May 29, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Cathy Brown!

850 years ago
1167

War
A Roman army supporting Pope Alexander III was defeated by Holy Roman Empire forces led by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel in the Battle of Monte Porzio.

150 years ago
1867

Europeana
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary.

125 years ago
1892

Died on this date
Bahá'u'lláh, 74. Persian religious leader. Bahá'u'lláh, born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí, founded the Bahá'í Faith--a religion teaching the essential worth of all religions, and the unity and equality of all people--in 1863.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
John F. Kennedy. 35th President of the United States of America, 1961-1963. Mr. Kennedy, a Democrat, was the son of U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joe Kennedy and grandson of U.S. Representative and Mayor of Boston John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, after whom he was named. John F. Kennedy was a decorated U.S. Navy officer in World War II; he represented Massachusetts' 11th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1947-1953), and represented the state in the Senate (1953-1960). He won a close and disputed election against Vice President and Republican Party candidate Richard Nixon in 1960, and succeeded Dwight D. Eisenhower as President in 1961. Mr. Kennedy's time as President included tense relations with the U.S.S.R.--culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962; the beginning of the manned space race with the Soviet Union; and increasing demands by Negroes for civil rights in the United States. President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963 at the age of 46; conspiracy theories abound.

Died on this date
Kate Harrington, 85. U.S. teacher and writer. Miss Harrington was a schoolteacher in several states and wrote fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, but had her greatest influence with a series of literature readers for children, correlating spelling and reading instruction, and incorporating music into the process, thus serving as a forerunner for phonics systems.

75 years ago
1942

Died on this date
John Barrymore, 60. U.S. actor. Mr. Barrymore, born John Blyth, was the younger brother of actors Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, and was known as "The Great Profile." He had a distinguished career on stage and in movies such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920); Sherlock Holmes (1922); Grand Hotel (1932); Counsellor at Law (1933); and Twentieth Century (1934). Heavy drinking took its toll on him in later years, contributing to a decline in his career and leading to his death.

Music
Bing Crosby first recorded the song White Christmas, for the movie Holiday Inn (1942).

War
The Mexican Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously in favour of a declaration of war against Germany, Italy, and Japan. German tanks broke through British lines at Sidi Rezegh, Libya, 50 miles west of the Egyptian border. The Chinese command claimed that its troops had been forced to retreat from Kinwha and Lanchi in Chekiang Province because of the Japanese use of poison gas. Japanese forces entered the Chinese city of Lungyu, west of Kinwha, and engaged Chinese troops in street fighting.

Transportation
The Association of American Railroads adopted general war measures which included reduction in luxury passenger accommodations; elimination of non-essential trains; and an increase in passenger capacity.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved a Treasury Department plan to curb tax evasion by disallowing excessive salaries and war bonuses as "ordinary and necessary" business expenses.

70 years ago
1947

Diplomacy
Speaking on Palestine to the British Labour Party congress in London, U.K. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin said that neither the Balfour Declaration nor Britain's League of Nations mandate justified depriving Palestinian Arabs of their rights, or sanctioned unlimited Jewish immigration.

Politics and government
Hungarian Premier Ferenc Nagy, on vacation in Switzerland, resigned in response to U.S.S.R. charges that he had plotted with Bela Kovacs and other Peasant Party leaders to overthrow "Hungarian Democracy."

Defense
Under Soviet pressure, Denmark demanded the renegotiation of a 1941 agreement allowing the United States to construct and maintain weather stations, airfields, and a Navy refuelling station in Greenland.

Economics and finance
U.S. and U.K. authorities consolidated economic agencies in their zones of Germany into a bi-zonal Economic Council, empowered to formulate "general policies for the...economic reconstruction of both zones as an integrated economic area..."

Crime
A U.S. Army court martial in Yokohama sentenced Colonel Edward Murray to 10 years' imprisonment for stealing $92,000 in diamonds while serving as custodian of the Bank of Japan vaults.

Disasters
A United Airlines DC-4 crashed during takeoff from La Guardia Airport in New York, killing 42 passengers.

60 years ago
1957

At the movies
Love in the Afternoon, directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, and Maurice Chevalier, received its premiere screening in Paris.



Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, received its premiere screening in New York City.



World events
King Hussein of Jordan accused U.S.S.R. agents in Syria of bribing Army officers to attempt to overthrow him.

Politics and government
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower accepted the resignation of Treasury Secretary George Humphrey and nominated former Navy Secretary and deputy Defense Secretary Robert Anderson to succeed him. Mr. Humphrey was expected to become chairman of the National Steel Company.

Economics and finance
Representatives of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg agreed on basic principles of a projected 50-year treaty establishing a Benelux ministerial organization to decide economic and financial questions and a Benelux court.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Marionetas en la Cuerda (Puppet on a String)--Sandie Shaw (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
Coronet Blue, starring Frank Converse, on CBS
Tonight's episode: A Time to Be Born

This was the first episode of the series, which had been originally scheduled to have been shown during the 1965-66 season.

Space
The European Space Research Organization satellite ESRO 2 was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Don't Cry for Me Argentina--Julie Covington (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Ba Maw, 84. Chief Minister of Burma, 1937-1939; Naingandaw Adipadi (Head of State) of Burma, 1943-1945. Ba Maw led the Burmese government under British colonial rule in the late 1930s, and headed a civilian government under Japanese occupation during World War II.

Auto racing
A.J. Foyt became the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times, winning for the first time in 10 years.



Basketball
NBA
Finals
Philadelphia 107 @ Portland 129 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Maurice Lucas scored 27 points and added 12 rebounds, while Bill Walton scored 20 points and added 18 rebounds and 9 assists as the Trail Blazers defeated the 76ers before 12,666 fans at in the first Finals game ever played in Portland. Julius Erving led Philadelphia with 28 points and Doug Collins added 21.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): La Isla Bonita--Madonna (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Charan Singh, 84. Prime Minister of India, 1979-1980. Mr. Singh was leader of the Bharatiya Lok Dal, part of a coalition government in the late 1970s. He succeeded Morarji Desai as Prime Minister, but resigned without facing parliament, and Bharatiya Lok Dal were defeated in elections several months later. Mr. Singh continued to lead the party until his death.

Phyllis Tate, 76. U.K. composer. Miss Tate wrote works for amateur performers and children, often featuring unusual combinations of instruments.

Politics and government
The conference called "A Western Assembly on Canada's Economic and Political Future" was held in Vancouver, British Columbia. It featured discontented Western conservatives who were upset with the Progressive Conservative federal government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and the lack of a voice for Western concerns at the national level. The conference concluded with the decision to found a new political party. The Reform Party of Canada was founded at a convention in Winnipeg five months hence. Neither of Vancouver's two daily newspapers bothered to report on the conference in Vancouver.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Rhythm is a Dancer--Snap! (2nd week at #1)

Music
Procol Harum and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, whose performance together (with the Da Camera Singers) on November 18, 1971 had resulted in a bestselling 1972 album, reunited for the first of two concerts at Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, the scene of the earlier concert. The Da Camera Singers weren’t part of the reunion and most of Procol Harum’s membership had changed (I think pianist/singer/composer Gary Brooker may have been the only member left from 1971), but it didn’t matter. It was said that most of those who had attended both the 1971 and 1992 concerts thought the latter was better. I paid $28 for my ticket, and got my money’s worth. No official recording was released, but I had it on good authority that a copy could be obtained if one got in touch with a certain person in the broadcasting industry.

Environment
The U.S. administration of President George Bush announced that it would not sign the biodiversity treaty—agreed to by representatives of 98 nations, one week earlier—because of concerns about how money being spent under the treaty would be dispersed and because U.S. companies developing biotechnology products would not have adequate patent protection.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the gross domestic product in the first quarter of 1992 had increased at an annual rate of 2.4%, somewhat higher than previously reported.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Fire--Scooter (5th week at #1)

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Dave Balon, 68. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Balon played left wing with the New York Rangers (1959-63, 1968-71); Montreal Canadiens (1963-67); Minnesota North Stars (1967-68); Vancouver Canucks (1971-73); and Quebec Nordiques (1973), scoring 414 points on 192 goals and 222 assists in 776 regular season National Hockey League games, 14 goals and 21 assists in 78 Stanley Cup games, and no points in 9 World Hockey Association games. He played on Stanley Cup championship teams in 1965 and 1966, and assisted on the Cup-winning goal in 1966. Mr. Balon's play declined badly in his last couple of seasons, likely indicating that he was already beginning to suffer from the multiple sclerosis that afflicted him until his death.