November 23, 2008

760 years ago
1248

War
Christian troops led by King Ferdinand III of Castile conquered Seville.

200 years ago
1808

War
French and Polish forces defeated Spanish forces in the Battle of Tudela in Navarre, Spain.

170 years ago
1838

Born on this date
Stephanos Skouloudis. Prime Minister of Greece, 1915-1916. Mr. Skouloudis was a successful businessman and banker before becoming a diplomat and politician. A member of the New Party, he was first elected to Parliament in 1881. Mr. Skouloudis was appointed as Prime Minister by King Constantine I during a time of national division over Greece's role in World War I, and former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos's attempt to form a rival government. Mr. Skouloudis was unsuccessful, and was removed by King Constantine in favour of Alexandros Zaimis, whom Mr. Skouloudis had replaced. When the King abdicated in 1917 and Mr. Venizelos returned to power, Mr. Skouloudis was convicted of collaboration with the Central Powers, and served three years prison before his sentence was commuted and he was pardoned. He died on August 19, 1928 at the age of 89.

120 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Harpo Marx. U.S. comedian. Born Adolph Marx (he later changed his first name to Arthur), Mr. Marx, the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers, was given his nickname because he played the harp. He was known for never speaking during the Marx Brothers' performances, and for wearing a blond wig and an overcoat full of various props, such as a bicycle horn. Mr. Marx died on September 28, 1964 at the age of 75.

100 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Nelson S. Bond. U.S. writer. Mr. Bond worked with several newspapers before becoming a writer of science fiction stories. He was best known for series of stories featuring the characters Lancelot Biggs and Meg the Priestess. Mr. Bond died on November 4, 2006, 19 days before his 98th birthday.

90 years ago
1918

Religion
Heber J. Grant succeeded Joseph F. Smith as President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

80 years ago
1928

Academia
Bert Wilson addressed a memo to the Board of Trustees of Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, announcing his intention to resign as President of the college, in anticipation of a student strike. Students were unhappy at the college's "streamlining" the academic program by eliminating certain majors and courses.

Economics and finance
A total of 6,954,500 shares were dealt in at the New York Stock Exchange.

Labour
Conductors and trainmen of western U.S. railways accepted a 6.5% wage increase, retroactive to May 1, 1928, when their former agreement with the railways had expired.

60 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Hack Wilson, 48. U.S. baseball player. Lewis Wilson was an outfielder with the New York Giants (1923-1925); Chicago Cubs (1926-1931); Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1934); and Philadelphia Phillies (1934), batting .307 with 244 home runs and 1,063 runs batted in in 1,348 games. He led the National League in home runs four times, and had six seasons of 100 or more runs batted in. Mr. Wilson is best known for his 1930 season, when he hit 56 home runs and set a major league single-season record that still stands, with 191 runs batted in. Mr. Wilson was the son of parents who were heavy drinkers, and his unusual physical dimensions of large head, tiny feet, short legs and broad, flat face are now recognized as hallmarks of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Mr. Wilson was a notorious heavy drinker himself, which shortened his baseball career and his life. Later business and employment efforts failed, and he ended up managing a public swimming pool in Baltimore. Mr. Wilson died penniless, of pneumonia and internal hemorrhaging after being unconscious following a fall in his home, and a week after an interview with CBS radio in which he warned others not to make the mistakes he did. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.

Transportation
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the completion of Greece's 430-mile Athens-Salonika highway.

Academia
General Bryant Moore was appointed to succeed Gen. Maxwell Taylor as superintendent of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters named novelists William Faulkner and John Steinbeck, poet Mark Van Doren, and artist Leon Kroll to membership.

Boxing
Former world lightweight champion Beau Jack (75-13-4) scored a technical knockout of Chuck Taylor (25-12-2) at 2:43 of the 3rd round of a welterweight bout at Convention Hall in Philadelphia.

50 years ago
1958

On the radio
Have Gun Will Travel, starring John Dehner, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Strange Vendetta

This was the first episode of the series, which was the only significant example of a network series beginning on television and then being broadcast on radio rather than the other way around.

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Safety for the Witness, starring Art Carney, Robert Bray, and James Westerfield

Died on this date
Johnston McCulley, 75. U.S. author. Mr. McCulley wrote hundreds of short stories, 50 novels, and numerous screenplays and teleplays, often under pseudonyms. He was best known for creating the character Zorro.

Diplomacy
Guinean Prime Minister Sekou Toure and Ghanaian Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah announced provisional agreement on a Guinea-Ghana confederation, to form the nucleus of an eventual "Union of West African States."

Politics and government
The first round of French legislative elections resulted in an overwhelming win for Gaullist candidates.

