June 20, 2021

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Brian Wilson and Dale Hein!

1,570 years ago
451

War
With the help of Roman foederati, Flavius Aetius defeated Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, halting the invasion of Gaul by the Huns and their allies.

390 years ago
1631

War
The Irish village of Baltimore was sacked by Algerian pirates.

160 years ago
1861

Born on this date
Frederick Gowland Hopkins. U.K. biochemist. Sir Frederick was awarded a share of the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins." He died on May 16, 1947 at the age of 85.

150 years ago
1871

Exploration
Charles Francis Hall left Brooklyn, New York in command of the Polaris in an expedition to reach the North Pole between Greenland and Ellesmere Island.

130 years ago
1891

Born on this date
John A. Costello. Taoiseach of Ireland, 1948-1951; 1954-1957. Mr. Costello, member of the Fine Gael party, was Attorney Genera of Ireland from 1926-1932, and was first elected to the Teachta Dála (lower house of Parliament) in 1933. He was Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of a coalition government at the time Ireland was declared a republic in 1948. After electoral defeat in 1951, another coalition was successful in 1954, and Mr. Costello was elected to head the government again, until another electoral defeat in 1957. He died on January 5, 1976 at the age of 84.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Wilfrid Pelletier. Canadian musician and conductor. Mr. Pelletier, a native of Montreal, was a classical pianist who accompanied the Metropolitan Opera in New York and often worked as a duo with Arthur Loesser in the 1920s and '30s. He helped to found the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and was its first artistic director and conductor (1935-1941), and was principal conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec (1951-1966). Mr. Pelletier was one of most influential music educators in Canada in the 20th century, serving as director of the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec (CMADQ) from 1943-1961. He died on April 9, 1982 at the age of 85.

120 years ago
1901

Albertana
Red Deer became a town.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Gail Patrick. U.S. actress and television producer. Miss Patrick, born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, appeared in more than 60 movies, including My Man Godfrey (1936); Stage Door (1937); and My Favorite Wife (1940). She retired from acting in 1948, and in the 1950s co-founded and served as president of Paisano Productions, making her the only female producer of television programs at that time. The company's most notable program was Perry Mason (1957-1966). Miss Patrick was vice president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (1960-1962) and was president of its Hollywood chapter. She won numerous awards for her business and civic activities, and died on July 6, 1980, 16 days after her 69th birthday, after a four-year battle with leukemia.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Byron Farwell. U.S. historian. Mr. Farwell was a military historian and biographer. His books included Prisoners of the Mahdi (1967); The Great War in Africa, 1914–1918 (1986); and The Great Anglo-Boer War (1990). Mr. Farwell died on August 3, 1999 at the age of 78.

Pancho Segura. Ecuadorian tennis player. Mr. Segura achieved some success as an amateur in the 1940s, but was more successful after turning professional in 1947. He won the U.S. professional men's singles title three straight years (1950-1952), the French professional championship in 1950, and the Tournament of Champions in 1957. Mr. Segura retired from competition in 1970, and became head teaching professional at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984, and died on November 18, 2017 at the age of 96.

Labour
Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, began a four-month strike.

80 years ago
1941

War
The British Royal Air Force bombed Damascus for the first time. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a special message to Congress accusing Germany of acting as an "international outlaw" engaged in "piracy" in the May 21 torpedoing of the American freighter Robin Moor. Finland ordered general mobilization, calling up all reservists under 45 years of age.

Diplomacy
The United States asked Italy to close all 47 of her consulates and 7 Italian agencies in the United States and to remove all their employees by July 15, 1941.

Defense
The United States Army Air Corps was deprecated to being the American training and logistics section of what was to be known until 1947 as the United States Army Air Forces. U.S. President Roosevelt banned shipment of all petroleum products from the Atlantic coast to any countries except the British Empire, Ireland, Egypt, and the Western Hemisphere.

Archaeology
U.S.S.R. archaeologists in Sammarkand opened the tomb of Tamerlane, the Mongol warrior who had died in 1405, and found the skeleton well-preserved. The body had been embalmed with musk and rose water.

