July 28, 2017

1,075 years ago
942

Died on this date
Shi Jingtang, 50. Emperor of China, 936-942. Shi Jingtang was the first Emperor of the Later Jin; he died of an illness and was succeeded by his son Shi Chonggui.

170 years ago
1847

Londonia
London, Canada West was incorporated as a city.

Canadiana
Brantford, Canada West was incorporated as a city.

150 years ago
1867

Born on this date
Charles Dillon Perrine. U.S.-born astronomer. Mr. Perrine worked at Lick Obervatory (1893-1909), discovering a dozen comets and the sixth and seventh moons of Jupiter, while participating in four solar eclipse expeditions. He served as Director of the Argentine National Observatory (1909-1936), leading observations of solar eclipses in 1912 and 1914 in attempts to confirm Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. Unfortunately, weather prevented conclusive results from being obtained. Mr. Perrine remained in Argentina after his retirement, and died on June 21, 1951 at the age of 83.

120 years ago
1897

Economics and finance
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier imposed a new 2% royalty on minerals from Canadian mines; it was primarily a tax on Klondike gold to pay for law enforcement.

75 years ago
1942

War
U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin issued Order No. 227:
In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a shtrafbat battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution.

The Soviet government announced that German forces had crossed the Don River to the south bank of Tsimlyansk, 120 miles northeast of Rostov, despite heavy losses. Allied patrols reportedly drove Japanese forces back halfway along a 120-mile road to the Allied base at Port Moresby, New Guinea. Chinese troops routed Japanese forces near Kiangshan in Chekiang Province and widened their hold to 50 miles on the Hangchow-Nanchang railway.

Diplomacy
The Swedish ocean liner Gripsholm left Portuguese East Africa with American nationals bound for the United States.

Politics and government
Virtually all Negroes were turned away from the polls in the Arkansas Democratic Party primary.

Labour
Officials of the U.S. War, Navy, Commerce, and Labor Departments; Maritime Commission; War Manpower Commission; War Production Board; and Public Health Service signed a statement in Washington recommending an 8-hour day, 48-hour workweek industry schedule.

U.S. Office of War Information director Elmer Davis urged American Federation of Musicians President James Petrillo to withdraw his order barring musicians from making recordings for radio or commercial use after July 31.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Peg o' My Heart--The Harmonicats (5th week at #1)
--Three Suns
--Art Lund
--Buddy Clark
--Clark Dennis
2 Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)--Perry Como and the Satisfiers
3 I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
4 That's My Desire--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Frankie Laine and Mannie Klein's All-Stars
5 Across the Alley from the Alamo--The Mills Brothers
6 Temptation (Tim-Tayshun)--Red Ingles and his Natural Seven
7 Ivy--Jo Stafford
--Woody Herman with the Four Chips
8 Tallahassee--Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
9 Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)--Tex Williams and his Western Caravan
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
10 Mam'selle--Art Lund
--Dick Haymes
--Frank Sinatra
--Dennis Day
--Pied Pipers

The only single entering the chart was Old Devil Moon, with versions by Margaret Whiting; and Gene Krupa and his Orchestra (#22).

Died on this date
Joseph Brodsky, 57. U.S. lawyer. Mr. Brodsky, a Communist, represented the "Scottsboro Boys"--Negro youths who had been accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931.

War
Worldwide protests against the Dutch campaign in Indonesia grew as Dutch troops continued to advance in Java and Sumatra. All-India Congress Party leader Jawaharlal Nehru called the attack a threat to world peace, while 10 unions and political parties in Singapore agreed to organize a volunteer force to fight the Dutch.

Politics and government
The Romanian government dissolved the conservative Peasant Party for allegedly conspiring with foreign interests against Romanian sovereignty.

U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Charles Halleck (Republican--Indiana) said that the Republican-controlled House wanted to be recognized by President Harry Truman as a "full-fledged partner" in conducting foreign affairs.

Society
The New York State Supreme Court confirmed Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's right to bar Negroes from its Stuyvesant Town development in Manhattan, New York City.

Scandal
A U.S. Senate War Investigating subcommittee opened hearings on two government contracts with the Howard Hughes aircraft firm for planes that never saw wartime service.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Agriculture Department ended industrial sugar rationing and insituted inventory controls to prevent "a mad scramble for sugar."

60 years ago
1957

At the movies
The Cyclops, written, produced, and directed by Bert I. Gordon, and starring James Craig, Gloria Talbott, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Tom Drake; and Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, and starring John Agar, Gloria Talbott, and Arthur Shields, opened in theatres as a double feature.







Died on this date
Mike O'Dowd, 62. U.S. boxer. Mr. O'Dowd compiled a record of 93-39-6-1 in a professional career from 1913-1923; he was world middleweight champion from 1917-1920 and held New York State Athletic Commission from 1922-1923. Mr. O'Dowd was the only current world champion to serve in the armed forces in World War I, and retired after being knocked out in his last fight by Jock Malone--the only knockout defeat of his career.

War
Sir Bernard Burrows, British political resident for the Persian Gulf, said that Oman rebellion had been "very much exaggerated" by outsiders, claiming that the revolt actually consisted of a few hundred men led by Talib bin Ali, the Imam's brother.

The North Korean-People's Republic of China Command accused the U.S. Command of violating the Korean armistice, and demanded that the Allies "remove for Korea all combat material illegally introduced."

Politics and government
Eight million Argentine voters--a 90.1% turnout of eligible voters--cast ballots for a Constituent Assembly in the first national elections to be held since the 1955 ouster of the regime of President Juan Peron. The Unión Cívica Radical Intransigente (UCRI) (Intransigent Radical Civic Union) won 77 seats in the 205-seat Assembly, while the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) (Radical Civic Union) took 75 seats.

