May 10, 2013

1,800 years ago
213

Born on this date
Claudius II, aka Claudius Gothicus. Roman Emperor, 268-270. Claudius Gothicus fought successfully against the Germanic tribes known as the Alamanni and crushed the Goths in the Battle of Naissus, but died in January 270 after succumbing to a plague, perhaps smallpox.

1,775 years ago
238

Died on this date
Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus, aka Maximinus Thrax (Maximinus the Thracian), Maximinus I. Roman Emperor, 235-238. Maximinus has been described in several ancient sources as the first barbarian emperor of Rome, and the first never to set foot in Rome. His rule is often considered to mark the beginning of the Crisis of the 3rd Century, the period from 235-284 in which the Roman Empire crumbled and nearly collapsed. Maximinus, his son, and his ministers were assassinated by Praetorian guards in his camp. Their heads were cut off, placed on poles, and carried to Rome by cavalrymen.

510 years ago
1503

Exploration
Christopher Columbus visited the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.

240 years ago
1773

Law
The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

190 years ago
1823

Politics and government
Louis-Joseph Papineau of Lower Canada and John Neilson of Upper Canada presented a petition to the British parliament in London opposing the proposed Union of Upper and Lower Canada.

170 years ago
1843

Born on this date
Benito Pérez Galdós. Spanish author. Mr. Pérez Galdós was a realist novelist who wrote 31 novels, 46 Episodios Nacionales (National Episodes), 23 plays, and the equivalent of 20 volumes of shorter fiction, journalism and other writings. The Episodios Nacionales were novels about famous episodes in Spanish history. In Spain, Mr. Pérez Galdós is regarded as he equal of Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy. He went blind in his later years, and died on January 4, 1920 at the age of 76.

160 years ago
1853

Transportation
Sir Hugh Allan's Genova became the first steamer of the Allan Line to arrive at Quebec, before starting a 14-day Montreal-Liverpool mail run.

Exploration
Gerard Osborn began sailing the Pioneer along the east coast of Bathurst Island in what is now Nunavut. He sailed until July 15, and was forced to winter in Wellington Channel.

150 years ago
1863

Died on this date
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, 39. U.S. and C.S. military officer. General Jackson, the best-known Confederate military leader after General Robert E. Lee, died eight days after being wounded in the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. His command of the Valley Campaign in 1862 is regarded as a masterpiece of military tactics.

125 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Max Steiner. Austrian-born composer and conductor. Mr. Steiner, a native of Vienna, was a child prodigy as a pianist and composer, and conducted an operetta when he was 12. He worked in theatrical productions in continental Europe and Britain in the years leading to World War I, but was interned in England as an enemy alien when World War I began in 1914. Mr. Steiner was allowed to emigrate to the United States, and spent 15 years on Broadway in New York before going to Hollywood in 1929, and sound was coming into motion pictures. He composed over 300 film scores for RKO Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures from 1929-1965 and received 24 Academy Award nominations, winning for The Informer (1935); Now, Voyager (1942); and Since You Went Away (1944). Mr. Steiner's most famous scores included Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Summer Place (1959). He died of congestive heart failure on December 28, 1971 at the age of 88, after years of declining health and poor eyesight.

120 years ago
1893

Law
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

Horse racing
Lookout, with E. Kunze up, won the 19th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:39 1/4. Plutus placed second and Boundless finished third in a 6-horse field.

80 years ago
1933

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

War
Paraguay formally declared war on Bolivia. Fighting in the Chaco War, so-called because it was fought for control over the Gran Chaco area of South America, had begun in 1932.

Abominations
In university towns and cities throughout Germany, the Deutsche Studentenschaft (German Student Union) staged public burnings of "un-German" books, including those by such writers as Ludwig von Mises, Karl Marx, Bertolt Brecht, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, H.G. Wells, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, and Helen Keller. An estimated 25,000 books were destroyed. 40,000 people gathered in the Opernplatz in Berlin to hear Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels proclaim that the era of Jewish intellectualism was now at an end.

Labour
The Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front), the amalgamated National Socialist trade union organization, was formed, replacing the free unions that had been outlawed by Chancellor Adolf Hitler eight days earlier. DAF's leader was Robert Ley, who stated that its aim was "to create a true social and productive community." Theoretically the DAF existed to act as a medium through which workers and owners could mutually represent their interests. However, in reality it was a means by which workers were controlled, ensuring wage demands were not made too often.

Suriname worker's union leader A. de Come was banished to the Netherlands.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Rhythm of the Rain--The Cascades

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Summer Holiday--Cliff Richard and the Shadows (2nd week at #1)
2 Bachelor Boy--Cliff Richard and the Shadows
3 Dancing Shoes--Cliff Richard and the Shadows
4 Surfin' U.S.A.--Beach Boys
5 I Will Follow Him--Little Peggy March
6 Let's Go Steady Again--Neil Sedaka
7 Mecca--Gene Pitney
8 Pipeline--Chantays
9 Sukiyaki--Kyu Sakamoto
10 Puff the Magic Dragon--Peter, Paul and Mary

On television tonight
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Dear Uncle George, starring Gene Barry, John Larkin, Patricia Donahue, and Dabney Coleman

Died on this date
Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, 31. U.S. football player. Mr. Lipscomb was a defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams (1953-1955), Baltimore Colts (1956-1960), and Pittsburgh Steelers (1961-1962), earning All-Pro all-star honours in 1958 and 1959. He died of a heroin overdose in Baltimore. Some people who knew Mr. Lipscomb suspected that he was murdered, as he was said to be afraid of needles.

