October 16, 1970: The War Measures Act Wins Canada's October Crisis

"Just watch me!"

October 16, 1970: Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada invokes the War Measures Act, in an effort to fight what became known as the October Crisis. It is a story that most Americans don't know about. It could have become much bigger.

The War Measures Act became law on August 22, 1914, in the 1st month of World War I, which provides for the types of emergency measures that the Canadian federal government could take in the event of a Declaration of War, an invasion of the country, or an insurrection within the country.

It should be noted that this was less than 30 years after Louis Riel led people of the First Nations (what Canada calls its indigenous peoples, instead of "Indians" or "Native Canadians") in the North-West Rebellion of 1885, which certainly counted as an insurrection, and would have fallen under the grounds of the War Measures Act had it been in place at the time. It was still fresh in Canadians' minds.

As with some American measures during World War I, the Act was questioned for some suspensions of civil liberties. During World War II, the Act was used to do what the American government also regrettably did: Start internment camps for Canada residents of Japanese descent, even if they were native-born citizens. After that war, it was widely believed that the Act would not have to be used again, barring a World War III.

The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) were leftist Quebec separatists, hoping to use violence to establish a socialist, Francophone-only Republic of Quebec. In 1963, they committed several terrorist attacks in and around Montreal, leading Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to ask, "Is this Ireland?" Arrests were made, but there would be more attacks through the 1960s, though with few deaths.

On October 5, 1970, an FLQ cell kidnapped James Cross, the British trade commissioner in Montreal. The federal government in Ottawa chose not to give in to their demands. On October 10, another cell kidnapped Pierre Laporte, Vice Premier and Minister of Employment and Labour for the Province of Quebec. They allow Laporte to write a letter to the Premier of Quebec (equivalent to an American State's Governor), Robert Bourassa, telling him he was being treated well, and asking him to negotiate for his release.

On October 13, Prime Minister Trudeau, who as Justice Minister under his predecessor, Lester Pearson, had been a champion of civil liberties, was walking into a meeting when he was stopped by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Tim Ralfe. This exchange followed:

Ralfe: What you're talking about to me is choices, and my choice is to live in a society that is free and democratic, which means that you don't have people with guns running around in it.

Trudeau: Correct.

Ralfe: And one of the things I have to give up for that choice is the fact that people like you may be kidnapped.

Trudeau: Sure, but this isn't my choice, obviously. You know, I think it is more important to get rid of those who are committing violence against the total society and those who are trying to run the government through a parallel power by establishing their authority by kidnapping and blackmail.

And I think it is our duty as a government to protect government officials and important people in our society against being used as tools in this blackmail. Now, you don't agree to this, but I am sure that, once again with hindsight, you would probably have found it preferable if Mr. Cross and Mr. Laporte had been protected from kidnapping, which they weren't, because these steps we're taking now weren't taken. But even with your hindsight, I don't see how you can deny that.

Ralfe: No, I still go back to the choice that you have to make in the kind of society that you live in.

Trudeau: Yeah, well there's a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is, go on and bleed, but it's more important to keep law and order in this society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don't like the looks of a soldier's helmet.

Ralfe: At any cost? How far would you go with that? How far would you extend that?

Trudeau: Well, just watch me.

Ralfe: At reducing civil liberties? To that extent?

Trudeau: To what extent?

Ralfe: Well, if you extend this and you say, ok, you're going to do anything to protect them, does this include wire-tapping, reducing other civil liberties in some way?

Trudeau: Yes. I think the society must take every means at its disposal to defend itself against the emergence of a parallel power which defies the elected power in this country and I think that goes to any distance. So long as there is a power in here which is challenging the elected representative of the people I think that power must be stopped and I think it's only, I repeat, weak-kneed bleeding hearts who are afraid to take these measures.

And so, the people of Canada took Trudeau at his word, and just watched him. On October 14, he convened a meeting of his Cabinet, to discuss measures to end the crisis. The Provincial government had received a public statement, signed by 16 prominent Quebec residents, asking them to negotiate the liberation of the hostages, no matter the cost, and no matter what the federal government thought.

On October 15, Bourassa requested that Trudeau send Canadian Armed Forces troops to protect politicians and public buildings, which Trudeau would have had the right to do under the National Defence Act, passed in 1922. Trudeau assented, and by nightfall, they were on the streets of Montreal.

On October 16, at 4:00 AM, North American Eastern Time, the Cabinet proclaimed the existence of an "apprehended insurrection," and issued a decree granting exceptional powers powers to the police and the Canadian Armed Forces under the War Measures Act. 

On October 17, the police found Laporte, in the drunk of a car near the Saint-Hubert airport, south of Montreal. He had been strangled to death. Under a man with less compunction than Trudeau, this could have led to Canada becoming a genuine police state, if only temporarily. Under a man with less wisdom than Trudeau, the terrorists could have escaped with the still-prisoner Cross, over the U.S.-Canadian border, just 40 miles away.

