June 23, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sherry Holden!

260 years ago
1757

War
3,000 British East India Company troops under Colonel Robert Clive defeated a 50,000-strong Indian army under Siraj ud-Daulah in the Battle of Plassey in Bengal.

150 years ago
1867

Health
Yellow fever appeared in New Orleans.

140 years ago
1877

Born on this date
Norman Pritchard. Indian-born athlete and actor. Mr. Pritchard was the first Indian athlete to compete in the Olympic Games and to win a medal, winning silver medals in the men's 200-metre run and 200-metre hurdles competition at the 1900 Olympics in Paris. He was officially competing for the United Kingdom, but the International Olympic Committee recognizes him as representing India. Mr. Pritchard moved to Britain in 1905 and later moved to the United States, where he appeared in plays and movies under the name Norman Trevor from the mid-1910s until his death from a brain illness on October 31, 1929 at the age of 52.

130 years ago
1887

Environment
The Rocky Mountains Park Act became law in Canada, creating Banff National Park as the nation's first national park.

110 years ago
1907

Died on this date
Hod Stuart, 28. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Stuart, a native of Ottawa, was a cover-point (defenceman) with seven different teams in four different amateur and professional leagues from 1898-1907, with combined totals of 53 goals and 11 assists in 93 regular season games and 1 goal and 2 assists in 8 playoff games. He played with the Calumet Miners and Pittsburgh Professionals from 1904-1906 in the International Professional Hockey League and was a First team All-Star in both seasons, but left the IPHL out of concerns about increasing violence. Mr. Stuart joined the Montreal Wanderers of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association in 1906-1907, and helped the Wanderers win the Stanley Cup. He was killed in a diving accident at Bay Quinte, Ontario; on January 2, 1908, the Wanderers hosted an ECAHA All-Star team in a game for the benefit of Mr. Stuart's widow and children, the first such game in any sport. Mr. Stuart was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945 as a charter member.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Bubba Floyd. U.S. baseball player. Leslie Floyd played 3 games at shortstop with the Detroit Tigers in 1944, batting .444 (4 for 9) with a double, a base on balls, and a run. He played with various minor league teams from at least 1936-1946. Mr. Floyd died on December 15, 2000 at the age of 83.

Jack Sanford. U.S. baseball player and coach. Dr. Sanford was a first baseman with the Washington Nationals (1940-1941, 1946), batting .209 with no home runs and 11 runs batted in in 47 games. He played for various minor league teams in the southern United States from at least 1939-1955. Dr. Sanforde became a physical education professor at Elon College in North Carolina, and coached their baseball team from 1956-1966, compiling a record of 184-110. He then taught at Barton College in North Carolina, coaching their baseball team in 1973 and 1981-1984. Dr. Sanford died on January 4, 2005 at the age of 87.

Baseball
Ernie Shore of the Boston Red Sox pitched a "perfect game," though he didn't start the Red Sox' 4-0 win over the Washington Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader before 16,158 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. Babe Ruth started on the mound for Boston, but was ejected by home plate umpire Brick Owens for arguing a ball-four call to leadoff batter Ray Morgan and punching Mr. Owens. Mr. Shore entered, Mr. Morgan was caught stealing on the first pitch, and Mr. Shore got the next 26 outs. A 1991 rule change deprived him of the honour because he didn't pitch a full nine innings, making the game a combined no-hitter. The Red Sox completed the sweep with a 5-0 win in the second game, as Dutch Leonard threw a 4-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Walter Johnson.

Roger Peckinpaugh doubled home Wally Pipp with the tying run and then scored on a pinch hit single by Les Nunamaker as the New York Yankees scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 2-1 for a sweep of their doubleheader before 20,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York. Ray Caldwell pitched a 6-hit complete game to win the pitchers' duel over Jing Johnson, who also went the distance. Mr. Caldwell also started the first game, allowing 3 hits and no runs in 6 innings to get the win as the Yankees won 10-4. Mr. Pipp batted 4 for 4 with a triple, his American League-leading 6th home run of the season, 4 runs, and 3 runs batted in. The Athletics scored all their runs in the 9th inning.

The Chicago White Sox scored a run in the bottom of the 15th inning to defeat the Cleveland Indians 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

Casey Stengel had 2 hits in each game to help the Brooklyn Robins sweep a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs 3-0 and 7-5 before 15,000 fans at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Leon Cadore pitched a 6-hit shutout for the Robins in the first game to win the pitchers' duel over Jesse Barnes.

The Chicago Cubs scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th inning to break a 4-4 tie and defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 to complete a sweep of their doubleheader at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Phil Douglas pitched a 4-hit shutout, singled, and scored a run as the Cubs won the first game 2-0.

