July 18, 2014

625 years ago
1389

War
France and England agreed to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years' War.

200 years ago
1814

War
In the War of 1812, William McKay marched south with 150 Michigan Fencibles and a party of Green Bay Indians, capturing Prairie du Chien, Iowa and the U.S. gunboat Governor Clark. Eight traitors captured by British forces were hanged at Ancaster, Upper Canada.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Jo Cals. Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 1965-1966. Mr. Cals, a member of the Roman Catholic State Party until 1945 and the Catholic People's Party thereafter, was a member of the House of Representatives (1948-1950, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1963-1965), and was State Secretary/Minister for Education, Arts and Sciences (1950-1961) before serving as Prime Minister from April 1965-November 1966. He left politics after his government fell after losing a vote involving the budget. Mr. Cals died of a brain tumour on December 30, 1971 at the age of 57.

Defense
The U.S. Congress formed the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.

80 years ago
1934

Baseball
The Cleveland Indians rallied for 3 runs in the 9th inning against Lefty Gomez to edge the New York Yankees 15-14 before 10,000 fans at League Park in Cleveland. The teams set an American League record with 22 players hitting safely.

75 years ago
1939

Died on this date
J. Louis Comiskey, 54. U.S. baseball executive. Mr. Comiskey succeded his father Charles upon his death in 1931 as owner of the Chicago White Sox. Lou Comiskey died of heart disease, and ownership of the team passed to his widow Grace.

70 years ago
1944

War
British Bomber Command sent 100 Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force planes to help British and Canadian troops in France to break the German defense line at Caen. The ground troops then moved into open country east of the Orne River, gaining a few miles in attacks beyond Caen in Operation Goodwood/Atlantic to secure Vaucelles and Colombelles, preparing the way to break through the triangle to Falaise. U.S. troops in Italy reached the Arno River between Pisa and Florence at the town of Pontedera. The U.S. War Department announced that a Brazilian expeditionary force was in Italy. In a three-day-old offensive, Soviet troops advanced up to 31 miles along a 125-mile front between Tarnopol and Kovel.

Politics and government
Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō and his cabinet resigned because "it was not able to achieve its objectives."

Track and field
Arne Andersson ran the mile in 4:01.6 in Malmo, Sweden, cutting a full second off the world record time.

60 years ago
1954

Died on this date
Machine Gun Kelly, 54. U.S. gangster. Mr. Kelly, born George Barnes, was a bootlegger during the Prohibition era in the 1920s and early 1930s. Although he was known for brandishing a Thompson submachine gun, he was not known to have ever fired it. In 1933, he and his wife Kathryn kidnapped Oklahoma City oil tycoon Charles Urschel, and the Kellys were sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Kelly died of a heart attack on his 54th birthday in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Baseball
The Philadelphia Phillies edged the St. Louis Cardinals 11-10 in 10 innings in the first game of a doubleheader before 18,958 fans at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. In the second game, the Phillies were leading by 7 runs with 2 out in the top of the 5th inning, and St. Louis manager Eddie Stanky began using delaying tactics, hoping to have the game cancelled because of rain. A major brawl ensued to further delay proceedings, and home plate umpire Babe Pinelli ejected Philadelphia first baseman Earl Torgeson and St. Louis catcher Sal Yvars for fighting before declaring the game forfeited to Philadelphia. Mr. Stanky was subsequently suspended for five days and fined $100.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You're My World (Il Mio Mondo)--Cilla Black (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: J'y Pense et Puis J'oublie--Claude François

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): In ginocchio da te--Gianni Morandi

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht--Siw Malmkvist (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): A Hard Day's Night--The Beatles

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Rag Doll--The 4 Seasons

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Rag Doll--The 4 Seasons (2nd week at #1)
2 I Get Around--The Beach Boys
3 Memphis--Johnny Rivers
4 Can't You See that She's Mine--The Dave Clark Five
5 The Girl from Ipanema--Getz/Gilberto
6 My Boy Lollipop--Millie Small
7 The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)--Jan & Dean
8 Dang Me--Roger Miller
9 A Hard Day's Night--The Beatles
10 Wishin' and Hopin'--Dusty Springfield

Singles entering the chart were Walk--Don't Run '64 by the Ventures (#63); People Say by the Dixie Cups (#70); How Do You Do It by Gerry and the Pacemakers (#72); Everybody Needs Somebody to Love by Solomon Burke (#74); Worry by Johnny Tillotson (#77); A Tear Fell by Ray Charles (#79); Ain't She Sweet by the Beatles (#81); Little Latin Lupe Lu by the Kingsmen (#86); It's a Sin to Tell a Lie (#87)/A Taste of Honey (#98) by Tony Bennett; I Should Have Known Better by the Beatles (#89); What's Happening to Me by Dale & Grace (#91); Looking for Love by Connie Francis (#92); It's a Cotton Candy World by Jerry Wallace (#93); Hey Girl Don't Bother Me by the Tams (#95); Sunny by Neil Sedaka (#97); and In the Misty Moonlight by Jerry Wallace (#99). I Should Have Known Better was the B-side of A Hard Day's Night, and is also from the movie.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): She--Charles Aznavour

World events
Bowing to pressure from the United Nations, Greece agreed to gradually replace the 650 Greek officers in the Cypriot National Guard, who had deposed Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios in a coup on July 15. The decision fell short of Turkey's demand for complete withdrawal of the officers.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Winnipeg (1-3) 16 @ Ottawa (5-0) 27
Edmonton (2-2) 15 @ Calgary (0-4) 14

WFL
Portland (0-2) 8 @ Memphis (2-0) 16

Alex Karras was the guest commentator on the TVS telecast, joining Merle Harmon and Alex Hawkins in the broadcast booth.

