earned runs.

The Boston Braves scored 8 runs in the 3rd inning and held on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 8-7 before 14,000 fans at Braves Field.

70 years ago
1939

Baseball
The New York Yankees scored 9 runs in the first 4 innings and held on to defeat the St. Louis Browns 10-8 before 3,167 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. New York first baseman Lou Gehrig, no longer playing, took infield practice and wearing a righthanded glove, warmed up pitcher Monte Pearson. Russ Van Atta, who relieved Ewald Pyle after the rookie St. Louis starting pitcher had failed to retire any of the 5 batters he'd faced, allowed 7 hits and 7 runs--all earned--in 4 innings,with 3 bases on balls and 3 strikeouts, in the 208th and last game of his 7-year major league career.

The Chicago White Sox recorded just 4 hits, but defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-2 before 4,000 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago, as veteran Ted Lyons won a pitching duel over rookie Woodrow Rich, who suffered his first loss of the season. Jimmie Foxx hit his 5th home run of the season, a solo shot in the 9th inning, for the Red Sox.

Al Milnar pitched a 5-hitter, Roy Weatherly batted 5 for 5 with a run batted in, and Ken Keltner was 2 for 5 with a triple, a run, and 3 RBIs for the Cleveland Indians as they shut out the Philadelphia Athletics 7-0 before 2,500 fans at League Park in Cleveland.

The Washington Nationals scored a run in the 8th inning and 3 in the 9th as they overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 before 4,294 fans at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. Joe Haynes pitched a 7-hit complete game to win the pitchers' duel over Dizzy Trout.

The New York Giants scored all their runs in the 1st inning as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 before 4,041 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York.

60 years ago
1949

Diplomacy
The United Nations voted 37-12 to admit Israel as the UN's 59th member.

Former Yugoslavian information officer Bogdan Raditsa testified before a U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee that Soviet and Eastern European diplomacy "is nothing but a legalized espionage and subversive network."

Asiatia
Siam officially changed its name to Thailand (Land of the Free) for the second time; the name had been in use since 1939, but was reverted in 1945.

Defense
U.S. Defense Secretary Louis Johnson approved an Air Force proposal to eliminate segregated Negro units and open "key" positions to qualified Negroes.

U.S. President Harry Truman signed the bill authorizing $75 million for a guided missile test range.

Technology
The Polaroid Land camera, which could produce a photo within 60 seconds after it was snapped, went on sale in New York for $89.95.

Labour
The 50,000-member American Federation of Hosiery Workers voted to leave the Congress of Industrial Organizations and reaffiliate with the American Federation of Labor.

Baseball
The Chicago White Sox scored in all 8 innings in which they batted in a 12-8 win over the Boston Red Sox before 3,203 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Jack Robinson, the second of four Boston pitchers, allowed 1 hit and 1 run--earned--with 1 strikeout in 1 inning in his third and last major league game.

The Washington Nationals scored 5 runs in the 1st inning, 2 in the 2nd, and 4 in the 7th as they routed the Detroit Tigers 11-1 before 6,811 fans at Briggs Stadium in Detroit.

Warren Spahn pitched a 3-hitter and singled home 2 runs to climax a 5-run 1st inning as the Boston Braves shut out the St. Louis Cardinals 7-0 before 14,419 fans at Braves Field. Mr. Spahn also drove in the game's final run with an outfield fly in the 7th.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Diana--Paul Anka

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 The Happy Organ--Dave "Baby" Cortez
2 Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)--The Impalas
3 Come Softly to Me--The Fleetwoods
4 Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)--Edward Byrnes & Connie Stevens
5 (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I--Elvis Presley
6 Kansas City--Wilbert Harrison
7 Guitar Boogie Shuffle--The Virtues
8 Pink Shoe Laces--Dodie Stevens
9 Turn Me Loose--Fabian
10 I Need Your Love Tonight--Elvis Presley

Singles entering the chart were I'm Ready (#75)/Margie (#87) by Fats Domino; Eternally by Thomas Wayne with the DeLons (#92); Little Dipper by the Mickey Mozart Quintet (#93); Tallahassee Lassie by Freddy Cannon (#96); Kansas City (Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey) by Little Richard (#97); and Love Me in the Daytime by Doris Day (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Three Stars--Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires (2nd week at #1)
2 (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I/I Need Your Love Tonight--Elvis Presley
3 Kansas City--Wilbert Harrison
4 Guitar Boogie Shuffle--The Virtues
5 The Tijuana Jail--The Kingston Trio
6 Tell Him No--Travis and Bob
7 The Battle of New Orleans--Johnny Horton
8 The Happy Organ--Dave "Baby" Cortez
9 Goodbye, Jimmy, Goodbye--Kathy Linden
10 Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)--Edward Byrnes & Connie Stevens

