August 15, 2008

Married on this date
Happy Anniversary, Janet & Tim Sproule!

1,290 years ago
718

War
Forces of the Umayyad Caliphate abandoned their year-long siege of Constantinople, causing the caliphate to give up its goal of conquering the Byzantine Empire.

990 years ago
1018

War
Byzantine General Eustathios Daphnomeles blinded and capture Ivats of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.

970 years ago
1038

Died on this date
Stephen I, 63 (?). King of Hungary, ca. 1000-1038. Stephen was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians from 997-ca. 1000 and the first King of Hungary. He was succeeded on the throne by Peter Orseolo.

890 years ago
1118

Died on this date
Alexios I, 70 (?). Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, 1081-1118. Alexios I was the nephew of Emperor Isaac I, and Alexios' father John declined an offer to become Emperor after the abdication of Isaac. Alexios had a successful career as a military officer before taking power in a successful revolt. He stabilized the government and reformed the monetary system, but his popularity declined in his later years. Alexios I was succeeded by his son John II, who had been named co-Emperor at the age of 5 in 1092.

190 years ago
1818

Crime
Robert Gourlay, who had challenged authorities on land grants, was tried in Kingston, Upper Canada for sedition and libel. He was acquitted, but was ordered to leave under the Alien Act of 1804. He was also tried in Brockville, Upper Canada on August 31, 1818.

110 years ago
1898

Politics and government
Charles Semlin took office as Premier of British Columbia, leading a new pan-party provincial government.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
George K. Morris, 45. U.S. politician. Mr. Morris, chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, died of a brain hemorrhage.

World events
In addition to land already appropriated for Jewish colonization, the Presidium of the All-Russian Executive granted 109,000 hectares (approximately 272,500 acres) in the Crimea for 15,000 Jewish families.

Transportation
U.S. Ambassador to Germany J.G. Schurman was in Hamburg to launch and name the German trans-Atlantic steamship Europa. The ship was 938 feet long and weighed 46,000 tons.

Disasters
13 men were killed in an explosion in a coal mine in Irvona, Pennsylvania.

60 years ago
1948

Literature
The New York Herald Tribune listed The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh as the best-selling fiction book, and The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill as the best-selling non-fiction book.

War
The Philippine government's offer of amnesty for Hukbalahap guerrillas expired after attracting little response.

Defense
U.S. Defense Secretary James Forrestal began a two-day conference with Canadian officials in Ottawa on U.S.-Canadian military cooperation.

Asiatica
The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed, with Syngman Rhee as its first President. General Douglas MacArthur was at the proclamation ceremony. U.S. President Harry Truman immediately recognized the South Korean government and ordered an end to the U.S. military administration there.

Politics and government
Juan Natalicio Gonzalez was inaugurated into a five-year term as President of Paraguay.

Golf
Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the United States Women's Open, shooting a final-round 78 to defeat Betty Hicks by 8 strokes at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, New Jersey. First prize money was $1,200.

Auto racing
Donald Strub, 13, of Warren Ohio, won the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): All I Have to Do is Dream--The Everly Brothers (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Gordon Dean, 52. U.S. lawyer and bureaucrat. Mr. Dean served with the U.S. Justice Department in the 1930s and '40s, and was Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1950-1953. He was one of the 24 people killed in the crash of a Northeast Airlines Convair C-240 on approach to Nantucket Airport in Massachusetts.

Patrick Gale, 46. Canadian man. Mr. Gale had apparently been suffering from ill health when he jumped to his death from the High Level Bridge in Edmonton.

Cheryl Kischuk, 6. Canadian accident victim. Miss Kischuk and her mother, residents of Jasper Place, Alberta, fell 130 feet into a waterfall at Johnston Canyon, near Banff. Mrs. Kischuk swam to safety, but Cheryl was killed.

Economics and finance
Former U.S.S.R. Premier Nikolai Bulganin was removed as chairman of the Soviet State Bank and appointed as chairman of the Economic Council for the Stavropol region in the northern Caucasus.

Business
General Motors announced the upcoming retirement of Harlow Curtice as president and chief executive officer, and Albert Bradley as chairman. Frederic Donner and John Gordon were elected to fill the vacancies.

Disasters
24 people, including former U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Gordon Dean, were killed in the crash of a Northeast Airlines Convair C-240 on approach to Nantucket Airport in Massachusetts.

Football
NFL
College All-Star Game @ Soldier Field, Chicago
College All-Stars 35 Detroit 19



40 years ago
1968

Abominations
The Nigerian government rejected a plan of the International Committee of the Red Cross to fly food via a neutral airstrip to the secessionist region of Biafra to ease the starvation there.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (2-1-1) 18 @ British Columbia (1-2) 17

Frank Cosentino completed a touchdown pass to Garry Lefebvre on a third-down gamble in the last minute of the game, and Peter Kempf converted to give the Eskimos their win over the Lions before 25,722 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. Mr. Cosentino also threw a touchdown pass to rookie split end Larry Plancke.

30 years ago
1978

Crime
A U.S. federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. filed a 42-page indictment against 11 high-ranking officials of the Church of Scientology, charging them with a widespread conspiracy to spy on, bug, and steal documents from government agencies. The spies were alleged to have been seeking information concerning Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department actions on the "church"'s application for tax-exempt status as well as "information about any potential legal action against L. Ron Hubbard," the cult's founder and leader.

Abominations
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 233-189 to grant a 39-month extension of the deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, moving the deadline from March 22, 1979 to June 30, 1982. The amendment had been ratified by 35 states, but needed 3 more to become law. The House voted 227-196 to defeat an amendment by Rep. Tom Railsback (Republican--Illinois) that would have allowed states to rescind their ratification. Legislatures of four states had already voted to rescind their ratification.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (1-4-1) 6 @ Ottawa (4-1) 32
Saskatchewan (0-5) 23 @ British Columbia (3-1-2) 24

Art Green scored 2 touchdowns, Tony Gabriel caught a Condredge Holloway pass for another, and rookie Dan Fournier returned a blocked punt 43 yards for his only CFL touchdown to help the Rough Riders rout the Tiger-Cats before 25,389 fans at Lansdowne Park, ruining the first game for John Payne as head coach of the Tiger-Cats.

A field goal by Lui Passaglia late in the game gave the Lions their win over the Roughriders before 24,860 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The game was the last for Jim Eddy as head coach of the Roughriders; he was fired and replaced by assistant coach Walt Posadowski.

Baseball
The Oakland Athletics traded designated hitter Willie Horton and a player named later to the Toronto Blue Jays for designated hitter Rico Carty. Mr. Horton had played 50 games with the Cleveland Indians in 1978 before being acquired by the Athletics in mid-July and batting .314 with 3 home runs and 19 runs batted in in 32 games with Oakland. Mr. Carty batted .284 with 20 homers and 68 RBIs in 104 games with Toronto in 1978.

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Australiana--Austen Tayshus

Environment
A U.S. federal district judge in Georgia issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting further spraying of marijuana plants in White County with the herbicide Paraquat, which had been linked to more than 1,000 deaths since its first use in the 1960s.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Age of Reason--John Farnham (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
The U.S. Republican National Convention opened at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. President Ronald Reagan addressed the convention, saying that Vice-President and presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee George Bush had played a major role in his administration, and asking of him one more favour: "Go out there and win one for the Gipper."

Swimming
Vicki Keith became the first person to swim across Lake Superior.

10 years ago
1998

Terrorism
A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland killed 29 people and injured 370; a splinter group calling itself the Real Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility.