July 1, 2018

375 years ago
1643

Religion
The first meeting of the Westminster Assembly, a council of theologians ("divines") and members of the Parliament of England appointed to restructure the Church of England, took place at Westminster Abbey in London.

180 years ago
1838

Exploration
Thomas Simpson and Peter Warren Dease reached the mouth of the Coppermine River in what is now the Northwest Territories as they searched for the Northwest Passage.

160 years ago
1858

Economics and finance
The first Province of Canada coinage was minted in Montreal, in decimal denominations of 1¢ (bronze), 5¢, 10¢ and 20¢ (silver) pieces, under a new provincial law that required the accounts to be kept in dollars. There was no regular issue of bills until 1870.

150 years ago
1868

Canadiana
The first Dominion Day was observed, celebrating the founding of Canada on July 1, 1867. The holiday had been proclaimed on June 20 by Governor General Lord Monck. The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day, and the name was illegally changed to Canada Day on October 27, 1982.

Politics and government
The government of Canada created the Department of Marine and Fisheries.

140 years ago
1878

Communications
Canada was admitted to membership in the new Universal Postal Union in Geneva.

125 years ago
1893

Transportation
Railway companies opened Toronto's original Union Station.

120 years ago
1898

War
Theodore Roosevelt led his Rough Riders in the conquest of Kettle Hill and then San Juan Hill, helping to secure a victory for U.S. forces over Spanish forces in the Battle of Santiago in Cuba.

110 years ago
1908

Communications
SOS was adopted as the international distress signal.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
Ahmed Deedat. Indian-born S.A. writer and speaker. Mr. Deedat co-founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International in 1957, and became one of the world's best-known Islamic apologists. He engaged in public debates with Christian apologists, arguing less from a knowledge of Islamic doctrine than a knowledge of Christian doctrine. Mr. Deedat's career ended in 1996 with a stroke that left him with "locked-in" syndrome, and he remained bedridden until his death on August 8, 2005 at the age of 87.

Ralph Young. U.S. singer. Mr. Young and Tony Sandler comprised the duo Sandler and Young, who were popular in the 1960s and '70s. Mr. Young retired at the age of 65 and died at the age of 90 on August 22, 2008.

90 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Benjamin Kanowitz, 32. U.S. crime victim. Mr. Kanowitz was killed in the Bronx, New York by a time bomb that had been geared to the starter of his car.

Frank Yale. U.S. gangster. Mr. Yale was driving his car in Brooklyn, New York when he was assassinated by machine gun fire from gangsters in another car; the killers had come from Chicago to get him.

Politics and government
General Alvaro Obregón, the unopposed Laborist Party candidate, was elected to a six-year term as President of Mexico, commencing December 1, 1928.

Disasters
It was reported that the volcano Mayon in Luzon, Philippines, which had begun to spout lava in June, had destroyed the coast town of Libog and several villages.

75 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Willem Arondeus, 48. Dutch author and artist. Mr. Arondeus was an illustrator and later an author who joined the anti-Nazi resistance during World War II. He participated in the bombing of the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews and other wanted by the Gestapo, but was one of 12 arrested for the act and executed by firing squad. Mr. Arondeus was a sodomite whose last words were, "Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards."

War
U.K. Royal Air Force bombers from the Middle East made a heavy raid on Catania, Sicily with the loss of five planes, while other British planes from North Africa bombed Palermo, Sicily and Olbia, Sardinia. U.S. troops in New Guinea consolidated their positions at Nassau Bay, while Australian forces attacked Japanese patrols in the Muba and Malolo areas of Salamaua. U.S. forces claimed Rendova Island after repelling Japanese air assaults.

Politics and government
The French Committee of National Liberation named Pierre Cournarie as Governor of French West Africa.

Japanica
Tokyo City merged with Tokyo Prefecture and was dissolved. Since then, no city in Japan has had the name "Tokyo" (present-day Tokyo is not officially a city).

Law
The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals in San Francisco held that patents for producing Vitamin D by ultraviolet radiation were invalid, claiming that it was a "discovery and not an invention."

Crime
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt commuted the death sentence of Max Stephen to life imprisonment; Mr. Stephen had been convicted of treason for aiding an escaped German flier.

Economics and finance
Income tax withholding began in the United States.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau announced the extension of monetary stabilization agreements with Cuba and Ecuador.