But the presence of the police and the army were enough to stop any more terrorist attacks and kidnappings. On November 6, police raided a cell's hiding place. Bernard Lortie was arrested, and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Laporte.

On December 3, realizing that the game was up, the FLQ released Cross, unharmed. His kidnappers -- Marc Carbonneau, Yves Langlois, Jacques Lanctôt, his sister Louise Lanctôt, her husband Jacques Cossette-Trudel -- were granted safe passage to Cuba by the federal government, approved by Cuba's dictator, Fidel Castro.

On December 23, Trudeau announced that all troops stationed in Quebec would be withdrawn on January 5, 1971. On December 28, arrests were made in Saint-Luc, Quebec: Paul Rose, Jacques Rose and Francis Simard.

Ultimately, 497 people were arrested, but 465 were released without being charged with anything. Lortie was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and served 7; Paul Rose and Simard served 10, Jacques Rose 5. Jacques and Louise Lanctôt, and Jacques Cossette-Trudel returned to Canada in 1979, and each served 2 years in prison. Carbonneau returned to Canada in 1981, Langlois in 1982. Neither was imprisoned.

The FLQ did not give up, and, when things settled down, committed more terrorist acts throughout 1971. But the tide of public opinion had turned against them. A few more acts were committed in 1972 and '73, but that would be it.

Three biographies of Trudeau have used the title Just Watch Me: Larry Zolf's, published in 1984 after Trudeau left office; Ron Coleman's 2003 book, subtitled Trudeau's Tragic Legacy; and Volume 2 of John English's 2009 book, the 1st volume going up to 1967, titled Citizen of the World. Director Catherine Annau made a documentary in 1999, titled Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the '70s Generation.

In 1988, the Emergencies Act was passed, repealing the War Measures Act and providing for actions more in line with Canada's wider embrace of civil liberties than America's.

Pierre Trudeau died in 2000. So did Tim Ralfe. Paul Rose died in 2013, Fancis Simard in 2015, James Cross in 2021. As of October 16, 2022, Marc Carbonneau, Yves Langlois, Jacques Lanctôt, Louise Lanctôt, Jacques Cossette-Trudel, Bernard Lortie and Jacques Rose are still alive.

In 2015, Trudeau's son, Justin Trudeau, was elected Prime Minister. As of October 16, 2022, he still holds the post.

*

October 16, 1970 was a Friday. The baseball season had ended the day before, when the Baltimore Orioles won Game 5 of the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Football was in midweek. 

There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Diego Rockets, 127-119 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Elvin Hayes scored 34 for the Rockets, but the Sixers had 6 players score at least 14 points. The Rockets moved to Houston the next year.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls, 106-102 at the Chicago Stadium. Jerry West scored 29 points, while Wilt Chamberlain had 26 points and 31 rebounds.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the San Francisco Warriors, 120-106 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California. Jerry Lucas scored 31 points and had 16 rebounds for the Warriors, to no avail.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers, in the 1st game in franchise history, beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, another expansion team, playing its 2nd game, 115-112 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Jim Barnett led all scorers with 31 points. A 3rd expansion team, the Buffalo Braves, had debuted 2 days earlier. They are now the Los Angeles Clippers.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The New York Nets beat the Miami Floridians, 105-92 at the Island Garden in West Hempstead, Long Island. And the Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Rockets, 115-103 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum). Anticipating their acceptance into the NBA, where Houston already had the Rockets, in 1974, the Denver Rockets became the Denver Nuggets.

And there was 1 game in the NHL: The Boston Bruins beat the California Golden Seals, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Bobby Orr scored 2 goals, while Phil Esposito had a goal and 2 assists.

October 3, 1953: The Montreal Canadiens Buy a Whole League to Get One Player

Jean Béliveau and two of his closest friends:

The Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cup.

October 3, 1953: The Canadian Arena Company buys the entire Quebec Senior Hockey League, and converts it to a professional minor league. The CAC also owns the Montreal Canadiens, and this allows them to call up the best player in the QSHL, Jean Béliveau of the Quebec Aces.

Béliveau hadn't wanted to officially turn pro, despite brief callups with the Canadiens in the 1950-51 and 1952-53 seasons. The Aces, despite their amateur status, had taken good care of him; while the Canadiens, while paying, didn't pay much. But now, he has no choice: It's either play for the Canadiens, or don't play hockey at all.

(Distance was not an issue: His hometown of Trois-Rivières, Quebec was almost halfway between Montreal and Quebec City.)

So the Canadiens bought an entire league, just to get the rights to one player. The gamble paid off better than they could have ever imagined: For the next 18 seasons, Béliveau was one of the best and classiest players in hockey, winning 10 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens, the last 5 as Captain, still a record. He scored 507 goals, making him only the 4th player to reach the 500 mark, following his ex-teammate Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull.

He played in 13 NHL All-Star Games. In 1956, he won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the regular-season Most Valuable Player, and the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer. In 1964, he won the Hart again. In 1965, he was awarded the 1st-ever Conn Smythe Trophy for MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Hockey Hall of Fame waived its eligibility requirement to elect him just 1 year after his retirement. In 1998, The Hockey News ranked him 7th on its list of the 100 Greatest Players, behind Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Howe, Mario Lemieux, Richard, and another former teammate, Doug Harvey.

Until his death in 2014, he was a Canadiens "Ambassadeur," representing the club at many functions. He participated in ceremonies honoring the club's 75th Anniversary in 1985 (it actually should have been in 1984), the closing of the Montreal Forum and the opening of the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in 1996, Richard's funeral in 2000, and the team's 100th Anniversary in 2009.

*

October 3, 1953 was a Saturday. Game 4 of the World Series was played at Ebbets Field. Duke Snider hit a home run off Whitey Ford in the 1st inning, and the Brooklyn Dodgers evened the Series by beating the New York Yankees, 7-3.

The game ended strangely. Gene Woodling opened the top of the 9th inning with a single, Billy Martin singled, and Gil McDougald, who homered earlier, drew a walk to load the bases. Dodger manager Walter Alston pulled pitcher Billy Loes, and brought in Clem Labine. He struck Phil Rizzuto out. Yankee manager Casey Stengel sendt Johnny Mize up to pinch-hit for pitcher Art Schallock (no designated hitter in those days), and he flew to center. Then Mickey Mantle singled Woodling home, but Martin was thrown out trying to score and make it 7-4.

This was Mize's last major league appearance. He did not play in Game 5 or Game 6, and retired after the Series.

It was also a college football Saturday. The night before, Number 7 University of Southern California beat Indiana, 27-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a rare matchup between the leagues that would become the Big 10 and the Pac-12 that wasn't in a Rose Bowl game; Number 10 Baylor beat the University of Miami at Burdine Stadium in Miami, the stadium later renamed the Orange Bowl; and New York's Fordham beat the University of Detroit, 21-7 at Titan Stadium Detroit. On the Saturday, among others, these games were played:

* Number 1 Notre Dame beat Purdue, 37-7 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Despite not accepting bowl invitations, Notre Dame were named the National Champions at the end of the season.

* Number 2 Michigan State beat Minnesota, 21-0 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. State won the Big 10 title.

* Number 3 Maryland beat Clemson, 20-0 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. Maryland went on to win the 1st-ever Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Michigan beat Tulane, 26-7 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 5 UCLA beat Oregon, 12-0 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, UCLA won the Pacific Coast Conference title, but lost the Rose Bowl to Michigan State.

* In other "Big 10" and "Pac-12" crossover games, Number 6 Ohio State beat the University of California, 33-19 at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California; Illinois beat Stanford, 33-21 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois; and Iowa beat Washington State, 54-12 at Iowa Stadium (later Kinnick Stadium) in Iowa City.

* Number 8 Oklahoma and the University of Pittsburgh played to a 7-7 tie, at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh. The week before, Oklahoma had lost to Notre Dame.

For the Sooners, this was the 1st of 48 straight games unbeaten, and the next week the start of a 47-game winning streak, both still records in college football. It was Notre Dame that became the next team to beat them, in 1957. Notre Dame's basketball team would also be the last, and the next, team to beat UCLA with their record streak of 88 straight wins, from 1971 to 1974.

At any rate, Oklahoma won the Big Seven Conference title, and beat Maryland in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 9 Georgia Tech beat Southern Methodist University, 6-4 at Grant Field in Atlanta. Yes, six to four. SMU must have gotten two safeties. Since Southeastern Conference Champions Alabama accepted a bid to the Cotton Bowl, the SEC's bid to the Sugar Bowl fell to Tech.

* Number 13 West Virginia beat Waynesburg College, 47-19 at the original Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. WVU went on to the Sugar Bowl, where WV beat them.

* Number 14 Rice made a rare visit to the North, and beat Cornell, 28-7 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York. Rice shared the Southwest Conference title with Texas, but beat them head-to-head, and went to the Cotton Bowl.

* In what was never really a rivalry, despite both being in the same State, one in the capital and the other in the largest city, Number 16 Wisconsin beat Marquette, 13-11 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

* Number 17 Texas beat the University of Houston, 28-7 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Army lost to Northwestern, 33-20 at Dyche Stadium in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois.

* Navy beat Dartmouth, 55-7 at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Alabama beat Vanderbilt, 21-12 at Dudley Field (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville. Alabama won the Southeastern Conference title, and were invited to the Cotton Bowl, but Rice beat them. I have a separate entry for this game.

* In a result that wouldn't have been shocking then, but sure would be now, the University of Pennsylvania beat Penn State, 13-7 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* Rutgers beat Virginia Tech, 20-13 at Rutgers Stadium in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

* And Princeton beat Columbia, 21-19 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.

August 17, 1943: The Quebec Conference

Left to right: WLMK, FDR, WLSC

August 17, 1943: While the provisional, post-Mussolini government of "a disintegrating Italy" declares Rome to be an "open city," the Château Frontenac hotel, atop the famed Citadelle, hosts the Québec Conference.

