May 2, 2009

790 years ago
1219

Died on this date
Leo I, 68 or 69. Lord of Armenian Cilicia, 1187-1198; King of Armenian Cilicia, 1198/1199-1219. Leo "the Magnificent" succeeded his elder brother Roupen III as Lord of Armenian Cilicia, before becoming Cilicia's first Armenian king, ending Cilicia's connection to the Byzantine Empire and beginning an era of ecclesiastical cooperation with the West. He presided over an era of increased commerce, and successfully concluded a war against rivals for the throne. Leo I died of an illness and was succeeded on the throne by his wife Isabella I.

490 years ago
1519

Died on this date
Leonardo da Vinci, 67. Italian polymath. Leonardo was an artist, scientist, and inventor, and one of the most brilliant people in history, exemplifying the "Renaissance Man," with achievements too numerous to be mentioned here. He died 17 days after his 67th birthday, reportedly of a recurrent stroke.

450 years ago
1559

Religion
John Knox returned to Scotland from 10 years of exile to become the leader of the nascent Scottish Reformation.

280 years ago
1729

Born on this date
Catherine II. Czarina of Russia, 1762-1796. Catherine the Great , born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, married the future Czar Peter III in 1745, and became czarina consort when he acceded to the throne in January 1762. Six months later, she overthrew her husband in a coup, and he was assassinated several days later. Czarina Catherine acquired her nickname by presiding over an era regarded as the Golden Age of Russia. She died of a stroke on November 17, 1796 at the age of 67, and was succeeded on the throne by her son Paul I, despite her efforts to exclude him from the succession.

190 years ago
1819

Died on this date
Mary Moser, 74. U.K. artist. Miss Moser was known for her portraits and paintings of flowers, and was one of the most celebrated British female artists of the 18th century. She was one of two female founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768.

180 years ago
1829

Australiana
After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger declared the Swan River Colony.

150 years ago
1859

Born on this date
Jerome K. Jerome. U.K. author. Mr. Jerome was known for his humourous writings, especially his travelogue Three Men in a Boat (1889). He died on June 14, 1927 at the age of 68, two weeks after suffering a stroke and cerebral hemorrhage.

140 years ago
1869

Popular culture
The Folies Bergère opened in Paris as the Folies Trévise, with light entertainment including operettas, comic opera, popular songs, and gymnastics.

130 years ago
1879

Politics and government
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party was founded in Madrid by Pablo Iglesias.

120 years ago
1889

Diplomacy
Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II signed a treaty of amity with Italy, giving Italy control over Eritrea.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Teddy Stauffer. Swiss-born German musician. Mr. Stauffer was a jazz violinist and saxophonist who became known as Germany's "swing-king" in the 1930s as the leader of the Original Teddies-Band. His fondness for swing music ran afoul of the Nazi authorities, and he fled Germany in 1941, leaving the band in the hands of others. Mr. Stauffer died in Acapulco on August 27, 1991 at the age of 82.

80 years ago
1929

Died on this date
Segundo de Chomَn y Ruiz, 57. Spanish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. Mr. Chomَn wrote, directed, and phtographed numerous short films in France and then in Italy in the first two decades of the 20th century, using camera tricks and optical illusions that invited comparison to the French film pioneer Georges Méliès.

Charalambos Tseroulis, 49. Greek military officer and politician. Lieutenant General Tseroulis served in the Balkan Wars and subsequent conflicts. He was Minister for Military Affairs in the dictatorial government of Prime Minister and President Theodoros Pangalos from April 21, 1926 until the regime was overthrown on August 22, 1926. Lt. Gen. Tseroulis died 30 days before his 50th birthday.

70 years ago
1939

Movies
The National Film Act created the National Film Board of Canada as a public production agency, headed by Scottish-born filmmaker John Grierson.

