May 26, 2012

100 years ago
1912

Born on this date
Jay Silverheels. Canadian-born U.S. actor. Mr. Silverheels, born Harold Jay Smith at Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, was a Mohawk who was an outstanding field and box lacrosse player in the 1930s. While on tour with a box lacrosse team in Los Angeles in 1937, he was invited by actor and comedian Joe E. Brown to do a screen test, and began his acting career. Mr. Smith took his screen name from his nickname as a lacrosse player, and appeared in numerous Western movies, but was best known for playing Tonto in the television series The Lone Ranger (1949-1957) and in two movies (1956, 1958). He suffered a stroke in 1976, and died from complications of another stroke on March 5, 1980 at the age of 67.

80 years ago
1932

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

70 years ago
1942

War
German and Italian forces commanded by Generaloberst Erwin Rommel defeated Allied forces in the Battle of Gazala in Libya. Chinese forces claimed to have killed 3,000 Japanese soldiers in their attack on Kinwha, Chekiang Province, claiming that three of the five Japanese drives on the provincial capital had been stemmed.

Defense
British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signed a 20-year U.K.-U.S.S.R. mutual assistance pact reaffirming the principles of the Atlantic Charter and replacing the agreement signed on July 12, 1941.

Economics and finance
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull presented U.S.S.R. Ambassador to the United States Maxim Litvinov with terms for a new Lend-Lease agreement, which would require the Soviet Union to liberalize postwar economic relations.

The British Labour Party convention in London adopted Harold Laski's resolution demanding "socialization of the basic industries and services of the country and the planning of production for community consumption."

Labour
The U.S. Fair Employment Practices Commission ordered eight New York and New Jersey comapnies holding war contracts to cease discrimination against Negroes, Jews, and aliens.

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Death's Head, starring John Boruff, Steven Hill, Richard Purdy, and Edgar Stehli

At the movies
Never Look Back, co-written and directed by Francis Searle, and starring Rosamund John, Hugh Sinclair, and Guy Middleton, opened in theatres in the United Kingdom.



Diplomacy
A peace contract was signed in Bonn by West Germany, the United Kingdom, United States, and France. The Allied high commissions were abolished.

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: No More--Elvis Presley

No More was an English-language version of the Italian song La Paloma.

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Good Luck Charm--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Stranger on the Shore--Mr. Acker Bilk

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

Singles entering the chart were A Steel Guitar and a Glass of Wine by Paul Anka (#79); The Crowd by Roy Orbison (#80); I'll Never Dance Again by Bobby Rydell (#81); Wolverton Mountain by Claude King (#87); West of the Wall by Toni Fisher (#89); That Happy Feeling by Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra (#93); I Don't Love You No More by Jimmy Norman (#97); Having a Party by Sam Cooke (#99); The Green Leaves of Summer by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen (#100); Fortune Teller by Bobby Curtola (also #100); and My Heart is Bleeding by Fats Domino (also #100). My Heart is Bleeding was the B-side of My Real Name, charting at #68.

40 years ago
1972

Diplomacy
U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed two documents aimed at stopping the nuclear arms race at a point where neither superpower could threaten the other with total destruction in a surprise attack, although both would remain vulnerable to attack. One document, a treaty requiring ratification by the United States Senate and Supreme Soviet, limited defensive anti-ballistic missile systems to 200 ABM interceptor missiles in each country. The other document was an executive agreement between the two nations to freeze their offensive missile arsenals at roughly existing levels, covering both land-based ICBMs and submarine-launched missiles, calling for inspection by “national means,” i.e., spy satellites.

Business
The British state-owned travel firm Thomas Cook & Son was sold to a consortium of private businesses headed by the Midland Bank.

25 years ago
1987

Diplomacy
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, addressing 5,000 Communist Party officials in Bucharest, drew no applause when he referred to complaints from Hungary about mistreatment of ethnic Hungarians in Romania, or when he criticized nepotism without mentioning the Romanian regime of President Nicolae Ceaucescu, which practiced it. His explanation of his reform program also drew no applause.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Philadelphia 4 @ Edmonton 3 (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 3-2)

20 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Danny Biasone, 83. U.S. basketball executive. Mr. Biasone, owner of a bowling alley, was the owner of the Syracuse Nationals of the National Basketball Association in the 1950s. Alarmed at the prospect of dwindling attendance because of teams’ tendency to “freeze” the ball to protect a lead, Mr. Biasone persuaded the other franchise owners in the NBA to adopt a time limit for the team in possession of the ball to take a shot; the 24-second clock took effect in 1955.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Pittsburgh 5 Chicago 4

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Mamo Wolde, 69. Ethiopian runner. Mr. Wolde won the gold medal in the marathon at the Summer Olympic games at Mexico City in 1968, and the bronze medal in the same event at the Olympics in Munich in 1972.

Politics and government
Alvaro Uribe Velez, who had campaigned on a strong anti-crime platform, was elected President of Colombia.

At the movies
The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski, won the Palme d’Or at the 55th Cannes International Film Festival.

Disasters
All 225 people aboard a China Airlines Boeing 747 flying from Taipei to Hong Kong when the jetliner split into four piece over the Taiwan Strait.

14 deaths were confirmed when a towboat slammed into one of the supports of a bridge over the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma. At least 10 vehicles crossing the bridge plummeted into the river. The pilot of the towboat apparently blacked out just prior to the accident.

Auto racing
Helio Castroneves became the first driver since Al Unser in 1971 to win the Indianapolis 500 in consecutive years when Paul Tracy was penalized for passing a yellow caution flag near the end of the race.