Hosting are Canada's Governor-General, Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, brother of Britain's Dowager Queen Mary and a great-grandson of King George III; and its Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, and Foreign Minister, Robert Anthony Eden (himself a future Prime Minister), are guests, as is America's President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Secretary of State, Cordell Hull.

They meet through August 24, discussing strategy in both the European Theater and the Pacific Theater of World War II. This included both which Japanese-held Pacific installations to attack and how to invade the European Continent to take on the Nazis. FDR and Churchill met one-on-one, as did Hull and Eden, and everybody involved met collectively.

The Citadelle was built in 1690, and was almost immediately the site of the Battle of Quebec in what is usually called King William's War. It was a French victory over the British, and led to the war ending in a stalemate. The British came back in 1759 and, in that Battle of Quebec, took New France and won what North America calls the French and Indian war, and their part in what Europe calls the Seven Years' War. The War of 1812, between the U.S. and Britain, led to a new fort, which was completed in 1850.

The Château Frontenac opened in 1893, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Since 2001, it has been run by Fairmont Hotels, and has officially been named The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. It is said to be the most-photographed hotel in the world, as is generally considered to be Quebec City's most familiar structure.

A second Quebec Conference would be held there from September 12 to 16, 1944.

*

August 17, 1943 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Not yet in the war, left fielder Charlie Keller and 3rd baseman Billy Johnson each had 2 hits. Butch Wensloff was the winning pitcher.

* The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 10-4 at the Polo Grounds. Giants player-manager Mel Ott went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Ebbets Field.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Boston Braves, 8-0 and 4-3. In the opener, Hank Gornicki pitched a 6-hit shutout. In the nightcap, Pete Coscarart singled Johnny Podgajny home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-5 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-3 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

* And the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.

July 31, 1910: Dr. Hawley Crippen Is Arrested

July 31, 1910: One of the world's most notorious murderers is caught -- using technology never before tried.

Hawley Harvey Crippen was born on September 11, 1862 in Coldwater, Michigan. He became a homeopath, a practitioner of what would now be called "alternative medicine." His 1st wife, Charlotte, died in 1892, of a stroke. No foul play has ever been suspected in her death. Together, the Crippens had a son, Hawley Otto Crippen, who was left in the care of his father's parents.

In 1894, Dr. Crippen remarried, to Kunigunde Macamotski, daughter of a Polish father and a German mother. She had anglicized her name to Cora Henrietta Turner, and was a music hall singer who performed under the name Belle Elmore. In 1897, they moved to England, where Crippen, unqualified to be a practicing physician under British law, made many as a distributor of patent medicines (so, more or less, a pharmacist), while Cora continued her stage career.

Kunigunde Macamotski, a.k.a. Cora Henrietta Turner,

a.k.a. Cora Crippen, a.k.a. Belle Elmore

In 1900, Crippen was hired as the manager of a school for the deaf. He hired a secretary, Ethel Le Neve. By 1905, with the full knowledge that Cora had cheating on Hawley with her show business acquaintances from the beginning, Hawley and Ethel began an affair.

Ethel Le Neve

There was a party at the Crippen home in London on January 31, 1910. Afterward, Cora disappeared. It took some time for the police to be notified of her disappearance. Chief Inspector Walter Dew, who had worked on the Jack the Ripper case as a younger policeman, led the investigation. The police searched the house, but found nothing. Crippen told the police that she had returned to the United States. Dew bought this story.

But Crippen thought he hadn't, and he and Ethel panicked, and went to Brussels, Belgium. The next day, they went to Antwerp, Belgium, and boarded the cruise liner SS Montrose, heading for Quebec City, Canada.

With both Crippens and Ethel now officially missing, the police searched the house again. They found the torso of a human female buried under the brick floor of the basement. The rest of her was never recovered, but there was enough evidence to determine that it was Cora. She was 36 years old.

Captain Henry Kendall, captain of the Montrose, had his ship's telegraphist send a wireless telegram to the British authorities: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers. Mustache taken off growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Manner and build undoubtedly a girl."

Dew was notified. He took a train to Liverpool, and boarded the SS Laurentic, a faster liner from the White Star Line. He arrived in Quebec City on July 29, ahead of the Montrose, and informed the Canadian authorities of what was happening. Since Canada was still part of the British Empire, Dew could rightfully arrest Crippen on Canadian soil.

Well, not on Canadian soil, but on July 31, the ship docked at Quebec City, putting it in British jurisdiction. Dew boarded the ship, and, with Captain Kendall already knowing what was going on, kept Crippen and Ethel on board long enough to introduce him to the newly-boarded passenger:

Dew: "Good morning, Dr. Crippen. Do you know me? I'm Chief Inspector Dew from Scotland Yard."

Crippen: "Thank God it's over. The suspense has been too great. I couldn't stand it any longer."

