June 17, 2013

340 years ago
1673

Exploration
French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reached the Mississippi River and became the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.

240 years ago
1773

South Americana
Cúcuta, Colombia was founded by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.

170 years ago
1843

War
26 deaths resulted when British settlers and Maori warriors clashed in the Wairau Affray on South Island, the first serious clash of arms in the New Zealand Wars. The clash began when an armed posse of Europeans set out from Nelson to arrest Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha.

150 years ago
1863

War
In the U.S. Civill War, the Battle of Aldie took place Loudoun County, Virginia, with inconclusive results.

125 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Heinz Guderian. German military officer. General Guderian was the Wehrmacht's leading proponent of the use of tanks in World War II. He was Chief of the General Staff of the Army from July 21, 1944--the day after the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler--until March 28, 1945, when he was dismissed by Mr. Hitler. General Guderian died on May 14, 1954 at the age of 65.

100 years ago
1913

Edmontonia
City council decided to begin numbering the city's streets. Certain well-known names, such as Jasper Avenue and Whyte Avenue, would be retained.

90 years ago
1923

Baseball
Dazzy Vance of the Brooklyn Robins was 1 out away from a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds when infielder Sammy Bohne blooped a pop fly for a single. The Robins won 9-0, ending the Reds' 9-game winning streak.

80 years ago
1933

Crime
At Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, four U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash were gunned down by gangsters led by Vernon Miller apparently attempting to free Mr. Nash.

70 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Annie S. Swan, 83. U.K. writer. Miss Swan was one of the most popular authoresses of romantic fiction for young women during the Victorian era, publishing over 200 works of fiction. She was a suffragist, and one of the founders of the Scottish National Party. Miss Swan died three weeks before her 84th birthday.

War
U.K. Royal Air Force bombers attacked Cologne in the Ruhr Valley for the 116th time, while fighters struck at transport facilities in Belgium and the Netherlands. RAF planes bombed Naples, while U.S. Liberators attacked the airfield at Comise and Biscari in southern Sicily.

Politics and government
The British Labour Party conclave in London voted to blame the "overwhelming mass" of the German people for World War II.

Georgia and Louisiana state Democratic Party committee leaders announced that they would refuse to contribute to the Democratic National Committee unless its leaders "straighten out their policies respecting the South."

Journalism
The American Newspaper Guild, meeting in Boston, voted to assume "responsibility for exposing actions of the press destructive to the war effort" through local and national committee action.

Baseball
Joe Cronin, playing manager of the Boston Red Sox, entered both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics as a pinch hitter, and set a major league record by hitting 3-run home runs on both occasions. He connected off Russ Christopher in the first game and Don Black in the second. The Red Sox won the first game 5-4, and the Athletics won the second game 8-7 before 7,705 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. A pair of errors enabled the Red Sox to score the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning of the first game, and the Athletics narrowly averted defeat in the second game. Pete Fox led off the bottom of the 9th inning of the second game with a triple; Jim Tabor followed with a ground ball to Philadelphia third baseman Eddie Mayo, and was thrown out at home plate trying to score. Mr. Tabor reached second base on the play and advanced to third on a passed ball. Bobby Doerr was intentionally walked and stole second, but Babe Barna grounded ot to second baseman Pete Suder to end the game.

Bud Metheny drew a bases-loaded walk with 2 out in the top of the 9th to force home Nick Etten with the winning run as the New York Yankees scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th inning and held on to defeat the Washington Nationals 9-8 before 7,000 fans at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Bob Johnson tripled with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, but Johnny Murphy struck out Jake Early to end the game.

Lou Boudreau singled home Ray Mack with 2 out to climax a 3-run 9th-inning rally as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in the first game of a doubleheader before 8,891 fans at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. In the second game, the Indians scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and Lou Boudreau doubled to lead off the 12th and scored on an outfield fly by Mickey Rocco to give the Indians a 6-5 win to complete the sweep.

Don Kolloway singled with 1 out in the bottom of the 13th inning, stole second base, and scored on a 2-out single by Luke Appling to give the Chicago White Sox a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Browns before 1,780 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

The New York Giants scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning as they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 8-5 before 7,237 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York.

Manny Salvo pitched a 4-hitter for the Boston Braves as they shut out the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 before 6,000 fans in the first of two games at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Newt Kimball pitched a 7-hit complete game to earn his only win in a Philadelphia uniform, and his 11th and last win in the major leagues, as the Phillies won the second game 7-2 before 7,379 fans.

Ival Goodman hit his first home run of the season--a 3-run blast in the 4th inning--to power the Chicago Cubs to a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates before 2,071 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in a game that was called after 7 innings because of rain. Paul Derringer pitched a 7-hit complete game victory.

Elmer Riddle pitched a 5-hit complete game victory and Gee Walker drove in 3 runs with a double and 2 singles as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 before 1,639 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

60 years ago
1953

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: Abby, as in Abbigale

Protest
The Soviet Union ordered a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion against the Communist regime that had begun the previous day with a strike by construction workers.

