October 24, 2008

360 years ago
1648

War
The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War and, effectively, the Holy Roman Empire.

120 years ago
1888

Baseball
World Series
New York Giants 5 @ St. Louis Browns 7 (8 innings) (New York led best-of-ten series 5-2)

The Browns scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to take the lead, after which the game was called because of darkness. Silver King pitched a complete game for his first win of the series after 3 losses, while Ed Crane pitched a complete game in suffering his first loss of the series. Attendance at Sportsman's Park was 4,624.

80 years ago
1928

Diplomacy
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge received newly-appointed Japanese Ambassador to the United States Katsuji Debuchi, who presented his letters of credence. Ambassador Debuchi succeeded Ambassador Tsuneo Matsudaira, father of the bride to the heir apparent.

Politics and government
Montreal Mayor Camilien Houde, running as a Conservative Party candidate, won a provincial by-election in the riding of Sainte-Marie, receiving 3,526 votes, 780 more than runner-up Ernest Langlois, the Liberal Party candidate.

Canadiana
The Canadian Post Office issued Canada's first bilingual stamp series, with a bust of King George V and the words "Postes" and "Postage."

Religion
The first synod of the Anglican Diocese of London held since the Reformation turned down the plea of the Bishop of London for sanction of the use of the version of the prayer book rejected by Parliament, including the reservation regarding the sacrament for the sick.

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 Fabulous Windmill

Died on this date
Franz Lehár, 78. Austro-Hungarian composer. Mr. Lehár wrote works of various types, but was best known for his operettas, most notably Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) (1905).

Frederic L. Paxson, 71. U.S. historian. Dr. Paxson taught at the Universities of Wisconsin (1910-1932) and California (1932-1947). He was an authority on the American frontier, and won the Pulitzer Prize for History for his book History of the American Frontier, 1763-1893 (1924).

War
The focus of fighting in Palestine shifted to the northern half, with Israelis checking Syrian advances in the northern Gallilee and Iraqi forces attacking in the Nablus area southeast of Haifa.

World events
A Soviet military court convicted six Berlin anti-Communist leaders, including City Assembly President Otto Suhr and Assembly member Franz Neumann, of agitating for war and a revival of fascism.

Politics and government
The German People's Council of the Soviet zone adopted a constitution based on that of the U.S.S.R., to be enacted after the end of the occupation.

Golf
Patty Berg defeated Babe Didrikson Zaharias to win the Hardscrabble Women's Open in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Football
IRFU
Ottawa (8-2) 13 @ Montreal (6-4) 35

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Carolina Moon/Stupid Cupid--Connie Francis (5th week at #1)

World events
Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was ordered to stand trial in Jammu on charges of trying to overthrow the Kashmiri government "by criminal force."

Politics and government
The Chilean Congress elected industrialist and former Finance Minister Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez as President.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Lewis Strauss a recess appointment as Commerce Secretary after accepting the resignation of Sinclair Weeks from the post.

Labour
Bulgarian Communist Party First Secretary Todor Zhivkov announced plans for a mass mobilization of labour to carry out land reclamation programs provided for in Bulgaria's five-year economic plan.

Boxing
Sonny Liston (21-1) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Bert Whitehurst (24-15-4) in a heavyweight bout at St. Louis Arena. Mr. Whitehurst was knocked out of the ring in the final seconds, and was attempting to get back in when the final bell rang at the count of 7. It was Mr. Liston's second win over Mr. Whitehurst in 1958.



40 years ago
1968

On television tonight
Dragnet 1969, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Homicide: DR-06



Aviation
Bill Dana flew to an altitude of 77,724 metres, reaching a speed of mach 5.38 in the 199th and last flight of the X-15 rocket plane.

30 years ago
1978

At the movies
The Wiz, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and others, opened in theatres.

Diplomacy
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad began a three day visit to Iraq to smooth over the 12-year feud between the nations and form a united "eastern front" against Israel.

Crime
Dr. Mario Jascalevich was acquitted of murdering three patients with curare in a New Jersey hospital in 1965-1966. The same day that the eight-month trial ended, New York Times reporter M.A. Farber was released from jail, where he had been held for 40 days on a contempt of court charge for refusing to hand over his investigative notes on the case. Dr. Jascalevich had been indicted in May 1976, following Mr. Farber's articles about mysterious deaths at the hospital. Mr. Farber and The New York Times had argued that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and New Jersey's shield law guaranteed reporters' rights to protect their sources.

Health
Figures released by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute showed that deaths from heart disease in the United States had dropped to a 14-year low in 1977, although heart disease remained the nation's number one killer.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in a televised address, announced his voluntary anti-inflation wage and price guidelines, including a proposed tax rebate to complying workers if inflation exceeded 7% in 1978-79. The guidelines set a limit of 7% on wage increases and a limit on price increases of 1/2% below the average increase during 1976-77.

Disasters
Fires in Texas, California, and New Jersey took at least seven lives and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Karma Chameleon--Culture Club

Crime
The trial of civil servant Dennis Nilsen, charged with six murders and two attempted murders, began in London.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Desire--U2

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Domino Dancing--Pet Shop Boys

Politics and government
The leaders of Canada's three major political parties--Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Progressive Conservative), John Turner (Liberal), and Ed Broadbent (New Democratic Party) took part in the French-language debate during the federal election campaign.

Disasters
More than 300 people died when a ferry sank near Marippi Island in the Philippines.

10 years ago
1998

Space
The United States launched the Deep Space 1 comet/asteroid mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Baseball
Nippon Series
Yokohama BayStars 17 @ Seibu Lions 5 (Yokohama led best-of-seven series 3-2)

The BayStars scored 3 runs in the 8th inning and 7 in the 9th to insure their win before 31,756 fans at Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa.