May 17, 2012

220 years ago
1792

Business
A group of 24 brokers and merchants met by a buttonwood tree on what is now Wall Street in New York City and signed the Buttonwood Agreement, creating what became the New York Stock Exchange.

75 years ago
1937

Politics and government
A New Loyalist Government was formed in Spain under Premier Juan Negrin.

60 years ago
1952

Hit Parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Blue Tango--Leroy Anderson and his "Pops" Concert Orchestra (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Kiss of Fire--Georgia Gibbs (Disc Jockey--1st week at #1); Wheel of Fortune--Kay Starr (Juke Box--8th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Blue Tango--Leroy Anderson and his "Pops" Concert Orchestra (4th week at #1)
--Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra
2 Wheel of Fortune--Kay Starr
3 A Guy is a Guy--Doris Day
4 The Blacksmith Blues--Ella Mae Morse
5 Kiss of Fire--Georgia Gibbs
--Tony Martin
6 I'm Yours--Don Cornell
--Eddie Fisher
7 Forgive Me--Eddie Fisher
8 Any Time--Eddie Fisher
9 I'll Walk Alone--Don Cornell
--Jane Froman
10 What's the Use?--Johnnie Ray

Singles entering the chart were Half as Much by Rosemary Clooney (#39) and Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way) by Eddie Fisher (#44). Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way) was the B-side of I'm Yours.

Horse racing
Blue Man, with Conn McCreary up, won the 77th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in a time of 1:57 2/5 seconds.

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Nut Rocker--B. Bumble and the Stingers

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Ginnie Littlesmith Story

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Love Rock 'N' Roll--Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Dixie Walker, 71. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Walker was an outfielder with five major league teams from 1931-1949, batting .306 in 1,905 games. His best years were with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939-1947, and he led the National League with a .357 average in 1944. Mr. Walker, a native of Villa Rica, Georgia, was one of the most popular players in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but ended up on the wrong side of history when he opposed the integration of Negro players into the major leagues, beginning with teammate Jackie Robinson in 1947.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Lean on Me--Club Nouveau (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison--License IV (6th week at #1)

Died on this date
Gunnar Myrdal, 88. Swedish economist, sociologist, and politician. Mr. Myrdal shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for "their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena." Mr. Myrdal's best-known book was An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. He was a Social Democratic member of the Swedish parliament and served as trade minister from 1945-1947 under Prime Minister Tage Erlander.

War
37 U.S. sailors, most of them sleeping in their bunks, were killed when a missile from an Iraqi warplane struck the U.S.S. Stark, a guided missile frigate and one of ships in the U.S. Middle East Force in the Persian Gulf. The Stark was in international waters, about 85 miles northeast of Bahrain.

20 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Lawrence Welk, 89. U.S. bandleader and accordionist. Mr. Welk hosted The Lawrence Welk Show on television from 1955-1982. His biggest success as a recording artist came in 1961, when the instrumental Calcutta reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Basketball
NBA playoffs
Cleveland 122 Boston 104

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Dave Berg, 81. U.S. cartoonist and writer. Mr. Berg was this blogger’s favourite of “the usual gang of idiots,” the artists and writers who contributed to Mad magazine. Mr. Berg’s work began appearing in Mad in the mid-1950s, but he was best-known for his feature articles that began appearing a few years later, “The Lighter Side of…” In the December 1968 issue (No. 125), Mr. Berg even managed to come up with his usual five pages of cartoons on “The Lighter Side of High School Football.” Akin to Alfred Hitchcock’s movie cameos, Mr. Berg’s image appeared in a cartoon in every issue, often using the name “Roger Kaputnik.” His productivity declined somewhat as his age advanced, but he was still contributing to Mad until his death after a long battle with cancer.

Politics and government
Bertie Ahern was re-elected Prime Minister of Ireland.

Law
Legislators in Germany rewrote a clause of the Basic Law to require the government to respect the dignity of animals as well as people.

Business
The German media giant Bertelsmann agreed to acquire the assets of Napster, a company that had developed an Internet file exchange system.