He held out his hands to be cuffed. He had become the 1st fugitive to be caught using radio. He and Dew returned to Britain aboard the SS Megantic. At his trial, Crippen's defense was that the identification of the body as his wife's was unreliable, that it was left there by the house's previous owner, and that his wife was still alive, somewhere in America. The jury didn't buy it, and found him guilty after just 27 minutes of deliberation on October 21.

Crippen showed no remorse, though he was concerned for Ethel's fate and reputation. She was charged only with being an accessory after the fact. This was considerably harder to prove, and she was acquitted. He gave no reason for the murder, although in 1981, Sir Hugh Rhys Rankin, 3rd Baronet, claimed to have met Ethel in Australia in 1930, where she told him that Crippen killed Cora because he found out she had syphilis, that his treatment had gone wrong, she died, and he panicked.

Dr. Hawley Crippen was sentenced to death, and was hanged at Pentonville Prison in North London on November 23, 1910. He was 48 years old. Ethel Le Neve moved to the U.S., then to Canada, then back to Britain in 1915, where she lived until 1967, at age 84. Chief Inspector Dew retired from Scotland Yard shortly after the trial, and became a private criminal consultant, much like Sherlock Holmes. He lived until 1947, also 84.

Doubts as to Crippen's guilt have persisted. One theory that combines his guilt (he did it) with a theory as to his innocence (his wife had fled to America) is that he had been performing secret abortions, and that the victim was one whose surgery he'd botched.

Hawley Otto Crippen was 13 when his father was executed. He did his best to hide from his father's fame, using his middle name Otto. Like his father, he married twice. Like his father, his 1st wife died, with no evidence of foul play. Unlike his father, his 2nd wife was the half-sister of his 1st wife. Unlike his father, he appears to have had no children, so the line died out with him, in Los Angeles, in 1974, at age 85.

*

July 31, 1910 was a Sunday. At this time, playing baseball on Sunday was still illegal in New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. As a result, there were only 6 games played on this day, including doubleheaders hosted by both St. Louis teams:

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at the Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati. In the 1911-12 off-season, that ballpark would be torn down, and what became Crosley Field was built on the site. Honus Wagner went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. That ballpark had just opened at the beginning of the month, and would still be the home of the White Sox 80 years later. In this game, Bill Donovan outpitched future Hall-of-Famer Big Ed Walsh. Ty Cobb went 2-for-2 with a home run and 2 walks.

* The Cleveland Naps swept the St. Louis Browns, 5-4 and 2-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The opener went 11 innings. Cy Falkenberg pitched a 3-hit shutout in the nightcap. Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, the slugger, 2nd baseman and manager for whom the team that became the Indians in 1915 and the Guardians in 2022 were then named, went 4-for-9 on the day.

With the Chalmers Auto Company offering a new car to the winner of the American League batting title, this was a big deal. Lajoie and Cobb battled it out to the end, with Cobb beating Lajoie out, .385 to .384, with both men helped by less-than-savory circumstances. In the end, Chalmers gave each man a new car.

* And the Chicago Cubs swept the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-3 and 4-0 at Robison Field in St. Louis. (That's not a typo: The Cards were then owned by the Robison brothers, not "Robinson.") Leonard Leslie "King" Cole had a no-hitter going after 7 innings of the 2nd game, but the doubleheader had taken so long that the umpires called the 2nd game due to darkness, denying Cole a piece of baseball immortality. 

June 26, 1959: The St. Lawrence Seaway Opens

June 26, 1959: The St. Lawrence Seaway opens, aiding international trade for the United States; Canada, its neighbor and co-owner of the Seaway; and their allies.

It had actually opened on April 25, but June 26 was the dedication ceremony. Attending was each country's head of state: The 68-year-old President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the 33-year-old Queen Elizabeth II of the British Commonwealth, to which Canada still belonged (and still does).

The year before, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, opposing Democratic incumbent John F. Kennedy, was noted Boston attorney Vincent J. Celeste. One of his campaign statements was, "Of course my opponent voted for the St. Lawrence Seaway. It ends at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, which is owned by old Joe Kennedy." The suggestion was that JFK voted for it not because it was good policy -- and even most Republicans seemed to agree that it was -- but because of family corruption. This didn't work at all -- and not just because, while the Merch Mart is effectively on the Seaway, it is not the Seaway's terminal -- and JFK rose from 51 percent of the vote in his 1952 election to 73 percent.

The Seaway is a system of locks, canals and channels that connects the Great Lakes with the St. Lawrence River, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. Officially, it runs 370 miles from Port Colborne to Montreal. Unofficially, it accesses such port cities as Duluth, Minnesota; Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia, Port Colborne, Hamilton, Toronto and Oshawa, Ontario; Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Ogdensburg, New York; and Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Québec City, Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles, Quebec, into the Atlantic Ocean.

The locks on the U.S. side are managed by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. The ones on the Canadian side are managed by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. Over 3,000 ships use the Seaway every year. From Duluth to Sept-Îles, it takes about 8 1/2 days.

