July 18, 2008

80 years ago
1928

Politics and government
Simon Tommie led the Conservative Party to victory in the British Columbia provincial election, ending 12 years of Liberal rule. The Conservatives took 35 of the 48 seats in the Legislative Assembly; the Liberals, led by Premier John Duncan MacLean, won 12 seats, and Independent Labour Party candidate T.A. Uphill was elected in Fernie. In the most recent election in 1924, 23 Liberals, 12 Conservatives, and 2 independent Liberals had been elected.

70 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Marie of Romania, 62. Queen consort of Romania, 1914-1927. Marie, a native of England, was the wife of King Ferdinand I.

60 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Chick Hartley, 67. U.S. baseball player. Walter Scott Hartley played 1 game with the New York Giants, batting 0 for 4 and making 1 putout in left field on June 4, 1902. He played at least 1,027 games in the minor leagues from 1904-1914.

Literature
The New York Herald Tribune listed The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer as the best-selling fiction book and Peace of Mind by Joshua Liebman as the best-selling non-fiction book.

War
The Arab League reluctantly accepted the United Nations Security Council's demand for an indefinite truce in Palestine fighting.

Politics and government
Costa Rican President Jose Figueres outlawed the Communist Party for "opposing representative democratic government."

Baseball
Pat Seerey hit 4 home runs and drove in 7 runs to help the Chicago White Sox edge the Philadelphia Athletics 12-11 in 11 innings in the first game of a doubleheader before 17,296 fans at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Mr. Seerey hit his first 3 homers in thr 4th, 5th, and 6th innings, and tied the major league single-game record with a solo homer off Lou Brissie with 2 out in the top of the 11th inning that proved to be the winning run. Chicago second baseman Don Kolloway batted 5 for 7 with a triple, 2 runs, and 3 runs batted in. Eddie Joost led the Philadelphia attack, batting 4 for 7 with a home run, 2 doubles, 4 runs, and 5 RBIs. The Athletics scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to break a 1-1 tie and win the second game 6-1 when the game was called after 5 innings because of a Sunday curfew.

The Boston Red Sox scored 6 runs in each of the 4th and 6th innings as they defeated the St. Louis Browns 12-5 in the first game of a doubleheader before 28,563 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox scored 4 runs in the 5th inning as they overcame an early 4-run deficit to win the second game 7-6. St. Louis relief pitcher Ned Garver hit a solo home run in the 6th.

Hoot Evers hit a grand slam in the 5th inning as the Detroit Tigers overcame an early 3-0 deficit and defeated the New York Yankees 5-3 in the first game of a doubleheader before 62,990 fans at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 8 runs in the first 2 innings and won the second game 12-4.

Allie Clark singled home Dale Mitchell and scored on an outfield fly by Joe Gordon as the Cleveland Indians scored 2 runs in the top of the 12th inning to break a 4-4 tie as they beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 to complete a doubleheader sweep before 28,631 fans at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Gene Bearden allowed 9 hits and 1 earned run in 8 2/3 innings to win the pitchers' duel over Early Wynn as the Indians won the first game 2-1.

Jeff Heath's grand slam was the big blow of a 5-run 1st inning as the Boston Braves coasted to a 10-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader before 34,116 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Mr. Heath batted 4 for 5 with a homer, double, 3 runs, and 5 runs batted in in support of Nelson Potter, who pitched a 7-hit complete game for his first win as a Brave, and batted 3 for 3 with 2 sacrifices and 2 RBIs. The Braves scored a run in each of the last 3 innings to win the second game 3-1 to complete the sweep, with Alvin Dark and Bob Elliott hitting solo homers in the 8th and 9th innings, respectively. Ralph Kiner led off the bottom of the 9th with his 26th homer of the season to spoil the shutout bid of Vern Bickford, who pitched a 7-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Ernie Bonham, who had a no-hitter going through 6 innings until Earl Torgeson led off the 7th with a double and scored on a single by Phil Masi.

Ken Raffensberger pitched an 8-hit shutout to win the pitchers' duel over Dave Koslo and Virgil Stallcup batted 4 for 4 with a double, run, and run batted in as the Cincinnati Reds shut out the New York Giants 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader before 28,061 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Giants scored 4 runs in the 9th inning to clinch an 8-2 win in the second game, with Clint Hartung the winning pitcher over Johnny Vander Meer.

Robin Roberts hit Phil Cavarretta to load the bases with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning and then hit Andy Pafko to force home Hank Schenz with the winning run to give the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader before 39,623 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Del Ennis batted 3 for 5 with a home run, double, 3 runs, and 3 runs batted in to help the Phillies win the second game 6-4.

Terry Moore hit a 3-run home run with 2 out in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 6-3 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader before 32,761 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Dodgers scored 5 runs in the 1st inning and 8 in the second as they coasted to a 13-4 win in the second game.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): All I Have to Do is Dream--The Everly Brothers (3rd week at #1)

War
U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles promised that the United States would limit its intervention in Jordan to logistic support of U.K. and Jordanian forces.

Cuban guerrillas freed the last of a group of American and Canadian citizens kidnapped recently in a series of guerrilla raids.

