July 5, 2008

250 years ago
1758

War
General James Abercrombie left the ruins of Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George, New York to attack Louis-Joseph Montcalm's French army of 3,000 at Fort Carillon. Gen. Abercrombie led 6,000 British regulars, with almost 9,000 provincials from New England, New York, and New Jersey. They embarked in 900 small boats and 130 whale boats, and moved down toward Fort Ticonderoga.

160 years ago
1848

Economics and finance
A run on the Montreal Provident and Savings' Bank took place; the ensuing collapse of the bank was caused by over-liberal extension of loans, the commercial depression which broke in 1848, and the defalcation of the cashier, or manager. The bank's collapse cost the depositors £160,000 (over $750,000). The Provident Bank ultimately paid 18 shillings on the pound, or about 90 cents on the dollar, but the depositors got their money in small installments, and had to wait four years till they received the last of it.

120 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Herbert Spencer Gasser. U.S. physiologist. Dr. Gasser shared the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph Erlanger "for their discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibres." Dr. Gasser was Director of the Rockefeller Institute from 1935-1953. He died on May 11, 1963 at the age of 74.

80 years ago
1928

Aviation
Captain Arturo Ferrarin and Major Carlo del Prete arrived on the coast of Brazil, 10 miles north of Natal, in the late afternoon, two days after leaving Rome in an airplane bound for Pernambuco, Brazil. They covered about 4,448 miles in a non-stop flight.

World events
11 death sentences were handed down in Moscow by the court which had been hearing the case of 50 Russians and 3 Germans charged with anti-government sabotage in the Donetz coal mines.

70 years ago
1938

Protest
Adrien Arcand and his blue shirts held a rally of 2,500 fascists at Massey Hall in Toronto.

60 years ago
1948

On the radio
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis, on MBS

Died on this date
Piet Aalberse, 77. Dutch politician. Mr. Aalberse, a member of the Catholic People's party and then the Roman Catholic State Party, represented Almelo in the House of Representatives from 1903-1916 and served as the Netherlands' first Minister of Labour (1918-1922) and Minister of Labour, Trade and Industry (1922-1925). He later led the Catholic group in the House of Representatives, and was Speaker of the House from 1936-1937 before ending his career as a member of the Council of State from 1937-1946.

Carole Landis, 29. U.S. actress. Miss Landis, born Frances Lillian Mary Ridste, was known for her performances in movies such as One Million B.C. (1940); Moon Over Miami (1941); and I Wake Up Screaming (1941). She was in the process of divorcing her fourth husband and was having an affair with actor Rex Harrison; she was reportedly crushed when he refused to divorce his wife, actress Lilli Palmer, and committed suicide with an overdose of Seconal, although her family disputes the ruling of suicide.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Harry Truman and Venezuelan President Romulo Gallegos Friere dedicated a statue of Simon Bolivar in Bolivar, Missouri.

Politics and government
Britain's National Health Service Act went into effect, providing government-financed medical and dental care for 27.5 million people.

Columbia University President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a statement reiterating his refusal to accept a draft to be a candidate for President of the United States.

Protest
Peking University students rioted, with five deaths resulting, following a government attempt to impose military training on students from Communist-held areas.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Twilight Time--The Platters (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): March from the River Kwai and Colonel Bogey--Mitch Miller and his Orchestra (13th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Hello, le soleil brille--Annie Cordy (17th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): All I Have to Do is Dream/Claudette--The Everly Brothers (2nd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Purple People Eater--Sheb Wooley (4th week at #1)
2 Yakety-Yak--The Coasters
3 All I Have to Do is Dream--The Everly Brothers
4 Secretly--Jimmie Rodgers
5 Splish Splash--Bobby Darin
6 Hard Headed Woman--Elvis Presley
7 Do You Want to Dance--Bobby Freeman
8 Jennie Lee--Jan & Arnie
9 Patricia--Perez Prado and his Orchestra
10 Return to Me--Dean Martin

Singles entering the chart were Poor Little Fool by Ricky Nelson (#36); Just a Dream by Jimmy Clanton and the Rockets (#36); If Dreams Came True (#57)/That's How Much I Love You (#62) by Pat Boone; Little Serenade by Teddy Randazzo (#58, charting with the version by the Ames Brothers); Don't Ask Me Why by Elvis Presley (#60); I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You) by Billy Williams (#66); Kathy-O by the Diamonds (#68); and Think it Over (#72)/Fool's Paradise (#73) by the Crickets. Don't Ask Me Why was the B-side of Hard Headed Woman, and was also from the movie King Creole (1958).

