August 25, 2008

750 years ago
1258

World events
A coup led by the aristocratic faction under Michael Palaiologos assassinated regent George Mouzalon, 38, and his brothers, ultimately usurping the throne of the Empire of Nicaea.

320 years ago
1688

Died on this date
Henry Morgan, 53 (?). Welsh-born English pirate. Sir Henry, an admiral in the Royal Navy, was notorious for his raids on Spanish settlements in the Caribbean.

250 years aqgo
1758

War
Forces of King Frederick II of Prussia defeated Russian forces at the Battle of Zorndorf in present-day Sarbinowo, Poland.

190 years ago
1818

Economics and finance
The privately-owned Bank of Canada began operations in Montréal; it was not a success.

110 years ago
1898

Protest
700 Greek civilians, 17 British guards, and the British Consul of Crete were killed by a Turkish mob in Heraklion, Greece.

100 years ago
1908

Died on this date
Henri Becquerel, 55. French physicist. Dr. Becquerel was awarded a share of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity." His death was caused by unknown causes, but it was reported that "he had developed serious burns on his skin, likely from the handling of radioactive materials."

80 years ago
1928

Exploration
U.S. Navy Commander Richard Byrd's ice ship City of New York, with 32 aboard, left Hoboken, New Jersey for Dunedin, New Zealand.

Disasters
Bad weather and fog caused a BC Airways Ford Trimotor plane, on a one-hour flight from Victoria to Seattle, to crash and sink in Puget Sound near Port Townsend, Washington, killing 5 passengers and 2 crew in Canada's first major air disaster.

Football
The Tri-City Rugby Football Union, with teams from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, was founded in Winnipeg.

75 years ago
1933

Disasters
The Diexi earthquake struck Mao County, Sichuan, China, killing 9,000 people.

70 years ago
1938

Boxing
World light heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis (98-10-5) knocked out Domenico Ceccarelli (28-24-9) at 1:15 of the 3rd round of a heavyweight bout in Nutley, New Jersey.

60 years ago
1948

War
Burmese government forces reported the suppression of Communist-led guerrilla bands in the Rangoon area.

Diplomacy
Yugoslavia threatened to break off relations with Romania, which it charged with leading Cominform attacks on Yugoslavian President Marshal Josip Broz Tito.

The U.S.S.R. broke off consular relations with the U.S.A. in retaliation for the expulsion of Soviet Consul General Jacob Lomakin. The action meant the closing of Soviet consulates in New York and San Francisco and the U.S. consulate in Vladivostok and the suspension of plans to open a new U.S. consulate in Leningrad. Former U.S.S.R. consular employee Oksana Kosenkina held a press conference in her New York hospital room, stating that she had intended to seek U.S. asylum ever since her transfer two years earlier to the Soviet consulate in New York. She had been critically injured on August 12 in a jump from a third-floor window at the consulate.

Politics and government
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities held its first-ever televised congressional hearing: "Confrontation Day," in which former U.S. State Department employee Alger Hiss and Time editor Whittaker Chambers testified jointly, upholding their contradictory versions of their past association.

Chilean Interior Minister Alsonso Quintana Burgos resigned after admitting failure in his conciliatory policy toward the Communist Party. He was succeeded by anti-Communist Admiral Immanual Holger.

Medicine
The World Health Organization announced the development of a chemical dehydration process for extracting insulin, simplifying production of the drug and raising hopes of alleviating the drastic world insulin shortage.

Lederle Laboratories in New York announced the discovery of APF (animal protein factor), a vitamin that built red corpuscles in pernicious anemia sufferers.

Labour
The American Federation of Labor Executive Council concluded a three-day meeting in Chicago by announcing that an independent committee of affiliated union presidents would actively support U.S. President Harry Truman's election campaign.

Football
WIFU
Saskatchewan (1-1) 1 @ Calgary (1-0) 12

Harry Hood scored the game's only touchdown and Bill Wusyk added a convert and field goal for the Stampeders as they beat the Roughriders at Mewata Stadium.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Bird Dog--The Everly Brothers (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Little Star--The Elegants (Hot 100--1st week at #1)

War
A Nationalist Chinese communique reported that Nationalist naval units had routed a 10-vessel Communist fleet attempting to land troops on Tunting Island, 18 miles southwest of Quemoy.

Seven people were killed and at least 21 wounded in Algerian nationalist attacks on police and civilian targets in France, the heaviest since the start of the Algerian revolt.

Politics and government
French Overseas Territories Minister Bernard Cornut-Gentille said that Algeria would not be given the right to secede from the French Union because it was legally part of metropolitan France.

The New York State Democratic Party convention in Buffalo renominated Governor Averell Harriman, while the Republican Party state convention in Rochester nominated Nelson Rockefeller for Governor of New York.

Football
CFL
WIFU
Winnipeg (2-1) 15 @ Edmonton (1-3) 8
Calgary (3-0) 34 @ British Columbia (0-3) 13

Leo Lewis completed a halfback option pass to John Varone for an 85-yard touchdown and Charlie Shepard added a touchdown and 2 singles to help the Blue Bombers beat the Eskimos before 17,000 fans at Clarke Stadium. Gerry James converted Mr. Varone's TD. Normie Kwong rushed 7 yards for the Edmonton touchdown in the 1st quarter, with Joe Mobra converting and adding a single on the subsequent kickoff.

