May 8, 2012

110 years ago
1902

Disasters
Mount Pelee on the island of Martinique erupted, killing 40,000 people and destroying the town of St.-Pierre.

75 years ago
1937

Horse racing
War Admiral, with Charley Kurtsinger aboard, won the 63rd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:03 1/5 seconds, 1¾ lengths ahead of Pompoon, with Reaping Reward third.



60 years ago
1952

At the movies
Without Warning!, directed by Arnold Laven, and starring Adam Williams, Meg Randall, and Edward Binns, opened in theatres.



50 years ago
1962

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Most Likely to Succeed, starring Jack Carter, Joanna Moore, and Howard Morris

Space
The first launch of an Atlas-Centaur engineering test vehicle (AC-1), from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, ended in failure when the Centaur stage ruptured and disintegrated less than a minute into the launch, taking the Atlas with it. The failure was determined to be caused by an insulation panel that ripped off the Centaur during ascent, resulting in a surge in tank pressure when the LH2 overheated.



30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K.: Ebony and Ivory--Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A.: (Billboard): Titles--Vangelis

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Titles--Vangelis (2nd week at #1)
2 Ebony and Ivory--Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
3 Don't Talk to Strangers--Rick Springfield
4 Freeze Frame/Flamethrower--J. Geils Band
5 I Love Rock 'N' Roll--Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
6 We Got the Beat--Go-Go's
7 867-5309/Jenny--Tommy Tutone
8 Key Largo--Bertie Higgins
9 I've Never Been to Me--Charlene
10 '65 Love Affair--Paul Davis

Singles entering the chart were Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me by Juice Newton (#61); Just Another Day in Paradise by Bertie Higgins (#76); Play the Game Tonight by Kansas (#80); Forget Me Nots by Patrice Rushent (#85); Standing on the Top--Part 1 by the Temptations featuring Rick James (#86); I Don't Know Where to Start by Eddie Rabbitt (#87); I Know What Boys Like by the Waitresses (#88); The Visitors by ABBA (#89); and Beechwood 4-5789 by the Carpenters (#90).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 I Love Rock 'N' Roll--Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (8th week at #1)
2 Don't You Want Me--The Human League
3 Key Largo--Bertie Higgins
4 Don't Talk to Strangers--Rick Springfield
5 Freeze Frame--J. Geils Band
6 Titles--Vangelis
7 Ebony and Ivory--Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
8 We Got the Beat--Go-Go's
9 Open Arms--Journey
10 Make a Move on Me--Olivia Newton-John

Singles entering the chart were Right the First Time by Gamma (#39); Man on Your Mind by Little River Band (#41); Only the Lonely by the Motels (#42); Love Plus One by Haircut One Hundred (#43); Some Kinda Fun by Teenage Head (#47); Body Language by Queen (#48); Only a Fool by Trooper (#49); and One World by Utopia (#50).

Died on this date
Gilles Villeneuve, 32. Canadian auto racing driver. Mr. Villeneuve competed in 68 Formula One races from 1977-1982, winning 6 times. He was killed during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix when his car touched tires with those of the car of Jochen Mass in front of him, sending his car airborne before crashing and throwing Mr. Villeneuve into a catch fence (see video).

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Vancouver 5 @ New York Islanders 6 (OT) (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Vancouver defenceman Harold Snepsts attempted an ill-advised pass, which was intercepted by Mike Bossy, who scored the winning goal with 2 seconds remaining in the 1st overtime period at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale.



25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): La Isla Bonita--Madonna

Terrorism
Eight Irish Republican Army terrorists were killed by British security forces after bombing a police station in Loughall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Three IRA men carried the bombs in the shovel of a hijacked bulldozer. After detonating the bombs, the three had joined five other men in a van, where they had been attacked by the British forces, who had been lying in wait. A bystander was also killed in the shooting.

Defense
Three days after the resumption of arms reduction talks in Geneva, the United States presented to the Soviet Union a draft treaty on reducing strategic (long-range) offensive weapons. The U.S. plan would have each side reduce its strategic arsenal by 50% over seven years, and leave each with 1,600 delivery vehicles (missiles and bombers) and 6,000 nuclear warheads.

Scandal
Former U.S. Senator Gary Hart of Colorado announced his withdrawal from the campaign for the 1988 Democratic party nomination for President of the United States, five days after the Miami Herald had reported that Mr. Hart had spent the weekend with a woman not his wife as his house guest (identified on May 4 as Miami model Donna Rice). Despite the fact that Mr. Hart, who had long been dogged by rumours of womanizing, had invited the press to “put a tail” on him, he whined that the system for selecting national leaders “reduces the press of this nation to hunters and presidential candidates to being hunted.”

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the nation’s unemployment rate had declined to 6.2% in April from 6.5% in March.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference Finals
Philadelphia 4 @ Montreal 3 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 2-1)

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): To Be with You--Mr. Big (3rd week at #1)

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate was 7.2% in April, down 0.1% from March. It was the first monthly decline in nine months. The number of Americans on company payrolls in April had increased by 126,000, the largest monthly increase in 11 months.

10 years ago
2002

Politics and government
Abel Pacheco was inaugurated as President of Costa Rica.

Terrorism
14 people were killed when a car bomb exploded outside the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi.

Soccer
UEFA Cup Final @ Rotterdam
Feyenoord Rotterdam 3 Borussia Dortmund 2