May 13, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Evgeniya!

640 years ago
1373

Religion
English mystic Julian of Norwich fell ill and supposedly received visions which were later published as Revelations of Divine Love.

140 years ago
1873

Disasters
In Canada's first major mining disaster, 69 coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Drummond Mine, the country's largest colliery, in Westville, Nova Scotia.

125 years ago
1888

Law
Brazil passed the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), abolishing slavery. The law contained only two clauses:

Article 1: From this date, slavery is declared abolished in Brazil.
Article 2: All dispositions to the contrary are revoked.

110 years ago
1903

Died on this date
Apolinario Mabini, 38. Prime Minister of the Philippines, 1899. Mr. Mabini, a lawyer by training, was the Philippines' first Prime Minister, serving from January 23-May 7, 1899. He resigned that position, but continued to serve as his country's foreign minister until April 1, 1901, when he and other revolutionists who refused to swear loyalty to American imperialist rule were exiled to Guam. Mr. Abini returned to the Philippines on February 26, 1903 and did take an oath of loyalty to the Americans, but he was in ill health, and died of cholera.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
William R. Tolbert, Jr. President of Liberia, 1971-1980; Vice-President of Liberia, 1952-1971. Mr. Tolbert entered Liberia's House of Representatives in 1943 as a member of the True Whig Party. He succeeded William Tubman as President. Mr. Tolbert, who became president of the Baptist World Alliance in 1965, was the first Liberian president in almost a century to allow opposition parties to exist, and succeeded in seeing a constitutional amendment passed limiting the president's term to eight years. On April 12, 1980, Mr. Tolbert and 27 others were assassinated in an army coup d'etat led by Samuel Doe.

80 years ago
1933

Died on this date
Paul Ernst, 67. German writer. Mr. Ernst was a journalist, essayist, dramatist and short story writer who became attracted to Marxism as a young man, after abandoning theology studies. Dr. Ernst’s dramas included Demetrios; Canossa; Brunhild; and Ariadne auf Naxos. Dr. Ernst’s later writings, such as The Emperor Book; The Saviour; and Pray and Work, dealt mainly with historical and religious themes.

75 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Charles Édouard Guillaume, 77. Swiss physicist. Dr. Guillaume was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1920 in recognition of the service he had rendered to precision measurements in physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys.

Music
Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra recorded When the Saints Go Marching In for Decca Records.

60 years ago
1953

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: My Friend the Enemy

50 years ago
1963

Edmontonia
City planning commissioner G.C. Hamilton revealed plans for a downtown subway system to be in place by 1980.

Law
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Brady v. Maryland that withholding exculpatory evidence violated an accused's right of due process of law under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

40 years ago
1973

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Whisper, starring Dean Stockwell and Sally Field

Tennis
Former champion Bobby Riggs, 55, who had come out of retirement to prove male superiority over female players, defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Let's Dance--David Bowie (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Bruttosozialprodukt--Geier Sturzflug (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Lerton Pinto, 85. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Pinto pitched in 9 games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1922, and 3 games in 1924. His only decision, a loss, came in 1922. His career earned run average was 5.65.

Diplomacy
U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger warned the U.S.S.R. and Syria against making any military moves in Lebanon.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heart--Pet Shop Boys (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Chet Baker, 58. U.S. musician and singer. Mr. Baker, a jazz trumpeter and singer, was a leading name in "cool jazz" in the 1950s, but his career was destroyed by excessive drug abuse. He made a comeback in later years, which included performances at Edmonton’s Jazz City festival in the early 1980s. Mr. Baker died in a fall from a hotel room window in Amsterdam; there were no witnesses, and his death was ruled accidental. Heroin and cocaine were found in his body. A documentary movie about Mr. Baker, Let’s Get Lost, was released in 1989.

War
A cease-fire between Hezbollah and Amal militia in Lebanon broke down, and Syrian forces became directly involved in the fighting.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
Atlanta 97 @ Boston 108 (Boston led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 89 @ Utah 96 (Utah led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Baseball
Barry Bonds hit a leadoff home run for the seconnd day in a row as the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Cincinnati Reds 6-5. Barry's father Bobby accomplished the same feat in 1973.

At Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners combined to hit nine home runs as the Red Sox outlasted the Mariners 14-8. Mike Greenwell of the Red Sox hit two of the homers; Oil Can Boyd was kicked around, but emerged with the win.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Tribal Dance--2 Unlimited

Defense
The U.S. administration of President Bill Clinton announced a downgrade of the Strategic Defense Initiative missile shield program, which had cost $30 billion over the previous 10 years. Research was to continue on a small-scale program, which would be renamed.

Environment
Canadian Public Works Minister Elmer MacKay dismissed concerns over the environmental impact of a proposed bridge between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, stating that reports indicated that all effects would be either insignificant or could be dealt with by existing technology.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference
Division Finals
Toronto 1 @ St. Louis 2 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
Vancouver 3 @ Los Angeles 5 (Los Angeles won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
Cleveland 85 @ Chicago 104 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
San Antonio 103 @ Phoenix 109 (Phoenix led best-of-seven series 2-0)

10 years ago
2003

World events
U.S. officials in Iraq announced that the former police chief in the Iraqi regime of deposed President Saddam Hussein was now in custody.

Diplomacy
The United States expelled 14 Cuban diplomats for "inappropriate and unacceptable activities," i.e., spying.

Protest
More than 850,000 public workers in France participated in a one-day strike to protest the government's proposed pension reform plan.

Health
China ordered local officials to prompty and accurately report threats to public health from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).