June 17, 2010

270 years ago
1740

Died on this date
William Wyndham, 52 (?). U.K. politician. Sir William was a Tory who sat in the House of Commons from 1710-1740; he was Secretary at War (1712-1713) and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1713-1714). Sir William was a Jacobite who was opposed to the Hanoverian succession to the monarchy, and led the Tory opposition in the House until his death after falling from his horse.

130 years ago
1880

Baseball
Monte Ward pitched the National League’s second perfect game in six days as he led the Providence Grays to a 5-0 win over the Buffalo Bisons at Messer Street Grounds in Providence. Losing pitcher Pud Galvin made the last out.

125 years ago
1885

Americana
The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.

Baseball
Phenomenal Smith, who had boasted that he was so good that he didn’t need his teammates in order to win, made his pitching debut for the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers against the St. Louis Browns. The Browns won 18-5, but all 18 runs against Mr. Smith were unearned. The Browns made 18 errors, 7 of them by shortstop Germany Smith. Browns’ players were fined for making deliberate errors, but Mr. Smith was released in order to preserve team harmony.

110 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Martin Bormann. German politician. Mr. Bormann held various positions in the Nazi regime from 1933-1945, including head of the Parteikanzlei (Nazi Party Chancellery) and personal secretary to Fuehrer Adolf Hitler. Mr. Bormann was 44 when he and SS Doctor Ludwig Stumpfegger were killed while trying to escape from invading Soviet forces in Berlin on May 2, 1945. Rumours persisted for years that Mr. Bormann had escaped to another country, but his remains were eventually discovered and identified.

Evelyn Irons. U.K. journalist. Miss Irons, a native of Glasgow, was a war correspondent during World War II; she was one of the first reporters to reach liberated Paris, and the first female war correspondent to receive the French Croix de Guerre. Miss Irons went to the United States in 1952 to cover the presidential election, and remained in the country. She died on April 3, 2000 at the age of 99.

War
Western Allied and Japanese forces captured the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.

100 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Red Foley. U.S. musician. Clyde Julian Foley was one of the biggest stars in country music in person, and on records, radio, and television in a career spanning almost 40 years. He had 10 singles which reached #1 on the Billboard Country chart, including Shame on You (1945); Birmingham Bounce (1950); and Mississippi (1950). Mr. Foley died of respiratory failure in his sleep on September 19, 1968 at the age of 57, shortly after performing two shows in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and after praying with fellow country singer Billy Walker and reportedly trusting in Jesus Christ as his saviour.

George Hees. Canadian football player and politician. Mr. Hees, a native of Toronto, played with the Toronto Argonauts (1934, 1937-1938), helping them to Grey Cup championships in his last two seasons. He served with the Canadian Army during World War II as a Brigade Major, and played with the Canadian Army team that defeated a U.S. Army team in the Tea Bowl in London in 1944. As a Progressive Conservative, he represented the Toronto-area ridings of Broadview (1950-1963); Northumberland (1965-1968, 1979-1988); and Prince Edward-Hastings (1968-1979) in the Canadian House of Commons. Mr. Hees served in the cabinet of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker as Minister of Transport (1957-1960) and Minister of Trade and Commerce (1960-1963), and in the cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney as Minister of Veterans Affairs (1984-1988). In the early 1980s, he was Chairman of the Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defence. Mr. Hees died on June 11, 1996, six days before his 86th birthday.

Aviation
Romanian aviator Aurel Vlaicu piloted an A. Vlaicu nr. 1 on its first flight over Cotroceni airfield in Bucharest.

Religion
Education in Relation to the Christianization of National Life was the theme of this day’s presentation to the World Missionary Conference in the Assembly Hall at the United Free Church of Scotland in Edinburgh.

75 years ago
1935

Baseball
Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis ruled that recently-released Sing Sing Prison inmate Alabama Pitts could play in regular season games for the Albany Senators of the International League, but not in exhibition games.

70 years ago
1940

Died on this date
Arthur Harden, 74. U.K. biochemist. Sir Arthur shared the 1929 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Adolf Windaus of Germany and Hans von Euler-Chelpin of Sweden "for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes."

War
RMS Lancastria, a Cunard liner that had been commandeered by the British government for war service, was attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France while taking part in Operation Ariel, the evacuation of British nationals and troops from France. At least 4,000 were killed in the U.K.'s worst maritime disaster; there were 2,447 survivors. Another commandeered liner, SS Oronsay, suffered several fatalities when her bridge was hit by a bomb, but managed to rescue some survivors of Lancastria and get home. The British Army's 11th Hussars assaulted and took Fort Capuzzo in Libya from Italian forces. French Prime Minister Philippe Pétain asked the Spanish ambassador to approach Germany about an armistice.

