June 13, 2009

1,170 years ago
839

Born on this date
Charles III, aka Charles the Fat. Holy Roman Emperor, 881-887. A great-grandson of Charlemagne, Charles the Fat was the last Carolingian to rule over a united Holy Roman Empire. He was deposed in November 887, and died on January 13, 888 at the age of 48.

200 years ago
1809

Born on this date
Heinrich Hoffmann. German psychiatrist. Dr. Hoffmann practiced at the Frankfurt lunatic asylum, and was successful in treating patients suffering from what is now known as schizophrenia. He used various names in writing children's books, and satires and poems for adults. Dr. Hoffmann died on September 20, 1894 at the age of 75.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Charlie Malay. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Malay was a second baseman with the Brooklyn Superbas (1905), batting .252 with 1 home run and 31 runs batted in in 102 games. He played at least 773 games in 12 seasons in the minor leagues from 1901-1914. Mr. Malay died on September 18, 1949 at the age of 70.

125 years ago
1884

Baseball
The management of the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association surrounded the field at Union Park with a barbed wire fence to restrain the crowd, a day after fans had surged onto the field and manhandled the umpire following a 13-inning tie with the Louisville Colonels.

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Carlos Chávez. Mexican composer and conductor. Mr. Chávez wrote six symphonies and numerous works for piano, as well as works in various styles during different periods of his life. He founded the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico in 1928. Mr. Chávez died on August 2, 1978 at the age of 79.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
E. M. S. Namboodiripad. Indian politician. Mr. Namboodiripad, a Communist, was the first Chief Minister of Kerala (1957-1959, 1967-1969). In 1964, he led a faction of the Communist Party of India (CPI) that broke away to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM). Mr. Namboodiripad died on March 19, 1998 at the age of 88.

75 years ago
1934

Died on this date
Chuck Gardiner, 29. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Gardiner played goal with the Chicago Blackhawks from 1927-34. He died of a brain hemmorhage brought on by a tonsillar infection, just a couple of months after helping the Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup. Mr. Gardiner was elected as a charter member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.

70 years ago
1939

Canadiana
Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth commenced their Royal Tour of New Brunswick, arriving in Newcastle on the royal train. Travelling by car to Fredericton, they made an unscheduled stop for refreshments at Gilks House in Doaktown.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
Murder By Experts, hosted and narrated by John Dickson Carr, on MBS
Tonight's episode: Summer Heat

This was the first episode in a series in which the stories were selected by prominent mystery authors.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. rejected Western requests for an Allied conference on alleged Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Romanian violations of human rights in trials of church officials.

Politics and government
Municipal elections in Trieste resulted in victory for parties favouring the city's return to Italy.

Roy Wilkins became temporary executive secretary of the U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples as Walter White took a leave of absence.

Crime
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Circuit of the District of Columbia upheld the contempt of Congress convictions of screenwriters Dalton Trumbo and John Howard Lawson, ruling that the House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee had the right to ask witnesses whether they were Communists.

U.S. government prosecutors rested their case in the espionage trial of Justice Department employee Judith Coplon.

Education
Columbia University President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a letter to U.S. Representative Ralph Gwinn (Republican--New York), opposed the administration of U.S. President Harry Truman's aid-to-education program as encouraging "paternalism, if not outright socialism."

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I--Elvis Presley (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Venus--Frankie Avalon

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Die Gitarre und das Meer--Freddy Quinn (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I/I Need Your Love Tonight--Elvis Presley (7th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Battle of New Orleans--Johnny Horton (3rd week at #1)
2 Personality--Lloyd Price
3 Quiet Village--Martin Denny
4 Kansas City--Wilbert Harrison
5 Dream Lover--Bobby Darin
6 A Teenager in Love--Dion and the Belmonts
7 Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)--Edward Byrnes & Connie Stevens
8 Only You (Loin de Vous)--Franck Pourcel's French Fiddles
9 Tallahassee Lassie--Freddy Cannon
10 The Happy Organ--Dave "Baby" Cortez

