May 9, 2014

210 years ago
1804

Canadiana
Joseph F.W. DesBarres was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island, with his term to begin in July 1805.

150 years ago
1864

War
The Danish navy defeated the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland in the Second War of Schleswig.

140 years ago
1874

Transportation
The first horse-drawn bus made its début in the city of Bombay (Mumbai), travelling two routes.

125 years ago
1889

Horse racing
Spokane, with Thomas Kiley up, won the 15th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:34 1/2. Proctor Knott placed second and Once Again finished third in the eight-horse field.

Baseball
Ad Gumbert‚ normally a pitcher‚ played left field and hit a grand slam home run to give the Chicago Colts a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Alleghenys at West Side Park in Chicago.

110 years ago
1904

Transportation
The steam locomotive City of Truro became the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour), on a special ail run from Plymouth to London Paddington station.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Hank Snow. Canadian-born U.S. musician. Mr. Snow, born Clarence Eugene Snow in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, became a major star in country music, recording 140 albums and placing 85 singles on the Billboard country chart in a career that went from the 1930s to the 1980s. His hits included I'm Moving On and I've Been Everywhere. Mr. Snow died on December 20, 1999 at the age of 85.

Died on this date
C. W. Post, 59. U.S. businessman. Mr. Post manufactured farm implements and sold real estate before founding Postum Cereal Company (now known as Post Holdings, Inc.) in 1895. He shot himself because he was suffering from consistent stomach pain.

Americana
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day a public celebration.

75 years ago
1939

Religion
The Roman Catholic Church beatified its first Native Canadian: Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk from Kanawake, Quebec.

70 years ago
1944

War
Soviet forces captured the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. British troops occupied the villages of Gamberale, Fallascosa, and Palena on the Maiella Plateau in Italy. Japanese forces gained full control of the north-south Peking-Hankow railway in the Chinese province of Honan. Crossing the Yellow River in the vicinity of Yuanchu, the Japanese moved south, posing a new threat to the important Honan base of Loyang. U.S. Navy Admirals Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, and William Halsey completed talks in San Francisco on the war in the Pacific. The U.S. Army reported total strength of 7,481,925 as of January 1, 1944.

Labour
The United States government ended its control of the Chicago plant of Montgomery Ward & Company shortly before the National Labor Relatons Board announced that Congress of Industrial Organizations United Mail Order Warehouse and Retail Employees Union had won that day's election to represent the company's Chicago workers.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That--The Beatles

#1 single in France: La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser--Sylvie Vartan (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): E' l'uomo per me--Mina (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Oh My Darling Caroline--Ronny (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Don't Throw Your Love Away--The Searchers

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Hello, Dolly!--Louis Armstrong

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Can't Buy Me Love--The Beatles (5th week at #1)
2 Hello, Dolly!--Louis Armstrong
3 Do You Want to Know a Secret--The Beatles
4 Bits and Pieces--The Dave Clark Five
5 My Guy--Mary Wells
6 Don't Let the Rain Come Down (Crooked Little Man)--The Serendipity Singers
7 Love Me Do--The Beatles
8 Ronnie--The 4 Seasons
9 Dead Man's Curve--Jan & Dean
10 Shangri-La--Robert Maxwell and his Orchestra
--Vic Dana

Singles entering the chart were Be Anything (But Be Mine) by Connie Francis (#68); A World Without Love by Peter and Gordon (#72); What's the Matter with You Baby by Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells (#76); Good Golly Miss Molly by the Swinging Blue Jeans (#88); Hurt by Love by Inez Foxx (#94); Tea for Two by Nino Tempo & April Stevens (#95); Yesterday's Gone by Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde (#97); Not Fade Away by the Rolling Stones (#98); One Way Love by the Drifters (#99); and The Loneliest Night by Dale & Grace (#100). What's the Matter with You Baby was the B-side of Once Upon a Time, which charted at #61. Bobby Rydell's version of A World Without Love charted at #3 on the Looking Ahead chart and was mentioned with the version by Peter and Gordon, but was not charted. The Overlanders' version of Yesterday's Gone was mentioned with the version by Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, but was not charted. Not Fade Away was the first single by the Rolling Stones to make the chart in the U.S.A.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Any Dream Will Do--Joe Cuddy