Lee Meadows pitched a 4-hit complete game for the St. Louis Cardinals as they beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 before 3,500 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

75 years ago
1942

War
Germany's latest fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, was captured intact when its pilot, Oberleutnant Armin Faber, mistakenly landed at Royal Air Force Pembrey in Wales. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Axis forces attemtped tp flank the British defense line on the Libyan-Egyptian border. German forces continued heavy assaults in the Sevastopol and Kharkov areas of Russia. The U.S. Navy reported that 13 Allied ships had been sunk in the Caribbean Sea between June 4-13. Chinese forces recaptured the important Japanese base at Linhsien in northern Honan near the Shansi border.

Defense
The Martin JRM Mars, the world's largest flying boat, capable of travelling over 7,000 miles at 200 miles per hour, made its first flight.

Abominations
The first selections for those to be murdered in the gas chamber at the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in Poland took place on a train full of Jews from Paris.

Politics and government
The British government in India outlawed the All India Forward Bloc, an extremist nationalist group founded by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities charged that the Union for Democratic Action was leading a campaign to discredit and obliterate Congress.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee said in its report on war production that "there has been evidence of widespread and inexcusable waste of public funds."

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Mam'selle--Art Lund (7th week at #1)
--Dick Haymes
--Frank Sinatra
--Dennis Day
--Pied Pipers
2 Peg o' My Heart--The Harmonicats
--Three Suns
--Art Lund
--Buddy Clark
--Clark Dennis
3 Linda--Ray Noble and his Orchestra with Buddy Clark
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
4 My Adobe Hacienda--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
5 Across the Alley from the Alamo--The Mills Brothers
6 That's My Desire--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Frankie Laine and Mannie Klein's All-Stars
7 Heartaches--Ted Weems and his Orchestra
--Harry James and his Orchestra
8 Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)--Perry Como and the Satisfiers
9 I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
10 I Believe--Frank Sinatra

Singles entering the chart were As Long as I'm Dreaming, with versions by Bing Crosby, and Harry James and his Orchestra (#18); Temptation (Tim-Tayshun) by Red Ingle and his Natural Seven (#19); and When You were Sweet Sixteen by Perry Como and the Satisfiers (#21). When You were Sweet Sixteen was the B-side of Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep).

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Speckled Band

Defense
U.S. State Secretary George Marshall and War Secretary Robert Patterson testified before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in favour of the inter-American military cooperation bill, which permitted the shipment of U.S. weapons and ships to 20 American states.

Politics and government
The Punjab Legislative Assembly in Lahore voted for partition between India and Pakistan.

Journalism
British authorities in Dortmund ordered a one-month suspension of the Communist newspaper Westdeutsches Volksecho for "malicious" criticism of the occupation.

Economics and finance
Mexican President Miguel Aleman created a committee to supervise foreign investments, and decreed that foreign investors may not hold more than a 49% interest in any Mexican enterprise.

Labour
The United States Senate followed the United States House of Representatives in overriding President Harry Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act, which restricted union activities.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Lea Act, restricting labour practices in the communications industry.

Business
The U.S. government filed an antitrust suit in New York against the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, charging that ASCAP was engaged in a worldwide cartel and conspiracy to monopolize music performing rights.

60 years ago
1957

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Dangerous People, starring Albert Salmi and Robert H. Harris

This was the last episode of the season.

Married on this date
U.K. actors Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall were wed in New York.

Politics and government
U.S.S.R. Communist Party First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev addressed the party's Central Committee for three hours, accusing the faction supporting former Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov of an anti-party conspiracy and sabotage of East-West disarmament talks and Soviet bloc unity. The U.S.S.R. charged that "right-wing elements" in the Chinese Communist Party had exploited freedom of discussion to launch a "furious" attack on China's government.

Defense
Two Soviet destroyers, the first Russian warships to use the Suez Canal since 1917, passed through the waterway.

Auto racing
The Scottish team of Ivor Bueb and Ron Flockhart, driving a Jaguar, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Opportunity--Mr. Lee Grant

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)--Scott McKenzie
2 Here Comes My Baby--The Tremeloes
3 She'd Rather Be with Me--The Turtles
4 Somebody to Love--Jefferson Airplane
5 Friday on My Mind--The Easybeats
6 My Girl Josephine--Jerry Jaye
7 Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead--The Fifth Estate
8 Bowling Green--The Everly Brothers
9 Do it Again a Little Bit Slower--Jon & Robin and the In Crowd
10 Him or Me - What's it Gonna Be?--Paul Revere and the Raiders
Pick hit of the week: Come On In--Wes Dakus
New this week: There Goes My Everything--Engelbert Humperdinck
The Jokers--Peter and Gordon
White Rabbit--Jefferson Airplane
Graduation Day--The Arbors
Cornflakes and Ice Cream--Lords of London

On the radio
Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Langford and Kenneth Baker, on Springbok Radio
Tonight's episode: The Reigate Squires

At the movies
The Happiest Millionaire, co-produced by Walt Disney and starring Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, and Greer Garson, received its premiere screening at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Mr. Disney had died on December 15, 1966, and this was the last film that he personally oversaw.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson met with U.S.S.R. Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference.