Singles entering the chart were Tiger by Fabian (#54); Taboo by the Arthur Lyman Group (#60); I Know by Perry Como (#62); Sweet Chile by Sheb Wooley (#70); It's Only the Good Times by Tommy Edwards (#78); High Hopes by Frank Sinatra (#81); Small World by Johnny Mathis (#82); Beach Time by Roger Smith (#86); I'm Gonna Change Him by Cathy Carr (#87); Mona Lisa by Carl Mann (#88); Mary Ann Thomas by Bobby Freeman (#93); M.T.A. by the Kingston Trio (#94); and Forty Miles of Bad Road by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#100). High Hopes was from the movie A Hole in the Head (1959), and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

On the radio
The Sign of Four: Part 5, starring Richard Hurndall as Sherlock Holmes and Bryan Coleman as Dr. Watson, on BBC Light Programme

Died on this date
Irv Higginbotham, 77. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Higginbotham played with the St. Louis Cardinals (1906, 1908-1909) and Chicago Cubs (1909), compiling a record of 10-14 with an earned run average of 2.81 in 48 games. He played at least 331 games in at least 9 seasons in the minor leagues from 1906-1916, winning at least 152 games. Mr. Higginbotham was 29-12 in 48 games with the Aberdeen Black Cats of the Class B Northwestern League in 1907; he was 21-14 with a 3.76 ERA in 46 games with the Portland Beavers of the AA Pacific Coast League in 1916, and 31-20 with a 3.12 ERA in 60 games with the Beavers in 1917.

War
Nicaraguan armed forces chief Anastasio Somoza Debayle charged that Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro had conferred with Nicaraguan oppositional editor Pedro Joaquin Chamorro to work out the "master plan' for the invasion of Nicaragua.

Politics and government
E.M.S. Namboodiripad, Chief Minister of the Indian State of Kerala, said that his Communist government would remain in office until 1962 elections, using whatever measures were necessary to halt current anti-state unrest.

1952 and 1956 Democratic Party U.S. presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson announced that he would not seek the nomination in 1960.

Crime
Steven Truscott, 14, was admitted to the county jail in Goderich, Ontario at 3 A.M., hours after being charged with the rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper.

Baseball
Mickey Mantle, Marv Throneberry, and Tony Kubek hit home runs for the New York Yankees as they defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-4 before 23,232 fans at Yankee Stadium in a game that was called with none out in the top of the 9th as Detroit's Frank Bolling was on first base after a single. Under the rules then in place, the partial inning was stricken from the record. The win was Casey Stengel's 1,000th since becoming the Yankees' manager in 1949.

Pinch hitter Jimmy Piersall scored Ray Webster with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 9th inning to break a 7-7 tie as the Cleveland Indians edged the Washington Senators 8-7 before 9,342 fans at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The teams combined for 6 home runs, including a grand slam by Cleveland's Rocky Colavito in the 6th and a solo homer for Mr. Webster in the 7th. Mr. Colavito's homer was his 19th of the season, serving as a response to Washington's Harmon Killebrew, who hit his 20th home run of the season in the 5th. Bud Podbielan, the second of four Cleveland pitchers, allowed 2 hits and 1 run--earned--in 1 inning, with 1 strikeout, in the 173rd and last game of his 9-year major league career.

Nellie Fox hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 8th inning, but Bob Boyd responded with a 2-run homer--his first of the season--in the bottom of the 8th to break a 4-4 tie as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 before 8,081 fans at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet--Henry Mancini, his Orchestra and Chorus
2 In the Ghetto--Elvis Presley
3 Bad Moon Rising/Lodi--Creedence Clearwater Revival
4 I Threw it All Away--Bob Dylan
5 Israelites--Desmond Dekker and the Aces
6 Heather Honey--Tommy Roe
7 Get Back/Don't Let Me Down--The Beatles with Billy Preston
8 The Ballad of John and Yoko/Old Brown Shoe--The Beatles
9 The Windmills of Your Mind--Dusty Springfield
10 More Today than Yesterday--The Spiral Starecase

Singles entering the chart were Good Morning Starshine by Oliver (#25); Polk Salad Annie by Tony Joe White (#26); Truck Stop by Jerry Smith (#27); Yesterday, When I was Young by Roy Clark (#28); Crystal Blue Persuasion by Tommy James and the Shondells (#29); and Baby, I Love You by Andy Kim (#30).

