May 19, 2012

100 years ago
1912

Baseball
American League President Ban Johnson ordered striking Detroit Tigers' players to report for their game in Washington the next day, or else. The players, who had gone on strike the previous day to protest the suspension of star outfielder Ty Cobb, listened to Johnson and to advice from Mr. Cobb, and returned to work. Mr. Cobb, who had beaten up a heckler in the stands in New York on May 15, was reinstated on May 26.

80 years ago
1932

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Little Girl, starring Frieda Altman, Patricia Bruder, Kathleen Comegys, and Betty Lou Keim

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: Let's Twist Again--Chubby Checker

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Good Luck Charm--Elvis Presley

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Soldier Boy--The Shirelles (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Stranger on the Shore--Mr. Acker Bilk
2 Soldier Boy--The Shirelles
3 Mashed Potato Time--Dee Dee Sharp
4 She Cried--Jay and the Americans
5 Johnny Angel--Shelley Fabares
6 Everybody Loves Me But You--Brenda Lee
7 Lovers Who Wander--Dion
8 Old Rivers--Walter Brennan
9 I Can't Stop Loving You--Ray Charles
10 Uptown--The Crystals

Singles entering the chart were Walk on the Wild Side (Part 1), with versions by Jimmy Smith; and Elmer Bernstein and his Orchestra (#71); My Real Name by Fats Domino (#77); If I Cried Every Time You Hurt Me by Wanda Jackson (#85); Let Me Be the One by the Paris Sisters (#94); Queen of My Heart by Rene and Ray (#95); Where Are You by Dinah Washington (#96); Sharing You by Bobby Vee (#97); Al Di La' by Emilio Pericoli (#100); Thanks to the Fool by Brook Benton (also #100); and Limbo Rock by the Champs (also #100). Walk on the Wild Side (Part 1) was the theme from the movie, and Mr. Bernstein's version was written and performed by him on the soundtrack. Al Di La' was from the movie Rome Adventure (1962). Thanks to the Fool was the B-side of Hit Record, which charted at #40.

Horse racing
Greek Money, ridden by John L. Rotz, won the 87th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Boxing
Cassius Clay (14-0) scored a technical knockout over Billy Daniels (16-1) at 2:21 of the 7th round of their heavyweight bout at St. Nicholas Arena in New York.



40 years ago
1972

Diplomacy
The West German Bundesrat (upper house) ratified Chancellor Willy Brandt’s non-aggression treaties with the U.S.S.R. and Poland, two days after the Bundestag (lower house) had approved them.

30 years ago
1982

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that corporate profits had fallen 17.5% in the first quarter of 1982, because of declining production and high interest rates. The gross national product had also declined at an annual rate of 4.3% in the first quarter, industrial production had declined 0.6%. Housing starts in April had dropped 6.4% from March.

Disasters
It was announced that severe flooding in the province of Guangdong in southeastern China had killed 430 people and marooned 450,000.

20 years ago
1992

Society
U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle addressed the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. Discussing the recent riots in Los Angeles and other American cities that had followed the acquittal of four white Los Angeles policemen of the beating of Negro criminal Rodney King, blamed the rioting on a “breakdown of family structure, personal responsibility, and social order.” Mr. Quayle criticized a story line from the television comedy series Murphy Brown, saying that it didn’t help that the title character had given birth to a baby out of wedlock, “mocking the importance of fathers…and calling it just another ‘life style choice.’” Although widely ridiculed and criticized at the time, Mr. Quayle was vindicated in a lengthy Atlantic Monthly cover story in April 1993 titled Dan Quayle was Right.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that housing starts in April had declined 17%, the sharpest monthly drop in eight years.

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
John Gorton, 90. Prime Minister of Australia, 1968-1971. Sir John was a member of the Liberal Party for most of his career, representing Victoria in the Australian Senate (1950-1968) and Higgins in the House of Representatives (1968-1975). He held several cabinet posts before succeeding the late Harold Holt as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister; he was in the Senate at the time he took office, but soon resigned, and was elected to the House in a by-election. Sir John's government continued Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, but began withdrawing troops. His domestic policies emphasized centralization and economic nationalism, contributing to a greatly-reduced majority in the 1969 federal election. Sir John resigned as Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader after a motion of confidence in his leadership resulted in a tie vote; he remained as a backbench MP resigned from the Liberal Party when Malcolm Fraser became party leader, and unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in 1975 as an independent candidate. Sir John quietly rejoined the Liberals in the 1990s.

Walter Lord, 84. U.S. writer. Mr. Lord was best known for his account of the sinking of the Titanic, A Night to Remember (1955), which was made into a successful television drama and movie. He wrote a subsequent book about the Titanic, The Night Lives On (1986). Mr. Lord’s other books included Day of Infamy (1957); The Good Years (1960); and The Miracle of Dunkirk (1982).

Religion
Amabile Lucia Visintainer, better known as Mother Paulina, became Brazil’s first Roman Catholic saint when she was canonized by Pope John Paul II.

Art
Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter was auctioned at Sotheby’s for $4.9 million, the highest price ever paid for a painting by Mr. Rockwell.