June 18, 2021

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Paul McCartney and Irma Tovar!

1,280 years ago
741

Died on this date
Leo III, 55 or 56. Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, 717-741. Leo the Isaurian, born Konon, was a military commander who forced the abdication of Emperor Theodosios III in 717 and founded the Isaurian dynasty. He successfully defended the Empire against the invading Umayyads and forbade the veneration of icons. Emperor Leo III died of dropsy, and was succeeded by his son Constantine V.

730 years ago
1291

Died on this date
Alfonso III, 25. King of Aragon; King of Valencia, 1285-1291. Alfonso III acceded to his thrones upon the death of his father Peter III. King Alfonso conquered Majorca (1285), Ibiza (1286), and Menorca (1287), but his reign was marred by a constitutional struggle with the Aragonese nobility. A marriage was arranged for Alfonso III to Princess Eleanor, daughter of King Edward I of England, but King Alfonso died before the marriage could take place, and was succeeded on his throne by his younger brother James II.

175 years ago
1846

Communications
The Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company was founded by D.S Harris and associates; it opened Canada's first telegraph system, from Toronto to Hamilton and Niagara Falls, on December 19, 1846.

160 years ago
1861

Canadiana
Prince Alfred continued his tour, arriving at Montreal from Quebec aboard the steamer Queen Victoria, and was driven to Isle Dorval, near Lachine, the summer residence of the Commander of the forces, General Fenwick Williams.

150 years ago
1871

Canadiana
The British Columbia Legislature heard Canada’s terms for entering Confederation, passed in both the House of Commons and the Senate without amendment, with Royal Assent on May 16. British Columbia entered Confederation on July 20.

140 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Zoltán Halmay. Hungarian swimmer. Mr. Halmay competed in the Olympic Games of 1900, 1904, and 1908, winning two gold medals, four silver medals, and a bronze medal, and won a gold and silver medal in the 1906 Intercalated Games. All of his medals came in freestyle competition. Mr. Halmay also participated in other sports, such as rowing, football, and roller-skating, and died on May 20, 1956, 29 days before his 75th birthday.

130 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Mae Busch. Australian-born U.S. actress. Miss Busch appeared in about 130 movies, but was best known for playing Oliver Hardy's shrewish wife in 13 Laurel and Hardy films. She died of colon cancer on April 20, 1946 at the age of 54.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Blanche Sweet. U.S. actress. Miss Sweet appeared in numerous movies during the silent film era, including Judith of Bethulia (1913) and Anna Christie (1923). She retired from acting after marrying actor Raymond Hackett, and died on September 6, 1986 at the age of 90.

120 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Anastasia Nikolaevna. Russian royal family member. Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, the fourth and youngest daughter of Czar Nikolai II and Czarina Alexandra, was murdered at the age of 17 by Bolsheviks with her parents and siblings on July 17, 1918.

Llewellyn Rees. U.K. actor. Mr. Rees appeared in plays, films, and television programs. He appeared in movies such as Cromwell (1970); The Dresser (1983); and A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and appeared in television programs such as Doctor Who and Coronation Street. Mr. Rees died on January 7, 1994 at the age of 92.

110 years ago
1911

Baseball
Down 13-1 after 5½ innings, the Detroit Tigers came back to defeat the Chicago White Sox 16-15 before 10,111 fans at Bennett Park in Detroit, scoring 5 runs in the 8th and 3 in the 9th. Ty Cobb led the Tigers with 4 hits and 5 runs batted in—including 2 runs to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th inning—and scored the winning run on a 1-out double by Sam Crawford.

80 years ago
1941

War
Allied troops attacked Damascus after French forces rejected an ultimatum to surrender the city. Juan Bautista Rossetti, Chile's new Foreign Minister, said in an interview in Santiago that he was neutral in his attitude toward the European war.

Diplomacy
German Ambassador to Turkey Franz von Papen and Turkish Foreign Minister Shukru Saracoglu signed a 10-year friendship pact in Ankara.

