September 4, 2008

120 years ago
1888

Technology
George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak and received a patent for his camera that used roll film.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Fred Bretonnel, 23 (?). French boxer. Mr. Bretonnel began fighting professionally in 1919 and compiled a record of 35-17-14-2. He was French featherweight champion from June-October 1924, and was fighting as a welterweight when he hanged himself in Paris because of "family troubles."

Crime
Despite a recommendation by New York Attorney General Albert Ottinger for a suspended sentence, former New York Secretary of State Florence Knapp was sentenced to 30 days in prison for grand larceny in the first degree, after being convicted on May 26 of padding payrolls of the 1925 New York State census. She was released at the end of her sentence on October 3, 1928.

Disasters
Seven people in an air mail plane were killed when it crashed while landing at Pocatello, Idaho.

60 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Twelfth Street Rag--Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 My Happiness--The Pied Pipers (3rd week at #1)
--Jon and Sondra Steele
--Ella Fitzgerald
2 You Call Everybody Darlin'--Al Trace and the Revelers
--Anne Vincent
--Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters
--The Andrews Sisters
3 It's Magic--Doris Day
--Dick Haymes and Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
--Tony Martin
--Gordon MacRae
4 A Tree in the Meadow--Margaret Whiting
5 Twelfth Street Rag--Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra
6 Love Somebody--Doris Day and Buddy Clark
7 You Can't Be True, Dear--Ken Griffin
--Dick Haymes with the Song Spinners
--The Sportsmen
8 Maybe You'll Be There--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
9 Underneath the Arches--Primo Scala’s Banjo and Accordian Orchestra with the Keynotes
--The Andrews Sisters
10 Cool Water--Vaughn Monroe and the Sons of the Pioneers

Singles entering the chart were the version of You Call Everybody Darlin' by the Andrews Sisters, which was the other side of Underneath the Arches; Where Flamingos Fly by the Ink Spots (#32); Just a Shade on the Blue Side by Peggy Lee (#33); It's You or No One by Dick Haymes and Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra (#36); and Life Gits Tee-Jus Don't It by Carson Robison with the Pleasant Valley Boys (#40).

Died on this date
Eugene Ford, 82. U.S. engineer. Mr. Ford was an engineer and inventor with International Business Machines.

War
Jews and Arabs established a second neutral zone in southern Jerusalem between the new and old cities.

Europeana
Queen Wilhelmina's reign over the Netherlands ended with her abdication in favour of her daughter Juliana.

Politics and government
The European Parliamentary Congress ended a five-day meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland by calling on western European countries to confer on proposals for the creation of a European parliament with a fedeal constitution.

The U.S. Senate Expenditures subcommittee investigating the loyalty of federal employees issued a report criticizing President Harry Truman's loyalty program as indadequate, demanding faster and standardized loyalty checks and recommending the creation of an independent board to handle loyalty cases in all executive departments.

Society
The U.S. State Department refused to permit unlimited immigration to Israel of men aged 18-45 from U.S.-controlled refugee camps in central Europe.

Aviation
Paul Mantz became the first pilot to win the Bendix Air Trophy three times as he won the 2,800-mile race from Long Beach, California to Cleveland, earning $10,000.

Religion
The World Council of Churches ended its two-week founding assembly in Amsterdam with resolutions opposing both Communism and "laissez-faire capitalism," and denouncing anti-Semitism as "a sin against God and man."

Labour
16,000 Congress of Industrial Organizations Oil Workers Of America Union members struck in a West Coast wage dispute, shutting down nine major California refineries.

Football
IRFU
Hamilton (0-1) 5 @ Ottawa (2-0) 30
Montreal (0-2) 7 @ Toronto (1-0) 20

50 years ago
1958

Died on this date
Red Killefer, 73. U.S. baseball player. Wade Killefer was an outfielder with the Detroit Tigers (1907-1909); Washington Nationals (1909-1910); Cincinnati Reds (1914-1916); and New York Giants (1916), batting .248 with 3 home runs and 116 runs batted in in 467 games. He led the American League in being hit with a pitch in 1910 (16) and led the National League in the same category in 1915 (19). Mr. Killefer managed five teams in the Pacific Coast League and American Association from 1917-1941, leading the Los Angeles Angels (1921) and Seattle Indians (1924) to PCL pennants. He was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 1945. Mr. Killefer's brother Bill was a major league catcher from 1909-1921.

Diplomacy
The People's Republic of China claimed all waters within 12 miles of its shoreline, placing Quemoy, Matsu, and other nearby offshore islands within its territorial area.

United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold met with U.A.R. President Gamal Nasser in Cairo, but failed to reach an agreement that would permit British forces to leave Jordan.

Politics and government
More than one million Chileans voted in the nation's first secret-ballot presidential election, but failed to give a clear majority to any of the candidates.

French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle issued the text of the proposed new constitution, providing for a strong president elected for a seven-year term.

Crime
The Alabama Supreme Court granted an indefinite stay of execution to Jimmy Wilson, a Negro farmhand sentenced to die in the electric chair for taking $1.95 from an elderly white woman at her home in Marion in 1957.

