July 8, 2013

350 years ago
1663

Americana
King Charles II of England granted John Clarke a royal charter to Rhode Island.

175 years ago
1838

Born on this date
Ferdinand von Zeppelin. German military officer and businessman. Count Zeppelin was a general in the German army who retired from military service at the age of 52 and worked on the development of dirigibles, which led to the founding of the Zeppelin Airship company. He died on March 8, 1917 at the age of 78.

130 years ago
1883

Transportation
Canadian Pacific Railway workers in Manitoba laid a record 9.6 kilometres of track in one day.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Bill Thompson. U.S. actor. Mr. Thompson was a voice actor who played several characters in the Fibber McGee & Molly radio show in the 1930’s and 40’s, and voiced the cartoon character Droopy (1943-1958). He died of septic shock on July 15, 1971, a week after his 58th birthday.

75 years ago
1938

Golf
Playing in heavy winds, Reg Whitcombe shot an 8-under-par 78 in the final round to win the British Open at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England with a 15-over-par total of 295, 2 strokes ahead of Jimmy Adams. First prize money was £100.

70 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Jean Moulin, 44. French Resistance leader. Mr. Moulin, working under General Charles de Gaulle, brought various Resistance groups together as Mouvements Unis de la Résistance (MUR) in January 1943. He was arrested in Paris on June 21 and was interrogated in Lyons by Klaus Barbie, leader of the Gestapo there. Mr. Moulin died from torture or suicide while on a train headed to Germany.

Edward Haight, 17. U.S. criminal. Mr. Haight, the youngest criminal to be executed in New York, was electrocuted in Sing Sing Prison in New York for the murders of the Lynch sisters.

War
German troops and tanks drove a new wedge into Soviet lines in the Belgorod area, while a Red Army counterattack in the Orel sector dislodged the Germans in a number of inhabited places. U.K. and Indian troops seized Maungdaw, Burma, holding it for several hours before withdrawing as planned.

Diplomacy
Argentine Foreign Minister Rear Admiral Segundo Storni announced that an interministerial committee would study the Rio Conference resolutions dealing with subversive activities and recommending a break with the Axis.

Journalism
New York Daily News copy editor Frederick Wright was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury on charges of failing to register as an agent of the Japanese government.

Technology
Professor Leonid K. Ramzin received the 150,000-ruble Stalin Prize and the Order of Lenin for his invention of a turbo-generator.

Economics and finance
Colombia and the United States completed arrangements for a public works loan of $18 million.

60 years ago
1953

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: Use Only as Directed

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Total Eclipse of the Heart--Bonnie Tyler (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Juliet--Robin Gibb (6th week at #1)

World events
Mehmet Ali Agca, who had attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981, told reporters for the first time that Soviet and Bulgarian secret police had been involved in the plot to kill the pope, and that he had received training in international terrorism from the KGB, the Soviet secret police. Mr. Agca also identified Sergei Antonov, a Bulgarian in Italian custody, as having been part of the plot.

Diplomacy
Salvadoran guerrilla leaders cancelled a meeting in Costa Rica with U.S. envoy Richard Stone.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had fallen in June from 10.0% to 9.8%, but that Negro unemployment remained at a near-record 20.6%.

The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the national recession had hit bottom in November 1982.

Business
U.S. District Judge Harold Greene gave his tentative approval to a plan by which American Telephone & Telegraph Company would divest itself of 22 operating companies. The plan evolved from a settlement between AT&T and the U.S. Justice Department. Under the plan, the Bell units were to be reformed into seven regional companies on January 1, 1984. Judge Greene imposed conditions aimed at strengthening the divested units and controlling increases in telephone rates for consumers. AT&T also had to relinquish almost all use of the Bell name and logo.

Basketball
In the World University Games, Canada defeated the United States 85-77 in one of the men's semi-finals at Universiade Pavilion in Edmonton. The win was accomplished with Canada's best player, Karl Tilleman, spending te entire game on the bench. The American team included future NBA stars Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. Yugoslavia won the other semi-final to advance to the final against Canada the following night.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (1-0) 26 @ Winnipeg (0-1) 25

The Rough Riders jumped to an early lead and barely held on to beat the Blue Bombers at Winnipeg Stadium. It was the first regular season game for Cal Murphy as head coach of the Blue Bombers, and the last CFL game for Mark Jackson, who started at quarterback for Winnipeg but was relieved by rookie Nickie Hall. Mr. Hall almost pulled out the win, and when veteran Dieter Brock returned to the team several days later after a holdout, Mr. Jackson was cut, and never played in the CFL again. For rookie Winnipeg defensive back Ernie Christmas, it was his only CFL game; he broke his leg badly in the 1st quarter, and never played again.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Im Nin'Alu--Ofra Haza (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
Newfoundland became the eighth Canadian province to ratify the Meech Lake constitutional accord; approval was later rescinded after the province's government changed a year later.

Scandal
U.S. District of Columbia Court Judge Gerhard Gesell ruled that Colonel Oliver North, a former member of the National Security Council who had worked in the White House, must stand trial on September 20 to face charges related to the sale of weapons to Iran and the subsequent transfer of the proceeds to anti-Sandanista Contras in Nicaragua.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had edged downward in June to 5.2%, the lowest level since May 1974.

Disasters
The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari, India derailed on the Peruman bridge and fell into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): I Can't Help Falling in Love (With You)--UB40 (3rd week at #1)

10 years ago
2003

Died on this date
Laden and Lajeh Bijani, 29. Iranian conjoined twins. The Bijani sisters, joined at the head, were both law school graduates, and had sought an operation to separate them despite being told that they had only a 50% chance of survival. The 53-hour operation failed after doctors were unable to stop the loss of blood.

Defense
North Korean diplomats indicated that the country's Communist regime had enough plutonium for six nuclear bombs and that building of the weapons was underway. The diplomats said that North Korea had finished reprocessing fuel rods on June 30 and had begun to produce weapons using the fuel.