October 1, 1961: Canada's CTV Goes On the Air

October 1, 1961: CTV goes on the air in Canada. It was the 1st, and remains the only, true English-language competitor to the CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (Global Television Network trails them.)

In 1958, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, thinking that CBC wasn't being fair to his Progressive Conservative Party government, passed the Broadcasting Act, establishing the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG), taking over the CBC's role as the arbiter of radio and television broadcasting in the country. This broke the CBC's monopoly, and the new CTV accepted offers for licenses from new stations. The originals were, from East to West:

* CJCH-Channel 5, Halifax.

* CFTM-Channel 10, Montreal, in French.

* CFCF-Channel 12, Montreal, in English.

* CJOH-Channel 13, Ottawa.

* CFTO-Channel 9, Toronto.

* CJAY-Channel 7, Winnipeg.

* CBXT-Channel 5, Edmonton.

* CFCN-Channel 4, Calgary.

* CHAN-Channel 8, Vancouver.

They broadcast some Canadian programming, from situation comedies to game shows; but also some American shows, like The Rifleman and The Andy Griffith Show; the British police drama Maigret; and Whiplash, borrowed from the Australian network Seven, kind of a "Down Under" version of a Western.

Quincy Jones' 1962 composition "Soul Bossa Nova" became the network's theme song, which explains how it also became the theme song to the Austin Powers films, created by, directed by, and starring Toronto native Mike Myers.

Since 2000, CTV has been owned by BCE, Bell Canada Enterprises -- in other words, their phone company.

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October 1, 1961 was a Sunday. These games were played on the final day of baseball's regular season:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 at Yankee Stadium. The only run of the game came in the 4th inning, when Roger Maris hit his record-breaking 61st home run of the season, off Tracy Stallard. Bill Stafford (3 hits over 6 innings), Hal Reniff (a perfect 7th) and Luis Arroyo (1 hit over 2) combined on a 4-hit shutout. I have a separate entry for this game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Bob Gibson pitched a 6-hit shoutout. Stan Musial appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente did not play. Frank Robinson went 0-for-2 with a walk. Despite this game, the Reds had dethroned the Pirates as National League Pennant winners, and would face the Yankees in the World Series. The Yankees won in 5 games.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Duke Snider drew a walk as a pinch-hitter.

* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The San Francisco Giants won the opener, 8-2. The Milwaukee Braves won the nightcap, 3-2. Al Spangler singled Hank Aaron home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Over the 2 games, Aaron went 4-for-9, and Willie Mays went 3-for-7 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Norm Cash hit a home run, and Al Kaline had an RBI double as a pinch-hitter. This was the Tigers' 101st win of the year, but the Yankees won 109 to take the American League Pennant.

For the Twins, completing their 1st season after being "the old Washington Senators," Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk, and relief pitcher Pedro Ramos hit a home run, 1 of 3 he hit on the season, and 1 of 15 he hit in a surprisingly powerful career for a pitcher who was mainly a reliever.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat "the new Washington Senators," 3-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* After providing a venue for the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels from 1925 through 1957, and the major league expansion team with the same name this season, the West Coast version of Wrigley Field hosts its last professional baseball game. The Halos are defeated by the Cleveland Indians, 8-5 in front of 9,868 fans. Wrigley West will be torn down in 5 years, to make room for an eventual public playground and senior center.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox completed their seasons the day before, against each other, with the O's winning, 4-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 24-21 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. This was the 1st event at what would be renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in 1969. I have a separate entry for that event. (The opener, not the renaming.)

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 30-27 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-33 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Dallas Cowboys, 25-7 at Cleveland Municipal Staidum.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions, 49-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 24-0 at Green Bay City Stadium (later renamed Lambeau Field).

* And the Los Angeles Rams beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

And in the American Football League:

* The New York Titans beat the Boston Patriots, 37-30 at the Polo Grounds. The Titans became the Jets in 1963, and the Patriots became the New England Patriots in 1971.

* The Dallas Texans beat the Houston Oilers, 26-21 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963, and the Oilers became the Tennessee Titans in 1999.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 33-19 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Raiders wouldn't actually play a game in Oakland until 1962, moved to Los Angeles in 1982, moved back to Oakland in 1995, and moved to Las Vegas in 2020.