Died on this date
H. Roe Bartle, 72. U.S. politician. Harold Roe Bartle, a Democrat, was an executive with the Boy Scouts, and served on the boards of directors of various businesses and charities before serving as Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri (1956-1963). As Mayor, he oversaw social and political reforms; the Dallas Texans of the American Football League moved to Kansas City in 1963 and were renamed the Chiefs, which was Mr. Bartle's nickname. Mr. Bartle stood 6' 4" and weighed more than 200 pounds as a young man; he gained weight in later years until he may have weighed 375 pounds. Mr. Bartle died of diabetes and heart disease.

Music
A concert in Cambridge, Massachusetts prompted critic Jon Landau to write in The Real Paper, "I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen."

Politics and government
The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opened formal hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. In an 18-minute public session, the committee members pledged to use the "awesome" power of impeachment wisely. After a brief procedural debate, the committee went into closed session to hear evidence gathered by the committee staff in six areas of possible impeachment offense by the President. House Minority Leader John Rhodes (Republican--Arizona), noting calls for Mr. Nixon's resignation from such conservative media outlets as the Omaha World-Herald and the Hearst newspaper chain, urged Mr. Nixon to consider resignation.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Philadelphia 3 @ Boston 2 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Bobby Clarke scored at 12:01 of the 1st overime period to give the Flyers their win over the Bruins before 15,003 fans at Boston Garden.

30 years ago
1984

Politics and government
Roberto d'Aubuisson, the candidate of the National Republican Alliance (Arena), who had lost the May 6 presidential election to Christian Democratic party candidate Jose Napoleon Duarte, chaged that Mr. Duarte was a "puppet" of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Arena claimed irregularities in the voting and refused to participate in the vote count.

Defense
U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech in which he defended his Central American policies, warning that Cuba and Nicaragua would win the civil war in El Salvador unless the United States provided more military aid. He characterized the U.S.-backed Contras fighting against the Sandanista regime in Nicaragua as "freedom fighters." Representative Michael Barnes (Democrat--Maryland) delivered his party's response by saying that administration policies relied too much on military solutions at the expense of diplomacy.

Baseball
In a game that ended the day after it began, the Chicago White Sox edged the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 in 25 innings before 14,754 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The game, which had started on May 8 and had been suspended after 17 innings with the score tied 3-3, took 8 hours and 6 minutes to play, the most time-consuming game in major league history. Ben Oglivie hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 21st to give Milwaukee a 6-3 lead, but Chicago rallied for 3 in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Don Sutton started on the mound for the Brewers and pitched 7 innings. Chuck Porter, the sixth Milwaukee pitcher, pitched 7 1/3 innings of relief, losing the game when Harold Baines hit the game's 753rd pitch for a home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 25th. Bob Fallon pitched the first 6 innings for the White Sox. Juan Agosto, the fifth Chicago pitcher, pitched 7 innings of relief without giving up a run. Tom Seaver, the eighth White Sox pitcher of the game, pitched a scoreless 25th inning and was credited with the win. Another member of the Chicago pitching staff, Rich Dotson, didn't pitch, but played as a pinch runner and scored one of the runs in the White Sox' 21st-inning rally.

25 years ago
1989

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Whose Woods are These?

Died on this date
Timothy Farrell, 66. U.S. actor. Mr. Farrell, whose real name was Timothy Sperl, was known for his deadpan acting style in low-budget movies such as Glen or Glenda (1953); Jail Bait (1954); and The Violent Years (1956). He spent 26 years with the Los Angeles County Marshal's Office, eventually becoming County Marshal in 1971. Mr. Sperl was fired in 1975 after his conviction on felony charges for "illegal use of deputy marshals in political activities." Mr. Farrell died of a heart attack.

