June 28, 2012

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, James Remnant!

160 years ago
1852

Born on this date
Hans Huber. Swiss composer. Mr. Huber wrote eight symphonies, five operas, four piano concertos, and other orchestral, chamber, and choral works. He died on December 25, 1921 at the age of 69.

120 years ago
1892

Died on this date
Harry Atkinson, 60. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1876-1877, 1883-1884, 1887-1891. Sir Harry, a native of England, followed his elder brother William to New Zealand at the age of 22 and became a farmer. He represented Grey and Bell in the Taranaki provincial council (1857-1865, 1873-1874), and was a member of the Executive Council (1868, 1874). Sir Harry represented Grey and Bell (1861-1866); Town of New Plymouth (1867-1869); and Egmont (1872-1891) in the N.Z. Parliament, serving as Defence Minister (1864-1866) and as Colonial Treasurer for 10 years, carefully managing government finances. During his last term as Prime Minister, he held seven other posts. Sir Harry was known for his support of the wars against the Māori and his opposition to Māori land rights. He suffered from declining health during his last months as Prime Minister, and was appointed to the Legislative Council in January 1891, accepting an appointment as Speaker of the Legislative Council. On June 28, 1892, Sir Harry presided over the Council's first sitting of the 1892 session, returned to the Speaker's Room, and died.

Defense
The U.S. battleship USS Texas was launched at Norfolk, Virginia.

60 years ago
1952

Hit Parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Here in My Heart--Al Martino (Best Seller--3rd week at #1; Disc Jockey--1st week at #1); Kiss of Fire--Georgia Gibbs (Juke Box--3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Kiss of Fire--Georgia Gibbs (5th week at #1)
--Tony Martin
2 I'm Yours--Don Cornell
--Eddie Fisher
3 Blue Tango--Leroy Anderson and his "Pops" Concert Orchestra
--Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra
4 Here in My Heart--Al Martino
5 Delicado--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
6 Be Anything (But Be Mine)--Eddy Howard
7 I'll Walk Alone--Don Cornell
--Jane Froman
8 Walkin' My Baby Back Home--Johnnie Ray
9 A Guy is a Guy--Doris Day
10 The Blacksmith Blues--Ella Mae Morse

Singles entering the chart were Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart by Vera Lynn (#18); Watermelon Weather by Perry Como and Eddie Fisher (#21); Botch-A-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina) by Rosemary Clooney (#33); and Smoke Rings by Les Paul and Mary Ford (#35). Watermelon Weather was the B-side (or maybe the A-side) of Maybe, which charted at #16.

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Come Outside--Mike Sarne (with Wendy Richard)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Arsenal

Died on this date
Mary Mullen, 85. U.S. murder victim. Ms. Mullen died of a heart attack, but when Albert DeSalvo was arrested in 1964 and confessed to being the Boston Strangler, he said that she had collapsed when he had grabbed her, becoming his second victim.

40 years ago
1972

Personal
It was the last day of the school year at Yellowknife Public School, and the last day of grade 6 for this blogger. Summer holidays began at noon on a cloudy Wednesday.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
All-Star Game
CFL All-Stars 22 @ Calgary (1-0) 23

Backup quarterback Jim Lindsey directed the Stampeders to two late touchdowns—scored by Herm Harrison and Jesse Mims—as they became the first defending Grey Cup championship team to defeat the All-Stars in the three-year history of the game. Defensive tackle John Helton scored the first Calgary touchdown on a fumble return; it was the only touchdown of his 14-year career. Larry Robinson converted 2 of the Calgary touchdowns and added a field goal. Jim Young of the British Columbia Lions, Peter Dalla Riva of the Montreal Alouettes, and Terry Evanshen of the Alouettes scored touchdowns for the All-Stars. Ken Phillips of the Lions kicked a field goal for the All-Stars but missed all 3 convert attempts—the last time a kicker missed 3 converts in a CFL game. Toronto Argonauts’ quarterback Joe Theismann quick-kicked for a single for the other All-Stars’ point. Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ defensive back Garney Henley was named the game’s Most Valuable Player despite being beaten for the winning touchdown. A sellout crowd of 23,616 was in attendance at McMahon Stadium. The game was televised in Canada on CTV, with Johnny Esaw calling the play-by-play, and to the United States in a production by a company called Ray-Mar, with Don Chevrier of CBC calling the play-by-play and former Detroit Lions’ star Alex Karras providing colour commentary.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I've Never Been to Me--Charlene (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Harry Mills, 68. U.S. singer. Harry was the third oldest of the five Mills Brothers who were one of the most popular vocal groups in teh United States for several decades, beginning in the late 1920s.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison--License IV (12th week at #1)

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (1-1) 1 @ British Columbia (1-0) 44

20 years ago
1992

Disasters
An earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale—the highest reading in California in 40 years—struck southern California. Its epicentre was in Yucca Valley, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. A second quake, measuring 6.5 with an epicentre about 20 miles west of the first quake, struck three hours later. One child was killed, 350 people were injured, and damage was estimated at $16 million.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (1-2) 28 @ Calgary (2-1) 36

10 years ago
2002

Business
Xerox Corporation announced that between 1997 and 2001 it had overstated its equipment revenue by $6.4 billion and its pre-tax income by $1.4 billion, a much larger restatement than had been anticipated.

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (1-0) 30 @ Ottawa (0-1-0-1) 27 (OT)
Toronto (0-1) 15 @ Winnipeg (1-0) 39
Edmonton (1-0) 27 @ Calgary (0-1) 21

Paul McCallum’s field goal in overtime gave the Roughriders the win over the Renegades at Frank Clair Stadium in the first regular season game for an Ottawa CFL team since 1996. Joe Paopao, who had been head coach of the British Columbia Lions when they beat the Ottawa Rough Riders in that team’s last game in 1996, lost his debut as head coach of the new Ottawa team.

Ronald Williams rushed for 120 yards and Jason Maas completed a 101-yard touchdown pass to Chris Brazzell as the Eskimos held off a late rally to defeat the defending Grey Cup champion Stampeders at McMahon Stadium. The game was televised on TSN, but a technical error early in the game took the game off the television screens until the last few minutes of the 4th quarter.