July 6, 2012

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Ancamaria!

625 years ago
1387

Born on this date
Blanche I. Queen consort of Sicily, 1402-1409; Queen of Navarre, 1425-1441. Blanche I, the second daughter of King Charles III of Navarre, became Queen consort of Sicily upon her marriage to King Martin I, who died in 1409. Blanche continued as regent of Sicily until 1415, when Sicily was annexed to Aragon. She married John, Duke of Peñafiel, the second son of Ferdinand I of Aragon, in 1419, and acceded to the throne of Navarre upon the death of her father. John became King of Navarre in her right as John II, and continued as King after her death on April 1, 1441 at the age of 53.

120 years ago
1892

Labour
7 guards and 11 workers and spectators were shot to death and many were wounded when conflict erupted between striking workers at the Carnegie Steel Works in Homestead, Pennsylvania and 300 Pinkerton’s security agents.

80 years ago
1932

Died on this date
Kenneth Grahame, 73. U.K. author. Mr. Grahame was best known for the novel The Wind in the Willows (1908), a classic of children's literature.

70 years ago
1942

Baseball
The American League scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning and held on to defeat the National League 3-1 in the major league All-Star game before 34,178 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York. Lou Boudreau of the Cleveland Indians led off the game with a home run and Tommy Henrich of the New York Yankees followed with a double off NL starting pitcher Mort Cooper of the St. Louis Cardinals. With 2 out, Rudy York of the Detroit Tigers hit a home run to make the score 3-0. The NL’s only run came in the 8th inning when pinch hitter Mickey Owen of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit a home run. Spud Chandler of the Yankees pitched the first 4 innings and was credited with the win, while Al Benton of the Tigers pitched the final 5 innings for the AL. Mr. Cooper pitched 3 innings and took the loss. Mr. York won the Arch Ward Trophy as the game’s most valuable player.

60 years ago
1952

Transportation
London's last tram stopped at New Cross depot, ending nearly a century of tram service.

40 years ago
1972

Died on this date
Brandon deWilde, 30. U.S. actor. An accomplished child and teenage actor, Mr. deWilde made his movie debut in The Member of the Wedding (1952), reprising his Broadway role, for which he had won a Donaldson Award for best male debut performance for 1949-50. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting performance in Shane (1953). Mr. deWilde starred in the television series Jamie (1953-1954), and appeared in such movies as Night Passage (1957); Blue Denim (1959); All Fall Down (1962); Hud (1963); and In Harm's Way (1965). Mr. deWilde was killed in an auto accident in Denver while driving to visit his wife in hospital. He had recently finished acting in a Denver-area theatrical production of Butterflies are Free.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Ottawa (1-0) 22 @ Hamilton (0-1) 21

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Ein bißchen Frieden--Nicole (8th week at #1)

Died on this date
Reuben Mueller, 85. U.S. religious leader. Mr. Mueller, a co-founder and Bishop of the United Methodist Church, was president of the National Council of Churches from 1963-1966.

War
U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that he had agreed in principle to contribute a small contingent of U.S. troops as part of a multinational force to keep the peace in Beirut if a settlement could be reached among Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestine Liberation Organization. France also indicated that it might aid in peacekeeping.

Disasters
90 people were killed when a Soviet jetliner crashed and burned outside Moscow.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)--Whitney Houston (4th week at #1)

Football
CFL
Jackie Parker resigned as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos because of the toll the job was taking on his health. Mr. Parker had assumed the position midway through the 1983 season, and had guided the Eskimos through a rebuilding process culminating in a Western Division championship in 1986. He resigned the day after the Eskimos had defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 36-33 to improve their 1987 record to 2-0. Mr. Parker had been head coach of the British Columbia Lions in 1969-1970, and compiled a career CFL head coaching record of 50-38-1. He was succeeded as head coach of the Eskimos by Joe Faragalli, who had lost his job as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes on June 24 when the club folded the day before they were scheduled to open the regular season.

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Abba-esque (EP)--Erasure (3rd week at #1)

Terrorism
Four people were killed when a bomb exploded near the motorcade of Danielle Mitterand, wife of French President Francois Mitterand, who was on a visit to a Kurdish stronghold in northern Iraq. Mme. Mitterand survived unharmed.

Protest
The French government employed the army and police to confront truck drivers who were blocking the nation's major roads in a protest over new driving license laws.