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Get Back--The Beatles with Billy Preston (5th week at #1)
2 Seattle--Perry Como
3 In the Ghetto--Elvis Presley
4 Atlantis--Donovan
5 The Ballad of John and Yoko--The Beatles
6 Gitarzan--Ray Stevens
7 Goodbye--Mary Hopkin
8 One--Three Dog Night
9 These Eyes--The Guess Who?
10 Bad Moon Rising--Creedence Clearwater Revival

Seattle was the theme song from a television series called Here Come the Brides, which was based on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The series, whose cast included Bobby Sherman, David Soul, and Joan Blondell, ran on ABC from 1968-1970.

On the radio
Squad Cars, on Springbok Radio
Tonight's episode: The Townsview Post Office Robbery

Died on this date
Martita Hunt, 69. Argentine-born U.K. actress. Miss Hunt, born in Buenos Aires to English parents, moved to England at the age of 20. She appeared in numerous plays in Britain and the United States, and won a Tony Award in 1949 for her starring performance in The Madwoman of Chaillot. Miss Hunt appeared in supporting roles in numerous films from 1932-1969, most notably The Wicked Lady (1945) and Great Expectations (1946). She died of bronchial asthma.

Law
The United States Department of Justice disclosed in federal district court in Chicago that it had eavesdropped on antiwar activists without court approval. A government brief defended the wiretaps by saying that it had a legal right under the Constitution to listen to conversations of those attacking or attempting to subvert the government.

Disasters
Captain John Philip Stevenson, commander of the Australian aircraft carrier Melbourne, which had collided with the U.S. destroyer Frank E. Evans 11 days earlier, killing 74 Americans, testified before a joint Naval board of inquiry that when he had ordered the Frank E. Evans to change course after it had swung to the right while shifting its position, it did not answer. Capt. Stevenson then said that he then ordered the destroyer to turn to the left, but the U.S. ship again turned to the right, resulting in the collision.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Ring My Bell--Anita Ward

Died on this date
Demetrio Stratos, 34. Egyptian-born Italian musician. Mr. Stratos, born Efstratios Dimitriou, sang, played various instruments, and composed songs in progressive rock and other genres, performing internationally, expanding the possibilities of the human voice. He died in New York of a heart attack after a short battle with a severe case of aplastic anemia.

Politics and government
U.S. President Jimmy Carter was reported to have said that he would "whip" Ted Kennedy if the U.S. Senator from Massachusetts were to oppose him for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination in 1980.

Environment
U.S. President Jimmy Carter asked Congress for legislation to establish a $1.6 billion fund for cleaning up hazardous oil and chemical spills and dump sites.

Disasters
Floods and landslides killed at least 13 people and forced 6,000 others to flee their homes in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (1-0) 14 @ Hamilton (0-1) 9

25 years ago
1984

Baseball
The Chicago Cubs traded outfielders Mel Hall and Joe Carter and minor leaguer Darryl Banks to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher George Frazier‚ catcher Ron Hassey‚ and pitcher Rick Sutcliffe.

20 years ago
1989

Died on this date
Fran Allison, 81. U.S. entertainer. Miss Allison starred in the children's television program Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which was broadcast on NBC from 1947-1957.

Diplomacy
U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle continued his tour of Central America with visits to Nicaragua and El Salvador. In Nicaragua, he met with four leader of the opposition Contras. His discussions with political leaders in El Salvador included a meeting with Roberto D’Aubuisson, founder of the right-wing ARENA party. Mr. Quayle stressed the importance of human rights to Mr. D’Aubuisson, who had been linked with death squads.

