December 13, 2008

250 years ago
1758

Died on this date
Noël Doiron, 74. Acadian leader. Mr. Doiron, a native of Port Royal, Acadia (in what is now Nova Scotia), served in several wars, and was regarded as the leader of his people after they were forced to move to Ile St. Jean (now Prince Edward Island). When British authorities decided to send the Acadians back to France aboard the Duke William, Mr. Doiron was recognized as their leader. As the ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, Mr. Doiron refused to leave, and perished along with his wife Marie, five of their children with their spouses, and over 30 grandchildren.

Disasters
The English transport ship Duke William, carrying Acadians from Île Saint-Jean to France, sank in a storm in the North Atlantic Ocean, killing over 360 people.

225 years ago
1783

Canadiana
A rough census showed 30,000 United Empire Loyalists now living in Nova Scotia. Shelburne, Nova Scotia was the fourth-largest community in North America.

190 years ago
1818

Religion
Cyril VI resigned, reportedly under pressure from Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, which he had held since March 4, 1813. He was succeeded by Gregory V.

125 years ago
1883

Canadiana
The border between Ontario and Manitoba was fixed.

110 years ago
1898

Transportation
The first passenger train ran over the newly-reconstructed Victoria Railway Bridge at Montréal; the original 1859 tube was replaced by a double track steel bridge.

100 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Van Heflin. U.S. actor. An excellent character actor, Mr. Heflin won the Academy Award for his supporting performance in Johnny Eager (1942). Other notable movies of his included Saturday's Heroes (1937); Tennessee Johnson (1942); Act of Violence (1948); Shane (1953); Patterns (1956); 3:10 to Yuma (1957); and Airport (1970). Mr. Heflin died on July 23, 1971 at the age of 62, 47 days after being found unconscious after suffering a heart attack while swimming in a motel pool in Hollywood.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
J.B. Bishop, 81. U.S. journalist. Mr. Bishop, with George Johnson, founded the then-weekly Athens Review in Athens, Texas, in 1885.

Jacob M. Dickinson, 77. U.S. lawyer and politician. Mr. Dickinson was a lawyer from Nashville who served on the Tennessee Supreme Court (1891-1893), was president of the American Bar Association (1907-1908), and helped to organize the American Society of International Law, serving on its executive council (1907-1910) and as its vice president (1910). A Democrat, he was U.S. Secretary of War in the cabinet of President William Howard Taft, a Republican, from 1909-1911.

Émile Daeschner, 65. French diplomat. Mr. Daeschner worked with the French Foreign Office for 40 years and held various ambassadorial positions including to the U.S.A. (1924-1925) and Turkey (1926-1928).

Music
An American in Paris, a jazz-influenced orchestral piece by George Gershwin, received its premiere performance, with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

70 years ago
1938

Abominations
The Neuengamme concentration camp opened in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.

70 years ago
1948

On the radio
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis, on MBS

Space
Guggenheim Foundation officials announced the creation of two centres for rocket and jet propulsion research at Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology.

War
Greek Communist guerrillas were driven from the Thessalian town of Karditsa by government forces after occupying it for 36 hours.

Costa Rican government forces reported checking the invasion of former President Rafael Calderon Guardia's supporters after a single skirmish.

Politics and government
U.S. President Harry Truman's election became official as the Electoral College met and cast 303 of 531 total votes for him. Republican Party nominee Thomas Dewey received 189 electoral votes, and States' Rights Party candidate Strom Thurmond received 39.

The Transjordanian Parliament unanimously authorized King Abdullah to accept sovereignty over Arab Palestine.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down three decisions giving increased protection to defendants against police abuses. The Court reversed the convictions of Andrew Upshaw--who had confessed to a theft while being held illegally--and Earl McDonald and Joseph Washington, who had been convicted of gambling, on evidence obtained without a warrant. The Court also agreed to review the case of Elmer Uveges, who had been convicted of burglary after being denied counsel.

Academia
The Southern Governors Conference in Savannah, Georgia adopted an "action program" to establish a segregated regional university system, costing $1.7 million during the first two years.

Labour
The American Federation of Radio Artists, American Guild of Musical Artists, Chorus Equity, and Actors Equity merged in Hollywood in an effort to strengthen the position of labour in the television industry.

The American Federation of Labor American Federation of Musicians' 11-month ban on phonograph recording by members ended when U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark agreed that the AFM's proposed welfare-fund contract with the nation's 13 major record companies did not violate the Taft-Hartley Act.

Golf
The Professional Golfers Association announced that the leading money-winners for 1948 were Lloyd Mangrum ($45,898) and Ben Hogan ($36,812).