Abominations
The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania fell under the military occupation and political reorganization of the U.S.S.R.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department cautioned Germany and Italy to stay away from British, French, and Dutch possessions in the Western Hemisphere.

Japanese military authorities demanded that French Indochina halt arms shipments to Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek.

Colonel Francis P. Walters of the United Kingdom resigned his post as undersecretary of the League of Nations.

Politics and government
The Uruguayan Senate voted wide powers to the government to repress pro-Axis activities and ban all secret societies.

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to appropriate $1.2 billion more for naval construction.

60 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Told Them All About You--Donald Peers (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): "The Third Man" Theme--Anton Karas (Best Seller--8th week at #1); Hoop-Dee-Doo--Perry Como (Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1); "The Third Man" Theme--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (Jukebox--7th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 "The Third Man" Theme--Anton Karas (9th week at #1)
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
2 Bewitched--Bill Snyder and his Orchestra
--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
--Doris Day
--Larry Green and his Orchestra
--Jan August & Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats
3 My Foolish Heart--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
--Billy Eckstine
--Mindy Carson
4 Sentimental Me--The Ames Brothers
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
5 Hoop-Dee-Doo--Perry Como
--Kay Starr
--Doris Day
6 It Isn’t Fair--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
7 The Old Piano Roll Blues--Hoagy Carmichael and Cass Daley
--Lawrence "Piano Roll" Cook
8 If I Knew You Were Comin’ (I’d’ve Baked a Cake)--Eileen Barton
--Georgia Gibbs
9 Roses--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
10 I Wanna Be Loved--The Andrews Sisters
--Billy Eckstine

Singles entering the chart were Bonaparte's Retreat, with versions by Kay Starr; and Gene Krupa and his Chicago Jazz (vocal refrain by Bobby Scots) (#26); Buffalo Billy by Roberta Quinlan, Jerry Murad's Harmonicats and Jan August (#31); Mississippi by Red Foley (#32); Dedicated to You by Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine (#37); Juke Box Annie by Kitty Kallen (#39); and Thanks, Mister Florist by Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra (#40).

Defense
Arab League delegates, meeting in Cairo, signed a collective security pact obligating each member state to help defend any of the others against aggression.

U.S. President Harry Truman signed a bill authorizing $596 million for military construction during the next two years.

Politics and government
New York Governor Thomas Dewey, 48, announced that he would not be a candidate for re-election because of health problems.

Crime
U.S. President Truman ordered tax files and other confidential government data made available to the special Senate Crime Investigating Committee.

Religion
The Spanish government of dictator Francisco Franco reaffirmed policies prohibiting non-Catholics from having public demonstrations, establishing schools or recreational centres, or making collections for churches.

Medicine
Dr. Richard Lawler performed the first human kidney transplant in a 45-minute operation in Chicago.

Economics and finance
The newly-formed French Congress of the Middle Class, meeting in Paris, adopted a program demanding equality with trade unions and industrial groups in determining France's economic and social policies.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Cathy's Clown--The Everly Brothers (8th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Mighty Casey, starring Jack Warden

This episode had originally been filmed in October 1959, and starred Paul Douglas. Mr. Douglas put in a poor performance, and seemed to be out of breath. Two days after the end of filming, Mr. Douglas died of a heart attack. Rod Serling decided to reshoot the episode, and paid the extra cost out of his own pocket.

Economics and finance
The Nez Perce Indian tribe was awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of land in the Northwest Plateau of the United States which had been undervalued at four cents per acre in the 1863 treaty.

Baseball
Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox became the fourth player in major league history to hit 500 career major league home runs when he connected off Wynn Hawkins of the Cleveland Indians for a 2-run blast with 1 out in the top of the 3rd inning, breaking a 1-1 tie as the Red Sox won 3-1 before 9,765 fans at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Winning pitcher Frank Sullivan (3-6) pitched a 4-hit complete game and recorded 12 strikeouts.

Clete Boyer and Mickey Mantle hit home runs to lead the New York Yankees to a 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox before 43,320 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. White Sox’ owner Bill Veeck had installed a $300,000 scoreboard that set off fireworks whenever a White Sox player hit a home run. When Messrs. Boyer and Mantle homered for the Yankees, the Yankee players lit sparklers in the dugout. Winning pitcher Art Ditmar (5-3) pitched a 7-hit complete game and batted 2 for 4 with a run batted in.



