July 18, 2015

1,300 years ago
715

Died on this date
Muhammad bin Qasim, 19 or 20. Umayyad military officer. Muhammad bin Qasim was a general with the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate who conquered the Sindh and Multan regions along the Indus River (now a part of Pakistan). He died under uncertain circumstances.

725 years ago
1290

Abominations
King Edward I of England issued the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England. This was Tisha B'Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.

280 years ago
1735

Died on this date
Johann Krieger, 83. German musician and composer. Mr. Krieger, the younger brother of organist and composer Johann Philipp Krieger, was also an organist, and was one of the most important keyboard composers of his day, publishing collections containing harpsichord suites, organ toccatas, fugues, and ricercars. He also composed sacred and secular vocal music, as well as works for the stage. Mr. Krieger died the day after playing the organ at a church service.

190 years ago
1825

Born on this date
John Berryman. U.K. military officer. Troop Sergeant-Major Berryman was serving with the 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) during the Crimean War, and earned the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Charge of the Light Brigade on October 25, 1854, when he stopped on the field with a wounded officer amidst a storm of shot and shell, and with the assistance of two sergeants, carried the wounded officer out of the range of guns. Troop Sergeant-Major Berryman died on June 27, 1896, three weeks before his 71st birthday.

125 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Frank Forde. Prime Minister of Australia, 1945. Mr. Forde, a member of the Labour Party, was a member of the Australian Parliament from 1922-1946. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on July 6, 1945, the day after the death of John Curtin. Mr. Forde was in office only a week before losing the contest for the party leadership to Ben Chifley. Mr. Forde lost his seat in the federal election of 1946, and was appointed High Commissioner to Canada, serving until 1953, before returning to state politics. He died on January 28, 1983 at the age of 92.

110 years ago
1905

Canadiana
Parliament passed an act creating the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan out of the Northwest Territories.

90 years ago
1925

Literature
The first volume of Adof Hitler's book Mein Kampf was published in Germany by Verlag Franz Eher Nachfahren.

75 years ago
1940

War
German forces occupied the French island of Quessant, 120 miles south of Land's End, England. South African Prime Minister General Jan Smuts reiterated his country's resolve to stand by the United Kingdom in the European war.

Diplomacy
Denmark withdrew from the League of Nations.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said that he approved of closing the Burma Road if it would bring peace in the Pacific.

U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and his staff left Washington to attend the Inter-American Conference in Havana.

Politics and government
Prince Fumimaro Konoye organized a new Japanese cabinet.

After a fight on the floor at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Henry Wallace was accepted as the party's 1940 candidate for Vice President of the United States, the day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt had been renominated to seek a third term in office. Mr. Roosevelt, in his acceptance speech, said that he opposed both dictators and appeasers.

Defense
U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson announced that an experiment with parachute troops would be conducted to determine their effectiveness.

Communications
Trans-Pacific mail service on a weekly basis was inaugurated with the arrival of a Pan American Airways clipper in New Zealand after a flight from San Francisco.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill extending the provisions of the Grain Standards Act to soybeans.

70 years ago
1945

War
A U.S. State Department spokesman said that the department had no knowledge of a reported peace offer submitted by Japan through Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. U.S. naval units carried out the third shelling of the Japanese home islands with an attack on large war plants in Hitachi, 80 miles northeast of Tokyo; production in the targeted plants was halted almost entirely. The Samboja oil fields and refinery on Borneo were captured by Australian forces.

Diplomacy
44 prominent Americans, including Herbert Hoover, Alf Landon, John Dewey, and George Creel, signed a petition to President Harry Truman to use his influence at the Potsdam Conference in Germany to have the Yalta agreement for free elections in Poland carried out.

Politics and government
The Belgian Senate approved the action of the Chamber of Deputies in extending indefinitely the regency of Prince Charles, thus virtually exiling King Leopold III.

A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee released the names of 16 commissioned and non-commissioned Army officers with backgrounds that "reflect Communism."

Defense
The U.S. War Production Board reported that munitions production for the remainder of the year would drop to about 70% of the March peak.

Law
The U.S. House of Representatives moved to adjourn from July 21-October 8 after passing a bill extending the time in which military veterans could take advantage of the "GI Bill."

Science
U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development Dr. Vannevar Bush suggested that Congress establish a National Research Foundation to promote a national policy for scientific research and education.

Economics and finance
The United States Senate voted for immediate consideration of the Bretton Woods proposals, defeating Sen. Robert Taft's (Republican--Ohio) proposal to delay consideration until November 15, 1945.

Bills were introduced in both houses of the United States Congress proposing that legal minimum wages start at 65c per hour for an estimated 10 million workers.

The American Medical Association offered a 14-point program to provide medical care for all people without increased taxation.

Disasters
A naval ammunition barge caught fire in Bedford Basin in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The magazine exploded for 24 hours causing evacuation of half the city's population, resulting in $4 million in damage but no loss of life.

60 years ago
1955

On television tonight
Sherlock Holmes, starring Ronald Howard and H. Marion Crawford
Tonight's episode: The Case of the Unlucky Gambler



50 years ago
1965

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the unmanned lunar probe Zond 3.

40 years ago
1975

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Yesterday was Just the Beginning of My Life--Mark Williams (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Paloma Blanca--George Baker Selection (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Paloma Blanca--George Baker Selection (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Ted Wingfield, 75. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Wingfield played with the Washington Nationals (1923-1924) and Boston Red Sox (1924-1927), compiling a record of 24-44 with an earned run average of 4.18 in 113 games. He was 12-19 with the Red Sox in 1925, and 11-16 in 1926. Mr. Wingfield died 20 days before his 76th birthday.

Space
While the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project spacecrafts were still docked, they received a telephone call from U.S. President Gerald Ford, who was calling from his office in the White House in Washington.

Baseball
The Montreal Expos purchased outfielder Jim Lyttle from the Denver Bears, the AAA American Association affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. In 80 games with Denver in 1975, Mr. Lyttle was batting .311 with 2 home runs and 37 runs batted in.

The Chicago White Sox purchased catcher Jerry Moses from the San Diego Padres. Mr. Moses had started the season with the New York Mets, but hadn't appeared in a game with them before being purchased by the Padres on April 28. In 15 games with San Diego, Mr. Moses batted .158 (3 for 19) with no home runs and 1 run batted in.

Elrod Hendricks, who had ended the previous night's game with a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning, hit a grand slam and Lee May added a 3-run homer as the Baltimore Orioles scored 8 runs in the 4th inning on their way to a 9-6 win over the Minnesota Twins before 13,698 fans at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mr. May also hit a solo home run in the 8th.

Jim Slaton pitched a 6-hit shutout for his sixth straight win as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the California Angels 2-0 before 15,937 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Nolan Ryan allowed 6 hits in 2 earned runs in pitching a complete game, losing his seventh straight decision.

Jim Kaat pitched a 4-hit shutout for the Chicago White Sox as they scored all their runs in the 4th inning and defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-0 before 11,701 fans at White Sox Park in a game that was played in 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Mike Cubbage singled home Lenny Randle with 2 out in the bottom of the 7th for the game's only run as the Texas Rangers edged the New York Yankees 1-0 before 24,576 fans at Arlington Stadium. Gaylord Perry pitched a 4-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Catfish Hunter, who allowed just 5 hits in pitching a complete game.

Tony Perez hit a grand slam in the 3rd inning and the Cincinnati Reds scored 4 more runs in the 4th as they beat the Montreal Expos 10-3 before 17,158 fans at Jarry Park in Montreal.

Tom Hilgendorf allowed 2 hits and no runs in 3 2/3 innings of relief to get the win and singled home Garry Maddox with the winning run in the bottom of the 7th inning as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 7-4 before 24,072 fans at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mr. Hilgendorf's single was his first hit in three years.

The Evansville Triplets and Tulsa Oilers combined for 37 hits and 30 runs as the Triplets won 17-13 in an American Association game in Tulsa. Bob Molinaro hit a home run for Evansville, and Rich Billings homered for Tulsa. Mark Lemongello was the winning pitcher, with relief help from Tom Makowski and Gene Pentz.

