June 3, 2017

150 years ago
1867

Defense
Austria began to fortify Vienna.

Politics and government
U.S. Army General Philip Sheridan, military governor of the Fifth Military District (Texas and Louisiana) removed James M. Wells as Governor of Louisiana, accusing him of being "a political trickster and a dishonest man." Mr. Wells was removed for doing little or nothing the previous year to prevent riots in New Orleans against Negro voting, and for failing to implement reforms regarding freedmen.

130 years ago
1887

Politics and government
Wilfrid Laurier was chosen leader of the Liberal Party of Canada by the party's parliamentary caucus, replacing Edward Blake. The move was ratified at the party convention on June 7.

125 years ago
1892

Soccer
Liverpool Football Club was founded.

110 years ago
1907

Protest
A riot occurred in the small town of Olds, Alberta, north of Calgary, after the Calgary and Edmonton Railway claimed that a railway crossing in Olds was dangerous and not a legal right-of-way. Town officials objected, but the railway brought in a construction crew to fence off the crossing, and a detachment of mounted police to enforce its closure. Town police arrested and jailed some of the Mounties and railway foreman, then the North West Mounted Police superintendent arrested the town police officers and municipal officials and held them in a railway car until the town ordered their release.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Leo Gorcey. U.S. actor. Mr. Gorcey starred in 69 Ded End Kids/East Side Kids/Bowery Boys movies from 1937-1956. He drank himself to death, dying on June 2, 1969, the day before his 52nd birthday.

80 years ago
1937

Married on this date
The Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of Great Britain, married American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson in France.

75 years ago
1942

War
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate formal declarations of war against Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. Several hundred U.K. Royal Air Force planes bombed Essen and other Ruhr objectives. Four Japanese bombers began the Aleutian Islands Campaign by attacking Unalaska Island, causing few casualties and setting several warehouses on fire. A Chinese expeditionary force arrived in India from Burma under the command of U.S. Army General Joe Stilwell. Japanese troops moved toward Chuhsien in western Chekiang Province, China.

Defense
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Dr. C. Parra Perez said that his country was on the side of the United States and was "cooperating in the defense of the continent."

Economics and finance
The British government of Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued a White Paper announcing nationalization and control of coal distribution.

70 years ago
1947

Defense
Following talks with Argentine Ambassador to the United States Oscar Ivanissevich, the White House announced that U.S. President Harry Truman was ready to resume consultation with Argentina and other American republics on a Western Hemisphere defense treaty.

U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall urged the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee to approve legislation authorizing the President to send peacetime U.S. military missions to any foreign country requesting them.

Politics and government
U.K. Prime Minister Clement Attlee and Viceroy Viscount Mountbatten jointly announced a British plan to partition India into Hindu and Muslim states. The plan called for British withdrawal as early as the summer of 1947, if the Indian provinces acted swiftly in forming their own governments.

Hungarian Justice Minister Istvan Ries announced a new electoral law which would deprive all "enemies of democracy" of the franchise, affecting about 10% of the country's voters.

Economics and finance
The British House of Commons passed an industrial organization and development bill, providing for state supervision of private industry.

The U.S. Senate passed a compormise tax bill, approved the previous day by the House of Representatives, reducing income taxes by 10 1/2%-30%.

Boxing
Lloyd Marshall (60-15-3) knocked out Freddie Mills (71-16-6) at 2:58 of the 5th round of a light heavyweight bout at Harringay Arena, Harringay, London.



60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Love Letters in the Sand/Bernardine--Pat Boone (Best Seller--1st week at #1); All Shook Up--Elvis Presley (Disc Jockey--7th week at #1; Jukebox--7th week at #1; Top 100--8th week at #1)

Defense
The United States joined the Baghdad Treaty Military Committee at a meeting of the treaty's Council of Ministers in Krachi, Pakistan.

Diplomacy
The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Llewellyn Thompson as U.S. Ambassador to the U.S.S.R.

Politics and government
Former U.K. Prime Minister Anthony Eden, returning to Britain from medical treatment in the United States, said that he would not "take part in active political life again."

Law
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted to amend the civil rights bill of the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower by requiring jury trials for persons charged with contempt of court for violating injunctions in civil rights cases.

Energy
Swedish physicists Per Ohlin and Kai Siegbahn reported that they had produced 10 billion watts of energy experimentally through fusion of hydrogen atoms.

Labour
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts were empowered under the Taft-Hartley Act to enforce arbitration agreements in labour contracts.

