July 4, 2021

480 years ago
1541

Died on this date
Pedro de Alvarado, 55-56 (?). Spanish conquistador. Mr. Alvarado participated in the Spanish conquests of Cuba and Mexico, and was the conquistador of much of Central America. He was the governor of Guatemala in the 1820s and Honduras in the 1830s, and was known for his cruel treatment of native populations and mass murders of natives in the conquest of Mexico. Mr. Alvarado was fighting against Mixtón natives in Mexico when he was killed by a horse that was spooked and crushed him.

475 years ago
1546

Born on this date
Murad III. Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1574-1595. Murad III acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Selim II, and promptly had his five younger brothers strangled. Sultan Murad oversaw an expedition to Morocco and positive relations with England, and was a patron of the arts. He died on January 16, 1595 at the age of 48, and was succeeded by his son Mehmed III.

190 years ago
1831

Died on this date
James Monroe, 73. 5th President of the United States, 1817-1825. Mr. Monroe, a Democratic-Republican, held various political and diplomatic offices in a career spanning more than 40 years, including Secretary of State (1811-1817) while also serving as Secretary of War (1814-1815) during the War of 1812. His time as President was known as the "Era of Good Feelings." Mr. Monroe was best known for his proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, warning European nations against further intervention in the Americas. Mr. Monroe died of heart failure and tuberculosis.

Music
Samuel Francis Smith's patriotic song America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee) was first performed in public, at a children's Independence Day celebration at Park Street Church in Boston.

150 years ago
1871

Born on this date
Hubert Cecil Booth. U.K. engineer. Mr. Booth invented one of the first powered vacuum cleaners in 1901, and also designed Ferris wheels, suspension bridges, and factories. He died on January 14, 1955 at the age of 83.

140 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Ulysses S. Grant III. U.S. military officer. Major General Grant, a grandson of General of the Army and U.S. President U.S. Grant, served in both world wars, and was in charge of U.S. civil defense during World War II. He was an engineer, and served on the National Capital Park and Planning Commission during peacetime, and also supervised the Park Police. Maj. Gen. Grant died on August 29, 1968 at the age of 87.

Academia
Tuskegee Institute opened in Alabama.

130 years ago
1891

Died on this date
Hannibal Hamlin, 81. 15th Vice President of the United States, 1861-1865. Mr. Hamlin, a Democrat until switching to the Republican Party in 1856, represented Maine's 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843-1847, and in the United States Senate from 1848-1857, 1857-1861, and 1869-1881. He was Governor of Maine from January 8-February 25, 1857, but had a change of heart and returned to the Senate. Mr. Hamlin was Vice President with President Abraham Lincoln during Mr. Lincoln's first term as President, and served in the militia during the U.S. Civil War. Mr. Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson as his running mate for the 1864 election, and Mr. Hamlin left federal politics before serving two more terms in the Senate. He was U.S. Ambassador to Spain from 1881-1882.

120 years ago
1901

Politics and government
William Howard Taft took office as Governor of the Philippines.

Transportation
The bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick, spanning the Saint John River, officially opened. Originally built as a private toll crossing, it was rebuilt and covered in 1920-1921, becoming “The World’s Longest Covered Bridge.”

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Mitch Miller. U.S. musician. Mr. Miller was a classical and jazz oboist, but was best known as a conductor, producer, and executive with Columbia Records in the 1950s and '60s. He achieved several hit singles as a bandleader, most notably The Yellow Rose of Texas, which reached #1 on several U.S. charts in 1955. Mr. Miller hosted the television program Sing Along with Mitch (1961-1964), and released several albums in connection with the show. He died after a short illness on July 31, 2010, 27 days after his 99th birthday.

Weather
A heat wave struck the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in 11 days and breaking temperature records in several cities.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Gérard Debreu. French-born U.S. economist and mathematician. Mr. Debreu was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences "for having incorporated new analytical methods into economic theory and for his rigorous reformulation of the theory of general equilibrium." He died on December 31, 2004 at the age of 83.

Philip Rose. U.S. theatrical producer. Mr. Rose, born Philip Rosenberg, produced Broadway plays expressing liberal social views. His productions included A Raisin in the Sun (1959); The Owl and the Pussycat (1964); Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969); and Shenandoah (1974). Mr. Rose died on May 31, 2011 at the age of 89.

