June 22, 2010

1,100 years ago
910

War
Magyar forces defeated the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River in Bavaria, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine), 41-50, and Gerhard I, Count of Metz, 35 (?).

140 years ago
1870

Politics and government
The United States Justice Department was created.

Baseball
George Wright scored the winning run as the Cincinnati Red Stockings defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 27-25 before a large crowd in Philadelphia.

130 years ago
1880

Politics and government
The U.S. Democratic National Convention opened at the Music Hall in Cincinnati.

125 years ago
1885

Born on this date
James Maxton. U.K. politician. Mr. Maxton represented the Scottish riding of Glasgow Bridgeton in the House of Commons from 1922 until his death. Mr. Maxton was with the Labour Party until the Independent Labour Party broke away from the main party in 1932; Mr. Maxton led the ILP until his death on July 23, 1946 at the age of 61.

120 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Aleksander Warma. Prime Minister of Estonia in exile, 1963-1970. Mr. Warma held several administrative positions in the Estonian government before and after the 1940 takeover of Estonia by the U.S.S.R. He died in Stockholm on December 23, 1970 at the age of 80.

100 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Oskar Fischinger. German-born U.S. artist and filmmaker. Mr. Fischinger was an abstract painter who combined art with animation to produce more than 50 short films. He began his career in his native Germany, where he created special effects for Fritz Lang's film Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon) (1929). Mr. Fischinger moved to Hollywood in 1936, but encountered difficulties with the restrictions of the movie studio system; his films included An Optical Poem (1938) and Motion Painting No. 1 (1947). He increasingly turned to abstract painting, producing about 800 canvases. In 1955, Mr. Fischinger patented the Lumigraph, an instrument that produced imagery by pressing against a rubberized screen so it could protrude into a narrow beam of coloured light. He died in Los Angeles on January 31, 1967 at the age of 66.

Baseball
The Brooklyn Superbas scored 7 runs in the top of the 11th inning to take a 20-13 lead over the Philadelphia Phillies at National League Park in Philadelphia. The Phillies attempted to let the Superbas prolong the inning, hoping that darkness would fall and the half-inning would be cancelled. Umpire Hank O’Day responded to the Phillies’ delaying tactics by stopping the game an awarding a forfeit to the Superbas.

100 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Konrad Zuse. German computer scientist and engineer. Mr. Zuse invented the Z3 computer, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer, in 1941. He died of heart failure on December 18, 1995 at the age of 85.

Anne Ziegler. U.K. singer. Miss Ziegler, born Irené Eastwood, was a soprano who teamed with her husband Webster Booth as "Sweethearts in Song," a popular duet in England during the 1940s. The couple moved to South Africa in the 1950s after their music fell out of fashion in Britain, but they returned to the United Kingdom in 1978, settling in Wales. Miss Ziegler died on October 13, 2003 at the age of 93.

Religion
The Preparation of Missionaries was the theme of this day’s presentation to the World Missionary Conference in the Assembly Hall of United Free Church of Scotland in Edinburgh.

80 years ago
1930

Died on this date
Bill Dam, 45. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Dam played 1 game in left field with the Boston Doves on August 23, 1909, batting .500 (1 for 2) with a base on balls, double, and run, making 1 putout. He played at least 3 seasons in the minor leagues (1907, 1909-1910).

Auto racing
AAA
Championship Car Series
Shorty Cantlon won a 100-mile race on the board track at Akron-Cleveland Speedway in Ohio. Russ Snowberger finished second and Chet Gardner third in the 10-car field.

70 years ago
1940

War
German officials read the terms of the proposed armistice with France to French representatives at Compiegne, in the same railroad car in which the Germans had signed the armistice ending hostilities in World War I in November 1918.

Diplomacy
Japan demanded that the French government close the Indochina frontier with China and permit a Japanese control commission to supervise the application of this regulation on the scene.

Defense
A Gallup Poll reported that 67% of Americans favoured universal military training.

Politics and government
Thomas Dewey, Robert Taft, and Wendell Willkie--all candidates for the 1940 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States--arrived at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and began meeting with delegates.

Track and field
The University of Southern California won the NCAA championship in Minneapolis for the sixth year in a row.

