July 17, 2013

810 years ago
1203

War
The Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople by assault. Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos fled from his capital into exile.

560 years ago
1453

War
In the Battle of Castillon, the last battle of the Hundred Years' War, French forces under Jean Bureau defeated English forces commanded by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was killed in the battle in Gascony.

220 years ago
1793

Died on this date
Charlotte Corday, 24. French assassin. Miss Corday was executed by guillotine four days after stabbing revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat to death in his bathtub, and 10 days before her 25th birthday.

170 years ago
1843

Politics and government
Miramichi, New Brunswick's "fighting election" occurred as clashes between the Joseph Cunard and Alexander Rankin factions broke out around polling stations. Troops were sent to maintain order after one person died and others claimed that their lives had been threatened.

130 years ago
1883

Born on this date
Şemsettin Günaltay. Prime Minister of Turkey, 1949-1950. Professor Günaltay was a historian and Dan of the Faculty of Theology at Istanbul University before entering politics, winning election to the Ottoman Parliament in 1915 as a candidate for the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), representing Bilecik Province. After the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, he represented Sivas (1923-1950) and Erzincan (1950-1954) in the Grand National Assembly as a member of the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Republican People's Party) (CHP), succeeding to the office of Prime Minister following the resignation of Hasan Saka in January 1949. Prof. Günaltay led the government until its defeat by the Democratic Party in the general election in May 1950. He was elected to the Senate in 1961, representing Istanbul Province, but died of prostate cancer at the age of 78 on October 19, 1961, before he could take his seat.

125 years ago
1888

Born on this date
S.Y. Agnon. Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli author. Shmuel Yosef "Shai" Agnon, born Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes in Polish Galicia, moved to Ottoman Palestine in 1908 and to Germany in 1913 before moving to Jerusalem permanently in 1924. He was a major figure in modern Hebrew literature, writing novels and short stories. Mr. Agnon was awarded a share of he 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people." He died on February 17, 1970 at the age of 81.

80 years ago
1933

Disasters
After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean from New York, the Lithuanian Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker research aircraft Lituanica crashed in Germany under mysterious circumstances, killing pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas.

75 years ago
1938

Aviation
Douglas Corrigan took off from Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and became known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.

70 years ago
1943

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer--The Song Spinners (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Thomas W. Wallace, 43. U.S. politician. Mr. Wallace, a Republican, was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1942, running on a ticket with Governor Thomas Dewey. Mr. Wallace took office on January 1, 1943, but died after contracting chicken pox from his children and developing pneumonia. His death raised the question, answered in the affirmative by the New York Court of Appeals, as to whether the state constitution required an election to fill the vacancy caused by his death.

War
U.K. forces in Italy advanced toward the key port of Catania despite increased opposition from German elite divisions. The Soviet Red Army advanced up to six miles on the Orel front, occupying several towns, killing 3,000 German soldiers and destroying 78 tanks and 137 planes. U.S. bombers conducted a nine-hour assault on the Kahili airfield in the Buin-Faisi area of Bougainville Island.

Politics and government
Allied European Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) to abolish the Fascist Party; disband Fascist militia and youth organizations; set up military courts to try civilians accused of crimes; annul racial laws; and supervise rationing and relief.

A Puerto Rican committee asked the United States Congress for independence after an eight-year commonwealth period and a U.S. guarantee to import one million tons of sugar annually.

Economics and finance
Mexico and the United States continued their agreement whereby Mexico would continue to produce strategic war materials and would receive U.S. aid into the postwar period for agriculture, transportation, power, and general industrial development.

60 years ago
1953

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Believe--Frankie Laine (12th week at #1)

Disasters
The largest number of United States midshipman casualties in a single event resulted from an aircraft crash in Florida killing 44.

50 years ago
1963

Music
Gerry and the Pacemakers were at Abbey Road studios in London, where they recorded the song Hello Little Girl. The song was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, credited in that order. It had been recorded by the Fourmost two weeks earlier, and their version was released as a single on August 30. The version by Gerry and the Pacemakers wasn't released until 1991.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Calgary (1-0) 10 @ Montreal (0-1) 1
British Columbia (1-0) 30 @ Toronto (0-1) 27

Hamilton Tiger-Cats intrasquad game
Cats 27 Tigers 13

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: Goodbye, My Love, Goodbye--Demis Roussos (6th week at #1)

World events
While in Italy undergoing eye surgery, King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan was deposed by a coup of junior officers led by his cousin and brother-in-law Mohammed Daud Khan. General Daud said in a broadcast that he had acted to replace the "corrupt and effete" rule of the king with a "genuine democracy" to save the country from ruin. He pledged that Afghanistan, which was now proclaimed a republic, would continue to follow a policy of nonalignment and would not join any military pact.

Scandal
U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the Secret Service to withhold information about secret tapes of White House conversations from the United States Senate Select Committee on Campaign Activities. Committee Chairman Sam Ervin wrote a letter to Mr. Nixon asking the president to release all documents and tapes relevant to the investigation of the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Herbert Kalmbach, former personal attorney and fund raiser for Mr. Nixon, told the committee that he now knew that raising $220,000 for the seven Watergate defendants had been an "improper, illegal" act.

War
The U.S. Defense Department disclosed to the Senate Armed Services Committee that at least 3,500 secret bombing raids had been made over Cambodia in the 14-month period beginning in March 1969, while Cambodia was officially recognized as a neutral country. Pentagon spokesman Jerry Friedheim stated that falsified reports of the raids had been officially ordered and authorized by President Richard Nixon and Defense Secretary Melvin Laird.

