July 1, 2013

490 years ago
1523

Died on this date
Johann Esch and Heinrich Voes. Belgian Protestant Christian martyrs. Messrs. Esch and Voes were Augustinian monks from Antwerp who had adopted the doctrines of Martin Luther and had refused to recant. They were burned at the stake in Brussels.

370 years ago
1643

Religion
The first meeting of the Westminster Assembly, a council of theologians ("divines") and members of the Parliament of England appointed to restructure the Church of England, took place at Westminster Abbey in London.

175 years ago
1838

Exploration
Thomas Simpson and Peter Warren Dease reached the mouth of the Coppermine River in what is now the Northwest Territories as they searched for the Northwest Passage.

150 years ago
1863

War
The Battle of Gettysburg, which marked the turning point in the U.S. Civil War, began in Pennsylvania.

World events
The Netherlands legally abolished slavery in its colonies of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. Emancipation was a process that took 10 years to take effect; the former slaves were still forced to be servants at low wages. The day is still observed in Suriname as Keti Koti (Emancipation Day).

140 years ago
1873

Canadiana
Prince Edward Island entered Confederation as the seventh Canadian province, on the same terms as British Columbia: A provincial government, annual grants, and debt takeover.

120 years ago
1893

Transportation
Railway companies opened Toronto's original Union Station.

110 years ago
1903

Cycling
The first Tour de France race began.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
John F. Melby. U.S.-born diplomat and scholar. Dr. Melby was a U.S. State Department employee from 1937-1953, serving in the U.S.S.R. from 1943-1945 and in China from 1945-1948. He was stripped of his security clearance in 1953 because of his long and intimate association with playwright Lillian Hellman, who was accused of ties to the Communist Party. Dr. Melby had difficulty finding work thereafter until he founded the political studies department of the University of Guelph in 1966, serving as department chairman for five years and then as a professor until his retirement in 1978. He died of a heart attack in Guelph, Ontario on December 18, 1992 at the age of 79.

90 years ago
1923

Society
The Canadian Parliament passed legislation which virtually suspended all Chinese immigration to Canada; the day is known to Chinese community as Humiliation Day.

70 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Willem Arondeus, 48. Dutch author and artist. Mr. Arondeus was an illustrator and later an author who joined the anti-Nazi resistance during World War II. He participated in the bombing of the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews and other wanted by the Gestapo, but was one of 12 arrested for the act and executed by firing squad. Mr. Arondeus was a sodomite whose last words were, "Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards."

War
U.K. Royal Air Force bombers from the Middle East made a heavy raid on Catania, Sicily with the loss of five planes, while other British planes from North Africa bombed Palermo, Sicily and Olbia, Sardinia. U.S. troops in New Guinea consolidated their positions at Nassau Bay, while Australian forces attacked Japanese patrols in the Muba and Malolo areas of Salamaua. U.S. forces claimed Rendova Island after repelling Japanese air assaults.

Politics and government
The French Committee of National Liberation named Pierre Cournarie as Governor of French West Africa.

Japanica
Tokyo City merged with Tokyo Prefecture and was dissolved. Since then, no city in Japan has had the name "Tokyo" (present-day Tokyo is not officially a city).

Law
The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals in San Francisco held that patents for producing Vitamin D by ultraviolet radiation were invalid, claiming that it was a "discovery and not an invention."

Crime
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt commuted the death sentence of Max Stephen to life imprisonment; Mr. Stephen had been convicted of treason for aiding an escaped German flier.

Economics and finance
Income tax withholding began in the United States.

60 years ago
1953

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: Fifteen Minutes to Murder

Boxing
Bob Satterfield (31-14-2) knocked out Bob Baker (30-3-1) at 2:32 of the 1st round of a heavyweight bout at Chicago Stadium.



50 years ago
1963

Scandal
Former U.K. Foreign Office official Harold "Kim" Philby admitted that he was the "third man" in the case of British diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, who had been exposed in 1951 as agents of the U.S.S.R.

Academia
Victoria College officially became the University of Victoria.

Communications
The U.S. Post Office inaugurated its five-digit ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) codes.