Defense
Brazilian exporters in Rio de Janeiro disclosed that the government had banned the export of rubber, manganese ore, industrial diamonds, quartz, crystal, mica, and other vital defense materials to all countries except the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee declared that Communists were chiefly responsible for the "widespread stoppages and delays" in the defense program, and recommended giving the President additional authority to seize strike-bound plants. The New York State Parole Board refused to release former German-American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn from prison because he was "a hazard to the public peace and security."

Economics and finance
A Japanese spokesman revealed that Japan demanded a right to share in the economic exploitation of the Netherlands East Indies and said that the Dutch reply was "very unsatisfactory."

Labour
At a White House meeting with A. Philip Randolph and other Negro leaders, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to have an executive order drafted barring discrimination in defense plants.

Boxing
Joe Louis (50-1) retained his world heavyweight title with a knockout of former world light heavyweight champion Billy Conn (59-11-1) at 2:58 of the 13th round at the Polo Grounds in New York. Mr. Conn, who weighed 174 pounds to 199½ for Mr. Louis, was ahead on the scorecards of two of the officials and even on the scorecard of the third after 12 rounds, but made the mistake of trying to slug it out with the heavyweight champion in the 13th round. The Brown Bomber hit the challenger with a left hook and then a hard right to knock him out.



75 years ago
1946

War
At the Nuremberg trial of accused Nazi war criminals, the defense counsel for former German Chancellor Franz von Papen introduced evidence to show that Mr. Papen had participated in the July 20, 1944 assassination plot against German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler.

Diplomacy
A four-member subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, which had toured Europe the previous fall, recommended "immediate abandonment of any semblance of appeasement" in U.S. relations with the U.S.S.R.

Terrorism
Jewish terrorists kidnapped five British officers from a Tel Aviv club and held them as hostages to prevent the execution of two Irgun Zvai Leumi members who had been condemned for attacking a British camp.

Labour
American Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer George Meany told a California Federation of Labor convention that the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was a Communist "worldwide fifth column organization."

70 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Dead Freight, starring Charles Dingle and Louisa Horton

Defense
NATO Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower named U.S. Admiral Robert Carney commander-in-chief of Allied forces in southern Europe and commander of Allied naval forces in the Mediterranean.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Export-Import Bank granted Belgium a $15.5-million loan to help develop the Belgian Congo, a leading uranium source. Belgium would spend $160 million on the project.

Business
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission dropped a four-year-old anti-trust suit against the American Iron and Steel Institute and 90 member producers after they agreed not to "cooperate" in fixing steel prices.

60 years ago
1961

On the radio
Gunsmoke, starring William Conrad, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Letter of the Law

This was the last episode of the series, ending its nine-year run on radio.

Died on this date
Eddie Gaedel, 36. U.S. midget. Mr. Gaedel, 3’ 7” tall and 65 pounds, became famous on August 19, 1951 when he was sent up to bat as a pinch hitter for the St. Louis Browns in an American League baseball game against the Detroit Tigers at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, and drew a base on balls. He died of a heart attack, 10 days after his 36th birthday, and several days after suffering a beating while walking home. For more on Mr. Gaedel, go here; here; here; and here.

Space
The 300-pound capsule that had gone into Earth orbit aboard the U.S. satellite Discoverer 25 two days earlier was ejected on radio signal and was recovered from the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii by U.S. Navy skin divers. The capsule carried rare and common metals to permit study of the effects of space environment on them, and instruments to measure radiation and micrometeorite effects. It was the fifth U.S. capsule to be retrieved from orbit.

Terrorism
Bernard Jerome Brous, 51, and Dale Chris Jensen, 33, were seized in Ensenada, Baja California with two companions on a yacht carrying machine guns and hand grenades. They were charged with conspiracy in connection with blowing up microwave relay stations at Wendover, Nevada and Cedar Mountain Utah, and a cable repeating station at Knolls, Utah on May 28. The stations were 30 miles apart. The accused men were quoted as saying that they favoured nationalizing American utilities and that they were members of the American Republican Army, which they claimed was a more activist organization than the John Birch Society. Messrs. Brous and Jensen were extradited to San Diego.

