July 5, 2012

440 years ago
1572

Died on this date
Sigismund II, 51. King of Poland, 1548-1572. Sigismund II acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Sigismund I. Sigismund II's reign, which included union with Lithuania into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, is regarded as the apex of the Polish Golden Age. He was married three times, but had numerous mistresses, and developed venereal disease. King Sigismund suffered from other health problems, including malaria, gout and kidney stones, and died 27 days before his 52nd birthday, leaving no successor.

60 years ago
1952

Hit Parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Delicado--Percy Faith and his Orchestra (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Kiss of Fire--Georgia Gibbs (Disc Jockey--7th week at #1; Juke Box--4th week at #1)

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

Singles entering the chart were Once in Awhile by Patti Page (#21); Busybody by Pee Wee King and his Band (#27); and Take My Heart by Al Martino (#32).

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Come Outside--Mike Sarne with Wendy Richard (2nd week at #1)

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

This was the last episode of the season.

At the movies
Panic in Year Zero, directed by Ray Milland, and starring Mr. Milland, Jean Hagen, and Frankie Avalon, opened in theatres.



40 years ago
1972

Died on this date
Raul Leoni Otero, 67. President of Venezuela, 1964-1969. Mr. Leoni was a member of the Acción Democrática party.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Winnipeg (1-0-1) 14 @ Toronto (0-0-1) 14
British Columbia (1-0) 31 @ Saskatchewan (0-1) 23
Edmonton (1-0) 18 @ Calgary (1-1) 14

The tie between the Blue Bombers and Argonauts was the first game played on the new artificial turf that been installed at CNE Stadium.

The Eskimos rushed for 222 yards, with Gene Foster and Sam Scarber scoring touchdowns, in their win over the Stampdeders before 19,143 fans at McMahon Stadium. Jesse Mims rushed 42 yards for one Calgary touchdown and backup quarterback Jim Lindsey completed a pass to rookie Gary Kerr for 67 yards for the Stampeders' second major score.

Baseball
Jackie Robinson was in the broadcast booth at Jarry Park in Montreal to do colour commentary on the CBC telecast of the game between the Montreal Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Told that U.S. President Richard Nixon had praised him several days earlier as the best all-around athlete ever seen in baseball, Mr. Robinson said, "I can't get very excited about it. I mean, how many games has Nixon actually seen?"

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I've Never Been to Me--Charlene (3rd week at #1)

Space
There was an eclipse of the moon just before midnight, and this blogger witnessed it from his backyard.

Politics and government
Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), was declared the winner of Mexico’s July 3 presidential election. Mr. de la Madrid received 73% of the vote, and was scheduled to succeed Jose Lopez Portillo on December 1. The PRI had won every presidential election since 1929.

Soccer
World Cup @ Barcelona
Round 2
Italy 3 Brazil 2

Paolo Rossi scored all 3 of Italy's goals.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)--Whitney Houston (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison--License IV (13th week at #1)

Personal
This blogger saw a new Canadian $1 coin, popularly known as a loonie, for the first time. I found it in the street outside Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton while waiting to get a ticket for the game between the Tiger-Cats and the Edmonton Eskimos. The coins had been issued on June 30.

Disasters
More than 300 people were believed to have died when a barge crossing the Luapula River between Zaire and Zambia hit a sandbar, overturned, and sank.

Tennis
Pat Cash defeated Ivan Lendl to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

Golf
Curtis Strange won the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ontario.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (2-0) 36 @ Hamilton (0-2) 33

