July 30, 2009

1,430 years ago
579

Died on this date
Benedict I. Roman Catholic Pope, 575-579. Benedict I, whose real name was Bonosus, succeeded John III on the papal throne, and apparently spent much of his papacy coping with difficulties arising from a famine. Pope Benedict I was succeeded by Pelagius II.

590 years ago
1419

World events
A crowd of Hussite protesters killed seven members of the Prague city council in the First Defenestration of Prague.

400 years ago
1609

War
Quebec colonial leader Samuel de Champlain joined the skirmish against the Iroquois at Crown Point near Ticonderoga, New York, killing two chiefs with his arquebus. This was the first French military action in America; Mr. Champlain became the first European to use firearms against the North American natives.

390 years ago
1619

Politics and government
The House of Burgesses, the first legislative assembly in English North America convened in Jamestown, Virginia.

280 years ago
1729

Americana
The city of Baltimore was founded.

220 years ago
1789

Died on this date
Giovanna Bonanno, 76 (?). Italian criminal. Mrs. Bonanno, a beggar in Palermo, Sicily, was hanged after confessing to selling poison to women who wanted to murder their husbands.

200 years ago
1809

Born on this date
Charles Chiniquy. Canadian-born clergyman. Rev. Chiniquy, a native of Kamouraska, Quebec, was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1833 and led a successful campaign against drunkenness before moving to Illinois. He was sued by a Catholic layman and was defended by Abraham Lincoln in a case that was settled out of court. Rev. Chiniquy left the Roman Catholic Church in 1858, and eventually became a Presbyterian minister. He denounced the Roman Catholic Church as anti-Christian in tracts and books such as Fifty Years in the Church of Rome and The Priest, The Woman and The Confessional. Rev. Chiniquy died in Montreal on January 16, 1899 at the age of 89.

150 years ago
1859

Adventure
Charles Sainte-Claire Deville, with Daniel, Emmanuel and Gaspard Balleys, and Basile Dorsaz, made the first complete ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps.

110 years ago
1899

Baseball
The Louisville Colonels swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Spiders at Eclipse Park in Louisville by scores of 9-2 and 16-13. Honus Wagner hit 2 inside-the-park home runs to lead the Colonels’ attack in the second game. The losses dropped the Spiders’ record to 15-74.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
C. Northcote Parkinson. U.K. historian. Professor Parkinson was a naval historian who wrote 60 books. He was most famous for devising Parkinson's Law: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." Prof. Parkinson died on March 9, 1993 at the age of 83.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
Charles Henry Gould, 63. Canadian librarian. Mr. Gould grew up in Montreal, served as the first librarian at McGill University, and founded McGill Library School. He participated in the founding of Canada's first library association--the Ontario Library Association--and was President of the American Library Association (1908-1909), and President of the Bibliographical Society of America (1912-1913). Mr. Gould created the modern system of interlibrary loan.

Baseball
The New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox split a doubleheader before 25,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York. The Yankees won the first game 6-5 in 10 innings, scoring the winning run on a squeeze bunt by Truck Hannah. After Ping Bodie stole home plate for the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th to tie the second game 3-3, the White Sox scored 2 in the 10th to win 5-3.

Sam Rice tripled with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning and Buzz Murphy followed with a single to score Mr. Rice with the only run of the game as the Washington Nationals edged the St. Louis Browns 1-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Jim Shaw pitched a 4-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Dave Davenport, who allowed 6 hits.

Terry Turner singled home Fred Thomas with 2 out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Philadelphia Athletics a 2-1 win over the Cleveland Indians at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Walt Kinney pitched an 8-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Hi Jasper, who allowed 5 hits.

Larry Cheney walked Heinie Groh with the bases loaded and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning to score Jimmy Smith and give the Cincinnati Reds a 7-6 win over the Boston Braves at Redland Field in Cincinnati.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Nyot Nyow!)--Patty Andrews and Bob Crosby (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Some Enchanted Evening--Perry Como

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Some Enchanted Evening--Perry Como
--Bing Crosby
2 Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
3 Baby, it's Cold Outside--Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer
--Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark
--Don Cornell and Laura Leslie
--Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
4 Again--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
--Mel Torme
--Doris Day and the Mellomen
--Vic Damone
5 Forever and Ever--Perry Como
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
6 I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore--The Stardusters with Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
--Perry Como
7 Bali Ha'i--Perry Como
8 The Huckle-Buck--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
--Frank Sinatra
9 "A" - You're Adorable (The Alphabet Song)--Perry Como with the Fontane Sisters
--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae
10 A Wonderful Guy--Margaret Whiting

Singles entering the chart were Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk by Perry Como (#37) and Twenty-Four Hours of Sunshine by Art Mooney and his Orchestra (#38). Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk was the other side of (Just One Way to Say) I Love You, charting at #36.