Baseball
New York Yankees' first baseman Lou Gehrig asked manager Joe McCarthy to remove him from the lineup because of his poor play (4 hits in 28 at bats in the first 8 games of the season). Mr. McCarthy complied, and The Iron Horse's consecutive game playing streak ended at a then-record 2,130 games. Babe Dahlgren replaced him at first base.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and George Spelvin (Wendell Holmes), on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Blood-Soaked Wagon

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Venus--Frankie Avalon

#1 single in Italy: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes--The Platters (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Die Gitarre und das Meer--Freddy Quinn (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I/I Need Your Love Tonight--Elvis Presley

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Come Softly to Me--The Fleetwoods (4th week at #1)
2 (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I--Elvis Presley
3 Pink Shoe Laces--Dodie Stevens
4 Venus--Frankie Avalon
5 The Happy Organ--Dave "Baby" Cortez
6 Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)--The Impalas
7 Since I Don't Have You--The Skyliners
8 I Need Your Love Tonight--Elvis Presley
9 Turn Me Loose--Fabian
10 Guitar Boogie Shuffle--The Virtues

Singles entering the chart were I Can't Get You Out of My Heart by Al Martino (#83); So Close by Brook Benton (#84); Personality by Lloyd Price (#86); Gidget by Jimmy Darren (#88); You're So Fine by the Falcons (#91); Goodnight Irene by Billy Williams (#92); Crossfire by Johnny and the Hurricanes (#94); Carefree Wanderer by Bill Parsons (#96); When I'm Not with You by Conway Twitty (#98); and Lights Out by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#100).

Horse racing
Tomy Lee, with Bill Shoemaker up, won the 85th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:02 1/5, a nose ahead of Sword Dancer, with First Landing third in the 17-horse field.



Soccer
English FA Cup
Final @ Wembley Stadium, London
Nottingham Forest 2 Luton Town 1





40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Hair--The Cowsills (2nd week at #1)
2 Sweet Cherry Wine--Tommy James and the Shondells
3 Get Back/Don't Let Me Down--The Beatles with Billy Preston
4 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
5 Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show--Neil Diamond
6 What Can the Matter Be--The Poppy Family
7 Morning Girl--Neon Philharmonic
8 First of May--The Bee Gees
9 The Boxer--Simon & Garfunkel
10 Playgirl--Thee Prophets

Singles entering the chart were Day is Done by Peter, Paul and Mary (#22); Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins Singers (#24); Heather Honey by Tommy Roe (#26); Happy Heart by Andy Williams (#27); The Composer by Diana Ross and the Supremes (#28); Where's the Playground Susie by Glen Campbell (#29); and It's Only Love by B.J. Thomas (#30).

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Get Back--The Beatles with Billy Preston
2 Hair--The Cowsills
3 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
4 Galveston--Glen Campbell
5 Long Green--The Fireballs
6 The Letter--The Arbors
7 Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'--Crazy Elephant
8 The Boxer--Simon & Garfunkel
9 Gitarzan--Ray Stevens
10 Mendocino--Sir Douglas Quintet

The Boxer, backed with Baby Driver, was the only Simon and Garfunkel record released in 1969.

Died on this date
Franz von Papen, 89. German politician. Mr. Papen was Chancellor of Germany from June 1-December 2, 1932 and Vice Chancellor under Adolf Hitler from 1933-1934. On June 17, 1934, he delivered a speech at the University of Marburg in which he called for the restoration of some freedoms, demanded an end for calls for a "second revolution," and called for an end to SA violence in the streets. Mr. Papen left the cabinet after the Night of the Long Knives (June 30-July 2, 1934), in which many of his colleagues were murdered. Mr. Papen accepted the post of Ambassador to Austria. He served in this position until February 1938, then as Ambassador to Turkey from 1939-1944. He was acquitted at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, as it was held that he was guilty only of "political immoralities."

War
U.S. Command in Vietnam reported no significant enemy shellings, and issued the shortest casualty list in nearly four months, with 163 Americans killed the previous week. Enemy losses remained high, with an estimated 3,662 killed, compared to 3,449 the week before. The drop in American casualties was attributed to a slackening of the enemy offensive as B-52 bombers carried out some of the heaviest raids of the war, hitting enemy positions near the Cambodian border and around Saigon.

Academia
The United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare told Antioch College that it could operate an all-Negro black studies section as long as non-blacks were not excluded for reasons of race, colour, or national origin. However, white students could be excluded on the ground that their background was not "relevant" to the course.