Archaeology
Professor Antonio Flova, director of the antiquities department of northern Italy, announced that a University of Milan expedition had found the name of Pontius Pilate carved on a stone on the Mediterranean coast of Israel near Caesarea—the ancient capital of Roman Palestine—about 10 miles south of Haifa. Professor Flova reported that the name had been found three days earlier on a stone 31” X 23” in the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre. The stone had apparently been placed there when the building had been dedicated.

Baseball
Trailing the Washington Senators 12-5 with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Boston Red Sox rallied with 8 runs to win 13-12 in the first game of a doubleheader before 17,645 fans at Fenway Park. Willie Tasby hit a grand slam for the Senators in the top of the 9th, while Jim Pagliaroni hit a grand slam for the Red Sox in the bottom of the 9th. Rip Repulski grounded into a force play as a pinch hitter for the Red Sox in the 5th in the 928th and last game of his 9-year major league career. Mr. Pagliaroni homered to lead off the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Red Sox a 6-5 win in the second game to complete the sweep.

Third baseman Gene Freese batted 7 for 8 for the Cincinnati Reds as they swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 and 10-0 before 16,389 fans at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I Am...I Said--Neil Diamond (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Butterfly--Danyel Gérard (5th week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Joy to the World--Three Dog Night (2nd week at #1)
2 Funny Funny--The Sweet
3 If Not for You--Olivia Newton-John
4 Put Your Hand in the Hand--Alan Garrity
5 Mozart: Symphony No. 40 In G Minor K.550 1° Movement (Allegro Molto)--Waldo de Los Rios
6 The Seagull's Name was Nelson--Des & Dawn
7 Vicki--Lance James
8 Long Days and Lonely Nights--Lincoln
9 Have You Ever Seen the Rain--Creedence Clearwater Revival
10 It Don't Come Easy--Ringo Starr

Singles entering the chart were I Am...I Said by Neil Diamond (#17); and Me and You and a Dog Named Boo by Lobo (#18).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 It's Too Late--Carole King
2 Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)--Raiders
3 Never Ending Song of Love--Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
4 When You're Hot, You're Hot--Jerry Reed
5 Double Lovin'--The Osmonds
6 Brown Sugar--The Rolling Stones
7 Rainy Days and Mondays--Carpenters
8 It Don't Come Easy--Ringo Starr
9 Signs--Five Man Electrical Band
10 I Don't Know How to Love Him--Yvonne Elliman

Singles entering the chart were You've Got a Friend by James Taylor (#25); Resurrection Shuffle by Ashton, Gardner & Dyke (#26); Sweet City Woman by the Stampeders (#28); Want Ads by the Honey Cone (#29); and Here Comes that Rainy Day Feeling Again by the Fortunes (#30).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKVN)
1 Never Ending Song of Love--Delaney & Bonnie & Friends (2nd week at #1)
2 It's Too Late/I Feel the Earth Move--Carole King
3 Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)--Raiders
4 It Don't Come Easy--Ringo Starr
5 Signs--Five Man Electrical Band
6 When You're Hot, You're Hot--Jerry Reed
7 Done Too Soon--Neil Diamond
8 High Time We Went--Joe Cocker
9 Rainy Days and Mondays--Carpenters
10 You're Gonna Miss Me--Wishbone

Singles entering the chart were Suzanne by Tom Northcott (#16, charting with its other side, Spaceship Races); How Can You Mend a Broken Heart by the Bee Gees (#26); He's Gonna Step on You Again by John Kongos (#27); Draggin' the Line by Tommy James (#28); Wait for the Miracle by the Cycle (#29); and Deep Enough for Me by Ocean (#30).

Died on this date
Paul Karrer, 82. Russian-born Swiss chemist. Dr. Karrer shared the 1937 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Walter Haworth, both of whom had conducted research on vitamins.

