June 16, 2012

525 years ago
1487

War
The Battle of Stoke Field ended the Wars of the Roses between the English houses of Lancaster and York.

200 years ago
1812

World events
Great Britain lifted her blockade of France for American ships; the news had not reached the United States by June 18, when the U.S. Congress voted by a small majority in favour of war against Britain.

80 years ago
1932

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Nightmare, starring Joe Mantell, Mary Alice Moore, and Perry Wilson

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: Stai lontana da me--Adriano Celentano

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Good Luck Charm--Elvis Presley (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Can't Stop Loving You--Ray Charles (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Can't Stop Loving You--Ray Charles (4th week at #1)
2 Stranger on the Shore--Mr. Acker Bilk
--Andy Williams
3 Palisades Park--Freddy Cannon
4 The Stripper--David Rose and his Orchestra
5 It Keeps Right on A-Hurtin'--Johnny Tillotson
6 The One Who Really Loves You--Mary Wells
7 Second Hand Love--Connie Francis
8 (The Man who Shot) Liberty Valance--Gene Pitney
9 Playboy--The Marvelettes
10 Snap Your Fingers--Joe Henderson

Singles entering the chart were Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes) by Dee Dee Sharp (#70); Little Bitty Pretty One by Clyde McPhatter (#77); Route 66 Theme by Nelson Riddle (#85); Everytime (I Think About You) (Part 1) by Joey Dee and the Starliters (#88); Seven Day Weekend by Gary (U.S.) Bonds (#90); You'll Lose a Good Thing by Barbara Lynn (#91); Never in a Million Years by Linda Scott (#92); Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker (#94); Steel Men by Jimmy Dean (#97); Speedy Gonzales by Pat Boone (#98); But Not for Me by Ketty Lester (#99); Welcome Home Baby by the Shirelles (#100); and Dr. Ben Basey by Mickey Shorr and the Cutups (also #100). Dr. Ben Basey was a spoof of the title character from the television series Ben Casey.

40 years ago
1972

Disasters
At least 107 people were killed and 40 injured when two French passenger trains collided in a mile-long, crumbling old tunnel near Vierzy, France. Many of the injured were trapped for two days before they could be rescued.

30 years ago
1982

Labour
24,000 miners in South Wales went on strike in sympathy with striking health service workers.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Hamilton (2-0) 31 @ Montreal (0-2) 9
British Columbia (0-2) 11 @ Winnipeg (2-0) 25

25 years ago
1987

Crime
Bernhard Goetz, the New York City subway passenger who in 1984 had shot four Negro youths on a train after they had approached him, was found not guilty of attempted murder and assault by a New York State Supreme Court jury, but was convicted of carrying a loaded, concealed weapon. Troy Canty, one of the wounded youths, testified that he had not intended to rob Mr. Goetz, but was just panhandling when he asked him for $5.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (1-1) 17 @ Hamilton (1-1) 15
Edmonton (1-1) 15 @ British Columbia (1-1) 31

20 years ago
1992

Literature
Diana: Her True Story, Andrew Morton's controversial biography of the Princess of Wales, was published in Britain.

Defense
U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin, on the first day of their summit in Washington, agreed in principle to major reductions in nuclear weapons that went beyond the terms of the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Mr. Yeltsin consented to an end to the concept of parity in the number of strategic arms. Mr. Bush and Mr. Yeltsin agreed that by 2003 the U.S.A. would have 3,500 warheads and the Russians 3,000. At the time of the summit, each country had about 10,000 warheads. Both nations also agreed to eliminate their land-based multiple-warhead missiles, and the U.S. agreed to reduce the number of its submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads by half.

Politics and government
Former defense secretary Fidel Ramos was declared the winner of May’s presidential election in the Philippines; slow tabulation of votes had delayed the announcement. Mr. Ramos, one of seven candidates, received 24% of the vote to 20% for Miriam Defensor Santiago, a former judge and administrator. He was an ally of outgoing President Corazon Aquino.

Crime
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, who had served in the post under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, was indicted in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal (the sale of arms to Iran, with the proceeds going to fund the Contra resistance movement in Nicaragua). Prosecutors charged that Mr. Weinberger had committed perjury in testimony before Congress and had obstructed justice. Mr. Weinberger said that he refused to plead guilty to a lesser offense, and that the decision to indict him was a “moral and legal outrage.”

10 years ago
2002

World events
In response to large protests against plans to privatize utilities, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo declared a month-long state of emergency.

Defense
U.S. President George W. Bush directed his top security personnel to develop a doctrine of pre-emptive action against nations and groups believed to be developing weapons of mass destruction or sponsoring terrorism.

Religion
The popular Italian stigmatic Padre Pio de Pietrelcina, who died in 1968, was canonized by Pope John Paul II in a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Golf
Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open at Black Course of Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York by one stroke over Sergio Garcia. It was Mr. Woods' second U.S. Open title and the eighth major championship of his career.