Ernie Warlick scored 2 touchdowns and Jim Morse, Chuck Holloway, and Jim Bakhtiar added touchdowns for the Stampeders as they beat the Lions before 26,358 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. Doug Brown converted 4 of the Calgary TDs. Howie Schnellenberger and By Bailey scored the B.C. touchdowns, with Ted Hunt adding a convert. B.C. head coach Clem Crowe was fired the next day.

40 years ago
1968

Golf
Bob Murphy won the Philadelphia Golf Classic in a playoff after posting a four-round total score of 276. First prize money was $20,000.

Football
CFL
Toronto (2-2) 17 @ Saskatchewan (3-2-1) 32
Winnipeg (1-4) 17 @ British Columbia (2-3) 10

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Rivers of Babylon--Boney M. (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): En chantant--Michel Sardou (6th week at #1)

War
Chinese and Vietnamese forces clashed in the Friendship Pass area on the two nations' borders.

Labour
Air Canada workers went on strike.

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
Canada's top 30
1 Maniac--Michael Sembello
2 China Girl--David Bowie
3 1999--Prince
4 Never Gonna Let You Go--Sergio Mendes
5 Rock and Roll is King--Electric Light Orchestra
6 It's a Mistake--Men at Work
7 She Works Hard for the Money--Donna Summer
8 Every Breath You Take--The Police
9 Human Touch--Rick Springfield
10 Video Kids--Prototype
11 Tell Her About It--Billy Joel
12 Human Nature--Michael Jackson
13 Change--Tears for Fears
14 All This Love--Debarge
15 Is There Something I Should Know--Duran Duran
16 Hot Girls in Love--Loverboy
17 Take Me to Heart--Quarterflash
18 Through the Years--Tim Finn
19 Mistake--Michael Sembello
20 I'll Tumble 4 Ya--Culture Club
21 (She's) Sexy and Seventeen--The Stray Cats
22 After the Fall--Journey
23 Don't Cry--Asia
24 Rise Up--Parachute Club
25 Fascination--The Human League
26 Burning Down the House--The Talking Heads
27 Making Love Out of Nothing at All--Air Supply
28 20 Questions--Tic Toc
29 Far From Over--Frank Stallone
30 Never Said I Loved You--The Payolas and Carole Pope

War
French President Francois Mitterand said that French troops in Chad would continue to resist Libyan attacks and that the French had helped bring the fighting between Chadian government forces and Libyan-backed rebels to a virtual halt.

Lebanese President Amin Gemayel appealed for an end to civil war lest the country face permanent foreign occupation.

The Nicaraguan defense ministry said that rebel Contra forces had stepped up their attacks and that 2,000 rebels had entered northern Nicaragua during August. The Sandanista government said it believed the rebels were using helicopters to carry commandos well inside Nicaraguan territory.

Crime
Salvadoran police arrested a suspect in the May 1983 murder of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Albert Schaufelberger III.

Agriculture
In Moscow, U.S. Agriculture Secretary John Block signed an agreement reached to with the U.S.S.R. on July 28 under which the Soviet Union would buy at least 9 million metric tons of grain per year for 5 years, 3 million more tons than the previous minimum. The U.S.S.R. had the option to buy up to 12 million metric tons per year, up from 8 million per year in the expiring agreement. The new agreement was to take effect October 1, 1983.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Gimme Hope Jo'anna--Eddy Grant (12th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): The Loco-Motion--Kylie Minogue

Died on this date
Art Rooney, 87. U.S. football executive. Mr. Rooney played minor league baseball in the 1920s and founded the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National Football League in 1933, renaming them the Steelers in 1941. It took Mr. Rooney's team more than four decades to win a championship, but they won four Super Bowls in six years from 1975-1980. Mr. Rooney was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1964.

War
Five days after the cease-fire between Iran and Iraq went into effect, foreign ministers of the two countries began talks in Geneva.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (4-3) 10 @ British Columbia (4-3) 28

Blake Marshall scored the Eskimos' only touchdown in their loss to the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. It was the final CFL game for Edmonton linebacker Craig Shaffer and the only CFL game for Edmonton defensive lineman Mike Ruzinek.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Lewis Powell, 90. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1972-1987. Justice Powell was a corporate lawyer from Virginia who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon. He was a "swing vote" on the Court, with a penchant for compromise. Justice Powell sided with the majority in the 7-2 Roe v. Wade (1973) case, which effectively legalized abortion on demand in the United States.

Bob Montgomery, 79. U.S. boxer. Mr. Montgomery compiled a record of 75-19-3 in a professional career spanning 1938-1950. He held the New York State Athletic Commission version of the world lightweight title from May-November 1943 and 1944-1947, and was perhaps best known for his four bouts against Beau Jack, resulting in each man winning two decisions. Mr. Montgomery became a boxing promoter in later years, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998. He died after a stroke.