December 19, 2008

180 years ago
1828

Politics and government
U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun presented to the South Carolina House of Representatives the South Carolina Exposition and Protest to protest the Tariff of 1828. Mr. Calhoun, who had written the report anonymously, argued that a state had the right to reject federal law.

160 years ago
1848

Died on this date
Emily Brontë, 30. U.K. authoress. Miss Brontë was the younger sister of Charlotte and the older sister of Anne, who also became famous writers. Emily was best known for her novel Wuthering Heights (1847). She caught a cold that developed into tuberculosis, and died three months after the death of her beloved brother Branwell.

140 years ago
1868

Born on this date
Eleanor H. Porter. U.S. authoress. Mrs. Porter wrote novels and short stories for children and adults, but was best known for her children's novel Pollyanna (1913) and its 11 sequels. She died on May 21, 1920 at the age of 51.

90 years ago
1918

Journalism
Robert Ripley 's first Believe It or Not! cartoon, originally titled Champs and Chumps, appeared in The New York Globe.

80 years ago
1928

Died on this date
J. Hartley Manners, 58. U.K.-born U.S. playwright. Mr. Manners, a native of London, wrote more than two dozen plays, including The House Next Door; The Patriot; One Night in Rome; and Zira (with Henry Miller). He was best known for the stage (1912) and screen (1922) versions of Peg o' My Heart, both of which starred his wife Laurette Taylor. He died of esophageal cancer.

Silvio Hein, 49. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Hein wrote the music for songs such as He's a Cousin of Mine (1906); You're All Dressed Up and No Place to Go (1913); Twas in September (1914); and Some Little Bug is Going to Find You (1915). He was one of nine co-founders of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1914. Mr. Hein died of tuberculosis.

Exploration
Captain Sir Hubert Wilkins radioed that during a 1,200-mile flight lasting 9 hours 25 minutes, made in a land plane from Deception Island, that he had been able to establish that Graham Island was separated from the South Polar continent by an ice-filled channel.

Sport
John Layton of Sedalia, Missouri won the world three-cushion billiards championship in Chicago by defeating Willie Hoppe of New York 50-23. It required only 24 innings--a record performance for world's championship play--for Mr. Layton to run out the required total.

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 Speckled Band

Movies
Film Daily's annual review of America's reviewers named Gentleman's Agreement, originally released in 1947, as the best film of 1948.

Literature
The New York Herald Tribune listed The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas as the best-selling fiction book, and Crusade in Europe by Dwight D. Eisenhower as the best-selling non-fiction book.

War
Dutch troops, in a quick attack, captured the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, and interned President Ahmed Sukarno and other Indonesian political leaders.

Religion
The U.S. National Conference of Christians and Jews named actress Irene Dunne as the person "who has done most in 1948 to promote better understanding of people of all faiths."

Economics and finance
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) in Japan General Douglas MacArthur issued a directive ordering the Japanese government to implement the U.S. State Department's austerity recommendations, stating that Japan must temporarily surrender "some of the privileges and immunities inherent in a free society."

Football
NFL
Championship
Chicago Cardinals 0 @ Philadelphia 7

Steve Van Buren rushed 26 times for 98 yards, and his 5-yard touchdown rush at 1:05 of the 4th quarter broke a 0-0 tie, and Cliff Patton converted, as the Eagles shut out the defending champion Cardinals to win their first National Football League championship. The game was played in a snowstorm that began at daybreak and continued throughout the game. Mr. Van Buren had difficulty making it to the game, as the weather forced him to take the bus, which barely made it on time. The winning touchdown was set up when the Eagles recovered a fumble by Chicago's Elmer Angsman on the Cardinals' 17-yard line late in the 3rd quarter. Later in the quarter, the Eagles were backed up with a third down and 16 yards to go on their own 8-yard line, but quarterback Tommy Thompson faked a pitchout to Mr. Van Buren and ran for 17 yards and the first down. The game ended with the Eagles in possession on the Cardinals' 5-yard line. The Eagles outrushed the Cardinals 225 yards to 96, with Mr. Van Buren toting the ball 26 times for 98 yards. Mr. Thompson completed just 2 of 12 passes for 7 yards and 2 interceptions, while Ray Mallouf, Charlie Trippi, and Charley Eikenburg of the Cardinals combined for just 3 completions in 11 pass attempts for 35 yards and one interception. While 36,309 tickets were sold, the weather kept some people away, and 28,864 actually showed up at Shibe Park. It was the first NFL championship game to be televised, with Harry Wismer calling play-by-play and Red Grange providing colour commentary on ABC.



AAFC
Championship
Buffalo 7 @ Cleveland 49

Marion Motley rushed 13 times for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Browns to their rout of the Bills before only 22,981 fans at Municipal Stadium, winning their third straight All-America Football Conference championship and completing a perfect season, after winning all 14 regular season games. Edgar "Special Delivery" Jones rushed for a touchdown and caught a pass from Otto Graham for another, while George Young returned a fumble 18 yards for a TD in the 2nd quarter and Lou Saban returned an interception 39 yards with 3:11 remaining in the game for the other Cleveland touchdowns. Cleveland quarterback Otto Graham completed 11 of 24 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, while the Browns rushed 40 times for 215 yards. Jim Still completed a 10-yard pass to Al Baldwin with 4 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter for the only Buffalo touchdown.





