May 7, 2009

160 years ago
1849

Disasters
Fire destroyed a large section of Toronto.

140 years ago
1869

Canadiana
New Brunswick's Provincial Seal was authorized by Royal Warrant.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Edwin Land. U.S. inventor. In 1932, Mr. Land co-founded the company that became Polaroid Corporation. He was best known for inventing a camera that processed photographs within the camera and delivered the prints within 60 seconds. Mr. Land died on March 1, 1991 at the age of 81.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Rambling Rose--Perry Como; Tony Pastor (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Cruising Down the River--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra (7th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Forever and Ever--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Perry Como
2 Cruising Down the River--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Blue Barron and his Orchestra
--Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters
3 Far Away Places--Bing Crosby
--Perry Como
4 Sunflower--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Jack Fulton
5 Again--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
--Mel Torme
--Vic Damone
6 "A" You're Adorable (The Alphabet Song)--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae
--Perry Como with the Fontane Sisters
7 So in Love--Gordon MacRae
--Dinah Shore
8 Red Roses for a Blue Lady--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
9 Careless Hands--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Mel Torme
10 Galway Bay--Bing Crosby

Singles entering the chart were Always True to You in My Fashion by Dinah Shore (#34); A Wonderful Guy by Margaret Whiting (#35); Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!, with versions by Don Reid and the Peak-a-Boos; and the Andrews Sisters (#39); and She's a Home Girl by Mel Torme (#40). She's a Home Girl was the B-side of Careless Hands.

On the radio
Tales of Fatima, starring Basil Rathbone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: Murder at the Ball Game

Radio
Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation combined efforts to break through Soviet jamming of Western broadcasts to the U.S.S.R.

War
Chinese Communists took the rail junction of Kashing, depriving the Nationalist defenders of Shanghai of land contact with the rest of China.

Dutch and Indonesian negotiators in Batavia agreed on a cease-fire providing for the Dutch evacuation of Jakarta and release of political prisoners. Withdrawal of Dutch troops from the Indonesian Republic was to be settled in future negotiations.

Diplomacy
The United Nations General Assembly's Political and Security Committee approved a resolution allowing member states to resume full diplomatic relations with Spain.

Politics and government
The Jordanian cabinet was revised to admit three Palestinian Arabs, including Abdil Hadi as Foreign Minister.

U.S. President Harry Truman presented the 1948 Collier's Congressional Awards for distinguished service to Senator Arthur Vandenberg (Republican--Michigan) and House of Representatives Speaker Sam Rayburn (Democrat--Texas).

Horse racing
Ponder, with Steve Brooks up, won the 75th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:04 1/5, 3 lengths ahead of Capot, with Palestinian third in the 14-horse field.



50 years ago
1959

On television tonight
The Lawless Years, starring James Gregory, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Cutie Jaffe Story



Died on this date
Samuel Hoare, 79. U.K. politician. Sir Samuel, a Conservative, was first elected to the House of Commons in 1910. He held various cabinet posts over the years, including Secretary of State for Air (1922-1929, 1940) and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1935). Sir Samuel became Foreign Secretary in June 1935, but he resigned six months later amid criticism of British acquiescence in the Italian domination of Abyssinia. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, Sir Samuel was dropped from the cabinet, but was appointed Ambassador to Spain, where he was successful in dissuading Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from joining the Axis. Sir Samuel was created Viscount Templewood in 1944, shortly thereafter resigning his diplomatic post. He remained active in the House of Lords until his death from a heart attack.

Diplomacy
In his first nationwide broadcast since becoming U.S. Secretary of State, Christian Herter said that the position he would take at the forthcoming foreign ministers conference in Geneva was "fully consonant with the policies developed over the past years" by John Foster Dulles, whom he had succeeded in the office.

Environment
The U.S. Atomic Energy General Advisory Committee cleared the agency of charges that it had suppressed significant information on fallout, but conceded that "the present state of knowledge does not permit a full evaluation of the biological effects of fallout."

Economics and finance
Indian Finance Minister Morarji Desai called on Pakistan to begin talks on a settlement of its share of the pre-partition Indian public debt.

Baseball
A record crowd of 93,103 were at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to celebrate Roy Campanella Night. After the tribute to the former Brooklyn Dodger catcher, who had been paralyzed below the neck in a 1958 car accident, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 6-2 to the New York Yankees in an exhibition game.

Russ Heman threw a no-hitter for the San Diego Padres as they shut out the Vancouver Mounties 2-0 in a Pacific Coast League game at Capilano Stadium in Vancouver. Mr. Heman Heman allowed just two base runners, with Ray Barker reaching base on a 4th-inning throwing error by Billy Moran, and Brooks Robinson drawing a base on balls in the 6th.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Get Back--The Beatles with Billy Preston (3rd week at #1)

World events
Pyotr Grigorenko, a cashiered Soviet general who was an outspoken dissident, was arrested for anti-Soviet slander in Tashkent.

Society
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio Canada banned all tobacco advertising on CBC/SRC radio and TV networks; the network had been generating millions of dollars a year from cigarette and tobacco ads, which made up 40% of their commercials.

Disasters
The London-to-Aberdeen express jumped the tracks near Morpeth, England, killing at least 6 and injuring 103.

15 were killed and 23 injured in a head-on crash of two buses near Sahival, Pakistan.