*

June 26, 1959 was a Friday. Canadian Comedian Mark McKinney, known for his work on The Kids in the Hall from 1989 to 1995, and on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1997, was born on this day. This was also the day that Ingemar Johansson knocked Floyd Patterson out to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Mickey Mantle went 3-for-4 with a walk. Art Ditmar outpitched Billy Pierce.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Ted Williams went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Johnny Temple doubled Eddie Kasko home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Frank Robinson only appeared as a pinch-runner, and never came to bat or took the field. Stan Musial hit 2 home runs.

* The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 12-7 and 4-1 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 2-for-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Brooks Robinson did not play in either game.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 11-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Warren Spahn went the distance for the win, and helped his own cause with a home run. Hank Aaron went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Washington Senators beat the Kansas City Athletics, 8-4 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run for the Senators. Roger Maris went 0-for-5 for the A's.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Duke Snider, John Roseboro and Charlie Neal hit home runs for the Dodgers. Harry Bright, Don Hoak and Dick Stuart hit home runs for the Pirates. Roberto Clemente did not play.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-0 at Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Mike McCormick pitched a 3-hit shutout. Willie Mays and Jackie Brandt hit home runs for the Giants.

April 20, 1984: Hockey's Good Friday Massacre

April 20, 1984: One of hockey's nastiest rivalries turns into an epic brawl. It happened 2 days before Easter, on Good Friday, so it became known as the Good Friday Massacre -- or, since it was in Quebec, it got the French name La Bataille du Vendredi Saint.

The Montreal Canadiens are the only team in the National Hockey League older than the League itself: The team was founded in 1909, the NHL in 1917. In 1924, the Montreal Maroons were founded, and, until the Maroons folded in 1938 (despite winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935), there was a perception in the city that the Maroons were the team of rich, white-collar and Anglophone (English-speaking) Montreal; while the Canadiens were seen as the team of poor, blue-collar Francophones (French-speakers).

This was emphasized by the fact that the Canadiens' corporate name was Le Club de Hockey Canadien. They were often identified as Les Canadiens (pronounced CAN-ah-DIEN), or Les Habitants (OHB-ee-TAHNT), or the Habs. A "Habitant" was an early French settler of Quebec, and it was suggested that the H in the team's "CH" logo stood for "Habitant." It never did, and wasn't even a "CH": It was an "HC," for "Hockey Canadien."

When Maurice Richard, a.k.a. the Rocket, came out of the Noveau-Bordeaux neighborhood on the city's North Side, and became their star in World War II and the postwar era, including the introduction of television to Canada, the perception that he was the best player in the League, and was from Montreal and French, made him the biggest icon that French Canada has ever had -- ahead of longtime Prime Ministers Wilfrid Laurier (1896-1911) and Pierre Trudeau (1968-84, father of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau).

When opponents -- players, on-ice officials, and NHL President Clarence Campbell, and they all seemed to be Anglophones -- attacked him, either physically or officially, the people of Quebec took it personally, as an attack on them, on their Frenchness, on their otherness. This culminated in the Rocket Richard Riot in 1955.

Time passed, Richard retired, and the era of Quebec nationalism began. The drive to make the Province of Quebec independent of Anglophone Canada has had its ups and downs, and was based not in Montreal, the largest city in the Province (and the 2nd-largest city in the country, behind Toronto), but in the Provincial capital, Quebec City.

In 1972, the World Hockey Association was formed. Rather than compete with the NHL in Montreal, where the Canadiens had won 13 of the last 27 Stanley Cups, the WHA put a team in Quebec City. Despite the fact that "Nordic" suggests Northern Europe, especially Germany and Scandinavia, the team was named the Quebec Nordiques.

Several Canadien stars, including Jean Béliveau and Jacques Plante, had played minor-league hockey at the Colisée de Québec, which became the home of the Nordiques. (To this list would soon be added Guy Lafleur.) So, in the beginning, the Nords took on as many former Habs players as they could, in the hopes of attracting fans and using those players' experience to benefit their younger players. (This never works, as the early New York Mets and the early New Jersey Devils can tell you.) They even made the Rocket their 1st head coach. Richard discovered that he hated coaching, and quit after only 2 games, losing the 1st and winning the 2nd, and never coached another game at any level.

When the NHL absorbed the Nords and 3 other WHA teams in 1979, the Provincial government, led by Premier René Lévesque, was setting up the 1st sovereignty referendum, which failed, 60 percent to 40. But the battle between the all-Francophone Quebec City and the mixed-language, more-commercially-important Montreal got intense.

The Canadiens won the Cup in 1973, and 4 straight from 1976 to 1979. The Nordiques won the WHA title in 1977, and reached the Final in 1975. In 1982, only their 3rd season in the NHL, they beat the Canadiens in the 1st round of the Playoffs, reaching the Conference Finals before losing to the New York Islander dynasty.

Games between the Provincial rivals were rough, both on the ice and in the stands, and it began to resemble hooligan rucks in European soccer. Game 4 of that '82 series, won by the Canadiens, featured a combined 251 penalty minutes, including 159 from a single fight in the 1st period.

