July 11, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Lois Morrow!

480 years ago
1533

World events
Pope Clement VII excommunicated England's King Henry VIII from the Roman Catholic Church.

325 years ago
1688

Died on this date
Narai, 55. King of Siam, 1656-1688. Narai succeeded Suthamarracha as king. His reign was characterized by contact with foreign nations, especially France under King Louis XIV. Naria died after several months of illness and was succeeded by Phetracha.

180 years ago
1833

Died on this date
Yagan, 38 (?). Australian aborigine warrior. Yagan, from the Noongar tribe, was a leader of Aborigine resistance to white colonization in the area of Perth, Australia. A bounty was put on him by the government after a series of robberies in which white settlers were killed, and Yagan was shot by a white teenager named William Keates.

120 years ago
1893

World events
A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya took power in Nicaragua.

110 years ago
1903

Born on this date
Rudolf Abel. U.K.-born U.S.S.R. spy. Mr. Abel, whose real name was William August Fisher, was born in England to Russian émigré parents of Bolsehvik sympathies; the family returned to Moscow in 1921. Mr. Fisher was fluent in several languages, and joined the Soviet secret police agency OGPU in 1927, but was dismissed from the agency--renamed the NKVD--in 1938, and narrowly escaped the Great Purge. He worked with military intelligence in World War II, and rejoined the secret police--renamed again as KGB--in 1946. Mr. Fisher succeeded in illegally entering the United States in 1948, and established a spy network. He returned to the Soviet Union for six months in 1955, and when he returned to New York in 1956, he found that his network had disintegrated, largely to the incompetence of his assistant, Reino Hنyhنnen. Mr. Hنyhنnen defected to the United States in 1957 and furnished information that led to the arrest of Mr. Fisher, who identified himself as Rudolf Abel. Mr. Fisher was convicted in October 1957 of three counts of conspiracy, and was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison and a fine of $3,000. He was imprisoned at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary until February 1962, when he was exchanged in Berlin for captured American U-2 pilot Gary Powers; his work in the United States had been a failure for the KGB, although they portrayed him as a master spy. Mr. Fisher continued to work for the KGB, giving lectures on intelligence, but he became increasingly disillusioned, and died from lung cancer on November 15, 1971 at the age of 68, after years of heavy smoking.

75 years ago
1938

Boxing
Johnny Paychek (20-3-1) scored a technical knockout of King Levinsky (74-34-7) in the 3rd round of their heavyweight bout at Riverview Park in Des Moines, Iowa.

70 years ago
1943

Literature
The New York Herald Tribune list of best-selling fiction books included The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas; The Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport; and The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. The best-selling non-fiction book was One World by Wendell Willkie.

War
U.S. War Secretary Henry Stimson arrived in London to confer with British military leaders. U.S. forces captured two airports near Gela, Sicily while U.K. and Canadian troops advanced inland from both sides of Cape Passero, and U.S. planes bombed Catania. Soviet troops counterattacked and recaptured two towns in the Orel sector after repulsing an attack by 400 German tanks.

Abominations
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Volhynia) peaked in their massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.

60 years ago
1953

Hit Parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You're Just in Love--Ethel Merman and Dick Haynes; Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters (2nd week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): The Song from Moulin Rouge (Where is Your Heart)--Percy Faith and his Orchestra (Best seller--9th week at #1; Disc Jockey--9th week at #1); I'm Walking Behind You--Eddie Fisher (Jukebox--2nd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I'm Walking Behind You--Eddie Fisher
2 The Song from Moulin Rouge (Where is Your Heart)--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
3 Ruby--Richard Hayman and his Orchestra
--[Les Baxter and his Orchestra]
4 April in Portugal--Les Baxter and his Orchestra
--[Ralph Marterie and his "Down Beat" Orchestra]
5 Terry's Theme from "Limelight"--Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra
6 No Other Love--Perry Como
7 Say You're Mine Again--Perry Como
8 Anna--Silvana Mangano
9 Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)--Les Paul and Mary Ford
10 I Believe--Frankie Laine

Singles entering the chart were Keep it Gay by Perry Como (#26) and Where the Winds Blow by Frankie Laine (#29). Keep it Gay was the B-side of No Other Love.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): I Like It--Gerry and the Pacemakers (4th week at #1)

40 years ago
1973

Died on this date
Robert Ryan, 63. U.S. actor. Mr. Ryan was known for playing tough but often troubled characters in such movies as Crossfire (1947); The Set-Up (1949); I Married a Communist (1949); The Racket (1951); On Dangerous Ground (1952); Clash by Night (1952); The Naked Spur (1953); Bad Day at Black Rock (1955); Odds Against Tomorrow (1959); Billy Budd (1962); The Dirty Dozen (1967); and The Wild Bunch (1969). He died of lung cancer.

Protest
The Communist-controlled National Workers Confederation agreed to call off a general strike against the government of Uruguay. Its leaders conceded the next day that they had not achieved the desired victory, but allowed that they would continue the struggle in a new form. President Juan Maria Bordaberry had abolished Congress on June 27 and announced that it would be replaced by a Council of State.

Scandal
Continuing his testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Campaign Activites, former Attorney General John Mitchell implicated White House aides John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman as participants in a "design not to have the stories come out," regarding the June 1972 break-in at the haeadquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.

Disasters
A Brazilian Boeing 707, Varig Flight 820, crashed on approach to Orly Airport near Paris, killing 123 of 134 people aboard.

Track and field
Dwight Stones of the United States set a world high jump record of 7 feet 6 1/2 inches in a meet between the United States and West Germany in Munich.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Edmonton (1-1) 16 @ Ottawa (1-0-1) 25

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Flashdance...What a Feeling--Irene Cara

Edmontonia
Closing ceremonies for the World University Games were held at Commonwealth Stadium. A fun time was had by all, including this blogger.

Education
The U.S. Justice Department sued the state of Alabama for failing "to take affirmative steps to remove the vestiges of the dual education system resulting from their policy of racial segregation." The suit, directed at Governor George Wallace, other state officials, and the state board of education, was the first of its kind filed by the administration of President Ronald Reagan, and alleged that the discrimination could be found in student admissions, the hiring of faculty and staff, and in appointments to college governing boards. The Justice Department also said that one predominantly Negro institution had been deprived of its fair share of resources.

Disasters
119 people were killed when an Ecuadorian jetliner crashed into a mountain near Cuenca, Ecuador.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Got to Be Certain--Kylie Minogue (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The Sandanista government of Nicaragua expelled eight U.S. diplomats, including Ambassador Richard Huntington Melton, accusing them of inciting rebellion against the regime.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: (I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You--UB40 (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Mr. Vain--Culture Beat

#1 single in Switzerland: What is Love?--Haddaway (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): What is Love?--Haddaway (3rd week at #1)

10 years ago
2003

Protest
Five policemen and two civilians in Peru were killed in a clash with Shining Path guerrillas, raising fears that the Maoist terrorist group was resurging.

Diplomacy
U.S. President George W. Bush visited Uganda.

Football
CFL
Calgary (2-2) 17 @ Hamilton (0-4) 11