Basketball
ABA
Finals
Indiana 131 @ Oakland 135 (OT) (Oakland won best-of-seven series 4-1)

The Oaks outscored the Pacers 13-9 in overtime to win their only American Basketball Association championship, before 6,340 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena. Oakland led 95-88 after 3 quarters, but Indiana rallied to send the game into overtime. Oakland guard Warren Jabali led all scorers with 39 points, and was named the playoffs' Most Valuable Player. Freddie Lewis led the Pacers with 33 points, and Roger Brown added 31. It was the last game for the Oaks in Oakland; as a result of poor attendance, the team relocated to Washington after the season, playing as the Washington Caps in 1969-70.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Lay Your Love on Me--Racey

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Miserarete--Judy Ongg (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Sólo Pienso en Tí--Víctor Manuel (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin proposed to the Knesset that a peace treaty be signed with Lebanon, but ruled out halting retaliatory raids against Palestine Liberation Organization bases there.

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Eat It--"Weird Al" Yankovic

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Relax--Frankie Goes to Hollywood

War
A Saudi tanker leaving the Iranian oil terminal of Kharg Island was hit by an Iraqi missile, four days after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had urged "my Arab brothers to avoid chartering their ships to foreign companies that load oil at Kharg Island."

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Gary Hart (Colorado) won the Colorado caucuses in the contest for the Democratic party nomination for President of the United States in the November 1984 election.

Law
U.S. Vietnam War veterans reached an out-of-court settlement with seven chemical companies in their class-action suit related to Agent Orange, a herbicide that had been used as a defoliant in Vietnam. The suit charged that dioxin, a by-product of Agent Orange, had caused cancer as well as nerve, liver, and skin damage, and had also resulted in miscarriages and birth defects. The suit involved 15,000 veterans and members of their families, but the agreement allowed for the possibility of many more people sharing in the $180 billion made available for compensation. In the settlement, the companies made no acknowledgment of culpability. A court-approved panel was to authorize disbursement to claimants from a trust fund that was to be established immediately. The settlement, believed to be the largest in the history of product-liability law, left open the question of culpability by the United States government.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): The Look--Roxette

#1 single in Switzerland: Looking for Freedom--David Hasselhoff (2nd week at #1)

Defense
Auxiliary minesweepers HMCS Anticosti and HMCS Moresby were commissioned into the Canadian Navy at Halifax.

Politics and government
International observers, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, were in Panama were that country's presidential and legislative elections. Independent tallies showed that opposition candidate Guillermo Endara had won the presidential election in a landslide over Carlos Duque, the hand-picked candidate of dictator General Manuel Noriega. Gen. Noriega's government annulled the election before all the votes had been counted.

Canadiana
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Montreal Mayor Jean Doré were among those in attendance at the inauguration of the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference Finals
Montreal 3 @ Philadelphia 0 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Patrick Roy posted his second shutout of the series as the Canadiens blanked the Flyers at the Spectrum.

10 years ago
1999

War
A United States stealth bomber bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing 3 Chinese citizens and wounding 27 people. The incident was attributed to error resulting from use of an outdated map. U.S. and NATO apologies failed to prevent anti-American protests in China.

World events
Guinea-Bissau President João Bernardo Vieira was ousted by a military coup.

Religion
Pope John Paul II arrived in Bucharest to begin a three-day visit to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.

Scandal
A United States federal judge declared a mistrial after the jury could not agree on a verdict in the case of Julia Hiatt Steele, who had been charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements when her testimony contradicted that of Kathleen Willey in the criminal contempt of court trial of Susan McDougal, a former partner with Bill and Hillary Clinton in the Whitewater Development Company.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Pittsburgh 2 Toronto 0 (Pittsburgh led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Baseball
Carlos Lee became the first Chicago White Sox player to hit a home run in his first major league plate appearance, helping the White Sox defeat the Oakland Athletics 7-1 before 11,181 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

Hideki Irabu of the New York Yankees opposed Mac Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners in the first match up of Japanese starting pitchers in major league history. Mr. Irabu allowed 4 hits and 1 earned run in 7 innings to get the win as the Yankees won 10-1 before 38,476 fans at Yankee Stadium. Mr. Suzuki allowed 5 hits and 7 runs--4 earned--in 5 1/3 innings to take the loss.

The Cleveland Indians scored 18 runs in their final 3 innings to overcome a 9-1 deficit and defeat the Tampa Devil Rays 20-11 before 40,601 fans in the biggest comeback in the history of Cleveland's Jacobs Field. Tampa Bay first baseman Fred McGriff set a record by hitting a home run in his 34th major league park. Paul Wagner, the second of four Cleveland pitchers, allowed 5 hits and 4 runs--2 earned--with 2 bases on balls and no strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings, but was credited with the win, in the 162nd and last game of his 8-year major league career.

The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 before 54,009 fans at Dodger Stadium as rookie Bruce Aven hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in Marlins' history.

Larry Walker hit a 2-out home run in the 1st inning as the Colorado Rockies tied a National League record by scoring in 14 consecutive innings. The mark was established by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1894 and was tied by the New York Giants in 1949. The major league mark of 17 was set by the Boston Americans in 1903. Mr. Walker's solo blast was all the scoring the Rockies did, as the Philadelphia Phillies beat them 8-1 before 41,465 fans at Coors Field in Denver.