June 13, 2008

175 years ago
1833

Died on this date
Robert Lyon. Canadian law student. Mr. Lyon was fatally shot in a duel with fellow law student John Wilson; it was the last fatal duel to be fought in Upper Canada. Mr. Wilson went on to become a Member of parliament and high court judge.

110 years ago
1898

Died on this date
Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, 57. Canadian politician. Sir Joseph-Adolphe, a Conservative, represented Terrebonne in the Quebec Legislative Assembly from 1867-1882, serving as Premier of Quebec from 1879-1882. He then moved into federal politics, representing Terrebonne in the House of Commons from 1882-1892 before serving as Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from December 5, 1892-January 20, 1898.

Canadiana
Royal Assent was given to the Yukon Territory Act; the Yukon Judicial District became a distinct territory from the North-West Territories, two years after the Klondike gold discovery. William Ogilvie was appointed the first Commissioner of the Yukon Territory, serving until 1901, with a Legislative Council partly elected and partly appointed by the Governor General. The capital was placed at Dawson City, then the largest community north of Seattle and west of Winnipeg, with about 30,000 people.

The Canadian Parliament passed the Quebec Boundary Extension Act, expanding the borders of Quebec north to the Eastmain River.

100 years ago
1908

Boxing
Tommy Burns (40-3-8) retained his world heavyweight championship by knocking out Bill Squires (21-5) in the 8th round at Neuilly Bowling Palace in Paris. Mr. Burns had knocked out Mr. Squires in the 1st round 11 months earlier.

100 years ago
1918

Died on this date
Michael Alexandrovich, 39. Grand Duke of Russia. Grand Duke Michael, the the youngest son and fifth child of Czar Alexander III and youngest brother of Czar Nicholas II, was named to succeed Nicholas II upon his abdication in March 1917, but deferred acceptance of the throne until ratification by an elected assembly. Michael was never confirmed as Czar, and was imprisoned in March 1918, four months after the Bolshevik Revolution. He was then exiled in Perm and granted liberty there, but was murdered by agents of the secret police, who lured him out of his hotel with a ruse and shot him in a forest.

80 years ago
1928

Politics and government
The newly-elected Reichstag convened in Berlin for the first time; 120 of the 491 Deputies had never served in the Reich Parliament before. 12 of the new Deputies were members of the Nazi Party.

60 years ago
1948

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and Alfred Shirley, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Bleeding Chandelier

Died on this date
Jimmy Frise, 56. Canadian cartoonist. Mr. Frise, a native of Scugog Island, Ontario, was known for producing the comic strip Birdseye Center in the Toronto Star Weekly, and then the comic strip Juniper Junction in the Montreal Standard. He frequently provided cartoons to accompany the writing of his friend Greg Clark. Mr. Frise died of a heart attack.

Osamu Dazai, 38. Japanese author. Mr. Dazai, born Shūji Tsushima, began publishing novels in the 1930s, but was best known for his later works, such as Shayō (The Setting Sun) (1947) and Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human) (1948). He was a drunkard with a history of suicide attempts; he and Tomie Yamazaki, his current lover, drowned themselves in the rain-swollen Tamagawa Canal near his house in Tokyo, six days before his 39th birthday.

World events
The first Jewish immigrant ship to arrive in Israel since the truce in the Arab-Israeli War landed at Tel Aviv; men of military age were ordered sent to a refugee camp.

Politics and government
The Iranian Parliament elected former Finance Minister Abdul Hussein Hajir to succeed Ibrahim Hakimi as Prime Minister, following the latter's resignation.

Baseball
Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto hit home runs to help the New York Yankees defeat the Cleveland Indians 5-3 before 49,641 fans at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 3 unearned runs in the bottom of the 8th to take a 5-1 lead, but Jim Hegan hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th and the Indians had runners on first and second bases with 2 out, but Joe Page relieved Ed Lopat and struck out Eddie Robinson to end the game. Pre-game ceremonies were held to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium. Members of the 1923 team defeated later stars 2-0 in a 2-inning oldtimers' game. The highlight was when Babe Ruth's jersey #3 was retired. Mr. Ruth addressed the crowd briefly in one of his last public appearances, two months before his death from throat cancer.







Dizzy Trout and Virgil Trucks pitched complete game victories as the Detroit Tigers easily swept a doubleheader from the Washington Nationals 9-3 and 9-2 before 16,609 fans at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

The St. Louis Browns scored 6 runs in the top of the 8th inning to defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 7-5 in the first game of a doubleheader before 12,647 fans at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Nelson Potter relieved starting Philadelphia pitcher Lou Brissie in the 8th inning and allowed 3 hits and a base on balls, and 2 runs--both earned--while allowing 2 runners who were already on base when he entered the game to score, and was charged with the loss. Philadelphia manager Connie Mack, who had purchased Mr. Potter's contract less then three weeks earlier, was incensed at Mr. Potter's performance, questioned his effort, and released him that night. Carl Scheib pitched an 8-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Bryan Stephens as the Athletics won the second game 3-1.

The Boston Braves scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th inning and held on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 8-7 in the first game of a doubleheader before 30,590 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Johnny Sain retired Ted Kluszewski and Virgil Stallcup without allowing a run to end the game. The Braves scored 5 runs in the 8th as they won the second game 10-5 to complete the sweep. Hank Sauer hit 2 home runs for the Reds in the second game.

