July 7, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Ringo Starr!

240 years ago
1777

War
American forces retreating from Fort Ticonderoga, New York were defeated in the Battle of Hubbardton, Vermont.

210 years ago
1807

War
Emperor Napoleon I of France and Czar Aleksandr I of Russia signed the first Treaty of Tilsit, the first of two treaties that ended the War of the Fourth Coalition.

150 years ago
1867

Died on this date
John A. King, 79. U.S. politician. Mr. King, a Whig and then a Republican, represented New York's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1849-1851 and was Governor of New York from 1857-1858.

125 years ago
1892

Politics and government
The anti-Spanish Philippine revolutionary society Katipunan (KKK) became active.

110 years ago
1907

Theatre
Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first Follies on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Red Sovine. U.S. musician. Woodrow Wilson Sovine was a country singer-songwriter best known for "truck driving" songs such as Giddyup Go (1965) and the nauseating Teddy Bear (1976). He died on April 4, 1980 at the age of 62 when he had a heart attack while driving his van and crashed into another vehicle, suffering fatal injuries.

Fidel Sánchez Hernández. President of El Salvador, 1967-1972. General Sánchez Hernández, a member of the National Coalition Party, had a mostly civilian cabinet, and led El Salvador during the Football War against Honduras in 1969. He died of a heart attack on February 28, 2003 at the age of 85.

Iva Withers. Canadian-born U.S. singer and actress. Miss Withers, a native of Rivers, Manitoba, was known for per performances as a replacement or understudy, especially in musicals written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, on Broadway or on tour, from 1943-1970. She died on October 7, 2014 at the age of 97.

80 years ago
1937

War
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident began near Peking, providing the Imperial Japanese Army with a pretext for starting the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Politics and government
The Palestine Royal Commission Report--aka the Peel Commission Report--stated that the League of Nations mandate had become unworkable, and recommended the partition of Palestine--the first formal recommendation for partition in the history of Palestine.

Baseball
Major League All-Star Game @ Griffith Stadium, Washington
National League 3 American League 8

Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees hit a 2-run home run in the 3rd inning and drove in 2 more runs with a double to lead the American League to victory over the National League before 31,391 fans. Mr. Gehrig’s home run came off NL starting pitcher Dizzy Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals. The next batter, Earl Averill of the Cleveland Indians, hit a line drive off the big toe of Mr. Dean’s left foot; Mr. Dean picked up the ball and threw to first base to retire Mr. Averill, but Mr. Dean’s toe was broken. He later came back to pitch before the injury had fully healed, and favoured the injury when he pitched. He injured his arm, and never fully recovered. Joe Medwick of the Cardinals was the NL’s best player, hitting 2 doubles and 2 singles in 5 at bats. Lefty Gomez of the Yankees pitched the first 3 innings and was credited with the win, while Mr. Dean took the loss. Mr. Gehrig won the Arch Ward Trophy as the game’s most valuable player.





75 years ago
1942

War
With 45 Liberal MPs from Quebec opposing, the Canadian House of Commons voted in favour of a bill to send conscripted men overseas if necessary. Major General Carl Spaatz was appointed commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces in Europe, under the direction of Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower. German troops in Russia captured Voronezh in an offensive that had carried them 60 miles beyond their farthest point in 1941.

Defense
The Argentine Navy Ministry ordered Argentine merchant vessels to avoid the East Coast of the United States, presumably due to the German blockade.

Law
A U.S. federal grand jury in New York indicted 29 members of the German-American Bund for conspiracy to violate the Selective Service Law and Alien Registration Act.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Peg o' My Heart--The Harmonicats (2nd 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 Across the Alley from the Alamo--The Mills Brothers
5 Mam'selle--Art Lund
--Dick Haymes
--Frank Sinatra
--Dennis Day
--Pied Pipers
6 That's My Desire--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Frankie Laine and Mannie Klein's All-Stars
7 Linda--Ray Noble and his Orchestra with Buddy Clark
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
8 My Adobe Hacienda--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
9 Heartaches--Ted Weems and his Orchestra
--Harry James and his Orchestra
10 Temptation (Tim-Tayshun)--Red Ingles and his Natural Seven

The only single entering the chart was Almost Like Being in Love by Frank Sinatra (#21).

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

This was the last episode of the season, and the final appearance for Mr. Conway as Sherlock Holmes, and for Mr. Bruce as Dr. Watson.

Escape, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Man Who Would Be King

This was the first regular episode of the series; two audition episodes had previously been broadcast.

Diplomacy
Austria applied for membership in the United Nations.

Politics and government
The French Socialist Party's National Council, meeting in Paris, voted to support the Marshall Plan, and approved the exclusion of Communists from the cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Ramadier.

U.S. President Harry Truman set Congress a special message urging admission to the United States of a "substantial number" of European refugees. He did not endorse specific immigration measures pending in Congress.

Aviation
A U.S. presidential board of inquiry examining recent airline disasters recommended that commercial planes be required to carry radar and maintain an altitude of 2,000 feet above mountainous terrain.

Business
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad returned to private control after 14 years of receivership.