Al Spangler led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a triple and scored on a bases-loaded single by pinch hitter Felix Mantilla to give the Milwaukee Braves a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals before 19,167 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Bob Buhl (6-3) allowed 1 hit and no runs in 1.1 innings to get the win in relief of George Brunet, who allowed 5 hits and 1 earned run in 10.2 innings.

Bill Virdon hit his first home run of the season to lead off the 6th inning, and it proved to be the deciding run as the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 before 43,296 fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Jim Gilliam led off the bottom of the 9th with a double and scored on a 1-out single by Wally Moon, but Duke Snider grounded into a double play to end the game. Vern Law (10-2) pitched a 6-hit complete game to win the pitchers' duel over Stan Williams (5-1), who allowed 6 hits and 2 earned runs in 8 innings.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): In the Summertime--Mungo Jerry (2nd week at #1)

Crime
The bodies of 11-year-old Susan Blatchford and 12-year-old Gary Hanlon were found in a shallow grave in a wood at Waltham Abbey in Essex, England. The "Babes in the Wood," from north London, had last been seen alive on March 31, playing near their homes.

Environment
U.S. Interior Secretary Walter Hickel announced that the pesticide DDT and more than a dozen other chemicals would be virtually banned on more than ¼ of the land area of the United States. 32 other chemicals and classes of chemicals were "restricted."

Scandal
Nathan Voloshen, a lawyer and lobbyist, pled guilty to conspiring with a former administrative assistant to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John W. McCormack to use the speaker’s office to defraud federal agencies. Mr. Voloshen was about to be tried on the charge with Dr. Martin Sweig, the former aide in question.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Richard Nixon, in a televised address, asked business and labour to help end inflation by voluntarily resisting short-term desires for increased wages and profits. Mr. Nixon said that he would not impose direct wage and price controls, announcing instead a new national commission on productivity to suggest ways of increasing work output per worker.



Boxing
Jerry Quarry (36-4-4) scored a technical knockout of Mac Foster (24-1) at 2:09 of the 6th round of a heavyweight fight at Madison Square Garden in New York. On the undercard, Mr. Quarry' brother Mike (23-0) won a 10-round majority decision over Ray Ayala (5-4-1) in a light heavyweight bout.



30 years ago
1980

Defense
British Secretary of State Francis Pym told the House of Commons that the first U.S. Cruise missiles to be stored on British soil would be stored at RAF Greenham Common, Berkshire, and the disused RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (0-2) 16 @ Montreal (2-0) 31

Baseball
The Houston Astros scored 3 runs in each of the first 2 innings as they defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-1 before 19,480 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago, but winning pitcher J.R. Richard (7-1) left the game after 5 innings and 8 strikeouts, complaining of a tired arm.

Johnny Bench and Ray Knight hit consecutive home runs to begin the 9th inning for the Cincinnati Reds, enabling them to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 before 25,565 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Garry Templeton led off the bottom of the 9th inning with a single and scored from second base on a 1-out double by Ted Simmons to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves before 13,524 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Pete Vuckovich (6-5) allowed 8 hits and 2 earned runs in a complete game to win the pitchers' duel over Doyle Alexander (4-3), who allowed 8 hits and 3 earned runs in a complete game.

Jerry White's solo home run with 1 out in the top of the 6th inning proved to be the deciding run as the Montreal Expos edged the San Francisco Giants 2-1 before 19,362 fans at Candlestick Park in New York. David Palmer (4-1) allowed 6 hits and 1 earned run in 7.1 innings, outduelling Vida Blue (9-3), who allowed 6 hits and 2 earned runs in 8 innings.

Gene Richards singled home Paul Dade with the bases loaded and 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the San Diego Padres a 2-1 win over the New York Mets before 11,448 fans at San Diego Stadium.

Pinch runner German Barranca scored on a sacrifice fly by Jamie Quirk in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Kansas City Royals a 3-2 win over the Texs Rangers before 25,324 fans at Royals Stadium. Mr. Barranca was running for Willie Aikens, who singled to lead off the inning. Rich Gale (3-7) pitched a 9-hit complete game victory. Gaylord Perry (3-6), who was removed from the game after Mr. Aikens' single, allowed 8 hits and 3 earned runs in 8+ innings to take the loss.

25 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Would I Lie to You?--Eurythmics (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ima Dakara--Yumi Matsutoya, Kazumasa Oda, Kazuo Zaitsu (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): We are the World--USA for Africa (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Georgia Hale, 84. U.S. actress. Miss Hale was known for her appearances in the silent movies The Salvation Hunters (1925); The Gold Rush (1925); and The Great Gatsby (1926). She retired from acting in 1928, and became wealthy through real estate investments. Miss Hale died eight days before her 85th birthday.

