May 3, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Pud Smith!

150 years ago
1867

Born on this date
Andy Bowen. U.S. boxer. Mr. Bowen, a lightweight, compiled a record of 15-4-5-2 in a professional career from 1887-1894. On April 6, 1893, he and Jack Burke fought the longest bout on record: 110 rounds over 7 hour 20 minutes, only to have it ruled no contest. Mr. Burke died on December 15, 1894 at the age of 27, the day after being knocked out by Kid Lavigne in the 18th round of a fight for the American lightweight title.

War
20,000 Liberals besieged and bombarded Mexico City.

Canadiana
The Hudson's Bay Company gave up all claims to Vancouver Island.

Diplomacy
Prussia accepted the proposal for the neutralization of Luxembourg.

U.S. President Andrew Johnson received the Japanese Commissioners.

Protest
Rioting in Chicago lasted eight hours.

140 years ago
1877

Baseball
The London Tecumsehs beat their junior team, the London Atlantics, 5-1 in the first game ever played at Tecumseh Park in London, Ontario. The park was renamed Labbatt Memorial Park in 1936, and remains the oldest continuously operating baseball park in the world.

130 years ago
1887

Disasters
A coal mine explosion near Nanaimo killed 148 in the worst mining disaster in British Columbia history.

125 years ago
1892

Born on this date
Jacob Viner. Canadian-born U.S. economist. Dr. Viner, a native of Montreal, taught at the University of Chicago from 1916-1917 and 1919-1946, and at Princeton University from 1946-1960. He was a mentor of the Chicago School of Economics in the 1930s. Dr. Viner died on September 12, 1970 at the age of 78.

George Paget Thomson. U.K. physicist. Sir George and Clinton Davisson shared the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals." Sir George died on September 10, 1975 at the age of 83.

Economics and finance
Newfoundland renewed a tariff, discriminating against Canada.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Betty Comden. U.S. songwriter and screenwriter. Miss Comden, born Basya Cohen, and partner Adolph Green combined to write numerous successful Broadway musicals, including On the Town (1944), and the screenplays for movies such as Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The Band Wagon (1953).

Died on this date
Robert Combe, 36. Canadian military officer. Lieutenant Combe of the 27th Battalion, Manitoba Regiment, took 80 German prisoners with a platoon of only 5 men, but was killed by a sniper while leading his bombers against another objective. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously on June 27, 1917.

80 years ago
1937

Literature
Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel Gone with the Wind.

75 years ago
1942

Died on this date
Thorvald Stauning, 68. Prime Minister of Denmark, 1924-1926, 1929-1942. Mr. Stauning led the Social Democratic Party from 1910-1939. As Prime Minister, he led a government that developed a social welfare state. When the Nazis occupied Denmark in 1940, Mr. Stauning remained as Prime Minister, with his cabinet broadened to include members of all parties. He was still in office when he died, but was depressed about the future of Denmark under Nazi domination. Mr. Stauning was succeeded as Prime Minister by Vilhelm Buhl.

Opera
The Opera Guild of Montreal, founded by soprano Pauline Donalda, mounted its first production, at His Majesty's Theatre: Cavelleria Rusticana, with scenes from Carmen and The Barber of Seville.

War
Soviet troops reportedly had advanced 100 miles past Kharkov to a point between Poltava and Dniepropetrovsk. Japanese forces captured, without opposition, Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. Japanese forces on the Burma Road were reported to be 30 miles from the Burma-China border.

Politics and government
Dr. Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo was elected President of Colombia over Dr. Carlos Arango Velez.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Heartaches--Ted Weems and his Orchestra (8th week at #1)

War
U.S. Prosecutor Telford Taylor filed a five-point indictment in Nuremberg against 24 officials of the I.G. Farben chemical combine, charging them with fomenting aggressive war and using slave labour during World War II.

Politics and government
The new Constitution of Japan went into effect as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) in Japan General Douglas MacArthur restored the right to fly the national flag without special permission.

The U.S. military government in Berlin rejected a request from the Bavarian Communist Party to merge with the Soviet-zone Socialist Unity Party.

Protest
Military police quelled an all-night riot by 700 inmates of the U.S. Army disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The disturbance, which caused one death and 11 injuries, began when white prisoners refused to share a mess hall with Negroes.

Horse racing
Jet Pilot, with Eric Guerin up, won the 73rd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:06 4/5, a head ahead of Phalanx, with Faultless finishing third.



60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Bambino--Dalida (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Cumberland Gap--Lonnie Donegan (4th week at #1)

War
Hostilities between Nicaragua and Honduras were declared officially over pending investigation by a special committee of the Organization of American States.

World events
Lebanese press reports disclosed that an Egyptian-backed plot to assassinate King Saud of Saudi Arabia had been uncovered and crushed in Riyadh.

Defense
The United States recalled the Navy's 6th Fleet to Italian waters. The fleet had been ordered to the Mediterranean Sea at the height of the Jordanian political crisis in order to provide support to King Hussein against his domestic enemies.

Following two days of meetings in Bonn, the North Atlantic Council issued a communique which reassured smaller North Atlantic Treaty Organization powers that recent U.S. and U.K. emphasis on nuclear weapons would not lead to an overreduction of conventional forces.

Energy
The U.S.S.R. offered to join the West in building an East-West European nuclear power grid.

