June 8, 2017

975 years ago
1042

Died on this date
Hardeknud (Harthacnut), 23 or 24. King of Denmark, 1035-1042; King of England, 1040-1042. Hardeknud succeeded his father Cnut as King of Denmark, and succeeded his half-brother Harold Harefoot as King of England. He died suddenly while proposing a toast at a wedding after consuming a large amount of alcohol. Hardeknud was succeeded as King of Denmark by King Magnus I of Norway and as King of England by Edward the Confessor.

525 years ago
1492

Died on this date
Elizabeth Woodville, 55 (?). Queen consort of England, 1464-1470, 1471-1483. Queen Elizabeth was the wife of King Edward IV, who was deposed in 1470 and restored to the throne a year later. She was the mother of King Edward V, who was murdered at the age of 13, shortly after assuming the throne. Edward V's successor Richard III deprived Elizabeth of all the lands given to her by her husband, but after Henry VII took the throne in 1485, Elizabeth was honoured as a queen dowager.

175 years ago
1842

Born on this date
John Brackett. U.S. politician. Mr. Brackett, a Republican, held various local offices in Boston and state offices in Massachusetts, and was Governor of Massachusetts from 1890-1891. He was a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention from June 6,1917 until his death on April 6, 1918 at the age of 75.

150 years ago
1867

Born on this date
Frank Lloyd Wright. U.S. architect. Mr. Wright was probably the most important architect in American history, practicing “organic architecture,” which harmonized with both its occupants’ needs and the surrounding landscape. He died on April 9, 1959 at the age of 91.

Europeana
Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I was crowned King of Hungary in Budapest, following the Austro-Hungarian compromise (Ausgleich).

Diplomacy
Alex R. Rangabe, the first Greek Minister to the United States, arrived at New York.

130 years ago
1887

Technology
Herman Hollerith applied for U.S. patent #395,781 for the "Art of Compiling Statistics," his punched card calculator.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Byron White. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1962-1993. Justice White first achieved fame as "Whizzer" White, an All-American halfback with the University of Colorado Buffaloes football team, and runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as the outstanding player in the United States in 1937. He played in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1938) and Detroit Lions (1940-1941), leading the NFL in yards rushing in his first two seasons, and making first-team All-Pro in his first two seasons and second-team All-Pro in his last season. Mr. White then served in World War II, and elected to pursue a career as a lawyer after the wear. He served as the Colorado state chairman of John F. Kennedy's U.S. presidential campaign in 1960, leading to his appointment to the Supreme Court by President Kennedy. Mr. White judged cases on their facts rather than on the basis of a legal philosophy. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954, and died on April 16, 2002 at the age of 84.

Politics and government
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Robert Borden created the office of Dominion Fuel Controller to help ration wartime supplies.

90 years ago
1927

Music
Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra were in New York to record When Day is Done and Soliloquy.

Economics and finance
Canada protested immigration quotas applied to Canadians crossing border to take jobs in the United States.

75 years ago
1942

War
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress for a record War Department appropriation of $39.417 billion for fiscal 1943. Japanese submarines I-21 and I-24 shelled the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle for about 15 minutes, but little damage was reported. In a French-language broadcast from London, the British Broadcasting Corporation urged French people to evacuate coastal areas of the country, as that area was more likely to become involved in war operations.

Economics and finance
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull extended an offer to Belgium, Poland, and Greece to become parties to the master Lend-Lease agreement.

The U.S. Office of Price Administration announced plans to increase basic gasoline rationing from three to four gallons per week along the East Coast, effective July 1, 1942.

Religion
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of municipalities to impose reasonable license fees on Jehovah's Witnesses when they distributed literature for which they asked contributions.

70 years ago
1947

Popular culture
The weekly comic panel Sparky's Li'l Folks by Charles Schulz first appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune. Two weeks later it moved to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, where it remained until Mr. Schulz ended the feature on January 22, 1950.

Terrorism
Ami Kam, a member of the Jewish Zionist organization Stern Gang, declared in Genoa that he was responsible for mailing letter bombs to prominent Britons, including King George VI.

