June 19, 2008

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michael Martin!

250 years ago
1758

War
British forces commanded by General James Wolfe opened fire on Louisbourg, Nova Scotia's island battery from Lighthouse Point; it took until June 25 to silence the battery.

240 years ago
1768

Died on this date
Benjamin Tasker, Sr., 77 or 78. U.S. politician. Mr. Tasker was a naval officer who held various offices in colonial Maryland, and was Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1752-1753.

150 years ago
1858

Born on this date
Edward T. Taylor. U.S. politician. Mr. Taylor, a Democrat, represented Colorado in the United States House of Representatives from 1909 until his death on September 3, 1941 at the age of 83.

120 years ago
1888

Politics and government
The U.S. Republican National Convention opened at the Auditorium Building in Chicago.

100 years ago
1908

Politics and government
The U.S. Republican National Convention concluded at Chicago Coliseum. U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft (Ohio) obtained 71.6% of the vote on the first ballot to become the party's U.S. presidential candidate for 1908, with Representative James S. Sherman (New York) receiving 83.9% of the votes on the first ballot to become the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Golf
James Braid shot 72 in the final round to finish with a total score of 291 to win the British Open at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, 8 strokes ahead of Tom Ball. First prize money was £50.

80 years ago
1928

Diplomacy
The Austro-American treaty of friendship and commerce was signed in Vienna.

Crime
Gunmen held up a Canadian National Railways train in Toronto and got $120,000 in cash. Arrests were made three weeks later, and part of the money was recovered.

70 years ago
1938

Protest
The 30-day sit-down occupations by unemployed men of the Vancouver Art Gallery and main Post Office in Vancouver, British Columbia were broken up by police, who used tear gas to clear the buildings. The Art Gallery was cleared in 15 minutes with no violence on either side, but at the Post Office, 39 people were injured, 22 were arrested, and damage to property totalled $30,000. Protest leader Steve Brodie, a Communist, was badly beaten by police, and it was Co-operative Commonwealth Federation politician Harold Winch who was credited with talking a mob of 10,000 out of storming the police station.

Soccer
FIFA World Cup
Final @ Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris
Italy 4 Hungary 2



60 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Nature Boy--King Cole (6th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Nature Boy--King Cole (3rd week at #1)
--Dick Haymes with the Song Spinners
--Frank Sinatra
--The Sportsmen
2 Little White Lies--Dick Haymes
--Dinah Shore
3 You Can't Be True, Dear--Ken Griffin
--Dick Haymes with the Song Spinners
--The Sportsmen
--Vera Lynn
--The Marlin Sisters with Eddie Fisher
4 Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)--The Andrews Sisters
--The Sportsmen
--Vaughn Horton and the Polka Debs
5 The Dickey-Bird Song--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
6 Haunted Heart--Perry Como
--Jo Stafford
7 Baby Face--Art Mooney and his Orchestra
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters
8 Because--Perry Como
9 Sabre Dance--Woody Herman and his Orchestra
--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
10 St. Louis Blues March--Tex Beneke and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Baby, Don't Be Mad at Me, with versions by Peggy Lee, and Frankie Laine (#23); Better Luck Next Time (#25)/It Only Happens When I Dance with You (#27) by Perry Como; Better Luck Next Time, with versions by Jo Stafford, and Dinah Shore (#25, charting with the version by Perry Como); and Cugat's Nugat's by Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra (#40).

Politics and government
Costa Rican President Jose Figueres suspended constitutional guarantees for 30 days, and levied a 10% tax on private capital in order to raise reconstruction funds.

The Progressive Party of Ohio was founded in Cleveland in an effort to put the U.S. presidential candidacy of former U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace back on the state ballot.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman named a 12-member advisory board representing labour, industry, agriculture, and other groups to assist Economic Cooperation Administrator Paul Hoffman.

Labour
U.S. President Truman appointed a three-man fact-finding board to investigate deadlocked contract talks in the mining industry, after the United Mine Workers of America threatened to call a strike for July 6.

