May 20, 2012

150 years ago
1862

Law
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, providing settlers with 160 acres of surveyed public land after payment of a filing fee and five years of continuous residence.

110 years ago
1902

World events
American occupation of Cuba, under General Leonard Wood, ended, as the Cuban Republic was inaugurated.

80 years ago
1932

Aviation
Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Hunted Down, starring John Baragrey

40 years ago
1972

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K.: Metal Guru--T. Rex

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Without You--Nilsson (4th week at #1)
2 A Horse with No Name--America
3 Most People I Know Think that I'm Crazy--The Aztecs
4 Amazing Grace--Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
5 Morning Has Broken/I Want to Live in a Wigwam--Cat Stevens
6 American Pie, Parts I and II--Don McLean
7 Mother and Child Reunion--Paul Simon
8 Ranger's Waltz--The Mom and Dads
9 Joy--Apollo 100
10 Day After Day--Badfinger

Singles entering the chart were Vincent by Don McLean (#25); How Do You Do? by Mouth and MacNeal (#34); Could it Be Forever? by David Cassidy (#36); Morning Good Morning by the La De Das (#39); and Marshall's Portable Music Machine by Robin Jolley (#40).

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face--Roberta Flack (6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I'll Take You There--Staple Singers
2 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face--Roberta Flack
3 Look What You've Done for Me--Al Green
4 Oh Girl--Chi-Lites
5 Rockin' Robin--Michael Jackson
6 I Gotcha--Joe Tex
7 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard--Paul Simon
8 Hot Rod Lincoln--Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen
9 Little Bitty Pretty One--The Jackson 5
10 Back Off Boogaloo--Ringo Starr

Singles entering the chart were I Wanna Be Where You Are by Michael Jackson (#71); Superwoman (Where were You When I Needed You) by Stevie Wonder (#73); You Said a Bad Word by Joe Tex (#80); Guns, Guns, Guns by the Guess Who (#83); (If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right by Luther Ingram (#85); Too Late to Turn Back Now by Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose (#87); Funk Factory by Wilson Pickett (#88); Some Day I'll Be a Farmer by Melanie (#90); Giving Up by Donny Hathaway (#93); Take it Easy by the Eagles (#96); Gone by Joey Heatherton (#97); Beautiful by Gordon Lightfoot (#98); and Hot Fun in the Summertime by David T. Walker (#100). Take it Easy was the Eagles' first hit.

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face--Roberta Flack
2 Back Off Boogaloo--Ringo Starr
3 Vincent--Don McLean
4 You Could Have Been a Lady--April Wine
5 Doctor My Eyes--Jackson Browne
6 A Cowboys Work is Never Done--Sonny and Cher
7 Baby Blue--Badfinger
8 Taxi--Harry Chapin
9 Cotton Jenny--Anne Murray
10 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard--Paul Simon

Singles entering the chart were Beautiful by Gordon Lightfoot (#59); Immigration Man by Graham Nash and David Crosby (#63); Magnificent Sanctuary Band by David Clayton-Thomas (#69); Long Haired Lover from Liverpool by Little Jimmy Osmond (#71); Hot 'n' Nasty by Humble Pie (#74); Lord Don't You Think it's Time by the Bells (#77); The Joke by Allan Nicholls (#83); I Just Wanna Be Your Friend by Lighthouse (#88); Troglodyte by the Jimmy Castor Bunch (#89); How Can I Be Sure by David Cassidy (#91); Tell Me Who by Pinky (#92); Stop Me from Believing by Rain (#93); I Need You by America (#94); Living in a House Divided by Cher (#95); You are the One by the Sugar Bears (#96); We're Free by Beverly Bremers (#97); Outa-Space by Billy Preston (#98); Life and Breath by Climax (#99); and Automatically Sunshine by the Supremes (#100).

Calgary's Top 10
1 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face--Roberta Flack
2 Amazing Grace--Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
3 Sylvia's Mother--Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
4 Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love--Love Unlimited
5 Taos New Mexico--R. Dean Taylor
6 Hot Rod Lincoln--Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen
7 A Horse with No Name--America
8 Baby Blue--Badfinger
9 Song Sung Blue--Neil Diamond
10 Oh Girl--Chi-Lites
Pick hit of the week: The Family of Man--Three Dog Night

Horse racing
Bee Bee Bee, ridden by Eldon Nelson, won the 97th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in a time of 1:55 3/5 seconds.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
Edmonton’s top 10 (CFRN)
1 Ebony and Ivory—Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
2 I’ve Never Been to Me—Charlene
3 Don’t Talk to Strangers—Rick Springfield
4 Always on My Mind—Willie Nelson
5 Rosanna—Toto
6 Did it in a Minute—Daryl Hall & John Oates
7 Wake Up Little Susie—Simon and Garfunkel
8 Shanghai Breezes—John Denver
9 Man on Your Mind—Little River Band
10 Love Over and Over—Kate and Anna McGarrigle

On television tonight
Barney Miller, on NBC

Tonight's episode: Landmark: Part 3

This was the last episode of the series.

Died on this date
Merle Tuve, 80. U.S. physicist. Mr. Tuve’s discoveries contributed to the development of radar and nuclear energy.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): You're the Voice--John Farnham (7th week at #1)

Weather
Edmonton made the national news when a freak snowstorm hit the city.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Philadelphia 2 @ Edmonton 3 (OT) (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 2-0)

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden: Stay--Shakespears Sister (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Roger Coleman. U.S. criminal. Mr. Coleman was executed in Virginia’s electric chair after being convicted of the 1981 rape and murder of his sister-in-law. His supporters complained about the unfairness of one appeal being denied because it had been filed one day after the deadline, and sought to raise doubts about whether Mr. Coleman had been at the scene of the crime. Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder allowed Mr. Coleman to take a polygraph test on May 20, 1992, but he failed, and was executed that night.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the nation’s trade deficit had expanded in March to $5.82 billion.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference Finals
Chicago 4 @ Edmonton 3 (OT) (Chicago led best-of-seven series 3-0)

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Stephen Jay Gould, 60. U.S. paleontologist. Mr. Gould was a popular propagandist for evolution. Lack of support in the fossil record for Charles Darwin’s hypothesis of evolution led Mr. Gould and colleague Niles Eldredge to postulate evolution by “punctutated equilibrium,” a revival of Goldschmidt’s “hopeful monster” theory proposing that new kinds of creatures spontaneously came from existing kinds of creatures. Mr. Gould was also an avid baseball fan, and frequently used examples from the sport in books such as The Mismeasure of Man (1981).

World events
East Timor became an independent nation. It had declared its independence from Portugal in 1975 but had been invaded by Indonesian forces in 1975 and incorporated into Indonesia as a province in 1976. An independence referendum had passed overwhelmingly in 1999, and Indonesia had rescinded its claim to the territory, handng it over to United Nations supervision. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan attended independence ceremonies in Taci Tolu, outside the capital city of Dili, where he formally ended UN authority over East Timor. Xanana Gusmao was inaugurated as President and the flag was raised.