50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): It's Only Make Believe--Conway Twitty

Space
The U.S. satellite SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment) broadcast a recorded Christmas message from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.



Defense
Former U.S. Army Sergeant Richard Corden, spokesman for the 21 U.S. prisoners of war from the Korean War who had chosen to remain in Communist China, crossed into Hong Kong en route to the United States.

World events
The Nepalese government reported that large numbers of Khamba tribesmen, leaders of a guerrilla uprising against Chinese Communist rule in eastern Tibet, were crossing into Nepal as refugees.

Crime
A U.S. district court in Boston convicted industrialist Bernard Goldfine and his secretary of contempt of court for not obeying an earlier court order to produce records of one of his textile mills in a tax investigation.

Agriculture
The Soviet Communist Party Central Committee endorsed the agricultural policies of Premier Nikita Khrushchev, particularly his virgin land development program.

Labour
American Airlines operations were halted by an Airline Pilots Association strike, following an 18-month dispute over wages and working conditions.

40 years ago
1968

Died on this date
Norman Thomas, 84. U.S. politician. Mr. Thomas was a liberal Presbyterian minister and pacifist who left the pastorate shortly after preaching against American involvement in World War I. He soon joined the Socialist Party of America, and ran unsuccessfully for various offices. He was the party's U.S. presidential candidate in six consecutive elections from 1928-1948. Mr. Thomas supported democratic socialism and opposed Communism, especially Stalinism. He initially opposed U.S. intervention in World War II, but reluctantly supported U.S. involvement after the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Mr. Thomas supported birth control and racial integration, and opposed Zionism, and remained active in opposing war until his death.

War
The release of 11 American and 1 South Vietnamese soldier, captured five months earlier when their supply boat strayed into Cambodia from Vietnam on the Mekong River, was announced by Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who later disclosed the release of a U.S. helicopter gunner, who had been captured when he fell or jumped from his craft on November 27 and was still hospitalized with a leg injury. The U.S. command in Vietnam disclosed that since January 1, 1961, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese combat deaths totalled 425,329.

Defense
The United States detonated a one-megaton thermonuclear bomb unerground at Pahute Mesa, Nevada.

30 years ago
1978

On television tonight
The Paper Chase, on CBS
Tonight's episode: An Act of Desperation



Scandal
The U.S. Senate Committee on Ethics charged Senator Herman Talmadge (Democrat--Georgia) with five "possible violations" of Senate rules. He was told in a letter that he would have to undergo a trial-like hearing on the charges, which included filing false campaign vouchers, submitting false expense accounts to the Senate, and improperly converting campaign contributions to personal use. The charges had been made in testimony to the committee by a former aide to Sen. Talmadge, Daniel Minchew, who claimed to have opened a secret bank account in 1973 to handle the transactions. Sen. Talmadge, in appearances before the panel and a federal grand jury, denied the charges.

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): All Night Long (All Night)--Lionel Richie

Politics and government
Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party, which had captured 250 of 511 seats in the lower house of the Diet in the previous day's general election, was able to form a majority when 8 independent members of the lower house agreed to join its ranks. Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said that he would remain in office.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Don't Worry Be Happy--Bobby McFerrin (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You--Glenn Medeiros (5th week at #1)

Politics and government
Israel's Likud and Labour parties, neither of which had been able to win a majority in the Knesset in the November 1 general election, approved the December 19 agreement on a coalition that would see Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir serve as Prime Minister for four years, with Labour Party leader Shimon Peres shifting from Foreign Minister to Finance Minister. The agreement shut out the small religious parties, who had appeared to hold the balance of power after the election, and whose demands had angered many Jews, especially those in the U.S.A.

Premier Gary Filmon withdrew his resolution to ratify the Meech Lake constitutional accord from the Manitoba legislature to protest Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa's passage of Bill 178 mandating the use of only French on outside signs, but permitting bilingual signs indoors.

U.S. Vice President and President-elect George Bush named former Representative Jack Kemp (Republican--New York) as his nominee for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in his forthcoming administration.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Mel Fisher, 76. U.S. treasure hunter. Mr. Fisher was a chicken farmer who turned to diving for sea treasures off the coast of Florida. His most notable success was the discovery in 1985 of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which had sunk in 1622; a cache worth $450 million was discovered, with more remaining to be found.

Scandal
The U.S. House of Representatives voted--virtually along party lines--to impeach President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury (228-206) and obstruction of justice (221-212). Another charge of perjury was rejected 229-205, and a charge of abuse of power was rejected 285-148.

Sport
Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Florida clinched his sixth Association of Surfing Professionals world championship in a Pipe Masters contest at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii.

Hockey
NHL
New York Rangers 4 @ Toronto 7