40 years ago
1973

Died on this date
Yosef Alon, 43. Czechoslovakian-born Israeli military officer and diplomat. Colonel Alon was an Israeli military attache to the United States who was shot to death outside his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland shortly after 1 A.M. U.S. President Richard Nixon provided a jet to carry Col. Alon's body and family to Israel and ordered the U.S. Secret Service to imncrease protectiomn of the diplomatic community in Washington. Despite a Voice of Palestine radio broadcast from Cairo asserting that Col. Alon had been assassinated in retaliation for the June 28 death of Arab terrorist Mohamed Boudia in Paris, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Maryland police could find no clues or determine the motive.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Total Eclipse of the Heart--Bonnie Tyler

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Juliet--Robin Gibb (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
R. Buckminster Fuller, 87. U.S. architect and futurist. Mr. Fuller was known for designing geodesic domes, such as the United States Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. He was famous for using such phrases as "Spaceship Earth" and "synergistics," and promoted environmental sustainability. Mr. Fuller suffered a fatal heart attack 11 days before his 88th birthday, while visiting his ailing wife Anne in hospital. She died of cancer 36 hours later.

Edmontonia
This blogger was among those in attendance as Prince Charles opened the World University Games at Commonwealth Stadium, the first time the games had been held in North America.

Diplomacy
Israel rejected the previous day's proposal by the U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon in stages and set a firm date for a total withdrawal. The Palestine Liberation Organization called for a cease-fire among warring PLO factions, shortly after rebels opposing Yasser Arafat's leadership had begun what seemed to be an effort to take control of all Palestinian forces in Lebanon.

Disasters
A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea crashed into the Fouta Djallon mountains in Guinea-Bissau, killing all 23 people on board.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Im Nin'Alu--Ofra Haza (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
The 19th All-Union Conference of the Soviet Communist Party concluded in Moscow with a declaration of support for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's program of perestroika (restructuring). Boris Yeltsin, Moscow's ousted party chief, endorsed Mr. Gorbachev's reforms, but criticized conference procedures as undemocratic. Yegor Ligachev, regarded as the number two man in the ruling Politburo and as cautious on reform, called Mr. Yeltsin "a destructive force" and stated that "perestroika has become the cause of my life." In his closing address,. Mr. Gorbachev noted that "Nothing of this kind has occurred in this country for nearly six decades." The delegates, aside from endorsing economic, social, and political restructuring, also approved competitive elections and 10-year limits on the terms of elected government and party officials, and also supported the principle of glasnost (openness) in the conduct of public affairs.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): I Can't Help Falling in Love (With You)--UB40 (2nd week at #1)

Canadiana
Kim Campbell spent her only Canada Day as Prime Minister of Canada travelling across the country, beginning with a sunrise ceremony in St. John's, briefly visiting Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and finishing the day by attending a concert in her home rising in Vancouver. This blogger was in Ottawa that day, and didn't find out about Ms. Campbell's whirlwind tour until her visit to the capital had come and gone. I was fortunate enough to be picked up by three women from Edmonton while having lunch at the Elephant and Castle downtown.

Protest
Greenpeace activists staged demonstrations in several Canadian cities and outside 11 Canadian embassies abroad against the British Columbia government's decision to allow logging along the Clayoquot Sound.

10 years ago
2003

Died on this date
N!xau, 59 (?). Namibian actor. N!xau was a Bushman who starred in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980) and its sequels.

Diplomacy
U.S. government officials announced that the United States would withdraw military aid from 35 countries that refused to grant the U.S.A. exemption from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met in Jerusalem.

Protest
Over 500,000 people in Hong Kong demonstrated against efforts to pass the anti-sedition law Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23.

Law
As the July 1 deadline to register guns with Canada's federal firearms registry passed, six provinces--Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Ontario--had considered refusing or had decided to refuse to prosecute gun owners who failed or declined to register their firearms.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (1-2) 12 @ Winnipeg (3-0) 14



Ottawa (1-2) 12 @ Calgary (1-2) 32

Ottawa head coach Joe Paopao made a change at quarterback to start the 2nd half at McMahon Stadium, replacing starter Dan Crowley with former NFL player Kerry Joseph. Mr. Joseph was the Renegades' starting QB from that moment on. Kevin Feterik, son of Stampeders' owner Michael Feterik, finished the game at quarterback for Calgary and scored a touchdown on a 12-yard pass from running back Scott Deibert.