Baseball
The St. Louis Cardinals scored 7 runs in the 6th inning to defeat the Boston Bees 8-2 before 4,441 fans at National League Park in Boston. The Bees made 8 errors, 3 in the 6th inning.

Elbie Fletcher hit 2 home runs and Vince DiMaggio added another as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 7-2 before 10,850 fans at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

Harlond Clift hit a grand slam and Johnny Berardino hit 2 home runs, including a 3-run blast, but it wasn’t enough as the St. Louis Browns lost 11-10 to the Washington Nationals before 1,869 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

60 years ago
1950

Diplomacy
Veteran U.S. diplomat Jack Service testified for seven hours before a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, denying any Communist affiliation and claiming that he had attempted to prevent a Communist victory in China.

Crime
A grand jury in Pasadena, California indicted physicist Sidney Weinbaum on perjury charges for allegedly concealing his Communist Party membership while working at the California Institute of Technology's secret Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Defense
The U.S. Senate passed and sent to the House of Representatives a bill extending the peacetime draft for three years.

Labour
The Pullman Division of the Order of Railway Conductors, dissatisfied with the recommendations of a presidential fact-finding board, called a strike for July 11.

Baseball
Larry Jansen (7-4) and Dave Koslo (7-5) pitched shutouts as the New York Giants swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 and 5-0 before 25,883 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York. Mr. Koslo allowed just 2 hits: singles by Eddie Miller and Tommy Glaviano in the 3rd inning.

Luke Easter and Jim Hegan each hit 2 home runs for the Cleveland Indians as they beat the New York Yankees 6-2 before 18,407 fans at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Ray Boone also homered for the Indians, while Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Mize homered for the Yankees. All 7 home runs came with the bases empty. Bob Feller (7-5) pitched a 7-hit complete game win, while losing pitcher Joe Ostrowski (2-5) allowed 9 hits and 6 earned runs in a complete game.

50 years ago
1960

Space
The United States launched two satellites: Transit 2A, a navigational satellite; and Solar Radiation (SOLRAD) 1, whose purpose was to study solar ultraviolet and X-radiation.

Politics and government
The Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage, defeated Premier Antonio Barrette's governing Union Nationale Party to win their first Quebec provincial election in 16 years. The Liberals took 51 of 95 seats in the Legislative Assembly, up from 20 in the most recent election in 1956. The UN dropped from 72 to 43, with one other candidate elected. The UN and the province had long been led by Maurice Duplessis, but he had died in October 1959 and was succeeded by Paul Sauvé, but Mr. Sauvé died on January 2, 1960, and was succeeded by Mr. Barrette. The election of the Liberals marked the beginning of Quebec's Quiet Revolution, a period of great social and political change. The new government was sworn in on July 5.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Everything is Beautiful--Ray Stevens

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Keiko no Yume wa--Yoru Hiraku (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Un Rayo De Sol--Los Diablos (4th week at #1)

On the radio
The Challenge of Space, on Springbok Radio
Tonight’s episode: This is His Cross and He Bears It

Politics and government
After a night of student riots and government confusion, Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, 78, who had been President of Ecuador since 1968, assumed dictatorial powers in order to avoid "economic chaos, conspiracies, and subversion by university students."

U.S. President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that contained an amendment lowering the voting age to 18. After signing, Mr. Nixon instructed the Justice Department to test the constitutionality of the provision. If it survived the challenge, the bill would enfranchise 11 million young people and apply to all elections--federal, state, and local.

Edward Heath was sworn in as Prime Minister of Great Britain, four days after his Conservative party had won a majority in the general election.

War
American military sources in Saigon said that the program of spraying chemical defoliants and herbicides to strip jungle cover from enemy areas and destroy food supplies had been halted nearly two months earlier.

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Stomp!--The Brothers Johnson (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Funkytown--Lipps Inc. (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Leaders of the seven largest non-Communist industrial countries began a two-day summit in Venice. The main topics of discussion were dependence on oil imports and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The U.S.S.R. issued a statement that some Soviet troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan. The western leaders responded in a joint statement, saying the withdrawal would have to be permanent and continued until Soviet troops were completely withdrawn.

