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Top Ten Leasing News
May 11 - May 15

(Stories most opened by readers)

(1) No Longer taking Broker/Discounting Business
    plus Leasing Companies Out of Business
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_13.htm#no

(2) A Posting to Our Employees Today
    Chris Enbom, CLFP
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_15.htm#posting

(3) "Your Leasing Association" is not "Leasing Solutions, LLC"
    Steve Geller, CLFP, 20 Years in Business
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_13.htm#your

(4) Looking for Information on
    Your Leasing Solution, LLC
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_011.htm#looking

(5) Leasing News Complaints Bulletin Board
    BBB Ratings Updated May 2020
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_011.htm#bbb_ratings

(6) Chesswood Posts $19.8 Million Loss 1st Quarter
    Reports on Pawnee/Staffing and Expenses
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_15.htm#chesswood

(7) New Hires in the Leasing Business
    and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_15.htm#hires

(8) Chart: The Industries Worst Affected
    by the COVID-19 Job Crisis
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_13.htm#chart

(9) DBRS Morningstar Places 10 Amur Equipment Finance
    Securities Under Review with Negative Implications
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2020/05_15.htm#dbrs

(10) Why is the Stock Market Still Going Up?
    21 Americans Lost their Job, But Stock Market Up
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/stock_market2020.pdf

 

 

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Balboa Capital Gets Excellent Review over Other Companies
    By DBRS Morningstar Confirms Three Securitizations

In a Press Release DBRS, Inc. (DBRS Morningstar) confirmed 11 ratings on securities issued by three equipment lease and loan securitization transactions sponsored by Balboa Capital Corporation (BCC). The reviewed transactions include the following:

-- BCC Funding XII LLC (the Loan)
-- BCC Funding XIV LLC (Series 2018-1)
-- BCC Funding XVI LLC (Series 2019-1)

The press release stated:

-- DBRS Morningstar's assessment as to how collateral performance could deteriorate due to macroeconomic stresses brought about by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. As the pandemic spreads and its consequences unfold, it is difficult to anticipate the ultimate impact on the variables that drive credit quality. In the context of this highly uncertain environment and in the interest of transparency, DBRS Morningstar released a set of forward-looking macroeconomic scenarios for select economies related to the coronavirus in the commentary titled “Global Macroeconomic Scenarios: Implications for Credit Ratings” on April 16, 2020. The moderate and adverse scenarios are being used in the context of DBRS Morningstar’s rating analysis, with the moderate scenario serving as the primary anchor for the current ratings and the adverse scenario serving as a benchmark for the sensitivity analysis.

-- DBRS Morningstar’s moderate scenario assumes some success in containing the coronavirus within Q2 2020 and a gradual relaxation of restrictions, enabling most economies to begin a gradual economic recovery in Q3 2020. This moderate scenario primarily considers two economic measures: declining GDP growth and increased unemployment levels for the year.

-- The credit enhancement available to each rated class of Series 2018-1, Series 2019-1, and the Loan is expected to provide protection commensurate with the existing ratings even after upward revisions in the expected cumulative net loss (CNL) assumptions consistent with the moderate scenario.

-- A potentially material impact of U.S. government intervention on the ability of many small businesses to survive through the shutdown in the short term, until the economy starts to reopen. Signed into law on March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act included a $349 billion appropriation for a significant expansion of guaranteed lending under Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act through a new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). As part of the second round of federal stimulus, an additional $320 billion will be allocated to the PPP, with $50 billion appropriated for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and an additional $10 billion for the EIDL cash advance program. While the exact impact of these efforts by the U.S. government remains uncertain, they are expected to benefit small businesses and soften the impact of the coronavirus by allowing companies to keep employees, to be able to restart operations faster and more seamlessly, and to use other available liquidity to support nonpayroll business needs.

-- The information provided to DBRS Morningstar by BCC related to the impact of the coronavirus on originations, underwriting, operations, and portfolio performance to date.

-- The contemplated amendments to certain terms of the Loan, which have been reviewed by DBRS Morningstar.

-- The relative benefit of the collateral portfolios’ diversification by state, obligor industry, and equipment type.

-- Credit enhancement for Series 2018-1 and Series 2019-1 has built to their respective target levels, enabling the transactions to withstand DBRS Morningstar’s increased CNL expectations in the moderate scenario. The overcollateralization amount for the Loan is dynamic based on transaction experience and will therefore be subject to increase should transaction performance deteriorate.

Full release:
https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/360692/dbrs-morningstar-confirms-ratings-on-three-bcc-funding-equipment-securitization-transactions

 

Three Reasons Companies Can't Hire Top Talent

The Ultimate Hire by Ken Lubin, ZRG Partners

Most companies think that they should be able to hire “A” level talent at the drop of a hat and that candidates should be begging to work for them; this is the furthest from the truth. In fact most companies are terrible at hiring good talent, never mind hiring the best. The reality is that you are not Apple, Google, Microsoft, Goldman or the coolest new start up in the land, then why are you trying to hire like you are?

Organizations need to have a gut check and realize that they are typically a “B” at best and most likely a “C”. I like to use the analogy of when you are trading in a car. Most people believe that they should be able to get the trade in value for a car that is in pristine condition, when in reality they will be lucky if they get the good value. Like most cars, companies have nicks, dings, and a sputtering engine from time to time and once they own that, the perspective of hiring is changed. 

Accepting responsibility and realizing what the organization really is, is the first step in getting the best talent you can.  Once this happens, it is possible to strategize about developing a plan for hiring success. 

There are 3 major pitfalls that companies fall into when hiring.

1. They can’t tell the story- There needs to be synergy between everyone in the organization. Each needs to know the mission, the direction, the product, and value proposition of the company. If everyone a candidate meets has a different story, the firm looks confused and unprofessional, this leaves a bad taste in top talent’s mouth.

2. Perception- Most companies/leaders  think they are the best and that is not a bad thing, but this is when reality sets in. You need to be the best to hire the best, there needs to be internal level setting to realize who and what you are going to get based on 3 important factors; Who is the leadership? Can you show “me” the money? What is the growth trajectory? and do they believe in the product? If either of these are not exciting, cutting edge, or adding value to their wallet, most “A” players aren’t going to join.

3. The Market (Speed) - We are in the midst of one the lowest historical unemployment environments in recent decades. Companies need to be able to make fast hiring decisions, willing to step up on comp and do what it takes to get the “A” level candidate off the street. The days of taking weeks and weeks with multiple interviews are over. Once a candidate starts looking at one position, the likelihood the will be      looking at others sky rockets. Realize you are not the only game in town and that you need to act fast, or they are gone!

