Monday 28 April 2008

April 23, 2008

660 years ago
1348

Britannica

The Order of the Garter, the first English order of knighthood, was founded.

375 years ago
1633

Europeana

Sweden and the Protestant German monarchy formed the Union of Heilbronn.

125 years ago
1883

Politics and government

Jan Heemskerk Abrahamzoon, Conservative party leader, took office as Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

120 years ago
1888


Born on this date
Georges Vanier
. Governor General of Canada, 1959-1967. Mr. Vanier, a native of Montreal, won the Military Cross in 1916 for his actions in the Great War, and lost his right leg in battle two years later. He continued as an army officer and spent several decades as a diplomat before accepting the position as Governor General, becoming the first person of French-Canadian ancestry to be appointed to the post. Mr. Vanier continued the Canadian tradition of vice-regal patronage of amateur sports when he created the Governor General's Fencing Award and donated the Vanier Cup in 1965 for the championship of university football in Canada. Mr. Vanier died in office on March 5, 1967 at the age of 78; Roland Michener was soon appointed to succeed him as Governor General.

Politics and government
Aeneas Mackay, leader of the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, took office as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, replacing Jan Heemskerk Abrahamzoon.

100 years ago
1908

Diplomacy

Denmark, Germany, England, France, Netherlands, and Sweden signed the North Sea accord.

90 years ago
1918


Died on this date
James McDonough
. U.S. baseball player. Mr. McDonough was a catcher who played in the minor leagues from 1911-1913; in his final season, he batted .233 with 4 home runs in 88 games with the Chicago Keeleys of the independent Federal League. Mr. McDonough was estranged from his wife when they got into a heated argument on a crowded street corner in Chicago; he shot and killed her and then himself.

War
The Dover Patrol overthrew a German U-boat in the East Sea. The Battle of Zeebrugge ended with the British Royal Navy putting the German U-Boat base out of action.

Politics and government
The American civil rights organization known as the National Urban League was founded, with Eugene K. Jones as Executive Secretary.

80 years ago
1928


Aviation
A Ford monoplane sent by the New York World and North American Newspaper Alliance took supplies from Detroit to Greenly Island, near Newfoundland, where the German Junker Bremen had been stranded for 10 days since landing there on an attempted translatlantic flight from Dublin to New York. Aboard the relief plane were Floyd Bennett and Bernt Balchen. Mr. Bennett, who had been seriously injured in a crash the previous year, took ill with pneumonia, and was flown to Quebec City, where he was hospitalized.

Adventure
Miss Eleonora Sears, society sportswoman, walked from Newport, Rhode Island to Boston, Massachusetts, a distance of 74 miles, in 17 hours.

Japanese traveller Ryvkichi Matsui arrived in Moscow, 17 days after leaving Tokyo on his way westward to circle the globe. His friend Toicho Araki had left Tokyo the same day, heading eastward around the world.

Protest
The Venezuelan government closed the National Military School at Caracas because of student riots.

70 years ago
1938

Politics and government

Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia demanded self-government.

60 years ago
1948

Television

KSTP-TV channel 5 in St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota (ABC) made its first broadcasts.

50 years ago
1958

Baseball

Orlando Cepeda tripled home Jim Davenport and Willie Mays with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning and Daryl Spencer followed with a 2-run home run to give the San Francisco Giants an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals before 14,715 fans at Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Mr. Mays had reached first base on an error by St. Louis shortstop Dick Schofield, and Willie Kirkland had flied out for what should have been the third out of the inning before Mr. Cepeda came to bat, making all 4 runs unearned. The Cardinals scored 5 runs in the 1st inning off San Francisco starting pitcher Ruben Gomez, and led 6-2 going into the bottom of the 8th. It was the first major league game for San Francisco's Don Taussig, who grounded out as a pinch hitter in the 5th inning. It was the only major league game for San Francisco's Nick Testa, who entered the game in the bottom of the 8th inning as a pinch runner for pinch hitter Ray Jablonski, who singled in 2 runs to make the score 6-4. Mr. Testa remained in the game as a catcher, making an error on a foul popup in the 9th. The error was not costly, but it was Mr. Testa's only major league fielding chance. Mr. Testa was on deck when Mr. Spencer hit his home run. Mr. Testa’s story is told in the book Once Around the Bases (1998) by Richard Tellis. San Francisco manager Bill Rigney used 24 of the 25 players on his roster in this game.

