May 3, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Pud Smith!

520 years ago
1494

Exploration
Christopher Columbus sighted the island of Jamaica.

200 years ago
1814

Born on this date
Adams George Archibald. Canadian politician. Sir Adams, a Liberal, served in the Nova Scotia legislature from most of the period from 1851-1867. He became a Father of Confederation, serving briefly in the Canadian House of Commons and then as Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba from 1870-1872 and Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1873-1883. Sir Adams died on December 14, 1892 at the age of 78.

175 years ago
1839

Died on this date
Ferdinando Paer, 67. Italian composer. Mr. Paer was known for his 55 operas, including Leonora (1804).

170 years ago
1844

Born on this date
Richard D'Oyly Carte. U.K. impresario and hotelier. Mr. Carte wrote songs, but was best known for founding the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which staged the comic operas of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan in the Savoy Theatre, which Mr. Carte built. He also built the Savoy Hotel and acquired other hotels, helping to make the business respectable. Mr. Carte died of dropsy and heart disease on April 3, 1901, a month before his 57th birthday.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Beulah Bondi. U.S. actress. Miss Bondi was a character actress in plays, films, and television programs. She was nominated for Academy Awards for her supporting performances in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) and Of Human Hearts (1938), and won an Emmy Award for a guest appearance in The Waltons (1976). Miss Bondi died on January 11, 1981 at the age of 91 from pulmonary complications following broken ribs after tripping over her cat.

75 years ago
1939

Politics and government
The All India Forward Bloc was formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, four days after his resignation from the Indian National Congress Party.

70 years ago
1944

War
German forces flooded large portions of the Pontine Marshes between the Anzio and Cassino fronts in Italy. A Japanese drive along the Peking-Hankow railway from Chengchow was complemented by a new offensive northward along the route from Siyang in the province of Honan in southern China. British armoured columns took several points from the Japanese around Kohima in eastern India.

Religion
The General Conference of the Methodist Church in Kansas City rejected a solution to admit women to full rights of ministers.

Medicine
Polaroid Corporation announced that synthetic quinine had been produced from coal tar products by Drs. Robert Woodward and William Doering.

Law
The U.S. House of Representatives World War Veterans Committee approved the "GI Bill" with only minor changes from the version approved by the Senate.

Labour
Mexico issued a decree ending the siesta--the custom of stopping work for a midday nap.

The U.S. Senate approved without opposition a resolution by Senator Harry Byrd (Democrat--Virginia) calling for an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee of the federal government seizure of the Montgomery Ward & Company plant in Chicago and of the dispute between the company and its employees.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Office of Price Administration announced that all meats would be ration-free effective the next day, except for steaks and roast beef.

Oil
U.S. and U.K. oil experts ended "exploratory conversations" on postwar oil development and reportedly recommended equal opportunity for the U.S. and U.K. in the development of world sources.

60 years ago
1954

At the movies
The Miami Story, directed by Fred F. Sears, and starring Barry Sullivan, Luther Adler, John Baer, and Adele Jergens, opened in theatres.



40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: The Air That I Breathe--The Hollies (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks (3rd week at #1)

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Milwaukee 83 @ Boston 95 (Boston led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Dave Cowens scored 30 points and John Havlicek added 28 to lead the Celtics over the Bucks before 15,320 fans at Boston Garden. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks with 26 points.

30 years ago
1984

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference Finals
Montreal 1 @ New York Islanders 3 (New York led best-of-seven series 3-2)

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): The Look--Roxette

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Like a Prayer--Madonna (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Christine Jorgensen, 62. U.S. deviate. Born George Jorgensen, Jr., Mr. Jorgensen underwent a series of operations in Copenhagen in 1951 and 1952 to change his sex, becoming the U.S.A.'s first well-known transsexual.

World events
A Syrian official claimed that the three Israeli officials who had been seized two days earlier crossing Syrian lines in northern Lebanon had admitted being on a spying mission. The three were members of Israel's informal embassy in Lebanon.

Politics and government
John Turner, who had briefly served as Prime Minister of Canada in 1984 after winning the leadership of the Liberal Party, announced his resignation as party leader as soon as a successor was chosen. Mr. Turner had succeeded Pierre Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister in 1984, but had served just 69 days in the latter post as a result of the Liberal's defeat by the Progressive Conservatives in the federal election. Mr. Turner had remained as Leader of the Opposition through the 1988 federal election campaign.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference Finals
Philadelphia 0 @ Montreal 3 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Patrick Roy posted the shutout in goal for the Canadiens as they blanked the Flyers at the Montreal Forum.

20 years ago
1994

Abominations
In Seattle, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein struck down Washington's law prohibiting assisted suicide, holding that it violated the United States Constitution's 14th Amendment protection against government infringement of individual rights.

Politics and government
Grace McCarthy resigned as leader of British Columbia's Social Credit Party after failing to win a seat in the provincial legislature in a by-election. The party held just 2 seats in the legislature.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the Index of Leading Economic Indicators had risen 0.7% in March.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Darrell Johnson, 75. U.S. baseball player and manager. Mr. Johnson was a catcher with the St. Louis Browns (1952); Chicago White Sox (1952); New York Yankees (1957-1958); St. Louis Cardinals (1960); Philadelphia Phillies (1961); Cincinnati Reds (1961-1962); and Baltimore Orioles (1962), batting .234 with 2 home runs and 28 runs batted in in 134 games. He managed the Boston Red Sox (1974-1976); Seattle Mariners (1977-1980); and Texas Rangers (1982), compiling a record of 472-590. He led the Red Sox to the 1975 American League pennant and a close and exciting 7-game loss to the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. Mr. Johnson was the first manager of the Seattle Mariners, who entered the American League as an expansion team in 1977.

Politics and government
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a setback when his Likud Party voted against his proposal to withdraw settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip.

Martin Torrijos, son of former dictator General Omar Torrijos, was elected President of Panama.

Burundi's main rebel group left the power-sharing government, raising fears of a return to civil war.

Scandal
It was revealed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been investigating the Toronto police force. Four policemen were later charged with 26 offenses related to organize crime and gambling.

Labour
The British Columbia government of Premier Gordon Campbell ordered 43,000 striking health care workers back to work. The order included a 15% wage cut and an increase in weekly working hours. The workers, supported by other unions, refused.