Americana
The Hoover Library on War, Peace, and Revolution was dedicated in Palo Alto, California. The library contained many rare documents of World War I.

Labour
Ford Motor Company personnel director Harry Bennett and Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray signed a contract covering 130,000 employees in Ford plants throughout the United States. The United Auto Workers won a union shop, wage increases, and a dues check-off.

Track and field
Archie Harris of Indiana University set a world record in the discus throw of 175 feet 8 3/4 inches in the trials for the National Collegiate Athletic Asociation championships in Palo Alto, California.

75 years ago
1946

War
Chinese Communist leader Chou En-lai rejected the Nationalist proposal that U.S. Army General George Marshall be given supreme arbitration power in the truce negotiations.

Crime
Fred Rose, a former member of the Canadian House of Commons (Labour-Progressive--Cartier), was sentenced to six years in prison for spying for the U.S.S.R. Mr. Rose was charged after Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, defected in 1945 and implicated Mr. Rose, whose Labour-Progressive Party was really the Communist Party in disguise.

Politics and government
Jawaharlal Nehru, President-elect of India's Congress, was arrested by Kashmiri authorities for refusing to obey an order banning him from the state.

The State of Georgia began proceedings to revoke the charter of the Ku Klux Klan, charging it with a conspiracy to seize key government agencies and issuing propaganda advocating violence.

Society
Jordanian scientist Djamil Pasha Tutunji urged increased study of birth control, saying that within 100 years the world willl be too small for its population, "and war would be inevitable."

Energy
U.S. President Harry Truman urged that nuclear research and development be placed in the hands of a civilian commission, and supported Bernard Baruch's plan for international control of atomic energy.

Law
The United States Senate confirmed the nomination of Fred Vinson as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Labour
The strike of 27,000 woodworkers of the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL) British Columbia District 1 of the International Woodworkers of America, which had begun May 15, 1946, ended. The union won the first industry-wide contract, reducing the work week from 54 to 44 hours, and increasing wages by 10¢ per hour.

60 years ago
1951

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. offered to discuss its treaties with the People's Republic of China and other Soviet bloc countries at a Big Four foreign ministers conference if the West agreed to put U.S. bases and the North Atlantic Treaty on the agenda.

U.S. President Harry Truman welcomed Ecuadorian President Gala Plaza Lasso to Washington for a state visit.

Defense
U.S. President Truman created a Psychological Strategy Board under former Army Secretary Gordon Gray to coordinate the nation's psychological warfare activities.

Crime
A U.S. federal grand jury in New York indicted 21 American Communist leaders, including Israel Amter and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, on charges of subversion under the 1940 Smith Act.

Labour
A strike blamed by the government on Communists shut down the entire American-controlled copper industry in Chile.

Baseball
The Washington Nationals sold pitcher Hank Wyse to the New York Yankees. Mr. Wyse began the season with the Philadelphia Athletics, going 1-2 with a 7.98 earned run average in 9 games before being sold to the Nationals on May 16 and posting a 0-0 record with a 9.64 ERA in 3 games. He underwent an emergency appendectomy before joining the Nationals, and was still weak from his operation when he played with them. The Yankees assigned Mr. Wyse to the Kansas City Blues of the American Association, and he never played in the major leagues again.

Bobby Avila batted 5 for 6 with 3 home runs, a double, 4 runs, and 4 runs batted for the Cleveland Indians as they defeated the Boston Red Sox 14-8 before 11,397 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. Early Wynn (5-8) pitched a 15-hit complete game victory, allowing 8 earned runs.

Richie Ashburn singled to lead off the 6th inning and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Bill Nicholson for the game's only run as the Philadelphia Phillies edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 before 12,751 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bubba Church (7-3) pitched a 9-hit shutout to outduel Bob Friend (1-4), who allowed just 4 hits and 1 earned run in 7 innings.