Energy
James Tuck, thermonuclear research director of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, said in Geneva that a controlled thermonuclear reaction had probably been achieved by the "Scylla" apparatus there.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): I've Gotta Get a Message to You--The Bee Gees

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Dream a Little Dream of Me--Mama Cass
2 MacArthur Park--Richard Harris
3 Indian Lake--The Cowsills
4 The Orange and the Green/(The Puppet Song) Whiskey on a Sunday--The Irish Rovers
5 Help Yourself--Tom Jones
6 Do it Again--The Beach Boys
7 Lady Willpower--Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
8 Hurdy Gurdy Man--Donovan
9 I Don't Want to Love You/Jamie--Johnny Farnham
10 Alice Long (You're Still My Favorite Girlfriend)--Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart

Singles entering the chart were I've Gotta Get a Message to You/Kitty Can by the Bee Gees (#22); The Music Played by Matt Monroe (#29); Baby, Come Back by the Equals (#35); Here Comes the Judge by the Magistrates (#37); and Dear Heart/Wonderful Wonderful World by Mike Preston (#38).

War
Nigeria claimed the capture of the Biafran city of Aba in the the Nigerian Civil War.

World events
Congo-Brazzaville President Alphonse Massamba-Debat was ousted again, for failing to "assure peace and national unity," by the military government, following fierce fighting between regular army units and a Cuban-trained militia of 300 men. The rebels reportedly had resisted incorporation of the militia into the army, which had taken over their camp late on August 31. The junta, headed by Captain Marien Ngouabi, named Alfred Raoul as interim President.

Politics and government
Abdul Hamid Bakkush unexpectedly resigned as Prime Minister of Libya, and was succeeded by Foreign Minister Waniis al-Qadhaafi.

Disasters
A Bulgarian airliner carrying East German tourists to the Black Sea coast crashed near Burgas, Bulgaria, killing 50 of the 89 people on board.

Three soccer fans were killed in a riot when the stand collapsed during a game in Bhangura, East Pakistan.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (1-5) 17 @ Ottawa (4-1) 24

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Hikigane--Masanori Sera & Twist

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Rivers of Babylon--Boney M. (2nd week at #1)

Disasters
At least two million people were made homeless as the worst floods in living memory hit northern India.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (4-4) 31 @ Saskatchewan (1-7) 29
Edmonton (6-1-1) 28 @ Calgary (3-3-2) 28
Toronto (3-5) 16 @ Hamilton (2-5-1) 19

Richard Crump rushed 103 yards for a touchdown to help the Blue Bombers edge the Roughriders at Taylor Field in Regina. It remains the most recent rushing play of 100 yards or more in the CFL.

The Eskimos rallied from an early 17-3 deficit to take a 28-24 lead, only to have the Stampeders come back to tie them on a beautiful Labour Day at McMahon Stadium. The Eskimo comeback began on the last play of the 1st quarter when rookie Calgary offensive tackle John Malinosky, on his first CFL play, was flagged for holding Edmonton defensive tackle Dave Fennell. Mr. Fennell beat Mr. Malinosky on the play anyway, hit Calgary quarterback John Hufnagel in the back and forced him to fumble, and the ball took a perfect bounce into the hands of Edmonton safety Pete Lavorato, who returned it 52 yards for a touchdown. It was also the first CFL game for Calgary receiver Paul Pearson and Edmonton receiver Brian Fryer, who had joined the Eskimos a few days earler after two years with the Washington Redskins. Rookie Warren Moon saw considerable playing time at quarterback for the Eskimos.

Defensive back Mike Williams, playing his first Canadian Football League game, returned a punt 98 yards for a touchdown the first time he touched the ball, helping the Tiger-Cats defeat the Argonauts at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

CIAU
Saskatchewan (0-1) 17 @ Alberta (1-0) 32

Marco Cyncar caught 5 passes for 102 yards and scored 13 points to lead the Golden Bears over the Huskies before 400 fans at Varsity Stadium in Edmonton. Saskatchewan's Jim Manz rushed 38 times for 161 yards.

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: Moonlight Shadow--Mike Oldfield

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (5-3) 30 @ Saskatchewan (2-6) 32

Ken Clark, mourning the death of his mother days earlier, kicked a 41-yard field goal in the last minute to give the Roughriders the win over the Blue Bombers before 23,387 fans at Taylor Field in Regina. The win ended a 6-game losing streak for the Roughriders and was their first win under head coach Reuben Berry, who had replaced the fired Joe Faragalli when the team was 1-5. Saskatchewan's regular kicker, Dave Ridgway, was injured during the game, and it was left to Mr. Clark, a punter who booted a 101-yard single in the 1st quarter but who hadn't kicked a field goal in 7 years, to make the game-winning kick. It was the 10th and last field goal of Mr. Clark's career; his only previous CFL experience as a placekicker was in 1976 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, when he made 9 of 22 attempts, none longer than 32 yards. Winnipeg's Willard Reaves rushed 23 times for 171 yards and touchdowns of 75 yards and 1 yard, and also returned 1 kickoff for 47 yards.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Doctorin' the TARDIS--Timelords (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: The Twist (Yo, Twist!)--The Fat Boys with Stupid Def Vocals by Chubby Checker (5th week at #1)

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (4-5) 19 @ Saskatchewan (5-4) 29

10 years ago
1998

Business
Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in Menlo Park, California to promote the web search engine that they had developed as Stanford University students.