160 years ago
The Siege of Arrah began in India, as 18 British civilians and 50 members of the Bengal Military Police Battalion held out for eight days against a force of 2,500-3,000 mutinying sepoys and 8,000 irregular forces.
150 years ago
Born on this date
Enrique Granados Campiña. Spanish composer. Mr. Granados wrote operas and theatrical pieces, as well as orchestral and chamber works, and works for piano. He was 48 when he and his wife Amparo visited the United States in 1916 and were on their way back to Europe aboard the British passenger ferry SS Sussex on March 24, when the ship was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine. Mr. Granados jumped from a lifeboat in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue his wife from the water, and they both drowned.
Emperor Napoleon III of France hosted a state dinner for U.S. Navy Admiral David Farragut.
120 years ago
Toronto had its greatest one-day rainfall, a torrent amounting to 3.88 inches (98.6 millimetres).
100 years ago
Died on this date
Emil Theodor Kocher, 73. Swiss physician. Dr. Kocher was awarded the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his work on the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid gland."
Allied forces reached the Yser Canal in the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium.
75 years ago
An estimated 600 British Royal Air Force planes dropped 175,000 incendiary bombs on Hamburg. The German Gestapo destroyed the Norwegian village of Televaag on Sotra Island in reprisal for the shooting of two Gestapo agents. Allied forces halted the final Axis advance into Egypt. Allied patrols made contact with advancing Japanese troops near Oivi, 55 miles inland from Gona Mission on New Guinea.
Prime Minister Mackenzie King told the House of Commons that this was not an appropriate time for proclaiming a national anthem, suggesting, "There are times and seasons for all things and this time of war when there are other more important questions with which Parliament has to deal, we might well continue to follow what has become the custom in Canada in recent years of regarding God Save The King and O Canada each as national anthems and entitled to similar recognition."
Byron Nelson shot a 5-under-par 67 in the final round to win the Tam O'Shanter classic in Chicago.
70 years ago
Politics and government
A Gallup Poll indicated that U.S. President Harry Truman would defeat New York Governor and leading Republican Party presidential contender Thomas Dewey in a current election, with 51% of the vote. California's state Democratic Committee refused to support the [former U.S. Vice President Henry] Wallace for President faction led by Robert Kenny.
The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations announced a united drive to force down retail prices by organizing more consumer cooperative stores.
60 years ago
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Round and Round--Perry Como; The Four Lads (6th week at #1)
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Banana Boat Song--Harry Belafonte (3rd week at #1)
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): All Shook Up--Elvis Presley (3rd week at #1)
U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Bye Bye Love--The Everly Brothers
2 (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear--Elvis Presley
3 Love Letters in the Sand--Pat Boone
4 I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter--Billy Williams
5 It's Not for Me to Say--Johnny Mathis
6 So Rare--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra
7 Searchin'--The Coasters
8 Old Cape Cod--Patti Page
9 (Main Theme) Around the World--Victor Young and his Orchestra
--Mantovani and his Orchestra
10 White Silver Sands--Don Rondo
Singles entering the chart were In the Middle of an Island (#42)/I Am (#56) by Tony Bennett and Long Lonely Nights, with versions by Lee Andrews and the Hearts, and Clyde McPhatter (#50).
Politics and government
The day after the assassination of Guatemalan President Carlos Castillo Armas, Vice President Luis Arturo González López took over as acting President, and declared a state of siege.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry protested the U.S.S.R.'s closure of Peter the Great Bay, claiming the area was the "traditional fishing grounds of Japan."
Calgary (1-0) 19 @ British Columbia (0-1) 14
50 years ago
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Black Velvet Band--Johnny Kelly (3rd week at #1)
Four days of race riots in Detroit concluded with 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrested, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed.
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson appointed a commission, headed by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, to investigate the causes of race riots.
40 years ago
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Feel Love--Donna Summer (2nd week at #1)
Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti concluded three days of talks in Washington with U.S. President Jimmy Carter over Italy's critical economic condition.
Economics and finance
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the United States had set a record trade deficit of $2.82 billion during June. The figure, twice that expected by most experts and twice that reported in May, led to a 19.75-point drop in the stock market. A 26% increase in oil imports was the major factor behind the June deficit; the deficit was also attributed to the continued slower pace of economic recovery worldwide and the resultant reduction in the demand for U.S. exports.
Ottawa (0-2) 1 @ Toronto (1-2) 17
Edmonton (1-1) 43 @ Winnipeg (2-1) 13
Jim Germany rushed for 3 touchdowns, including one of 96 yards, as the Eskimos routed the Blue Bombers at Winnipeg Stadium to give Hugh Campbell his first win as a CFL head coach.
30 years ago
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): He's Gonna Step on You Again--The Party Boys
Died on this date
Travis Jackson, 83. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Jackson was a shortstop and third baseman with the New York Giants from 1922-1936. In 1,656 games he batted .291 with 135 home runs and 929 runs batted in. Mr. Jackson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.
Panamanian riot troops arrested Roberto Diaz Herrera, a retired army colonel who had accused dictator Manuel Noriega of serious crimes. 45 others were arrested during a gunfight between soldiers and Mr. Herrera’s bodyguards.
25 years ago
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Lithium--Nirvana (2nd week at #1)
Canadian Justice Minister Kim Campbell unveiled new firearms regulations: 60 military-type weapons were banned; magazines were limited to 5 and 10 shot; and guns must be stored away from ammunition, and kept locked.
20 years ago
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): MMMBop--Hanson (9th week at #1)
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 (4th week at #1)
#1 single in Austria (Ö3): I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 (2nd week at #1)
#1 single in Switzerland: I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 (2nd week at #1)
About 50 people were killed--presumably by members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA)--in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.
10 years ago
Hamilton (0-5) 18 @ Winnipeg (3-1-1) 36
Sergeant Frederick Hobson and Major Okill Massey Learmonth, VCs - By Emily Monks-Leeson Two Canadian soldiers who fought at the Battle for Hill 70 in France are the subject of today’s blog series, First World War Centenar...