Warren Spahn (8-5) pitched a 5-hitter and batted 3 for 4 with a home run, double, 2 runs, and 3 runs batted in to lead the Boston Braves to a 9-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs before 8,548 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Greenfields--The Brothers Four (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, hosted by John Newland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Tiger, starring Pamela Brown, Elspeth March, and Pauline Challoner



Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Final Arrangements, starring Martin Balsam and Vivian Nathan

50 years ago
1971

Golf
Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus were tied for the lead with scores of even par 280 after four rounds of the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, East Course in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, necessitating an 18-hole playoff the following day.



40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Amoureux Solitaires--Lio

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): How 'bout Us--Champaign (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: You Drive Me Crazy--Shakin' Stevens (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Being with You--Smokey Robinson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Being with You--Smokey Robinson (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 How 'bout Us--Champaign (4th week at #1)
2 I've Seen That Face Before--Grace Jones
3 Rain in May--Max Werner
4 Dance On--Doris D and the Pins
5 Ma Quale Idea--Pino D'Angiò
6 Kids in America--Kim Wilde
7 Klap Maar In Je Handen (Live)--Peter Koelewijn en Zijn Rockets
8 This Ole House--Shakin' Stevens
9 De Verzonken Stad--Frank & Mirella
10 He's Just a Runaway--Sister Sledge

Singles entering the chart were Chequered Love by Kim Wilde (#24); Don't Let Him Go by REO Speedwagon (#30); Crazy Accordion by De Kermisklanten (#31); Rainy Night in Georgia by Randy Crawford (#35); and You'll Never Be So Wrong by Hot Chocolate (#38).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Medley--Stars on 45
2 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes
3 Sukiyaki--A Taste of Honey
4 A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)--Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio
5 All Those Years Ago--George Harrison
6 Being with You--Smokey Robinson
7 The One that You Love--Air Supply
8 America--Neil Diamond
9 You Make My Dreams--Daryl Hall & John Oates
10 Jessie's Girl--Rick Springfield

Singles entering the chart were Touch Me When We're Dancing by the Carpenters (#76); You are Forever by Smokey Robinson (#79); The Kid is Hot Tonite by Loverboy (#81); Some Changes are for Good by Dionne Warwick (#82); Suzi by Randy Vanwarmer (#83); Lady (You Bring Me Up) by the Commodores (#84); Love on a Two Way Street by Stacy Lattisaw (#85); Don't Want to Wait Anymore by the Tubes (#86); Fly Away by Blackfoot (#89); and Rich Man by Terri Gibbs (#95).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Medley--Stars on 45
2 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes
3 All Those Years Ago—George Harrison
4 Sukiyaki--A Taste of Honey
5 A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)--Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio
6 Being with You--Smokey Robinson
7 The One That You Love—Air Supply
8 This Little Girl—Gary U.S. Bonds
9 I Love You—Climax Blues Band
10 America—Neil Diamond

Singles entering the chart were Touch Me When We’re Dancing by the Carpenters (#76); Lady (You Bring Me Up) by the Commodores (#78); You are Forever by Smokey Robinson (#83); Love on a Two Way Street by Stacy Lattisaw (#84); The Real Thing by the Brothers Johnson (#86); Suzi by Randy Vanwarmer (#87); Some Changes are Good by Dionne Warwick (#88); Don't Want to Wait Anymore by the Tubes (#89); The Kid is Hot Tonite by Loverboy (#90); and Rich Man by Terri Gibbs (#94).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Record World)
1 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes (3rd week at #1)
2 Medley--Stars on 45
3 All Those Years Ago--George Harrison
4 A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)--Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio
5 The One that You Love--Air Supply
6 Take it on the Run--REO Speedwagon
7 Morning Train (Nine to Five)--Sheena Easton
8 Sukiyaki--A Taste of Honey
9 America--Neil Diamond
10 I Love You--Climax Blues Band

Singles entering the chart were Touch Me When We're Dancing by the Carpenters (#70); You are Forever by Smokey Robinson (#84); Love on a Two Way Street by Stacy Lattisaw (#87); The Real Thing by the Brothers Johnson (#88); Some Changes are for Good by Dionne Warwick (#89); The Kid is Hot Tonite by Loverboy (#90); and Push by One Way (#97).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Medley--Stars on 45 (3rd week at #1)
2 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes
3 Watching the Wheels--John Lennon
4 Too Much Time on My Hands--Styx
5 All Those Years Ago—George Harrison
6 Being with You--Smokey Robinson
7 Sukiyaki—A Taste of Honey
8 Angel of the Morning--Juice Newton
9 Take it on the Run--REO Speedwagon
10 Morning Train (Nine to Five)--Sheena Easton