Singles entering the chart were Personality by Lloyd Price (#27); Margie/I'm Ready by Fats Domino (#40); Frankie/Lipstick on Your Collar by Connie Francis (#42); I Can't Get You Out of My Heart by Al Martino (#43); Gidget by Jimmy Darren (#51); My Melancholy Baby by Tommy Edwards (#52); Little Dipper by the Mickey Mozart Quintet (#53); It Took One Kiss by Jaye P. Morgan (#54); Fountain of Youth by the Four Lads (#57); Your Cheatin' Heart by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#58); and Hey Little Lucy! (Don’tcha Put No Lipstick On) by Conway Twitty (#59).

The Happy Organ was one of the last singles to be issued in Canada on a 78 rpm record. The B-side, a romantic ballad called Love Me as I Love You, was such a shameless ripoff of For Your Precious Love (a big hit for Jerry Butler and the Impressions in the fall of 1958) that I'm surprised the credited writers (Wood and Clowney) weren't sued for plagiarism (maybe they were, for all I know).

World events
British dispatches from Tehran reported that Soviet troops had entered Afghanistan and occupied positions near Herat, on the main road between Kabul and Iran. The Afghan embassy in London denied any knowledge of the Soviet move.

Diplomacy
The foreign ministers of the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., U.K., and France met in Geneva to begin talks on the problems of German reunification; an all-German peace treaty; and European security.

Protest
1,000 Algerian rightists and students demonstrated against French President Charles de Gaulle and called for an Army coup d'etat.

Law
Delaware Governor J. Caleb Boggs vetoed as barbaric and useless a bill making flogging mandatory for those convicted of robbery.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked Congress to authorize U.S. membership, with an initial investment of $50 million, in a new Inter-American Development Bank.

The U.S. Commerce and Labor Departments announced that unemployment had dropped from 4,362,000 in mid-March to a post-recession low of 3,627,000.

40 years ago
1969

War
Communist forces in Viet Nam hurled widespread rocket barrages against military and civilian targets.

Diplomacy
New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller embarked on a nine-day whirlwind tour of Latin America, the first of four economic fact-finding trips undertaken by Mr. Rockefeller at the request of U.S. President Richard Nixon.

Politics and government
Alain Poher, France's interim head of state, announced his candidacy for president in the June 1 election. He was a centrist and the only serious candidate to challenge Georges Pompidou, a Gaullist.

Disasters
Three Japanese pilots were killed in three simultaneous crashes of three F-86 Sabrejets flying in tight formation.

Baseball
Jim Palmer pitched a 3-hitter and singled home the game's second run as the Baltimore Orioles shut out the Kansas City Royals 5-0 before 9,736 fans at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

Sandy Alomar doubled home 3 runs with 2 out to climax a 4-run 8th inning for the Chicago White Sox as they beat the Cleveland Indians 7-4 before 7,328 fans at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.

Don Mincher's solo home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning gave the Seattle Pilots a 6-5 win over the Washington Senators before 14,363 fans at Sick's Stadium in Seattle. Frank Howard hit 2 homers for the Senators.

Catfish Hunter pitched a 3-hitter, had 2 hits of his own, and drove in the game's second run with a ground out, winning the pitchers' duel over Fritz Peterson as the Oakland Athletics shut out the New York Yankees 2-0 before 11,574 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

The Houston Astros scored all their runs in the 4th inning--2 on a home run by Jim Wynn--as they beat the New York Mets 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader before 19,456 fans at Shea Stadium in New York. Larry Dierker pitched a 5-hit complete game victory, with Tommie Agee's home run in the 6th inning accounting for the New York scoring. Mr. Agee hit 2 homers to help New York win the second game 11-7. The Mets scored 6 runs in the 1st inning.

Orlando Cepeda singled home Felipe Alou with 1 out in the top of the 9th inning to break a 3-3 tie as the Atlanta Braves edged the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 before 4,105 fans at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

Ken Holtzman pitched a 9-hitter and singled and scored a run of his own as the Chicago Cubs shut out the San Francisco Giants 8-0 before 18,572 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Billy Williams and Randy Hundley hit home runs.

