June 5, 2009

190 years ago
1819

Died on this date
Bodawpaya, 74. King of Burma, 1782-1819. Bodawpaya, born Maung Shwe Waing, became king of the Konbaung dynasty after deposing his nephew Phaungkaza Maung Maung, son of his oldest brother Naungdawgyi. Bodawpaya added Arakan to his territory and successfully invaded Assam, but was unsuccessful in attempts to conquer Siam. He fathered 62 sons and 58 daughters by about 200 consorts. Bodawpaya claimed to be the next Buddha or Maitreya, but the claim was rejected by the Sangha (leaders of the Buddhist community). He was succeeded on the throne by his grandson Bagyidaw.

160 years ago
1849

Politics and government
Denmark became a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.

130 years ago
1879

Politics and government
Premier Sir Oliver Mowat led his governing Liberal Party to a third consecutive majority of seats in the Provincial Parliament in the Ontario Provincial election. The Liberals won 57 of 88 seats, an increase of 7 from their total in the most recent election in 1875. The Conservatives, led by W.R. Meredith, won 29 seats; 2 Conservative independent candidates were elected.

125 years ago
1884

Politics and government
Civil War hero Gen. William T. Sherman refused the Republican nomination for President of the United States with the words, “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.”

Baseball
In the American Association, Frank Mountain pitched a no-hitter and hit a home run as the Columbus Buckeyes blanked the Washington Nationals 12-0 at Athletic Park in Washington.

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Otis Barton. U.S. diver and inventor. Mr. Barton was a deep-sea diver who invented the bathysphere and the benthoscope. He died on April 15, 1992 at the age of 92.

Died on this date
Antonio Luna, 32. Filipino military officer. General Luna became Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on January 22, 1899, shortly before the beginning of hostilities in the Philippine–American War. He was assassinated by rebellious officers.

100 years ago
1909

Aviation
40,000 people were in attendance to witness the beginning of a balloon race, the first event ever held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The balloon Universal City won the competition, landing 382 miles away, in Alabama, after spending more than a day aloft.

75 years ago
1934

Died on this date
William Holman, 62. U.K.-born Australian politician. Mr. Holman represented Grenfell (1898-1904) and Cootamundra (1904-1920) in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, serving as Attorney General (1910-1914) and Premier (1913-1920). He was a member of the Labour Party until 1916, when he was expelled because of his support for overseas conscription of Australian forces. Mr. Holman became the leader of the N.S.W. Nationalist Party, which won a large majority in the 1917 state election, but was overwhelmingly defeated in the 1920 election, in which Mr. Holman lost his seat. He was with the United Australia Party when he was elected to the Australian Parliament in 1931, representing the riding of Martin, but was in poor health.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
Pat Novak For Hire, starring Jack Webb, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Agnes Bolton

Died on this date
J. Ernest Gendreau, 69. Canadian physician. Dr. Gendreau founded the Radium Institute of Cancer Research in Montreal.

Transportation
Canada and the United States concluded a commercial aviation agreement giving Canadian airlines new routes through the United States in return for continued American use of the Gander, Newfoundland airfield for transatlantic flights.

Baseball
Commissioner Happy Chandler lifted the suspension of 18 major league players who had jumped to the Mexican League beginning in 1946.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such As I/I Need Your Love Tonight--Elvis Presley (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
The first government of Singapore was sworn in, led by Prime Minister Lee Yuan Kew.

Arguing that he could not leave office during current East-West negotiations in Geneva on Germany's future, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer told a television audience that he would not relinquish the chancellorship.

Crime
A U.S. federal grand jury in Miami indicted seven people on charges of conspiring to smuggle arms from Miami to the Dominican Republic.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Get Back--The Beatles with Billy Preston

Space
The United States launched OGO-6, a multi-science satellite with 24 of its 25 experiments working as part of the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory series.

Society
A group of scholars appointed by the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence reported that Americans had become a "rather bloody-minded people in both action and reaction."

30 years ago
1979

Religion
Pope John Paul II appealed to Poland’s Communist regime to recognize "fundamental human rights and religious liberty," and urged Church leaders to seek normalization of relations with the government.

Law
The United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that a state could hire veterans in preference to non-veterans without discriminating against women. The court also acted to reaffirm the ban against the use of illegally obtained evidence in trials.

Disasters
The Canadian Great Lakes freighter Cartiercliffe Hall, hauling corn from Minnesota to Quebec, caught fire and burned on Lake Superior; 6 crew members were killed, and 19 survivors were rescued by crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City.

25 years ago
1984

War
Saudi Arabia, using American-made F-15 jets, shot down two Iranian jet fighters near the Saudi port of Jubail. The official Saudi account said that the Iranian fighters had ignored a warning to turn back.

Politics and government
In the contest for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States, former Vice-President Walter Mondale won the primaries in New Jersey and West Virginia; his closest competitor, U.S. Senator Gary Hart of Colorado, won primaries in California, New Mexico, and South Dakota.

Football
CFL pre-season:
British Columbia (1-0) 55 @ Calgary (0-1) 17
Hamilton (1-0) 13 @ Toronto (1-0) 6

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Now You're in Heaven--Julian Lennon

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mas y mas--La Union

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Forever Your Girl--Paula Abdul (2nd week at #1)
2 Rock On--Michael Damian
3 Everlasting Love--Howard Jones
4 Real Love--Jody Watley
5 Pop Singer--John Mellencamp
6 After All--Cher and Peter Cetera
7 Like a Prayer--Madonna
8 Soldier of Love--Donny Osmond
9 I Won't Back Down--Tom Petty
10 Satisfied--Richard Marx

Singles entering the chart were So Alive by Love and Rockets (#75); Lay Your Hands on Me by Bon Jovi (#77); Crazy About Her by Rod Stewart (#79); What You Don't Know by Expose (#86); Waiting Game by Swing Out Sister (#87); Praying to A New God by Wang Chung (#89); Brother of Mine by Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (#93); Pop Song '89 by R.E.M. (#97); and Do You Believe by One 2 One (#99).

Protest
The Tank Man halted the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.



Politics and government
Results of the first round of voting in Poland's parliamentary elections showed the trade union movement Solidarity taking 70-80% of the vote.

Transportation
The Canadian government announced sweeping cuts to VIA Rail.

Economics and finance
Leading United States banks cut their prime interest rate by ½ percentage point, to 11%.

Baseball
The Baltimore Orioles selected Louisiana State University pitcher Ben McDonald with the first pick in the annual major league amateur draft.

The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 before 48,378 fans in the first game ever played at SkyDome in Toronto. Toronto first baseman Fred McGriff hit the first home run in the new stadium, connecting off winning pitcher Don August with a man on base in the 2nd inning. Jimmy Key pitched a complete game in taking the loss.

10 years ago
1999

Horse racing
Lemon Drop Kid, with José Santos up, won the 131st running of the Belmont Stakes before 85,818 fans at Belmont Park, New York in a time of 2:27.88, a head ahead of Vision and Verse. Charismatic, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finished third, 2½ lengths behind the winner.