Defense
Turkish and Iranian forces were placed on alert as Soviet armed forces began maneuvers in the Trans-Caucasian and Turkestan military districts.

Diplomacy
Canadian External Affairs Minister Sidney Smith met Mr. Dulles and U.K. Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd in Washington to discuss Middle East policy.

Peking radio announced that Premier Chou En-lai had received a message from Cambodian Prime Minister Prince Norodom Sihanouk recognizing the government of the People's Republic of China.

Transportation
Premier W.A.C. Bennett announced that the British Columbia Ferry Authority (B.C. Ferries) would take overall passenger service from the islands to the mainland.

40 years ago
1968

At the movies
Star!, directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Richard Crenna, opened in theatres in the United Kingdom.

Died on this date
Corneille Heymans, 76. Belgian physiologist. Dr. Heymans was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the role played by the sinus and aortic mechanisms in the regulation of respiration." He died of a stroke.

War
U.S. Defense Secretary Clark Clifford concluded a four-day visit to South Vietnam. U.S. airmen Major James F. Low, 43, Major Fred N. Thompson, 32, and Captain Joe Carpenter, 37, who had been shot down in raids over North Vietnam, were freed by the North Vietnamese government for "humanitarian" reasons.

Economics and finance
The Bank of British Columbia opened its first branch office, in Vancouver.

Labour
24,000 Canadian letter carriers and postal "workers" began a 22-day strike--the country's first mail strike--after rejecting the previous day's government pay offer as inadequate.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Hamilton (1-1) 23 @ Toronto (2-0) 35
Montreal (1-2) 14 @ Saskatchewan (2-1) 16

30 years ago
1978

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Ibrahim Kamel began two days of talks at Leeds Castle in Kent, England to discuss their conflicting proposals regarding the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The meeting, originally scheduled for London, was moved after U.K. Prime Minister James Callaghan received reports that Palestinian terrorists were planning to disrupt the talks.

Journalism
A U.S.S.R. court convicted reporters Craig Whitney of The New York Times and Harold Piper of the Baltimore Sun of libelling Soviet television reporters, and ordered them to publish retractions and pay $1,647 each in court costs. The two had reported on May 25 from Moscow that friends and relatives of a convicted Georgian dissident had called his televised confession a fabrication. The newspapers paid the fines on August 4 plus additional fines of $72.50 each for failing to print retractions. The reporters denied libelling anyone and claimed the fines were being paid under protest.

Politics and government
About 25 American Indian elders and religious leaders met in Washington with U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale and Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus to address Indian fears of a "Red backlash" in legislation pending in Congress that the Indian leaders regarded as anti-Indian. Mr. Andrus relayed to President Jimmy Carter a request from the Indians to meet with him, but Mr. Carter didn't meet with them.

Labour
Four days after going on strike, Louisville's 600 firemen returned to work after accepting a 14% pay increase.

Football
CFL
Toronto (1-1) 23 @ Montreal (1-1) 30
Edmonton (2-0) 29 @ Winnipeg (0-2) 28

The Alouettes' win over the Toronto Argonauts at Olympic Stadium was costly, as quarterback Sonny Wade suffered a knee injury that put him out of action for more than two months.

The Eskimos held on to beat the Blue Bombers at Winnipeg Stadium. Harry Knight, starting at quarterback for the Blue Bombers, suffered a shoulder injury, which eventually shortened his career.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Got to Be Certain--Kylie Minogue (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
José Manuel Joly Braga Santos, 64. Portuguese composer and conductor. Mr. Joly Braga Santos wrote six symphonies, and was regarded as the leading Portuguese symphonist of the 20th century.

Nico, 49. German singer-songwriter, actress, and model. Born Christa Päffgen, Nico worked as a fashion model and appeared in several movies in Europe in the 1950s, and later became part of the social and work circle of U.S. artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol. She sang with the Velvet Underground on their first album and later recorded several albums as a solo artist. Nico suffered a heart attack while cycling in Ibiza, and hit her head on the road, causing a fatal cerebral hemorrhage.

World events
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet voted to reject demands by the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region to split from the republic of Azerbaijan and join the Armenian republic. Armenians constituted an ethnic majority in the region. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev opposed the territorial realignment and rebuked officials in the two republics for putting local needs ahead of national considerations. In keeping with the new policy of openness, the Soviet people were allowed to watch the Presidium's debate on television.

War
Iran accepted a proposal from the United Nations to end its eight-year war against Iraq.

Politics and government
The U.S. Democratic National Convention opened at the Omni in Atlanta. Presumptive U.S. presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, his running mate Lloyd Bentsen, and unsuccessful presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson met that morning and agreed that Rev. Jackson and his staff would play a major role in the fall campaign. Texas Governor Ann Richards, delivering that night's keynote address, said that Vice-President and presumptive Republican presidential candidate George Bush "was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

Golf
Seve Ballesteros shot a 6-under-par 65 in the final round to win the British Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England with an 11-under-par total of 273, 2 strokes ahead of Nick Price. It was the first time that the final round of the British Open had been played on a Monday, after rain had washed out Saturday's third round. First prize money was £80,000 ($136,000).