Economics and finance
United Business Service predicted that the long-term economic outlook for the United States was "inflationary."

Disasters
Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan killed 992.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Silence is Golden--The Tremeloes (2nd week at #1)

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Windy--The Association
2 I Take it Back--Sandy Posey
3 Silence is Golden--The Tremeloes
4 Let's Live for Today--The Grass Roots
5 San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)--Scott McKenzie
6 Laborer--The 49th Parallel
7 Little Bit o' Soul--The Music Explosion
8 Come on Down to My Boat--Every Mother's Son
9 My Friend--Willie & the Walkers
10 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy--The Buckinghams
Pick hit of the week: Blue--The Lords
New this week: Agnes English--John Fred and his Playboy Band
Bittersweet--Lennie Richards and the Nomads
Lady Friend--The Byrds
Heroes and Villains--The Beach Boys
Jill--Gary Lewis and the Playboys
Things I Should Have Said--The Grass Roots

Music
The Monkees performed at Cincinnati Gardens.

Space
The United States launched the satellite Orbiting Geophysical Laboratory (OGO) 4 into a polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Torontonia
The Caribana Festival was founded by Torontonians with a common West Indian heritage.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Saskatchewan (2-1) 26 @ Toronto (2-1) 24

Jim Cambridge returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the 4th quarter to provide the winning margin for the Roughriders as they edged the Argonauts before 24,156 fans at CNE Stadium. Hugh Campbell and Bob Kosid scored the other Saskatchewan touchdowns, while Wally Gabler, Jim Greth, and Jerry Bradley scored the Toronto TDs.

40 years ago
1977

Economics and finance
The British government of Prime Minister James Callaghan nationalized the steel industry; the new British Steel Corporation took over 13 major companies.

30 years ago
1987

Died on this date
James Burnham, 81. U.S. political activist and journalist. Mr. Burnham was a Trotskyist who helped to organize the American Workers Party in 1933. In 1940 he broke with Marxism; he later joined the conservative movement and helped William F. Buckley found the magazine National Review in 1955. Mr. Burnham's books included The Managerial Revolution (1941) and Suicide of the West (1964).

Jack Renshaw, 77. Australian politician. Mr. Renshaw, a member of the Labour Party, held various offices before succeeding the retiring Bob Heffron as Premier of New South Wales on April 30, 1964. The Labour Party had been in power since 1941 and was voted out of office on May 1, 1965; Mr. Renshaw officially left office on May 13 and was succeeded by Liberal Party leader Bob Askin. Mr. Renshaw retired as Labour Party leader after another unsuccessful state election in 1968; he died 11 days before his 78th birthday.

Protest
A two-day general strike that had paralyzed major cities in Panama concluded.

25 years ago
1992

Crime
Sheik Kamal Adham, former head of the Saudi Arabian intelligence agency, pled guilty to conspiring with Bank of Credit & Commerce International officials to illegally purchase First American Bankshares Inc., the largest bank in Washington, D.C., in 1982. Sheik Adham agreed to co-operate with U.S. investigators.

Popular culture
Time Warner Inc. announced that it would delete the song Cop Killer from Body Count, the latest album of rap artist Ice-T. Police associations had objected to the lyrics, and police officers had demonstrated against Time Warner and organized boycotts. Actor Charlton Heston had also publicly denounced the song.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 MMMBop--Hanson (3rd week at #1)
2 Bitch--Meredith Brooks
3 A Change Will Do You Good--Sheryl Crow
4 Semi-Charmed Life--Third Eye Blind
5 Building a Mystery--Sarah McLachlan
6 2 Become 1--Spice Girls
7 All for You--Sister Hazel
8 Sunny Came Home--Shawn Colvin
9 Whatever--En Vogue
10 Sitting on Top of the World--Amanda Marshall

Singles entering the chart were Everybody by Backstreet Boys (#49); It Could Happen to You by Blue Rodeo (#85); Get in the Car by Moxy Fruvous (#87); Say What You Want by Texas (#88); Break My Stride by Unique II (#90); D'You Know What I Mean by Oasis (#92); and Sick and Beautiful by Artificial Joy Club (#93).

Died on this date
Seni Pramoj, 92. Prime Minister of Thailand, 1945-1946; 1975; 1976. Mr. Pramoj, a great-grandson of King Rama II, was a leader of the Free Thai Movement during World War II. He was a longtime member of the Democrat Party and served three brief terms as Prime Minister: September 17, 1945-January 31, 1946; February 15-March 13, 1975; and April 20-October 6, 1976.

Hockey
NHL
Centre Mark Messier, most recently with the New York Rangers, signed a 3-year, $20-million contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

10 years ago
2007

Football
CFL
Edmonton (2-2-1) 14 @ Saskatchewan (3-2) 54
British Columbia (5-0) 32 @ Calgary (2-3) 27

Kerry Joseph threw 2 touchdown passes to Matt Dominguez and rushed for a touchdown of his own as the Roughriders took a 34-8 halftime lead and routed the Eskimos before 26,840 fans at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. Kyle Mitchell returned a blocked punt 16 yards for another Saskatchewan touchdown in the 2nd quarter, offensive lineman Jermese Jones recovered a teammate's fumble in the Edmonton end zone for a Roughrider touchdown in the 3rd quarter, and Mr. Joseph rushed 2 yards for his second TD of the game in the 4th quarter. Trevor Gaylor scored the only Edmonton touchdown on a 52-yard pass from Ricky Ray in the 2nd quarter.