80 years ago
1941

At the movies
Caught in the Draft, starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, opened in theatres.



War
Both Germany and the U.S.S.R. reported that Soviet forces were withdrawing slowly to the Stalin Line in the central Russian sector. The United Kingdom announced that General Pietro Gazzera, supreme Italian commander in Ethiopia, had surrendered with all his forces in the province of Galla Sidamo.

Abominations
German troops massacred 25 Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lwów. The Great Choral Synagogue in German-occupied Riga was burned, with 20 Jews locked in the basement and as many as 300 killed in the synagogue before it was set on fire.

World events
An attempted revolt by the garrison of Pilar, led by Captain Heriberto dos Santos, was crushed by Paraguayan authorities.

Protest
The Turkish government reported that rioting had broken out among troops and civilians in Beirut as British forces continued bombing the city.

Diplomacy
Bolivian Foreign Minister Alberto Ostria Gutierrez said that his country supported the Uruguayan proposal that any American nation engaged in a foreign war be regarded as a non-belligerent.

Energy
U.S. Office of Production Management Director General William Knudsen reported that the Tennessee Valley Authority had approved the development of the Fontana, North Carolina hydroelectric project on the Little Tennessee River under an agreement with Alcoa.

75 years ago
1946

Died on this date
Gerda Steinhoff, 24. German war criminal. SS-Oberaufseherin Steinhoff took part in selections of prisoners to be sent to the gas chambers at the Stutthof concentration camp. She was publicly hanged on July 4, 1946, on Biskupia Gorka Hill, near Gdańsk.

War
With defense testimony at the Nuremberg trial of accused Nazi war criminals concluded, attorneys for the 21 defendants blamed the late German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler for World War II, and asked for acquittal.

Diplomacy
The meeting in Paris of Allied foreign ministers reached a compromise giving the U.S.S.R. $100 million in Italian reparations and setting July 29, 1946 for the start of a 21-nation general peace conference.

Asiatica
The Philippine Republic became independent at 10 A.M. after 48 years of United States sovereignty.

Abominations
A pogrom against Jewish Holocaust survivors in Kielce, Poland resulted in the deaths of 42 Jews.

Terrorism
The Jewish organization Irgun Zvai Leumi released three British officers who had been kidnapped on June 18 in Jerusalem, in response to the British commutation of the death sentences of Irgun terrorists Joseph Simkhon and Isaac Ashbel.

70 years ago
1951

On the radio
Pete Kelly's Blues, starring Jack Webb, on NBC

Tonight's episode was the first for the series that ran 13 weeks as a summer replacement for The Halls of Ivy.

World events
The Czechoslovakian State Supreme Court sentenced Associated Press Prague correspondent William N. Oatis to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage. The U.S. State Department said he was the victim of a "kangaroo court," and AP denounced his trial as "a mockery of elemental justice."

Defense
U.S. Defense Mobilization Director Charles Wilson, submitting his second quarterly report to President Harry Truman, warned of the possibility of "new aggressions...along the broad perimeter of the Soviet Empire."

Politics and government
Bangkok sources reported that Thai Prime Minister Luang Pibul Songgram had become a figurehead for a four-man military junta as a result of losing face during the recent naval and marine revolt.

A new cabinet was sworn in in Japan, with Democratic Liberal Party leader Shigenu Yoshida remaining as Prime Minister.

Technology
Physicist William Shockley announced the invention of the junction transistor, for which he, John Bardeen, and Walter Houser Brattain later won the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Journalism
A Madison Capital Times reporter approached 112 residents of Madison, Wisconsin with a "petition" containing the preamble to the Declaration of Independence and seven amendments to the U.S. Constitution. 111 of the 112 refused to sign the "petition."

Economics and finance
East and West Germany annnounced an agreement on a new 1951 trade pact providing for the exchange of $119 million worth of goods on each side.

Tennis
Pancho Segura defeated Pancho Gonzales in the final of the U.S. professional championship at Forest Hills, New York, winning the title for the second straight year.

Track and field
Rev. Bob Richards won the Amateur Athletic Union decathlon title in Santa Barbara, California, with 7,834 points.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Greenfields--The Brothers Four (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, hosted by John Newland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Eyewitness, starring John Meillon, Rose Alba, and Anton Rodgers

This was the 97th and last episode of the series.



Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Ambition , starring Leslie Nielsen and Harold J. Stone

This was the last episode of the season.

At the movies
Most Dangerous Man Alive, directed by Allan Dwan, and starring Ron Randell, Debra Paget, and Elaine Stewart, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Jake Hehl, 61. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Hehl played in 1 game with the Brooklyn Robins on June 20, 1918, hitting a batter but pitching a scoreless 9th inning, and making 1 assist. He was 95-108 in 256 games, hitting 4 home runs in 265 games in 9 seasons in the minor leagues (1918-1926).

Disasters
On its maiden voyage, the Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-19 suffered a complete loss of coolant to its reactor. The crew were able to effect repairs, but 22 of them died of radiation poisoning over the following two years.

Baseball
The Cleveland Indians sold pitcher Johnny Antonelli to the Milwaukee Braves. He was 0-4 with a 6.56 earned run average in 11 games, batting .267 with no home runs or runs batted in in 12 games with Cleveland in 1961.

The New York Yankees scored all their runs in the bottom of the 5th inning as they beat the Detroit Tigers 6-2 in the first game of a doubleheader before 74,246 fans at Yankee Stadium. Frank Lary scored Steve Boros with a bunt single in the top of the 10th inning to break a 3-3 tie as the Tigers won the second game 4-3. Mr. Lary (12-4), famous as a "Yankee killer," pitched 9+ innings to get the win. Roger Maris hit his 31st home run of the season for New York in the 8th inning of the second game.

Gene Woodling hit a 3-run home run in the 1st inning and Gene Green and Willie Tasby homered later in the game for the Washington Senators as they beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 before 14,355 fans at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

Gus Triandos drove in 4 runs with a pair of home runs and Earl Robinson added a solo homer for the Baltimore Orioles as they beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 before 38,206 fans at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Steve Barber (9-6) pitched a 5-hit complete game victory.

Pinch hitter Julio Becquer's grand slam in the bottom of the 9th inning gave the Minnesota Twins a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox in the first game of a doubleheader before 23,592 fans at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. The Twins completed the sweep when they scored 4 runs in the 8th to win 4-2, aided by Harmon Killebrew's only major league inside-the-park home run, off losing pitcher Cal McLish (4-8), as Jack Kralick (8-5) pitched a 10-hit complete game victory.

George Thomas, Ted Kluszewski, Lee Thomas, and Ken Hunt hit home runs for the Los Angeles Angels as they beat the Kansas City Athletics 12-5 in the first game of a doubleheader before 12,871 fans at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Rocky Bridges hit a 3-run homer as part of a 6-run 7th inning for the Angels as they won the second game 7-5 to complete the sweep.

The San Francisco Giants split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs before 25,505 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago, winning 19-3 and losing 3-2. Orlando Cepeda batted 5 for 5 with a home run, 2 doubles, 2 runs, and 8 runs batted in for the Giants in the first game, while Willie Mays of the Giants hit his 300th career major league home run and 21st of the season in the second game. The doubleheader featured the first use of five umpires in a major league game; crew chief Al Barlick worked in center field in the first game, believing it enabled him to make calls along the wall in both directions.

Joey Jay (11-4) pitched a 3-hitter and Gene Freese led off the bottom of the 5th inning with a home run to provide the necessary scoring as the Cincinnati Reds shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 before 11,802 fans at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

Stan Musial drove in 4 runs with a home run and a triple to help the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-7 in the first game of a doubleheader before 14,653 fans at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals took a 5-0 lead in the 1st inning of the second game and led 6-0 after 4 innings, but the Phillies scored 3 in the 5th, 6 in the 7th, and 1 in the 9th to win 10-6.

The Los Angeles Dodgers scored all their runs in the top of the 1st inning and held on to defeat the Milwaukee Braves 6-5 before 14,084 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee.

50 years ago
1971

Died on this date
Thomas C. Hart, 94. U.S. military officer and politician. Admiral Hart served with the United States Navy from 1897-1945, holding several commands in World War II. A Republican, he represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate (1945-1946).

August Derleth, 62. U.S. writer. Mr. Derleth wrote more than 100 books and 150 short stories, as well as poems and essays. He was best known for the novels, non-fiction, and poetry that comprised the Sac Prairie Saga, inspired by his home town of Sauk City, Wisconsin. Mr. Derleth also created the fictional detective Solar Pons, a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes, who was the subject of 70 short stories and a novel. Mr. Derleth died of a heart attack.