On the radio
Tales of Fatima, starring Basil Rathbone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: Next of Kin

War
The U.K. sloop Amethyst, trapped on the Yangtze River by Communist fire since April 20, escaped and rejoined other British ships off the Chinese coast.

Defense
The French Council of the Republic and the Italian Senate voted approval of the North Atlantic Treaty.

Disasters
A collision between a U.S. Navy Hellcat fighter and an Eastern Airlines DC-3 near Fort Dix, New Jersey caused 16 deaths. It was the year's first fatal accident on a scheduled U.S. airline.

50 years ago
1959

On television tonight
The Lawless Years, starring James Gregory, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Tony Morelli Story

At the movies
Blue Denim, directed by Philip Dunne, and starring Carol Lynley, Brandon deWilde, Macdonald Carey, and Marsha Hunt, opened in theatres.



Politics and government
Indonesian President Sukarno named a 45-member Supreme Advisory Council and a 77-member National Planning Council to carry out his plans for "guided democracy" under the 1945 constitution.

The U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia upheld a 1953 Subversive Activities Control Board ruling that the Communist Party U.S.A. must register with the government as a subversive organization.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Robert Murphy as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, the department's number three post.

Scandal
National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues President George Trautman suspended Jesse Levan, a former major leaguer and current first baseman with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association, permanently because of his involvement as a go-between for gamblers seeking to fix games. His teammate, shortstop Waldo Gonzalez, was suspended for one year. Mr. Levan was batting .337 with 7 home runs and 43 runs batted in in 75 games in 1959 at the time of the suspensions, while Mr. Gonzalez was batting .179 with no homers and 9 RBIs in 47 games.

Labour
The U.S. federal unemployment benefits program ended after payment of $600 million to more than two million unemployed workers.

Boxing
George Logan (11-0-1) knocked out former world heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles (95-24-1) at 1:50 of the 8th round at Faigrounds Arena in Boise.

Football
CFL
Pre-Season
British Columbia (2-1) 22 @ Ottawa (1-0) 24

CFL-ORFU
Pre-season
Calgary (1-3) 21 @ Kitchener-Waterloo 8

Baseball
Willie McCovey, playing his first major league game, batted 4 for 4 with 2 triples, 3 runs, and 2 runs batted in to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies before 10,114 fans at Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Mike McCormick pitched a 7-hit complete game victory to win the pitching matchup with Robin Roberts.

Bob Gibson pitched an 8-hit shutout for his first major league win as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 before 6,734 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ken Boyer doubled to led off the 2nd inning and scored on a 1-out single by Joe Cunningham for the only run off Jim O'Toole, who allowed 8 hits in 7 innings.

Felix Mantilla, Hank Aaron, Johnny Logan, and Andy Pafko hit solo home runs for the Milwaukee Braves as they beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 before 29,170 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Bobby Thomson hit a solo homer for the Cubs, who had just 5 hits off Warren Spahn, who pitched a complete game victory.

Roman Mejias singled home Dick Groat with 1 out and the bases loaded in the top of the 12th inning to break a 4-4 tie as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 before 24,221 fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Bobby Locke drew a base on balls to lead off the bottom of the 9th inning and scored on a 1-out single by Minnie Minoso to give the Cleveland Indians a 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox before 10,244 fans at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Mr. Locke had entered the game in the top of the 9th and pitched a perfect inning in relief of Mudcat Grant, and was thus credited with the win.

Early Wynn pitched a 6-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Eli Grba as the Chicago White Sox defeated the New York Yankees 3-1 before 30,858 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago to remain 1 game ahead of the Indians in the American League pennant race.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Honky Tonk Women--The Rolling Stones (2nd week at #1)

World events
U.S. President Richard Nixon sandwiched a brief visit to South Vietnam between visits to Thailand and India on his world tour, telling American troops that he would do his job "to see that you don’t fight in vain."

Anatoly V. Kusnetsov, a young Soviet writer attacked for his liberal views, defected to the West and received permission to remain in Britain.

War
The Organization of American States approved a peace pact between El Salvador and Honduras.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy announced that he would retain both his Senate seat and position as majority whip after receiving an overwhelming vote of confidence from the people of Massachusetts. He also announced that he would seek re-election in 1970 and would serve out the "entire six-year term," apparently ruling out a presidential run in 1972.