30 years ago
1984

Politics and government
Former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale was nominated on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco as the party’s candidate for President of the United States. Mr. Mondale received 2,191 of the 3,933 votes cast; Senator Gary Hart received 1,200.5 votes, and Reverend Jesse Jackson got 465.5 votes. Sen. Hart, who asked that the nomination be made unanimous, appeared to leave the door open to another bid for the nomination in the future.

Crime
In what may have been the worst mass murder in United States history, James Huberty, a gun collector who had recently lost his job, shot 21 people to death and wounded 18 others in and near a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro, California. Mr. Huberty’s motive was unknown. He carried three guns into the restaurant at about 4 P.M. and ordered everyone to lie down. He shot anyone who moved inside the restaurant and shot others who were outside. Many of the victims were children. The nightmare lasted about 77 minutes before Mr. Huberty was fatally felled by a single shot fired by Charles Foster, a member of the police SWAT team.

25 years ago
1989

Died on this date
Donnie Moore, 35. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Moore was a relief pitcher with the Chicago Cubs (1975, 1977-1979); St. Louis Cardinals (1980); Milwaukee Brewers (1981); Atlanta Braves (1982-1984); and California Angels (1985-1988), posting a record of 43-40 with 89 saves and an earned run average of 3.67 in 416 games. He was named to the American League team for the All-Star Game in 1985, a year in which he pitched in 57 games, posting an 8-8 record with 31 saves and a 1.92 ERA. Mr. Moore shot himself after shooting and critically injuring his wife Tonya as their 10-year-old son watched. Mr. Moore had been the ace relief pitcher with the California Angels several years earlier, but his career unravelled after he gave up a home run to Dave Henderson of the Boston Red Sox in game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series when the Angels were just one strike away from winning the pennant. An Angel win would have given them the series 4 game to 1. Instead, the Red Sox scored another run off Mr. Moore in the 11th inning to win game 5 in Anaheim and the last 2 games in Boston to win the ALCS 4 games to 3. Mr. Moore never got over his game 5 failure, saying about the home run pitch to Mr. Henderson, "I’ll think about that until the day I die." His most recent position had been with the Omaha Royals of the American Association, but the Royals had released him on June 12, 1989 after he had posted a 1-2 record with a 6.39 ERA in 7 games.

Rebecca Schaeffer, 21. U.S. actress. Miss Schaeffer co-starred in the television comedy series My Sister Sam (1986-1988) and appeared in the movie Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989). She was fatally shot in the doorway of her Los Angeles apartment building by a stalker named Robert Bardo, who was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Politics and government
U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev, addressing the Central Committee of the Communist Party, called for "a flow of fresh blood" within the party, and warned that he was ready to purge more party leaders.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the merchandise trade deficit had widened in May to $10.24 billion.

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (2-0) 42 @ British Columbia (0-2) 37



20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Wild Night--John Mellencamp with Me’shell Ndegeocello
2 Don't Turn Around--Ace of Base
3 I Swear--All-4-One
4 If You Go--Jon Secada
5 Can You Feel the Love Tonight--Elton John
6 Crazy--Aerosmith
7 Anytime You Need a Friend--Mariah Carey
8 Shine--Collective Soul
9 Take it Back--Pink Floyd
10 Night in My Veins--The Pretenders

Singles entering the chart were Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah McLachlan (#71); Rocket by Smashing Pumpkins (#78); You Better Wait by Steve Perry (#85); Time of the Season by the Nylons (#86); The Boneyard Tree by the Watchmen (#93); Rock It by the Steve Miller Band (#96); and Assoholic by 54-40 (#97).

Died on this date
Molly McGee, 41. U.S. football player. Sylvester McGee was a running back at the University of Rhode Island before playing professionally with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (1974); Charlotte Hornets of the World Football League (1975); and Ottawa Rough Riders (1975-1976) and Saskatchewan Roughriders (1976-1979) of the Canadian Football League. He played the first 12 games of the 1976 season with Ottawa, and the last 2 games with Saskatchewan, rushing for 100 yards in the Roughriders' win over the Edmonton Eskimos in the Western Final, but suffering an injury early in the loss to Ottawa in the Grey Cup. Mr. McGee led the CFL in pass receptions in 1977 with 68. He played only 8 games in 1978, and suffered a career-ending injury in the first game of the 1979 season.

Tug, 13. U.S.-born Canadian miniature schnauzer. Named after baseball pitcher Tug McGraw because of his character, Tug was a good little pal to this blogger and his family, and remains much missed.

Terrorism
85 people--most of them Jewish--were killed, and 300 injured, when a car bomb exploded near the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Centre) in Buenos Aires.

World events
The rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front, consisting mainly of the minority Tutsi tribe, took control of Gisenyi and northwestern Rwanda, forcing the interim government--consisting mainly of the minority Hutu tribe--into Zaire and ending the genocide.

Economics and finance
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and the provincial premiers signed an internal trade agreement to end trade barriers among provinces.

10 years ago
2004

Diplomacy
Canada recalled its ambassador to Iran in protest after Iran reneged on a promise to allow Canadian observers to attend the trial of the intelligence agent charged with the killing in Iran of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. The accused was acquitted the following week, prompting an expression of dissatisfaction from Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

Golf
Todd Hamilton finished 1 stroke ahead of Ernie Els in a 4-hole playoff to win the British Open on the Old Course at Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland. First prize money was £720,000 ($1,348,272).