June 4, 2009

970 years ago
1039

Died on this date
Conrad II, 49 (?). Holy Roman Emperor, 1027-1039. Conrad II, the son of a nobleman, was elected to succeed Henry II as Holy Roman Emperor when the latter died childless. Conrad II founded the Salian dynasty of emperors, building the Roman Catholic Church as a centre of imperial power, and presiding over an era of relative peace. He died of gout, and was succeeded by his son Henry III.

150 years ago
1859

War
The French army, under Emperor Napoleon III, defeated the Austrian army, led by Feldmarschall Ferenc Gyulay, in the Battle of Magenta in Italy.

120 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Beno Gutenberg. German born U.S. seismologist. Dr. Gutenberg, who emigrated to the United States in 1930, was a colleague of Charles Richter and helped him develop the Richter scale for measuring the magnitude of earthquakes. Dr. Richter died on January 25, 1960 at the age of 70.

90 years ago
1919

Abominations
The United States Congress, by joint resolution, approved the women's suffrage amendment and sent it to the states for ratification. The House of Representatives had voted 304-89 and the Senate 56-25 in favour of the amendment.

Labour
Winnipeg Mayor Charles Gray mobilized protest against the Winnipeg General Strike, while the Central Strike Committee again suspended deliveries of milk, bread, and ice.

80 years ago
1929

Died on this date
Harry Frazee, 48. U.S. theatrical producer and baseball executive. Mr. Frazee bought the Boston Red Sox shortly after their 1916 World Series victory, and owned them until 1923. The Red Sox won the World Series championships in 1918, but Mr. Frazee sold star pitcher and outfielder Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in January 1920, and reportedly used the proceeds to finance the musical play No, No, Nanette, while the Red Sox didn't win another World Series until 2004. Mr. Frazee died of kidney disease, 25 days before his 49th birthday.

70 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Tommy Ladnier, 39. U.S. musician. Mr. Ladnier was a jazz trumpeter in the 1920s and '30s who performed with such artists as Lovie Austin, King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, and Noble Sissle. He died of a heart attack, a week after his 39th birthday.

World events
The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, was denied permission to land in Florida after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later died in Nazi concentration camps.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): (I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra (4th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby
--Burl Ives
2 Again--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
--Mel Torme
--Vic Damone
--Doris Day and the Mellomen
3 "A" You're Adorable (The Alphabet Song)--Perry Como with the Fontane Sisters
--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae
4 Forever and Ever--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Perry Como
5 Cruising Down the River--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Blue Barron and his Orchestra
--Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters
6 Some Enchanted Evening--Perry Como
--Bing Crosby
7 Careless Hands--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Mel Torme
--Bing Crosby
8 Bali Ha'i--Perry Como
--Peggy Lee
9 Baby, it's Cold Outside--Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer
--Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark
10 Red Roses for a Blue Lady--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians

Singles entering the chart were the version of Careless Hands by Bing Crosby; My One and Only Highland Fling by Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark (#35); and Sicilian Tarantella by Larry Clinton and his Orchestra (#40). My One and Only Highland Fling was the B-side of Baby, it's Cold Outside.

On the radio
Tales of Fatima, starring Basil Rathbone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: One Foot in the Grave

Economics and finance
Organization for European Economic Cooperation representatives completed two days of discussions in Paris with U.S. special envoy Averell Harriman, with no agreement on U.S. demands for greater free trade among Western European nations.

Tennis
Jack Kramer defeated Bobby Riggs in London to win the world men's professional championship.

50 years ago
1959

At the movies
Sappy Bull Fighters, produced and directed by Jules White, and starring the Three Stooges, opened in theatres. It was their last short film, and the last for Joe Besser as a member of the Three Stooges.



Diplomacy
United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold urged Israel to appeal the U.A.R.'s Suez Canal blockade before the World Court and obtain a legal rather than a political solution to the dispute.

The Organization of American States voted to set up a fact-finding commission to investigate the invasion of Nicaragua by guerrillas opposed to President Luis Somoza.

Politics and government
The French National Assembly adopted permanent rules of procedure that barred Assembly votes on resolutions approving or disapproving cabinet policies.

Economics and finance
U.S. Assistant Agriculture Secretary Clarence Miller told a Senate Agriculture subcommittee that the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower opposed legislation calling for food stamps or other direct food aid for the needy.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Dizzy--Tommy Roe

Terrorism
An unidentified Lockheed Constellation dropped six homemade bombs over Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The bombs, oil drums filled with gasoline, reportedly caused fires resulting in three deaths. In Washington, Haitian Ambassador to the U.S.A. Arthur Bonhomme accused Cuba of the attack, and urged the United States to send Navy planes from Guantanamo Bay to aid Haiti.

Politics and government
Calling his critics the "new isolationists," U.S. President Richard Nixon defended his military and foreign policies in a commencement speech at the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. Mr. Nixon said it would be disastrous for the world and the United States if "America were to become a dropout," and that peace without the U.S. would be the kind that "suffocated freedom n Czechoslovakia." Several liberal Senators protested that the President had indulged in "a form of demagoguery" in his charges of "an open season on the armed forces" by his critics.

The governments of Ontario and Québec formed the permanent Commission for Ontario-Québec Co-operation.

Oddities
Armando Socarras Ramirez, a 22-year-old Cuban, stowed away in the wheel pod of a jet airliner and fled from Havana to Spain. He survived a 9-hour flight at 29,000 feet, an acute shortage of oxygen, and temperatures of 40 below zero. A companion apparently fell to his death from the wheel pod during the flight.

Disasters
A Mexican jet crashed into a mountain near Monterrey, killing all 79 aboard.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Lay Your Love on Me--Racey (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Miserarete--Judy Ongg (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Tragedy--Bee Gees

World events
A group of junior military officers and enlisted men overthrew the military regime of Ghana headed by General Frederick Akuffo, and installed air force Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings as the country's new leader.

Diplomacy
The Iranian government rejected the newly appointed U.S. ambassador, Walter Cutler. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yazdi, alleged U.S. intervention in Africa was behind Iran's rejection of Mr. Cutler, who had been ambassador to Zaire when that country was invaded by rebels in 1978. The U.S. administration of President Jimmy Carter refused to withdraw Mr. Cutler's name.

Scandal
John Vorster resigned as President of South Africa when a report was released that accused him of covering up irregularities in the spending of government money on secret propaganda projects. The report said that the South African government had lent $11.5 million to American publisher John McGoff to establish a pro-South African voice in the U.S. media and more than $6 million was lost in an attempt to buy an American newspaper. The report specifically claimed that Mr. Voster knew of the extent of misspending in the program. He became Prime Minister of South Africa in 1966 and President in September 1978.

Politics and government
In Canada, the Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Joe Clark was sworn into office in Ottawa, interrupting perpetual Liberal rule after 16 years.

Labour
12,000 International Nickel Company workers in Sudbury, Ontario ended a 12-month strike, accepting a three-year contract.

Disasters
The roof of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, home of the National Basketball Association's Kansas City Kings, collapsed in high winds. The roof was hung from three massive metal trusses. The arena was empty and there were no injuries.

25 years ago
1984

Diplomacy
Addressing the Irish Parliament in Dublin, U.S. President Ronald Reagan indicated his desire to discuss the renunciation of force with the U.S.S.R.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): If You Don't Know Me by Now--Simply Red

#1 single in Switzerland: The Look--Roxette (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Dik Browne, 71. U.S. cartoonist. Mr. Browne drew, and Mort Walker wrote, the comic strip Hi and Lois (1954-1988), and wrote and drew the comic strip Hägar the Horrible (1973-1988). Both strips continued after Mr. Browne's retirement in 1988. Mr. Browne won several awards, and died of cancer.

Space
A Titan 4, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida became the largest unmanned United States rocket ever to go into space. Including the payload, the rocket was 204 feet long. The rocket's payload was not announced, but some experts said it was a satellite designed to warn of nuclear attack. The rocket was the first of a fleet of Titan 4's designed to lift military payloads.

Protest
Several hundred people were killed in clashes between Chinese army troops and pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The Chinese Army's crushing of student protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing concluded with approximately 5,000 dead, 10,000 injured, and hundreds of students and workers arrested. The massacre was one of the first world events to demonstrate the usefulness of fax machines, as students were able to use the technology to send reports around the world of the Chinese government's actions. More recent accounts offer a different perspective as to what really happened.

Politics and government
The round of Poland's first free elections in more than 40 years indicated humiliating rejection of the ruling Communists. The elections concluded with runoffs on June 18.

Shiite leaders chose President Ali Khameini to succeed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader of Iran. U.S. President George Bush said that he hoped Iran would cease being a "terrorist state" and assume a "responsible role in the world community."

Disasters
Sri Lankan officials said that floods and landslides caused by heavy rains had killed 171 people in central Sri Lanka.

Baseball
The Toronto Blue Jays, trailing the Boston Red Sox 10-0 after 6 innings, rallied to win 13-11 in 12 innings for their 12th consecutive victory at Fenway Park in Boston, before 33,760 fans. Boston pinch hitter Marty Barrett fouled off 13 or 14 pitches in one plate appearance, then grounded out, and seriously injured his knee when he landed awkwardly on first base. Xavier Hernandez, the second of five Toronto pitchers, allowed 8 hits and 5 runs--2 earned--with 3 bases on balls and 2 strikeouts in his first major league game.

The New York Yankees scored 6 runs in the 3rd inning and 4 in the 4th to take a 10-0 lead, and held on to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 12-9 before 52,179 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee.

Winning pitcher Mike Scott drove in Milt Ramirez with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Houston Astros a 7-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers before 30,311 fans at the Astrodome. The teams had played a 7-hour 14-minute 22-inning game the night before. In this game, Mike Scioscia's grand slam was the big blow of a 5-run inning for Los Angeles in the top of the 1st. The scored a run in the 3rd to take a 6-0 lead, but Louie Meadows hit a grand slam as part of a 5-run 5th inning for Houston. The Astros tied the game when Craig Biggio hit a solo home run with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th.

10 years ago
1999

Economics and finance
Canada and the United States signed a trade deal allowing U.S. magazines issuing split-run Canadian editions to sell a restricted amount of advertising to Canadian advertisers; the agreement held off a trade war.

Basketball
NBA
Western Conference Finals
San Antonio 85 @ Portland 63 (San Antonio led best-of-seven series 3-0)