They faced each other again in the 1984 Adams Division Final. They split the 1st 2 games in Quebec City, the Nords winning Game 1, 4-2; and the Habs winning Game 2, 4-1. They split the next 2 in Montreal, the Habs winning Game 3, 2-1; and the Nords winning Game 4, 4-3 on an overtime goal by Bob Berglund.

Back in Quebec in Game 5, the Canadiens won, 4-0. So, in order to win the series, the Nordiques had to win Game 6 at the Forum and Game 7 at the Colisée.

Game 6 was played on April 20, Good Friday. A big part of Quebec nationalism had been tied up in the Roman Catholic Church, so strong in French-speaking cultures, but some of this nationalism resisted ties to the Church, just as modern France has embraced the separation of church and state, which is written into the Constitution of Canada.

So calling the event "the Good Friday Massacre" or its French-language equivalent has little to do with religion: While previous French-Canadians saw attacks on themselves, their Province, and the Canadiens, especially coming from the national Parliament in Ottawa or the big businesses and banks of Toronto, as attacks on their Frenchness and their Catholicism, this was more Quebec nationalism vs. Canadian nationalism; Lévesque and his Parti Québécois vs. Trudeau and his Liberal Party; establishment team vs. insurgent team, or team for the establishment vs. team for insurgents.

The game practically began with a fight: Mike McPhee of the Habs and Wilf Paiement of the Nords were called for fighting just 23 seconds into the game. Slovakian star Peter Šťastný scored about 5 minutes later, in the 1st period, to make it 1-0 Nordiques. That goal came on a 5-on-3 power play, after Craig Ludwig had been called for tripping and Jean Hamel for an illegal stick. The Nords were called for 6 penalties in the period, the Habs 5.

There were no goals in the 2nd period, but loads of rough stuff. Ludwig and Šťastný's brother Anton were disciplined for fighting with each other. Then, at the end of the period, with the score still 1-0 Quebec, it all went off. Dale Hunter, one of the dirtiest players in the game's modern era -- his brother Mark was on the Canadiens -- flattened the Canadiens' Guy Carbonneau from behind, and the punches began to fly. 

And they wouldn't stop. This included a fight between goaltenders, which always catches attention. But this one may have been unique in hockey history: It was the backup goalies who fought, Richard Sévigny of Montreal and Clint Malarchuk of Quebec. It wasn't just one big fight, but several individual fights, including another of the dirtiest players of that era, Chris Nilan of the Canadiens, taking on whoever he could grab.

Hamel and the Nords' Louis Sleigher fought. As referee Bruce Hood separated them, Sleigher reached out with a left hook, and sucker-punched Hamel in the eye. Hamel went down like a ton of bricks, unconscious, and never played another regular-season game: He was out for the rest of the Playoffs, and reinjured the eye during the next season's preseason exhibitions, and had to quit.

Hood spent the intermission sorting out the penalties. When the teams came back onto the ice for the 3rd period, longtime Forum public address announcer Claude Mouton began reading the penalties, in French and in English -- in other words, taking twice as long as would be expected. Defenseman Larry Robinson told the media that some of the dismissed players felt they "might as well take some guys with me," and Carbonneau thought, "They had nothing to lose." And so, they started a new round of fighting. This one even included the Hunter brothers fighting each other.

When the players wore themselves out and finally stopped, 11 players were given game misconduct penalties, meaning they were thrown out of the game. For Quebec: Dale Hunter, Peter Šťastný, Wally Weir, Louis Sleigher, Randy Moller and Clint Malarchuk. For Montreal: Chris Nilan, Mark Hunter, Mike McPhee, Mario Tremblay and Richard Sévigny.

A funny thing happened on the way to this game becoming one of the greatest disgraces in hockey history: Not only were there no more penalties in the game, but it turned into a show by the Canadiens. Michel Goulet scored on the power play early in the 3rd period, but it was all Montreal after that. The Habs got 2 goals from Hall-of-Famer Steve Shutt to tie it, and then from Rick Green, John Chabot and Carbonneau, before Paiment got a consolation goal for the Nordiques. Final score: Canadiens 5, Nordiques 3.

The Canadiens advanced to the Prince of Wales Conference Finals, but the remaining players from the 1976-79 dynasty could not overcome the Islanders, who had won their own 4 straight Cups and were undergoing their "Drive For Five." The Habs gave it a good shot, but the Isles won in 6. In the Clarence Campbell Conference Finals, the Edmonton Oilers swept the Minnesota North Stars in 4 straight. And, in a 5-game victory in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Oilers' ended the Islanders' dynasty and began their own.

The Nordiques never reached the Stanley Cup Finals, and for the 1995-96 season, they were moved to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche -- and only then did they trade for Quebec City native Patrick Roy, the great goaltender who had backstopped 2 Canadiens Cup wins, and then win the Cup.

