November 7, 2008

170 years ago
1838

War
At Lacolle, Lower Canada, Dr. Cyrille Côté and his 600 Frères Chasseurs (Hunters Lodges) were attacked by Lower Canada militia and dispersed, leaving eight rebels dead.

160 years ago
1848

Politics and government
Whig Party candidate Zachary Taylor, with Millard Fillmore as his vice presidential running mate, was elected President of the United States. Mr. Taylor received 163 electoral votes (47.3% of the popular vote) to 127 (42.5% of the popular vote) for Democratic Party candidate Lewis Cass; former President Martin Van Buren, running as candidate of the Free Soil Party, received 10.1% of the popular vote, but no electoral votes.

150 years ago
1858

Died on this date
Robert Owen, 87. U.K. businessman and social reformer. Mr. Owen, a native of Newtown, Wales, became a textile magnate in Scotland. He travelled to the United States in 1824 and invested most of his fortune in an experimental socialistic community at New Harmony, Indiana. The utopian socialist community collapsed in failure after less than three years, by which time Mr. Owen had returned to Britain. He continud to campaign for labour reforms and free co-educational schools, and died in his birthplace.

110 years ago
1898

Diplomacy
The second Alaska Boundary Conference between Canada and the United States opened in Washington, D.C., after a meeting at Québec failed to come to a decision; the conference lasted until February 21, 1899.

100 years ago
1908

Died (?) on this date
Butch Cassidy, 42; Sundance Kid, 41. U.S. criminals. Mr. Cassidy, whose real name was Robert Leroy Parker, and the Sundance Kid, whose real name was Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, were members of "The Wild Bunch," who committed bank and train robberies in the 1890s. Mr. Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fled to South America in 1901, and were reportedly killed in a shootout with police in San Vicente Canton, Bolivia, although allegations persisted that the two survived.

90 years ago
1918

World events
A Socialist revolution led by Kurt Eisner overthrew the Wittelsbach dynasty in the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Health
The influenza epidemic spread to Western Samoa, killing 7,542 (about 20% of the population) by the end of the year.

Economics and finance
The government of Canada established a Canadian Trade Mission in London.

80 years ago
1928

Defense
Acting U.K. Foreign Secretary Lord Cushendon, addressing the House of Lords, pronounced a funeral oration over the Anglo-French naval "compromise."

World events
U.S. Negro leader Marcus Garvey was deported from Canada, and left Montreal for Kingston, Jamaica.

Crime
Police in New Brunswick arrested five men digging a tunnel under the Chatham-Newcastle highway; the leader of the digging caper, George Bulger, was outraged at the forced work stoppage, claiming to be within striking distance of Captain Kidd's treasure.

Economics and finance
There was a big boom in the U.S. stock market.

60 years ago
1948

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and George Spelvin (Wendell Holmes), on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Logic of Murder

Politics and government
The multi-party coalition government of Manitoba elected Liberal-Progressive cabinet Minister Douglas Campbell to succeed Stuart Garson as Premier. Mr. Garson had announced his resignation, effective November 13, to enter federal politics as Minister of Justice and Attorney General in the government of Louis St. Laurent, who was scheduled to succeed Mackenzie King as Prime Minister on November 15.

Gaullist candidates won 107 of 264 seats in elections for the Council of the Republic, France's upper legislative house.

Americana
The American Women's Association named management engineer Lillian Gilbreth as "Woman of the Year" for her studies on human motion and industrial efficiency.

Football
ORFU
Finals
Hamilton 8 @ Toronto 0 (Hamilton led best-of-three series 1-0)

Pat Santucci kicked a 28-yard field goal in the 1st quarter and Ralph Bartolini rushed 1 yard for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter as the Tigers shut out the Beaches Indians before 10,000 fans at Varsity Stadium.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): It's All in the Game--Tommy Edwards

Married on this date
U.S. comedienne Martha Raye and her former bodyguard, private detective Robert O'Shea, were married in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Disasters
A U.S. Air Force plane based in Greenland rescued 20 men from a U.S. scientific team who had been marooned on a floating Arctic ice island for six days.

40 years ago
1968

On television tonight
Dragnet 1969, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Robbery: DR-15



Protest
2,000 students and young workers in Prague who burned Soviet flags and chanted "Russians go home" were dispersed by police with clubs and tear gas.

Hockey
NHL
St. Louis 8 @ Philadelphia 0

Red Berenson tied a modern NHL record with 6 goals as the Blues whipped the Flyers at the Spectrum. Mr. Berenson joined Syd Howe, who accomplished the feat with the Detroit Red Wings in 1944, as the only players to have scored 6 goals in a game since the introduction of the red line in 1943-44. Four of Mr. Berenson's goals came in the 2nd period, tying a record shared by Harvey "Busher" Jackson (1934), Max Bentley (1943), and Clint Smith (1945). Terry Crisp and Camille Henry scored the other goals, and Mr. Berenson assisted on Mr. Henry's goal. Jacques Plante made 26 saves to earn the shutout in goal, while losing goalie Doug Favell played the whole game, making 22 saves.



30 years ago
1978

Died on this date
Jivraj Mehta, 91. Indian physician and politician. Dr. Mehta was the personal physician to Indian Hindu nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi, and joined the movement for Indian independence. He was a member of the Indian National Congress Party, and held various positions, including that of Chief Minister of Gujarat (1960-1963) and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1963-1966).

Gene Tunney, 81. U.S. boxer. Mr. Tunney was a light heavyweight and heavyweight, known for his technical skills. He was American light heavyweight champion from 1922-1923, and won the world heavyweight title from Jack Dempsey in 1926 in a 10-round decision, defeating Mr. Dempsey in another 10-round decision in 1927 in what became famous as the "Battle of the Long Count." After knocking out Tom Heeney in 1928, Mr. Tunney retired from boxing with a professional record of 82-1-1-1, with his only loss coming against Harry Greb in 1922.

Politics and government
Republicans made slight gains on Democrats in U.S. congressional elections. In the Senate, Republicans won 19 of 34 seats, gaining 2, while the Democrats won 14, a loss of 2, with Harry Byrd (Virginia) being re-elected as an independent who usually sided with the Democrats. The result left the Democratic Party with a 59-40-1 lead. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats won 277 of 435 seats, losing 15 seats to the Republicans, who increased their total to 158. Republicans gained 6 state governorships, with the Democrats losing 5, but maintaining a 32-18 lead.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 5 @ St. Louis 0

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): A Groovy Kind of Love--Phil Collins

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Bill Hoest, 62. U.S. cartoonist. Mr. Hoest created various comic strips and panels, most notably The Lockhorns, which he created in 1968, writing and drawing it until his death from lymphoma.

Journalism
The Ottawa Sun published its first edition as a daily newspaper. Known as the Ottawa Sunday Herald when it was founded in the early 1980s, it had been acquired by Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation and published its first Sunday edition as The Ottawa Sun on September 4, 1988.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Margaret Gowing, 77. U.K. historian. Mrs. Gowing worked at the Cabinet Office from 1945-1959 and co-founded the Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre in Oxford. She worked on several volumes of the officially sponsored History of the Second World War, but was better known for Britain and Atomic Energy 1939–1945 (1964) and Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy 1945–52 (2 volumes, 1974), which were commissioned by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery returned from a 10-day mission that included the return to space of 77-year-old John Glenn, the oldest man to go into space, who hadn't orbited the earth since becoming the first American to do so on February 20, 1962.

Politics and government
Newt Gingrich resigned as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives following the November 3 elections, in which the Republican House majority shrank from 22 to 12.