May 17, 2008

275 years ago
1733

Law
England passed the Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum and molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions.

240 years ago
1768

Born on this date
Caroline of Brunswick. Queen consort of the United Kingdom and Hanover, 1820-1821. Caroline married the Prince of Wales in 1795 and became queen consort when he acceded to the throne as King George IV. He was already married to Maria Fitzherbert, but that marriage violated the Royal Marriages Act and was not legally valid. King George IV and his legal wife lived apart, but Caroline would not grant him a divorce. She was physically barred from the coronation on July 19, 1821, took ill that night, and died in London on August 7, 1821 at the age of 53.

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey. U.K. military officer and politician. Field Marshal Paget had a distinguished military career, culminating in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, in which he lost his right leg after being hit by a cannon shot. He was a Whig and then a Tory, serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1828-1829 and 1830-1833 and Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire from 1849-1852. Lord Anglesey died on April 29, 1854, 18 days before his 86th birthday.

170 years ago
1838

Died on this date
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, 84. French diplomat. Mr. Talleyrand served as France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs under Napoleon Bonaparte from 1797-1807 (although he disagreed with Napoleon’s policies) and under Louis XVIII from 1814-1815. One of his notable achievements was signing the Treaty of Paris in 1814 with remarkably lenient terms for France. During the French Revolution he participated in writing the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

René Caillié, 38. French explorer. Mr. Caillié explored such African countries as Senegal, Mali, Morocco, and Sierra Leone, and was the first European to return alive from Timbuktu. He died from an illness contracted in Africa.

140 years ago
1868

Born on this date
Horace Elgin Dodge. U.S. automotive executive. Mr. Dodge and his brother John Francis co-founded Dodge Brothers Company in 1901. Both brothers died as a result of the flu epidemic in 1920, with Horace dying on December 10, 1920 at the age of 52.

130 years ago
1878

Technology
Thomas Edison demonstrated voice recording on his new invention, the phonograph, to Canadian Governor General Lord Dufferin and Lady Dufferin at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, producing the first sound recordings made in Canada. Lady Dufferin wrote in her diary that "we were so amazed when we heard this bit of iron speak." Mr. Edison's first phonograph recorded and played back reproductions of the human voice on a tin-foil covered cylinder, and could not yet be used for recording music.

125 years ago
1883

Popular culture
Buffalo Bill Cody's first wild west show premiered in Omaha, Nebraska.

110 years ago
1898

Baseball
Ted Lewis of the Boston Beaneaters, a graduate of Williams College‚ shut out the Brooklyn Bridegrooms 12-0‚ giving up only one hit‚ a 9th-inning single‚ to opposing hurler Joe Yeager.

100 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Leo Norris. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Norris, and infielder, played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1936 and 1937. In 270 major league games, Mr. Norris batted .262 with 20 home runs and 112 runs batted in. He died on February 13, 1987 at the age of 78.

Ted Norbert. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Norbert led the Pacific Coast League in home runs four times, and the American Association once, between 1938 and 1945. He also led the PCL in 1938 and the AA in 1943 in runs batted in, and won the PCL batting title in 1942 with a .378 percentage. He died on August 19, 1991 at the age of 83.

Died on this date
Harry Spence, 50. U.S. baseball manager. Mr. Spence managed the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the National League in 1888. The Hoosiers finished seventh with a record of 50 wins and 85 losses. Mr. Spence’s total of 136 games also included a tie, whichh didn’t count in the standings.

Baseball
Cincinnati Reds’ player-manager John Ganzel hit his only home run of the year‚ a grand slam off Hooks Wiltse of the New York Giants. The blow came in the 6-run 8th inning, and propelled the Reds to a 7-2 win over the visiting Giants before 11,000 fans at Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati.

Three Finger Brown of the Chicago Cubs fired a near-perfect game against the Brooklyn Superbas‚ allowing just a 5th-inning single to catcher Bill Bergen in leading the Chicago Cubs to a 5-0 win over the Brooklyn Superbas before 11,200 fans at West Side Park in Chicago. Mr. Bergen‚ one of the worst hitting regulars in major league history‚ finished the year at .175, five points above his career average.