Chuck Tanner led off the top of the 9th inning with a home run and Bobby Thomson doubled home 2 runs later in the inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 7-5 lead as they held on to edge the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 before 24,368 fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Charlie Neal tripled home Pee Wee Reese with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Gil Hodges grounded out to pitcher Dolan Nichols to end the game.

Herb Score, attempting a comeback after being hit in the eye by a line drive almost a year earlier, pitched a 3-hitter and struck out 13 batters to win the pitchers' duel over Billy Pierce as the Cleveland Indians shut out the Chicago White Sox 2-0 before 2,391 fans at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland in a game that was interrupted by a 44-minute rain delay.

Roy Sievers drew a base on balls to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning, advanced to second base on a single by Clint Courtney, and scored on a 1-out single by Jim Lemon to give the Washington Senators a 5-4 win over the New York Yankees before 14,754 fans at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Senators had tied the score in the 9th when Herb Plews reached first base on an error by New York shortstop Gil McDougald, advanced to third on a single by Ed Yost, and scored on a single by pinch hitter Ed Fitz Gerald.

40 years ago
1968


Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Delilah--Tom Jones

Theatre
The musical I'm Solomon, with music by Ernest Gold, and starring Dick Shawn and Carmen Mathews, opened at the Mark Hellinger Theater on Broadway in New York City. It closed four days later after 9 previews and 7 performances.

War
U.S. airplanes carried out 155 raids over North Vietnam.

Protest
A student protest at Columbia University in New York that grew into two weeks of upheaval and violence began when 150 students, led by Mark Rudd, president of the campus chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), met at noon to protest the proposed construction of a gymnasium in neighbouring Morningside Park (which was also opposed by Negroes in nearby Harlem), as well as to protest Columbia’s ties with the Institute of Defense Analyses (IDA). The protest group included members of the Students’ Afro-American Society and some residents of Harlem. After the initial meeting, the protesters invaded Hamilton Hall, headquarters of Columbia College, and held three officials hostage for 24 hours.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who had taken office just three days earlier, obtained a dissolution of Parliament from Governor General Roland Michener and called a federal election for June 25.

In the contests for the U.S. presidential nominations, Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy, the only candidate on the ballot, received 76 ½% of the vote in the Pennsylvania Democratic Party primary. Former Vice President Richard Nixon took 76.3% of the vote as a write-in candidate in the Republican primary.

Religion
The United Methodist Church was created when The Evangelical United Brethren Church (represented by Bishop Reuben H. Mueller) and The Methodist Church (represented by Bishop Lloyd C. Wicke) joined hands at the constituting General Conference in Dallas, Texas. Before the year was out, the notorious Oral Roberts had become a UMC pastor. The denomination is largely apostate, although some Bible-believing pastors can still be found.

Journalism
The Edmonton Journal began publishing Astronomical Notebook, a daily feature produced by the Queen Elizabeth Planetarium in Edmonton that appeared on page 2 with the weather. The feature was published through March 21, 1970.

Economics and finance
The first decimal coins were issued in Britain in preparation for replacing the current system of pounds, shillings and pence by 1971. The five new pence and ten new pence coins operated alongside the shilling and the florin, and had the same value. They were also the same size and weight. The coins caused initial confusion to shoppers, many of whom refused to take them.
There was further misunderstanding over the value of a penny. Many thought the five new penny coin was worth five old pence, when it was in fact worth a shilling, or 12 old pence.

Disasters
Tornadoes along a 125-mile stretch of the Ohio River killed 11 and injured 200 in Ohio and Kentucky.

11 were killed and 24 injured when a bus plunged into a ravine at Recife, Brazil.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Montreal 4 @ Chicago 2 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-0)

Yvan Cournoyer scored 2 goals for the Canadiens as they beat the Black Hawks at Chicago Stadium.

