May 10, 2014

480 years ago
1534

Exploration
Jacques Cartier sighted Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland after a three-week journey from France.

240 years ago
1774

Franciana
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette became King and Queen of France.

170 years ago
1844

Canadiana
After years of petitions, the capital of Canada was moved from Kingston to Montreal.

150 years ago
1864

War
In the U.S. Civil War, Union Army Colonel Emory Upton led a 10-regiment "Attack-in-depth" assault against the Confederate works at the Battle of Spotsylvania in Virginia, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Colonel Upton was slightly wounded, but was immediately promoted to Brigadier General.

130 years ago
1884

In an American Association game, the New York Metropolitans defeated the Washington Nationals 11-3 in 7 innings. Washington catcher Alex Gardner, playing his first (and last) major league game, allowed 12 passed balls, a record that still stands. The Toronto native also committed 6 errors and went 0 for 3 at bat.

Elsewhere in the AA, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Toledo Blue Stockings 11-1 at League Park in Cincinnati. A court ruled that Blue Jackets' pitcher Tony Mullane was ineligible to pitch for anyone other than the St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association.

In a Union Association game, the Altoona Mountain Citys won their first game after 11 straight losses, defeating the Boston Reds 9-4.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Mae Murray. U.S. actress. Miss Murray, born Marie Koenig, was nicknamed The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen" during her time as a star of silent movies from 1916 through the end of the 1920s. Her few sound movies were unsuccessful, and she disappeared into obscurity, and spent much of her later life in poverty, dying on March 23, 1965 at the age of 79.

Baseball
Arlie Latham had 5 hits in 6 at bats with a double and two home runs to lead the St. Louis Browns to a 16-5 win over the Columbus Solons at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Browns' win improved their record to 17-6, best in the AA.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Dimitri Tiomkin. Ukrainian-born U.S. composer and conductor. Mr. Tiomkin moved to the United States after the Bolshevik Revolution, eventually settling in Hollywood, where he achieved great success as a film composer. He was nominated for 22 Academy Awards, winning for his original scores for High Noon (1952); The High and the Mighty (1954); and The Old Man and the Sea (1958), and for composing the music for the song The Ballad of High Noon. He died after a fall on November 11, 1979 at the age of 85.

110 years ago
1904

Died on this date
Andrei Ryabushkin, 42. Russian artist. Mr. Ryabushkin painted scenes of ordinary Russian life in the 17th century. He died of tuberculosis.

90 years ago
1924

Society
The Alberta Legislative Assembly voted to end the prohibition of alcohol in the province.

Law
J. Edgar Hoover became director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

70 years ago
1944

Politics and government
The government of El Salvador announced the appointment of a new cabinet with Enrique Avila as foreign minister.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt named James Forrestal as Secretary of the Navy, replacing Frank Knox, who had died on April 28.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate a bill increasing the national debt limit to $240 billion.

Academia
Professor Howard Mumford Jones of Harvard University was elected president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

60 years ago
1954

Music
The single (We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock/Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town) by Bill Haley and his Comets was released on Decca Records.

50 years ago
1964

Auto racing
Dave MacDonald, driving a King Cobra, won the United States Road Racing Championships at Kent, Washington.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: The Air That I Breathe--The Hollies (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks (4th week at #1)

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Milwaukee 102 @ Boston 101 (2 OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored on a 17-foot "skyhook" shot with 2 seconds left in the 2nd overtime period to give the Bucks their won over the Celtics before 15,320 fans at Boston Garden. The winning basket was scored 5 seconds after John Havlicek had scored a field goal to give Boston a 101-100 lead. Mr. Havlicek led all scorers with 36 points, while Mr. Abdul-Jabbar led Milwaukee with 34 points.

ABA
Finals
Utah 100 @ New York 111 (New York won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Julius Erving scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as the Nets defeated the Stars at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale to win their first American Basketball Association title. Mr. Erving was named the most valuable player of the playoffs.

30 years ago
1984

Transportation
The Canadian Ministry of Transport announced that air traffic would be deregulated within two years, allowing airlines to offer lower rates and more routes.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals

Edmonton 1 @ New York Islanders 0 (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Kevin McClelland scored 55 seconds into the 3rd period for the game's only goal as the Oilers edged the Islanders at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. Grant Fuhr posted the shutout, winning the goaltending duel over Billy Smith.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): The Look--Roxette (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Like a Prayer--Madonna (6th week at #1)

Died on this date
Woody Shaw, 44. U.S. musician. Mr. Shaw was regarded as one of the finest jazz trumpeters of his generation, playing as a sideman with various musicians and then leading his own band. He was losing his sight because of an incurable eye disease when he was hit by a subway car in Brooklyn, New York on February 27, 1989, and lost his left arm. Complications set in after surgery, and he died of kidney failure.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference Finals
Chicago 1 @ Calgary 3 (Calgary won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Baseball
Mark Langston of the Seattle Mariners carried a no-hitter and a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays, but pinch hitter Tom Lawless singled to break up the no-hitter, and the Blue Jays rallied for 3 runs to defeat the Mariners 3-2 before 33,216 fans at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Mr. Langston was the losing pitcher, although he was relieved with 1 out in the 9th by Mike Schooler, who surrendered a single by George Bell to drive in Junior Felix with the winning run with 2 out. Winning pitcher Jimmy Key pitched a complete game.

With 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning, Matt Nokes doubled home Ken Williams and Alan Trammell, and Keith Moreland followed with a single to score Mike Brumley to give the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 win over the California Angels before 13,187 fans at Tiger Stadium.

A 9th-inning rally fell short as the Chicago Cubs fell 4-3 to the San Francisco Giants before 25,638 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The last out came when Jerome Walton of the Cubs injured his hamstring on a single by pinch hitter Domingo Ramos, and was tagged out by third baseman Charlie Hayes as he attempted to crawl to third base.

The Montreal Expos scored 8 runs in the 2nd inning and 2 in the 3rd, and coasted to a 10-1 win over the Houston Astros before 9,628 fans at the Astrodome in a game that saw three Expos and two Astros ejected by home plate umpire Tom Hallion after Montreal's Spike Owen charged the mound in reaction to a pitch inside from Larry Andersen that had struck Mr. Owen's bat. Tom Foley led the Montreal attack with 3 doubles and a single in 5 at bats, with 2 runs and 3 runs batted in. Steve Frey made his major league debut on the mound for Montreal, allowing a hit while pitching a scoreless 9th inning.

20 years ago
1994

Died on this date
John Wayne Gacy, 52. U.S. criminal. Mr. Gacy was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, 14 years after being sentenced to death for the sexual assaults and murders of 12 teenage boys and young men, although he was convicted of 33 such murders, which took place in Chicago from 1972-1978.

Politics and government
African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as President of South Africa.