Ed Karger allowed 3 hits in 7 innings to win the pitchers' duel over Vive Lindaman, who allowed 2 hits in 6 innings as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Boston Doves 1-0 before 6,200 fans at Robison Field in St. Louis in a game that was called after 6 1/2 innings. Joe Delahanty scored the run in the 2nd inning.

90 years ago
1918

Economics and finance
Home-made candy from cane sugar was disallowed in New Brunswick; to conserve sugar for the war effort, people were limited to only a 15-day supply in their homes.

Baseball
The Boston Red Sox staked Dutch Leonard to a 7-0 lead‚ and then held on to beat the Detroit Tigers 11-8 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mr. Leonard batted 3 for 4 with 3 runs batted in.

Clyde Milan doubled and scored on a single by Joe Judge with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Washington Nationals a 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Jim Shaw pitched a 3-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Eddie Cicotte, who allowed 7 hits and 1 earned run in falling to 0-5 for the season.

80 years ago
1928

Religion
The Methodist General Conference, meeting at Kansas City, found Bishop Anton Bast of Copenhagen, Denmark guilty of unministerial and imprudent conduct, and suspended him permanently from exercising the functions of a bishop.

Crime
A bomb damaged the New York home of Robert G. Elliott, professional executioner in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. He acted at the Snyder-Gray and Sacco-Vanzetti deaths.

75 years ago
1933

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Poison Keg

60 years ago
1948

Literature
The Iron Curtain, Igor Gouzenko's account of his espionage as a Soviet cipher clerk and his subsequent defection to Canada, was published in New York by E.P. Dutton.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. recognized Israel as the legal authority in Jewish Palestine.

The United Nations Atomic Energy Commission voted to suspend negotiations on international nuclear control.

Defense
The White House announced the successful testing of three atomic bombs on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. U.S. President Harry Truman authorized further development of the nuclear weapons program based on information gained from the tests.

Labour
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruled that under the Taft-Hartley Act an employer may require workers to listen to anti-union talks on company time and property during a union campaign.

Chess
Mikhail Botvinnik captured the world championship in Moscow, scoring 14 points out of 20 to win the five-man tournament to determine a champion to succeed Aleksandr Alekhine, who had died in 1946.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): March from the River Kwai and Colonel Bogey--Mitch Miller and his Orchestra (6th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Hello, le soleil brille--Annie Cordy (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Who's Sorry Now--Connie Francis

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 All I Have to Do is Dream--The Everly Brothers
2 Witch Doctor--David Seville
3 Twilight Time--The Platters
4 Wear My Ring Around Your Neck--Elvis Presley
5 He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)--Laurie London
6 Return to Me--Dean Martin
7 Chanson d'Amour--Art and Dotty Todd
8 Book of Love--The Monotones
9 Kewpie Doll--Perry Como
10 Sugar Moon--Pat Boone

Singles entering the chart were Zorro by the Chordettes (#29); Jennie Lee, with versions by Jan & Arnie, and Billy Ward and his Dominoes (#46); Rave On by Buddy Holly (#56); You Need Hands by Eydie Gorme (#57); and Joanie by the Bay Bops (#58).

World events
A state of emergency was proclaimed in Algeria.

Politics and government
King Paul of Greece swore in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis.

Horse racing
Tim Tam, with Ismael Valenzuela aboard, won the 83rd running of the Preakness Stakes before 36,912 fans at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in 1:57 1/5 for his second straight win in the 1958 Triple Crown. Lincoln Road placed second and Gone Fishin' third in the 12-horse field.





