May 28, 1987: The Landing of Mathias Rust

May 28, 1987: West German pilot Mathias Rust, just 18 years old, evades Soviet air defenses, and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained, and is released on August 3, 1988.

This flight irreparably damaged the reputation of the Soviet military. This enabled President Mikhail Gorbachev to remove many of the strongest opponents to his reforms. It was the biggest turnover in the Soviet military since Josef Stalin's purges 50 years earlier, except nobody was executed.

Needing cash, the Russians eventually sold the plane to a Japanese museum, and they gave it back to its homeland. It is now in the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin.

Rust's life since has not befitted a hero. In 1989, he worked in a hospital, and, when a female coworker rejected his advances, he stabbed her. She survived, and he ended up serving 15 months in prison -- longer than he did in Russia. He would later be convicted of shoplifting, and again of fraud.

After getting out of prison, he worked for an investment bank, opened a yoga school in Hamburg, and returned to the role of a peace activist that made him famous 30 years ago.

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May 28, 1987 was a Thursday. The NBA Playoffs were underway. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was played at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 113-105. But the Celtics won Game 7. They were then defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played. Jean-Jacques Daigneault scored with 5:32 left in regulation to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers, and send the series to a Game 7. It became known in Philadelphia as "The Night The Spectrum Shook." But the Oilers won the Cup 3 days later.

Football was out of season. These 6 Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. Rick Rhoden outpitched Mike Moore. Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson and Gary Ward hit home runs. Don Mattingly went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 12-8 at Fenway Park in Boston. Steve Carlton, running out the string, started for the Indians, and didn't get out of the 5th inning. Dwight Evans went 3-for-4 with a home run and 6 RBIs.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 8-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Angels scored a run in the top of the 12th inning. But, Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. DeWayne Buice walked Lee Lacy to start the bottom of the 12th, and then Mike Young won the game with a home run. Larry Sheets and Mike Young each hit 2 home runs for the O's. Eddie Murray went 2-for-5. So did Cal Ripken, and he added an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Reggie Jackson, in his final season, went 2-for-5 for the A's.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the team that was then their arch-rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, 13-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Robin Yount went 0-for-3. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* And in the only game played in the National League that day, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 11-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.