* And, the day before, the San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills, 19-11 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo. This was the Chargers' 1st game as a San Diego team, after spending the AFL's founding year of 1960 in Los Angeles. They returned to Los Angeles in 2017. 

July 30, 1962: The Trans-Canada Highway Opens

July 30, 1962: The Trans-Canada Highway opens. It spans the world's 2nd-largest country by area from east to west, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It runs 4,645 miles, or 7,476 kilometers.

The system was approved by the Trans-Canada Highway Act of 1949, with construction commencing in 1950. The highway was officially opened by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker on July 30, 1962, with the completion of the Rogers Pass section of highway between Golden and Revelstoke in British Columbia. This section of highway bypassed the original Big Bend Highway, the last remaining section of gravel highway on the route. Upon its original completion, the Trans-Canada Highway was the longest uninterrupted highway in the world.

Construction on other legs continued until 1971 when the last gap on Highway 16 was completed in the Upper Fraser Valley east of Prince George, British Columbia, at which point the highway network was considered complete.

Although there does not appear to be any nationally sanctioned "starting point" for the entire Trans-Canada Highway system, it has a "MILE '0'" sign in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. In the East, St. John's, the capital and largest city of the Providence of Newfoundland and Labrador, the easternmost city in the Western Hemisphere, has adopted this designation for the section of highway running in the city. And the sports arena in the city was named the Mile One Centre from its 2001 opening until 2021, when it was renamed the Mary Brown's Centre for the Newfoundland-based chain of fried chicken restaurants.

The foot of East White Hills Road in St. John's, near Logy Bay Road, would be a more precise starting point of the highway, where the road meets and transfers into the start of the Trans-Canada Highway. The terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria, located at the foot of Douglas Street and Dallas Road at Beacon Hill Park, is also marked by a "mile zero" monument.

The usage of miles instead of "kilometres" (as the word is "spelt" in Canada) at both designations dates back to when the Trans-Canada Highway was completed in 1962, prior to Canada's 1975 conversion to the metric system.

The route includes the Confederation Bridge, connecting Prince Edward Island with New Brunswick; and a statue of Terry Fox, marking the spot where the runner and anti-cancer activist was forced by the recurrence of his illness to stop his intended cross-country "Marathon of Hope" run near Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1980. From Thunder Bay to Nipigon, 52 miles, it's known as the Terry Fox Courage Highway.

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July 30, 1962 was a Monday. Football, basketball and hockey were out of season. And in what would later be called Major League Baseball, only 1 game was played that day: The 2nd All-Star Game of the season. This was the 5th straight, and the last, season in which 2 All-Star Games were played.

The game was played at Wrigley Field in Chicago, and the American League beat the National League, 9-4. The starting pitchers were Dave Stenhouse, a rookie with the Washington Senators; and Johnny Podres of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ray Herbert of the Chicago White Sox, who would go on to go 20-9 that season, was the winning pitcher; Art Mahaffey of the Philadelphia Phillies was the losing pitcher.

Home runs: AL, Pete Runnels of the Boston Red Sox, Leon Wagner of the Los Angeles Angels, and Rocky Colavito of the Detroit Tigers; NL, John Roseboro of the Dodgers.

Representing the New York teams: Richie Ashburn of the Mets got a hit as a pinch-hitter; Roger Maris went 1-for-4 with an RBI, Tom Tresh went 1-for-2 with an RBI, Elston Howard went 0-for-2, Yogi Berra pinch-hit without reaching base, Bobby Richardson was a pinch-runner and then took over at 2nd base, and Mickey Mantle, though selected as the starting center field, did not play due to injury.

June 21, 1957: Dief the Chief

June 21, 1957: John Diefenbaker takes office as Prime Minister of Canada. He was the only conservative (with a "small C") Prime Minister between 1935 and 1979, and the only one to serve at least one full year between 1935 and 1984.

John George Diefenbaker was born on September 18, 1895 in Neustadt, 107 miles northwest of Toronto. It was one of several places in the Province of Ontario with a German name where German immigrants, like his grandparents, had moved. These included a city outside Hamilton named Berlin, for Germany's capital. When World War I came, and prejudice against Germans hit the Allied nations, including the U.S. and Canada, the city of Berlin changed its name to Kitchener, after a fallen British hero of that war.