40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): The Legend of Xanadu--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (3rd week at #1)

Edmonton’s Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Master Jack--Four Jacks and a Jill
2 Love is All Around--The Troggs
3 Honey--Bobby Goldsboro
4 Me, the Peaceful Heart--Lulu
5 The Unknown Soldier--The Doors
6 Goodbye, Baby--Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
7 Mrs. Robinson--Simon and Garfunkel
8 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly--Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus
9 Delilah--Tom Jones
10 Take Time to Know Her--Percy Sledge
Pick hit of the Week: Turn Around, Look at Me--The Vogues
New this week: Hey Girl/My Girl--Bobby Vee
Classical Gas--Mason Williams
I Got You Babe--Etta James
The Prodigal--The Hombres

At the movies
Wonderwall, a British movie featuring music composed by George Harrison, received its premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival.





Music
The Monkees performed at Valley Music Hall in Salt Lake City. The performance of the new song Circle Sky was included in the movie Head (1968).



Space
The 10-nation European Space Research Organization (ESRO) launched its first satellite, ESRO 2B, also known as International Radiation Investigation Satellite (IRIS). The satellite carried seven experiments to monitor solar and cosmic radiation.

War
A United Nations command spokesman denied a May 7 North Korean claim that N.K. forces had captured a group of United States agents sent to its side of the Demilitarized Zone to commit murder and subversion. At a meeting of the Mixed Armistice Commission in Panmunjom, U.S. Army Major General Gilbert H. Woodward, senior United Nations command delegate, warned that North Korea was "approaching another serious miscalculation" in a plan to foment a new war.

Defense
The United States performed a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site.

Montrealana
The Man and his World fair opened on the former Expo '67 site on Île Ste-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame.

Academia
Mike McIntosh was appointed to the Board of Governors of St. Francis Xavier University, becoming the first undergraduate on a Canadian university Board.

Baseball
Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Joe Sparma took a 1-hitter into the 9th inning against the Washington Senators before 18,168 fans at Tiger Stadium‚ but Frank Howard hit a home run to give the Senators a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning‚ Jim Northrup won the game 7-3, with a 1-out grand slam‚ one of 5 he hit that season. Mr. Howard homered for the 5th straight game; it was his 8th in that span, the most anyone has hit in a 5-game span. Mr. Sparma finished with a 3-hit complete game victory.

The Boston Red Sox scored 2 runs in each of the 7th and 8th innings to defeat the New York Yankees 6-4 before 35,253 fans at Fenway Park in Boston.



Tom McCraw led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a triple and scored on a 2-out single by pinch hitter Duane Josephson to give the Chicago White Sox a 1-0 win over the Oakland Athletics before 8,407 fans at White Sox Park. Joe Horlen pitched a 4-hit shutout, while losing pitcher Jim Nash allowed only 3 hits and had 13 strikeouts.

Woodie Fryman of the Philadelphia Phillies struck out 9 and allowed 5 hits in 10 innings in beating Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals before 17,034 fans 1-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Mr. Fryman singled to lad off the bottom of the 10th inning, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single by Bill White with 2 out.

Deron Johnson sngled home Hank Aaron with 2 out in the top of the 16th inning and scored on a double by Felipe Alou as the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 3-1 before 28,169 fans at Shea Stadium in New York. Pat Jarvis started on the mound for Atlanta and allowed 4 hits and 1 earned run in 11 innings, and Jim Britton pitched 5 hitless innings of relief to get the win.

Ray Sadecki pitched a 3-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Joe Niekro, who allowed 3 hits and 1 run--earned--in 6 innings as the San Francisco Giants blanked the Chicago Cubs 2-0 before 9,517 fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Bill Singer pitched a 2-hitter and batted 2 for 3 with a double, base on balls, run, and 2 runs batted in to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Houston Astros 6-0 before 17,374 fans at Dodger Stadium.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Rivers of Babylon--Boney M.

Education
Henry Wise Wood High School in Calgary held its graduation ceremony at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. This blogger was one of the graduands. Bev Wilson was the class valedictorian.

War
It was reported from Thailand that heavy fighting had broken out on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, after a two-month lull. Cambodian prisoners of war appeared to have been indoctrinated by the Vietnamese to have been infiltrated back into Cambodia to help replace the Pol Pot regime there with a pro-Vietnamese one. Chinese tanks and arms were said to have been sent to Cambodia for use against Vietnam.