Georgia Carr, 46. U.S. singer. Miss Carr, born Mary Louise Thomas, began singing at the Club Royal in San Francisco. She began recording with Capitol Records in 1952, and released several singles and albums on Capitol and other labels through the mid-1960s. Miss Carr worked as a disc jockey, founded a company to make commercials using Negro actors, and operated a catering company with her sister. She died from a stroke, two weeks after her 46th birthday.

Technology
Project Gutenberg, which offers free downloads of books in electronic form to computer users, began when Michael Hart, using a computer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, typed the text of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and transmitted it to other users of ARPANET, forerunner of the Internet.

Golf
Lee Trevino defeated Art Wall, Jr. on the first hole of a playoff to win the Canadian Open at La Vallée du Richelieu Golf Club in Sainte-Julie, Quebec. The two had finished tied after four rounds with 13-under-par total scores of 275. First prize money was $30,000.

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Enola Gay--OMD

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)--Grace Jones (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: One Day in Your Life--Michael Jackson

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): One Day In Your Life--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): One Day In Your Life--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 How 'bout Us--Champaign (6th week at #1)
2 I've Seen That Face Before--Grace Jones
3 Ma Quale Idea--Pino D'Angiò
4 Klap Maar In Je Handen (Live)--Peter Koelewijn en Zijn Rockets
5 Only Crying--Keith Marshall
6 Chequered Love--Kim Wilde
7 Attention to Me--The Nolans
8 Don't Stop--K.i.D.
9 Stand & Deliver--Adam and the Ants
10 Hopeloos--Will Tura

Singles entering the chart were Going Back to My Roots by Odyssey (#22); Rio by Maywood (#29); Body Talk by Imagination (#32); Wij Zijn de Wuppies by Vader Abraham en de Wuppies (#33); Nobody Wins by Elton John (#34); and The Magnificent Seven (Special Remix) by the Clash (#35).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes (7th week at #1)
2 All Those Years Ago--George Harrison
3 The One that You Love--Air Supply
4 Jessie's Girl--Rick Springfield
5 You Make My Dreams--Daryl Hall & John Oates
6 Elvira--The Oak Ridge Boys
7 Medley--Stars on 45
8 A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)--Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio
9 Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe it or Not)--Joey Scarbury
10 I Don't Need You--Kenny Rogers

Singles entering the chart were Urgent by Foreigner (#51); Cool Love by Pablo Cruise (#75); Really Wanna Know You by Gary Wright (#80); Nightwalker by Gino Vannelli (#83); You're My Girl by Franke & the Knockouts (#84); American Memories by Shamus M'Cool (#90); and Ready for Love by Silverado (#95).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes (5th week at #1)
2 Medley--Stars on 45
3 All Those Years Ago—George Harrison
4 The One That You Love—Air Supply
5 Elvira--The Oak Ridge Boys
6 Jessie's Girl--Rick Springfield
7 This Little Girl—Gary U.S. Bonds
8 Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe it or Not)--Joey Scarbury
9 You Make My Dreams--Daryl Hall & John Oates
10 A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)--Ray Parker, Jr. and Raydio

Singles entering the chart were Urgent by Foreigner (#63); Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (#71); Cool Love by Pablo Cruise (#76); You're My Girl by Franke & the Knockouts (#83); Really Wanna Know You by Gary Wright (#86); American Memories by Shamus M'Cool (#95); and Pull Up to the Bumper by Grace Jones (#98). Endless Love was the title song of the movie.

U.S.A. Top 10 (Record World)
1 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes (5th week at #1)
2 The One that You Love--Air Supply
3 All Those Years Ago--George Harrison
4 Elvira--The Oak Ridge Boys
5 Medley--Stars on 45
6 Jessie's Girl--Rick Springfield
7 You Make My Dreams--Daryl Hall & John Oates
8 Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe it or Not)--Joey Scarbury
9 A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)--Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio
10 I Love You--Climax Blues Band