U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl signed a declaration affirming that every state had a right to freely choose its own political and social system.

Politics and government
U.S. President George Bush cast his first veto, rejecting a bill that would have increased the minimum wage from $3.35 to $4.55 per hour. Mr. Bush said the increase was too great and would cause young people to lose jobs; he supported an increase in the minimum wage to $4.25 per hour.

Hungary’s Communist regime and leading political opponents began talks on transition to a multiparty system.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Detroit 105 @ Los Angeles Lakers 97 (Detroit won best-of-seven series 4-0)

The Pistons overcame a 35-23 1st-quarter deficit to complete the sweep over the Lakers before 17,505 fans at the Forum in Inglewood, California to win their first National Basketball Association championship. Detroit guard Joe Dumars, who was named the Finals' Most Valuable Player, scored 23 points and added 5 assists. James Worthy of Los Angeles led all scorers with 40 points. The game marked the end of the 20-year Hall of Fame career of Los Angeles center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; he scored 7 points in 29 minutes, with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.



Baseball
Mark Langston pitched a 4-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Jose DeLeon as the Montreal Expos shut out the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 before 35,828 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Expos managed just 3 hits, but parlayed a single, 2 bases on balls, and a sacrifice fly into 2 runs in the 6th inning.

Houston Astros’ right fielder Terry Puhl played in his 1‚403rd major league game to break Jack Graney's record for Canadian-born players. The Astros lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers before 29,073 fans at Dodger Stadium.

Al Newman singled home Gary Gaetti with 1 out in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Minnesota Twins a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners before 18,839 fans at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.

George Bell hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 8th inning and pinch hitter Kelly Gruber hit a solo home run with 2 out in the 9th to break a 3-3 tie as the Toronto Blue Jays edged the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 before 15,469 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Kevin Batiste made his major league debut with the Blue Jays, entering the game as a pinch runner at first base for Ernie Whitt in the 9th. He was picked off by pitcher Dan Plesac immediately prior to Mr. Gruber's home run.

The Cleveland Indians scored 5 runs in the 3rd inning, led 8-0 after 6 1/2 innings, and withstood a 5-run 8th-inning rally to defeat the Chicago White Sox 9-6 before 10,264 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Greg Swindell allowed 10 hits and 4 runs--all earned--in 7 2/3 innings to get the win, improving his 1989 record to 8-1.

10 years ago
1999

War
In Yugoslavia, two Serbs were killed after exchanging gunfire with NATO troops; two German journalists were also killed that day.

Baseball
The Baltimore Orioles set a franchise record for runs scored‚ routing the Atlanta Braves 22-1 before 45,738 fans at Turner Field in Atlanta. Third baseman Cal Ripken, Jr. went 6 for 6 for Baltimore‚ hitting 2 home runs‚ scoring 5 runs, and driving in six; his 6 hits in a 9-inning game tied the American League record. First baseman Will Clark went 4 for 4 with 3 doubles, a home run, 4 runs, and 5 RBIs. Mike Mussina earned the win as he allowed 1 run on 5 hits in 7 innings,and also joined in with a single, double, run, and 3 RBIs. John Smoltz took the loss as he allowed 7 runs on 7 hits in 2 1/3 innings. The previous Baltimore scoring record was 19‚ set on August 28‚ 1967‚ and the franchise record was the St. Louis Browns' 20 runs on August 18‚ 1950.

The Houston Astros' game against the San Diego Padres before 39,773 fans at the Astrodome was suspended with the Astros leading 4-1 in the 8th inning when Houston manager Larry Dierker suffered a grand mal seizure; surgery two days later relieved Mr. Dierker's condition. The game was resumed on July 23; Phil Nevin and Ruben Rivera hit solo home runs for the Padres in the 9th, but Billy Wagner struck out the other 3 batters, and the Astros held on to win 4-3.