Politics and government
10 days after the death of Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party won firm majorities in both houses of the Diet in the Japanese general election. The Liberal Democrats won 284 of 511 seats in the lower House of Representatives, an increase of 36 from the most recent election in 1979. The Socialist Party led by Ichio Asukata, was second in the House of Representatives with 107 seats. The Liberal Democrats took 135 of 252 seats in the upper House of Councilors. Representative Zenkō Suzuki succeeded Mr. Ōhira as Prime Minister after the election.

Golf
Bob Gilder won the Canadian Open at Royal Montreal Golf Club with a 6-under-par total score of 274, 2 strokes ahead of Jerry Pate and Leonard Thompson. First prize money was $63,000.

Auto racing
CRL
Bobby Unser won the Pocono 500 at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It was the fifth and last race of the Championship Racing League, a short-lived partnership between the United States Auto Club (USAC) and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford finished second, and Tom Sneva third.



Football
CFL
Pre-season
Hamilton (3-0) 41 @ Saskatchewan (0-3) 7
Calgary (2-1) 28 @ British Columbia (1-1-1) 29

Baseball
The St. Louis Cardinals scored all their runs from the 4th through the 7th innings as they overcame a 2-0 deficit and routed the Cincinnati Reds 12-2 before 29,182 fans at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Keith Hernandez drove in 4 St. Louis runs with a home run and a double, while Pete Vuckovich (7-5) pitched a 4-hit complete game and batted 1 for 3 with 2 sacrifices and 2 runs.

Claudell Washington hit his first 3 home runs in the National League, adding a single and driving in 5 runs to help the New York Mets end a 7-game losing streak with a 9-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers before 43,298 fans at Dodger Stadium.



Mike Schmidt tripled home Lonnie Smith and scored on a sacrifice fly by Greg Luzinski as the Philadelphia Phillies scored 2 runs in the top of the 7th inning to overcome a 3-2 deficit and defeat the San Francisco Giants 4-3 before 27,315 fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Steve Carlton (13-2) pitched an 8-hit complete game, striking out 8, to win the pitchers' duel with Vida Blue (9-4).

Steve Rogers (9-5) pitched an 8-hitter to outduel Gary Lucas (3-4) as the Montreal Expos shut out the San Diego Padres 2-0 before 14,388 fans at San Diego Stadium. Tony Bernazard doubled with 1 out in the 6th inning and scored the winning run on a 2-out single by Warren Cromartie.

Roy Howell led off the top of the 10th inning with a single and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Lloyd Moseby to break a 5-5 tie as the Toronto Blue Jays came back from a 5-1 deficit to beat the Texas Rangers 6-5 before 13,650 fans at Arlington Stadium. Mike Hart entered the game as a pinch runner for Texas designated hitter Rusty Staub with 2 out in the 7th, and was stranded at first base in his fifth and last major league game.

25 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): We are the World--USA for Africa (11th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): 19--Paul Hardcastle (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Dancing in the Dark--Bruce Springsteen

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): You'll Never Walk Alone--The Crowd

#1 single in the U.K.: You'll Never Walk Alone--The Crowd (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Heaven--Bryan Adams

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Heaven--Bryan Adams
2 Everybody Wants to Rule the World--Tears for Fears
3 Sussudio--Phil Collins
4 Suddenly--Billy Ocean
5 In My House--Mary Jane Girls
6 A View to a Kill--Duran Duran
7 Things Can Only Get Better--Howard Jones
8 Angel--Madonna
9 Walking On Sunshine--Katrina and the Waves
10 Raspberry Beret--Prince and the Revolution

Singles entering the chart were Freeway of Love by Aretha Franklin (#47); Like a Surgeon by "Weird Al" Yankovic (#74); Your Love is King by Sade (#79); Willie and the Hand Jive by George Thorogood and the Destroyers (#84); Burning Flame by Vitamin Z (#88); Frankie by Sister Sledge (#89); and When Your Heart is Weak by Cock Robin (#90). Like a Surgeon was a spoof of Like a Virgin, which had recently been a hit for Madonna.

