June 29, 2012

160 years ago
1852

Died on this date
Henry Clay, 75. U.S. politician. "The Great Compromiser" represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and Senate, serving three terms as Speaker of the House between 1811 and 1825. Mr. Clay was Secretary of State under President John Quincy Adams from 1825-1829 and was an unsuccessful candidate for President of the United States as the nominee of the National Republican party in 1832 and the Whig party in 1844 after failing in an attempt to win the Whig nomination in 1840.

150 years ago
1862

War
In the U.S. Civil War, Union forces under General George McClellan held off Confederate forces commanded by General Robert E. Lee at Savage Station, Virginia.

75 years ago
1937

Weather
The temperature in Edmonton reached 101 F. (37.2 C.), the hottest day ever recorded in the city.

Aviation
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan arrived in Lae, New Guinea, having completed about 22,000 of the 29,000 miles planned for their trip around the world. They had departed Miami, Florida on June 1, heading eastward, after a westward attempt from Oakland, California had been unsuccessful.

40 years ago
1972

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Furman v. Georgia, ruled that the death penalty could constitute "cruel and unusual" punishment.

War
U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would “return to the negotiating table” at the Paris peace talks on July 13 on the “assumption” that North Vietnam was ready to negotiate “in a constructive and serious way.” He said that the Vietnam War could “be ended well before January 20, 1973.”

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Ein bißchen Frieden--Nicole (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Henry King, 96. U.S. film director. Mr. King directed 117 movies, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Wilson (1944). His last film was Tender is the Night (1962).

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Montreal (0-4) 13 @ Ottawa (2-2) 31
British Columbia (1-3) 22 @ Calgary (2-2) 23

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)--Whitney Houston (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
Roh Tae Woo, leader of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Justice Party and that party’s candidate in the December 1987 presidential election, acceded to opposition demands for reform. He supported a constitutional amendment to provide a direct presidential election; amnesty and restoration of civil rights for opposition leader Kim Dae Jung; release of most political prisoners; “bold social reforms;” and a crackdown on crime and corruption.

U.S. Senator Al Gore of Tennessee announced his intention to seek the 1988 Democratic party nomination for President of the United States.

Baseball
AL
Toronto 14 @ New York 15

20 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Mohammed Boudiaf, 73. Chairman of the High Council of State of Algeria, 1992. Mr. Boudiaf was one of the founders of the Front de libération nationale (FLN) that led Algeria's war of independence against France from 1962-1965. After independence, Mr. Boudiaf fell into disfavour, and spent 27 years in exile in Morocco. He was invited back to Algeria to become Chairman of the High Council of State, a figurehead body for the military junta in power at the time. He was assassinated by a bodyguard while making a televised speech at the opening of a cultural centre in Annaba i his first public appearance outside Algiers since becoming head of state.

World events
Serbs who had been besieging the Bosnia-Herzegovinian capital of Sarajevo turned control of the Sarajevo airport over to 34 United Nations troops, clearing the way for delivery of food and medicine to the city. The first plane carrying relief supplies arrived within hours.

Society
The United States Supreme Court upheld parts of a Pennsylvania law imposing some limits on a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion. President George Bush welcomed the decision and said, “I oppose abortion in all cases except rape or incest or where the life of the mother is at stake.” Arkansas Governor and presumptive 1992 Democratic party presidential nominee Bill Clinton, reaffirmed his support for abortion on demand, saying that the “constitutional right to choose is hanging by a thread.”

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Rosemary Clooney, 74. U.S. singer. Miss Clooney was one of the most popular singers of the early 1950s, with such hits as Come On-a My House (1951); Tenderly (1952); Mambo Italiano (1954); and Hey There (1954). She was the favourite female singer of this blogger's mother.

War
A North Korean patrol boat exchanged fire with a South Korean vessel, sinking it. Each country blamed the other for the incident.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (0-2) 15 @ Hamilton (1-0) 27