June 9, 2011

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sandie Topechka!

1,290 years ago
721

War
A Christian army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine defeated Moorish forces commanded by Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani in the Battle of Toulouse.

650 years ago
1361

Died on this date
Philippe de Vitry, 69. French composer. Mr. Vitry was prominent in the courts of Kings Charles IV, Philippe VI, and Jean II, and was regarded as the greatest musician of his time. He wrote chansons and motets, with only some of the latter surviving. Mr. Vitry was best known for the treatise Ars nova notandi (1322).

350 years ago
1661

Born on this date
Fyodor III. Czar of Russia, 1676-1682. Fyodor III acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Alexis I. Czar Fyodor was disabled from birth by a disease that may have been scurvy. He initiated Orthodox Church and penal law reforms. Fyodor III's first consort, Agaphia, died in childbirth in 1681, and their son Ilya died at the age of 10 days. Czar Fyodor remarried in February 1682, but he was too weak to stand at the wedding, and died on May 7, 1682 at the age of 20. He died without issue, and was succeeded by his brothers Peter I and Ivan V.

160 years ago
1851

Born on this date
Charles Bonaparte. U.S. politician. Mr. Bonaparte, a great-nephew of French Emperor Napoleon, was a lawyer in Baltimore and an activist for progressive causes, founding the Reform League of Baltimore in 1885 and co-founding the National Municipal League in 1894. A Republican, Mr. Bonaparte served in the cabinet of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt as Secretary of the Navy (1905-1906) and Attorney General (1906-1909). In the latter post, he battled the tobacco monopoly, and in 1908 founded the Bureau of Investigation, which in 1935 was renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Bonaparte died on June 28, 1921, 19 days after his 70th birthday.

120 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Cole Porter. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Porter was one of the most famous songwriters of the 20th century, writing music and lyrics for Broadway plays and movies. His songs included I've Got You Under My Skin; Night and Day; I Get a Kick Out of You; You're the Top; and Begin the Beguine. Mr. Porter died on October 15, 1964 at the age of 73.

110 years ago
1901

Baseball
With the New York Giants leading the Cincinnati Reds 25-13 with 2 out in the 9th inning at Redland Field, umpire Bob Emslie forfeited the game to the Giants when many of the 17,984 fans edged onto the infield. The Giants made 31 hits, the Reds 18. The teams combined for a record 36 singles, 22 by New York. Every man in the New York lineup had at least 1 hit, 1 run, and 1 run batted in. Bill Phyle (5-0) pitched an 18-hit complete game victory, allowing 9 earned runs, while batting 3 for 6 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs.

100 years ago
1911

Died on this date
Carrie Nation, 64. U.S. social activist. Mrs. Nation, the wife of a minister, founded a local branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in Medicine Lodge, Kansas after the couple moved there in 1889. She, often accompanied by several followers, was arrested more than 30 times in the first decade of the 20th century for invading saloons in the Midwestern United States and using a hatchet to smash liquor bottles and bar fixtures. Mrs. Nation died shortly after collapsing while delivering a speech.

90 years ago
1921

Politics and government
Premier William M. Martin led his governing Liberal Party to its fifth consecutive majority government in the Saskatchewan provincial election. The Liberals won 45 of 63 seats in the Legislative Assembly, a decrease of 6 from the most recent election in 1917. The leaderless Progressive Party, in its first election, took 6 seats, while the Conservatives, led by Donald Maclean, dropped from 7 seats to 2.

70 years ago
1941

War
U.K. and Free French forces, aided by aircraft and naval bombardments along the Mediterranean shore, advanced into Syria, taking Tyre along the coast and crossing the Leontes River; only scattered resistance from Vichy forces was reported. The Royal Canadian Navy ship HMCS Saskatoon was commissioned at Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Crime
Itaru Tatibana, a Japanese Navy officer, and Torachi Kono, a Japanese servant in the home of film director Charlie Chaplin, were arrested in Los Angeles on spying charges.

Labour
Under the direct order of U.S.President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 2,500 regular Army troops took over the strike-bound plant of North American Aviation in Inglewood, California. Mr. Roosevelt announced that the takeover was necessary for national defense. U.S. Attorney General Robert Jackson said that the strike leaders were following "the Communist Party line."

Representatives of 5,000 American Federation of Labor teamsters in Minneapolis, led by Niles B. Dunn, voted to secede from the parent union and seek a charter from the Congress of INdustrial Organizations.