Baseball
The Boston Red Sox unleashed a 20-hit attack as they routed the Detroit Tigers 17-1. Dick Gernert hit 2 home runs and drove in 4 runs, while Tom Umphlett and Billy Goodman combined for 7 hits.

50 years ago
1963

Music
From Me to You/Thank You Girl by the Beatles was released on Capitol Records 72101, becoming their third single to be released in Canada.

Abominations
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools (go here for the text of the judgement). The case had been initiated by Edward Schempp, a Unitarian Universalist and resident of Abington School District in Pennsylvania who was trying to probit the enforcement of a Pennsylvania state law requiring that at least 10 Bible verses be read, without comment, in school at the beginning of each school day in the public schools. Murray v. Curlett, a similar suit initiated by atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, was consolidated with Mr. Schempp's case on appeal to the Supreme Court. The court upheld its ruling in Engel v. Vitale (1962) that it was unconstitutional for state officials to prescribe an official school prayer, and ruled that the Pennsylvania law and similar laws violated the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment prohibition on the establishment of religion.

Protest
One person was killed in a riot involving 2,000 people protesting the previous day's announcement by South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem of the Joint Communique to end the Buddhist crisis, which involved protests by the country's majority Buddhist population against their treatment by the government, which was composed mainly of Roman Catholics.

Politics and government
Ernest Manning, who had recently observed his 20th anniversary as Premier of Alberta, led his Social Credit government to another landslide victory in the provincial election, taking 60 of 63 seats in the legislature. The only non-Social Credit candidates to get elected were Liberals Mike Maccagno (Lac La Biche) and Bill Dickie (Calgary Glenmore), and Coalition candidate Frank Gainer in Banff-Cochrane. Party leaders who were defeated included Dave Hunter (Liberal--Athabasca); Neil Reimer (New Democratic Party--Edmonton Northeast); and Milt Harradence (Progressive Conservative--Calgary West).

Harry Hays resigned as mayor of Calgary because the position conflicted with his other position as Canada's Minister of Agriculture. Mr. Hays had been elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal in the federal election on April 8, 1963.

Baseball
The Detroit Tigers, 9th in the American League with a record of 24-36, fired manager Bob Scheffing and replaced him with Los Angeles Dodgers' scout Charlie Dressen.

40 years ago
1973

Golf
Johnny Miller, who was 6 strokes off the lead at the beginning of the final round, shot 63 to finish 1 stroke ahead of John Schlee in the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh. Mr. Miller's score was the lowest ever posted in the final round of a major tournament. First prize money was $35,000.

Baseball
Joe Lahoud hit a grand slam and drove in 6 runs and Darrell Porter also hit a grand slam as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the Chicago White Sox 15-5 at White Sox Park for their 9th straight win, all on the road.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Beat It--Michael Jackson (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Juliet--Robin Gibb (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Pope John Paul II met privately in Warsaw with General Wojciech Jaruzelski, leader of Poland's governing Communist regime, after the two exchanged messages non national television. The pope said on TV that he hoped a program of social reform would soon be put into effect, while Gen. Jaruzelski replied that martial law had been an extreme but necessary measure, and that reform would go forward. At a mass in Warsaw, Pope John Paul said that the Polish people had a right to be sovereign masters of their land.

Salvadoran President Alvaro Magana began two days of meetings in Washington with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.S. congressional leaders.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
British Columbia (2-0) 24 @ Winnipeg (0-1) 23

Baseball
Bob Welch pitched a 6-hitter and hit his first career major league home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers edged the Cincinnati Reds 1-0. Mr. Welch, who homered off losing pitcher Mario Soto, became the eleventh pitcher in major league history--and the last in the 20th century--to hit a home run in a 1-0 game.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Im Nin'Alu--Ofra Haza

World events
Haitian President Leslie Manigat ousted Lieutenant General Henri Namphy, who had headed a military government until the election of Mr. Manigat in January 1988, and placed him under house arrest.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Tribal Dance--2 Unlimited (6th week at #1)

Abominations
Major league baseball owners, meeting in Denver, voted 26-2 to expand the playoffs to eight teams, adding a wild card team to the three divisional champions in each league, to become effective in 1994. An extra round would be added to the playoffs, with the first round consisting of best-of-five series. The move not only resulted in the playoffs dragging on late into October, but, combined with the change from two divisions in each league to three, had the effect of destroying pennant races, and placing the emphasis on qualifying for a wild card position.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Sacramento (1-0) 21 @ Winnipeg (0-1) 15

The game at Winnipeg Stadium marked the first appearance of the Gold Miners, the first American franchise in the Canadian Football League.

10 years ago
2003

Abominations
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien introduced legislation to legalize same-sex "marriages," while permitting churches and religious groups to "sanctify marriages as they see it." The decision followed rulings in favour of same-sex "marriages by courts in British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario.

Politics and government
In the first election in Jordan since King Abdullah had dissolved parliament two years earlier, independent candidates loyal to the king won most of the 110 seats in the expanded legislature.

Health
The World Health Organization lifted its travel advisory for Taiwan, now that the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was waning.

Football
CFL
Montreal (1-0) 23 @ Calgary (0-1) 20 (OT)