“A” talent knows they are the best in the market, not the best on the market. When organizations are looking to attract the best, they need to be prepared, dialed in, and ready to act. Most companies expect that from the candidates, but where they miss the mark is not expecting it from themselves. To be the best you have prepare like you are the best!

Ken

klubin@zrgpartners.com

Ken Lubin
Managing Director
ZRG Partners, LLC
Americas I EMEA I Asia Pacific
C: 508-733-4789
https://www.linkedin.com/in/klubin/

"What is the Ultimate Hire? The Ultimate Hire is the professional that every business, team or leader needs in their organization. This is the high performance individual that always rises to the top, brings the team to the next level and can significantly add to the bottom line. The Ultimate Hire is the person that you can't afford to be without. Finding, Attracting, Hiring and Retaining these professionals is critical to the success of your business. We have identified these traits and can help you find these top professionals."

The Ultimate Hire Collection:
http://leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/ultimate.html

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Ralph Mango Remembers the Start of FinTech
AT&T Leasing Services, Pleasanton, California

In 1994 Leasing News Associate Editor was at AT&T, developing what today what is considered part of Financial Technology. Dell grew into a major company as well as Newcourt did extremely well.

At this time, with much less pervasive technology deployment in our industry, banks began to advertise, as I recall, 20- minute car loan decisions and 60-minute mortgage approvals.  D&B was offering their subscribers direct links to their reports, as were the three consumer credit bureaus, thereby reducing significantly the time to process credit applications.  I also recall that many leasing companies were offering to install dumb terminals at their vendors’ credit offices so these origination sources could complete credit applications online directly into lessor systems.  All of this served to signal the dawning of the technology age in the Equipment Finance Leasing industry and there was considerable innovation along these lines to replace the manually written, faxed, manual credit analysis and approval transmission that were taking days or more.

At a national meeting among the several regions that composed  AT&T Leasing Services, several of us were chatting over beers after a dinner.  The subject involved faster processing and turnaround times with minimal increase in the risk associated with less-than-typical application content.  We were struggling to find a competitive service differentiation in what was becoming a crowded market.  As you may recall, Leasing Services. Burlingame, California was a small ticket shop processing thousands of applications under $30,000. 

My thoughts ran to the following:

• The gross margin on a $30,000 transaction for five years did not generate sufficient margin to fund the extensive manual touching that existed.
• There was a maximum small ticket amount, perhaps under $10,000, that could be highly automated to:
• Generate the application was sufficient disclosure (each lessor would find its own level of comfort therewith)
• Run the credit reports
• Process the transaction amounts, terms, equipment, etc., through an algorithm against the credit score
• Render a decision within 30 minutes
• Generate a standard non-negotiable lease document that could be emailed to the client for signature
• Executed contract is faxed back to generate delivery
• Pricing would reflect the higher risk and fund an increased reserve for expected lower portfolio quality.  The yield net of the reserve would be at or near the desired yield over Cost of Funds contained in the business plan.  The cost saving from the automation that would replace the manual risks would, in party, provide part of the bad debt reserve. 
• Eschewing manual collections, the system would generate the following:
• Duly-executed contracts emailed to the customer
• 5 days prior to first payment due date, reminder of same as an alert that the payment is due on the first
• On the 2nd, if payment is not received, another reminder is sent with notice that if the payment is not received by the 5th, late charges would accrue.
• Final demand letter generated on the 6th with notice of acceleration of the balance in full if the payment is not received by the 15th.

Alas, we never had the opportunity to work on this because AT&T spun off Capital, Lucent and other divisions.

In 1996, I was recruited to Lease Partners in Burlingame, California, which soon was acquired by Newcourt.  Later that year, we received the Request for Proposal for Dell to bring the leasing operation in-house, fully expand it as a substitute for the extensive use of credit cards that were costing significant fee expense, and generate a lessee habits database by which to manage technology migration and Total Cost of Ownership, a measurement by which Dell competed using managed technology rotation at predetermined intervals of 2, 3 years of depending on customers.  I was asked to pilot   the proposal among a team of about ten.  The tenets of the winning proposal, that won over Citi, GE, and several other more established lessors, involved the above concepts and

• Applications by phone, online or by fax.  On the day we launched, July 7, 1997, we accepted over 1000 applications and the volume grew from there.
• The Lease Origination System was a proprietary platform developed by several Canadian developers specifically to address the above process and controls, containing the credit scorecards and decision algorithms.
• Links to the three credit agencies and D&B allowed entered applications to be adjudications in under 3 minutes.  Many customers were incredulous that we reached a decision so quickly such that we developed conversation dialogues by which to engage them while we were waiting for the system decision…”how ‘bout them Cowboys!”
• System-generated lease contracts were faxed to clients and encouraged to return fax to speed the process and delivery.  Many were uncomfortable and insisted on using Federal Express both ways with ink signatures.  The original plan embraced electronic signatures but such signatures had not yet become legal tender as they are now.

The success of the joint venture was immediate.  We reached $1 billion in originations in 17 months.  The small ticket segments that exclusively used the Lease Origination System not only generated immediate net income, but had the lowest delinquencies of all the segments, something we did not expect.

Dell liked the origination fees the leasing in-house, they could offer it online and on the phone as an alternative to the credit card fees they were paying at a rate of 2-3%...millions of dollars they could no longer justify. During this time, Jobs left Apple and Dell swooped in with an aggressive program for the student/education market that Apple was entrenched in and by the time I left they were close behind HP and Gateway in sales.

Dell grew into a major company with the early use of Financial Technology. 

Leasing News Associate Editor
Ralph Mango
http://leasingnews.org/Advisory%20Board/Mango_Ralph.html

Jeff Rudin, Quail Capital, Two Dogs
One from Leasing News Adopt a Dog

“The digs are great. Skye & Riley are Both rescues. Skye (black) was thanks to you. She’s an amazing dog.”

JeffR@quailcap.com

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Full Story:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/zoom-boom-biggest-airlines/

 

Labrador Retriever/Mixed
Costa Mesa, California   Adopt a Dog

Parker

ID #1271377
Good with dogs
Good with kids
Good with adults: All
Reaction to new people: Friendly
House trained
Neutered
Adoption fee: $150.00
Available date: 5/13/2020
Birth date: 5/15/2011 (not exact)

My name is Parker and I am about 9 years old. I am a sweet and calm boy. I unfortunately lived outdoors in someone’s backyard most of my life, not getting much attention. Despite that, I am such a sweetie! I am good with all people and dogs. I am also potty trained.