Canadiana
The Brewery Bay residence of humourist Stephen Leacock was opened as the Leacock Memorial House in Orillia, Ontario.

Golf
Peter Thomson scored a 3-under-par 139 in a 36-hole playoff to defeat Dave Thomas by 4 strokes to win the British Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. It was Mr. Thomson's fourth Open Championship victory in the past five years. Messrs. Thomson and Thomas were tied after 4 rounds with 6-under-par totals of 278. First prize money was £1,000 ($2,800).

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Lazy Sunday--Small Faces (2nd week at #1)

1 Sky Pilot (Parts One and Two)--Eric Burdon and the Animals
2 Lady Willpower--Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
3 Angel of the Morning--Merrilee Rush
4 Yummy Yummy Yummy--Ohio Express
5 D.W. Washburn--The Monkees
6 Jumpin' Jack Flash--The Rolling Stones
7 Bring a Little Lovin'--Los Bravos
8 I Love You--People
9 It's Nice to Be with You--The Monkees
10 Harlem Lady--The Witness, Inc.
Pick hit of the week: Hello, I Love You--The Doors
New this week: I'm Glad I'm the Lover--The Radiants
Morning Dew--Lee Hazlewood
Saturday's Father--The Four Seasons
Dream a Little Dream of Me--Mama Cass

If you look at the label of the 45 of Dream a Little Dream of Me, you'll see the name of Mama Cass in block capitals, and "with the Mamas & the Papas" in small print. The song was one of the biggest hits of 1931, most notably for Wayne King and his Orchestra.

Another version of Morning Dew that was out at the time was by Lulu, that ended up as a bigger hit, at least in Edmonton.

It's Nice to Be with You, a pretty ballad sung by Davy Jones, was the B-side of D.W. Washburn. The two songs didn't appear on an album until a 1982 compilation.

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched Moliniya 1-I, the ninth satellite in the Soviet domestic communications network.

War
U.S. Marines completed the evacuation of Khe Sanh; the base had withstood enemy attacks from January 20-April 6, 1968.

Diplomacy
Bolivian President Rene Barrientos Ortuno visited U.S. President Lyndon Johnson at Mr. Johnson's ranch in Texas.

Boxing
World middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti (76-2) scored a technical knockout of Jimmy Ramos (6-7-3) when Mr. Ramos quit, 30 seconds into the 4th round of a non-title bout in Turin.

World welterweight champion Curtis Cokes (53-9-3) knocked out Joseph Sishi (33-6-1) in the 5th round of a non-title bout at New Kingsmead Soccer Stadium in Durban, South Africa.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
General Ignatius Acheampong resigned as Ghana's head of state and was replaced by Gen. Fred Akuffo, his deputy on the country's ruling military council.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Calgary (1-3) 11 @ Saskatchewan (1-3) 16

20 years ago
1988

Politics and government
Edwin Meese, U.S. Attorney General since 1985, announced his resignation, hours after independent counsel James McKay, who had been investigating Mr. Meese's activities, filed an 830-page report with a U.S. federal court in the District of Columbia. Mr. Meese announced that he had not been indicted and had been "completely vindicated" by the still-secret report.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (2-0) 26 @ Winnipeg (1-1) 22
British Columbia (1-1) 46 @ Saskatchewan (0-1) 27
Edmonton (1-1) 44 @ Calgary (1-1) 25

B.C. rookie Lorenzo Rivers returned 2 punts for touchdowns as the Lions beat the Roughriders at Taylor Field in Regina.

Former Hamilton Tiger-Cat Ron Ingram caught 2 touchdown passes for the Eskimos in their win over the Stampeders at McMahon Stadium.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Sid Luckman, 81. U.S. football player. Mr. Luckman was a quarterback with the Columbia University Lions from 1936-1938 and the Chicago Bears from 1939-1950. He pioneered the use of the T-formation, and led the Bears to National Football League championships in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946. Mr. Luckman was a five-time first team All-Pro selection, the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1943, and was the first NFL quarterback to throw 7 touchdown passes in a game. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960 and the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

Weather
A green cloud, accompanied by lightning, hung in the eastern sky in Edmonton for several hours at night.