Football
WIFU
A meeting of football enthusiasts at the Edmonton Club resulted in the Edmonton Eskimos being revived, with a 15-man board of directors elected, and a minimum financial objective of $50,000 set for re-entry into the Western Interprovincial Football Union in 1949. The Eskimos had last played in the WIFU in 1939, with an abortive attempt at a comeback in 1941.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): It's All in the Game--Tommy Edwards

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): La Paloma--Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): When--The Kalin Twins (14th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Hoots Mon--Lord Rockingham's XI (3rd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 To Know Him, is to Love Him--The Teddy Bears
2 Tom Dooley--The Kingston Trio
3 One Night--Elvis Presley
4 Beep Beep--The Playmates
5 It's Only Make Believe--Conway Twitty
6 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes--The Platters
7 Lonesome Town--Ricky Nelson
8 I Got Stung--Elvis Presley
9 Problems--The Everly Brothers
10 Topsy II--Cozy Cole

Singles entering the chart were Goodbye Baby (#71)/Save My Soul (#96) by Jack Scott; Manhattan Spiritual by Reg Owen and his Orchestra (#79); Don't Pity Me by Dion and the Belmonts (#89); I Talk to the Trees (Cha Cha) by Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra (#91); Love Look Away by Tony Bennett (#95); The All American Boy by Bill Parsons (#97); Never Before by Connie Francis (#99); and It's Just About Time by Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two (#100). The All American Boy was actually by Bobby Bare, but erroneously credited to Bill Parsons. Never Before was the B-side of My Happiness, charting at #34.

Died on this date
Tim Moore, 71. U.S. comedian and actor. Mr. Moore had a long career in vaudeville beginning at the age of 10, but came out of retirement to become the first Negro to earn stardom in television, playing George "Kingfish" Stevens in the comedy series Amos 'n' Andy (1951-1953). Mr. Moore died of pulmonary tuberculosis, four days after his 71st birthday.

Gordo. U.S. space monkey. Gordo, a South American squirrel monkey, was sent into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a Jupiter AM-13 rocket for a 300-mile journey into space. The 15-minute flight was successful, but a technical problem with the recovery gear prevented a parachute from opening, and the payload plunged into the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,500 miles from the launch site, carrying Gordo with it. The U.S. Army gave up their search after six hours.

Politics and government
French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle formally announced his candidacy for President of the Fifth Republic.

The first All-Africa People's Conference, presided over by Tom Mboya of Kenya, concluded after adopting resolutions establishing a permanent headquarters in Accra; condemning racialism, colonialism, and tribalism; and appealing for a trade and labour boycott of South Africa.

Law
U.S. Senators John F. Kennedy (Democrat--Massachusetts) and Sam Ervin (Democrat--North Carolina) urged other Senators to support legislation making school and church bombings a federal offense with penalties up to death.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Little Arrows--Leapy Lee (2nd week at #1)

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes (2nd week at #1)
2 Wichita Lineman--Glen Campbell
3 The Straight Life--Bobby Goldsboro
4 Shame, Shame--Magic Lanterns
5 Bitter Green--Gordon Lightfoot
6 Both Sides Now--The Johnstons
7 Kentucky Woman--Deep Purple
8 I Put a Spell on You--Creedence Clearwater Revival
9 Son-of-a Preacher Man--Dusty Springfield
10 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee

Singles entering the chart were King Size by Jayson Hoover (#26); A Ray of Hope by the Rascals (#27); Going Up the Country by Canned Heat (#28); If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley (#29); and Too Weak to Fight by Clarence Carter (#30).

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Abraham, Martin and John--Dion
2 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
3 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee
4 Wichita Lineman--Glen Campbell
5 Hey Jude/Revolution--The Beatles
6 Chewy Chewy--Ohio Express
7 Magic Carpet Ride--Steppenwolf
8 Sunday Sun--Neil Diamond
9 Cinnamon--Derek
10 Stormy--Classics IV

Derek's real name was Johnny Cymbal, and he had a U.S. top 10 hit under his real name in 1963 with Mr. Bass Man.

War
In Paris, the United States, following talks with the South Vietnamese delegation, presented a new plan for the tables to be used in talks with North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front (NLF). The U.S. now suggested four seating arrangements using half-circle tables. U.S. forces concluded two days of heavy air raids against enemy targets west of Danang, north and northwest of Saigon, and along the central coast west of Quinhon.

Diplomacy
In line with a 1963 agreement, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz met on a bridge at El Paso, Texas between the two countries to officiate at ceremonies changing the border to return the long-disputed el Chamizal area to the Mexican side. A scheduled explosion during the event shifted the Rio Grande into a channel putting the area back into Mexican territory, where it had been before a flood in 1864 altered the river's course. Lauding the peaceful settlement of the dispute, the two chief executives foresaw similar resolutions of such mutual problems as cattle disease and irrigation.