I am currently in foster care, to meet me please email CM.pricelesspets@gmail.com

Contact:
(909) 203-3695
info@pricelesspetrescue.org
http://pricelesspetrescue.org

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Channel Partners Capital Webinar
Free - May 20, Wednesday, 3:00pm ET

Join us next for a live webinar to learn more about our Gold Sponsor
- Channel Partners Capital

We will draw 15 brokers from the attendee list to receive one year of American Association of Commercial Finance Broker membership for free courtesy of Channel Partners Capital.

Channel Partners Capital is a leading provider of working capital ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 and recently added equipment financing to their product suite. Channel Partners will continue to work exclusively through equipment finance companies offering flexible partner programs, tools and technology to help your customers grow.

Register Here:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_--9Z0h9nS2SHWXomjlOL9g

News Briefs----

Coronavirus vaccine could come from California,
    with no shot needed
https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/Coronavirus-vaccine-could-come-from-California-15275558.php

Fed Chairman Powell warns US recovery could stretch
     through end of 2021
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/17/powell-warns-us-recovery-could-stretch-through-end-of-2021/

Hawaii discourages tourists from coming to the state
    through at least the end of June
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/hawaii-tourists-trnd/index.html

Coronavirus will end the golden age
     for college towns
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/coronavirus-will-end-golden-age-college-towns?utm_source=editorial-

Amid lockdown dispute,
   Musk says he will move Tesla out of Calif.
https://www.voanews.com/economy-business/amid-lockdown-dispute-musk-says-he-will-move-tesla-out-california

Exclusive: United Airlines only needs 3,000
    of 25,000 flight attendants in June - sources
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-united-arlns-exclu/exclusive-united-airlines-only-needs-3000-of-25000-flight-attendants-in-june-sources-idUSKBN22R2MJ

Chick-fil-A surpasses Burger King,
    Taco Bell on best-selling list
https://nypost.com/2020/05/14/chick-fil-a-surpasses-burger-king-taco-bell-on-best-selling-list/

 

 

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You May Have Missed---

Coronavirus economy: Remote workforces may become
   San Francisco Bay Area new normal, 1 of 6 Companies report
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/15/coronavirus-economy-remote-workforce-bay-area-new-normal-survey-job-layoff-unemployment-tech-retail-uber-edd-ui/

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Sports Briefs---

AP Exclusive: MLB projects $640K per game loss with no fans
https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/AP-Exclusive-MLB-projects-640K-per-game-loss-15275174.php

Jon Gruden on picking Damon Arnette in first round:
   Just look at his tape
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/05/17/jon-gruden-on-picking-damon-arnette-in-first-round-just-look-at-his-tape/

Why veterans love to keep playing for 49ers' Kyle Shanahan
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/10967252-181/why-veterans-love-to-keep

2020 NFL record projections:
   Will Tom Brady or Drew Brees lead Super Bowl push?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/nate-davis/2020/05/14/nfl-record-projections-2020-teams-tom-brady-buccaneers-cowboys-saints/5186062002/

Without Fans, Some College Football Games
     Won’t Make Financial Sense
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/17/sports/ncaafootball/college-football-no-fans.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage

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California Nuts Briefs---

UCLA tells faculty to prepare for remote fall quarter,
  official plans unannounced
https://dailybruin.com/2020/05/13/ucla-tells-faculty-to-prepare-for-remote-fall-quarter-official-plans-unannounced/

Marin health director’s own illness changes
    his view of dealing with COVID-19
https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/Marin-health-director-s-own-illness-changes-his-15274476.php

As California mulls sheltering orders,
   older adults remain isolated and alone
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/05/12/whats-next-for-nursing-homes-as-california-assesses-sheltering-orders-seniors-remain-in-isolation/

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes swipe
   at California over return of sports
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ron-DeSantis-sports-Florida-California-return-news-15273725.php?ipid=dontmisssfghp

‘Things didn’t seem right’:
    Quick thinking of L.A. fire captain may have saved lives
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/17/things-didnt-seem-right-quick-thinking-of-l-a-fire-captain-may-have-saved-lives/

Half of Oakland students lack access to computers.
   Jack Dorsey is stepping in
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/15/jack-dorsey-twitter-oakland-schools-internet

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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

Wine Industry Faces Year-long Convalescence from COVID-19
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=230649

U.S. Wineries Cautiously Begin Reopening Phase
https://www.winespectator.com/articles/wineries-cautiously-begin-reopening-phase

Healdsburg’s Jordan Winery wants to be the first to reopen.
   One hitch: It can’t serve wine
https://www.sfchronicle.com/wine/article/Healdsburg-s-Jordan-Winery-wants-to-be-the-15273060.php

Oregon winery tasting rooms greenlighted
   to start opening May 15, 2020
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=230860

Free Wine App
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp/

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

This Day in History

    