Damon Allen completed 16 of 28 passes for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns and rushed 7 times for 83 yards and a touchdown to lead the Eskimos past the Tiger-Cats in a rematch of the 1986 Grey Cup contestants before a crowd announced at 15,720 (it looked larger), including this blogger, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Ivor Wynne Stadium. The Eskimos were leading 1-0 midway through the 1st quarter and were facing a second-down-and-31 yards-to-go situation on their own 13-yard line when Mr. Allen completed a pass to Brian Kelly for a 97-yard touchdown. It was the longest play of Mr. Kelly’s Hall of Fame career; he caught a 6-yard TD pass late in the 3rd quarter, and finished the game with 6 receptions for 198 yards. Mr. Allen’s other touchdown passes went to Tom Richards and Steve Howlett, and he ran 40 yards for the other Edmonton touchdown. Tom Dixon added 5 converts and a single on a missed field goal. Defensive tackle Mike Walker returned an interception 37 yards for the first Hamilton touchdown in the 1st quarter. Ken Hobart started at quarterback for the Tiger-Cats but broke his leg on a run out of bounds late in the 2nd quarter. Tom Porras relieved him and promptly completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Steve Stapler. Bernie Ruoff converted the first 2 Hamilton touchdowns and added a single in the 3rd quarter. The Tiger-Cats scored a safety touch when Eskimo punt returner Henry “Gizmo” Williams made the mistake of fielding a punt in the field of play and running back into the end zone, where he was downed. The Tiger-Cats trailed 36-17, but scored 2 touchdowns and 2 two-point converts in the last 1 minute and 31 seconds of the game. Dan Huclack rushed 1 yard for a touchdown, and Mr. Porras rushed for the convert. The Tiger-Cats were awarded possession on the ensuing short kickoff, and Mr. Porras completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Rocky DiPietro on a third-down gamble with 45 seconds remaining, and completed a pass to Mr. Stapler for the convert. Tracy Ham, dressing for his first CFL regular season game, relieved Mr. Allen late in the game and threw one incomplete pass. It was also the first CFL game for Hamilton wide receiver Earl Winfield; he caught 7 passes for 139 yards, but lost a costly fumble. Mr. Porras completed 20 of 31 passes for 234 yards. One oddity was a rare kickoff return for Edmonton centre Rod Connop, who managed 20 yards on the runback. The Eskimos sacked Messrs. Hobart and Porras 5 times, while the Tiger-Cats recorded 4 sacks of their own. Johnnie Jones, playing his first CFL game at running back for Hamilton, was held to 11 yards on 4 carries. For Jackie Parker, it turned out to be his last game as head coach of the Eskimos. He resigned the next day because of ulcers.

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): White Men Can't Jump--Riff (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): It's My Life--Dr. Alban (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Rhythm is a Dancer--Snap! (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Pauline Jewett, 69. Canadian politician. Ms. Jewett was a Liberal Party member of the House of Commons from 1963-1965 and represented the riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam for the New Democratic Party from 1979-1988.

Diplomacy
U.S. President George Bush arrived in Poland, accompanied by the remains of Ignace Jan Paderewski, famed pianist and Prime Minister of Poland, who had died in New York City in 1941. Mr. Paderewski had expressed the hope of one day being buried in a free Poland.

Horse racing
Alydeed, with Craig Perret aboard, won the 133rd running of the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine Race Track in Toronto in a time of 2:04 3/5 seconds.

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Ted Williams, 83. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Williams was an outfielder (mostly playing left field) with the Boston Red Sox from 1939-1942 and 1946-1960. He led the American League in batting average in 1941, 1942, 1957, and 1958. In 1941 he hit .406, and remains the most recent player to reach the .400 mark for a season. In 2,292 games he batted .341 with 521 home runs and 1,839 runs batted in. His home run and RBI totals would have been much higher had he not missed all of the 1943-1945 seasons while serving as a pilot in World War II and almost all of the 1952 and 1953 seasons serving in the Korean War. Mr. Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, his first year of eligibility.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (1-1) 15 @ Winnipeg (2-0) 24
Calgary (0-2) 21 @ Saskatchewan (2-0) 32

Troy Westwood kicked 5 field goals and a convert as the Blue Bombers defeated the Tiger-Cats before 25,609 fans at Canad Inns Stadium. Charles Roberts rushed 21 times for 76 yards and caught 5 passes for 36 yards, including a 9-yard reception from Khari Jones for the only Winnipeg touchdown. Duane Forde scored the only Hamilton touchdown on a 1-yard rush in the 4th quarter.

The Roughriders blew an 18-0 1st-quarter lead, but came back with 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to defeat the defending Grey Cup champion Stampeders before 21,968 fans at Taylor Field in Regina. Saskatchewan quarterback Nealon Greene completed touchdown passes of 100 yards to Derick Armstrong and 47 yards to Corey Holmes in the 1st quarter and 23 yards to Mr. Armstrong in the 4th quarter. Mr. Holmes put the game away with a 17-yard touchdown rush with 3:24 remaining in the 4th quarter. Marcus Crandell completed an 11-yard pass to Kamau Peterson for one Calgary touchdown, and Kelvin Anderson rushed 2 yards for the other Stampeder major score.