Medicine
A committee of experts advised a meeting in Chicago of the American Heart Association that the use of drugs against blood clotting significantly reduced deaths from coronary thrombosis.

Track and field
NCAA Championships
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers won the U.S. national title in Minneapolis.

50 years ago
1958

War
Indonesian Army forces penetrated rebel defenses in Menado, the northern Celebe capital and the last rebel stronghold in Indonesia.

United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold met with Lebanese leaders and members of the UN observer group in Lebanon, urging a delay in plans to appeal for U.S.-U.K. military intervention.

Defense
The Canadian House of Commons approved the North American agreement establishing a joint U.S.-Canadian Air Defense Command at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Law
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. reversed the 1956 security dismissals of six civilians from the Fort Monmouth Army Signal Center, holding that the Army had violated its own regulations in refusing to tell the six why they were held to be security risks.

Agriculture
The Soviet Communist Party Central Committee abolished compulsory deliveries of collective farm products to the state in an effort to spur efficient collective farm production by the restoration of limited agricultural competition.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Jumpin' Jack Flash--The Rolling Stones

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 The Unicorn--The Irish Rovers (2nd week at #1)
2 Honey--Bobby Goldsboro
3 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly--Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus
4 Lazy Sunday--Small Faces
5 This Guy's in Love with You--Herb Alpert
6 A Man Without Love (Quando M'innamoro)--Engelbert Humperdinck
7 Young Girl--The Union Gap
8 If I Only Had Time--John Rowles
9 If I were a Carpenter--Four Tops
10 The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp--O.C. Smith

Singles entering the chart were Jumpin' Jack Flash by the Rolling Stones (#30); What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong (#35); Louisiana Man by Bobbie Gentry (#37); and Thank You for Loving Me by Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch (#38).

At the movies
The Thomas Crown Affair, directed by Norman Jewison and starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, opened in theatres.

The Green Berets, co-directed by and starring John Wayne, opened in theatres.

The Shakiest Gun in the West, starring Don Knotts, opened in theatres in the United States as the front end of a double bill, with the second feature being an English-dubbed version of King Kong Escapes, which had originally been released on July 22, 1967 in Japan as King Kong's Counterattack.

War
South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu signed the country's first general mobilization law, calling for the drafting of male citizens aged 16-50.

Crime
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed crime control legislation that included a ban on interstate mail-order sales of handguns.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Johnson signed "paper gold" legislation for U.S. participation in the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights.

Disasters
16 people were killed and 100 injured when an earthquake struck northeastern Peru.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Baker Street--Gerry Rafferty

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Jikan yo Tomare--Eikichi Yazawa (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Night Fever--Bee Gees

Economics and finance
The government of Canada banned the import and sale of cut-rate U.S. editions of Canadian books; the dumping of products competing with higher priced Canadian editions was damaging the publishing industry.

Sport
Ian Botham of England became the first man in the history of cricket to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match, helping England defeat Pakistan by an innings and 120 runs in the second Cornhill Test.

25 years ago
1983

Canadiana
B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver's 60,000-seat, $126 million domed stadium, officially opened.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Alphabet Street--Prince

#1 single in Switzerland: Theme from S-Express--S-Express (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The three-day summit of the world's seven leading industrial nations began in Toronto.

Basketball
NBA Finals
Detroit 102 @ Los Angeles Lakers 103 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made 2 free throws with 14 seconds remaining in regulation time as the Lakers edged the Pistons before 17,505 fans at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Isiah Thomas of the Pistons sprained his ankle in the 3rd quarter, but still finished with 43 points and 8 assists.



10 years ago
1998

Society
The Quebec National Assembly adopted a law regarding social assistance under which young people aged 18-24 would be required to enroll in a job reintegration program; those who refused to participate in this process would be subject to financial penalties.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Edmonton (1-0) 22 @ Saskatchewan (0-1) 3