Baseball
The Chicago Cubs acquired outfielder Jim Hickman and relief pitcher Phil Regan from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Ted Savage and starting pitcher Jim Ellis. Mr. Regan went on to lead the National League with 25 saves in 1968.

30 years ago
1978


Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Tania--John Rowles (3rd week at #1)

Defense
The U.S.S.R. performed a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk.

In London, U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance briefed the West German, British, French, and Canadian foreign ministers on the results of the SALT talks with the Soviets which had concluded in Moscow the day before. Mr. Vance was reported to have told the ministers that a clause had been added to the draft treaty on strategic arms limitations barring U.S. or U.S.S.R. circumvention of the treaty, but that disagreement remained on two other issues. The United States had been unsuccessful in getting specific written limitations on the Soviet Backfire bomber nor a clause limiting the modernization of existing missiles. Mr. Vance refused to publicly reveal the content of the Moscow talks, saying that Soviet officials had insisted on secrecy in the negotiations.

Terrorism
For the second consecutive day, Pope Paul VI begged the kidnappers of Aldo Moro to release the former Italian Prime Minister, who had been held hostage since March 16.

World events
Passengers on a Korean Air Lines jet that been forced down when it had flown into Soviet territory near the Arctic Circle three days earlier were flown to Helsinki, Finland by a Pan American Airways rescue plane.

Crime
The Rubens painting The Three Graces and nine other Flemish works which had been stolen from the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy two days earlier were recovered undamaged by police. Whether that means the police recovered them in an undamaged state or whether they were recovered without being damaged by the police, I’m not sure.

Golf
Gary Player won his third straight tournament, winning the Houston Open with a score of 270. First prize money was $40,000.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Montreal 8 @ Detroit 0 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-1)
Boston 5 @ Chicago 2 (Boston won best-of-seven series 4-0)
New York Islanders 1 @ Toronto 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
Philadelphia 4 @ Buffalo 2 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Ken Dryden posted the shutout in goal and the Canadiens scored 2 shorthanded goals during the same penalty as they routed the Red Wings in the national Le Soiree du Hockey telecast on a Sunday afternoon in the last Stanley Cup game ever played at Olympia Stadium.



Toronto defenceman Borje Salming suffered an eye injury when he was hit by an errant stick, putting him out of action for the remainder of the playoffs, as the Maple Leafs beat the Islanders in the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast at Maple Leaf Gardens.

WHA
Avco World Trophy
Quarter-Finals
Edmonton 1 @ New England 4 (New England won best-of-seven series 4-1)
Quebec 2 @ Houston 5 (Quebec led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Birmingham 2 @ Winnipeg 5 (Winnipeg won best-of-seven series 4-1)

The Aeros' win over the Nordiques at the Summit was the last World Hockey Association game ever played in Houston.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Semi-Finals
Philadelphia 112 @ New York 107 (Philadelphia won best-of-seven series 4-0)
San Antonio 95 @ Washington 98 (Washington led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Denver 112 @ Milwaukee 143 (Denver led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Portland 84 @ Seattle 99 (Seattle led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Baseball
Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a home run in each game as the Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 14-7 in the first game of a doubleheader before 10,008 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, and were leading the second game 5-4 after 6 innings when it was suspended because of a curfew in order to allow the Cardinals to catch a flight to Montreal. The game was completed on June 26, with no further scoring.

Joe Wallis singled home Bobby Murcer with 2 out in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 win over the New York Mets before 7,692 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

George Foster singled home Pete Rose with 2 out in the top of the 10th inning to enable the Cincinnati Reds to edge the San Francisco Giants 2-1 before 50,510 fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Cincinnati second baseman Joe Morgan made an error, bringing his major league record of 91 consecutive errorless games at the position to an end. He had begun the streak on July 6, 1977.

Atlanta Braves' shortstop Darrel Chaney made 2 errors in the bottom of the 10th inning, leading to 2 unearned runs for the San Diego Padres as they edged the Braves 5-4 before 19,502 fans at San Diego Stadium. Mark Lee made his major league debut on the mound for the Padres, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of starting pitcher Bob Shirley.

Ron Hassey, playing his first major league game, singled home the final 2 runs of a 3-run 11th inning as the Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 10-7 to gain a split of their doubleheader before 36,246 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. Mr. Hassey, the Indians' catcher, finished the game 2 for 6 with 2 runs batted in, and 13 putouts and an error in the field. The Red Sox scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win the first game 6-3. Cleveland left fielder Johnny Grubb and Boston third baseman Butch Hobson each hit a home run in each game.

Lary Sorensen allowed 2 earned runs in 8 innings to win the pitchers' duel over Catfish Hunter as the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 before 26,291 fans at Yankee Stadium. Ben Oglivie led the Milwaukee offense with a solo home run, single, and double, scoring 2 runs. The game was played in 1 hour 53 minutes.

Jesse Jefferson pitched a 3-hitter and the Toronto Blue Jays scored 2 runs in each of the first 2 innings as they shut out the Chicago White Sox 4-0 before 17,427 fans at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

John Henry Johnson pitched a 6-hitter and the Oakland Athletics scored 4 runs in the 5th inning as they blanked the Seattle Mariners 5-0 before 5,688 fans at the Kingdome in Seattle.

25 years ago
1983


Died on this date
Buster Crabbe, 76
. U.S. swimmer and actor. Mr. Crabbe, a graduate of the University of Southern California, won a bronze medal in the 1,500 metre freestyle swimming event in the 1928 Olympic games at Amsterdam, and followed that with a gold medal in the 400 metre freestyle in the 1932 Olympics at Los Angeles. By that time he’d already made several movie appearances, beginning with Good News in 1930. He appeared in many western and adventure movies, but is best known as the star of the Flash Gordon (1936) and Buck Rogers (1939) serials. Mr. Crabbe also starred in the television series Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (filmed in Morocco) from 1955-1957. In 1971, at the age of 64, Mr. Crabbe set a record time for swimmers over 60 in the 400 metre freestyle. He made his last movie appearance in The Comeback Trail in 1982.

Academia
Grant MacEwan Community College held its graduation ceremony at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. This blogger, who attended GMCC in 1981-82, was on hand to congratulate some of his former classmates.

20 years ago
1988


Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): L'Amore Rubato--Luca Barbarossa (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Gimme Hope Jo'anna--Eddy Grant (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Gimme Hope Jo'anna--Eddy Grant (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You--Glenn Medeiros (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Heart--Pet Shop Boys (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Heart--Pet Shop Boys (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Heart--Pet Shop Boys (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Where Do Broken Hearts Go--Whitney Houston

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean (2nd week at #1)
2 Devil Inside--INXS
3 Where Do Broken Hearts Go--Whitney Houston
4 Wishing Well--Terence Trent D'Arby
5 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson
6 Girlfriend--Pebbles
7 Angel--Aerosmith
8 Pink Cadillac--Natalie Cole
9 Some Kind of Lover--Jody Watley
10 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley

Singles entering the chart were Foolish Beat by Debbie Gibson (#61); Make it Real by the Jets (#72); Nothin' But a Good Time by Poison (#84); Tall Cool One by Robert Plant (#85); Stand Up by David Lee Roth (#86); and Love Struck by Jesse Johnson's Revue (#90).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean (3rd week at #1)
2 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
3 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson
4 Endless Summer Nights--Richard Marx
5 I Saw Him Standing There--Tiffany
6 Devil Inside--INXS
7 Wishing Well--Terence Trent D'Arby
8 Push It--Salt-N-Pepa
9 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Michael Bolton
10 I'm Still Searching--Glass Tiger

Singles entering the chart were One More Try by George Michael (#79); Say it Again by Jermaine Stewart (#85); Together Forever by Rick Astley (#88); Circle in the Sand by Belinda Carlisle (#91); Piano in the Dark by Brenda Russell (#96); and Talking Back to the Night by Steve Winwood (#97).

