May 18, 2017

375 years ago
1642

Canadiana
Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, landed on the site of Montreal and starts building a fort on the site of Place Royale after Jesuit Father Barthélemy Vimont, said a thanksgiving mass; he and Jeanne Mance, Madame de la Peltrie and other colonists backed by La Société Notre-Dame began to develop a settlement they called Ville Marie de Montréal.

150 years ago
1867

Diplomacy
Emperor Napoleon III of France and King Wilhelm of Prussia signed the Luxembourg treaty.

125 years ago
1892

Born on this date
Ezio Pinza. Italian singer and actor. Mr. Pinza sang bass with the Metropolitan Opera in New York for 22 years and with the San Francisco Opera for 20 years from the mid-1920s to the late 1940s. He then appeared in Broadway musicals, winning a Tony Award for his lead performance in South Pacific (1949). Mr. Pinza died of a stroke on May 9, 1957, nine days before his 65th birthday.

120 years ago
1897

Born on this date
Frank Capra. Italian-born U.S. movie director. Mr. Capra, a native of Sicily, moved with his family to the United States at the age of 5. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for It Happened One Night (1934); Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); and You Can't Take it with You (1938). His most popular film today is probably It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Mr. Capra produced the seven-episode Why We Fight (1942-1945) series of propaganda films for the U.S. Army, which were eventually released to the public, and one of which--Prelude to War (1942)--won an Academy Award. He died on September 3, 1991 at the age of 94.

110 years ago
1907

Born on this date
Irene Hunt. U.S. authoress. Miss Hunt was an elementary and junior high school English teacher who began writing novels for children in the mid-1960s. Her first novel, Across Five Aprils (1964), was runner-up for the Newbery Medal, and she won the award for her next novel, Up a Road Slowly (1966). Miss Hunt died on May 18, 2001, her 94th birthday.

100 years ago
1917

War
Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden's Union Government announced that it would bring in conscription.

The Selective Service Act of 1917 was passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Borden offered a coalition to Liberal Party leader Wilfrid Laurier, but the Opposition leader refused, saying that French Canadians would never accept a pro-conscription coalition, but would turn to support Henri Bourassa. A number of Liberals backed Mr. Borden.

90 years ago
1927

Academia
The Government of the Republic of China approved Tongji University to be among the first national universities of the Republic of China. The university had been founded 20 years earlier.

Crime
Andrew Kehoe, 55, a school board treasurer who had been defeated in an election for the clerk of Bath Township, Michigan, murdered his wife Nellie at home and then killed 37 children and 4 adults with bombs planted at Bath Consolidated School before committing suicide by detonating dynamite in his truck, an explosion which killed 2 more adults and another child.

75 years ago
1942

Died on this date
Patrick Boland, 62. U.S. politician. Mr. Boland, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 11th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1931 until his death, and was House Majority Whip from 1935 until his death.

War
The third and largest contingent of U.S. troops together with tank units arrived in the United Kingdom. The British Admiralty announced in London that Rear Admiral Sir Henry Harwood, who had commanded cruisers in the Battle of the River Plate of the coast of Uruguay in December 1939, had succeeded Admiral Andrew Brown Cunningham in command of the Mediterranean fleet. Russian troops continued to advance along a 100-mile-front in the Kharkov area despite heavy German counterattacks. The Confederation of Mexican Workers formally petitioned President Manuel Avila Camacho for Mexico to declare war on the Axis.

Defense
The U.S.A. and Panama reached an agreement in Panama for the United States to lease land outside the Canal Zone for military forces.

Society
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote a private letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King in which he proposed that the U.S.A. and Canada agree on an unwritten plan to disperse French Canadians in order to assimilate them.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Office of Price Administration's price ceilings for retail goods, based on the highest prices in March, went into effect throughout the nation.

Baseball
New York Police Commissioner Lewis Valentine ordered an end to night baseball in the city for the duration of World War II because the glow of lights in the sky endangered shipping.

70 years ago
1947

Died on this date
Hal Chase, 64. U.S. baseball player. "Prince Hal" was a first baseman with the New York Highlanders (1905-1913); Chicago White Sox (1913-1914); Buffalo Buffeds/Blues (1914-1915); Cincinnati Reds (1916-1918); and New York Giants (1919), batting .291 with 57 home runs and 941 runs batted in in 1,917 games. Mr. Chase took over as manager of the Highlanders late in the 1910 season, leading them to a 10-4 finish and a 76-76 record in 1911. He led the Federal League in home runs (17) in 1915, and led the National League in 1916 with a .339 batting average. Mr. Chase was widely regarded as the best-fielding first baseman in history, but he frequently led his league in errors, many of which were likely deliberate. Mr. Chase was one of the most corrupt people ever associated with professional baseball, and was frequently suspected of throwing and fixing games; the accusations--including those from managers George Stallings, Frank Chance, and Christy Mathewson--carried on for a decade, but Mr. Chase was always able to get away with it. He was mentioned in connection with the bribery of seven White Sox players to lose the 1919 World Series against the Reds, and was banned from the National League after the season, albeit as a result of evidence of his throwing a game in 1918. Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis made the ban permanent in 1921, and Mr. Chase concluded his career by playing in various outlaw leagues in the 1920s. He drifted from job to job after that, drank heavily, and died virtually penniless, remorseful for betting on baseball.