1631 - The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed that 'no man shall be admitted to the body politic but such as are members of some of the churches within the limits' of the colony.’  Separation of church and state was an unthinkable concept in early American colonialism. In contrast to what is taught in schools, most were not escaping for religious freedoms, but were missionaries with strong prejudices against other religious groups except for their own.  Separately, John Winthrop was elected the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
    1652 - Rhode Island enacted a slavery emancipation law: “No blacken mankind or white... (maybe) forced by covenant bond or otherwise to serve any man or his assignees longer than ten years, or until they come to be 24 years of age, if they be taken in under 15, from the time of their coming within the Liberties of the Colonies, and at the end of termed of ten years... (are to be set) free, as is the manner with the English servants. And that man that will not let them goe free, or shall sell them elsewhere, to that end that they may be enslaved to others for a long time, he or they shall forfeit to the Colonie forty pounds.”
    1766 - The Church of the United Brethren in Christ was organized in Lancaster, PA, under the leadership of Martin Boehm, 41, and Philip William Otterbein, 39. (It became a branch of the Evangelical United Brethren in 1946.)
    1798 - The first Secretary of the U.S. Navy was appointed, Benjamin Stoddert.  Stoddert was born in Maryland, in 1744, the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and then worked as a merchant. He served as a captain in the Pennsylvania cavalry and later as secretary to the Continental Board of War during the Revolution. During the war, he was severely injured and was subsequently released from active military service.  After Washington was elected President, he asked Stoddert to purchase key parcels of land in the area that would become the nation's capital, before the formal decision to establish the federal city on the banks of the Potomac.  In May 1798, President Adams appointed Stoddert to oversee the newly established Department of the Navy.  As the first Secretary of the Navy, Stoddert soon found himself dealing with an undeclared naval war with France, which would come to be known as the Quasi-War. Stoddert realized that the infant Navy possessed too few warships to protect a far-flung merchant marine by using convoys or by patrolling the North American coast. Rather, he concluded that the best way to defeat the French campaign against American shipping was by offensive operations in the Caribbean, where most of the French cruisers were based. Thus, at the very outset of the conflict, the Department of the Navy adopted a policy of going to the source of the enemy's strength. American successes during the conflict resulted from a combination of Stoddert's administrative skill in deploying his limited forces and the initiative of his seagoing officers. Under Stoddert's leadership, the reestablished Navy acquitted itself well and achieved its goal of stopping the depredations of French ships against American commerce.  Stoddert concerned himself not only with the Navy's daily administration and operations, but also with the service's future strength. He established the first six navy yards and advocated building twelve 74 gunships.
http://www.mariner.org/usnavy/05/05d.htm
    1822 – One of America’s first photographers, Matthew Brady (d. 1896), was born in Warren County, NY.  He studied under inventor Samuel F.B. Morse, who pioneered the daguerreotype technique in America. Brady opened his own studio in New York in 1844, and photographed Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, among other celebrities. When the Civil War started, his use of a mobile studio and darkroom enabled vivid battlefield photographs that brought home the reality of war to the public. Thousands of war scenes were captured, as well as portraits of generals and politicians on both sides of the conflict, though most of these were taken by his assistants, rather than by Brady himself.
    1827 - Josiah Warren (1798–1874) opens his first Time Store in Cincinnati, Ohio — the first commercial cooperative.  He was an American reformer and anarchist.  An early follower of Robert Owen, he soon rejected Owen's political socialism, advocating instead anarchy based on “the sovereignty of the individual.” Warren founded several “equity” or "time" stores, with the idea of exchanging goods for an equivalent amount of labor and on the principle that cost should be the limit of price. He also established three utopian colonies:  the most successful was Modern Times (1851–c.1860), Long Island, N.Y. (now Brentwood). The most important of his publications was “True Civilization” (1863, 5th ed. 1875).
http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/warren.html
See "The Lemonade Ocean & Modern Times" by Hakim Bey.
http://www.evolutionzone.com/kulturezone/bey/
lemonade.ocean.and.modern.times.html
http://www.blancmange.net/tmh/articles/manifesto.shtml
http://www.blackcrayon.com/people/warren/
    1830 - Edwin Budding of England signed an agreement for the manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower.
    1836 - Cynthia Ann Parker (1825-71), a blue-eyed blonde Caucasian woman, was captured by the Comanche at age nine. When U.S. soldiers found her four years later in a Comanche camp where she was living under the name "Prelock," she refused to return. She said she was happy living as a Comanche.  In 1860, she and her infant daughter were captured in a U.S. army raid and were forcibly detained. She was sent to Parker's father. The infant died soon after capture and Prelock died in 1871, according to legend, by starving herself to death longing to go back to the Comanche way of life.   Her eldest son, Quanah, became chief of the Kwahadi tribe which held out against the white man. Some called him the most ferocious Indian who ever lived. In 1875, he suddenly brought his people in and settled near the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma and saw to it that Comanche children went to school and were educated.
    1849 - Sailing ship "Grey Eagle" arrived in San Francisco with 34 passengers from the East in 113 days, a record at that time.
    1852 - Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school
    1860 - Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for president over William H. Seward who would become his Secretary of State.
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln defeated his opponents with only 40% of the popular vote, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. The announcement of his victory signaled the secession of the Southern states which, since the beginning of the year, had been publicly threatening secession if the Republicans gained the White House. By the time of Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, seven states had seceded and the Confederate States of America had been formally established with Jefferson Davis as its elected president. One month later, the American Civil War began when Confederate forces under General P. G. T. Beauregard opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina. 
    1861 - Battle of Sewall's Point, VA is the first Union offensive against the South.
    1863 - A new sport became available to Americans with the introduction of roller skating by James L. Plimpton. Plimpton invented the four-wheel skate, which worked on rubber pads, thus permitting skaters to change direction by shifting their weight to one side or the other without lift the wheels of the skate off the ground. Roller skating became fashionable in New York City and soon spread to other cities. In Newport, RI, the Roller Skating Association leased the Atlantic House and turned its dining room and plaza into a skating rink. In Chicago, the Casino could accommodate 3000 spectators and 1000 skaters. In San Francisco, a rink advertised 5000 pairs of skates available for rent.