Labour
Members of the Congress of Industrial Organizations Food, Tobacco and Agricultural Workers ended a five-week strike against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Inc. in North Carolina after accepting a 12 1/2c hourly wage increase.

60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Marianne--Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heimatlos--Freddy Quinn

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Yes Tonight, Josephine--Johnnie Ray

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Love Letters in the Sand--Pat Boone
2 All Shook Up--Elvis Presley
3 A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)--Marty Robbins
4 So Rare--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra
5 Little Darlin'--The Diamonds
6 School Day--Chuck Berry
7 Dark Moon--Gale Storm
--Bonnie Guitar
8 Start Movin' (In My Direction)--Sal Mineo
9 Bye Bye Love--The Everly Brothers
10 It's Not for Me to Say--Johnny Mathis

Singles entering the chart were Queen of the Senior Prom by the Mills Brothers (#49); (You Hit the Wrong Note) Billy Goat by Bill Haley and his Comets (#54); and Island in the Sun by Harry Belafonte (#60). Island in the Sun was the title song of the movie, and was the other side of Cocoanut Woman, charting at #45.

Diplomacy
French Prime Minister Guy Mollet, in a note to Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin, rejected a recent Soviet proposal that France and the U.S.S.R. begin bilateral disarmament talks.

Politics and government
In the first round of Lebanese parliamentary elections, pro-Western candidates of Prime Minister Sami es-Solh's government won 15 of 22 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

Economics and finance
West German and Austrian negotiators agreed on principles to govern an accord on the return of German assets seized in Austria after World War II.

Tennis
Wimbledon men's singles champion Lew Hoad turned professional, signing a contract in New York to tour with Jack Kramer's group for $125,000 for 25 months.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Silence is Golden--The Tremeloes

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): A Whiter Shade of Pale--Procol Harum

War
On the fourth day of the Six-Day-War, the Israeli army entered Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs. Israeli planes attacked the U.S. Navy technical research ship USS Liberty, killing 34 crew members and wounding 171 in an incident that would have been regarded as an act of war and a war crime if it had been perpetrated by any country other than Israel.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Don't Want to Talk About It/The First Cut is the Deepest--Rod Stewart (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
Joey Smallwood, who had led Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada and served as the province's first Premier from 1949-1972, resigned his seat in the House of Assembly and left active politics.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Slice of Heaven--Dave Dobbyn with Herbs (4th week at #1)

Diplomacy
Pope John Paul II arrived in Warsaw to begin his third visit as pope to his native Poland, and conferred with Polish leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski.

Defense
The New Zealand Labour Party government of Prime Minister David Lange established a national nuclear-free zone under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.

Scandal
Fawn Hall, secretary to U.S. national security aide Oliver North, testified at the U.S. Congressional hearings on the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages affair, saying she had helped to shred some documents.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Kun olet mennyt--Kaivo

Space
The Canadian Space Agency chose four new astronauts from 5,300 applicants: Air Force Major Chris Hadfield, 32, aviation systems specialist, 32; Julie Payette, 28, computer engineer with Bell-Northern Research; Robert Stewart, 37, geophysicist with the University of Calgary; and Dave Williams, 37, Toronto physician.

Environment
The first World Ocean Day was observed, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): MMMBop--Hanson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): If Tomorrow Never Comes--Joose (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Blond--Rainhard Fendrich (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Lonely--Nana

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Montreal (1-0) 30 @ Hamilton (0-1) 14
Edmonton (0-1) 15 @ British Columbia (1-0) 32

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Chicago 73 @ Utah 78 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

The Jazz, led by John Stockton's shooting and passing, went on a 12-2 run late in the game to defeat the Bulls before a loud crowd of 19,911 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City in one of the lowest-scoring games in Finals' history. Mr. Stockton finished with 17 points and 12 assists, while teammate Karl Malone scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds. Michael JOrdan led the Bulls with 22 poinnts.

10 years ago
2007

Disasters
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, was hit by the state's worst storms and flooding in 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nine people and the grounding of the trade ship MV Pasha Bulker.