Tommie Reynolds led off the bottom of the 16th inning with his second home run of the game to give the Sacramento Solons an 11-10 win over the Albuquerque Dukes 11-10 in a Pacific Coast League game at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. Bob Hansen also homered for Sacramento. Orlando Avarez hit two home runs for the Dukes, while Joe Simpson, Henry Cruz, Kevin Pasley, and Terry McDermott also homered for Albuquerque. Reliever Pat Osburn was the winning pitcher in a game in which the teams combined for 30 hits.

Tony Barbosa pitched a 3-hit shutout to improve his 1975 record to 9-15 as Coahuila shut out Reynosa 3-0 in a Mexican League game that marked Mr. Barbosa's last game before entering the U.S. military.

30 years ago
1985

Football
CFL
Edmonton (1-2) 19 @ Ottawa (1-1) 41

The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, but the Esks wilted in the second half under the influence of the Ottawa humidity. The Rough Riders were leading 17-15 when rookie receiver Daric Zeno returned a Tom Dixon punt 74 yards for an Ottawa touchdown. Mr. Zeno had returned another punt 61 yards earlier in the game, finishing with 179 yards on 6 returns; he also caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback J.C. Watts. Mr. Watts also threw 2 touchdown passes to Waymon Alridge and another to Mike Caterbone. Former Eskimo Brian Fryer, playing his first game with the Rough Riders, caught 9 passes for 98 yards. Brian Kelly led the Eskimos with 8 receptions for 145 yards and scored both Edmonton touchdowns on passes from Matt Dunigan. Edmonton rookie quarterback Damon Allen saw his first action during regular season play, completing 3 of 5 passes for 34 yards in the last 3 minutes, and being stopped just short of the goal line on a third-down rush from the 7-yard line. Another Eskimo rookie, defensive back James Bell, was impressive in his CFL debut. The Rough Riders saluted their 1960 Grey Cup championship team at halftime in front of 20,475 fans at Lansdowne Park.

25 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): I Promised Myself--Nick Kamen (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Karl Menninger, 96. U.S. psychiatrist. Dr. Menninger was a member of the family who founded the Menninger Foundation and Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. His books included The Human Mind (1930); Man Against Himself (1938); The Crime of Punishment (1968); and Whatever Became of Sin? (1973). Dr. Menninger died four days before his 97th birthday.

Yun Posun, 92. 2nd President of South Korea, 1960-1962. Mr. Yun helped to establish the South Korean Democratic Party. He served as Vice President from April 23-26, 1960, and was President from August 13, 1960-March 22, 1962. Mr. Yun resigned from office by Park Chung-Hee as a result of the military coup of May 16, 1961.

Johnny Wayne, 72. Canadian comedian. Mr. Wayne was half of the comedy team Wayne and Shuster, who initially achieved popularity performing for troops during World War II and then made several specials per year on CBC television. They appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show a record 67 times. Wayne and Shuster’s most popular skits included takeoffs on Julius Caesar (Rinse the Blood Off My Toga) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (The Brown Pumpernickel). They’d have a tough time succeeding in today’s culture of declining literacy. During the 1977-78 season, Mr. Wayne’s Confessions of a Hockey Nut appeared as a first period intermission feature on Hockey Night in Canada.

Abominations
Newfoundland Roman Catholic Archbishop Alphonsus Penney announced that he had offered his resignation to Pope John Paul II following the release of a report that blamed church officials for ignoring and covering up sexual abuse by priests. "We are a sinful church," said Archbishop Penney, who had initiated the report by a five-member commission headed by former Newfoundland Lieutenant-Governor Gordon Winter. The report found that high-ranking clergy were more concerned about the offenders than the victims, and attempted to cover up allegations that priests were sexually abusing boys. Among its 55 recommendations, the commission suggested that the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops examine such issues as compensation for abuse victims and the tradition of celibacy for priests.