    1863 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant surrounds Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, in one of the most brilliant campaigns of the war. On May 16, Grant fought the Confederates under John C. Pemberton at Champion's Hill and defeated them decisively. He then attacked again at the Big Black River the next day, and Pemberton fled into Vicksburg with Grant following close behind. The trap was now complete and Pemberton was stuck in Vicksburg, although his forces would hold out until July 4. In the three weeks since Grant crossed the Mississippi in the campaign to capture Vicksburg, Grant's men marched 180 miles and won five battles. They took nearly 100 Confederate artillery pieces and nearly 6,000 prisoners, all with relatively light losses.
    1864 - The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia, reaches its peak at the Bloody Angle.  This was the second major battle in Grant’s 1864 Overland campaign. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged from Lee’s army and moved to the southeast, attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions. Elements of Lee's army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864, as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but with almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, it was the costliest battle of the campaign.
    1872 - Bertrand Russell (d. 1970) was born in Trelleck, Wales. Philosopher, mathematician and social critic, one of the most widely read philosophers of this century.  Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature, 1950. Outspoken pacifist, imprisoned during World War I. Abandoned pacifism during World War II, but was a leading figure in the antinuclear movement. Imprisoned in 1961 for taking part in a demonstration in Whitehall. A pioneer of logical positivism. I took a course from him at UCLA and have read most of his books.
http://www.mcmaster.ca/russdocs/russell.htm
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/brussell.htm
http://www.sci.fi/~phinnweb/links/philosophy.html
    1883 - An F4 tornado tracked 20 miles through Kenosha and Racine Counties in Wisconsin. 8 people were killed and 85 were injured. The tornado made a spectacular exit as a multiple vortex waterspout over Lake Michigan and was described as: "whirling columns of air seemed like great wreaths of smoke, bearing with them spiral columns of water...a half dozen could be seen at a time, then all would disappear and new ones would reform."
    1896 – In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled separate-but-equal facilities constitutional on intrastate railroads. For fifty years, the Plessy v. Ferguson decision upheld the principle of racial segregation. Across the country, laws mandated separate accommodations on busses and trains, and in hotels, theaters, and schools. The premise was separate, but “equal.” When I first went to New Orleans in 1958, the facilities were not equal, but certainly separate. As I traveled in other parts of the South, Blacks would walk on one side of the main street and whites on the other. Restaurants and rest rooms were “white only.” Even the French Quarter was quite segregated with “white only” jazz clubs and, further down, you would find “black” or “Cajun,” which was even “rougher.” Drinks were much cheaper, the food simple, but delicious. We were musicians, so we never experienced any difficulty as often the two of us would be the only whites in the club. We had our own mouthpieces, as it was the tradition then, as I believe now, if you play someone else’s instrument, you used your own mouthpiece. I had both a clarinet and alto sax; Warren had his trumpet mouthpiece which he carried with him all time, especially when we have gone to places where he would be invited to play.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may18.html
    1897 – New York Giant 1B Bill Joyce set the MLB record of 4 triples in 1 game.    1900 - Birthday of author Laura Z. Hobson (d. 1986) in New York City. She wrote revolutionary novels about social injustices. "Gentleman's Agreement" dealt with anti-Semitism, "Tenth Month," on unwed motherhood, "Consenting Adult," on homosexuality. 
    1901 - Birthday of Jeanette Macdonald (d. 1965) in Philadelphia.  She was a very popular U.S. singer-actor best known today for her singing over the ruins of “San Francisco” (1936), duets with Canadian Mounties, and teaming with Nelson Eddy from 1936-42.  She was also an accomplished Broadway and film actor and a fine comedic player. She was one of the top money grossers of her era.
    1902 - An F4 tornado struck the town of Goliad, Texas, killing 114 people. No U.S. tornado disaster of similar magnitude has ever occurred further south than this event.
    1902 - Birthday of Meredith Wilson (d. 1984), composer and lyricist (“The Music Man”), in Mason City, IA.
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist/willson.html
    1910 – The Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet.
    1911 - Blues Shouter Joseph Vernon “Big Joe” Turner (d. 1985) was born Kansas, City, MO.  He was one of the forefathers of rock 'n' roll.  His 1950's recordings of such songs as "Shake, Rattle and Roll," "Honey Hush" and "Flip, Flop and Fly" are rock 'n' roll classics. But Turner had been singing for more than 20 years when these songs were recorded. In the 1930's, he teamed with boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson. Their appearance at John Hammond's famed "Spirituals to Swing" concert in 1938 helped spark the boogie-woogie craze of the time. In 1951, Turner began recording rhythm-and-blues for Atlantic Records. Many of his songs were rock 'n roll hits when recorded by white artists. Bill Haley turned "Shake, Rattle and Roll" into a million-seller in 1954 and Pat Boone had a pop hit with Turner's "Chains of Love" in 1956. In the '60s, Big Joe Turner turned to jazz singing, continuing to perform and record until his death on November 24th, 1985.
    1912 - Perry Como’s (d. 2001) birthday in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, born Pierino Ronald Como.  A self-described admirer of Bing Crosby, Como copied Crosby's singing style and relaxed approach. He was a barber whose first record, "Goodbye Sue," was a hit in 1943. And so was "And I Love You So," recorded more than 30 years later. His other successes have included "Till the End of Time," "Temptation" and "It's Impossible." On television, Perry Como was the host of "The Chesterfield Supper Club," "The Perry Como Show" and "The Kraft Music Hall." He was perhaps the most popular singer on television in the 1950's.
    1917 - Selective Service Act was passed by Congress allowing conscription for military duty.  All males aged 21 to 30 were required to register for military service. At the request of the War Department, Congress amended the law in August 1918 to expand the age range to include all men 18 to 45, and to bar further volunteering.  By the end of World War I, some 2 million men volunteered for various branches of the armed services, and some 2.8 million had been drafted.  This meant that more than half of the almost 4.8 million Americans who served in the armed forces were drafted. Due to the effort to incite a patriotic attitude, the World War I draft had a high success rate, with fewer than 350,000 men “dodging the draft.”
    1917 – The First units of the American Expeditionary Force, commanded by General John J. Pershing, were ordered to France.
    1922 - Trombonist Kai Winding (d. 1983) was born Aarhus, Denmark.  His best-known recording is “More,” the theme from the movie “Mondo Cane.”
    1927 - Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard was opened, the first of the Fox chain of movie theaters. The lavish 2,200 seat theater cost $1 million to build. Its first film was shown on this date, Cecil B. DeMille's “King of Kings,” at the high price of $2.00 per seat. It was later renamed Mann's Chinese Theater.
    1927 - Bath, Michigan School Disaster. Andrew Kehoe, seeking revenge against the community for taxes imposed on his farm to pay for a new school, set off a TNT bomb in the school, killing 43 people, including 39 grade-school children. After the explosion, Kehoe killed his wife, then drove his truck back, loaded with dynamite & nails, to the school, and set it off, killing himself and the school superintendent.
