July 12, 2014

525 years ago
1489

Died on this date
Bahlul Lodi, 83 (?). Sultan of Delhi, 1451-1489. Bahlul Lodi founded the Lodi dynasty, which ruled Delhi until 1526. He took the throne upon the abdication of Alam Shah, the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. A power struggle ensued upon Bahlul Lodi's death, and he was succeeded by his second son Sikander Lodi.

225 years ago
1789

Politics and government
French revolutionary and radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gave a speech in response to the dismissal of Jacques Necker as France's finance minister the day before. The speech called the citizens to arms and led to the storming of the Bastille two days later.

210 years ago
1804

Died on this date
Alexander Hamilton, 47 or 49. U.S. politician. Mr. Hamilton, a native of Nevis in the British West Indies, was the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, serving under President George Washington from 1789-1795. He died the day after being shot in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.

150 years ago
1864

War
In the U.S. Civil War, the Battle of Fort Stevens in the District of Columbia ended with the withdrawal of Confederate forces commanded by Lieutenant General Jubal Early. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was briefly a witness to the fighting.

140 years ago
1874

Academia
Ontario Agricultural College, now the University of Guelph, was founded.

90 years ago
1924

Olympics
Paavo Nurmi of Finland won the gold medal in the men's 10,000-metre run at the Summer Olympic games in Paris, finishing 2 minutes ahead of silver medalist and fellow Finn Willie Ritola. Earl Johnson of the United States won the bronze medal.

80 years ago
1934

Died on this date
Ole Evinrude, 57. Norwegian-born U.S. inventor. Mr. Evinrude, born Ole Aaslundeie, moved to Wisconsin with his family at the age of 4. He invented the first practical outboard motor in 1907 and founded the Evinrude Motor Company in 1909.

Boxing
Joe Louis (2-0) scored a technical knockout over Willie Davies (9-11-2) in the 3rd round of a heavyweight bout at Bacon's Arena in Chicago when referee Davy Miller stopped the fight because of a bad cut over Mr. Davies' left eye.

70 years ago
1944

Died on this date
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., 56. U.S. military officer and politician. Mr. Roosevelt, the son of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army in World War I, winning the Distinguished Service Cross. A Republican, he served in the New York State Assembly in 1920-1921 and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Warren G. Harding. Mr. Roosevelt was Governor of Puerto Rico from 1929-1932 and Governor General of the Philippines from 1932-1933. He returned to active service in the Army in World War II, rising to the rank of brigadier general. Gen. Roosevelt was the only general to land with the first wave of troops in the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. He died of a heart attack in Normandy just hours before Allied Supreme Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower approved his promotion to major general. Gen. Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Betty Compton, 40. U.K.-born U.S. actress. Miss Compton, a native of the Isle of Wight, appeared in the Broadway musicals Oh, Kay! (1926) and Funny Face (1927). She was married to New York Mayor Jimmy Walker from 1933-1941. Miss Compton died of breast cancer.

War
U.S. troops in France advances to within 1 1/2 miles of St. Lo. Soviet troops, in a drive near Latvia, advanced along a 93-mile front with the aim of pushing German forces from their last stand in pre-war Russia.

Diplomacy
French provisional government leader General Charles de Gaulle spent several hours visiting Quebec City and Montreal. Local dignitaries greeted him at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, and Gen. de Gaulle delivered a message of gratitude to Quebec Premier Adélard Godbout.

Americana
The United States Census Bureau reported a population increase from 131,699,275 in 1940 to 133,942,410 in 1943.

Economics and finance
The U.S.A. and Mexico agreed on plans for U.S. economic aid, with emphasis on Mexican transportation systems.

Oil
The U.S. State Department announced that U.S.-U.K. talks would be held shortly to fix joint policies on world oil resources.