Disasters
27 people were poisoned, 6 fatally, at a meal following a Buddhist funeral near Buenos Aires.

Basketball
ABA
Finals
Indiana 150 @ Oakland 122 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Roger Brown scored 39 points, Bob Netolicky scored 36, and Freddie Lewis added 35 for the Pacers as they beat the Oaks before 4,171 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena. Warren Jabali led the Oaks with 31 points. Indiana led 33-32 after the 1st quarter, but outscored Oakland 40-18 in the 2nd quarter to take a 73-50 halftime lead.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Bright Eyes--Art Garfunkel (4th week at #1)

World events
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, on the 31st anniversary of Israel's independence, affirmed his government's stance that Israel would make no further withdrawals from occupied Arab territory in exchange for an overall Middle East peace settlement.

War
China reported that losses during their four-week was against Vietnam included 20,000 Chinese and 50,000 Vietnamese killed or wounded. U.S. estimates set Chinese casualties as much higher.

25 years ago
1984

Died on this date
Bob Clampett, 70. U.S. animator. Mr. Clampett worked for Warner Brothers studios on their Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from 1931-1946 before moving into television with the series Time for Beany (1949-1955) and Beany and Cecil (1962-1967). He died of a heart attack six days before his 71st birthday.

Jack Barry, 66. U.S. television game show host and producer. Born John Barasch, Mr. Barry co-produced the game shows Twenty-One and Tic-Tac-Dough in the late 1950s. When it was revealed in 1958 that the outcome of Twenty-One was fixed, Mr. Barry's career was ruined for several years. He eventually made a comeback in the 1970s, hosting the game show The Joker's Wild, which ran on CBS from 1972-1975 and in syndication beginning in 1977. Mr. Barry had just completed another season as the show's host when he suffered a fatal heart attack while jogging.

World events
The day after Syrian forces had seized three Israeli officials who had crossed Syrian lines in northern Lebanon, Isreali Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir warned Syria that Israel would "regard with great severity any Syrian attempt to make false accusations to them." The officials, members of Israel's informal embassy in Lebanon, were being accused by Syria of being saboteurs.

Protest
Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, a nuclear physicist who had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975, began a hunger strike to publicize his demand for medical treatment for his wife, Dr. Yelena Bonner. Both suffered from heart ailments, but objected to receiving medical treatment in Gorky, where Dr. Sakharov was confined.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Jesse Helms (Republican--North Carolina) wrote to President Ronald Reagan, demanding that Thomas Pickering be dismissed as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. Sen. Helms asserted that Mr. Picikering had become involved in El Salvador's presidential election on behalf of Christian Democratic party candidate Jose Napoleon Duarte, which Sen. Helms called "an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation."

Disasters
Indian officials reported that 911 people had died and 20,780 had been reported ill in a dysentery epidemic in West Bengal caused by contaminated drinking water.

20 years ago
1989

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Square Dance

World events
Hungary began dismantling its 150-mile-long border fence with Austria, which allowed a number of East Germans to defect. The fence had been in place since 1969.

Environment
Representatives of 80 nations meeting in Helsinki agreed by consensus to support a ban on production of chemicals endangering the ozone layer, calling for chlorofluorocarbons to be phased out by no later than 2000.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference Finals
Chicago 0 @ Calgary 3 (Calgary led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Mike Vernon posted the shutout in goal for the Flames as they blanked the Blackhawks at Olympic Saddledome.

10 years ago
1999

War
Three American soldiers who had been captured on March 31 by Serbian forces were released, one day after Rev. Jesse Jackson had met with Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Politics and government
Mireya Elisa Moscoso, widow of former Panamanian President Arnulfo Arias, became the first woman to be elected President of Panama when she won 45% of the vote in a three-way contest. She had led her husband's party since 1991.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Semi-Finals
Toronto 1 Philadelphia 0 (Toronto won best-of-seven series 4-2)
St. Louis 5 Phoenix 3

Football
NFL
John Elway, who led the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl victories in his last two seasons, announced his retirement from professional football after 16 seasons, all with Denver. He was the National Football League's winningest starting quarterback, and at the time of his retirement ranked behind only Dan Marino in career passing yards and completions, and was third in touchdown passes.