Diplomacy
In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker announced that the United States would no longer recognize the Cambodian rebel coalition and would instead open talks with Vietnam in an effort to end the civil war in Cambodia. The U.S. had become concerned with growing battlefield success of the Khmer Rouge, who had brutally ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979. Mr. Baker said it was "very important" to prevent the return to power of the Khmer Rouge; Vietnam was a supporter of the current Cambodian government. Mr. Baker had met with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, whose government was a backer of Vietnam and who also supported the shift in U.S. policy.

Oil
In a letter made public, Iraq charged that Kuwait and United Arab Emirates had participated in an "imperialist-Zionist plan" to depress oil prices. It accused Kuwait of having stolen $2.4 billion worth of oil from an Iraqi oilfield.

Protest
The Canadian federal government sent 50 RCMP officers to help restore order in the area of Oka, Quebec, where Mohawks from the nearby Kanesatake reserve had set up roadblocks a week earlier.

Scandal
The U.S. Senate Ethics Committee recommended that the full Senate denounce David Durenberger (Republican--Minnesota) for a number of ethical violations. The Committee said that Sen . Durenberger had knowingly violated Senate rules and had "brought the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." The charges against him included accepting improper reimbursement for travel and housing from the Senate and conspiring to evade limits on speaking fees. The Committee advised the Senate to ask Sen. Durenberger to repay $29,050 in reimbursements and ask him to donate $95,000 to charity to compensate for excess fees.

Crime
English teenagers Patricia Cahill and Karen Smith were arrested in the Bangkok airport and charged with drug smuggling. The girls claimed they didn’t know that the packages they were carrying contained heroin.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices had risen 0.5% in June.

Labour
Arbitrator George Nicolau ruled in favour of the Major League Baseball Players Association in finding that the 26 major league clubs had colluded in refusing to bid on free agents in 1987.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (0-1-1) 23 @ Edmonton (2-0) 41

Tracy Ham threw 2 touchdown passes to Keith Wright and 1 to Darrell Colbert to lead the Eskimos. Blake Marshall added another Eskimo touchdown on the ground. Ray Macoritti converted all 4 and added 3 field goals and 4 singles. Mr. Wright finished with 6 receptions for 110 yards. Doug Flutie, in his first Commonwealth Stadium appearance, rushed 19 yards for the first B.C. touchdown, and completed a 37-yard pass to Larry Willis for another touchdown. Lui Passaglia converted both and added 3 field goals. It was the last game for 5th-year Eskimo receiver Tom Richards, who went on the injured list after the game, and was forced into retirement by a bad back. 38,401 were in attendance.



Baseball
The Boston Red Sox edged the Minnesota Twins 5-4 before 34,838 fans at Fenway Park in Boston in a game in which the Red Sox hit into 6 double plays and the Twins hit into 4. The total was a major league record for a single game and came the day after the Red Sox had hit into 2 triple plays.

20 years ago
1995

Died on this date
Fabio Casartelli, 24. Italian cyclist. Mr. Casartelli won the gold medal in the road race at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. He was killed in a crash during the 15th stage of the Tour de France, when his head struck concrete blocks along the roadway. Mr. Casartelli was not wearing a helmet.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit in May was $11.43 billion.

Disasters
The Soufrière Hills volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. Over the course of several years, it devastated the island, destroying the capital and forcing most of the population to flee.

10 years ago
2005

Died on this date
William Westmoreland, 91. U.S. military officer. General Westmoreland commanded U.S. military operations in the Vietnam War from 1964-1968, and served as U.S. Army Chief of Staff from 1968-1972. He was commander of military operations in Vietnam when North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet offensive early in 1968, and caught U.S. and South Vietnamese forces by surprise. The attack was eventually repelled, but Gen. Westmoreland bore the brunt of much of the criticism for being caught off guard, and his appointment as Chief of Staff in June 1968 was seen by many as punishment.

Crime
An unrepentant Eric Rudolph was sentenced in Birmingham, Alabama, in terms of a plea bargain, to two consecutive life terms without parole for the 1998 murder of a police officer.