Science
At a meeting of the Electrochemical Society in Los Angeles, scientists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons defended their experiment in cold fusion--nuclear fusion at room temperature--claiming that the experiment was producing 10-50 times more energy than had been put in. Drs. Fleischmann and Pons, who had announced the results of their experiment in March, were coming under heavy criticism from within the scientific community after the failure of a number of attempts by other scientists to replicate the results.

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

Baseball
New York Mets' shortstop Kevin Elster had played 88 consecutive games without an error, and Boston Red Sox' catcher Rick Cerone had played 159 consecutive errorless games, but both major league record streaks ended on this day. Mr. Elster made an error on a ground ball by Barry Larkin leading off the 9th, but the error wasn't costly, and he had already singled in a run and scored a run to help the Mets defeat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 before 12,645 fans at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Mr. Cerone's error, on the other hand, was costly. With a runner on base and none out in the top of the 8th, he dropped a foul fly off the bat of Tim Laudner, who then doubled and eventually scored. Mr. Cerone's error led to 3 unearned runs, helping the Twins win 6-2 before 25,951 fans at Fenway Park in Boston.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Streets of Philadelphia--Bruce Springsteen (5th week at #1)

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Love Sneakin' Up on You--Bonnie Raitt (3rd week at #1)
2 Baby, I Love Your Way--Big Mountain
3 I'll Remember--Madonna
4 Return to Innocence--Enigma
5 Mr. Jones--Counting Crows
6 Streets of Philadelphia--Bruce Springsteen
7 Misled--Celine Dion
8 Swimming in Your Ocean--Crash Test Dummies
9 Sleeping in My Car--Roxette
10 The Sign--Ace of Base

Singles entering the chart were If You Go by Jon Secada (#70); Loving Me is Not a Sin by Mitsou (#82); Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than They Are by Meat Loaf (#86); Another Night by M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy (#90); Some Kind of Wonderful by Huey Lewis and the News (#95); Crying Shame by Wild Strawberries (#96); Miss World by Hole (#97); In the Time it Takes by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Paul Carrack (#98); and Make a Liar Out of Me by Lori Yates (#99).

Disappeared on this date
Clea Hall, 18. U.S. student. Miss Hall, an honour student in high school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas who had been accepted into the pre-medical program at Tennessee State University, was working an after-hours job at the home office of Dr. Larry Amos, 43, and disappeared shortly after 8:30 P.M., after finishing her shift. She had called her mother shortly after 8 P.M. and told her to expect another call when it was time for Mrs. Hall to come and give her a ride home. The second call never came; Dr. Amos told police that he saw Miss Hall getting into a car with an unknown person after leaving his office. She hasn't been seen since.

Politics and government
African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa by the 400-seat National Assembly.

Health
Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, was placed under quarantine after an outbreak of Ebola virus.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Alan King, 66. U.S. comedian. Born Irwin Alan Kniberg, Mr. King performed in burlesque houses and nightclubs before achieving popularity with routines drawing on everyday life for his humour. He made many television appearances, and starred in such movies as Just Tell Me What You Want (1980) and Memories of Me (1988).

Akhmad Kadyrov, 52. 1st President of the Chechen Republic, 2003-2004. Mr. Kadyrov, who was backed by the Russian government, was one of as many as 13-30 people killed and 60 injured when a bomb exploded during a Soviet Victory Day World War II memorial parade at the Dinamo football stadium in Grozny. Mr. Kadyrov was succeeded as President by Alu Alkhanov.

Hockey
IIHF World Men's Championship @ Prague
Bronze Medal
U.S.A. 1 Slovakia 0 (OT)

Gold Medal
Canada 5 Sweden 3

For the first time since 1958 and 1959, Canada won its second consecutive championship. Dany Heatley of Canada, who scored 8 goals and 3 assists in 9 games, was named the tournament's most valuable player.