    1928 – Actor Pernell Roberts (d. 2010) was born in Waycross, GA.  Roberts played Ben Cartwright's urbane eldest son Adam in the Western television series “Bonanza,” NBC’s longest-running western series ever (14 years) and television’s second-longest behind “Gunsmoke.”  Unlike his brothers, Adam was a university educated architectural engineer.  Roberts, having largely been "a stage actor, accustomed as he was to a rigorous diet of the classics" and to freely move about from part to part, found the "transition to a television series," playing the same character, "without costume changes," a difficult one.  It was perhaps not surprising that, despite enormous success and in one of television’s worst career moves, he bolted from "Bonanza" after the 1964–65 season, criticizing the show's simple-minded content and lack of minority actors.  It particularly distressed him that his character, a man in his 30's, had to defer continually to the wishes of his widowed father and he reportedly disliked the series itself, calling it — "junk" television and accusing NBC of "perpetuating banality and contributing to the dehumanization of the industry." 
    1931 - Bix Biederbecke joins Casa Loma Band for a date at Metropolitan Hotel, Boston.
    1933 - President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.  TVA is a federally-owned corporation created by congressional charter to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region deeply affected by the Great Depression. The enterprise was a result of the efforts of Senator George Norris of Nebraska. TVA was envisioned not only as a provider, but also as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to rapidly modernize the region's economy and society.  TVA's service area covers most of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small slices of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. It was the first large regional planning agency of the federal government and remains the largest.
    1933 – The first Major League All-Star Game was announced for July 6 at Comiskey Park, to be played as part of the Chicago World's Fair.
    1934 – The Academy Award was first called Oscar in print, by Sidney Skolsky.
    1934 - Congress approved the Lindbergh Act, making kidnapping a capital offense
    1934 – “Dobie Gillis,” actor Dwayne Hickman, who played the starring role in this TV series of the 1950s, was born in LA.
    1937 – Baltimore Orioles’ Hall of Fame 3B, Brooks Robinson, was born in Little Rock, AR.  He is considered one of the greatest defensive third basemen in Major League history, winning 16 consecutive Gold Glove awards during his 23-year career, tied with pitcher Jim Kaat for the second-most all-time for any player at any position. Robinson was elected to the Hall in 1983.  “Brooksie” played in four World Series, winning two and was an 18-time All-Star.  With Frank Robinson and Jim Palmer, he led the Orioles in the 1960-70s.
    1942 - Birthday of Rodney Dillard in E. St. Louis, IL.  He is one of the electric bluegrass group, the Dillards. Formed in 1962, the Dillards left their home state for Hollywood where they played a hillbilly band on TV's "Andy Griffith Show." Their albums contained songs by folk and rock composers such as Bob Dylan, and their use of electric instruments helped pave the way for such country-rock groups as the Byrds and the Eagles.
    1942 – New York City ended night baseball games for the duration of the war.
    1944 - The Allies captured Monte Cassino (you may remember the movie). There had been five Allied attempts to take the German position at The Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino. Site of the Roman town of Cassinum, its abbey, the first house of the Benedictine Order, was established around 529. Although the abbey had been reduced to rubble, it served as a bunker for the Germans and they could relay all activity in the area to airplanes and execute giant cannon attacks. In the spring of 1944, Marshal Alphonese Pierre Juin devised an operation that crossed the mountainous regions behind the fortress-like structure, using Moroccan troops of the French Expeditionary Force. Specially trained for mountain operations, they climbed 4,850 feet to locate a pass. On May 15, 1944, they attacked the Germans from behind. On May 18, Polish troops attached to this force and took Monte Cassino.  British commanders of the Indian troops on the ground suggested that Germans were occupying the monastery and it was considered a key observational post by all those who were fighting in the field.   However, during the bombing no Germans were present in the abbey. Subsequent investigations found that the only people killed in the monastery by the bombing were 230 Italian civilians seeking refuge there.  Following the bombing the ruins of the monastery were occupied by German paratroopers, because the ruins provided excellent defensive cover.  Fortunately, the artifacts, artwork and other historical items had been removed prior to the bombing. The Abbey was rebuilt in the early 1950s and Pope Paul VI consecrated the rebuilt Basilica on 24 October 1964.
    1945 - On Okinawa, the US 6th Marine Division, part of US 3rd Amphibious Corps, captures most of the Sugar Loaf Hill, as well as parts of the Half Moon and the Horseshoe positions that overlook it, after several days of bitter fighting. The US 1st Marine Division continues to battle for the Wana River valley and Wana Ridge but fails to eliminate Japanese resistance, even with flame-throwers and tanks in support. Meanwhile, the US 77th and 96th Divisions, parts of US 24th Corps, attack Japanese positions on Flat Peak without success.
    1945 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time," Les Brown Orchestra/Doris Day.
    1946 - Top Hits
“All Through the Day” - Perry Como
“The Gypsy” - The Ink Spots
“Shoo Fly Pie” - The Stan Kenton Orchestra (vocal: June Christy)
“New Spanish Two Step” - Bob Wills
    1947 – The Philadelphia A’s catcher Buddy Rosar caught his 147th game without an error, Major League record at the time that has since been broken several times.
    1950 – Phillies 3B Tommy Glaviano made errors on 3 consecutive grounders
    1951 – The United Nations moved into its headquarters in NYC.
    1952 - US / Canada: Which Side Are You on? Paul Robeson, in dramatic defiance of government’s ban on his leaving US soil, standing on a flatbed truck parked one foot inside the US border at the Peace Arch, in Blaine, Washington, speaks and sings to a crowd of 40,000 Canadians & Americans gathered on both sides of the border.
(My father Lawrence Menkin was a recipient of the Paul Robeson Award for producing and writing “Harlem Detective” in the early 1950’s for WOR-TV)
http://www.bayarearobeson.org/Chronology_7.htm
    1952 - Country singer George Strait was born in Pearsall, Texas. Strait's traditional country sound, influenced by Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Hank Williams, began to find favor at the beginning of the 1980's. His rise to popularity was due at least in part to a reaction against the slicker "urban cowboy" sound. Strait is now one of the biggest country stars, with such number-one hits as "Love without End, Amen," "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind," "All My Ex's Live in Texas" and "I've Come to Expect It from You." His 1985 "Greatest Hits" album spent more than five years on the charts.
    1953 - Air Force Lieutenant Colonel George I. Ruddell, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, became the 31st ace of the war after making his fifth MiG kill in an F-86 Sabre called "MiG Mad Mavis."
    1953 - The first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound, Jacqueline Cochran, piloted an F-86 Sabrejet over California at an average speed of 652.337 MPH.
    1953 - Robbie Bachman, drummer for Bachman-Turner Overdrive, was born in Winnipeg. The Canadian rock band, which also included Robbie's brothers Randy and Tim on guitars, was internationally popular in the 1970's with such hits as "Blue Collar," "Let It Ride," "Takin' Care of Business" and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," a 1974 million-seller. At its peak, BTO won many polls and honors in the US, as well as seven Juno Awards.
    1954 - Top Hits
“Wanted” - Perry Como
“Little Things Mean a Lot” - Kitty Kallen
“If You Love Me (Really Love Me)” - Kay Starr
“I Really Don’t Want to Know” - Eddy Arnold
    1955 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," Perez Prado.
    1955 – Just short of a foot of rain fell at Lake Maloya, New Mexico, the state record.
    1956 – On the way to the Triple Crown and MVP, Mickey Mantle hit HRs from both sides of plate for record 3rd time.  He did so a total of 10 times in his career, a record when he retired that has been surpassed since by several hitters.
    1957 - The Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles played a 1-1 tie, a game called precisely at 10:20pm so that the White Sox could catch a train out of Baltimore. The Orioles’ Dick Williams hit a home run on the game’s last pitch to tie the game and avoid defeat. The game was replayed from the beginning at a later date and Baltimore won.
    1959 - Wilbert Harrison's recording of Leiber and Stoller's "Kansas City" rose to the top of the Billboard singles chart. Cover versions by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters, Rocky Olson, Rockin' Ronald & The Rebels, and Little Richard all appeared in March of 1959, but the Harrison version was by far the most popular. Further success for Harrison would have to wait until 1970 when "Let's Work Together" made it to number 32 in the US.
    1960 - Salt Lake City, Utah received an inch of snow. It marked their latest measurable snowfall of record.
    1960 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "Cathy's Clown," The Everly Brothers.
    1962 - Top Hits
“Soldier Boy” - The Shirelles
“Stranger on the Shore”- Mr. Acker Bilk
“She Cried” - Jay & The Americans
“She Thinks I Still Care” - George Jones
    1963 - At the first annual Monterey Folk Festival, Bob Dylan joins Joan Baez onstage to duet on his antiwar song "With God on Our Side."
    1963 - Jackie DeShannon makes her television debut, singing "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby" and "Just in Time" on CBS' Jackie Gleason Show.
    1963 - The Beatles begin their third tour of 1963 at the Adelphi Cinema in Buckinghamshire, England, opening for Roy Orbison; within a few days, thanks to growing "Beatlemania," they will be headlining.
    1963 - Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" enters Billboard's Top 40, where it will reach #1. 
    1963 - After hitting #22 the previous year with "Twistin' Matilda," Jimmy Soul reached #1 on the Billboard chart with "If You Wanna Be Happy." It would prove to be his final entry as the follow-up "Treat 'Em Tough" flopped completely, after which Jimmy entered the US Army. 
    1964 – The Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to deprive naturalized citizens of citizenship if they returned to their home country for more than 3 years
    1965 - Outer Space: Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names -- including Kirk -- for Star Trek Captain. It will never fly, say some. And small hand-held devices that you can talk into as if you are on a telephone anywhere, who would believe it? In the “Next Generation,” they were on the shirt that you could turn on with a touch or vocal command or attach to your ear. Unheard of at the time; common today.
    1966 - PH Phactor Jug Band opened at 40 Cedar Alley near Polk and Geary in San Francisco. Does anyone else remember Cedar Alley?
    1966 - *STEWART, JIMMY G., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1966. Entered service at: Ashland, Ky. Born: 25 December 1942, West Columbia, W. Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Early in the morning a reinforced North Vietnamese company attacked Company B, which was manning a defensive perimeter in Vietnam. The surprise onslaught wounded 5 members of a 6-man squad caught in the direct path of the enemy's thrust. S/Sgt. Stewart became a lone defender of vital terrain--virtually 1 man against a hostile platoon. Refusing to take advantage of a lull in the firing which would have permitted him to withdraw, S/Sgt. Stewart elected to hold his ground to protect his fallen comrades and prevent an enemy penetration of the company perimeter. As the full force of the platoon-sized man attack struck his lone position, he fought like a man possessed; emptying magazine after magazine at the determined, on-charging enemy. The enemy drove almost to his position and hurled grenades, but S/Sgt. Stewart decimated them by retrieving and throwing the grenades back. Exhausting his ammunition, he crawled under intense fire to his wounded team members and collected ammunition that they were unable to use. Far past the normal point of exhaustion, he held his position for 4 harrowing hours and through 3 assaults, annihilating the enemy as they approached and before they could get a foothold. As a result of his defense, the company position held until the arrival of a reinforcing platoon which counterattacked the enemy, now occupying foxholes to the left of S/Sgt. Stewart's position. After the counterattack, his body was found in a shallow enemy hole where he had advanced in order to add his fire to that of the counterattacking platoon. Eight enemy dead were found around his immediate position, with evidence that 15 others had been dragged away. The wounded that he gave his life to protect, were recovered and evacuated. S/Sgt. Stewart's indomitable courage, in the face of overwhelming odds, stands as a tribute to himself and an inspiration to all men of his unit. His actions were in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and the Armed Forces of his country.
    1967 - GRANDSTAFF, BRUCE ALAN,  Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Platoon Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry. Place and date: Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1967. Entered service at: Spokane, Wash. Born: 2 June 1934, Spokane, Wash. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. P/Sgt. Grandstaff distinguished himself while leading the Weapons Platoon, Company B, on a reconnaissance mission near the Cambodian border. His platoon was advancing through intermittent enemy contact when it was struck by heavy small arms and automatic weapons fire from 3 sides. As he established a defensive perimeter, P/Sgt. Grandstaff noted that several of his men had been struck down. He raced 30 meters through the intense fire to aid them but could only save 1. Denied freedom to maneuver his unit by the intensity of the enemy onslaught, he adjusted artillery to within 45 meters of his position. When helicopter gunships arrived, he crawled outside the defensive position to mark the location with smoke grenades. Realizing his first marker was probably ineffective, he crawled to another location and threw his last smoke grenade but the smoke did not penetrate the jungle foliage. Seriously wounded in the leg during this effort he returned to his radio and, refusing medical aid, adjusted the artillery even closer as the enemy advanced on his position. Recognizing the need for additional firepower, he again braved the enemy fusillade, crawled to the edge of his position and fired several magazines of tracer ammunition through the jungle canopy. He succeeded in designating the location to the gunships but this action again drew the enemy fire and he was wounded in the other leg. Now enduring intense pain and bleeding profusely, he crawled to within 10 meters of an enemy machine gun which had caused many casualties among his men. He destroyed the position with hand grenades but received additional wounds. Rallying his remaining men to withstand the enemy assaults, he realized his position was being overrun and asked for artillery directly on his location. He fought until mortally wounded by an enemy rocket. Although every man in the platoon was a casualty, survivors attest to the indomitable spirit and exceptional courage of this outstanding combat leader who inspired his men to fight courageously against overwhelming odds and cost the enemy heavy casualties. P/Sgt. Grandstaff's selfless gallantry, above and beyond the call of duty, is in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflects great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country. 
    1967 - Tennessee Governor Ellington approved the repeal of the Butler Act or "Monkey Law," upheld in the 1925 Scopes Trial
    1968 - A tornado outbreak occurred across Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, and Arkansas. Charles City, Iowa was devastated by a tornado rated F5 with 13 people killed and 30 million dollars damage done. An F4 tornado tracked through Jackson, Craighead, and Mississippi Counties in Arkansas, killing 35 people and injuring 361. 164 homes in Jonesboro were destroyed.
    1968 - Electric Flag played the Late Show at the famed San Francisco Carousel Ballroom.
(To listen) http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/electric-flag-concert/49934-2140.html