Singles entering the chart were Elvira by the Oak Ridge Boys (#42); Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through by Jim Steinman (#45); The Stroke by Billy Squier (#46); Gemini Dream by the Moody Blues (#48); and Tempted by Squeeze (#49).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Beatles Medley--Stars on 45
2 All Those Years Ago--George Harrison
3 This Little Girl--Gary U.S. Bonds
4 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes
5 Living Inside Myself--Gino Vannelli
6 The Waiting--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
7 Sweetheart--Franke & the Knockouts
8 Sukiyaki—A Taste of Honey
9 Nobody Wins--Elton John
10 You Make My Dreams--Daryl Hall & John Oates

Singles entering the chart were The One that You Love by Air Supply (#28); and In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins (#20).

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Winnipeg (0-3) 18 @ British Columbia (3-0) 28

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Light My Fire--The Doors (2nd week at #1)

Germanica
The Bundestag voted to move the German capital from Bonn back to Berlin.

Defense
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney attended the Conference of Security and Co-operation in Europe in Germany; the conference adopted the Canadian proposal to monitor arms build-ups.

Politics and government
The Edwards-Beaudoin Committee recommended a regional veto to the Canadian Constitution, and unanimous consent for changes involving the monarch, language and resources. All other changes would require consent of Ottawa, Ontario, Québec, two Western, and two Atlantic provinces. The Québec Liberal government of Premier Robert Bourassa pushed through Bill 150 (an Act respecting the process for determining the political and constitutional future of Québec) in closing session, requiring a referendum on the province's sovereignty by October, 1992. The government also decreased payments to municipalities and put a wage freeze on public sector. Mr. Bourassa also announces a by-election in the riding of Montmorency on August 12, 1991; the riding had been vacated by fomer revenue minister Yves Séguin, who had resigned in protest against combining the provincial sales tax with the federal government's Goods and Services Tax.

Diplomacy
The inquiry into the fast-track immigration into Canada of Mohamed Al-Mashat, an Iraqi diplomat and defector from the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, agreed on the flawed and controversial processing of the case.

Labour
Uniroyal Goodrich Tire decided to keep one of two plants, making a deal with the United Rubber Workers Union, saving 1,000 of the present 2,000 jobs. The plant saved was the one in Kitchener, Ontario.

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Theme from Mission: Impossible--Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen, Jr.

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Macarena--Los Del Rio

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Columbia, with a seven-member crew led by Commander Terence Henricks and including one Canadian--Payload Specialist Bob Thirsk--launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin mission STS-78. It ended up as the longest mission to date at 15 days 12 hours, and carried the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS).





Business
Westinghouse Electric announced a deal to buy Infinity Broadcasting for $3.9 billion, a move that combined the two biggest players in radio. The U.S. Congress had passed the Telecommunications Act in February 1996, removing restrictions on how many stations could be owned by one entity in one market.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Montreal (2-0) 43 @ Hamilton (1-1) 39

20 years ago
2001

Crime
Andrea Yates drowned her five children, who ranged in age from 6 months to 7 years, in the bathtub in her family's home in Houston.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
British Columbia (0-1) 14 @ Saskatchewan (1-0) 19
Edmonton (0-1) 10 @ Calgary (1-0) 34

Darren Hall returned the 2nd half kickoff for a touchdown to help the Stampeders defeat the Eskimos at McMahon Stadium.

10 years ago
2011

Health
Canada's Consumer Product Safety Act took effect, giving the federal government the power to remove unsafe products from store shelves.

Economics and finance
The Bank of Canada unveiled new polymer bank notes to replace the paper-cotton bills; the changeover started in November with the $100 note, followed by the $50 and $20 in March and May, 2012. The rest of the plastic money went into circulation in early 2013.