June 2, 2017

120 years ago
1897

Literature
American writer Mark Twain was quoted by the New York Journal as saying "the report of my death was an exaggeration."

100 years ago
1917

War
Canadian air ace Billy Bishop seriously damaged a German aerodrome and airfield, and destroyed three German planes far behind enemy line. The solo dawn raid won him the Victoria Cross.

80 years ago
1937

Died on this date
Louis Vierne, 66. French musician and composer. Mr. Vierne, who was legally blind, was principal organist at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death. His compositions included six organ symphonies, 24 Fantasy Pieces, and chamber and choral works. Mr. Vierne died of a heart attack or stroke while concluding his 1,750th recital at Notre-Dame de Paris.

75 years ago
1942

War
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to recognize that a state of war existed between the United States and Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. 1,036 U.K. Royal Air Force planes bombed the Krupp Workds at Essen and other points in the Ruhr section of Germany. British armoured forces drove Axis units out of Tamar, a strong point southwest of Tobruk, Libya.

Economics and finance
Chinese Foreign Minister T.V. Soong and U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull signed a Lend-Lease pact in Washington.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Mam'selle--Art Lund (4th week at #1)
--Dick Haymes
--Frank Sinatra
--Dennis Day
--Pied Pipers
2 Linda--Ray Noble and his Orchestra with Buddy Clark
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
3 Heartaches--Ted Weems and his Orchestra
--Harry James and his Orchestra
4 My Adobe Hacienda--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
5 Across the Alley from the Alamo--The Mills Brothers
6 Anniversary Song--Al Jolson
--Dinah Shore
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Tex Beneke with the Glenn Miller Orchestra
--Andy Russell
7 That's My Desire--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Frankie Laine and Mannie Klein's All-Stars
8 Peg o' My Heart--The Harmonicats
--Clark Dennis
9 I Believe--Frank Sinatra
10 Guilty--Margaret Whiting
--Johnny Desmond

Singles entering the chart were Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep) by Perry Como and the Satisfiers (#14) and Red Silk Stockings and Green Perfume by Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra (#22). Red Silk Stockings and Green Perfume was the B-side of That's My Desire.

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Red-Headed League

Diplomacy
Emil Sandstrom, Swedish representative on the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, was named chairman of the United Nations Palestine Inquiry Commission.

Politics and government
China's three-year-old People's Political Council went out of existence in Nanking, with Communists still refusing to cooperate.

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill, aimed at Communists and other "subversives," authroizing the State Department to fingerprint all applicants for U.S. passports.

Protest
40,000 Communists and Socialists in Rome demonstrated against the lack of leftist representation in the new Italian government of Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi.

Religion
In his semi-annual address on world events, Pope Pius XII implicitly condemned the U.S.S.R. when he said that "millions of human beings continue to live under oppression and despotic rule."

Economics and finance
U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall suspended the remaining half of a $30-million loan to Hungary "pending clarification" of events in that country. Mr. Marshall also praised and promised further aid to the anti-Communist government of Italian Prime Minister de Gasperi.

A U.S.-German Chamber of Commerce was formed in New York to promote trade between the two countries.

Labour
The Kent Federation of Agriculture in Ontario announced arrangements for the immigration of 1,000 Dutch farm workers to Canada to help relieve the country's labour shortage.

Oil
American, British, French, and Dutch interests in the internationally-owned Iraq Petroleum Company agreed to unrestricted expansion of their Middle Eastern operations.

Scandal
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the mail fraud conviction of former Boston Mayor James Curley.

60 years ago
1957

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Father and Son, starring Edmund Gwenn, Charles Davis, and Frederic Worlock

Died on this date
A.W.F. Blunt, 77. U.K. clergyman. Right Reverend Blunt was the Anglican Bishop of Bradford from 1931-1955. His reference to the friendship between King Edward VIII and American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson led to the king's abdication in December 1936.

Aviation
In mission Manhigh I, U.S. Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger set an altitude record in a metal capsule suspended from a plastic balloon over Minnesota, maintaining an altitude of 96,000 feet (18 miles) for two hours.

War
The Israeli Foreign Ministry charged that Egypt was reviving guerrilla warfare on Israel's frontier with the Gaza Strip by mining roads.

Diplomacy
U.S.S.R. Communist Party First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, in a televised interview with three U.S. newsmen, predicted that "your grandchildren in America will live under socialism...[and] will not understand how their grandparents did not understand the progressive nature of a socialistic society."

Defense
The United States detonated the second-smallest atomic explosive yet tested, equivalent to 2,000-5,000 tons of TNT, at the Yucca Flat, Nevada test site.

Disasters
15 West German paratroop recruits drowned in attempting to ford the rain-swollen Iller River near Kempten.

18 people were killed when a suburban electric train rammed the rear of a passenger plane near Bombay.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You--The Monkees

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 On a Carousel--The Hollies
2 Him or Me - What's it Gonna Be?--Paul Revere and the Raiders
3 Here Comes My Baby--The Tremeloes
4 Groovin'--The Young Rascals
5 Somebody to Love--Jefferson Airplane
6 For What it's Worth--Buffalo Springfield
7 Don't Blame the Children--Sammy Davis, Jr.
8 Friday on My Mind--The Easybeats
9 I was Kaiser Bill's Batman--Whistling Jack Smith
10 Creeque Alley--The Mamas and the Papas
Pick hit of the week: Walkin' Mary Home--The Nomads
New this week: She's Looking Good--Rodger Collins
Come to the Sunshine--Harpers Bizarre
I'll Never Find Another You--Sonny James
Let's Live for Today--The Grass Roots
7 Rooms of Gloom--Four Tops

On the radio
Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Langford and Kenneth Baker, on Springbok Radio
Tonight's episode: The Copper Beeches

Died on this date
Luis Monge, 48. U.S. criminal. Mr. Monge was executed in the gas chamber at Colorado State Penitentiary for the murders of his pregnant wife Leonarda and three of the couple's 10 children after Leonarda discovered that he was having incestuous relations with one of their daughters. It was the last execution in the United States to take place before a moratorium was instituted while the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of capital punishment. In 1976, the court ruled that capital punishment was constitutional, and Gary Gilmore was the next person executed, on January 17, 1977.

Benno Ohnesorg, 26. West German student. Mr. Ohnesorg was a university student who was participating in a protest in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran when he was shot and killed by a police officer. Mr. Ohnesorg's death resulted in the founding of the left-wing German student movement and late, the terrorist group Movement 2 June.

Music
Johnny Rivers performed for a crowd of 3,000 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary.

Protest
Three days of rioting began in Boston's Negro-populated district of Roxbury, following a Mothers for Adequate Welfare sit-in.

40 years ago
1977

Died on this date
Stephen Boyd, 45. U.K.-born U.S. actor. Mr. Boyd, born William Millar in Northern Ireland, was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting performance in Ben-Hur (1959). His other movies included The Oscar (1966) and Fantastic Voyage (1966). Mr. Boyd died of a heart attack while playing golf with his wife.

Economics and finance
The government of Québec raised the provincial minimum wage from $3.00 to $3.15 per hour, the highest in Canada.

30 years ago
1987

Died on this date
Andres Segovia, 94. Spanish classical guitarist. Mr. Segovia was regarded as one of the greatest classical guitarists of the 20th century.

Sammy Kaye, 77. U.S. bandleader. Mr. Kaye, known for his tag line "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye," was one of the most popular figures of the Big Band era. His most famous recording was probably Remember Pearl Harbor (1942).

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 113 @ Los Angeles Lakers 126 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Magic Johnson scored 29 points and added 13 assists and 8 rebounds, while James Worthy contributed 33 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Lakers over the Celtics before 17,505 fans at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 32 points.

25 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Philip Dunne, 84. U.S. film director and screenwriter. Mr. Dunne's screnplay credits included How Green was My Valley (1941); The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947); Forever Amber (1947); Pinky (1949); The Robe (1953); Three Brave Men (1956); Ten North Frederick (1958); and Blue Denim (1959).

Politics and government
Voters in a Danish referendum on the Maastricht treaty on European economic and
Political unity rejected the agreement by a small margin of 50.7%-49.3%. The defeat of the treaty shocked the Danish government and prompted French President Francois Mitterand to propose a referendum in his own country.

Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton won primaries in California, Ohio, New Jersey, and three other states, capturing enough delegates to assure him of the 1992 Democratic party nomination for President of the United States. In California, Mr. Clinton took 47% of the vote to 40% for former California Governor Jerry Brown. President George Bush swept all six Republican party primaries, although columnist Pat Buchanan took 26% of the vote in California.

Scandal
U.S. Secretary of the Navy Lawrence Garrett ordered that disciplinary action begin against 70 officers as a result of the Tailhook scandal. In September 1991 members of the Tailhook Association, a private organization of Navy and Marine Corps fliers, had held their convention at a hotel in Las Vegas. After complaints from women, two Navy investigations concluded that 26 women, including 14 military officers, had been abused at the convention, which had included heavy drinking and entertainment by nude dancers.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had risen 0.4% in April, the fourth straight monthly increase.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Elegantly Wasted--INXS (3rd week at #1)
2 Staring at the Sun--U2
3 I Want You--Savage Garden
4 Your Woman--White Town
5 MMMBop--Hanson
6 Say You'll Be There--Spice Girls
7 Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?--Paula Cole
8 Lie to Me--Jonny Lang
9 Clumsy--Our Lady Peace
10 Midnight Rain--Wide Mouth Mason

Singles entering the chart were Travellin' Man by John Fogerty (#92); Freaks by Live (#93); The End is the Beginning is the End by Smashing Pumpkins (#95); and On My Way by Styx (#96). The End is the Beginning is the End was from the movie Batman & Robin (1997).

Politics and government
Prime Minister Jean Chretien led his governing Liberals to another majority in the House of Commons in the Canadian federal election, winning 155 of 301 seats in the House of Commons, a drop from 177 seats in the most recent election in 1993, and 174 seats prior to the election call. The Reform Party, led by Preston Manning, won 60 seats, an increase from 50 going into the election, and enough to become the official Opposition. The Bloc Québécois, the official Opposition party going into the election, dropped from 50 seats to 44; The New Democratic Party, led by Alexa McDonough, increased from 9 seats to 21, and the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Jean Charest, increased from 2 seats to 20. Former Liberal MP John Nunziata was re-elected as an independent in the Toronto-area riding of York South-Weston. It was the first federal election in which this blogger worked as an official, serving as a poll clerk in Edmonton Strathcona.

Terrorism
Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

Scandal
The Ontario Securities Commission halted trading in the shares of Calgary-based mining company Bre-X after allegations surfaced of fraud in Indonesian drilling samples.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Anaheim 3 @ Ottawa 5 (Anaheim led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Dean McAmmond scored with 1:26 remaining in the 2nd period to break a 3-3 tie as the Senators defeated the Ducks at Scotiabank Place in the first Finals game to be played in Ottawa in 80 years. Mr. McAmmond's shot was deflected by Anaheim defenceman Chris Pronger into his own net. Mr. Pronger elbowed Mr. McAmmond in the head early in the 3rd period, ending Mr. McAmmond's series; typical of the National Hockey League's incompetent and/or crooked officiating, Mr. Pronger's dirty play wasn't penalized during the game. He was suspended, however, for game 4.