May 24, 2016

160 years ago
1856

Politics and government
Co-Premiers Étienne-Paschal Taché (Canada East) and John A. Macdonald (Canada West) formed a new ministry after the MacNab-Tache government had resigned on May 22. All previous ministers except Allan MacNab and Lewis Drummond were back in office; George-Étienne Cartier was named Attorney-General for Canada East.

125 years ago
1891

Born on this date
William F. Albright. Chilean-born U.S. archaeologist. Dr. Albright, the son of Methodist missionaries, was a professor of Semitic Languages at Johns Hopkins University (1930-1958) and Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem (1922–1929, 1933–1936). He founded the field of biblical archaeology, and did important work at sites in Israel such as Gibeah (Tell el-Fûl, 1922) and Tell Beit Mirsim (1926, 1928, 1930, 1932). Dr. Albright died on September 19, 1971 at the age of 80.

80 years ago
1936

Died on this date
Red Ryan, 41. Canadian criminal. Norman J. Ryan was a bank robber in the 1920s who was sentenced to Kingston Penitentiary, where he became a model prisoner. Mr. Ryan seemed to be such a good example of reform that he was released in 1935, and had a radio program on Toronto station CFRB, where he denounced the criminal lifestyle. While publicly claiming to have reformed, Mr. Ryan had privately resumed his old ways, and went on a 10-month bank robbery spree across Ontario, which ended when he and partner Harry Checkley were killed in a gunfight with police while attempting to rob a liquor store in Sarnia. Sarnia police constable Jack Lewis, 33, was also killed.

75 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra (9th week at #1)

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan!

The legendary singer-songwriter was born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota.

War
The British cruisers HMS Norfolk and Suffolk made contact with the German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen in the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland; in the ensuing Battle of the Denmark Strait, the British battle cruiser HMS Hood was sunk with the loss of 1,415 men, and only 3 survivors, while the German ships escaped. A German communique claimed that German troops had occupied the western part of Crete.



Defense
The Battle of Oahu, an exercise involving 35,000 U.S. troops and army bombers, ended in Hawaii after the enemy invaders were theoretically destroyed. U.S. Senator James Mead (Democrat--New York) urged that the United States negotiate with France for temporary bases on French islands in the Western Hemisphere, or seize them if necessary.

Politics and government
Sources in Ankara reported that Emir Abdul Illah, deposed regent of Iraq and uncle of King Feisal, had returned to Iraq under British protection, and was planning to establish a new government in opposition to Prime Minister Rashid Ali Ben Gailani.

Religion
Vatican officials said that German authorities had issued a decree banning all Roman Catholic periodicals and newspapers after June 1, 1941.

Labour
Congress of Industrial Organizations members of North American Aviation Inc. of Inglewood, California voted 5,829-210 to strike to back their wage demands; the company had over $120 million in defense contracts.

Track and field
Les Steers of Oregon set a world record in the high jump of 6' 10 7/8" in the Los Angeles Coliseum Relays.

70 years ago
1946

At the movies
Dressed to Kill, the fourteenth and last movie starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson, opened in theatres in New York City.





Diplomacy
The Arab Higher Commission in Jerusalem submitted three demands to the U.S.A. and U.K: 1) abrogation of the British mandate in Palestine and cessation of Jewish immigration; 2) establishment of an Arab Palestine; 3) withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Defense
U.S.S.R. Ambassador to Iran Ivan Sadchikov officially notified Iran that the Soviet Red Army had completed its withdrawal from Iran on May 6.

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill accused Egypt of ingratitude, and urged that Egypt be held to the 1936 treaty permitting British troops in the country.

Labour
U.S. President Harry Truman threatened to call out the Army to operate the nation's railroads if striking members of the Railroad Trainmen and Locomotive Engineers Brotherhoods did not return to work by 4 P.M. on May 25. Skeleton crews maintained rail service at only 1% of the normal level, threatening many areas with a food shortage.

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Amour, Castagnettes et Tango--Lucienne Delyle (4th week at #1)

Music
The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Fernando--ABBA (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Beautiful Sunday--Daniel Boone (10th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Save Your Kisses for Me--The Brotherhood of Man

Died on this date
Denise Pelletier, 53. Canadian actress. Miss Pelletier performed in numerous plays and television programs, mainly in the French language in her native Quebec. She died during a heart operation two days after her 53rd birthday.

Music
The single Rock and Roll Music/The TM Song by the Beach Boys was released on Brother/Reprise Records. It was their first new single since Child of Winter, released in December 1974.

Transportation
The British and French Concorde supersonic jets made their first commercial flights, opening trans-Atlantic service to Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C.

Boxing
Muhammad Ali (52-2) retained his world heavyweight title with a technical knockout of Richard Dunn (33-10) at 2:05 of the 5th round at Olympiahalle in Munich. On the undercard, Duane Bobick (36-0) scored an 8-round technical knockout over Bunny Johnson (44-8-1) in a heavyweight bout.