Labour
American Motors President George Romney and General Motors Vice President for Industrial Relations Louis Seaton rejected United Auto Workers' President Walter Reuther's request for a study of the possibilities of shortening the automobile industry's work week.

Medicine
Researchers at Cleveland Clinic reported the synthesizing of angiotonin-II, an enzyme that causes hypertension.

Boxing
Eddie Machen (21-0) won a 10-round unanimous decision over former world light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim (83-25-4) in a heavyweight bout at Freedom Hall in Louisville. The two had fought on January 25, 1957, with the same result.

Baseball
Brooklyn Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley agreed to move the team to Los Angeles.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever--The Beatles (4th week at #1)
2 Somethin' Stupid--Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra
3 What's Wrong with the Way I Live--The Twilights
4 All My Loving (EP)--Johnny Young
5 Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)--Engelbert Humperdinck
6 Dedicated to the One I Love--The Mamas and the Papas
7 There's a Kind of Hush--Herman's Hermits
8 Georgy Girl--The Seekers
9 Ruby Tuesday/Let's Spend the Night Together--The Rolling Stones
10 Going Home/I Don't Care--Normie Rowe

Singles entering the chart were Ciao Baby by Lynne Randell (#34); What a Woman in Love Won't Do by Sandy Posey (#35); and Hey Joe by the Jimi Hendrix Experience (#40).

40 years ago
1977

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: An Endangered Species

This was the last episode of the season.



Diplomacy
The United States and Vietnam began two days of talks on normalizing relations between the countries.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
New York Islanders 4 @ Montreal 3 (OT) (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Billy Harris scored 3:58 into the 1st overtime period to give the Islanders their win over the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. It was the Canadiens' first home loss since October 30, 1976, and their second and last home loss of the 1976-77 season.

WHA
Avco World trophy
Semi-Finals
Indianapolis 3 @ Quebec 8 (Quebec won best-of-seven series 4-1)
Winnipeg 2 @ Houston 3 (Winnipeg led best-of-seven series 3-2)

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Lean on Me--Club Nouveau

#1 single in Switzerland: Let it Be--Ferry Aid

#1 single in France: Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison--License IV (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Dalida, 54. Egyptian-born French singer. Dalida, born Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti in Cairo to Italian parents, moved to France at the age of 21, and became the most popular singer in French history in a career spanning 30 years. She succeeded in adapting her style and image to current fashions, and achieved about 80 #1 hit singles in French, German, Italian and Arabic, beginning with Bambino (1956-1957). Dalida had an unhappy private life; her ex-husband and at least three lovers committed suicide, and finally Dalida herself committed suicide with an overdose of barbiturates.

Personal
This blogger flew to London, Ontario to become a student at the University of Western Ontario’s School of Library and Information Science.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Toronto 0 @ Detroit 3 (Detroit won best-of-seven series 4-3)

Men’s world championship
Final
Sweden 9 Canada 0

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): On a Sunday Afternoon--A Lighter Shade of Brown (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Das Boot--U 96 (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: To Be with You--Mr. Big

Died on this date
George Murphy, 89. U.S. actor and politician. Mr. Murphy was a song and dance man who appeared in such movies as Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937); Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940); A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941); Bataan (1943); This is the Army (1943); Having Wonderful Crime (1945); Border Incident (1949); and Battleground (1949). He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944-1946 and was a United States Senator from California from 1964-1971.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Boston 6 @ Montreal 4 (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Pittsburgh 4 @ New York Rangers 2 (Pittsburgh led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Edmonton 4 @ Vancouver 3 (OT) (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 1-0)

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Blood on the Dance Floor--Michael Jackson

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Blood on the Dance Floor--Michael Jackson

#1 single in France (SNEP): Maria--Ricky Martin (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Fired Up--Funky Green Dogs (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Wallonia (Ultratop 40): Let a Boy Cry--Gala (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I Believe I Can Fly--R. Kelly (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): Blood on the Dance Floor--Michael Jackson

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Hypnotize--The Notorious B.I.G.

Horse racing
Silver Charm, with Gary Stevens up, won the 123rd running of the Kentucky Derby before 141,000 fans at Churchill Downs in Louisville in a time of 2:02.44 seconds. Captain Bodgit placed second and Free House finished third.



Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Conference Semi-Finals
Philadelphia 5 @ Buffalo 3 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 1-0)

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Wally Schirra, 84. U.S. astronaut. Captain Schirra, a United States Navy officer, was one of the original seven astronauts selected for Project Mercury in 1959. He flew the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission on October 3, 1962; was Command Pilot for Gemini 6A from December 15-16, 1965; and was Commander of Apollo 7 from October 11-22, 1968, becoming the first man to fly in space three times. Captain Schirra left the space program in 1969, and served as a commentator on CBS telecasts of subsequent Apollo missions.

Disappeared on this date
Madeleine McCann, 3. U.K. girl. Miss McCann was on vacation in Portugal with her family when, nine days before her 4th birthday, she disappeared from her bed in the apartment her family was renting. Her whereabouts remain unknown.

Politics and government
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced a bill calling for fixed election dates; the ministry needed to be defeated on a non-confidence motion before the Governor General could call an earlier election.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Conference Semi-Finals
Vancouver 1 @ Anaheim 2 (2 OT) (Anaheim won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Scott Niedermayer scored on a wrist shot early in the 2nd overtime period as the Ducks eliminated the Canucks at Honda Center.