War
Vietnamese nationalist forces supported by artillery struck a surprise blow against French military headquarters in Saigon.

Politics and government
State Assembly elections in the French Zone of Germany resulted in a victory for the Christian Democratic Union, which gained 52% of the votes to 26% for the Social Democrats and 8% for the Communists.

Science
The American Association of Scientific Workers issued a study of germ warfare technology, warning that bacterial weapons rivalled the atomic bomb as "one of the most important hazards to humanity which could result from the misuse of science."

60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Young Love--Tab Hunter; Sonny James (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Cindy, Oh Cindy--Margot Eskens (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Butterfly--Andy Williams (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 All Shook Up--Elvis Presley (6th week at #1)
2 Little Darlin'--The Diamonds
3 Come Go with Me--The Dell-Vikings
4 Round and Round--Perry Como
5 School Day--Chuck Berry
6 So Rare--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra
7 A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)--Marty Robbins
8 Gone--Ferlin Husky
9 Dark Moon--Bonnie Guitar
--Gale Storm
10 Party Doll--Buddy Knox with the Rhythm Orchids
--Steve Lawrence

Singles entering the chart were I'm Walkin' by Ricky Nelson (#12, charting with the version by Fats Domino); It's You I Love (#27)/Valley of Tears (#30) by Fats Domino; Bernardine by Pat Boone (#29); Start Movin' (In My Direction) by Sal Mineo (#32); Freight Train, with versions by Rusty Draper, and the Chas. McDevitt Skiffle Group (#35); Warm Up to Me Baby by Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids (#38); Goin' Steady by Tommy Sands (#40); The Girl with the Golden Braids (#46)/My Little Baby (#50) by Perry Como; Talkin' to the Blues by Jim Lowe (#56); C.C. Rider by Chuck Willis (#60); and Rang Tang Ding Dong (I am the Japanese Sandman) by the Cellos (also #60). Bernardine was the title song of the movie, which starred Mr. Boone.

Music
Fats Domino played a benefit concert at Rosenwald Gymnasium in New Orleans, with proceeds going toward construction of St. David Catholic School in the city's Ninth Ward, where Mr. Domino lived.

Defense
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri as-Said said that Arab states would have to abandon neutralism and ally with the West or risk being "dominated by Moscow." He warned that Iraq would remain under martial law until Communist activities had been stamped out in neighbouring Syria and Jordan.

The first U.S. aircraft to be delivered under the renewed military aid program arrived in Yugoslavia.

Politics and government
A new organization of liberals calling themselves "Democrats of Texas" was formed in Austin for the purpose of wresting the state party machinery from the leadership of U.S. Senator Lyndon Johnson, Governor Price Daniel, and other "conservatives."

Horse racing
Bold Ruler, with Eddie Arcaro up, won the 82nd running of the Preakness Stakes before 32,856 fans at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in a time of 1:56 1/5, 2 lengths ahead of Kentucky Derby winner Iron Liege, with third-place Inside Tract another 1/4-length behind.



50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Boston Burglar--Johnny McEvoy

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Silence is Golden--The Tremeloes

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Free--Deniece Williams (3rd week at #1)

Hockey
WHA
Avco World Trophy
Finals
Quebec 1 @ Winnipeg 6 (Winnipeg led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Baseball
Robin Yount singled home Sixto Lezcano with 2 out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays before 7,208 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee in a game televised on CBC. Milwaukee designated hitter Dan Thomas batted 0 for 3 with a base on balls in the 54th and last game of his 2-year major league career. Mr. Thomas was a member of the Worldwide Church of God; he observed the seventh-day Sabbath an refused to play from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, earning him the nickname "The Sundown Kid." This caused him to miss too many games, leading to his release.

The Atlanta Braves scored 3 runs in the 4th inning and 4 in the 5th to take a 7-1 lead, and held on to defeat the Montreal Expos 10-8 before 9,788 fans at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in a game televised on Radio-Canada. Jeff Burroughs and Jerry Royster each had 3 hits for the Braves, while Larry Parrish drove in 4 runs for the Expos on a pair of home runs.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Slice of Heaven--Dave Dobbyn with Herbs

Crime
An abortion clinic in Toronto founded by “Dr.” Henry Morgentaler was destroyed by an explosion and fire attributed to arson.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): 9700-Irma--DJ Konnat (2nd week at #1)

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference Finals
Edmonton 2 @ Chicago 4 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Despite being outshot 25-5, the Oilers led 2-1 at Chicago Stadium after 2 periods, thanks to the goaltending of Bill Ranford, but the Blackhawks’ firepower eventually proved too much for the Oilers to hold off forever.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Truly Madly Deeply--Savage Garden (7th week at #1)

#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Don't Leave Me--Blackstreet (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Mama--Spice Girls

#1 single in Switzerland: I Believe I Can Fly--R. Kelly (4th week at #1)

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Eastern Conference Finals
New York Rangers 5 @ Philadelphia 4 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, 74. French physicist. Dr. de Gennes was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prizes in Physics "for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers."

Shawn McCaughey. Canadian military aviator. Captain McCaughey, a member of the Snowbirds, was killed when his jet crashed during rehearsal for an air show in Great Falls, Montana. He was the sixth member of the Snowbirds team since 1972 to be killed while performing.

Politics and government
Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean appointed Pierre Duchesne as Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec.