June 4, 2012

70 years ago
1942

War
The Battle of Midway began.

60 years ago
1952

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: Card Game in the Clouds

On television tonight
The Unexpected, hosted by Herbert Marshall, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Eyeglasses, starring Helen Gilbert, Gertrude Michael, and Phillip Terry

40 years ago
1972

War
Results of a U.S. Army panel investigating the 1968 massacre of 300 civilians in the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai were revealed. The entire command structure of Americal Division was found guilty of misconduct. The panel, led by Lieutenant General William Peers, charged that Major General Samuel Koster and Brigadier General George Young, the division’s top generals, had committed 43 specific acts of misconduct or omission in initial field investigations of the massacre. The Peers investigation, which had ended on March 9, 1970 after 4½ months, concluded that many high-ranking officers had learned of the massacre but had done nothing about it.

Crime
An all-white jury in San Jose, California acquitted Angela Davis of murder, kidnap, and conspiracy charges arising from a courthouse shootout in which a judge and three others had been killed. The 28-year-old Negress, a former philosophy instructor and supporter of Negro militants, was cleared after 13 hours of jury deliberations.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
Yellowknife’s Top 19 (CJCD)
1 Ebony and Ivory—Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
2 Did it in a Minute—Daryl Hall & John Oates
3 I’ve Never Been to Me—Charlene
4 Don’t You Want Me—The Human League
5 Get Down on It—Kool & The Gang
6 Don’t Talk to Strangers—Rick Springfield
7 ’65 Love Affair—Paul Davis
8 Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)—Elton John
9 The Other Woman—Ray Parker, Jr.
10 Always on My Mind—Willie Nelson
11 Heat of the Moment—Asia
12 Hang Fire—Rolling Stones
13 Crimson and Clover—Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
14 The Beatles’ Movie Medley—The Beatles
15 Beechwood 4-5789—Carpenters
16 Run for the Roses—Dan Fogelberg
17 When it’s Over—Loverboy
18 Rosanna—Toto
19 Body Language—Queen

War
Israel attacked Palestine Liberation Organization guerrilla camps in Lebanon. The PLO retaliated by firing rockets and shells at northern Israel and the Israeli-backed Christian enclave in southern Lebanon.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher met in the U.S. embassy in Paris. It was reported that Mr. Reagan offered staunch support for Britain’s war against Argentina in the Falkland Islands.

World events
Lisa Wicher, an American teacher who had been imprisoned in China on charges of spying, arrived home in Indianapolis. She had been in China for two years collecting material for a thesis on agricultural changes in China since 1969, and claimed to have been arrested on May 28, and accused of stealing secret documents and spying, while being denied the right to contact the U.S. embassy. Miss Wicher spent three days in solitary confinement and was then ordered to leave China within 48 hours.

Health
U.S. Secretary of Human Services Richard Schweiker announced that he had directed Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to advise doctors and parents against using aspirin to treat children’s chicken pox or flu-like symptoms. Studies had linked aspirin to Reye’s Syndrome, a rare but often fatal children’s disease. The Centers for Disease Control had discovered in a study that 137 of 144 children with the disease had previously been treated with aspirin. No connection had been found between Reye’s Syndrome and the use of Tylenol.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had risen in May by 0.1% to 9.5% of the labour force. The number of people holding jobs in may had risen to 100,117,000, an increase of 780,000 from April.

25 years ago
1987

Track and field
Danny Harris of the United States won the 400-metre hurdles event at a meet in Madrid, ending Edwin Moses' record winning streak at 122 races.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 122 @ Los Angeles Lakers 141 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Michael Cooper scored 21 points--including a playoff record 6-for-7 on 3-point field goal attempts--and added 9 assists as he came off the bench to help the Lakers defeat the Celtics before 17,505 fans at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Byron Scott led Los Angeles with 24 points; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy each scored 23; and Magic Johnson scored 22 as the Lakers spread the scoring around. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Knockin' on Heaven's Door--Guns N' Roses

Politics and government
The Canadian House of Commons approved a bill giving the federal government the power to call a referendum on constitutional reform.

Popular culture
The United States Postal Service announced that by margin of 3-1, voters preferred a portrait of Elvis Presley as a young man over a portrait of him when he was older to go on a U.S. postage stamp.

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Fernando Belaúnde Terry, 89. President of Peru, 1963-1968; 1980-1985. Mr. Belaúnde was deposed b a miltary coup in 1968, but was elected again in 1980. He was widely regarded as the father of Peru's modern democracy.

Environment
Japan, the world’s fourth-leading emitter of greenhouse gases, ratified the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, improving the document’s chances of becoming international law.