Track and field
Arne Andersson ran the mile in 4:02.6 at a meet in Gothenburg, Sweden, two seconds under Gunder Haegg's world record.

70 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Achille Varzi, 43. Italian auto racing driver. Mr. Varzi won 33 Grand Prix races, mainly in the 1930s. He became a morphine addict and dropped out of racing, but made a successful comeback in 1946. Mr. Varzi was killed in a practice for the Swiss Grand Prix when his car skidded on a wet track, flipped over, and crushed him to death.

Politics and government
U.S., U.K., and French military governors presented plans for the creation of a West German state to a conference of western German political leaders in Frankfurt.

The Italian Socialist Party concluded a four-day conference in Genoa by repudiating Pietro Nenni and other advocates of cooperation with the Communists.

The British Town and Country Planning Act went into effect, giving local authorities power to direct all building and land development.

New York City Mayor William O'Dwyer split with Tammany Hall in a dispute over appointments, and said that he would form a new Democratic organization for New York County.

Transportation
New York International Airport opened at Idlewild.

Economics and finance
Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Quaid-i-Azam) inaugurated the country's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan.

Labour
A U.S. federal district court in Washington, D.C. granted a government request to extend an injunction against a strike of railroad workers for the duration of government operation of the nation's railroads.

60 years ago
1958

Television
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation began nationwide broadcasting as the new Trans-Canada microwave relay system went into operation.

War
Cambodian General Lon Nol reported that invading North Vietnamese troops had been withdrawn from frontier areas.

Defense
Nuclear scientists representing the Western and Soviet blocs met in Geneva for talks on the viability of a nuclear test ban agreement.

Politics and government
Italian President Giovanni Gronchi installed a coalition cabinet headed by Prime Minister Amintore Fanfari as Italy's 19th government since the end of World War II.

A Canadian federal-provincial hospital plan went into effect in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland.

Energy
Ontario Hydro engineers in Cornwall, Ontario blasted away the St. Lawrence River cofferdam, letting water build up for the power station; the man-made 25-mile-long, 40-mile-wide Lake St. Lawrence emerged over four days. Several lost villages in Ontario were permanently flooded as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway construction project; over 160 square kilometres were flooded, drowning seven villages and three hamlets. Some buildings were moved to a new pioneer site called Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Hoshikage no Waltz--Masao Sen (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Delilah--Tom Jones (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Fritz Bauer, 64. German lawyer and judge. Mr. Bauer was a Social Democrat and judge who was imprisoned by the Nazis in a concentration camp in the 1930s, but was then released. He fled to Denmark and then to Sweden, returning to Germany after World War II, becoming a district attorney and pursuing cases against war criminals. Mr. Bauer died of heart failure 15 days before his 65th birthday.

War
The United States Central Intelligence Agency's Phoenix Program was officially established. U.S. B-52's resumed bombing missions north of the demilitarized zone in Vietnam.

Defense
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was signed in Washington, London,and Moscow by 62 countries.

Abominations
The National Medicare Act went into effect, creating Canada's universal coverage Medicare system; the law had been passed on December 21, 1966.

Canadiana
A bronze statue by Raoul Hunter of former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King was unveiled on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Labour
The United Auto Workers of American formally separated from the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations.

The AFL-CIO Maritime Union strike against 73 firms bargaining through the Maritime Service Committee and Tanker Service Committee ended after three days with a contract providing a 5% wage hike and 15 more vacation days. The strike of 45,000 seamen had idled more than 100 freighters.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Tu--Umberto Tozzi

#1 single in Switzerland: Rivers of Babylon--Boney M. (12th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Shadow Dancing--Andy Gibb (3rd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
2 Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring--Boney M.
3 Miss You--The Rolling Stones
4 If You Can't Give Me Love--Suzi Quatro
5 Lady McCorey--BZN
6 Golden Years of Rock 'n Roll--Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers
7 Whole Lotta Rosie--AC/DC
8 Piece of the Rock--Mother's Finest
9 Dance Across the Floor--Jimmy "Bo" Horne
10 Hold You Back--Status Quo

Singles entering the chart were Windsurfin' by the Surfers (#17); Too Much, Too Little, Too Late by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams (#20); Last Dance by Donna Summer (#28); and Want You to Be Mine by Kayak (#32).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Shadow Dancing--Andy Gibb (4th week at #1)
2 Baker Street--Gerry Rafferty
3 It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler
4 You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
5 Take a Chance on Me--ABBA
6 Miss You--The Rolling Stones
7 Use Ta Be My Girl--The O'Jays
8 Dance with Me--Peter Brown with Betty Wright
9 Two Out of Three Ain't Bad--Meat Loaf
10 You Belong to Me--Carly Simon