In 1910, the family moved west to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where Diefenbaker remembered being 15 years old and taking his first political action, selling a newspaper to the visiting Prime Minister, Wilfred Laurier. He became disgusted at the treatment of French and Indigenous Canadians, later telling an interviewer:

From my earliest days, I knew the meaning of discrimination. Many Canadians were virtually second-hand citizens because of their names and racial origin. Indeed, it seemed until the end of World War II that the only first-class Canadians were either of English or French descent. As a youth, l determined to devote myself to assuring that all Canadians, whatever their racial origin, were equal and declared myself to be a sworn enemy of discrimination. 

By the time he was 21, he had both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He later became the 1st student ever to receive 3 degrees from that school, earning a law degree in 1919. In between, he served in the Canadian Army during World War I, being sent to Britain, but never into combat on the European Continent.

At the time, Saskatchewan was heavily tilted toward the Liberal Party, but he was a member of the Conservative Party. After success as a lawyer, he first ran for the House of Commons in 1925, but lost. The next year, due to a quirk in the national election laws and a dispute between Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and Governor-General Julian Byng, another election was held the next year, and Mackenzie King ran for the seat Diefenbaker had run for. An established political icon ran against a future one, and Mackenzie King won.

Diefenbaker ran for the Province's Legislative Assembly in 1929, Mayor of the city of Prince Albert in 1933, and the House of Commons again in 1938, having refused to run on 2 other occasions. Finally, in 1940, on his 6th try for public office and his 3rd try for Parliament, Diefenbaker won, despite his party having its worst election ever.

Canada's Conservative Party had become the Progressive Conservative Party in 1942, but hadn't had a Prime Minister since Richard Bennett lost to William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1935, and hadn't won a general election since Bennett beat Mackenzie King in 1930. Diefenbaker first ran for the PC Leadership in 1948, and won it in 1955. He stood as Party Leader in the general election of June 10, 1957, saying of his Party's program:

It is a program... for a united Canada, for one Canada, for Canada first, in every aspect of our political and public life, for the welfare of the average man and woman. That is my approach to public affairs, and has been throughout my life... A Canada, united from Coast to Coast, wherein there will be freedom for the individual, freedom of enterprise, and where there will be a Government which, in all its actions, will remain the servant and not the master of the people.

For the 1st time in 22 years, Canada had, and, for the 1st time in 27 years, elected, a conservative government: The Tories gained 61 seats, giving Diefenbaker a minority government, and forcing out the Liberal Party's Leader, Louis St. Laurent. "Dief the Chief" was the 1st Prime Minister from a riding (what America's House of Representatives would call a "District") from the Province of Saskatchewan -- indeed, the 1st from anywhere west of Ontario.

He called another election for March 31, 1958, and gained 96 seats to win the biggest majority any party has ever had in the country: 208 seats to the Liberals' 48. Canadian historian Conrad Black wrote, "He was very formidable; a deadly campaigner, an idiosyncratic but often galvanizing public speaker, a brilliant parliamentarian, and a man of many fine qualities. He was absolutely honest financially, a passionate supporter of the average and the underprivileged and disadvantaged person, a fierce opponent of any racial or religious or socioeconomic discrimination."

But Diefenbaker overplayed his hand. His aggressive conservatism made him more Canada's Barry Goldwater than its Dwight D. Eisenhower. He and "Ike" barely got along, and starting in 1961, he and John F. Kennedy couldn't stand each other. Nor could he and Harold Macmillan, whose tenure as Prime Minister of Britain coincided with his (January 10, 1957 to October 18, 1963), despite each of them leading his respective country's Conservative Party.

Canadian historian Robert Bothwell wrote, "By the time Diefenbaker left office, his conduct of foreign policy was reviled by an important and growing number of Canadians, while his relations with both the Americans and the British were disastrous."

Eventually, he alienated his own people, losing 89 seats and his majority in the 1962 election, 21 seats and the government entirely to Lester Pearson on April 22, 1963, and the Party leadership to Robert Stanfield in 1967.

Diefenbaker remained in Parliament until his death on August 16, 1979, from a heart attack at the age of 83, having lived to see Joe Clark become the 1st Prime Minister from the Progressive Conservative Party since himself. He is still revered by Canada's right wing, but only they seem to consider him to have been a positive force.

In 2003, the PCs merged with other, smaller right-of-center parties to become the new Conservative Party.

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June 21, 1957 was a Friday. Berkley Breathed, the cartoonist who created and wrote Bloom County, was born.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Yankee Stadium. Johnny Kucks was the winning pitcher. Mickey Mantle went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Yogi Berra went 1-for-4.

* The New York Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 12-10 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bobby Thomson and Danny O'Connell hit home runs for the Giants in the top of the 10th inning. Willie Mays went 2-for-6. Ernie Banks went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-0 at the 1st Busch Stadium (which was the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Von McDaniel pitched a 2-hit shutout. Stan Musial went 0-for-2 with a walk. Duke Snider went 1-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson did not play for the O's. Al Kaline did play for the Tigers, and went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Rooke Roger Maris went 1-for-3 with a walk for Cleveland.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Hank Foiles singled Bill Mazeroski home with the winning run in the top of the 11th. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-5. Frank Robinson went 5-for-5, but had no RBIs.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Braves, 6-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Curt Simmons outpitched Lew Burdette. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

April 22, 1963: The Rise of Lester Pearson

April 22, 1963: A general election is held in Canada. Following the previous year's election that reduced the Conservative Party's government, led by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, to a minority, forcing it to form a coalition to stay in power, and a vote of no confidence having recently taken place in the House of Commons, Canadians vote the "Tories" out of office, resulting in a minority/coalition government led by the Liberal Party.

Lester Pearson becomes the new Prime Minister. Born in 1897 in Toronto, he was Canada's Ambassador to the United States at the end of World War II. He was named Foreign Minister under the last Liberal government, led by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, and had won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Suez Crisis of 1956.

After Diefenbaker won the 1957 election, St. Laurent stepped aside as Leader of the Liberal Party, and Pearson was elected its Leader. He never won a majority, but won a minority election in 1963, and a second minority election in 1965, before stepping aside for Pierre Trudeau in in 1968.

He was Prime Minister for just short of 5 full years, but was one of the most accomplished holders of that office. Beyond the symbolism of overseeing Canada's adoption of the new Maple Leaf Flag in 1965 and the nation's Centennial celebrations in 1967, he introduced the Canada Student Loan Program, the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Assistance Plan, the Canada Labour Code, and universal health care.

He established royal commissions on bilingualism and biculturalism, and the status of women. He worked with the United States to sign the Auto Pact, but refused to get Canada mixed up in the Vietnam War. (In contrast, another nation in the British Commonwealth, Australia, did.)

Pearson died in 1972. Diefenbaker would outlive him by 7 years, but had already become increasingly erratic and irrelevant in his declining years. More recently, Conservatives have worked hard to revive his memory. He's essentially Canada's Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, while Pearson was more an Adlai Stevenson who was able to win because never had to run against an overwhelmingly popular Eisenhower. In 1984, Toronto's international airport was named for Pearson.

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April 22, 1963 was a Monday. Football was out of season. The NBA Finals was between Games 5 and 6, and the Boston Celtics would defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6, 2 days later. The hockey season had ended 4 days earlier, when the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings in 5 games for the Stanley Cup.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-6 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Phils starter Paul Brown fell behind 3-0, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks, and manager Gene Mauch took him out. Ray Culp pitched the next 7 innings and was the winning pitcher. Tony Taylor went 3-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-1 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Earl Francis allowed 6 hits in 7 1/3rd innings, and Bob Veale and Roy Face finished the 7-hit shutout. Willie Stargell went 1-for-3 with a walk. He was playing right field, giving Roberto Clemente a day off. Ernie Banks (already a star) and Lou Brock (not yet one) each went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians were postponed due to cold weather. The game was made up on May 16. The Indians won, 5-3. Max Alvis hit a home run.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Colt .45s, 5-2 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Stan Musial, starting his final season, did not play. In 1965, the Houston team moved into the Astrodome, and changed their name to the Houston Astros.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Bob Hendley went the distance for the win, while Don Drysdale only went 5 innings. Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Denis Menke hit home runs for the Braves. Ken McMullen had 3 of the Dodgers' 6 hits.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Frank Robinson, Marty Keough and Jerry Lynch hit home runs for the Reds. Rookie Pete Rose drew a walk as a pinch-hitter. Orlando Cepeda and Tom Haller hit them for the Giants. Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk. Willie McCovey went 1-for-5.

* And the New York Yankees, the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins were not scheduled.