Singles entering the chart were Urgent by Foreigner (#58); Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (#67); Cool Love by Pablo Cruise (#83); Walk Right Now by the Jacksons (#88); You're My Girl by Franke & the Knockouts (#89); Really Wanna Know You by Gary Wright (#90); and Very Special by Debra Laws (#97).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Medley--Stars on 45 (5th week at #1)
2 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes
3 All Those Years Ago—George Harrison
4 Sukiyaki—A Taste of Honey
5 Being with You--Smokey Robinson
6 The Waiting--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
7 Watching the Wheels--John Lennon
8 A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)--Ray Parker, Jr. & Raydio
9 The One that You Love--Air Supply
10 This Little Girl--Gary U.S. Bonds

Singles entering the chart were In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins (#44); I Don't Need You by Kenny Rogers (#45); Queen of Hearts by Juice Newton (#47); The Break Up Song (They Don't Write 'Em) by the Greg Kihn Band (#48); For You by Zon (#49); and Time by Alan Parsons Project (#50).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 All Those Years Ago--George Harrison (2nd week at #1)
2 The Waiting--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3 You Make My Dreams--Daryl Hall & John Oates
4 Beatles Medley--Stars on 45
5 Sukiyaki—A Taste of Honey
6 Gemini Dream--The Moody Blues
7 Winning--Santana
8 America--Neil Diamond
9 Bette Davis Eyes--Kim Carnes
10 Arc of a Diver--Steve Winwood

The only single entering the chart was One Step Ahead by Split Enz (#29).

Music
The Beach Boys headlined a free concert at Washington Mall in Washington, D.C., with the Ventures and the Grass Roots as opening acts.



Football
CFL
Montreal (0-1) 8 @ British Columbia (1-0) 48



30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams

Died on this date
Art Sansom, 70. U.S. cartoonist. Mr. Sansom was best known for creating the comic strip The Born Loser, which began running in newspapers in 1965.

Diplomacy
South Korean President Roh Tae-Woo and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney held talks in Ottawa on how to improve trade and political ties.

Politics and government
Elections Canada reported that the governing Progressive Conservative Party had raised 20% less in 1990 than 1989, while the Liberal Party, New Democratic Party, and Reform Party raised more money in 1990 than in 1989.

The government of Québec put in a two-year freeze on immigration, with a maximum of 45,000 in 1991 and 1992, because of public fears that immigrants threatened jobs in a poor economy.

Scandal
Patricia Starr, former political fundraiser for the Ontario Liberal Party, received a $3,500 fine for breaking Ontario's election finance laws; she had been convicted of fraud on June 28.

Communications
Canadian Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips urgently recommended legislation against the interception of cellular telephone conversations.

Economics and finance
The Saskatchewan government of Premier Grant Devine brought in the Gross Revenue Insurance Plan; it combined crop and revenue insurance, and was funde throughout the year in three payments instead of at year end.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Saskatchewan (0-2) 35 @ British Columbia (1-1) 38

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Killing Me Softly--The Fugees

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Macarena--Los Del Rio (3rd week at #1)

Space
Canadian Space Agency astronaut and NASA Payload Specialist Dr. Robert Thirsk, on U.S. space shuttle Columbia mission STS-78, performed hand-grip tests in the Spacelab using the Torque Velocity Dynamometer; exercises on a stationary bicycle-like device called the ergometer to maintain cardiovascular conditioning in the microgravity environment, to help researchers gather data on in-flight muscle atrophy; continued tests on the human behavior workstation, doing problem-solving exercises which help track each crew members' level of mental fatigue; and continued the Astronaut Lung Function Experiment to measure effects of microgravity on pulmonary system during rest, heavy exercise and deep breathing.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (2-0) 38 @ Toronto (1-1) 36

Matt Dunigan completed 23 of 41 passes for 378 yards and 5 touchdowns--the last a 6-yard pass to Earl Winfield with 3:32 remaining in regulation time--to win the quarterbacking duel over Doug Flutie before 26,333 fans at SkyDome. Mr. Flutie completed 33 of 48 passes for 417 yards and 4 TDs. Toronto kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a 50-yard field goal on the last play of regulation time that would have sent the game into overtime if successful, but went for a single point to end the game.



20 years ago
2001

Disasters
Vladivostok Air Flight 352, a Tupolev Tu-154M en route from Ekaterinburg to Vladivostok via Irkutsk, crashed on approach to Irkutsk Airport, killing all 145 people aboard.

Football
CFL
Montreal (1-0) 27 @ Toronto (0-1) 3



Winnipeg (1-0) 48 @ Calgary (0-1) 20