The Habs haven't won the Cup since 1993 (it's called the Curse of Saint Patrick, although Roy is no saint), and Quebec City has a new arena and is actively trying to get an expansion team or a moved team. This rivalry may be reborn in the next few years.

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April 20, 1984 was, as previously stated, a Friday. The Patrick Division Final had already been decided in the Islanders' favor. Also on this day, in the Norris Division Final, Game 6, the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-0 at the St. Louis Arena, but the Stars won Game 7. And in the Smythe Division Final, Game 6, the Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at the Saddledome in Calgary, on an overtime goal by Lanny McDonald, but the Oilers won Game 7.

There were 3 games played in the NBA that night:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers 116-102 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Kansas City Kings, 109-102 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 122-116 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Ron Guidry outpitched Dave Stewart. Don Mattingly went 3-for-4, and Ken Griffey Sr. had 2 RBIs.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Steve Carlton started for the Phils, but he was 39 years old, and his start was no longer a sure "Win Day."  Tim Leary, the opposing starter, hit a home run off him.

With 2 outs in the top of the 10th, Phils relief pitcher Al Holland gave up a walk to Jose Oquendo, a single to Keith Hernandez, and an RBI single to George Foster, then, with Darryl Strawberry at bat, balked Hernandez home. 

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The O's won it in the bottom of the 10th thanks to 2 future Hall-of-Famers: Cal Ripken hit a single, and Eddie Murray hit a home run.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 8-7 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-6 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-6 with 3 strikeouts, but he did also have a walk. Rod Carew went 2-for-4 with an RBI.  The Jays' bullpen collapsed in the top of the 13th, thanks to 3 doubles, a single, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Mel Hall singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jim Beattie pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 8-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the Montreal Expos were supposed to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, but the game was rained out. It was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Expos won both games, 6-3 and 4-0. The 2nd game was shortened to 5 innings by rain. David Palmer of th Expos hadn't allowed a baserunner, but this was not an official perfect game.

March 13, 1912: Quebec City Win the Stanley Cup

The 1913 Bulldogs, with "Phantom Joe" Malone in the center.

Notice how much smaller the Stanley Cup was then.

March 13, 1912: For the 1st time, the trustees of the Stanley Cup award it as a result of a true championship, not as a challenge trophy. They award it to the Quebec Bulldogs.

The team, from Quebec City, the capital of the Province of Quebec, won the championship of the National Hockey Association. Then they faced the Moncton Victorias, of Moncton, New Brunswick, the champions of the Maritime Professional Hockey League, in a best-2-out-of-3 series, and won it in 2 games, 9-3 on March 11 and 8-0 on March 13, with both games played at the Quebec Skating Rink.

Led by "Phantom" Joe Malone, the best scorer of the 1910s, the Bulldogs won the NHA Championship again in 1913. This time, their Maritime opponents were the Sydney Millionaires of Sydney, Nova Scotia. Malone scored 9 goals in the 1st game, on March 8, leading the Bulldogs to a 14-3 win. Malone didn't even play in the 2nd game, no March 10. The Bulldogs didn't need him: They won, 6-2.

The Bulldogs were invited to enter the NHL when it was founded in 1917, but the manpower drain of World War I meant that they were unable to field a team for the 1917-18 and 1918-19 seasons. They were admitted for 1919-20, but they finished last and lost a lot of money. For 1920-21, they were moved to Ontario, and became the Hamilton Tigers. In 1925, they were moved to America, becoming the New York Americans, lasting until 1942.

The Quebec Aces began play in 1928. In 1944, they won the Allan Cup, Canada's amateur championship. In 1952, led by future Montreal Canadiens stars Jean Béliveau and Jacques Plante, they won the Alexander Cup, the championship of Canadian senior hockey. In 1971, led by future Canadiens star Guy Lafleur, the Quebec Remparts won the Memorial Cup.

In 1972, the World Hockey Association was founded, and with it, the Quebec Nordiques. They reached the Finals in 1975, and won the league title in 1977. In 1979, they were 1 of the 4 WHA teams admitted to the NHL. They reached the Conference Finals in 1982 and 1985, but lost money, and were moved to Denver in 1995, becoming the Colorado Avalanche -- and then won the Stanley Cup in their 1st season away. To their credit, the Avs players took the Cup back to Quebec City, and let their former fans celebrate.

A new Quebec Remparts won the Memorial Cup in 2006, but, as yet, Quebec City has not returned to the NHL. The 1912 and 1913 Bulldogs remain their only Stanley Cup winners; the 1977 Nordiques, their last title winners in what could be called a major hockey league.

The Quebec Skating Rink, the 4th in a series of buildings with that name, was built in 1891, and lasted until it burned down 1918. In 1913, it was replaced by the Quebec Arena, which burned down in 1942, and was replaced by the Colisée de Québec, which burned down in 1948, and was replaced by a new Colisée in 1949, which still stands, although it's been replaced by the Centre Vidéotron in 2015.

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March 13, 1912 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. And professional basketball barely existed. So there were no other scores on this historic day.