Baseball
The New York Yankees assessed fines of $1,000 against outfielders Hank Bauer and Mickey Mantle; catcher Yogi Berra; pitcher Whitey Ford; and infielder Billy Martin; and $500 against pitcher Johnny Kucks, for their presence at a party at the Copacabana nightclub after the midnight training curfew. The players were involved in a much-publicized fight in the wee hours of May 16, in which a delicatessen owner suffered a broken jaw.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): This is My Song--Petula Clark (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: A Whiter Shade of Pale--Procol Harum (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): 29 settembre--Equipe 84 (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Puppet on a String--Sandie Shaw (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Ha! Ha! Said the Clown--Manfred Mann (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Silence is Golden--The Tremeloes (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Respect--Aretha Franklin

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Got Rhythm--The Happenings
2 Respect--Aretha Franklin
3 Groovin'--The Young Rascals
4 Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)--Engelbert Humperdinck
5 Creeque Alley--The Mamas and the Papas
6 The Happening--The Supremes
7 Sweet Soul Music--Arthur Conley
8 Somebody to Love--Jefferson Airplane
9 Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon--Neil Diamond
10 Him or Me - What's it Gonna Be?--Paul Revere and the Raiders

Singles entering the chart were The Tracks of My Tears by Johnny Rivers (#53); Don't Sleep in the Subway by Petula Clark (#56); You Can't Stand Alone by Wilson Pickett (#64); Up-Up and Away by the 5th Dimension (#67); Pay You Back with Interest by the Hollies (#70); Oooh, Baby Baby by the Five Stairsteps (#72); Soul Finger by the Bar-Kays (#73); Woman Like That, Yeah by Joe Tex (#75); I was Made to Love Her by Stevie Wonder (#81); Summer and Sandy by Lesley Gore (#85); Have You Seen Her Face by the Byrds (#86); I Take it Back by Sandy Posey (#88); You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby by the Dave Clark Five (#89); Graduation Day by the Arbors (#90); Who's Lovin' You by Brenda and the Tabulations (#92); Now I Know by Jack Jones (#95); Don't Blame the Children by Sammy Davis, Jr. (#97); I Could Be So Happy by the Magnificent Men (#98); Girl (You Captivate Me) by ? and the Mysterians (#100); and Two in the Afternoon by Dino, Desi and Billy (also #100). The B-side of Have You Seen Her Face was Don't Make Waves, the title song of the movie.

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Groovin'--The Young Rascals
2 Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)--Engelbert Humperdinck
3 I Got Rhythm--The Happenings
4 Him or Me - What's it Gonna Be?--Paul Revere and the Raiders
5 Creeque Alley--The Mamas and the Papas
6 The Happening--The Supremes
7 Here Comes My Baby--The Tremeloes
8 Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon--Neil Diamond
9 Somebody to Love--Jefferson Airplane
10 Happy Jack--The Who

Singles entering the chart were Windy by the Association (#79); New York Mining Disaster 1941 by the Bee Gees (#84); Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking) by Janis Ian (#86); You Can't Stand Alone by Wilson Pickett (#88); Me About You by the Mojo Men (#89); Sound of Love by the Five Americans (#90); I Know (You Don't Want Me No More) by Barry Allen (#91); Don't Blame the Children by Sammy Davis, Jr. (#92); For Your Precious Love by Oscar Toney, Jr. (#93); Hello Hello by Claudine Longet (#96); Hey Girl by the Preachers (#97); See My Girl by Teak Wood (#98); Mary in the Morning by Al Martino (#99); and I've Lost You by Jackie Wilson (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 She'd Rather Be with Me--The Turtles
2 Here Comes My Baby--The Tremeloes
3 Come on Down to My Boat--Every Mother's Son
4 I Could Be So Good to You--Don and the Goodtimes
5 Him or Me - What's it Gonna Be?--Paul Revere and the Raiders
6 Six O'Clock--The Lovin' Spoonful
7 Groovin'--The Young Rascals
8 There is Love--Jim "Harpo" Valley
9 Respect--Aretha Franklin
10 Windy--The Association

Singles entering the chart were Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead by the Fifth Estate (#33); Dead End Street by Lou Rawls (#36); Up-Up and Away by the 5th Dimension (#41); We Had a Good Thing Goin' by the Cyrkle (#43); Sound of Love by the Five Americans (#45); You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby by the Dave Clark Five (#46); Beat the Clock by the McCoys (#47); Light My Fire by the Doors (#48); New York Mining Disaster 1941 by the Bee Gees (#49); and Shake by Otis Redding (#50).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Windy--The Association
2 She'd Rather Be with Me--The Turtles
3 Round Round--Jonathan King
4 Groovin'--The Young Rascals
5 Here Comes My Baby--The Tremeloes
6 Respect--Aretha Franklin
7 Mirage--Tommy James and the Shondells
8 Six O'Clock--The Lovin' Spoonful
9 7 Rooms of Gloom--Four Tops
10 100 or Two--Springfield Rifles

Singles entering the chart were Little Bit o' Soul by the Music Explosion (#24); Come on Down to My Boat by Every Mother's Son (#27); Let's Live for Today by the Grass Roots (#28); Don't Sleep in the Subway by Petula Clark (#29); and The Flower Children by Marcia Strassman (#30).

Music
Johnny Rivers performed at the Sales Pavilion in Edmonton.

