May 20, 2013

220 years ago
1793

Died on this date
Charles Bonnet, 73. Genevan naturalist. Mr. Bonnet, a lifelong resident of the Republic of Geneva, was a lawyer by profession, but was mainly interested in the study of nature. He coined the term phyllotaxis to describe the arrangement of leaves on a plant. When his eyesight began to fail, Mr. Bonnet increasingly turned to philosophy and is regarded as a pre-evolutionary thinker, postulating that the universe was created by an act of divine will and then operates on its own, and that man and all other forms of existence have an inherent power of self-development and are destined to pass into a higher stage. Mr. Bonnet died after a long illness.

210 years ago
1803

Law
In Montreal, Justice William Osgoode declared slavery to be inconsistent with the laws of Canada.

200 years ago
1813

War
Napoleon Bonaparte led his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia.

140 years ago
1873

Died on this date
George-Étienne Cartier, 58. Canadian politician. Mr. Cartier supported the Lower Canada rebellion in 1837 and fled to Vermont, but returned the following year. He entered politics in 1848 as leader of the Parti Bleu, and was Premier of Canada East from 1858-1862. Mr. Cartier was a Father of Confederation and represented Montreal East in the House of Commons from 1867-1872. Defeated in the 1872 federal election, he was acclaimed a member of Parliament in the Manitoba riding of Provencher, but died in London of Bright's Disease before he was able to visit the riding.

Technology
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

130 years ago
1883

Environment
The volcano on the Dutch East Indies island of Krakatoa began to erupt; three months later, the volcano exploded and destroyed the island, killing 36,000 people.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
William Reddington Hewlett. U.S. electrical engineer. Mr. Hewlett, a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, co-founded the Hewlett-Packard Company with David Packard in 1939. He died on January 12, 2001 at the age of 87.

80 years ago
1933

Horse racing
Head Play, with Charlie Kurtsinger aboard, won the 58th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in a time of 2:02. Ladysman placed second.

75 years ago
1938

Labour
In Vancouver, British Columbia, 500 unemployed members of the Relief Project Worker's Union began a sit-down strike in the Hotel Georgia. They were paid $500 to leave; the strikers then stayed in the Art Gallery.

60 years ago
1953

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: The Canadian Backbone

50 years ago
1963

Terrorism
RCMP in Montreal arrested 20 young Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) members for terrorist acts. Mario Bachand was later sentenced to four years in jail for planting mailbox bombs in the Montreal neighbourhood of Westmount, including the one on May 17 that had maimed Canadian Army engineer Sergeant-Major Walter Leja.

40 years ago
1973

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Doll of Death, starring Susan Strasberg and Alejandro Rey

Died on this date
Renzo Pasolini, 34. Italian motorcycle racer. Mr. Pasolini won 6 of 46 races from 1964-1973. He and Jarno Saarinen were killed when they were at the front of a 14-motorcycle pileup in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Jarno Saarinen, 27. Finnish motorcycle racer. Mr. Saarinen won 15 of 46 races from 1970-1973 and won the 250 cc world championship in 1972.

Defense
The U.K. sent three Royal Navy frigates to protect trawlers in Iceland's disputed 50-mile zone as the "cod war" escalated.

Crime
The 17 members of the "Camden 28" who had been on trial since February were acquitted of breaking into the Federal Building in Camden, New Jersey and destroying draft files. The verdict hnged on the precedent-setting instruction to the jury by U.S. Federal District Court Judge Clarkson Fisher that it could acquit the defendants if it found tht the government had acted improperly in using an informant to bring about the crime. The defense also asked the jury to ignore the actual charge and use an acquittal to say that the country had had enough of the "illegal and immoral" war in Vietnam. The defense said that motions would be filed immediately to dismiss all charges against the remaining defendants.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Let's Dance--David Bowie (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Bruttosozialprodukt--Geier Sturzflug (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Fred Schulte, 82. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Schulte, an outfielder, played from 1927-1937 with the St. Louis Browns, Washington Nationals, and Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .292 in 1,178 games. Mr. Schulte was the starting centre fielder for the Nationals in 1933, when they won the American League pennant. He hit .295 that year, with 5 home runs and 87 runs batted in, and led the AL with 433 outfield putouts. In that year’s World Series he hit .333 in 5 games, with 1 home run and 4 RBIs. His home run, the last World Series home run by a Washington player, was a 3-run shot in the 6th inning of game 5 that tied the game at 3. The Giants won 4-3 in 10 innings to win the Series 4 games to 1.

Terrorism
A car bomb exploded in Pretoria, South Africa, killing 17 and injuring 197. The blast, outside the headquarters of the air force on Church Street, killed black and white civilians as well as air force personnel, and was regarded as the worst act of terrorism so far against the white regime.

Medicine
An article by Luc Montagnier in the journal Science marked the first publication of the discovery of HIV as the virus that causes AIDS.

Society
Margaret Bush Wilson, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, ordered the suspension of Benjamin Hooks, the NAACP’s executive director since 1977.

Boxing
Larry Holmes (43-0) won a 12-round split decision over Tim Witherspoon (15-1) in 12 rounds at Dunes Hotel & Casino Outdoor Arena in Las Vegas to retain the World Boxing Council heavyweight title. Meanwhile, World Boxing Association champion Michael Dokes (26-0-2) and former champion Mike Weaver (24-10-1) fought a 15-round draw in their title match. One judge decided in favour of Mr. Dokes, while another judge and the referee called the fight a draw.

Baseball
Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher Steve Carlton passed Walter Johnson to move into second place on the career strikeout list. Mr. Carlton's four strikeouts put him at 3,511, just 10 behind Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros. Mr. Ryan had bettered Mr. Johnson's record earlier in the month. The Phillies lost 5-0 to the San Diego Padres.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Ella, Elle L'a--France Gall

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Boston 2 @ Edmonton 4 (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
Boston 102 @ Atlanta 100 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

20 years ago
1993

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

Abominations
The U.K. House of Commons voted 292-112 in favour of membership in the European Union.

The U.S. administration of President Bill Clinton acknowledged that the previous day's dismissals of the White House travel office staff had come after a close friend of Mr. Clinton had sought White House business for colleagues in the travel industry.

Soccer
English FA Cup
Final (replay) @ Wembley Stadium, London
Arsenal 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (ET)

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference
Finals
Montreal 2 @ New York Islanders 1 (OT) (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-0)

Vincent Damphousse scored for the Canadiens with 5:14 remaining in regulation time to tie the score, and Guy Carbonneau scored at 12:34 of the 1st overtime to give them their win over the Islanders at the Montreal Forum.

Basketball
NBA
Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Phoenix 102 @ San Antonio 100 (Phoenix won best-of-seven series 4-2)
Seattle 90 @ Houston 103 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

10 years ago
2003

Health
A cow in Alberta was diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease, prompting the U.S.A., Australia, South Korea, and Japan to ban imports of Canadian beef, cattle, and animal feed.

Terrorism
The U.S., U.K., and German embassies in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh were closed because of fear from attacks by al-Qaeda.