Edmontonia
Mayor Elmer Roper released city census figures showing a population of 303,756, an increase of 8,789 over 1962. Jasper Place had 35,478 residents, and St. Albert 6,600.

Diplomacy
Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson began a two-day visit to Hyannisport, Massachusetts for talks with U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Canada agreed to get accept nuclear warheads, while the Franklin D. Roosevelt family home on Campobello Island in New Brunswick was to be an international park.

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree--Dawn featuring Tony Orlando (4th week at #1)

Scandal
Former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans, former New Jersey Senate majority leader Harry Sears, and New Jersey financier Robert Vesco were indicted by a special U.S. federal grand jury in New York on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to obstruct justice in connection with Mr. Vesco's secret 1972 donation of $200,000 to the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP). Mr. Mitchell, who had headed the committee until July 1972, and Mr. Stans, who had been finance director of the campaign, were also charged with perjury before the grand jury, and faced 50 years in prison and fines up to $75,000. According to the indictment, threatened by a lawsuit from the Securities Exchange Commission, which accused him of looting four mutual funds of $224 million, had agreed to make a contribution to the campaign to re-elect Richard Nixon in return for which Mr. Mitchell would set up a meeting between Mr. Sears, acting as Mr. Vesco's spokesman, and SEC Chairman William Casey, who had later left the SEC to become an undersecretary of State. Mr. Stans had allegedly agreed to shield the contribution from federal examiners at the SEC and the Government Accounting Office. Mr. Sears had allegedly met with Mr. Casey and G. Bradford Cook, SEC general counsel, two hours after the donation had been delivered to Mr. Stans on April 10, 1972. Messrs. Mitchell and Stans both denied any wrongdoing in the case. Mr. Vesco, who had fled the country during the grand jury inquiry, was unavailable for comment.

Politics and government
U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that former Treasury Secretary John Connally would come to the White House as part-time unpaid adviser on domestic and foreign affairs. Mr. Connally, who had served in the cabinet of President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s and then as Governor of Texas, had announced on May 2 that he was joining the Republican Party, asserting that it was more responsive than the Democratic Party to the needs and thoughts of the American people.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 6 @ Chicago 4 (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Yvan Cournoyer scored the winning goal at 8:13 of the 3rd period as the Canadiens defeated the Black Hawks at Chicago Stadium. Mr. Cournoyer's goal, from a rebound of a high shot by Jacques Lemaire, was his 15th of the 1973 playoffs, a single-season playoff record at the time. He finished the playoffs with 25 points in 17 playoff games, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player. Pit Martin scored 3 goals for the Black Hawks. For Montreal captain Henri Richard, it was the 11th time in his career that he'd played on a Stanley Cup-winning team, a record that still stands. The NHL season hasn't ended at such an early date since then.



Vic Stasiuk was fired after two seasons as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks had posted a record of 22 wins, 47 losses, and 9 ties in 1972-73, finishing ahead of only the first-year expansion New York Islanders in the eight-team East Division. The Canucks had yet to make the playoffs after three seasons in the NHL, and a number of their players were reported to be unhappy with Mr. Stasiuk's style of coaching.

Basketball
NBA Finals
New York 102 @ Los Angeles 93 (New York won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Willis Reed scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Knickerbockers to victory over the Lakers at the Forum in Inglewood, giving them their second title in the previous four seasons, and their last to date.

30 years ago
1983

On television tonight
Laverne & Shirley, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Here Today, Hair Tomorrow

This was the last episode of the series, which had begun as a spin-off from Happy Days in 1976. I stopped watching it in 1976, so I wasn’t aware that the show was still going that long.

Politics and government
South Africa's ruling National Party suffered setbacks in special parliamentary elections.

Oddities
Lee Chin Yong performed 170 continuous chin-ups in Seoul.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
New York Islanders 2 @ Edmonton 0 (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Billy Smith picked up the shutout in goal for the Islanders at Northlands Coliseum in the first Stanley Cup final game ever played in Edmonton. Andy Moog, in goal for the Oilers, gave up just one goal, the winner by Duane Sutter at 5:36 of the 1st period; Ken Morrow scored into an empty net with 12 seconds remaining in the game.



25 years ago
1988

Politics and government
Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis won Democratic Party U.S. presidential primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska.

French President Francois Mitterand ended two years of sharing power with Jacques Chirac when he named Michel Rocard as the new Prime Minister.

Labour
Most of the striking shipyard workers in Gdansk, Poland returned to their jobs.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference
Finals
New Jersey 1 @ Boston 7 (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
Chicago 82 @ Detroit 93 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Dallas 115 @ Denver 126 (Denver led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Utah 101 @ Los Angeles Lakers 97 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Baseball
Mark Langston of the Seattle Mariners struck out 16 batters in a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, equalling the 1988 major league high set the previous day by Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox in a 2-0 three-hitter over the Kansas City Royals.

The Oakland Athletics lost 8-2 to the Detroit Tigers, ending their winning streak at 14 games.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Informer--Snow (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
European governments rejected the plan of U.S. President Bill Clinton to support arms for the Muslim-dominated regime in Bosnia and to approve a threat to mount an air strike against Bosnian Serb targets.

Disasters
156 workers were killed and 500 injured when a doll factory in Thailand collapsed in flames.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference
Division Finals
New York Islanders 3 @ Pittsburgh 6 (Pittsburgh led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Basketball
NBA
Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Houston 90 @ Seattle 99 (Seattle led best-of-seven series 1-0)