October 17, 2008

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Dave Cutler!

140 years ago
1868

Died on this date
Laura Secord, 93. American-born Canadian war heroine. Mrs. Secord, born Laura Ingersoll, was the daughter of a Patriot officer from Massachusetts who became opposed to the persecution of Loyalists in that state and obtained a land grant in Upper Canada, moving there with his family in 1795. Miss Ingersoll married James Secord, who served in the British forces during the War of 1812. Mrs. Secord reportedly saved her husband's life when he was wounded in 1813; while she was nursing him back to health, she became aware of an American attack at Beaver Dams on the Niagara Peninsula, and reportedly walked 20 miles on the morning of June 22 to warn the British forces, who then prepared and were able to win the battle. The account of Mrs. Secord's walk has been disputed by some.

130 years ago
1878

Politics and government
Sir John A. Macdonald took office as Prime Minister of Canada for the second time, replacing Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government. Mr. Macdonald's Conservative government included a cabinet of Samuel Leonard Tilley (Minister of Finance); Charles Tupper (Minister of Public Works); J. H. Pope (Minister of Agriculture); John O'Connor (President of the Privy Council); James Macdonald (Minister of Justice); and Hector Langevin (Postmaster General).

120 years ago
1888

Movies
Thomas Edison filed a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).

Baseball
World Series
St. Louis Browns 3 @ New York Giants 0 (Best-of-ten series tied 1-1)

Elton Chamberlain pitched a 5-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Mickey Welch and the Browns scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th inning to ensure victory before 5,575 fans at the Polo Grounds.

100 years ago
1908

Football
ORFU
Toronto (1-0) 30 Peteroboro (0-1) 0

80 years ago
1928

Disappeared on this date
Retired U.K. Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander H.C. MacDonald started across the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland for London in a Gypsy Moth De Havilland biplane at 1:21 P.M., with a favouring wind. The plane's motors were heard and the plane was sighted at 7:30 P.M. by the Dutch steamer Hardenberg 700 miles at sea, but nothing was seen or heard of the plane after that.

Boxing
Jim Braddock (32-5-6) won a 10-round decision over Pete Latzo (90-26-5) in a light heavyweight bout at Newark Armory; Mr. Braddock broke Mr. Latzo's jaw in four places.

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: Black Peter

Literature
The New York Herald Tribune listed The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer as the best-selling non-fiction book, and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie as the best-selling non-fiction book.

War
The Chinese Nationalist 60th Army, attempting to fight its way from Changchun to Mukden, mutinied and surrendered to Communist forces.

Defense
The U.S. Air Force urged 10,000 air veterans to volunteer for duty in the Berlin airlift and on European B-29 bases.

Protest
Italian Communists began a month-long series of anti-American rallies, charging the United States with attempting to bring Italy into a military alliance directed against the U.S.S.R.

Crime
The Greek government announced that Greek Communist Party Central Committee member Adam Mouzenides had killed CBS correspondent George Polk in Salonika in May.

Labour
Ruling on a strike in Chicago by the United Electrical Workers Union, a National Labor Relations Board trial examiner concluded that mass picketing was "intimidatory and coercive" and violated the Taft-Hartley Act.

Football
CRU
IRFU
Hamilton (1-7-1) 1 @ Montreal (4-4) 19

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Carolina Moon/Stupid Cupid--Connie Francis (4th week at #1)

Defense
The British Foreign Office announced that reduction of British forces in West Germany would be postponed would be postponed from 1959 to 1960.

Politics and government
The Lebanese Parliament approved the country's new cabinet.

Crime
A Fulton County grand jury in Atlanta indicted four men on charges of bombing the Temple in Atlanta.

Boxing
Pat McMurtry (30-2-1) won a 10-round unanimous decision over George Chuvalo (15-3-1) in a heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.



Baseball
Nippon Series
Yomiuri Giants 3 @ Nishitetsu Lions 5 (Yomiuri led best-of-seven series 3-2)

40 years ago
1968

On television tonight
Dragnet 1969, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Police Commission: DR-13



At the movies
Bullitt, directed by Peter Yates and starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset, opened in theatres.