Chris Cannizzaro doubled home Ollie Brown and Ed Spiezio with 2 out in the top of the 9th inning to break a 2-2 tie as the San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 before 13,423 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals had runners on first and second bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Bob Johnson grounded out and Curt Flood lined out to relief pitcher Tommie Sisk to end the game. St. Louis led 2-0 after 6 innings, but Ollie Brown led off the 7th with a single and Nate Colbert followed with a home run to tie the score.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Hallelujah--Milk & Honey (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Born to Be Alive--Patrick Hernandez

#1 single in France (IFOP): In the Navy--Village People

Died on this date
Lester Flatt, 64. U.S. musician. Mr. Flatt, a bluegrass guitarist and mandolinist, was known for his partnership with banjoist Earl Scruggs. Their best-known song was probably The Ballad of Jed Clampett--the theme from the television comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies, in which the duo occasionally appeared--which reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart late in 1962 and #44 on the Hot 100 pop chart.

Protest
A South African court found 11 black students guilty of organizing protests that erupted into riots in Soweto in 1976 and 1977; most received suspended sentences.

Disasters
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported that the Three Mile Island accident occurred because a minor malfunction was misdiagnosed by plant operators, who were unable to monitor exactly what was happening inside the reactor's core, thus compounding the initial breakdown.

An offshore oil-drilling rig collapsed in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston, Texas. 24 crewmen were rescued; 8 others were missing and presumed dead.

Hockey
WHA
Avco World Trophy
Finals
Winnipeg 3 @ Edmonton 1 (Winnipeg led best-of-seven series 1-0)

25 years ago
1984

Baseball
The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels 8-2 to improve their record to 26 wins and 4 losses, the best 30-game start in major league history. The old record was 25-5 by the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

20 years ago
1989

Hockey
The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 to advance to the Stanley Cup finals, winning the Prince of Wales Conference finals 4 games to 2.

Baseball
The Detroit Tigers, with the worst record in baseball, suffered a humiliating 3-1 loss in Toledo to their AAA farm team, the Toledo Mud Hens. Mud Hens' manager John Wockenfuss, a 40-year-old former Tigers' catcher, who had never pitched in the major leagues, was the winning pitcher.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Ben Taylor, 71. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Taylor was a first baseman with the St. Louis Browns (1951); Detroit Tigers (1952); and Milwaukee Braves (1955), batting .231 with 3 home runs and 6 runs batted in in 52 games. He played 1,382 games in 13 seasons in the minor leagues from 1944-1957.

Scandal
Democratic Party fund-raiser Johnny Chung testified before the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee. He said that a Chinese general, Ji Shengde, who ran China's military intelligence agency, had sent him $300,000 in 1996 after asking him to give it to the campaign to re-elect President Bill Clinton. Mr. Chung testified that he had not given any of the money to the Democrats (contributions to U.S. campaigns by foreign nationals is illegal) and had, in fact, used it for personal and business expenses.

Energy
Chevron Canada announced the discovery of one of Canada's largest natural gas deposits, near Fort Liard, Northwest Territories.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Pittsburgh 4 Toronto 3 (Pittsburgh led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Baseball
Carl Everett batted in 5 runs and Jeff Bagwell and Ken Caminiti drove in 4 each as the Houston Astros pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates 19-8 before 18,450 fans at the Astrodome. Pirates' backup catcher Keith Osik went in to pitch in the 8th inning and gave up 4 runs.

Todd Helton drove in 4 runs with a pair of home runs to help the Colorado Rockies beat the New York Mets 8-5 before 40,032 fans at Coors Field in Denver. The winning pitcher was Bobby M. Jones; the loser was Bobby J. Jones. It was the first time in 100 years that pitchers with the same first and last names had started against each other in a major league game.

Luis Gonzalez hit a solo home run with 2 out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 4-3 win over the Montreal Expos before 28,103 fans at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix.

Andruw Jones singled home Chipper Jones with none out in the top of the 12th inning to break an 8-8 tie as the Atlanta Braves edged the San Francisco Giants 9-8 before 18,917 fans at 3Com Park at Candlestick Point in San Francisco. Pascual Matos made his major league debut with the Braves, striking out to lead off the 11th as a pinch hitter.