June 9, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sandie Topechka!

170 years ago
1846

Canadiana
Hamilton, Canada West received a city charter.

Disasters
Fire destroyed the wharves and most of the houses in St. John's, Newfoundland, leaving nearly 12,000 people homeless.

150 years ago
1866

War
British Army soldier Timothy O'Hea entered a burning Grand Trunk Railway boxcar at Danville, Canada East en route to Fort Erie, Canada West, ripped the lids from munition boxes, and doused the flames with buckets of water. For saving the lives of his fellow soldiers and 800 German immigrants in converted boxcars, the 20-year-old Irish Private became the only person to earn the Victoria Cross for an act of valour In Canada, on January 7, 1867.

125 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Cole Porter. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Porter was one of the most famous songwriters of the 20th century, writing music and lyrics for Broadway plays and movies. His songs included I've Got You Under My Skin; Night and Day; I Get a Kick Out of You; You're the Top; and Begin the Beguine. Mr. Porter died on October 15, 1964 at the age of 73.

110 years ago
1906

Born on this date
Huguette Clark. U.S. heiress, painter, and philanthropist. Miss Clark, the daughter of U.S. Senator and industrialist William A. Clark, spent her early life in Paris before settling in New York City, living in an apartment that she expanded to two floors. She painted, collected antiquities, and donated to charities, while maintaining large estates in California and Connecticut. Miss Clark was operated on for cancerous facial lesions in 1991 and fully recovered, but chose to spend the rest of her life in hospital, never returning to any of her homes before her death on May 24, 2011, 16 days before her 105th birthday. Her story was told in the biography Empty Mansions (2013) by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.

100 years ago
1916

Born on this date
Siegfried Graetschus. German SS officer. Untersturmfuhrer (Junior Storm Leader) Graetschus helped to perpetrate the genocide of Jews at Sobibor death camp as part of Operation Reinhard in Nazi-occupied Poland. He was killed at the age of 27 on October 14, 1943 when Arkady Moiseyevich Vaispapir, a Jewish Russian Red Army soldier who had been imprisoned at Sobibor as a prisoner of war, took an axe to his head.

Robert McNamara. U.S. businessman and politician. Mr. McNamara was an employee and then an executive with Ford Motor Company from 1946-1961, becoming the first person outside the Ford family to become the company's president in 1960. He then served as United States Secretary of Defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from 1961-1968, and remains the longest-serving Defense Secretary in American history. Mr. McNamara oversaw the escalation of American involvement in the Vietnam War, and became a target of increasing anti-war protest. Disagreements with President Johnson over the course of the war led to Mr. McNamara's resignation in 1968. He then served as President of the World Bank from 1968-1981. Mr. McNamara died on July 6, 2009 at the age of 93.

75 years ago
1941

War
U.K. and Free French forces, aided by aircraft and naval bombardments along the Mediterranean shore, advanced into Syria, taking Tyre along the coast and crossing the Leontes River; only scattered resistance from Vichy forces was reported. The Royal Canadian Navy ship HMCS Saskatoon was commissioned at Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Crime
Itaru Tatibana, a Japanese Navy officer, and Torachi Kono, a Japanese servant in the home of film director Charlie Chaplin, were arrested in Los Angeles on spying charges.

Labour
Under the direct order of U.S.President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 2,500 regular Army troops took over the strike-bound plant of North American Aviation in Inglewood, California. Mr. Roosevelt announced that the takeover was necessary for national defense. U.S. Attorney General Robert Jackson said that the strike leaders were following "the Communist Party line."

Representatives of 5,000 American Federation of Labor teamsters in Minneapolis, led by Niles B. Dunn, voted to secede from the parent union and seek a charter from the Congress of INdustrial Organizations.

70 years ago
1946

Died on this date
Rama VIII, 20. King of Thailand, 1935-1946. King Rama VIII, born Ananda Mahidol, was recognized as King by the National Assembly in March 1935, when he was a 9-year-old boy living in Switzerland, after the abdication of King Rama VII. He remained abroad during Japanese occupation of Thailand during World War II, and returned to Thailand in December 1945, but was found shot to death in his bed six months later. The King's death from a single gunshot was originally thought to be suicide, but was eventually ruled to be murder, and three royal pages were executed after irregular trials. Rama VIII was succeeded by his brother Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX.

Crime
U.S. Army Major David Watson was arrested in connection with the theft of the crown jewels of the House of Hesse from Kronberg Castle near Frankfurt.

Oil
Geological studies in Peru revealed that the Andes foothills may hold one of the richest oil deposits in the world.

Disasters
An electrical storm in Massachusetts took 10 lives and caused heavy damage.