Diplomacy
Canadian External Affairs Minister Mitchell Sharp cancelled all Canadian ministerial exchanges and visits "of a political content" with the U.S.S.R. and its Warsaw Pact allies, two months after Soviet tanks had invaded Czechoslovakia to end the "Prague Spring."

Baseball
Nippon Series
Yomiuri Giants 6 @ Hankyu Braves 5 (Yomiuri led best-of-seven series 3-1)

30 years ago
1978

On television tonight
The Paper Chase, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Nancy



Died on this date
Giovanni Gronchi, 91. President of Italy, 1955-1962. Mr. Gronchi, a member of the Italian People's Party from 1919-1926 and a Christian Democrat from 1943 on, was Minister of Industry and Trade (1944-1946); President of the Chamber of Deputies (1948-1955); and Senator for Life (1962-1978). His presidency was marked by a failed "opening to the left," an attempt to bring Socialists and Communists into the government.

George Clark, 88. U.S. auto racing driver. Mr. Clark participated in the 1913 Indianapolis 500, starting 27th and finishing 10th.

Environment
U.K. Scottish Secretary Brian Millan announced that, due to public pressure, the number of seals to be killed in the annual cull in the Orkneys and Western Islands was being reduced from 4,300 to 2,000.

Baseball
World Series
New York Yankees 7 @ Los Angeles Dodgers 2 (New York won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Bucky Dent and Brian Doyle each drove in 2 runs and Reggie Jackson finished the scoring with a 2-run home run in the 7th inning before 55,985 fans at Dodger Stadium as the Yankees won their second straight World Series championship. Catfish Hunter was the winning pitcher over Don Sutton.



Nippon Series
Yakult Swallows 0 @ Hankyu Braves 5 (Hankyu led best-of-seven series 2-1)

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Australiana--Austen Tayshus (8th week at #1)

Politics and government
Former alderman Laurence Decore defeated incumbent Cec Purves to become Mayor of Edmonton, taking 61.3% of the vote to 26.35% for Mr. Purves in the municipal election. Mr. Purves had been mayor since 1977. It was the first Edmonton civic election in which the ballots were tabulated by a machine, and the system broke down soon after the early results started trickling in, leaving broadcasters such as John Berry and Leo Leclerc on CFRN television to fill in time by talking about the same things over and over again.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan named retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Robert McFarlane to succeed William Clark as national security adviser. Mr. McFarlane had served as Mr. Clark's deputy and special envoy to the Middle East. Mr. Clark had been named four days earlier to succeed the departed James Watt as Secretary of the Interior.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Simply Irresistible--Robert Palmer (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Im Nin'alu--Ofra Haza (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
Glory Enough for All: Part II, on CBC

This two-part made-for-television movie about the discovery of insulin was directed by Eric Till and starred R.H. Thomson as Frederick Banting and Robert Wisden as Charles Best.

Abominations
The Supreme Court of Canada removed the last major barrier to universal suffrage in Canada, granting institutionalized mental health patients the right to vote.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 6 Montreal 2

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Joan Hickson, 92. U.K. actress. Miss Hickson appeared in plays, films, and television programs in a career spanning more than 65 years. She was best known for playing Miss Marple in 12 television programs from 1984-1992. Miss Hickson died of a stroke.

Football
CFL
Montreal (10-5-1) 36 @ Toronto (9-7) 28

Tracy Ham passed for 2 touchdowns and handed off to Mike Pringle for 2 more to help the Alouettes beat the Argonauts before 24,230 fans at SkyDome.

CIAU
Saskatchewan (4-1) 16 @ Alberta (2-4) 24

Baseball
World Series
San Diego Padres 6 @ New York Yankees 9 (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0) (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Tino Martinez's grand slam climaxed a 7-run 7th inning as the Yankees came back from a 5-2 deficit to defeat the Padres before 56,712 fans at Yankee Stadium.