60 years ago
1957

Diplomacy
Argentina and Venezuela severed relations, following repeated charges by the Argentine government that former President Juan Peron had been directing terrorist activities from exile in Venezuela.

The Israeli government relaxed security restrictions on travel by Israeli Arabs in military and border areas.

Education
The People's Republic of China's Minister of Education ruled that traditional brush-formed Chinese characters would be retained as China's official written language, with a reform Romanized alphabet limited to scientific and communications purposes.

Law
U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (Democrat--South Carolina), denouncing recent Supreme Court decisions for "jeopardizing the security of the U.S.," assailed the court as a "great menace to the country," and demanded the impeachment of justices who concurred in the decisions.

Auto racing
Juan Manuel Fangio, driving a Rouen, won the French Grand Prix.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Puppet on a String--Sandie Shaw

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Groovin'--The Young Rascals (2nd week at #1)
2 She'd Rather Be with Me--The Turtles
3 Windy--The Association
4 Respect--Aretha Franklin
5 Little Bit o' Soul--The Music Explosion
6 Somebody to Love--Jefferson Airplane
7 Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)--Engelbert Humperdinck
8 Can't Take My Eyes Off You--Frankie Valli
9 Sunday Will Never Be the Same--Spanky and Our Gang
10 7 Rooms of Gloom--Four Tops
Pick hit of the week: Carrie-Anne--The Hollies
New this week: 8:05--Moby Grape
You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby--The Dave Clark Five
My Mammy--The Happenings
You were on My Mind--Crispian St. Peters
I Like the Way--Tommy James and the Shondells

Music
The single All You Need is Love/Baby, You're a Rich Man by the Beatles was released on Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom.

The single Fakin' It/You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies by Simon & Garfunkel was released on Columbia Records.

War
White mercenaries and Katangese followers concluded three days of rebellion in Kisangani and Bukavu, Congo.

Academia
St. Patrick's College, formerly part of the University of Ottawa, merged with Carleton University.

40 years ago
1977

World events
Chinese Air Force squadron leader Fan Yuan-yen, 41, broke away from a routine patrol mission and flew his MiG-19 to Taiwan and sought asylum. Upon arriving in Taipei, he said, "Life on the mainland is too miserable...I cannot stand it any longer." As a defector from the People's Republic of China, he was eligible for a National government award in gold worth about $800,000.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Ottawa (1-2-1) 9 @ Toronto (1-2-1) 28

The game at Exhibition Stadium was scheduled for July 6, but was postponed because of a severe electrical storm.

30 years ago
1987

Terrorism
Two days of attacks on buses in India by Sikh separatists concluded with the deaths of 71 Hindus and 1 gunman, with 50 people wounded.

Scandal
Former U.S. National Security Council member Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North began his public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing, telling Congress that he had "never carried out a single act, not one" without authorization.

Protest
Panamanian President Eric Arturo Delvalle banned mass demonstrations.

25 years ago
1992

Abominations
The New York Court of Appeals ruled that women had the same right as men to go topless in public.

Diplomacy
A declaration at the summit in Munich of the world’s leading industrialized nations—Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and U.S.A.—warned that they might support the use of force to get relief supplies into Bosnia, which was under assault by Serbian forces.

Politics and government
Joe Clark, Canada’s Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs, and nine of the ten provincial premiers met for talks, and made a breakthrough on Senate discussions by coming up with a modified triple-E (equal, elected, effective) Senate proposal that would give 8 seats to each province and 2 to each territory, with provisions to enlarge the House of Commons representation to compensate the provinces for loss of Senate seats.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Clumsy--Our Lady Peace (3rd week at #1)
2 MMMBop--Hanson
3 Sunny Came Home--Shawn Colvin
4 A Change Will Do You Good--Sheryl Crow
5 Sitting on Top of the World--Amanda Marshall
6 Semi-Charmed Life--Third Eye Blind
7 The Freshmen--Verve Pipe
8 I Want You--Savage Garden
9 Your Woman--White Town
10 Bitch--Meredith Brooks

Singles entering the chart were Do You Know What it Takes by Hobyn (#81); 2 Become 1 by the Spice Girls (#87); Men in Black by Will Smith (#92); To the Moon and Back by Savage Garden (#94); Gimme Some Love by Gina G. (#96); Where's the Love by Hanson (#97); and Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai (#98).

War
The Turkish Armed Forces withdrew from northern Iraq after assisting the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War.

10 years ago
2007

Music
The first Live Earth benefit concert was held in 11 locations around the world.

Weather
Lillooet experienced British Columbia's record high temperature, at 104° F (39.9° C)

Diplomacy
Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest embarked on a trip to Europe during which he met new French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as Prime Minister François Fillon. Messrs. Charest and Sarkozy spoke for an hour and a quarter on subjects such as the mobility of labour between France and Quebec, and greater liberalization of trade between Canada and Europe. During his visit to France, Mr. Charest also met with Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Ségolène Royal, the Socialist candidate defeated in the French presidential election in May. Visits to Quebec by the President and the French Prime Minister are scheduled for the near future. The Quebec Premier then continued his journey to Germany, notably in Munich, where he was decorated with the Order of Bavaria.

Football
CFL
Toronto (1-1) 30 @ Hamilton (0-2) 5