    1968 - Al Kaline hit his 307th HR, surpassing Hank Greenberg for the Detroit Tiger team HR record.
    1968 - Frank Howard tied the AL record with a HR in his 6th consecutive game; his 10 home runs are the most in 6 games.
    1969 – Apollo 10 began their orbit to circle the moon ten times.
    1969 – The Klamath tribe wins $4.1 million for loss of Oregon lands during fraudulent government surveys in 1880s. 
    1969 – Birthday of pop singer Martika, whose real name is Marta Marrera, Whittier, CA.  Her “Toy Soldiers” was a number-one record in 1989.
    1969 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Get Back,” The Beatles.
    1970 – Actress, writer, comedian, producer Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey in Upper Darby, PA.  Fey has received eight Emmys, two Golden Globes, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for her autobiographical book “Bossypants,” which topped The New York Times Best Seller List for five weeks. In 2008, the Associated Press gave Fey the AP Entertainer of the Year award for her satirical portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”
    1970 – Top Hits
“American Woman/No Sugar Tonight” – The Guess Who
“Vehicle” – The Ides of March
“Cecilia” – Simon & Garfunkel
“My Love” – Sonny James
    1974 – “The Streak” started a 3-week run at number one on the “Billboard” pop music chart. The novelty tune by Ray Stevens was about people running nekkid where they shouldn’t be nekkid, like, in public. It was the second number one hit for the comedian who made numerous appearances on Andy Williams’ TV show in the late 1960s, as well as his own show in the summer of 1970. His first number one hit, just prior to “The Streak,” was “Everything is Beautiful.” Both songs won gold records, as did his comedic “Gitarzan,” a top ten hit in 1969. Stevens has been the top novelty recording artist of the past three decades.
    1978 – Top Hits
“If I Can’t Have You” – Yvonne Elliman
“The Closer I Get to You” – Roberta Flack with Donny Hathaway
“With a Little Luck” – Wings
“It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” – Dolly Parton
    1978 – “The Buddy Holly Story,” a film starring Gary Busey as Holly, has its world premiere in Dallas. The movie will be a critical and commercial success.
    1980 – 9,677-foot Mt. St. Helens, quiet for 93 years, blew its top. The volcanic blast was five hundred times more powerful than the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. Steam and ash erupted more than eleven miles into the sky and darkened skies in a 160-mile radius. Forest fires erupted around the volcano and burned out of control. The eruption, and those that followed, left some sixty dead and caused damage amounting to nearly three billion dollars.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Gif/Pictograms/may18_sequence.gif
    1982 - Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon convicted of tax evasion.
    1983 - Dr. Sally Ride, 32-year-old with a Ph.D. in physics and pilot's license, becomes the first U.S. woman astronaut in space as a mission specialist aboard space shuttle Challenger, 20 years and two days after the first Russian woman went into space. It would be another 15 years before an American woman became a co-pilot of a U.S. space vessel. It took until 1995 - 32 years later - for American Lt. Col. Eileen Collins to touch the controls of an American spacecraft as co-pilot on a space mission. In 1998, she was named a space mission pilot and is scheduled to lift off her spacecraft in late 1999.
    1985 - Patricia Kimbrell, the first woman admitted to the ranks of the United States Jaycees, was installed as president of the Dallas chapter.
    1985 - The Scottish Rock band Simple Minds make their breakthrough in North America when "Don't You (Forget About Me)” tops the Billboard singles chart. The song was written specifically for the film “The Breakfast Club” and was only the second tune recorded by the group that they did not write.
    1986 - A remake of "Stagecoach," starring Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and John Schneider aired on network television. The production apparently was far from smooth, with Nelson walking off the set at one point. The stars all criticized the movie in a "TV Guide" article, with one aide to Cash describing it as being filmed with "a Concorde cast and a crop-duster crew."
    1986 - Top Hits
“Greatest Love of All” - Whitney Houston
“Why Can’t This Be Love” - Van Halen
“What Have You Done for Me Lately” - Janet Jackson
“Ain’t Misbehavin’” - Hank Williams, Jr.
    1987 - Thunderstorms in Kansas, developing along a cold front, spawned tornadoes at Emporia and Toledo, produced wind gusts to 65 mph at Fort Scott, and produced golf ball size hail in the Kansas City area. Unseasonably hot weather prevailed ahead of the cold front. Pomona, NJ reported a record high of 93 degrees, and Altus, OK, hit 100 degrees.
    1988 - A's Dave Stewart breaks a Major League record committing his twelfth balk of the season.
    1990 - Thunderstorms produced severe weather in the central U.S. spawning sixteen tornadoes, including a dozen in Nebraska. Thunderstorms also produced hail four inches in diameter at Perryton, TX, wind gusts to 84 mph at Ellis, KS, and high winds which caused nearly two million dollars damage at Sutherland, NE. Thunderstorms deluged Sioux City, IA with up to eight inches of rain, resulting in a record flood crest on Perry Creek and at least 4.5 million dollars damage.
    1991 - Gertrude Belle Elion, co-recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine, became the first woman inducted as a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Elion’s researched to the development of leukemia-fighting drugs and immunosuppressant Imuran, which is used in kidney transplants. 
    1994 - Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in a private ceremony at a judge's home in the Dominican Republic. First word of the marriage came two months later from the judge himself in an interview published in a Dominican newspaper. The Jackson camp denied the story for several weeks. The marriage came after Jackson reached an out-of-court settlement with a teenager who accused the singer of seducing him. Jackson denied the allegations. Presley filed for divorce in January, 1996.
    1995 - Severe thunderstorms spawned 86 tornadoes over the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, resulting in 4 deaths and 161 injuries. 5 of the tornadoes were rated F4.
    1997 - Tiger Woods wins Byron Nelson Golf Classic
    1998 - The CBS season finale of TV sitcom “Murphy Brown” aired, with the title character, played by Emmy-winner Candice Bergen, giving birth to an illegitimate son. Vice President Dan Quayle publicly lambasted the comedy, saying that the program "glorified" single-parenthood, and that it made a mockery of families with fathers. He went on to comment that "Murphy Brown" lacked the judgment to be a proper role model for young women, and that her actions were immoral. Despite the national unpopularity of his criticisms, Quayle did not back down from his stand against the popular show, providing fodder for many stand-up comics.
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,3019,00.html
    1999 - The Backstreet Boys release their highly anticipated third album, "Millennium." The album goes on to become the best-selling album of the year.
    2000 - Mark McGwire passes Mickey Mantle into eighth place on the all-time home run career list with 539, although The Mick did not have any “help.” 'Big Mac' goes deep three times as the Cardinals beat the Phillies, 7-2.
    2004 - At the age of 40, southpaw Randy Johnson becomes the oldest pitcher to ever throw a perfect game as the Diamondbacks beat the Braves, 2-0. The ‘Big Unit’ joins Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Hideo Nomo and Nolan Ryan as the only hurlers to throw no-hitters in both leagues and creates the longest time span between no-no’s, having first accomplishing the feat against the Tigers in June of 1990.
    2005 - A second photo from the Hubble Space telescope confirmed that Pluto has two additional moons.
    2015 - President Barack Obama banned the use of certain military equipment by police in the wake of recent deaths of unarmed black men by police officers; the move is meant to help communities see police as protectors rather than as an 'occupied force.'

Stanley Cup Champions
    1971 - Montreal Canadiens