July 4, 2015

1,050 years ago
965

Died on this date
Benedict V. Roman Catholic Pope, 964. Benedict V succeeded John XII as Pope on May 22, 964 and was overthrown by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and replaced by Leo VIII on June 23.

170 years ago
1845

Literature
Writer Henry David Thoreau began a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts.

150 years ago
1865

Literature
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, was published in the United Kingdom.

120 years ago
1895

Born on this date
Irving Caesar. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Caesar, born Isidor Keiser, wrote lyrics for such songs as Swanee; Crazy Rhythm; and Tea for Two. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, and died on December 18, 1996 at the age of 101.

Americana
The song America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates was published.

110 years ago
1905

Canadiana
The House of Commons passed a bill establishing Alberta and Saskatchewan as provinces.

90 years ago
1925

Boxing
Jimmy McLarnin (22-1-2) won a 10-round decision over world flyweight champion Pancho Villa (89-8-4-2) in a non-title bout at Oaks Ballpark in Emeryville, California. Mr. Villa was suffering from the effects of an infected tooth that had been extracted that day, and spent most of the fight protecting his face. The infection spread, and Mr. Villa died 10 days later; this was his last fight.

75 years ago
1940

War
In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill defended the previous day's attack by the Royal Navy on the French fleet at Mers El Kébir, and vowed to "prosecute the war with the utmost vigour."

Politics and government
A pro-German, anti-Semitic cabinet was established in Romania.

Vice President Ramon Castillo was named acting President of Argentina to replace ailing President Roberto Ortiz.

The British government promised to consider dominion status for Burma after World War II.

Reports from India suggested the formation of a coalition government for the purpose of defense.

The American Youth Congress adopted a report asking that U.S. youth not be forced to fight against Adolf Hitler.

Baseball
The Detroit Tigers, playing before the biggest home crowd in their history--56,272 at Briggs Stadium--split a doubleheader with the Cleveland Indians. The Tigers won the opener 5-3 behind the pitching of Tommy Bridges, then the Indians took the second game 2-1 in 11 innings.

In the American Association, Ab Wright of the Minneapolis Millers hit a home run in the first of 2 games against St. Paul at Nicollet Park in Minneapolis, then tied a league record with 4 home runs in the second game. Mr. Wright also had a triple in game 2, giving him an AA record of 19 total bases for the game. St. Paul won the first game 3-2, while Minneapolis won the second game 17-5.

70 years ago
1945

War
Australian troops entered the Borneo oil refining centre of Balik Papan and captured the most important airfield in the area at Sepingang.

World events
U.S. troops formally established themselves in Berlin under commander Major General Floyd Parks. Canadian troops entered Berlin as part of a British garrison force, to share occupation duties.

Diplomacy
The U.S. delegation to the international conference to consider the provisional status of the port of Tangier informed the French government that it no objection to the U.S.S.R. participating in the conference.

Defense
Commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet Admiral Jonas Ingram said that several U.S. Navy ships would be turned over to the Brazilian Navy after the end of World War II.

Disasters
The Brazilian Navy cruiser Bahia was accidentally sunk by one of her own crewmen during target practice, resulting in the deaths of at least 336 crewmen, with fewer than three dozen who survived until they were rescued four days later.

Politics and government
American Founding Father Thomas Paine, who had lost the right to vote in New Rochelle, New York in 1806, had his franchise restored, 136 years after his death.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Foreign Economic Administration announced resumption of trade between the United States and French North Africa; Algeria; French Morocco; and Tunisia.

The U.S. War Production Board ordered the use of some synthetic rubber in all future tires, regardless of size, to save about 1,300 tons of natural rubber per year.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ordered the Book Paper Manufacturing Association of New York and 42 member manufacturers to stop fixing "uniform prices."

60 years ago
1955

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



40 years ago
1975

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: The Newcastle Song--Bob Hudson (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Paloma Blanca--George Baker Selection (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Only You Can--Fox (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Ira Tustin, 83. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Tustin played in the minor leagues with Clarksburg and Fairmont in the 1920s.

Politics and government
The Indian government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi banned more than 25 opposition political organizations.

Tennis
Billie Jean King won the women's singles final at Wimbledon for the sixth time, defeating Evonne Goolagong-Cawley of Australia, 6-0, 6-1, in 39 minutes.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Montreal (1-1) 0 @ Saskatchewan (1-1) 32

Baseball
The Boston Red Sox acquired pitcher Jim Willoughby from the Tulsa Oilers of the American Association, completing the April 4 deal with the St. Louis Cardinals in which the Red Sox had sold infielder Mario Guerrero to the Cardinals, who then assigned him to Tulsa. In 15 games with Tulsa in 1975--all starts--Mr. Willoughby had a record of 8-6 with an earned run average of 3.24 and 3 shutouts.