Canada's top 10 (The Record)
1 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean (2nd week at #1)
2 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
3 Wishing Well--Terence Trent D'Arby
4 I Saw Him Standing There--Tiffany
5 Push It--Salt-N-Pepa
6 Pump Up the Volume--M/A/R/R/S
7 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson
8 I'm Still Searching--Glass Tiger
9 Endless Summer Nights--Richard Marx
10 Devil Inside--INXS

Aviation
A Greek man pedalled a self-powered aircraft 74 miles.

Health
The United States instituted a federal ban on smoking during domestic airline flights of 2 hours or less.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Clarence S. Campbell Conference
Division Finals
Detroit 3 @ St. Louis 6 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 2-1)
Calgary 2 @ Edmonton 4 (Edmonton led best-of-seven series 3-0)

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Konstantinos Karamanlis, 91
. Prime Minister of Greece, 1955-1963, 1974-1980. Mr. Karamanlis was first elected to parliament in the Greek election of 1936. He became Minister of Employment in 1947, and then Minister of Public Works. Mr. Karamanlis became Prime Minister for the first time on October 6, 1955, serving until June 17, 1963. He led his National Radical Union (formerly Greek Rally) to successive electoral victories in 1955, 1958, and 1961. Unfortunately, he made the disastrous move of implementing full voting rights for women in 1955. He also pushed for Greek membership in the European Economic Community. As a result of Mr. Karamanlis’s lobbying, Greece became an associate member of the EEC on July 9, 1961. Tensions between the government and the monarch increased in the early 1960s, and Mr. Karamanlis left the country after his party’s defeat in the 1963 election. Political turmoil and a subsequent military coup occupied Greek affairs until 1974, when democracy was restored. Mr. Karamanlis returned to Greece as leader of a party called New Democracy, and served as Prime Minister again from July 24, 1974-May 10, 1980. Mr. Karamanlis’s government undertook numerous nationalizations in several sectors, including banking and transportation. Karamanlis's policies of economic statism were described by many as socialmania. Mr. Karamanlis resigned as Prime Minister, and became President of the Third Hellenic Republic (Greece had dumped the monarchy as a result of a 1974 plebiscite), in which office he served from 1980-1985 and again from 1990-1995.

Gregor von Rezzori, 83. Austrian author and actor. Mr. Rezzori, born Gregor Arnulph Hilarius d'Arezzo, was known for novels such as Oedipus at Stalingrad (1954) and The Death of My Brother Abel (1976), as well as the story Memoirs of an Anti-Semite (1969), which brought him to the attention of English language readers. He appeared in several movies, including A Very Private Affair (1962); Viva Maria! (1965); and Man on Horseback (1969).

James Earl Ray, 70. U.S. criminal. Mr. Ray, a career criminal, was convicted (and sentenced to 99 years in prison) for the April 4, 1968 assassination of Negro civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Ray was captured in England after an intense manhunt; he had been able to obtain a Canadian passport under the name Eric Starvo Galt (thus proving how easy it was, and is, to get a Canadian passport). Three days after pleading guilty, Mr. Ray recanted his confession, and protested his innocence while making a number of failed escaped attempts. Mr. Ray’s claims that he was a fall guy for a larger conspiracy eventually received a boost from Mr. King’s family, who called for Mr. Ray to get a new trial. Mr. Ray died in prison of liver disease. In 1999, a jury ruled in a civil trial brought by the King family that Rev. King was the victim of a conspiracy, but the following year, the U.S. Justice Department said that it had uncovered no evidence of a conspiracy.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Eastern Conference
Quarter-Finals
Montreal 3 @ Pittsburgh 2 (OT) (Montreal led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Western Conference
Quarter-Finals
Los Angeles 3 @ St. Louis 8 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Benoit Brunet scored at 18:43 of the 1st overtime period to give the Canadiens their win over the Penguins at Civic Arena.

Basketball
NBA
Playoffs
Eastern Conference
First Round
Atlanta 87 @ Charlotte 97 (Charlotte led best-of-five series 1-0)
Cleveland 77 @ Indiana 106 (Indiana led best-of-five series 1-0)

Western Conference
First Round
San Antonio 102 @ Phoenix 96 (San Antonio led best-of-five series 1-0)
Houston 103 @ Utah 90 (Houston led best-of-five series 1-0)

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