John Boulting, 71. U.K. movie director, producer, and screenwriter. Mr. Boulting and his twin brother Roy were responsible for such films as Brighton Rock (1947); Seven Days to Noon (1950); The Magic Box (1951); I'm All Right Jack (1959); and Heavens Above! (1963).

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin mission STS-51-G. The seven-member crew, commanded by Daniel Brandenstein, included Payload Specialist Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, the first Arab, first Muslim, and first member of a royal family to go into space.





Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (2-0) 24 @ Hamilton (0-2) 13
British Columbia (2-0) 17 @ Edmonton (0-2) 16

The Eskimos failed to score a touchdown against the Lions at Commonwealth Stadium, but rookie Brad Taylor was impressive at quarterback. Dave Cutler was 5 for 5 in field goal attempts for the Eskimos, and they turned out to be the last field goals he ever kicked. Jack Parker, son of Edmonton head coach Jackie Parker, saw some action as a receiver, and caught a couple of passes.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Vogue--Madonna (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Black Velvet--Alannah Myles (3rd week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 I Promised Myself--Nick Kamen (3rd week at #1)
2 I Can't Stand It!--Twenty 4 Seven featuring Capt. Hollywood
3 Hey, Wickie--Der Schreckliche Sven & die tollkühnen Plattenreiter
4 Black Velvet--Alannah Myles
5 Infinity (1990's...Time for the Guru)--Guru Josh
6 Insieme: 1992--Toto Cutugno
7 Ding Dong--Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung
8 Hier kommt Kurt--Frank Zander
9 Vogue--Madonna
10 The Power--Snap!

Singles entering the chart were Alle meine Lieda by Remix-Poidl (#14); and Insieme Fairplay by Etta Scollo & José Feliciano (#30).

Politics and government
In the first free elections in Bulgaria in recent times, the Bulgarian Socialist Party won 211 of 400 seats in the Grand National Assembly. The Socialists were a Marxist party, but not as hard-line as the party that had run the country since the end of World War II. The opposition coalition, the Union of Democratic Forces, won 144 seats. Other parties ran far behind; a party representing ethnic Turks won 23 seats. The first round of elections had taken place on June 10; the June 17 elections were the runoffs.

Diplomacy
South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and his wife Winnie, arrived in Ottawa to begin a visit to Canada; they later went on an 11-day tour of the United States.

Golf
Hale Irwin and Mike Donald were tied for the lead after 4 rounds of the U.S. Open at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois with 8-under-par total scores of 280, forcing an 18-hole playoff the following day.

10 years ago
2000

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Montreal (0-0-1) 13 @ Toronto (0-0-1) 13

This was the first game to feature a post-game demonstration of the CFL's new overtime format, with the teams taking turns scrimmaging the ball at their opponents' 35-yard line.

Baseball
Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees drove in 7 runs with a home run, 2 doubles, and a single, but the Yankees lost 10-9 to the Chicago White Sox before 54,053 fans at Yankee Stadium. The White Sox took an 8-0 lead after 2½ innings. Jake Westbrook (0-1) started on the mound for New York and allowed 7 hits and 6 runs--all earned--in 1.2 innings, walking 2 batters and striking out none in 1.2 innings in his first major league game.

The Toronto Blues Jays took an 11-1 lead after 4½ innings and held on to defeat the Boston Red Sox 11-10 before 32,951 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 5th and 5 in the 7th and had the potential tying run on second base with 1 out in the 9th, but Carl Everett was retired on a foul popup, and pinch hitter Brian Daubach struck out to end the game.

Bobby Higginson singled with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th and Juan Gonzalez followed with a home run to give the Detroit Tigers an 8-6 win over the Cleveland Indians before 39,569 fans at Comerica Park in Detroit, completing a comeback from a 6-3 deficit after 6 innings.

Starting pitcher Ismael Valdez singled home Joe Girardi with 2 out in the bottom of the 2nd inning for the game's only run as the Chicago Cubs edged the Montreal Expos 1-0 before 39,502 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Mr. Girardi had reached first base on an error by shortstop Orlando Cabrera, and the run was unearned. Mr. Valdez left the game after 3 innings, and Steve Rain (1-0), the first of four relief pitchers, pitched 3.2 innings and was credited with his first major league win. Losing pitcher Dustin Hermanson (5-4) and two relievers allowed just 4 hits.

The Louisiana State University Tigers, trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the 8th inning, scored 3 runs a pair of home runs to tie the score, and scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to edge the Stanford University Cardinal 6-5 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha to win their fifth College World Series in the past 10 years.