The Toledo Mud Hens and Memphis Blues split an International League doubleheader at Lucas County Stadium in Toledo. Roy Thomas pitched a 5-hit complete game in the first game to win the pitchers' duel over Bill Kirkpatrick as Toledo won 4-1, while Memphis won the second game 5-2 in 12 innings. Chip Lang pitched the first 10 innings for the Blues, with Ron Diorio pitching the last 2 innings and getting the win. Between the games, Memphis oufielder Warren Cromartie got into an argument with Mr. Kirkpatrick over the latter's selection of pitches, and the argument carried onto the field.

Dyain Frazier pitched a 7-inning no-hitter as the Salinas Packers of the Class A California League blanked the San Jose Bees 8-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

30 years ago
1985

Academia
13-year-old Ruth Lawrence achieved a first-class degree in Mathematics from Oxford University, becoming the youngest known graduate of Oxford.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (0-1) 18 @ Montreal (1-0) 34

Mark Hopkins recovered a blocked Bob Cameron punt in the Winnipeg end zone with 51 seconds left in the third quarter to break a 17-17 tie as the Concordes upset the defending Grey Cup champion Blue Bombers before 23,627 fans at Olympic Stadium. Montreal quarterback Turner Gill threw touchdown passes to Mike McTague and Jeff Patterson, and Dwaine Wilson rushed for another Montreal touchdown. Tom Clements threw to Jeff Boyd for the only Blue Bomber touchdown.

Baseball
In a game that included 2 rain delays and took 6 hours and 10 minutes to play, the New York Mets scored 5 runs in the top of the 19th inning and withstood a 2-run rally in the bottom of the 19th to beat the Atlanta Braves 16-13 before 44,947 fans at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Keith Hernandez of the Mets hit for the cycle. The Mets had taken the lead in the top of the 18th, but Atlanta relief pitcher Rick Camp, a career .060 hitter who was batting because the team was out of pinch hitters, hit a 2-out, 2-strike pitch for his only major league home run to tie the game. The game ended at 3:55 A.M. on July 5, the latest finish in major league history. The scheduled postgame fireworks show began at 4:01 A.M., causing local residents to think that the city was under attack.





25 years ago
1990

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

Politics and government
Addressing the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said that he would quit within two years if perestroika (restructuring) failed to produce positive results.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (2-0) 43 @ Ottawa (1-1) 30

20 years ago
1995

Died on this date
Eva Gabor, 76. Hungarian-born U.S. actress. Miss Gabor, the younger sister of Zsa Zsa and Magda, was best known for co-starring in the television comedy series Green Acres (1965-1971).

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis decoupled from the Russian space station Mir. U.S. astronaut Norman Thagard, who had been aboard since flying to it aboard a U.S. mission in March, joined the crew of Atlantis, along with cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov. Cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin, who had been abouard Atlantis when it lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 27 to begin mission STS-71, remained aboard Mir.

Diplomacy
Meeting in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestine National Authority leader Yasser Arafat agreed in principle to the next phase of their agreement. Israeli soldiers woule be redeployed away from centres of Palestinian population in the West Bank, with Palestinian elections to follow.

Politics and government
British Prime Minister John Major won his battle to remain leader of the Conservative Party, receiving the votes of 218 members of his paliamentary caucus to 89 for former Secretary of State for Wales John Redwood.

Football
CFL
Birmingham (1-0) 38 @ Winnipeg (0-2) 10

Andre Strode and Junior Thurman returned interceptions for touchdowns and Jimmy Klingler completed touchdown passes to Jason Phillips and Derrick Crawford as the Barracudas defeated the Blue Bombers before 22,208 fans at Winnipeg Stadium in the first regular season game for the expansion Birmingham club and the first game for Jack Pardee as a CFL head coach. Mr. Klingler, replacing injured starter Matt Dunigan at quarterback, threw a 96-yard TD pass to Mr. Phillips in the 1st quarter.



10 years ago
2005

Died on this date
Cliff Goupille, 89. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Goupille was a defenceman with the Montreal Canadiens from 1935-43. He scored 12 goals and 28 assists in 222 regular season games and 2 goals in 8 playoff games.

Space
The NASA probe Deep Impact hit Comet Tempel 1 as planned, in a mission to learn how the solar system formed.