Singles entering the chart were The Load-Out by Jackson Browne (#49, charting with Stay, its A-side); Hot Blooded by Foreigner (#55); Two Tickets to Paradise by Eddie Money (#67); Fool (If You Think it’s Over) by Chris Rea (#80); Dream Lover by the Marshall Tucker Band (#86); Close the Door by Teddy Pendergrass (#87); Runaway Love by Linda Clifford (#88); Just One Minute More by Mike Finnigan (#89); New Orleans Ladies by Louisiana’s Le Roux (#90); I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'round) by Alicia Bridges (#93); Only One Love in My Life by Ronnie Milsap (#95); Daylight and Darkness by Smokey Robinson (#96); and You and I by Rick James (#97).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Shadow Dancing--Andy Gibb (4th week at #1)
2 You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
3 It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler
4 Too Much, Too Little, Too Late--Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
5 Two Out of Three Ain't Bad--Meat Loaf
6 Take a Chance on Me--ABBA
7 Baker Street--Gerry Rafferty
8 You Belong to Me--Carly Simon
9 Love is Like Oxygen--Sweet
10 Baby Hold On--Eddie Money

Singles entering the chart were Stone Blue by Foghat (#84); I've Had Enough by Wings (#88); Never Let Her Slip Away by Andrew Gold (#89); Stuff Like That by Quincy Jones (#92); Life's Been Good by Joe Walsh (#94); Arms of Mary by Chilliwack (#95); Just What I Needed by the Cars (#96); Love is in the Air by Martin Stevens (#97); Don't Play with My Heart by Toulouse (#98); That Once in a Lifetime by Demis Roussos (#99); and This Magic Moment by Richie Furay (#100).

Died on this date
Kurt Student, 88. German military officer. Generaloberst Student was a paratroop general in the Luftwaffe, and launched the first major airborne operation of the war, the Battle for The Hague, in May 1940. He was convicted of war crimes in 1947, and served a short prison sentence.

War
Syrian peacekeeping troops in Lebanon began attacking Christian militiamen in the Beirut area.

Labour
Fires began breaking out in Memphis during a strike by the city's firemen. Police charged two strikers with arson.

Politics and government
Northern Territory in Australia was granted self-government.

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Im Nin'Alu--Ofra Haza (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
The 19th All-Union Conference of the Soviet Communist Party concluded in Moscow with a declaration of support for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's program of perestroika (restructuring). Boris Yeltsin, Moscow's ousted party chief, endorsed Mr. Gorbachev's reforms, but criticized conference procedures as undemocratic. Yegor Ligachev, regarded as the number two man in the ruling Politburo and as cautious on reform, called Mr. Yeltsin "a destructive force" and stated that "perestroika has become the cause of my life." In his closing address,. Mr. Gorbachev noted that "Nothing of this kind has occurred in this country for nearly six decades." The delegates, aside from endorsing economic, social, and political restructuring, also approved competitive elections and 10-year limits on the terms of elected government and party officials, and also supported the principle of glasnost (openness) in the conduct of public affairs.

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): I Can't Help Falling in Love (With You)--UB40 (2nd week at #1)

Canadiana
Kim Campbell spent her only Canada Day as Prime Minister of Canada travelling across the country, beginning with a sunrise ceremony in St. John's, briefly visiting Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and finishing the day by attending a concert in her home rising in Vancouver. This blogger was in Ottawa that day, and didn't find out about Ms. Campbell's whirlwind tour until her visit to the capital had come and gone. I was fortunate enough to be picked up by three women from Edmonton while having lunch at the Elephant and Castle downtown.

Protest
Greenpeace activists staged demonstrations in several Canadian cities and outside 11 Canadian embassies abroad against the British Columbia government's decision to allow logging along the Clayoquot Sound.

20 years ago
1998

Football
CFL
Montreal (1-0) 27 @ Winnipeg (0-1) 24
Hamilton (0-1) 20 @ Calgary (1-0) 21



10 years ago
2008

Defense
General Walter Natynczyk replaced Gen. Rick Hillier as Canada's Chief of Defence Staff.

Protest
Rioting erupted in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in response to allegations of fraud surrounding the recent legislative elections.