Former Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, back from his six-day, six-nation fact-finding visit to the Middle East, urged U.S. President-elect Richard Nixon to take an "even-handed" approach toward the Arabs and Israelis to help ease the "extremely" explosive Middle East tensions.

Politics and government
Christian Democratic Party leader Mariano Rumor was sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy, along with his 20-member centre-left coalition cabinet.

The Québec Legislative Council voted in favour of Bill 90, abolishing the Legislative Council. The bill provided that the Québec Legislature would now be composed solely of the Lieutenant-Governor and an elective chamber that would be called the National Assembly of Québec, instead of the Legislative Assembly of Québec. The legislative counsels, who saw their jobs disappear, were entitled to a $ 10,000 pension, a measure that was strongly contested by the Liberals who sat in the Opposition. The bill, which went into effect on December 31, 1968, had been approved by the Chamber of Deputies on November 29.

Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issued AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus.

Terrorism
FLQ members exploded another bomb in Westmount, Québec.

Disasters
14 people were reported dead after explosions in a Liberian tanker unloaded crude oil in Amsterdam.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord--Boney M. (2nd week at #1)

Economics and finance
The U.S. administration of President Jimmy Carter issued revised wage and price guidelines. Chief among the modifications, announced by presidential inflation adviser Alfred Kahn, were a relaxation of restrictions on fringe benefits and a tougher test for profit margins. He said that the modifications should "roughly balance each other out," and if the guidelines were complied with, inflation should hold at 6.5% in 1979.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 5 Vancouver 1

25 years ago
1983

Space
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration revealed that a small fire and explosion had occurred in a rear compartment of the space shuttle Columbia as it landed on December 8 at Edwards Air Force Base, California to conclude a 10-day mission. The mishap, not discovered at the time of the landing, was attributed to contact between leaking fuel and the hot surface of a power unit. NASA said that the six crew members had not been in danger.

World events
Three days after being inaugurated as Argentina's first civilian president after more than seven years of military rule, Raul Alfonsin issued a decree ordering the three juntas that had ruled from 1976-1982 be court-martialled on charges of murder and torture. A similar decree ordered a trial for seven leftist terrorist leaders for murder and disturbing public order in the 1970s.

War
Major General Jack Farris, commander of the last U.S. troops to leave the Caribbean island of Grenada, said that final figures for U.S. casualties in the invasion that had taken place in the last week of October were 18 killed; 115 wounded in action; and 36 non-battle injuries. Other revised casualty totals included 45 Grenadians and 24 Cubans killed. Gen. Farris said that U.S. troop strength had peaked at 7,355 on October 31. The last 190 U.S. combat troops were to leave the island on December 15.

Basketball
NBA
Detroit 184 @ Denver 186 (3 OT)

The Nuggets edged the Pistons at McNichols Sports Arena in the highest-scoring game in league history. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 51 points for the Nuggets, with teammate Alex English scoring 47. Isiah Thomas scored 47 points for the Pistons.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton Oilers' centre Wayne Gretzky scored his 300th career NHL goal.

30 years ago
1988

Diplomacy
Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the United Nations General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the United States refused to grant Mr. Arafat a visa to visit New York. He supported an international conference in which "the state of Palestine, Israel, and other neighbours" would work out a comprehensive peace settlement. Mr. Arafat also condemned terrorism "in all its forms." Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir responded by rejecting any thought of talking with the PLO.

Politics and government
The President's Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries proposed that salaries of U.S. government leaders be increased by at least 50%. Members of Congress would go from $89,500 to $135,000 and the president from $200,000 to $350,000. Judges and cabinet officers would be among others getting similar increases, which would take effect within a month after the president approved the recommendation, unless rejected by both houses of Congress.

Hockey
NHL
Ron Lapointe was fired as head coach of the Quebec Nordiques after the team started the 1988-89 season with a record of 11-20-2. He had posted a record of 22-30-4 in the final 56 games of the 1987-88 season as the team's interim head coach.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Lew Grade, 91. Ukrainian-born U.K. television and film magnate. Lord Grade, born Lev Winogradsky, moved to London with his family at the age of 5. He achieved success in the 1950s and beyond with Incorporated Television Company (ITC), which merged into Associated Television (ATV), producing and exporting series such as The Saint (1962-1969); The Prisoner (1967-1968); and The Muppet Show (1976-1981). Lord Grade produced some successful films, including The Muppet Movie (1979), but Raise the Titanic (1980) and other later movies were critical and commercial failures. Lord Grade died of heart failure, 12 days before his 92nd birthday.