French UNIFIL troops and Palestinian guerrillas clashed in southern Lebanon.

Cuban dictator Fidel Castro denied the accusation of Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko that Cuban forces were aiding secessionist rebels in the Zairian province of Shaba (formerly Katanga).

Crime
The coffin containing the body of Charlie Chaplin was found, 11 weeks after it had been stolen from the village of Corsier, Switzerland. Sir Charles died on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88.

Basketball
NBA
Western Conference
Finals
Denver 108 @ Seattle 123 (Seattle won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Baseball
The Los Angeles Dodgers traded outfielder Glenn Burke‚ 25‚ to the Oakland Athletics for center fielder Billy North. Mr. Burke, who was batting .211 with no home runs and 2 runs batted in in 15 games with Los Angeles in 1978, later contended that he was traded from the Dodgers for dating manager Tommy Lasorda's son. Mr. Burke (in 1995) and Tom Lasorda, Jr. (in 1991) both died from AIDS. Mr. North was batting .212 with no homers and 5 RBIs in 24 games with Oakland in 1978.

Lee Lacy hit a pinch-hit home run to help the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 10-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium. It was Mr. Lacy's third consecutive home run in a pinch-hitting role, setting a major league record. His previous blasts were on May 2 and May 6.

25 years ago
1983

Diplomacy
Israel and Lebanon formally signed an agreeement for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon. The text also provided for gradual normalization of relations between the two countries based on "sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity." Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia gave their support to the agreement.

Defense
The full United States House of Representatives Appropriations Committee voted 30-26 to support the recommendations of the Scowcroft commission on development of the MX missile.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Ronald Reagan warned that he would veto any tax increase at a time when the country was emerging from a recession.

Politics and government
Philadelphia Democrats nominated former city managing director Wilson Goode as their candidate for mayor. Mr. Goode defeated former mayor Frank Rizzo in the primary, getting 53% of the vote to Mr. Rizzo's 46% in a heavy turnout. Mr. Goode thus had a chance to become Philadelphia's first Negro mayor.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Edmonton 2 @ New York Islanders 4 (New York won best-of-seven series 4-0)

The Islanders, backed by first-period goals from Bryan Trottier, John Tonelli and Mike Bossy, held on to defeat the Oilers at Nassau County Coliseum in Uniondale, New York to win their fourth straight Stanley Cup. Jari Kurri and Mark Messier scored for the Oilers in the second period, but Billy Smith stopped all seven Oilers’ shots in the third period and stopped 24 of 26 shots in the game. He finished the playoffs with a 13-3 record, recording all but two of the Islanders' postseason victories, and finished with a 2.68 goals-against average for the playoffs against the Washington Capitals, the Rangers, the Bruins and the Oilers.

20 years ago
1988

Politics and government
In the contest for the 1988 U.S. presidential nomination, Michael Dukakis won the Oregon Democratic primary with 56% of the vote to 38% for Jesse Jackson.

An editorial in the Washington Times called for the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, saying that he had "destroyed the [justice] department."

Diplomacy
The United States Senate began formal consideration of the intermediate nuclear forces (INF) treaty with the U.S.S.R.

Basketball
NBA
Western Conference
Semi-Finals
Dallas 110 @ Denver 106 (Dallas led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Utah 109 @ Los Angeles Lakers 111 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 3-2)

10 years ago
1998

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Conference
Finals
Indiana 79 @ Chicago 85 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Baseball
David Wells pitched the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0. Mr. Wells, whose perfecto was the first by a Yankees pitcher since Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series, also set an American League record by retiring 37 batters in a row, dating back to his start on May 12 against the Kansas City Royals. Minnesota shortstop Pat Meares flied out to right fielder Paul O'Neill to complete the perfect afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Outfielder Brian Jordan collected 5 hits‚ including a home run‚ and drove in 4 to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 13-4 win over the Florida Marlins at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.