Thomas Gomez, 65. U.S. actor. Mr. Gomez appeared in plays, movies, and television programs in a career spanning more than 40 years. He was a character actor, often playing villains, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance in Ride the Pink Horse (1947). His other movies included Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942); Key Largo (1948); and Force of Evil (1948). Mr. Gomez died 22 days before his 66th birthday, from injuries sustained in a car accident.

40 years ago
1981

Defense
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology, made its maiden flight, from Groom Lake ("Area 51"), Nevada.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Hamilton (2-1) 23 @ Toronto (1-2) 16

30 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Joan Caulfield, 69. U.S. actress. Miss Caulfield appeared in plays, movies, and television programs in a career spanning 40 years. She appeared in movies such as Monsieur Beaucaire (1946); Dear Ruth (1947); Welcome Stranger (1947); and The Unsuspected (1947), but was perhaps best known for co-starring in the television comedy series My Favorite Husband (1953-1955). Miss Caulfield died of cancer.

Defense
Canadian Finance Minister Michael Wilson suspended further exports of automatic arms to the Middle East for six months, pending a policy review by a House of Commons committee.

Politics and government
Québec gave Barrière Lake Algonquins band control of ancestral lands on the La Vérendrye reserve at Maniwaki.

20 years ago
2001

Scandal
Major League Baseball fired veteran umpire Al Clark, reportedly for using his MLB credit card to upgrade coach airline tickets for his wife Cynthia and himself after a rain-delayed game had caused them to miss their original flight.

Golf
Retief Goosen shot an even par 70 to finish 2 strokes ahead of Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.



Football
CFL
Two days before they were to play their first pre-season game of the year, the Edmonton Eskimos fired Don Matthews as head coach and replaced him with Tom Higgins. Mr. Matthews, an assistant coach with the Eskimos from 1977-1982 and in 1989, had been a successful head coach in British Columbia and Toronto, but had failed to get the Eskimos past the Western semi-final in two seasons as head coach. The Eskimos were holding their training camp in 2001 at Edmonton Garrison.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Yelena Bonner, 88. U.S.S.R. dissident. Ms. Bonner, born Lusik Georgievna Alikhanova, served as a Red Army Nurse in World War II, joined the Soviet Communist Party in 1964, and married nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov in 1972. The couple began to oppose the Soviet system; Dr. Sakharov was exiled to Gorky in 1980, and Ms. Bonner was exiled there in 1984. The couple conducted hunger strikes, and were eventually allowed to return to Moscow. Dr. Sakharov died in 1989, and Ms. Bonner continued to advocate for human rights in post-Soviet Russia. She divided her time between Moscow and the United States, and died in Boston from heart failure.

Clarence Clemons, 69. U.S. musician. Mr. Clemons played saxophone with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band from 1972 until his death, six days after suffering a stroke. He played a major role in Mr. Springsteen's concerts, and performed on his own and with other artists. This blogger saw him live as a member of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band in Edmonton on August 25, 1989. Mr. Clemons appeared as an actor in several movies and television programs.

Frederick Chiluba, 68. 2nd President of Zambia, 1991-2002. Mr. Chiluba helped to found the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), and as its candidate, defeated incumbent Kenneth Kaunda in the 1991 presidential election. Mr. Chiluba initiated economic reforms to undo the socialist policies of Mr. Kaunda, and helped to broker a peace agreement in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, he was criticized for failing to stop escalating crime and poverty in Zambia. Mr. Chiluba was re-elected in 1996 and survived a coup attempt in 1997, to which he responded by declaring a state of emergency and jailing, without charges, political opponents suspected of involvement in the coup. He failed to get the constitution amended to allow him to run for a third term in office, and left office after two terms. Mr. Chiluba and several of his government officials were charged with theft in 2003; he was convicted by an English court in 2007, but acquitted by a Zambian court in 2009. Mr. Chiluba died after complaining of a stomach ache.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Hamilton (0-1) 12 @ Toronto (1-0) 31