60 years ago
1951

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Orange Coloured Sky--Danny Kaye and Patty Andrews; Nat "King" Cole

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): How High the Moon--Les Paul and Mary Ford (Best Seller--7th week at #1; Disc Jockey--7th week at #1; Jukebox--6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Too Young--Nat "King" Cole
2 How High the Moon--Les Paul and Mary Ford
3 On Top of Old Smoky--The Weavers and Terry Gilkyson
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
4 Mockin’ Bird Hill--Les Paul and Mary Ford
--Patti Page
5 Sound Off (The Duckworth Chant)--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
6 Jezebel--Frankie Laine
7 I Apologize--Billy Eckstine
8 The Syncopated Clock--Leroy Anderson and his "Pops" Concert Orchestra
9 Unless--Eddie Fisher
--Guy Mitchell
10 Rose, Rose, I Love You--Frankie Laine

Singles entering the chart were I Whistle a Happy Tune, with versions by Lyn Murray; and Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians (#31); My Truly, Truly Fair, with versions by Guy Mitchell; and Vic Damone (#32); Till We Meet Again, with versions by Doris Day; and Margaret Whiting (#35); and I Get Ideas by Tony Martin (#39).

Opera
L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice by Joseph Haydn, composed in 1791 but never performed during the composer's lifetime, was finally given its premiere performance at Teatro della Pergola in Florence, in a production directed by Erich Kleiber and starring Thyge Thygesen, Maria Callas, and Boris Christoff.

Diplomacy
The United Nations authorized Israel to resume its land development work in non-Arab-owned sections of the demilitarized border zone with Syria, scene of recent Syria-Israel clashes.

The U.S. Army forcibly ejected the three-man Soviet repatriation mission from Salzburg, Austria after its members refused to comply with an order by U.S. High Commissioner Walter Donnelly to leave.

50 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Surrender--Elvis Presley (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Lawless Years, starring James Gregory, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Louy K: Part 3 Birth of the Organization



Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michael J. Fox!

The television and movie star was born Michael Andrew Fox in the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, just over a month before this blogger entered the world at the same hospital.

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): My Brother Jake--Free

Business
The Canadian government founded the Canada Development Corporation to help develop Canadian-owned and managed companies.

30 years ago
1981

Died on this date
Allen Ludden, 63. U.S. television personality. Mr. Ludden, born Allen Ellsworth, hosted several game shows, but was best known as the host of various versions of Password from 1961-1980. He was married to actress Betty White from 1963 until his death from stomach cancer.

25 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Living Doll--Cliff Richard featuring the Young Ones (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Brother Louie--Modern Talking

Disasters
The Rogers Commission released its report on the January 28, 1986 explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger, blaming the disaster on the failure of O-rings sealing the aft field joint on the right solid rocket booster, and criticizing NASA and rocket-building firm Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts, 73 seconds after launch.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Edmonton (0-1) 7 @ Winnipeg (2-0) 22

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I'll Do 4 U--Father MC featuring Mary J. Blige

#1 single in Switzerland: Wind of Change--Scorpions (2nd week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 The One and Only--Chesney Hawkes
2 The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in his Kiss)--Cher
3 Joyride--Roxette
4 How to Dance--Bingoboys featuring Princessa
5 Rhythm of My Heart--Rod Stewart
6 Wind of Change--Scorpions
7 Secret Love--Bee Gees
8 Bobby Brown--Frank Zappa
9 No Coke--Dr. Alban
10 Just the Way it Is, Baby--The Rembrandts

Singles entering the chart were Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave) by Roxette (#14); and Senza una donna (Without a Woman) by Zucchero & Paul Young (#18); Future Love Paradise by Seal (#27); and Captured by a Lovestorm by Carola (#29).

Died on this date
Claudio Arrau, 88. Chilean-born U.S. musician. Mr. Arrau was regarded as one of the greatest classical pianists of the 20th century, performing everything from baroque to modern music. He emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a dual Chilean and American citizen in 1979.

Howard Hobson, 87. U.S. basketball, football, and baseball coach. Mr. Hobson was head coach at Southern Oregon Normal School—now Southern Oregon University—from 1932-1935; University of Oregon from 1935-1944, 1945-1947; and Yale University from 1947-1956, compiling a career record of 401–257. The 1938–39 Oregon basketball team won the inaugural NCAA Basketball Tournament. Mr. Hobson was also head football coach at Southern Oregon from 1932-1934--compiling a record of 12-7-1--and head baseball coach at Oregon from 1936-1947, with a record of 167-75-1. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Chicago 97 Los Angeles Lakers 82 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Michael Jordan scored 28 points and added 13 assists for the Bulls as they beat the Lakers before 17,506 fans at Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California.



10 years ago
2001

Horse racing
Point Given, with Gary Stevens up, winner of the Preakness Stakes three weeks earlier, won the 133rd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, New York in a time of 2:26.56, 12¼ lengths ahead of A P Valentine. Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos finished third in the 9-horse field.



Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
New Jersey 1 @ Colorado 3 (Colorado won best-of-seven series 4-3)

Alex Tanguay's second goal of the game, at 4:57 of the 2nd period, proved to be the winner as the Avalanche defeated the Devils before 18,007 fans at Pepsi Center in Denver. Patrick Roy made 25 saves in goal for Colorado and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' Most Valuable Player. New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur made 19 saves.