Football
CFL
Montreal (0-1) 15 @ Ottawa (1-0) 47
Calgary (1-0) 32 @ British Columbia (0-1) 7

Terry Evanshen caught 3 touchdown passes to lead the Stampeders’ attack and make a winner of Jim Duncan in his first game as a CFL head coach. It was also the first game in the Hall of Fame career of Calgary defensive end John Helton. For the Lions, it was the only CFL game for rookie running back Jim Nicholson. A sensation in training camp, he came down with a bad knee, and dressed for the season opener as the designated import, but saw no action. For the Montreal Alouettes, highly-touted 19-year-old rookie running back Danny Houston carried 4 times for 4 yards, left early with a knee injury, and never played again.

Baseball
The San Francisco Giants scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th inning to break a 3-3 tie as they defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-3 before 31,642 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Gaylord Perry (13-7) pitched a 7-hit complete game victory, and doubled and scored the winning run.

The Houston Astros swept a doubleheader from the New York Mets 16-3 and 11-5 before 28,922 fans at Shea Stadium in New York. In the first game, the Astros scored 11 runs in the 9th inning, which included grand slams by both Jimmy Wynn (off Cal Koonce) and Denis Menke (off Ron Taylor). Also contributing to the Houston attack was relief pitcher Fred Gladding, who singled off Mr. Taylor for his only hit in 63 career at bats, driving in a run. The Astros scored 10 runs in the 3rd inning of the second game, as Curt Blefary tripled with the bases loaded, and winning pitcher Larry Dierker (13-8) hit a home run with a runner on base.

Pinch hitter Ted Savage doubled home Alex Johnson and Tony Perez with 2 out in the bottom of the 8th inning to climax a 3-run rally as the Cincinnati Reds overcame a 3-0 1st-inning deficit to defeat the Montreal Expos 5-3 before 9,733 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Wayne Granger pitched 2 scoreless innings to get the win in relief of Jim Maloney, who led off the bottom of the 6th inning with his second home run of the season to get the Reds on the scoreboard.

The St. Louis Cardinals broke open a 0-0 game with 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning and held on to defeat the San Diego Padres 5-2 before 19,594 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bob Gibson pitched a 5-hitter and struck out 13 batters to improve his 1969 record to 13-8, and doubled home the final St. Louis run.

Bill Robinson beat out an infield single with 2 out in the top of the 9th inning to drive home Roy White, breaking a 2-2 tie as the New York Yankees edged the Oakland Athletics 3-2 before 8,330 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Athletics had runners on first and second bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Jose Tartabull lined out to third base and Ted Kubiak grounded out to first to end the game.

Greg Goossen led off the bottom of the 7th inning with his second home run of the game to break a 3-3 tie as the Seattle Pilots edged the Washington Senators 4-3 before 5,721 fans at Sick's Stadium in Seattle.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Some Girls--Racey

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kanpaku Sengen--Masashi Sada

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Súper, Superman--Miguel Bosé (2nd week at #1)

Defense
U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance announced that the United States would honour a 1977 pledge to NATO to raise military spending by 3% annually. The statement was seen as an attempt to placate Senate critics of the SALT-II arms limitation treaty with the U.S.S.R., who sought to link the arms agreement to increased defense spending.

Politics and government
California Governor Jerry Brown authorized an "exploratory" campaign committee, his first formal challenge to U.S. President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Batdance--Prince (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Batdance--Prince

Died on this date
Lane Frost, 25. U.S. rodeo cowboy. Mr. Frost died after being gored by a bull he had just been riding named "Taking Care of Business" at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming. His life and death inspired the movie 8 Seconds (1994).

Terrorism
The Organization of the Oppressed of the World, a Shiite Muslim group that had kidnapped Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon in February 1988, said they would execute Lt. Col. Higgins unless Israel freed Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid, leader of the Shiite Muslim group Party of God, who had been kidnapped by Israeli commandos in Lebanon on July 28.

10 years ago
1999

Scandal
A Maryland grand jury indicted Linda Tripp, who had secretly taped conversations between herself and then-friend Monica Lewinsky. The tapes were used in evidence against President Bill Clinton when he was impeached in 1998. Ms. Tripp was charged with illegally taping a conversation in December 1997 and also for disclosing the contents of that conversation to Newsweek magazine.

Economics and finance
The United States Senate voted 57-43 to approve a $792 billion tax cut, but with provisions that differed from the bill passed by the House of Representatives eight days earlier.

Football
CFL
Toronto (1-3) 15 @ Saskatchewan (1-3) 20

The win was the first for Cal Murphy as head coach of the Roughriders.