Oil
The United States Senate voted 77-20 to approve the licensing of a $3.5-billion, 789-mile pipeline from the Alaska North Slope oil fields to the ice-free port of Valdez. The decision came after a 49-48 vote, with Vice-President Spiro Agnew casting the deciding vote, in support of an amendment to immunize the project from further challenge by environmentalists in the courts.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: Flashdance...What a Feeling--Irene Cara (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Presidents of the Contadora Group of countries--Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela--met in Mexico and called for international border patrols; the removal of foreign military basesand advisers from Central America; and an end to arms shipments to the area.

Golf
Tom Watson won his fifth British Open, and second straight, finishing 1 stroke ahead of Andy Bean and Hale Irwin at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. Mr. Watson broke a three-way tie for the lead with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole of the final round.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Sweet Lovers--Holidaymakers

#1 single in Switzerland: Im Nin'Alu--Ofra Haza (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Bruiser Brody, 42. U.S. wrestler. Mr. Brody, whose real name was Frank Goodish, played football at Texas A&M University and worked as a sportswriter before becoming a wrestler and working in various circuits, usually as a heel. He was in the locker room in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, preparing for a match, when he was stabbed to death by fellow wrestler José Huertas González. Mr. Goodish was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014.

20 years ago
1993

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

#1 single in Italy: All that She Wants--Ace of Base (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Encores--Dire Straits (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Cose della vita--Eros Ramazotti (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): What is Love?--Haddaway

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): (I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You--UB40 (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): Pray--Take That

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Weak--SWV (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Weak--SWV
2 Whoomp! (There it Is)--Tag Team
3 That's the Way Love Goes--Janet Jackson
4 (I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You--UB40
5 Show Me Love--Robin S
6 Knockin' Da Boots--H-Town
7 I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)--Exposé
8 Have I Told You Lately--Rod Stewart
9 Come Undone--Duran Duran
10 Lately--Jodeci

Singles entering the chart were Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill (#42); What's Up Doc? (Can We Rock?) by Fu-Schnickens with Shaquille O'Neal (#58); Ooh Child by Dino (#61); Believe by Lenny Kravitz (#63); Another Sad Love Song by Toni Braxton (#67); Chattahoochee by Alan Jackson (#68); I Like It by Jomanda (#69); Tell Me Why by Wynonna (#72); Big Gun by AC/DC (#74); Very Special by Big Daddy Kane (#78); Pets by Porno for Pyros (#83); Chief Rocka by Lords of the Underground (#88); and Wide River by the Steve Miller Band (#90).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Have I Told You Lately--Rod Stewart
2 That's the Way Love Goes--Janet Jackson
3 I Don't Wanna Fight--Tina Turner
4 Fields of Gold--Sting
5 Come Undone--Duran Duran
6 By the Time This Night is Over--Kenny G with Peabo Bryson
7 Regret--New Order
8 (I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You--UB40
9 Love Don't Live Here Anymore--Sven Gali
10 Break it Down Again--Tears for Fears

Singles entering the chart were Did You Give Enough Love by Celine Dion (#72); Man on a Mission by Hemingway Corner (#76); Looking for a Place to Happen by the Tragically Hip (#80); Cryin' by Aerosmith (#88); Will You Be There by Michael Jackson (#90); Take Me for a Little While by Coverdale Page (#93); Rain by Madonna (#95); Pets by Porno for Pyros (#97); Healing Power of Love by Dan Hill (#98); and Weak by SWV (#99).

World events
Two ships full of Chinese refugees docked at Ensenada, Mexico, but within hours, the first 100 had been put on a plane to be sent back to China.

Terrorism
Egypt hanged five Islamic terrorists in a campaign that officials said had caused the worst damage to Islamic fundamentalism in 18 months.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (2-1) 14 @ Winnipeg (1-1) 36
Calgary (2-0) 38 @ Sacramento (0-3) 36

Chris Johnstone, Nathaniel Bolton, and Blaise Bryant scored touchdowns for the Blue Bombers in their win over the Lions before 20,665 fans at Winnipeg Stadium.

Doug Flutie threw touchdown passes to Allen Pitts, Will Moore, and Dave Sapunjis, and ran for another TD himself, as the Stampeders held off the Gold Miners before 20,082 fans at Hornet Field in the first CFL game between a Canadian and an American team on Ameridan soil. Mr. Flutie and Sacramento quarterback David Archer, who threw TD passes to Rod Harris and Willie Bouyer, combined for almost 900 yards passing. Robert Hardy rushed 1 yard for the first Sacramento touchdown at home; it was his only CFL touchdown. Mr. Moore's touchdown was his first in the CFL. Sacramento kicker Jim Crouch missed a 40-yard field goal late in the game that would have tied the score if successful.

10 years ago
2003

Died on this date
Walter Zapp, 97. Latvian-born German inventor. Mr. Zapp was known for inventing the Minox subminiature camera.

David Kelly, 59. U.K. scientist. Mr. Kelly was a British Department of Defence employee and former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq who reportedly committed suicide two days after testifying before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee and denying that he had been the principal source for a report by British Broadcasting Corporation journalist Andrew Gilligan that claimed that a dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that had been presented to Parliament in September 2002 and had been "sexed up" to make the threat of Iraq's WMDs seem worse than it was.

Abominations
British Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed a joint session of the United States Congress and defended the allied decision to invade Iraq, saying that even if weapons of mass destruction, "history will forgive" the allies because a brutal dictator had been overthrown. Mr. Blair said, "Don't give up on Europe. Work with it."