June 21, 2014

375 years ago
1639

Born on this date
Increase Mather. American clergyman. Rev. Mather was a Puritan minister in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the latter part of the 17th century, and served as President of Harvard College. He opposed the pro-Roman Catholic measures of King James II, and had some early involvement with the Salem witch trials in 1692. Rev. Mather died on August 23, 1723 at the age of 84.

190 years ago
1824

War
Egyptian forces captured Psara in the Aegean Sea.

180 years ago
1834

Technology
Cyrus McCormick received a patent for his mechanical reaper.

160 years ago
1854

War
The first Victoria Cross was earned during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands in the Crimean War.

150 years ago
1864

War
In the U.S. Civil War, the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road began near Petersburg, Virginia.

In the New Zealand Land Wars, the five-month Tauranga Campaign ended with a victory by British forces over Waikato militia.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Ralph Craig. U.S. runner. Mr. Craig won gold medals in the men's 100-metre and 200-metre events at the 1912 Summer Olympic Games in Oslo. He died on July 21, 1972 at the age of 83.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
William Vickrey. Canadian-born U.S. economist. Dr. Vickrey, a native of Victoria, shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with James Mirrlees for their research into the economic theory of incentives under asymmetric information. The announcement of the prize came three days before Dr. Vickrey's death on October 11, 1996 at the age of 82.

Died on this date
Bertha von Suttner, 71. Austrian author. Baroness von Suttner was a prominent pacifist and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905, becoming the first woman to win that prize.

90 years ago
1924

Married on this date
Actor Douglas Fairbanks and actress Mary Pickford were married in Los Angeles.

75 years ago
1939

Baseball
The New York Yankees announced the retirement of first baseman Lou Gehrig, based on the report from the Mayo Clinic that Mr. Gehrig had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Mr. Gehrig remained with the team as the captain, and was on the Yankees' active roster for the remainder of the season, including the World Series.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
Variety reported that the most popular songs in the United States were:
1 I'll Be Seeing You
2 Long Ago and Far Away
3 I'll Get By

War
U.S. forces in France reached points 3-5 miles from Cherbourg on the southwest and west, and began a siege of the city. 2,200 U.S. bombers attacked Berlin, with many continuing eastward to land in Russia. Soviet forces opened new drives in Finland, advancing north and southwest of Lake Onega. Chinese troops won control of the Kaolikung mountain range in the western province of Yunna, which the Japanese had used to guard the eastern Burma frontier. The United States Senate passed the Army appropriations bill of $49,107,735,795 and sent it to the White House for the signature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives spproved extension of the Price Control Act for one year beyond June 30 and sent it to the White House for President Roosevelt's signature.

60 years ago
1954

Died on this date
Gideon Sundback, 74. Swedish-born U.S. engineer. Mr. Sundback was known for his work on the development of the zipper. He died from a heart condition.

50 years ago
1964

Died on this date
Mickey Schwerner, 24; James Chaney, 21; Andrew Goodman, 20. U.S. social activists. Messrs. Schwerner and Goodman were Jews from New York, while Mr. Chaney, a Negro, was from Meridian, Mississippi. All three were field workers with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and were murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan near Philadelphia, Mississippi, where they had gone to investigate the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School, used to register Negro voters. The men's bodies went undiscovered for 44 days, until they were found buried in an earthen dam.

Baseball
Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched the major leagues' first regular season perfect game since 1922 and the first in the National League since 1880 as the Phillies blanked the New York Mets 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader before 32,026 fans at Shea Stadium in New York. The Phillies completed the sweep with an 8-3 win in the second game as 18-year-old rookie pitcher Rick Wise picked up his first major league win.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: The Streak--Ray Stevens (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Waterloo--ABBA (2nd week at #1)

Personal
It was the last day of school at William McDonald Junior High School in Yellowknife, and the last day of junior high for this blogger, who was finishing grade 8.

Scandal
In Washington, U.S. District Court Judge Gerhard Gesell sentenced former White House counsel Chuck Colson to 1-3 years in prison and fined him $5,000 for attempting to obstruct justice and influence the trial of former Defense Department employee Daniel Ellsberg. Mr. Colson had agreed to cooperate with Leon Jaworski, the Special Prosecutor investigating the 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. and the subsequent cover-up. In return, Mr. Jaworski had agreed to drop criminal charges of conspiracy against Mr. Colson for alleged involvement in the Watergate cover-up and participation in the 1971 break-in at the office of Mr. Ellsberg's psychiatrist. At the sentencing, Mr. Colson expressed regret and contrition for his offense, and also stated that President Richard Nixon had urged him "on numerous occasions" to commit the acts for which he was being jailed. However, Mr. Colson said he was confident that Mr. Nixon had acted in what he believed to be the national interest, and confessed that he had failed the President because "I never really questioned whether what he wanted done was right or wrong."

30 years ago
1984

Law
The Canadian Parliament passed a bill establishing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service; CSIS was to replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in dealing with foreign espionage, terrorism and subversion.

Diplomacy
At a dinner in Moscow for French President Francois Mitterand, Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko said, "We shall not allow anyone to interfere in our internal affairs."

Football
CFL
Pre-season
British Columbia (4-0) 13 @ Winnipeg (3-1) 4
Edmonton (0-4) 16 @ Calgary (2-2) 29

The Lions' win over the Blue Bombers before 24,809 fans at Winnipeg Stadium was interrupted by a severe thunderstorm, which forced a delay of 1 hour and 12 minutes. Several blocks away from the stadium, a man playing soccer was struck by lightning and killed.

Rookie Calgary slotback Rick Massie caught 3 passes for 120 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown, as the Stampeders beat the Eskimos before 20,370 fans at McMahon Stadium. Rookie Edmonton slotback Dan Runge caught 3 passes for 58 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown pass from Matt Dunigan in the 4th quarter.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Minä olen muistanut--Kim Lönnholm (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Eternal Flame--Bangles (4th week at #1)

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Texas v Johnson that burning the American flag was a permitted form of political protest. Writing for the majority, Justice William Brennan said, "The government may not prohibit expression simply because it disagrees with its message." Chief Justice William Rehnquist, dissenting, called the flag "the visible symbol embodying our nation."

20 years ago
1994

Space
Efforts to rescue Telesat Canada's broadcast satellite Anik E-2 were successful; the satellite was expected to resume operation in July after some fine-tuning of the new system.

Politics and government
The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain of Florenceville took office as the first female Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.

Economics and finance
For the first time since World War II, the U.S. dollar fell in value to less than 100 Japanese yen on international currency markets.

10 years ago
2004

Space
SpaceShipOne, piloted by civilian Mike Melvill, became the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.

World events
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards captured three vessels and eight British servicemen, accusing them of straying into the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq.

Law
The Canadian federal commission examining the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who had been seized by U.S. authorities at a New York airport and then deported to Syria, spending several years in prison, began hearings in Ottawa. The first witness was Ward Elcock, former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who testified about the basic workings of CSIS.

Politics and government
Connecticut Governor John Rowland (Republican), subject of a federal corruption investigation and impeachment inquiry, announced that he would resign his office effective July 1.