June 3, 2013

400 years ago
1613

Exploration
Samuel de Champlain reached the site of present-day Ottawa.

140 years ago
1873

Born on this date
Otto Loewi, 88. German-born pharmacologist. Dr. Loewi shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Sir Henry Dale "for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses." He emigrated to Austria in 1903 and became an Austro-Hungarian citizen two years later, but spent three months in custody after the German Anschluss of Austria in 1938. Dr. Loewi was released on condition that he relinquish all his possessions, including his research, to the Nazis. He went to Britain, Belgium, and eventually the United States in 1940, becoming an American citizen in 1946. Dr. Loewi died on December 25, 1961 at the age of 88.

125 years ago
1888

Literature
The San Francisco Examiner published Ernest Lawrence Thayer's poem Casey at the Bat. Mr. Thayer originally published "Casey" anonymously.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Lloyd Percival. Canadian sports coach and fitness expert. Mr. Percival, a native of Toronto, competed in tennis, boxing, and cricket when he was young, and coached hockey and track and field. He founded the Fitness Institute as a venture designed to pioneer sports/fitness testing and coaching techniques. Mr. Percival's book The Hockey Handbook (1951) was dismissed at the time of publication by Canadian coaches, but was adopted as a standard textbook by European coaches, especially Anatoly Tarasov, coach of the Soviet national team. Mr. Percival had just begun work on a revision of the book when he died of a heart attack on July 23, 1974 at the age of 61.

75 years ago
1938

At the movies
Wives Under Suspicion, directed by James Whale, and starring Warren William and Gail Patrick, opened in theatres.



60 years ago
1953

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

Died on this date
Florence Price, 66. U.S. composer. Mrs. Price was a pianist, organist, and music teacher who wrote four symphonies, four concertos, and numerous other orchestral, chamber, and vocal works. She became the first Negro American female composer to have a work played by a major orchestra when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her Symphony No. 1 in E minor in 1933. Mrs. Price died of a stroke.

50 years ago
1963

Died on this date
John XXIII, 81. Roman Catholic Pope, 1958-1963. Born Angelo Roncalli, John XXIII succeeded Pius XII as pope and was best known for convening the Second Vatican Council in 1962.

40 years ago
1973

Disasters
18 were killed and 40 injured in a bus-truck collision 200 miles southwest of Bangkok.

As 600,000 spectators watched an air show near Paris, a Soviet TU144 supersonic jetliner exploded while making a demonstration flight, killing 6 crewmen and 7 residents of the village of Goussainville.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Beat It--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Juliet--Robin Gibb

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had fallen to 10% in May.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Don't Turn Around--Aswad

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Ella, Elle L'a--France Gall (3rd week at #1)

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that, for the first time in six months, the unemployment rate had risen, moving from 5.4% in April to 5.5% in May.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Finals
Boston 90 @ Detroit 95 (Detroit won best-of-seven series 4-2)

20 years ago
1993

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Los Angeles 2 @ Montreal 3 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Eric Desjardins scored all 3 of his team's goals, the last coming 51 seconds into overtime, as the Canadiens edged the Kings at the Montreal Forum. With Los Angeles leading 2-1 late in the game, Montreal head coach Jacques Demers requested a measurement of Los Angeles defenseman Marty McSorley's stick. The stick was ruled illegal, Mr. McSorley was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Mr. Demers pulled goaltender Patrick Roy in favour of a sixth attacker, giving the Canadiens 6 attackers to 4 for the Kings. Mr. Desjardins scored on the powerplay to send the game into overtime, and then became the first defenseman ever to score a hat trick in a Stanley Cup finals game.

Basketball
NBA
Western Conference
Finals
Phoenix 102 @ Seattle 118 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

10 years ago
2003

Died on this date
Sunny's Halo, 23. Canadian racehorse. Sunny's Halo won the 1983 Kentucky Derby.

Terrorism
Two defendants in a U.S. district court in Detroit were found guilty of conspiring to provide support to terrorists, a third was convicted of document fraud, and a fourth was acquitted. All the defendants were Moroccans. Prosecutors had argued that the defendants, arrested shortly after September 11, 2001, had conspired to assist in attacks on U.S. tourist and military sites aboard.

Diplomacy
The leaders of the world's eight largest industrialized countries concluded their three-day summit in Evian, France.

U.S. President George W. Bush met in Egypt with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the kings of Bahrain and Jordan, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Bush reaffirmed his commitment to an independent Palestinian state.

War
U.S. government officials indicated that former Central Intelligence Agency analysts were being employed to review top-secret national intelligence estimates to determine if the intelligence community had exaggerated Iraq's biological and chemical weapons capabilities. The Senate and House of Representatives also indicated that they planned to request a similar review.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
British Columbia (0-1) 19 @ Calgary (1-0) 26