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Everything She Wants--Wham! (2nd week at #1)
2 Everybody Wants to Rule the World--Tears for Fears
3 Walking On Sunshine--Katrina and the Waves
4 A View to a Kill--Duran Duran
5 Angel--Madonna
6 Black Cars--Gino Vannelli
7 Suddenly--Billy Ocean
8 Axel F--Harold Faltermeyer
9 Things Can Only Get Better--Howard Jones
10 Would I Lie to You?--Eurythmics

Singles entering the chart were Get it On (Bang a Gong) by Power Station (#69); Make it Better (Forget About Me) by Tom Petty (#84); (Closest Thing To) Perfect by Jermaine Jackson (#86); Slave to Love by Bryan Ferry (#91); Take No Prisoners by Peabo Bryson (#92); Black Man Ray by China Crisis (#93); You Spin Me Around (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive (#95); and Call Me by Go West (#96).

Baseball
Carney Lansford hit a 2-run home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Oakland Athletics a 6-4 win over the Cleveland Indians before 16,740 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

The St. Louis Cardinals edged the Chicago Cubs 2-1 before 49,231 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis as Curt Ford, in his first major league at bat, came up as a pinch hitter with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th inning and singled in Ozzie Smith the winning run. It was the Cubs’ 11th straight loss, and the Cardinals passed them to take over first place in the National League East Division.

Second baseman Wally Backman's error on a ground ball by Terry Francona with 1 out in the top of the 10th inning allowed Dan Driessen to score the winning run as the Montreal Expos edged the New York Mets 5-4 before 51,513 fans at Shea Stadium in New York. The Expos scored single runs in each of the 8th and 9th innings to tie the game. The Mets scored all their runs in the 7th inning, with 3 runs scoring on pinch hitter Rusty Staub's only home run of the season, and the 292nd and last of his 23-year major league career.

20 years ago
1990

Died on this date
Ilya Frank, 81. U.S.S.R. physicist. Dr. Frank shared the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics with fellow Soviets Pavel Cherenkov and Igor Tamm "for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect," electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle (such as an electron) passes through a dielectric medium at a speed greater than the phase velocity of light in that medium.

Ross Munro, 76. Canadian journalist. Mr. Munro was the lead correspondent for Canadian Press during World War II, and later served as publisher of the Vancouver Province, Winnipeg Tribune, and Edmonton Journal.

World events
Checkpoint Charlie, the best-known crossing point in the Berlin Wall between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War, was dismantled.

Politics and government
Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Lowell Murray announced that the federal government was prepared to extend the deadline for Manitoba to approve the Meech Lake constitutional accord, but only if Newfoundland approved the accord that day. Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells reacted by indefinitely postponing a ratification vote, saying that Newfoundland would rather avoid a vote than submit to the federal government’s tactics. Mr. Wells told the Newfoundland House of Assembly, "That’s the final manipulation. We’re not prepared to be manipulated any longer." Mr. Murray then announced that Mr. Wells had "killed the last hope" for approval of the accord, and declared the deal dead. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney flew to St. John's to address the Newfoundland Assembly, with the Meech Lake vote scheduled for the next day, but he did not extend the deadline. In Winnipeg, New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly Elijah Harper refused the unanimous agreement the Manitoba Legislature needed in order to extend its own debate.

Baseball
The Atlanta Braves, in last place in the National League West Division with a record of 25-40, fired Russ Nixon as manager and replaced him with former Toronto Blue Jays’ manager Bobby Cox.

10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Shaka Sankofa, 36. U.S. convicted criminal. Mr. Sankofa, who was known as Gary Graham until 1995, was sentenced to death at the age of 17 for the murder of 53-year-old Bobby Grant Lambert in Houston on May 13, 1981. Mr. Sankofa was executed in Texas despite protests from death penalty opponents that the only witness against Mr. Graham was unreliable. The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject Mr. Graham’s final appeal hours before the execution by lethal injection at Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville.

Academia
The annual convention of the Canadian Library Association began at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. This blogger attended the alumni reception.

Scandal
It was reported that Robert Conrad, Jr., head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Campaign Financing Task Force, had recommended the appointment of an outside prosecutor to investigate the activities of Vice President Al Gore during the 1996 election cycle.

Business
The Nova Scotia government sold the financially crippled Sydney Steel Corporation to Switzerland's Duferco Group.

Baseball
The San Francisco Giants scored 8 runs in the 5th inning to take an 8-1 lead, but still lost 11-10 to the St. Louis Cardinals before 36,192 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. St. Louis leadoff hitter Shawon Dunston batted 3 for 5 with 2 home runs, a double, 2 runs, and 6 runs batted in.