60 years ago
1954

Boxing
Floyd Patterson (14-1) scored a technical knockout of Jacques Royer-Crecy (39-16-1) in the 7th round of a heavyweight bout at St. Nicholas Arena in New York.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: The Streak--Ray Stevens (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Sugar Baby Love--The Rubettes

Scandal
John Ehrlichman, former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, and three others were convicted of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Dr. Lewis Fielding of Beverly Hills, California, former psychiatrist to Daniel Ellsberg, a former U.S. Defense Department employee who had leaked the "Pentagon Papers"--documents concerning U.S. policy in the Vietnam War--to the press. Dr. Fielding's office had been broken into in 1971 by people searching for files on Mr. Ellsberg. U.S. District Court Judge Gerhard Gesell had charged the jury that Mr. Ehrlichman need not have specifically authorized a "break-in" or "illegal entry" to be found guilty, but merely a "covert operation" which led to an intrusion by government agents into "an area which one would normally expect to remain private." The others convicted with Mr. Ehrlichman were G. Gordon Liddy, Bernard Barker, and Eugenio Martinez, members of the "plumbers," a squad of men assigned to investigate and plug "leaks."

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Calgary (0-3) 1 @ Montreal (3-0) 17
Hamilton (1-2) 13 @ Edmonton (1-2) 16

30 years ago
1984

Politics and government
Walter Mondale, former Vice-President of the United States and current Democratic party candidate for President, chose Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his vice-presidential candidate, making her the first woman to be part of a presidential ticket for a major party.

Transportation
New York became the first U.S. state to require drivers, front seat passengers, and children under age 10 to wear seat belts in motor vehicles.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Minä olen muistanut--Kim Lönnholm (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Eternal Flame--Bangles (7th week at #1)

Diplomacy
U.S. President George Bush met with Hungary’s leaders in Budapest, and spoke at Karl Marx University. Hungarian Premier Miklos Nemeth presented Mr. Bush with strips of barbed wire removed from the fence that Hungary was removing along the Austrian border. Mr. Bush announced a $25 million investment package, subject to Congressional approval.

Transportation
Canadian National Railways was allowed to abandon Prince Edward Island's only rail service.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (1-0) 24 @ Toronto (0-1) 15
Calgary (0-1) 29 @ Saskatchewan (1-0) 32

Stephen Jordan, playing his first CFL game, returned an interception for a touchdown to help his Tiger-Cats defeat the Argos in the first regular season game ever played at SkyDome.

At Taylor Field in Regina, the Stampeders blew a 26-6 3rd-quarter lead and lost to the Roughriders. Saskatchewan scored 17 points in the last 2 minutes, and won the game on Dave Ridgway’s field goal on the last play. David Den Braber dressed as the backup quarterback for the Stampeders in his only CFL game.



20 years ago
1994

Canadiana
Queen Elizabeth II approved the present design of the arms of Canada, drawn by Cathy Bursey-Sabourin, Fraser Herald at the Canadian Heraldic Authority. It included a new element: an annulus behind the shield bearing the motto of the Order of Canada, Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam ("They desire a better country").

Defense
The German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the country's armed forces could participate in international military missions providing that the lower house of parliament approved. The 1949 West German constitution had banned all military activities except those that related to collective security. The court's ruling related to a German role in United Nations military activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, and Somalia.

Economics and finance
The United States dollar fell to 96.60 Japanese yen, a post-World War II low.

The United States Labor Department reported that prices charged by producers for finished goods had stayed level in June.

Baseball
Major League All-Star Game @ Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh
American League 7 @ National League 8 (10 innings)

Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres singled off Jason Bere of the Chicago White Sox to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning, and Moises Alou of the Montreal Expos doubled him home with the winning run before 59,568 fans in the most exciting All-Star Game this blogger can remember.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Betty Oliphant, 85. U.K.-born Canadian dance instructor. Miss Oliphant, a native of London, moved to Canada in 1947 and co-founded the National Ballet School of Canada with Celia Franca in 1959. Miss Oliphant died in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Economics and finance
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein announced that the province would pay off its outstanding public debt and become Canada's only debt-free province.

Crime
Two men from Ontario were sentenced to four years in jail for defrauding the government of Canada of $24 million in the largest Goods and Services Tax fraud in Canadian history, a complex multi-year scam involving fictitious cars.

Health
U.S. federal health agencies lowered target levels of LDL cholesterol by about 30%.