Scandal
U.S. Senator Thomas J. Dodd (Democrat--Connecticut) was censured by the Senate for using "funds obtained from the public through political testimonials and a political campaign" for personal benefit.

Track and field
Jim Ryun, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Kansas, set a world record in the one-mile run of 3:51.1, breaking his own record set a year earlier. Mr. Ryun was competing in the Amateur Athletic Union national championships in Berkeley, California.

40 years ago
1977

At the movies
Why Shoot the Teacher, starring Bud Cort, Samantha Eggar, and Chris Wiggins, opened in theatres in Canada.

Journalism
The Soviet journal New Times contained an editorial denouncing Spanish Communist Party leader Santiago Carrillo, and calling his idea of Eurocommunism an anti-Soviet attempt to split the world communist movement. Mr. Carrillo had called for Western European communist parties to reject Soviet domination and Stalinist techniques of gaining and retaining power.

30 years ago
1987

Politics and government
Robert Bourassa and his Liberal majority in the Québec National Assembly approved the Meech Lake Accord, becoming the first provincial legislature to do so; this started countdown on three year ratification period for the Canadian constitutional accord.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the consumer price index had increased 0.3% in May.

25 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Eric Andolsek, 25. U.S. football player. Mr. Andolsek was an offensive guard with the Louisiana State University Tigers from 1984-1987. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1988, and played 61 games with them through 1991. Mr. Andolsek was working in the yard of his home when the driver of a semi-trailer truck took his eyes off the road, and the vehicle went into Mr. Andolsek's yard and killed him.

Politics and government
In the Israeli general election, the Labour Party, led by Yitzhak Rabin, took 44 seats in the 120-seat Knesset to take power for the first time in 15 years. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s Likud Party took 32 seats, while the three-party coalition called Meretz won 12 seats. Labour supported a “land for peace” compromise with Palestinians, while Likud opposed Palestinian self-rule and was committed to constructing more Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. Meretz supported an independent Palestine. It was expected that Meretz and several small parties would join with Labour to produce a parliamentary majority for Mr. Rabin.

Defense
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced that his government planned to spend over $4 billion on 50 helicopters to replace aging naval Sea Kings, with delivery to start in 1998.

Crime
New York crime boss John Gotti was sentenced to life in prison for racketeering and five counts of murder.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Clumsy--Our Lady Peace
2 A Change Will Do You Good--Sheryl Crow
3 Staring at the Sun--U2
4 MMMBop--Hanson
5 Semi-Charmed Life--Third Eye Blind
6 Your Woman--White Town
7 Midnight Rain--Wide Mouth Mason
8 I Want You--Savage Garden
9 Elegantly Wasted--INXS
10 Sunny Came Home--Shawn Colvin

Singles entering the chart were Spy in the House of Love by Steve Winwood (#87); Try by Michael Penn (#90); Building a Mystery by Sarah McLachlan (#92); Temptation by the Tea Party (#95); The Full Catastrophe by John Mellencamp (#96); and Tripping Blues by the Dave Matthews Band (#97).

Died on this date
Betty Shabazz, 63. U.S. educator and civil rights activist. Ms. Shabazz, born Betty Sanders, was the wife of Negro civil rights activist Malcolm X. She witnessed his assassination at the hands of Nation of Islam members in 1965, and pursued advanced education afterward, eventually becoming a professor of health sciences at Medgar Evers College in New York. She died 22 days after suffering burns to over 80% of her body in a fire set in her apartment by her young grandson Malcolm, who was sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention for manslaughter and arson.

Canadiana
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip arrived in St. John's to begin a 10-day tour of Canada.

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Rod Beck, 38. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Beck was a relief pitcher with the San Francisco Giants (1991–1997); Chicago Cubs (1998–1999); Boston Red Sox (1999–2001); and San Diego Padres (2003–2004), compiling a record of 38-45 with an earned run average of 3.30 and 286 saves in 704 games. He had surgery on his pitching arm after the 2001 season and spent the 2002 season in the minor leagues, but made a successful comeback with the Padres in 2003. Mr. Beck was a user of cocaine and heroin, which likely caused his death.