30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Live to Tell--Madonna (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Young Ones (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Wonderful World--Sam Cooke

Wonderful World was originally a hit in North America in 1960.

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Chicken Song--Spitting Image (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: The Chicken Song--Spitting Image

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Greatest Love of All--Whitney Houston (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Greatest Love of All--Whitney Houston
2 Live to Tell--Madonna
3 Why Can’t This Be Love--Van Halen
4 West End Girls--Pet Shop Boys
5 What Have You Done for Me Lately--Janet Jackson
6 Addicted to Love--Robert Palmer
7 On My Own--Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald
8 If You Leave--Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
9 Bad Boy--Miami Sound Machine
10 All I Need is a Miracle--Mike & the Mechanics

Singles entering the chart were Like a Rock by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (#56); Dreams by Van Halen (#58); Mountains by Prince and the Revolution (#61); Secret Separation by the Fixx (#75); You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song) by Jeffrey Osborne (#80); Divided Hearts by Kim Carnes (#81); Headed for the Future by Neil Diamond (#83); Fire with Fire by Wild Blue (#84); Peter Gunn by the Art of Noise featuring Duane Eddy (#85); One Step Closer to You by Gavin Christopher (#86); We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off by Jermaine Stewart (#88); I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Loveby Stephanie Mills (#89); and Female Intuition by Mai Tai (#90).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Live to Tell--Madonna
2 West End Girls--Pet Shop Boys
3 The Power of Love--Jennifer Rush
4 Greatest Love of All--Whitney Houston
5 Addicted to Love--Robert Palmer
6 If You Leave--Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
7 Let’s Go All the Way--Sly Fox
8 Manic Monday--Bangles
9 What Have You Done for Me Lately--Janet Jackson
10 Tender Love--Force M.D.’s

Singles entering the chart were Crush on You by the Jets (#86); If Your Heart Isn’t in It by Atlantic Starr (#90); One Hit (To the Body) by the Rolling Stones (#93); If She Knew What She Wants by the Bangles (#95); Headed for the Future by Neil Diamond (#96); Why Don’t You Take It by FM (#98); and Where Do the Children Go by the Hooters (#99).

Died on this date
Yakima Canutt, 90. U.S. cowboy, stuntman, and director. Enos Edward Canutt began a successful career as a rodeo rider as a teenager, winning numerous trophies in the late 1910s and early '20s, while appearing in bit parts in several movies before moving into stunt work. He worked on more than 300 films in a career spanning more than 40 years. In the 1940s he began directing films, and often worked as a second unit director of movies such as Ben-Hur (1959) and El Cid (1961). Mr. Canutt died of cardiac arrest.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Montreal 4 @ Calgary 3 (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Montreal goalie Patrick Roy was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player after the Canadiens defeated the Flames at Olympic Saddledome.



25 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Gene Clark, 46. U.S. musician. Mr. Clark was a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and was one of the founding members of the rock group the Byrds from 1964-1966. He then left the group and had a lengthy solo career, with little commercial success. In the late 1970s, he reunited with former Byrd bandmates Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, and the trio had some success as McGuinn, Clark and Hillman. Mr. Clark abused drink and drugs for much of his life, and also had other health problems; he died of a bleeding ulcer, and also had throat cancer at the time of his death.

World events
Israel conducted Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Economics and finance
U.S. President George Bush got the United States Senate to approve "fast track" talks for the North American Free Trade Accord; Mr. Bush was empowered to deal without amendments from Congress.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Children--Robert Miles (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Man Utd Man--Men Utd featuring the Absolutely's (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Joseph Mitchell, 87. U.S. journalist. Mr. Mitchell had a career spanning more than 60 years, and was known for his character studies of people and events in New York City that appeared in The New Yorker.

Enrique Álvarez Félix, 62. Mexican actor. Mr. Álvarez, the son of actress María Félix, appeared in more than two dozen telenovelas and almost two dozen movies in a career spanning more than 40 years before his death from a heart attack.

Business
Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc. raised its holdings in Southam Inc. to 41%, giving it effective control of the chain that published 20 Canadian newspapers.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Eastern Conference Finals
Pittsburgh 2 @ Florida 5 (Florida led best-of-seven series 2-1)

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Henry Bumstead, 91. U.S. movie art director and production designer. Mr. Bumstead had a career that spanned 55 years, and won Academy Awards for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Sting (1973). He worked with director Alfred Hitchock on The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956); Vertigo (1958); Topaz (1969); and Family Plot (1976), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Vertigo.

Jesús Ledesma Aguilar, 42. Mexican criminal. Mr. Aguilar was executed by lethal injection for the June 10, 1995 murders of Leonardo and Annette Chavez. He protested his innocence, and the International Court of Justice ruled in 1996 that the state of Texas had denied Mr. Aguilar his legal right to see a Mexican consular official as specified in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Politics and government
The Canadian Department of Indian and Northern Affairs established a new Ojibwa reserve - Lake Nippigon Reserve - in northern Ontario.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Eastern Conference Finals
Carolina 3 @ Buffalo 4 (Buffalo led best-of-seven series 2-1)