May 9, 2012

120 years ago
1892

Born on this date
Zita of Bourbon-Parma. Empress of Austria-Hungary, 1916-1918. Zita, a daughter of Robert I, Duke of Parma, married Archduke Charles of Austria in 1911, and became Empress when her husband acceded to the throne upon the death of Franz Josef I. The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed at the end of World War I in 1918, and the former Emperor and Empress fled to exile in Switzerland in March 1919. Charles attempted to regain the Hungarian throne, but was unsuccessful, and he died of pneumonia on April 1, 1922. Empress Zita and her eight children lived in several countries, including the U.S.A. and Canada, over the next few decades, but she eventually returned to Switzerland, where she died on March 14, 1989 at the age of 96.

70 years ago
1942

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Tangerine--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra

Horse racing
Alsab, with Basil James up, won the 67th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in a record time of 1:57. Requested and Sun Again finished in a dead heat for second.



60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Tales of Tomorrow, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Golden Ingot, starring Gene Lockhart, Monica Lovett, and Theo Goetz



At the movies
3 Hombres en Mi Vida (3 Men in My Life), directed by Carlos Véjar, Jr., and starring Marga López, Jorge Mistral, Roberto Cañedo, and Rafael Baledón, opened in theatres in Mexico.



50 years ago
1962

Music
The Beatles signed their first contract with Parlophone Records and hired George Martin as their producer.

40 years ago
1972

Terrorism
100 people being held hostage by Arab hijackers aboard a Sabena Boeing jetliner at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv were freed when 12 Israeli soldiers disguised as maintenance staff stormed the plane.

War
U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the mining of Haiphong and North Vietnam’s other ports as part of Operation Linebacker, the code name given to an air-and-sea effort to choke off the Communists’ flow of military supplies and to wreck the enemy’s capability of waging a sustained war.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator George McGovern of South Dakota won the Nebraska primary for the 1972 Democratic party nomination for President of the United States, taking 41% of the vote to 35% for U.S. Sen. Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota and 13% for Alabama Governor George Wallace. President Richard Nixon won the Republican party primary, capturing 93% of the vote. Sen. Humphrey won the other Democratic primary, taking 67% of the vote to 33% for Gov. Wallace.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
New York 3 @ Boston 2 (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Bobby Rousseau scored 2 goals to lead the Rangers to a come-from-behind win over the Bruins at Boston Garden to send the series to a sixth game.

30 years ago
1982

Abominations
Evangelist Billy Graham was in Moscow, where he spoke at an Orthodox cathedral and the city’s only Baptist church. At the Baptist church, he cited Romans 13, saying that the Bible calls on citizens “to obey the authorities,” and that Jesus gave “man the power to be a better worker, a loyal citizen.” When a woman in the congregation was escorted out of the church by authorities after displaying a banner reading “We have more than 150 prisoners for the work of the gospel,” Mr. Graham said, “We detain people in the United States if we catch them doing things wrong.” (Richard Stengel, “Questionable Mission to Moscow,” Time, May 24, 1982, p. 60)

War
Israeli jets raided several Palestinian guerrilla bases south of Beirut, killing 6 people and wounding 20. The Palestinians immediately retaliated by firing artillery shells into northern Israel. An artillery battle between Israelis and Palestinians erupted, but no casualties were reported.

Defense
U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposed an arms reduction plan, calling for a reduction by the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. of 1/3 of their stocks of nuclear warheads on land- and sea-based ballistic missiles. It was estimated that each country had 7,500 missile warheads, and the reduction would lower the number to about 5,000 apiece. The second phase of Mr. Reagan’s plan involved the acceptance of a ceiling on the total payload of warheads by the two nations. He announced that he had written a letter to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, suggesting that the two governments begin formal negotiations by the end of June.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: C'est la ouate--Caroline Loeb

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Sailing Home--Piet Veerman (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Crockett's Theme--Jan Hammer

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now--Starship (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): La Isla Bonita--Madonna (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now--Starship

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): (I Just) Died in Your Arms--Cutting Crew (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 (I Just) Died in Your Arms--Cutting Crew (2nd week at #1)
2 Looking for a New Love--Jody Watley
3 With or Without You--U2
4 La Isla Bonita--Madonna
5 I Knew You were Waiting (For Me)--Aretha Franklin and George Michael
6 Don't Dream it's Over--Crowded House
7 Sign 'o' the Times--Prince
8 Heat of the Night--Bryan Adams
9 The Finer Things--Steve Winwood
10 Big Love--Fleetwood Mac