Canadiana
Work was completed on the world's first landing pad for flying saucers, in St. Paul, Alberta. The landing pad was chosen as the town's Canadian Centennial project.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Ain't that Just the Way--Barbi Benton (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Lay Back in the Arms of Someone--Smokie (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France: L'oiseau et l'enfant--Marie Myriam (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Archibald Hill, 90. U.K. physiologist and politician. Dr. Hill was awarded a share of the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle." He represented Cambridge University as an independent member of the House of Commons from 1940-1945.

Roberto Rossellini, 71. Italian film director and screenwriter. Mr. Rossellini was a major figure in Italian neorealist cinema in a career that spanned more than 40 years. His best-known movie was Roma città aperta (Rome, Open City) (1945). He had an affair with actress Ingrid Bergman in the late 1940s and fathered a child by her while they were both married to other people, causing a major scandal.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department announced that the United States and Cuba would station diplomats in each other's capitals for the first time in over 16 years. 8-10 Americans were to move into the U.S. embassy building in Havana, and a small number of Cubans were to occupy the Cuban embassy in Washington. The move would not constitute a resumption of full diplomatic relations; the U.S. staff would fly the Swiss flag, and the Cuban staff would fly the Czechoslovakian flag, with both staffs being considered "interest sections" rather than formal missions. The Cuban government announced that it would release 10 of its 30 American prisoners at once, and review the cases of the other 20.

Politics and government
King Baudoin I of Belgium swore in a new four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Leo Tindemans of the Social Christian Party.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Labor Department reported that total employment in the United States had risen to a record high of 90,408,000 in May. The rise, which brought the seven-month increase in jobs to 2.7 million, helped push the unemployment rate blow 7% for the first time in 2 1/2 years, to 6.9%. The labour force rose to a record of 62.2% of the population, due largely to a surge of women entering the job market.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Portland 110 @ Philadelphia 104 (Portland led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Bobby Gross scored 25 points in 25 minutes of action and the Trail Blazers grabbed 59 rebounds as they beat the 76ers before 18,276 fans at the Spectrum. Maurice Lucas scored 20 points for Portland, while Bill Walton added 14 points and 24 rebounds--20 of them defensive. Philadelphia's Julius Erving led all scorers with 37 points, many of them coming in the 4th quarter, when the 76ers outscored the Trail Blazers 38-25 in a desperate comeback attempt.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)--Whitney Houston

Died on this date
Will Sampson, 53. U.S. actor. Mr. Sampson, a full-blooded Muscogee (Creek) Indian, was best known for his supporting performance in the movies One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), but was also a rodeo cowboy and a skilled painter. He died of kidney failure after a long battle with scleroderma.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the 10 provincial premiers initialled the Meech Lake Accord constitutional deal after an all-night meeting in the Langevin Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. If approved by Parliament and all 10 provincial legislatures within three years, it would give Québec special status within Canada and increase the powers of the provinces.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 113 @ Los Angeles Lakers 126 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Magic Johnson scored 29 points and added 13 assists and 8 rebounds, while James Worthy contributed 33 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Lakers over the Celtics before 17,505 fans at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 32 points.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): It's My Life--Dr. Alban (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Robert Morley, 84. U.K. actor. Mr. Morley was a well-known stage actor in Britain, and appeared in such movies as Outcast of the Islands (1951); The African Queen (1951); Beat the Devil (1953); Around the World in Eighty Days (1956); Oscar Wilde (1960); Murder at the Gallop (1963); Topkapi (1964); The Loved One (1965); A Study in Terror (1965); and Cromwell (1970).

William M. Gaines, 70. U.S. publisher. Mr. Gaines founded EC Comics, whose violent content attracted much criticism in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Mr. Gaines achieved lasting success with the founding of Mad in the fall of 1952. Originally a comic book, Mad switched to a magazine format in 1955, and was much loved by millions, including this blogger. Mr. Gaines was still the publisher of Mad at the time of his death.

Environment
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Earth Summit, opened in Rio de Janeiro. 35,000 delegates from 178 countries were in attendance.

Law
Aboriginal land rights in Australia were granted in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Eddie Mabo.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Portland 89 @ Chicago 122 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Michael Jordan scored 39 points--a Finals-record 35 in the 1st half--as the Bulls took a 66-51 halftime lead and coasted to victory over the Trail Blazers before 18,676 fans at Chicago Stadium. Clyde Drexler led the Trail Blazers with just 16 points.

20 years ago
1997

Died on this date
Dennis James, 79. U.S. television personality. Mr. James, born Demie James Sposa, was credited as the host of television's first game show--Cash and Carry (1946)--as well as the first person to host a telethon; the first to appear in a television commercial; first to emcee a variety show; and the first to appear on video tape.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
Detroit 4 @ Philadelphia 2 (Detroit led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Brendan Shanahan scored 2 goals and Kirk Maltby scored the winner in the 2nd period as the Red Wings beat the Flyers at CoreStates Center. Rod Brind'Amour scored both Philadelphia goals late in the 1st period.