May 6, 2009

350 years ago
1659

Politics and government
A faction of the British Army removed Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalled the Rump Parliament.

150 years ago
1859

Died on this date
Alexander von Humboldt, 89. German geographer and explorer. Mr. Humboldt was a polymath whose work laid the foundations for biogeography and modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring. He explored the Americas from 1799-1804, with his observations and descriptions being published in large volumes over a period of 21 years.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Junnosuke Inoue. Japanese banker and politician. Mr. Inoue was head of the Yokohama Specie Bank from 1913-1919; Governor of the Bank of Japan from 1919-1923 and 1927-1928, and served as Japan's Minister of Finance from 1923-1924 and 1929-1931. He died at the age of 62 on February 9, 1932 when he and Dan Takuma, Director-General of Mitsui Holding Company, were assassinated by ultranationalist extremists in the League of Blood Incident.

125 years ago
1884

Baseball
Larry McKeon pitched a no-hitter for the Indianapolis Blues against the Cincinnati Reds in an American Association game at League Park in Cincinnati that was called after 6 innings with the score tied 0-0.

120 years ago
1889

Franciana
The Exposition Universelle opened in Paris. The Eiffel Tower, which served as the entry gate to the World's Fair, was officially dedicated.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
L. Frank Baum, 62. U.S. author. Lyman Frank Baum wrote 55 novels, 83 short stories, and over 200 poems, but was primarily known for 14 novels in the Oz series, beginning with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). He died of a stroke, nine days before his 63rd birthday.

75 years ago
1934

Baseball
Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell and Bucky Walters hit four consecutive triples for the Boston Red Sox en route to a 14-4 win over the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park in Boston.

70 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Ted Rogers, Sr., 38. Canadian engineer and radio executive. Mr. Rogers, a native of Toronto, bought the patent rights for and improved Frederick McCullough's alternating current vacuum tubes, and in 1925 introduced the Rogers Batteryless Radio, the first radio receiver in the world to operate from household current. The same year, he founded the company Standard Radio Manufacturing (later Rogers Vacuum Tube Company), and in 1927 he founded Toronto radio station CFRB (Canada’s First Rogers Batteryless). Mr. Rogers died in Toronto of complications from a hemorrhage. His son Ted, Jr. continued his father's work and founded the communications conglomerate Rogers Communications in 1967.

Economics and finance
Charles Dunning established the Central Mortgage Bank (now known as Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation), owned by the Government of Canada and run by the Bank of Canada. Money was to be loaned at 3% to banks, on condition they lower mortgage rates to 5%.

Horse racing
Johnstown, with James Stout up, won the 65th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:03 2/5, 8 lengths ahead of Challedon, with Heather Broom third in the eight-horse field.



60 years ago
1949

On television tonight
Your Show Time, hosted and narrated by Arthur Shields, on NBC
Tonight's episode: An Old, Old Story, starring Eric Blore and Selena Royle

Died on this date
Maurice Maeterlinck, 86. Belgian-born French poet and playwright. Mr. Maeterlinck was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in Literature "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations." The main themes in Mr. Maeterlinck's work are death and the meaning of life. His biggest success was the play The Blue Bird (1908).

Politics and government
The U.S. State Department endorsed greater independence for Japan in trade, cultural relations, and technical and scientific exchanges.

Technology
The U.K. Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, performed its first operation when it calculated a table of square numbers and a list of prime numbers.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate Executive Expenditures Committee passed a measure creating a General Services Agency to centralize federal purchasing, as recommended by the Hoover Commission.

Labour
Leaders of the 230,000-member Communications Workers of America announced plans to affiliate with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

50 years ago
1959

Died on this date
Maria Dulęba, 77. Polish actress. Miss Dulęba began her stage career in 1902, and appeared in numerous films, most of them during the silent era in the 1910s and '20s.

Diplomacy
The People's Republic of China assured India that "a democratic, prosperous Tibetan Autonomous Region" would not be "any sort of menace to...India."

Politics and government
South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd urged the annexation of the British protectorates of Bechuanaland and Swaziland as well as the Basutoland enclave.

Education
Southern School reported that 802 school districts in the southern United States had been racially integrated and 2,100 kept segregated since the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Brown v Board of Education decision.

Labour
French railroad workers belonging to the Communist-led Confederation of Labour went on strike for 24 hours.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Get Back/Don't Let Me Down-- The Beatles with Billy Preston

War
Indonesia confirmed that it had sent 500 paratroopers to quell an uprising by tribesmen in western New Guinea (West Irian).

United States Secretary of the Navy John Chafee, asserting that "they have suffered enough," overruled a Navy court of inquiry and announced that none of the men involved in the Pueblo incident would be disciplined. The Pueblo had been seized by North Korea in January 1968, and the crew were released on December 23, 1968. Starting on January 2, 1969 in San Diego, Commander Lloyd Bucher and the 81 other survivors of the ship gave 80 days of testimony. The court of inquiry had recommended court martial for Cdr. Bucher on charges of failing to defend his ship, and for Lieutenant Stephen Harris, the ship’s chief intelligence officer, for failure to destroy secret material. The court of inquiry had also called for a letter of admonition for Lt. Edward Murphy, the ship’s chief executive officer, and letters of reprimand for Rear Admiral Frank Johnson, then-commander of naval forces in Japan, and Captain Everett Gladding, then-director of naval security in the Pacific. Mr. Chafee said "every feasible effort is being made to correct any Navy deficiencies which may have contributed to the Pueblo’s seizure." He purposely left unanswered the question of innocence or guilt of any of the men, asserting that "the consequences must in fairness be borne by all."