The Philadelphia Phillies scored 5 runs in the first 3 innings and held on to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 in the first game of a doubleheader before 30,385 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ralph Kiner hit a 2-run home run in the 1st inning and a 3-run homer in the 2nd to help the Pirates take a 7-1 lead as they won the second game 9-2.

Bobby Thomson, Sid Gordon, Willard Marshall, and Buddy Kerr each had 3 hits for the New York Giants as they edged the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7 in the first game of a doubleheader before 32,168 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cardinals scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and held on to win the second game 3-2. The Giants scored a run in the 9th and had runners on first and second bases with 1 out, but Clint Hartung struck out and Jack Lohrke lined out to left field to end the game.

Johnny Schmitz pitched a 4-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Joe Hatten as the Chicago Cubs beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 3-1 before 40,930 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bob Scheffing doubled home 2 runs in the 2nd inning, and Andy Pafko added a solo home run for the Cubs in the 4th.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Who's Sorry Now--Connie Francis (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
Harbor Command, starring Wendell Corey
Tonight's episode: Clay Pigeon

War
Lebanese government troops beat back an attack by Muslim guerrillas on the homes of Prime Minister Sami es-Solh and President Camille Chamoun.

Defense
The U.S.S.R. agreed to send a group of nuclear scientists to meet in Geneva with Western scientists for discussion of the means of enforcing a nuclear test ban treaty.

Abominations
The Swiss Parliament approved for submission to a national referendum a constitutional amemdment granting women the right to vote and hold office.

Aviation
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked Congress for legislation to establish a Federal Aviation Agency with authority to make air safety rules.

Energy
The People's Republic of China's first atomic reactor began operating.

40 years ago
1968

Space
The United States launched eight military communications satellites--Initial Defense Satellite Communications System (IDSCS) 19-26--atop a Titan III booster rocket from Cape Kennedy, Florida. The system was largely aimed at keeping the Pentagon in touch with Vietnam, and vice versa.

Disasters
Seven people were killed when a tornado struck Tacy, Minnesota.

30 years ago
1978

War
Israeli troops completed their withdrawal from southern Lebanon, handing over many of their positions to a Christian militia headed by Major Saad Haddad of the Lebanese Army.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Edmonton (0-1) 19 @ Calgary (1-0) 25
Montreal (0-1) 9 @ British Columbia (1-0) 15

25 years ago
1983

Space
Pioneer 10, an American space probe launched in 1972, became the first man-made object to leave the solar system.

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): The Flame--Cheap Trick (3rd week at #1)

War
Iran invaded southern Iraq and claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties. Iraq said that Iran had broken through border defenses, but had subsequently been defeated in a 19-hour battle east of Basra, in territory taken by Iraq three weeks earlier.

Diplomacy
Suren Arutyunyan, the new leader of the Armenian Communist Party, told a crowd of 100,000 that a "positive solution" would be found to a dispute over the Nagorno-Krabakh Autonomous Region in Azerbaijan, which was predominantly Armenian. A Soviet foreign ministry spokesman said that the situation in the Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan was out of control.

Mubarak-Awad, a Palestinian-American who had advocated civil disobedience in protest against Israeli control of occupied terrirories, was expelled by Israel and placed on a flight to New York. The United States protested the move.

Law
A jury in Newark, New Jersey found that Liggett Group, Inc., a tobacco company, was partly responsible for the death of Rose Cipollone, who had smoked cigarettes for 40 years until her death of lung cancer at the age of 58 in 1984. Mrs. Cipollone had smoked brands of three companies, but had smoked only Liggett products before 1966, when a U.S. federal label law required that all cigarettes be labelled as hazardous to health. The jury ruled that this labelling spared the other two companies from liability, but found that Liggett had breached an express warranty of safety by promoting its cigarettes with slogans such as "just what the doctor ordered." The jury found that because Mrs. Cipollone had learned of the dangers of smoking from other sources and had not quit smoking, she was 80% responsible for her death. The jury awarded $400,000 in compensation to Mrs. Cipollone, and found Liggett and the other defendants had not conspired to mislead the dangers of smoking before 1966 and had not fraudulently misrepresented facts.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Birger Ruud, 86. Norwegian ski jumper. Mr. Ruud won gold medals in the men's individual large hill competition at the 1932 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York and the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and won the silver medal in the same event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He won three gold medals and a silver medal in world championships from 1931-1939, and won a bronze medal in the men's alpine combined event at the world alpine skiing championships in 1935.

Reg Smythe, 80. U.K. cartoonist. Mr. Smythe, born Reginald Smyth, wrote and drew the comic strip Andy Capp from 1957 until his death from lung cancer.

Track and field
Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia broke the world 5,000-metre record held by Daniel Komen of Kenya by running 12:39.36 in Helsinki. It was Mr. Gebrselassie's 14th world record; two weeks before, he had broken the 10,000-metre mark held by Paul Tergat of Kenya when he ran 26:22.75 in Hengelo, Netherlands.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Detroit 2 @ Washington 1 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 3-0)