June 14, 2013

150 years ago
1863

War
In the U.S. Civil War, a Union Army garrison, commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy, was defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia in the Second Battle of Winchester.

125 years ago
1888

Britannica
The Kingdom of Sarawak, on the northwestern part of the island of Borneo, was made a British protectorate.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Joe Morris. U.K.-born Canadian labour leader. A logger by trade, Mr. Morris was president of the Canadian Labour Congress from 1974-1978. He died on October 11, 1996 at the age of 83.

Disasters
About 300 people were killed when a tidal wave struck an area of northern India.

80 years ago
1933

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Lost Train

This was an adaptation of The Lost Special, a story by A. Conan Doyle originally published in the August 1898 issue of The Strand Magazine as the third of a series of stories titled Round the Fire. These stories did not involve Sherlock Holmes. This was the last Sherlock Holmes broadcast until November 11, 1934, and the last to star Mr. Gordon and Mr. Lovell together.

70 years ago
1943

Politics and government
The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee called for the liquidation of the National Youth Administration.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 1940 decision and ruled that schoolchildren could not be compelled to salute the flag of the United States if doing so would conflict with their religious beliefs. The verdict upheld the challenge of Jehovah's Witnesses to the flag-salute rule of the West Virginia Board of Education.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Welcome to My World--Jim Reeves

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched Vostok 5, with Valery Bykovsky aboard, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Daisy a Day--Danny Doyle (2nd week at #1)

Scandal
Testifying before the United States Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities in the 1972 election, Jeb Stuart Magruder, deputy director of the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), said that he and other high-ranking officials had plotted to bug the Democratic party opposition and then had attempted to cover up the affair. Mr. Magruder implicated then-Attorney General John Mitchell, White House counsel John Dean, and presidential adviser Bob Haldeman, but denied knowledge that President Richard Nixon had been involved. He admitted to perjury before the grand jury investigating the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., saying that Messrs. Mitchell, Dean, and Haldeman had known he would lie, and that he had told Mr. Haldeman the full Watergate story in January 1973.

Economics and finance
In compliance with the 60-day price freeze ordered the previous day by President Richard Nixon, steel, copper, rubber, and tire prices in the United States were cut, many of the cuts eliminating price increases implemented the previous week.

30 years ago
1983

Protest
Copper workers and four other labour organizations led a national day of protest in Chile against the regime of General Augusto Pinochet. Students, professional people, and advocates of human rights supported the protest, calling for a return to democracy.

World events
The parliament of Lebanon formally approved the troop-withdrawal plan already approved by Israel, but Syria remained opposed to withdrawing its own troops from Lebanon despite pressure from the United States and moderate Arab states.

Defense
About 100 U.S. soldiers arrived in Honduras to train Salvadoran soldiers to fight leftist rebels in El Salvador.

Football
CFL
Pre-season
Saskatchewan (0-1) 18 @ Calgary (2-0) 34

25 years ago
1988

Music
Pianist Angela Cheng of Edmonton became the first Canadian to win first prize at the Montreal International Music Competition.

War
Iran acknowledged that the Iranian troops who had invaded southern Iraq the previous day had not been able to hold onto Iraqi territory.

Politics and government
Former U.S. Senator Howard Baker announced his resignation as White House Chief of Staff effective July 1, saying he intended to resign because of the illnesses of his wife and stepmother. His deputy, Kenneth Duberstein, was chosen as his successor.

Defense
Lieutenant General Henri Namphy of Haiti ordered the transfer or retirement of 10 top military officials.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 86 @ Detroit 111 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Informer--Snow (7th week at #1)

War
After three days of attacks against Somali warlord General Mohammed Farah Aidid, U.S. gunships had blasted weapons sites, helicopters had attacked a radio station, and an attack helicopter had demolished a rocket launcher.

Law
U.S. President Bill Clinton named Ruth Bader Ginsburg, known for her litigation on women's rights, to fill the latest vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States.

10 years ago
2003

Died on this date
Pete Wysocki, 54. U.S. football player. Mr. Wysocki was a linebacker at Western Michigan University before playing in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1971); Toronto Argonauts (1972); Edmonton Eskimos (pre-season, 1973); and Saskatchewan Roughriders (1973-1974). He played 34 regular season and 4 playoff games, earning All-Western All-Star recognition in 1974. Mr. Wysocki played 88 regular season games with the Washington Redskins (1975-1980), acquiring the nickname "The Missile" for his play on special teams. He worked as a real estate broker after his playing career, and died after a long battle with cancer.

Dale Whittington, 43. U.S. auto racing driver. Mr. Whittington, like his older brothers Bill and Don, mainly drove sports cars. The three brothers were involved in a drug-smuggling operation with other auto racing figures in the mid-1980s. Bill and Don went to prison, but Dale avoided prison time. Dale qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in 1982, but was caught up in the crash involving Kevin Cogan on the final pace lap, and he was knocked out of the race after locking his brakes and colliding with Roger Mears. Mr. Whittington's death was attributed to a drug overdose.

Abominations
Voters in the Czech Republic overwhelmingly approved entry into the European Union in a referendum.

Politics and government
Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi fired his prime minister and called for the radical reform or abolition of the country's public sector, signalling that Libya may open up to foreign companies.

Despite losses in recent elections, the Parti Quebecois endorsed Bernard Landry as leader until the spring of 2005.