June 19, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michael Martin!

830 years ago
1179

Died on this date
Erling Skakke, 63 or 64. Norwegian nobleman. Jarl (Earl) Skakke was the father of Magnus V, King of Norway from 1161-1184. Jarl Skakke was killed in the Battle of Kalvskinnet.

War
Forces commanded by Sverre Sigurdsson won the Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros, turning the tide of the Norwegian civil wars.

740 years ago
1269

Abominations
King Louis IX of France ordered all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Osamu Dazai. 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 on June 13, 1948, six days before his 39th birthday.

75 years ago
1934

Baseball
Former third baseman Pie Traynor replaced former catcher George Gibson as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mr. Gibson, a native of London, Ontario, had managed the Pirates to second place finishes in 1932 and 1933. The Pirates were in fourth place in the National League with a record of 27-24 when the change was made.

70 years ago
1939

Baseball
New York Yankees' first baseman Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal neuromuscular disease. He had pulled himself from the lineup on May 2 after playing 2,130 consecutive games from 1925 through April 30, 1939, but was batting just .143 in 8 games in 1939.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
Pat Novak For Hire, starring Jack Webb, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Only Way to Make Frinds is to Die

Died on this date
Jagatjit Singh Bahadur, 76. Maharaja of Kapurthala, 1877-1947. Sir Jagatjit acceded to the throne of the princely state of Kapurthala at the age of 4, and assumed full powers in 1890. While serving under the British Raj, he represented India at three League of Nations Assemblies in the 1920s. The monarchy was abolished when Kapurthala became part of independent India in 1947, but Sir Jagatjit remained one of the world's richest men.

Diplomacy
Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) declared that the Communists had won the civil war, and expressed wilingness to establish diplomatic relations with "truly friendly" foreign countries.

Politics and government
French President Vincent Auriol and Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai signed an agreement establishng a semi-autonomous Vietnamese state. A referendum in France's northeastern Indian territory of Chandernagoreresulted in an overwhelming victory for union with India.

Abominations
German Freemasons, banned under the Nazis, met in Frankfurt and established a Masonic Grand Lodge for West Germany, with steel industrialist Theodor Vogel as Grand Master.

Religion
The Czechoslovakian government prevented Roman Catholic Archbishop Josef Beran from issuing a pastoral letter pledging loyalty to the state but condemning its attempts to impose an "anti-Christian" ideology on the country.

Business
The new Sears, Roebuck catalogue appeared with price cuts averaging 6 1/2%.

Labour
The Far Eastern trade union leaders meeting in Geneva established an Anti-Communist Federation of Labour.

Auto racing
The first Strictly Stock race sanctioned by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) took place at Charlotte Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jim Roper completed 197 of 200 laps and finished second, but was named the winner when Glenn Dunaway was disqualified after the discovery of his altered rear springs.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Roulette--Russ Conway

Protest
South African police fired on rioting Africans in the Kato Manor slum area of Durban after 4,000 women stormed and burned three municipal beer halls, destroying beer stocks and besieging a group of police and newsmen.

Politics and government
The U.S. Senate voted 49-46 to reject President Dwight D. Eisenhower's nomination of Lewis Strauss as Secretary of Commerce.

Disasters
The worst storm disaster ever to hit the Gulf of St. Lawrence occurred off the coast of Escuminac on Miramichi Bay, New Brunswick. The unexpected storm struck with sudden severity, creating 60-foot waves, sinking 50 salmon and lobster fishing boats, and claiming the lives of 35 salmon fishermen from the region.

40 years ago
1969

At the movies
Last Summer, directed by Frank Perry, and starring Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison, and Cathy Burns, opened in theatres.



War
U.S. President Richard Nixon reacted to criticism from former defense secretary Clark Clifford on his handling of the Vietnam War by describing Mr. Clifford as a member of an administration that failed to reduce American casualties or commitments in the war. He said that he might bring home troops even sooner than Mr. Clifford’s suggested deadline of the end of 1970.

Defense
As U.S. President Richard Nixon spoke of suspending multiple warhead tests, the Pentagon, without public announcement, awarded an $87 million contract for the production of 68 multiple warheads for its Minuteman 3 missiles.

Labour
About 140 United States federal air traffic controllers, mostly in the New York area, threw the nation’s air traffic into chaos when they called in sick and refused to work, in reaction to what they considered anti-controller remarks made by Federal Aviation Administrator John Shaffer.

Boxing
World light heavyweight champion Bob Foster (36-4) scored a technical knockout of Levan Roundtree (13-8) at 2:10 of the 4th round of a heavyweight bout at City Auditorium in Atlanta.

30 years ago
1979

Died on this date
Paul Popenoe, 90. U.S. eugenicist and counsellor. Mr. Popenoe was an agricultural explorer as a young man, collecting specimens for his father's nursery in California. This activity led him to take an interest in eugenics; he edited Journal of Heredity (1913-1917) and co-authored the college textbook Applied Eugenics (1918), promoting betterment of human society by sterilizing those deemed to be unfit. Mr. Popenoe worked with the Human Betterment Society and the American Eugenics Society in the 1920s and '30, but, alarmed by the rising incidence of divorce in America, eventually turned his focus to marriage counselling, opening the American Institute of Family Relations in Los Angeles in 1930. Mr. Popenoe became a popular marriage counsellor for the next several decades, appearing in mass media while no longer emphasizing the eugenic roots of his ideas.

Defense
The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff told President Jimmy Carter that they would support the SALT-II treaty when it went before the U.S. Senate.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Edmonton (1-1) 31 @ Toronto (1-1) 16
Hamilton (0-2) 11 @ British Columbia (2-0) 16

The Eskimos' win over the Argonauts at Exhibition Stadium was televised in Edmonton on CITV, marking the first time, excluding all-star games, that a CFL pre-season game had been televised. It was the first of four Eskimo road games to be broadcast on CITV in 1979.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Wind Beneath My Wings--Bette Midler

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Ibiza--Amnesia (4th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM):
1 Rock On--Michael Damian (2nd week at #1)
2 Pop Singer--John Mellencamp
3 Wind Beneath My Wings--Bette Midler
4 Good Thing--Fine Young Cannibals
5 I Won't Back Down--Tom Petty
6 Satisfied--Richard Marx
7 Soldier of Love--Donny Osmond
8 Forever Your Girl--Paula Abdul
9 Cry--Waterfront
10 Buffalo Stance--Neneh Cherry

Singles entering the chart were Missing You by Candi (#73); Rock 'N' Roll Duty by Kim Mitchell (#77); The Natural Edge by David Wilcox (#81); Misguided Angel by Cowboy Junkies (#85); On Our Own by Bobby Brown (#89); That's When I Think of You by 1927 (#90); No More Rhyme by Debbie Gibson (#95); and When God Shines His Light by Van Morrison (#99).

At the movies
Batman, directed by Tim Burton, and starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, and Jack Palance, received its premiere screening in Westwood, California.



10 years ago
1999

Married on this date
Prince Edward of the United Kingdom, the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II, married commoner Sophie Rhys-Jones in Windsor, England.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Dallas 2 @ Buffalo 1 (3 OT) (Dallas won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Brett Hull’s hotly-disputed goal at 14:51 of the 3rd period of overtime (which actually came in the wee hours of June 20) gave the Dallas Stars their first--and so far, only--Stanley Cup championship, defeating the Sabres before 18,595 fans at Marine Midland Arena. Mr. Hull appeared to have the toe of his skate in the goal crease when he scored the winning goal, in which case, according to the rules then in place, the goal should not have counted. Dallas centre Joe Niewendyk won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup playoffs.