Singles entering the chart included Point of No Return by Expose (#76); Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by the Nylons (#89); and Wild Horses by Gino Vannelli (#90).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 With or Without You--U2
2 Lean on Me--Club Nouveau
3 Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now--Starship
4 (I Just) Died in Your Arms--Cutting Crew
5 Don't Dream it's Over--Crowded House
6 I Knew You were Waiting (For Me)--Aretha Franklin and George Michael
7 Heat of the Night--Bryan Adams
8 Wild Horses--Gino Vannelli
9 Holiday Rap--M.C. Miker G. & DJ Sven
10 La Isla Bonita--Madonna

Singles entering the chart included I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston (#74); In Too Deep by Genesis (#78); Diamonds by Herb Alpert (#83); Something So Strong by Crowded House (#89); and Just to See Her by Smokey Robinson (#94).

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

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Under the Bridge--Red Hot Chili Peppers (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Itsumademo kawaranu ai wo--Tetsuro Oda

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Why--Annie Lennox (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Please Don't Go--Double You (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): To Be with You--Mr. Big

#1 single in France (SNEP): Joy--François Feldman (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): To Be with You--Mr. Big (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): Please Don't Go/Game Boy--KWS

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Jump--Kris Kross (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Jump--Kris Kross (2nd week at #1)
2 Save the Best for Last--Vanessa Williams
3 Bohemian Rhapsody--Queen
4 Tears in Heaven--Eric Clapton
5 My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)--En Vogue
6 Make it Happen--Mariah Carey
7 Everything About You--Ugly Kid Joe
8 Hazard--Richard Marx
9 One--U2
10 Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven--Bryan Adams

Singles entering the chart were Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers (#36); Slow Motion by Color Me Badd (#54); Steel Bars by Michael Bolton (#64); and You Won't See Me Cry by Wilson Phillips (#85).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 One--U2
2 Human Touch--Bruce Springsteen
3 Save the Best for Last--Vanessa Williams
4 Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven--Bryan Adams
5 Sinking Like a Sunset--Tom Cochrane
6 Hazard--Richard Marx
7 Tears in Heaven--Eric Clapton
8 Make it Happen--Mariah Carey
9 Ain't it Heavy--Melissa Etheridge
10 Let's Get Rocked--Def Leppard

Singles entering the chart were You Won't See Me Cry by Wilson Phillips (#69); In the Closet by Michael Jackson (#71); Memory Lane by One 2 One (#83); Do it to Me by Lionel Richie (#88); Mighty Trucks of Midnight by Bruce Cockburn (#93); Someday? by Concrete Blonde (#95); and Jump by Kris Kross (#98).

Politics and government
Thailand’s major political parties agreed in principle to constitutional amendments requiring that the country’s premier be an elected member of parliament, and curtailing military power. General Suchinda Kraprayoon had seized power in a coup in 1991 and had become premier in April 1992.

Environment
At United Nations headquarters in New York, delegates from 143 countries approved a treaty asking industrialized nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The participating nations agreed to adopt legislation to control emissions, with the goal of returning to 1990 emission levels.

Disasters
26 miners were trapped deep underground in Nova Scotia’s Westray coal mine after a methane gas explosion. 15 bodies were recovered, but bodies of the remaining victims could not be identified.

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Dan Devine, 77. U.S. football coach. Mr. Devine was head coach at Arizona State University (1955-1957) and University of Missouri (1958-1970) before going to the National Football League as head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers (1971-1974). In Mr. Devine’s first game with the Packers, his leg was broken in a sideline collision, and the Packers blew a big lead in losing to the New York Giants. The Packers won the National Football Conference Central Division title in 1972, but failed to make the playoffs in the next two seasons. Mr. Devine then went back to the college ranks as head coach at University of Notre Dame (1975-1980). The highlight of his college career may have been the 1978 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, when the Fighting Irish, led by quarterback Joe Montana, overcame a 34-12 deficit to defeat the University of Texas Longhorns 35-34.

Terrorism
42 people were killed when a pipe bomb exploded at a military parade in Kaspiysk, in the Russian republic of Dagestan.

Crime
Two men armed with automatic weapons killed at least six people when they opened fire in a bank in Mor, Hungary.