Defense
Gordon W. Rule, a senior procurement official with the U.S. Navy, charged that there was serious waste in defense spending because of close relationships between industry and the military services and high-ranking defense officials.

Politics and government
Howard Lee was elected mayor of Chapel Hill, becoming the first Negro to be elected mayor of a predominantly white North Carolina city.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Chiquitita--ABBA

#1 single in Switzerland: One Way Ticket--Eruption (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
Austrian Premier Bruno Kreisky was returned to office after his Socialist Party won a narrow majority in parliament after a setback to his government caused by the April 1979 defeat of the Danube nuclear plant referendum.

Protest
Over 65,000 antinuclear protesters marched on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., the largest antinuclear demonstration ever held. Speakers included actress Jane Fonda; physicist Dr. John Gofman; consumer advocate Ralph Nader; and California Governor Jerry Brown.

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Relax--Frankie Goes to Hollywood (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Big in Japan--Alphaville (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
Voting took place in Panama's first presidential election in 16 years. The leading contenders were Nicolas Ardito Barletta, a former vice president of the World Bank, and former President Arnulfo Arias Madrid, 83, whose three presidencies had all been overthrown by coups. Mr. Barletta was viewed as the candidate representing the nation's armed forces. Results weren't announced until May 16.

Jose Napoleon Duarte, the candidate of the Christian Democratic Party and a political moderate, was elected President of El Salvador, defeating Roberto d'Aubuisson, the candidate of the right-wing National Republican Alliance (Arena) in a runoff election. Mr. d'Aubuisson had been implicated in killings by death squads, an accusation he denied.

Religion
Pope John Paul II continued his visit to South Korea, where he canonized 103 Korean Roman Catholic martyrs in Seoul.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Like a Prayer--Madonna (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Like a Prayer--Madonna (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Eternal Flame--Bangles (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Megamix--Boney M. (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Eternal Flame--Bangles (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Like a Prayer--Madonna (3rd week at #1)
2 I'll Be There for You--Bon Jovi
3 Real Love--Jody Watley
4 Funky Cold Medina--Tone Loc
5 Forever Your Girl--Paula Abdul
6 Second Chance--Thirty Eight Special
7 After All--Cher and Peter Cetera
8 Soldier of Love--Donny Osmond
9 Room to Move--Animotion
10 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals

Singles entering the chart were Satisfied by Richard Marx (#39); I Drove All Night by Cyndi Lauper (#60); Good Thing by Fine Young Cannibals (#69); Be with You by the Bangles (#73); If You Don't Know Me by Now by Simply Red (#81); I Like by Guy (#82); Room on Fire by Stevie Nicks (#85); and Anything Can Happen by Was (Not Was) (#89). Good Thing and its B-side, Social Security, were from the movie Tin Men (1987).

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Like a Prayer--Madonna (3rd week at #1)
2 I'll Be There for You--Bon Jovi
3 Funky Cold Medina--Tone Loc
4 Heaven Help Me--Deon Estus (with George Michael)
5 Real Love--Jody Watley
6 Forever Your Girl--Paula Abdul
7 Second Chance--Thirty Eight Special
8 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals
9 The Look--Roxette
10 Cult of Personality--Living Colour

Singles entering the chart were Satisfied by Richard Marx (#50); I Drove All Night by Cyndi Lauper (#55); Be with You by the Bangles (#65); Good Thing by Fine Young Cannibals (#70); Room on Fire by Stevie Nicks (#75); Who Do You Give Your Love To? by Michael Morales (#77); If You Don't Know Me by Now by Simply Red (#80); We Can Last Forever by Chicago (#82); and Crazy About Her by Rod Stewart (#87).

Died on this date
Earl "Red" Blaik, 92. U.S. football coach. "Colonel" Blaik was head coach at Dartmouth College (1934-1940) and United States Military Academy (1941-1958), compiling a record of 166-48-14. His Army teams won three straight national championships from 1944-1946. Assistant coaches who served under him and who later became head coaches included Vince Lombardi, Sid Gillman, and Bobby Dobbs. Mr. Blaik was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1964.

Horse racing
Sunday Silence, with Pat Valenzuela aboard, won the 115th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:05. Easy Goer, the favourite, placed second, with Awe Inspiring third.



Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference Finals
Calgary 5 @ Chicago 2 (Calgary led best-of-seven series 2-1)

10 years ago
1999

War
The foreign ministers of the leading industrialized nations, including Russia, reached an agreement on principles for a solution in the rebellious Yugoslavian province of Kosovo. Russia agreed that there should be an international presence in Kosovo after Serb forces pulled out.

Politics and government
Scotland elected its own separate parliament for the first time in three centuries.

Scandal
Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Wen Ho Lee, through his lawyer, denied allegations that he had allowed China to have access to information about U.S. nuclear weapons.