May 31, 2014

360 years ago
1654

Died on this date
Hippolytus Guarinonius, 82. Italian-born polymath. Dr. Guarinonius was a Jesuit-educated physician who spent most of his life in the Tyrol in Austria. As an architect, he was instrumental in building Karlskirche (St. Charles Church) in the townof Volders. Dr. Guarinonius was a local leader in the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation, and his harsh behaviour was occasionally too much even for his Jesuit mentors.

125 years ago
1889

Disasters
2,209 people were killed and $17 million ($425 million in 2012 dollars) resulted when heavy rains caused the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River to collapse, sending 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pennsylvania.



100 years ago
1914

Baseball
Joe Benz pitched a no-hitter to lead the Chicago White Sox over the Cleveland Naps 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Sunday, Monday or Always--Frank Sinatra; George Trevare (1st month at #1)

War
U.S. troops pierced the Germans' Alban Hills defenses, swinging east around Velletri and seizing Mount Peschio.

Journalism
A false report that the Allies had launched the invasion of Europe with landings in France was sent by the London office of Associated Press to the United States and Latin America, and in five minutes before the error was killed, was broadcast by all the American radio networks.

Politics and government
Dr. Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra accepted the presidency of Ecuador, offered to him by the military junta.

The U.S. National Governors' Conference adopted a resolution demanding postwar return to the states of powers yielded to the federal government in the war emergency.

Religion
A committee of Protestant laymen and ministers in the U.S.A. issued a report warning against impoverishment of Germany after the end of World War II.

Science
The University of California announced the production of synthetic sugar by Professors H. Barker, Michael Doudoroff, and W.Z. Hassid.

Economics and finance
U.S. Solid Fuels Administrator Harold Ickes returned most of the 3,000 bituminous coal mines to the owners after seven months of government operation.

Labour
U.S. Senator Hugh Butler (Republican--Nebraska) called for an investigation of the Congress of Industrial Organization's political committee, and charged that Attorney General Francis Biddle "has gone out of his way" to forgive violations of the Corrupt Practices Act.

Officers of the Chicago local of the CIO United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Employes of America threatened another strike against Montgomery Ward & Co. unless the National War Labor Board ordered the company to continue the contract which had expired the previous December.

60 years ago
1954

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Schwedenmädel--Lys Assia (1st month at #1)

Television
CBWT in Winnipeg, the first television station in Canada's prairie provinces, began broadcasting.

Auto racing
Bill Vukovich won the Indianapolis 500 for the second straight year.





40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks (7th week at #1)

30 years ago
1984

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 121 @ Boston 124 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Scott Wedman scored the game-winning basket with 14 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Celtics the win over the Lakers before 14,890 fans at Boston Garden. Boston tied the game 113-113 in the final seconds of regulation time when Gerald Henderson scored on a layup after stealing a pass from James Worthy of Los Angeles. Mr. Worthy led all scorers with 29 points. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 27 points and added 13 rebounds.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Minä olen muistanut--Kim Lönnholm (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Eternal Flame--Bangles

Died on this date
Owen Lattimore, 88. U.S. scholar. Mr. Lattimore was a specialist on China and central Asia, with his best-known book being The Inner Asian Frontiers of China (1940). He edited the journal Pacific Affairs from 1934-1942, and served during World War II as an adviser to the U.S. State Department and Chinese leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. In 1950, Mr. Lattimore was accused by U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy (Republican--Wisconsin) of being a Soviet spy, but investigators failed to prove the allegation, although Mr. Lattimore did express sympathy for the U.S.S.R. and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Charges of perjury against Mr. Lattimore were eventually dismissed, but his academic career in the United States was ended; he established the Department of Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds, heading the department from 1963-1970.

Diplomacy
U.S. President George Bush met with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Bonn. The main objective of the visit was to ease tensions between the allies that had been exacerbated by the dispute over short-range U.S. missiles based in West Germany.

Politics and government
United States House of Representatives speaker Jim Wright announced his resignation as speaker and from the House. In a long, impassioned speech to the House, Mr. Wright defended himself against 69 charges brought against him in April by the House Ethics Committee, and urged an end to the "period of mindless cannibalism" that prevailed in the House.

Terrorism
Six members of the Peruvian guerrilla group Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement murdered eight transsexuals in Tarapoto.

Medicine
United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called for a major effort against alcohol and drunk driving. He urged the alcoholic beverage industry to stop sponsoring entertainment events and using celebrities in advertising, and he asked restaurants and bars to end "happy hours" and other similar promotions. Dr. Koop proposed an increase in excise taxes on alcoholic beverages and tougher enforcement of laws suspending licenses of drivers who had been drinking.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the Index of Leading Economic Indicators had risen 0.8% in April.

Baseball
Cito Gaston was named manager of the Toronto Blue Jays on a permanent basis.

Deion Sanders threw out a baserunner, drove in a run, and ignited a 5-run 7th-inning rally with a single in his major league debut as the New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners 9-5 before 22,946 fans at Yankee Stadium. Don Mattingly had 4 hits for the Yankees, and his 2-run home run in the 8th inning finished the Yankees' scoring.

Rick Cerone singled home Ellis Burks with 2 out in the bottom of the 10th inning to climax a 2-run rally as the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 before 33,510 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. Dave Parker had led off the top of the 10th to give Oakland a 3-2 lead.

20 years ago
1994

Defense
The United States announced that it was no longer aiming long-range nuclear missiles at targets in the former Soviet Union.

Politics and government
J.E.N. Wiebe was sworn in as Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Vancouver 3 @ New York Rangers 2 (OT) (Vancouver led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Greg Adams scored with 32 seconds remaining in the 1st overtime period--just after New York defenseman Brian Leetch's shot had hit the crossbar of the Vancouver goal--to give the Canucks the win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers led 2-1 until Martin Gelinas scored the tying goal with 1 minute remaining in regulation time.



10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Alberta Martin, 97. U.S. widow. Mrs. Martin was one of the last widows of a U.S. Civil War veteran, having married Confederate veteran William Martin in 1927 when she was 21 and he was 81.

Hockey
Tampa Bay 1 @ Calgary 0 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

Brad Richards scored 3 minutes into the game with Tampa Bay holding a 2-man advantage, and Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 29 shots for the shutout as the Lightning edged the Flames at Pengrowth Saddledome.