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Mack the Knife (A Theme from the Threepenny Opera)--Louis Armstrong (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Steig in das Traumboot der Liebe--Caterina Valente & Silvio Francesco as Club Indonesia (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): I'll Be Home--Pat Boone

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Heartbreak Hotel--Elvis Presley (Best Seller--8th week at #1; Jukebox--6th week at #1; Top 100--6th week at #1); Moonglow and Theme from "Picnic"--Morris Stoloff and the Columbia Pictures Orchestra (Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Moonglow and Theme from "Picnic"--Morris Stoloff and the Columbia Pictures Orchestra (2nd week at #1)
--George Cates and his Orchestra
2 The Wayward Wind--Gogi Grant
3 Heartbreak Hotel--Elvis Presley
4 Standing on the Corner--The Four Lads
5 I'm in Love Again--Fats Domino
6 Ivory Tower--Cathy Carr
--Otis Williams and the Charms
--Gale Storm
7 Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)--Perry Como
8 The Happy Whistler--Don Robertson
9 (You've Got) The Magic Touch--The Platters
10 I Want You, I Need You, I Love You--Elvis Presley

Singles entering the chart were More (#37)/Glendora (#43) by Perry Como; Sweet Heartaches by Eddie Fisher (#38); Allegheny Moon by Patti Page (#41); Lost John by Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group (#45); Second Fiddle by Kay Starr (#46); Cimarron (Roll On) by Les Paul and Mary Ford (#48); Ooby Dooby by Roy Orbison and the Teen Kings (#49); and Fever by Little Willie John (#50). Ooby Dooby was Mr. Orbison's first single.

Horse racing
Swaps, with Bill Shoemaker aboard, won the $50,000 Argonaut Handicap at Hollywood Park, California in a world record time for the mile of 1 minute 33.2 seconds.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Strangers in the Night--Frank Sinatra (2nd week at #1)

At the movies
Khartoum, starring Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier, received its premiere screening in London.



Paradise - Hawaiian Style, starring Elvis Presley, opened in theatres.



30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Living Doll--Cliff Richard featuring the Young Ones (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Brother Louie--Modern Talking

Disasters
The Rogers Commission released its report on the January 28, 1986 explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger, blaming the disaster on the failure of O-rings sealing the aft field joint on the right solid rocket booster, and criticizing NASA and rocket-building firm Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts, 73 seconds after launch.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Edmonton (0-1) 7 @ Winnipeg (2-0) 22

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I'll Do 4 U--Father MC featuring Mary J. Blige

#1 single in Switzerland: Wind of Change--Scorpions (2nd week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 The One and Only--Chesney Hawkes
2 The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in his Kiss)--Cher
3 Joyride--Roxette
4 How to Dance--Bingoboys featuring Princessa
5 Rhythm of My Heart--Rod Stewart
6 Wind of Change--Scorpions
7 Secret Love--Bee Gees
8 Bobby Brown--Frank Zappa
9 No Coke--Dr. Alban
10 Just the Way it Is, Baby--The Rembrandts

Singles entering the chart were Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave) by Roxette (#14); and Senza una donna (Without a Woman) by Zucchero & Paul Young (#18); Future Love Paradise by Seal (#27); and Captured by a Lovestorm by Carola (#29).

Died on this date
Claudio Arrau, 88. Chilean-born U.S. musician. Mr. Arrau was regarded as one of the greatest classical pianists of the 20th century, performing everything from baroque to modern music. He emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a dual Chilean and American citizen in 1979.

Howard Hobson, 87. U.S. basketball, football, and baseball coach. Mr. Hobson was head coach at Southern Oregon Normal School—now Southern Oregon University—from 1932-1935; University of Oregon from 1935-1944, 1945-1947; and Yale University from 1947-1956, compiling a career record of 401–257. The 1938–39 Oregon basketball team won the inaugural NCAA Basketball Tournament. Mr. Hobson was also head football coach at Southern Oregon from 1932-1934--compiling a record of 12-7-1--and head baseball coach at Oregon from 1936-1947, with a record of 167-75-1. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Chicago 97 Los Angeles Lakers 82 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 3-1)

Michael Jordan scored 28 points and added 13 assists for the Bulls as they beat the Lakers before 17,506 fans at Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California.



20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Killing Me Softly with His Song--The Fugees (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Children--Robert Miles (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Macarena--Los Del Rio (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): Killing Me Softly--The Fugees (2nd week at #1)

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Chicago 108 @ Seattle 86 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 3-0)

The Bulls built a 34-16 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and easily beat the SuperSonics before 17,072 fans at KeyArena. Chicago point guard Michael Jordan led all scorers with 36 points.



10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Drafi Deutscher, 60. German singer-songwriter. Mr. Deutscher, who recorded under his first name, had a string of hit singles from 1964-1966. His single Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht, released in West Germany in 1965, achieved international success, and was released in English-speaking countries in 1966 under the title Marble Breaks and Iron Bends. Mr. Deutscher disappeared from the public eye after a 1967 conviction for public indecency--urinating from a balcony in full view of schoolchildren--but made a successful comeback in the late 1980s. He died from heart failure after suffering from diabetes for several years.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Toronto (0-2) 11 @ Hamilton (2-0) 21
Saskatchewan (2-0) 22 @ Edmonton (0-2) 7