June 11, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Vivian Koshman!

240 years ago
1776

Politics and government
The American Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.

220 years ago
1796

Born on this date
François-Louis Cailler. Swiss chocolatier. Mr. Cailler founded the firm bearing his name in 1819 as the first modern brand of Swiss chocolate. He died on April 6, 1852 at the age of 55.

80 years ago
1936

Died on this date
Robert E. Howard, 30. U.S. author. Mr. Howard wrote short stories that appeared in pulp magazines such as Weird Tales. He created the character Conan the Barbarian, and is known as the father of the "sword and sorcery" genre, achieving commercial success from 1928 until his death. Mr. Howard was devoted to his mother, and when he found out that she was dying from tuberculosis and would not regain consciousness, he fatally shot himself in the head. His mother died the next day.

Art
The London International Surrealist Exhibition opened at New Burlington Galleries.

Politics and government
Liberal Party leader Adélard Godbout was sworn in as Premier of Quebec, replacing Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, who had resigned amidst a scandal. Mr. Godbout called an election for August 17, 1936.

75 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Dan Beard, 90. U.S. outdoorsman. "Uncle Dan" was an engineer, surveyor and artist who founded the youth program Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, merging it into the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. He was involved with scouting in the United States until his death, 10 days before his 91st birthday.

War
London and Stockholm sources reported that German troops were concentrated along the long Soviet frontier with three army corps on the Bessarabian border. British and Free French forces continued their advance into Syria.

Politics and government
Bolivian President Enrique Penaranda accepted the resignation of his entire cabinet, which quit after receiving reports that Nazis were planning general strikes.

Chilean President Pedro Aguirre Cerda named five new ministers to replace Radical Party members who had resigned the day before.

Canadiana
The Dominion Bureau of Statistics (DBS) issued results of the 1941 census, showing that Canada's population had reached 11,506,655.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt informed Congress that $4,277,412,879 of the $7-billion Lend-Lease appropriation had been allocated for aid to the Allies in the 90 days since the act had been passed.

Business
The Cleveland Rams of the National Football League were sold by a local ownership group to grocery store magnate Dan Reeves and Robert Levy for $135,000.

Labour
U.S. federal mediators settled the one-day Congress of Industrial Organizations strike at the Bohn Aluminum and Brass Corporation in Detroit.

70 years ago
1946

War
Yugoslavian Chetnik leader Draja Mikhailovich took the stand at his trial in Belgrade to declare his innocence on charges of treason and collaboration, although he admitted having contact with the Germans during World War II.

Defense
Allied headquarters in Japan forbade any aircraft to land in or fly over Japanese territory without its specific approval.

Politics and government
The U.S. Senate confirmed John Snyder as Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of President Harry Truman. Mr. Truman created a special cabinet committee of the Secretaries of State, War, and Treasury to advise him on the Palestine problem.

Labour
U.S. President Truman vetoed the Case anti-strike bill, claiming that none of the recent major strikes would have been affected by it. The House of Representatives immediately upheld his veto.

5,000 Congress of Industrial Organizations Mine, Mill and Smelting Workers ended a 2½-month strike against the American Smelting and Refining Company, with an agreement providing for an 18½c hourly wage increase.

60 years ago
1956

Abominations
The Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that targeted minority Ceylonese Tamils in the Eastern Province, began. The total number of deaths in the massacre was reportedly 150.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Hitch Hiker--Bobby and Laurie (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Cheveux Longs, Idées Courtes--Johnny Hallyday (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Michelle--The Beatles (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Sloop John B--The Beach Boys

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Paint It, Black--The Rolling Stones

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Strangers in the Night--Frank Sinatra (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Paint It, Black--The Rolling Stones

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Paint It, Black--The Rolling Stones
2 When a Man Loves a Woman--Percy Sledge
3 A Groovy Kind of Love--The Mindbenders
4 I Am a Rock--Simon and Garfunkel
5 Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind--The Lovin' Spoonful
6 It's a Man's Man's Man's World--James Brown and the Famous Flames
7 Monday, Monday--The Mamas and the Papas
8 Strangers in the Night--Frank Sinatra
9 Green Grass--Gary Lewis and the Playboys
10 Cool Jerk--The Capitols

Singles entering the chart were Paperback Writer (#50)/Rain (#73) by the Beatles; (I Washed My Hands In) Muddy Water by Johnny Rivers (#74); Day for Decision by Johnny Sea (#77); The Land of Milk and Honey by the Vogues (#78); You Better Run by the Young Rascals (#85); What am I Going to Do Without Your Love by Martha and the Vandellas (#88); Somewhere, My Love by Ray Conniff and the Singers (#89); Sunny by Bobby Hebb (#94); It's That Time of the Year by Len Barry (#96); Lara's Theme from "Dr. Zhivago" by Roger Williams (#97); and You Wouldn't Listen by the Ides of March (#100). Somewhere, My Love was a vocal version of Lara's Theme, which was originally from the movie Doctor Zhivago (1965).

Horse racing
Amberoid, with William Boland aboard, won the 98th running of the Belmont Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York in a time of 2:29 3/5, spoiling Kauai King's bid for the Triple Crown. Buffle placed second, while Kauai King was fourth, 2 lengths behind the winner.



Track and field
David Bailey of Toronto became the first Canadian to break the four-minute mile, running the distance in 3:59.1 in San Diego.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Fernando--ABBA (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Fernando--ABBA (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Fernando--ABBA (11th week at #1)

Died on this date
Jim Konstanty, 59. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Konstanty was a relief pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds (1944); Boston Braves (1946); Philadelphia Phillies (1948-1954); New York Yankees (1954-1956); and St. Louis Cardinals (1956), compiling a record of 66-48 with 74 saves and an earned run average of 3.46 in 433 games. His best season was 1950, when he appeared in 74 games--a major league single-season record at the time--and posted a 16-7 record with a 2.66 ERA and a National League-leading 22 saves in helping the Phillies "Whiz Kids" win the NL pennant. He made his only start of the season in the first game of the World Series, allowing just 4 hits and 1 earned run in 8 innings, but losing 1-0 to the New York Yankees. Mr. Konstanty was named the National League's Most Valuable Player for 1950, becoming the first major league relief pitcher to win the award, and the only one in the National League to date.

Diplomacy
The United Nations Habitat conference on human settlements ended in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Crime
13 mercenaries--10 of them British--went on trial in Angola for the murders of fellow mercenaries during the Angolan civil war in 1975.

Oil
The National Energy Board of Canada cut oil exports to the United States by 12%.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): The Final Countdown--Europe (3rd week at #1)

At the movies
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, written and directed by John Hughes, and starring Matthew Broderick, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Chesley Bonestell, 98. U.S. artist. Mr. Bonestell was known as the "Father of Modern Space Art" for his paintings of astronomical scenes that appeared in books such as The Conquest of Space (1949, written by Willy Ley) and in movies such as Destination Moon (1950). He was active until his death.

25 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Cromwell Everson, 65. S.A. composer. Mr. Everson wrote instrumental and chamber works, but was best known for his vocal music, including song cycles and Klutaimnestra (1967), the first opera in Afrikaans.

20 years ago
1996

Died on this date
Brigitte Helm, 90. German actress. Miss Helm, born Brigitte Schittenhelm, was best known for playing two roles in the silent film Metropolis (1927). She retired from acting in 1935 and moved to Switzerland with her husband.

George Hees, 85. Canadian football player and politician. Mr. Hees, a native of Toronto, played with the Toronto Argonauts (1934, 1937-1938), helping them to Grey Cup championships in his last two seasons. He served with the Canadian Army during World War II as a Brigade Major, and played with the Canadian Army team that defeated a U.S. Army team in the Tea Bowl in London in 1944. As a Progressive Conservative, he represented the Toronto-area ridings of Broadview (1950-1963); Northumberland (1965-1968, 1979-1988); and Prince Edward-Hastings (1968-1979) in the Canadian House of Commons. Mr. Hees served in the cabinet of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker as Minister of Transport (1957-1960) and Minister of Trade and Commerce (1960-1963), and in the cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney as Minister of Veterans Affairs (1984-1988). In the early 1980s, he was Chairman of the Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defence. Mr. Hees died six days before his 86th birthday.

Radio
Fredericton, New Brunswick station CFNB signed off the air and was replaced by CIBX-FM. The station began broadcasting in 1923, out of Stewart Neill’s home on Waterloo Row in Fredericton.

10 years ago
2006

Literature
Ken Oppel won the first Canadian Booksellers' Association (CBA) Libris Children's Author of the Year Award for Skybreaker.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Miami 85 @ Dallas 99 (Dallas led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Mavericks over the Heat before 20,459 fans at American Airlines Center.