Auto racing
Jean Behra of France won the Venezuelan Grand Prix in Caracas.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Hey Jude/Revolution--The Beatles (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Little Arrows--Leapy Lee (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Hey Jude--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Applausi--I Camaleonti (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heidschi Bumbeidschi--Heintje (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Good, the Bad and the Ugly--Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): The Good, the Bad and the Ugly--Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Hey Jude--The Beatles (9th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Lea--The Cats
2 Heidschi Bumbeidschi--Heintje
3 With a Little Help from My Friends--Joe Cocker
4 White Room--Cream
5 My Little Lady--The Tremeloes
6 Just a Little Bit of Peace in My Heart--Golden Earrings
7 Listen to Me/Do the Best You Can--The Hollies
8 Ik Ben Met Jou niet Getrouwd--Tony Bass
9 Only One Woman--Marbles
10 All Along the Watchtower--The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Singles entering the chart were Nonnenkoor by John Woodhouse & his Magic Accordion (#35); Little Arrows by Leapy Lee (#36); Oh, Oh, Wat een Familie!!! by Johnny & Rijk (#38); and Softly, Softly by the Equals (#40).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
2 Hey Jude--The Beatles
3 Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin
4 Magic Carpet Ride--Steppenwolf
5 White Room--Cream
6 Who's Making Love--Johnnie Taylor
7 Hold Me Tight--Johnny Nash
8 Abraham, Martin and John--Dion
9 Bang-Shang-A-Lang--The Archies
10 Chewy Chewy--Ohio Express

Singles entering the chart were Do You Wanna Dance by the Mamas and the Papas (#64); Love Machine by the O'Kaysions (#73); White Houses by Eric Burdon and the Animals (#75); Son-of-a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield (#81); Yesterday's Rain by Spanky and Our Gang (#82); American Boys by Petula Clark (#84); Stand by Your Man by Tammy Wynette (#85); Just Ain't No Love by Barbara Acklin (#87); Reach Out by Merrilee Rush (#91); Goodnight My Love by the Duprees (#92); Mornin' Glory by Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell (#94); Don't Cry My Love by the Impressions (#95); Nobody by 3 Dog Night (#98); and I Put a Spell on You by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#99). White Houses was the B-side of River Deep, Mountain High.

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 Revolution/Hey Jude--The Beatles (10th/4th week at #1)
2 Abraham, Martin and John--Dion
3 Cinnamon--Derek
4 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee
5 Bitter Green--Gordon Lightfoot
6 Elephant Candy--The Fun and Games
7 Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)--Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus
8 Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin
9 Snakes and Ladders--The Original Caste
10 White Room--Cream
Pick hit of the week: Shake--The Shadows of Knight

Protest
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested 114 students at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia for trespassing, in the third day of a sit-in to demand that SFU reform its admission and accreditation policies; 56 students were fined $250 each.

Football
NCAA
Yale (8-0-1) 29 @ Harvard (8-0-1) 29

Yale was leading 29-13 with 42 seconds left before 40,280 fans at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when the Crimson scored 2 touchdowns and made two 2-point conversions as time ran out in the greatest finale of the long-storied rivalry. The teams shared the Ivy League title. The headline in the Harvard Crimson the next day: Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29.

30 years ago
1978

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Generations

Radio
The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 went into effect, realigning many of Europe's longwave and mediumwave broadcasting frequencies.

World events
A three-man junta headed by General David Padilla Aracibia ousted Bolivian President General Juan Pereda Asbun in a bloodless coup. Gen. Padilla announced that elections would be held on July 1, 1979, and the government would be turned over to civilian control on August 6, 1979. Gen. Pereda had been in office for only four months and had apparently earned the enmity of many Bolivians for his reluctance to hold elections and return the country to civilian rule.

Society
The Pollyanna's nightclub in Birmingham, England was ordered by the U.K.'s Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) to open its doors to Negroes and Chinese people.

Disasters
A cyclone killed about 1,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka.

25 years ago
1983

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. withdrew from the talks with the U.S.A. in Geneva on reducing the number of intermediate-range nuclear missiles. The Soviets had repeatedly threatened to withdraw if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization proceeded with its deployment of U.S. missiles.

The U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan announced that it would provide Grenada with $30 million in military and economic aid.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the Consumer Price Index had increased 0.4% in October.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Sarah--Mauro Scocco (2nd week at #1)

At the movies
Scrooged, directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, and starring Bill Murray, opened in theatres.



Scandal
In a televised address, former South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan admitted responsibility for corruption during his presidency of 1979-1987, and said he would return his accumulated wealth, $3 million in personal property and $20 million in political donations. Mr. Chun said he would enter exile at an undisclosed location in South Korea.

Politics and government
U.S. Vice President and President-elect George Bush named retired Air Force general Brent Scowcroft as his choice to for the position of national security adviser. Mr. Scowcroft had held the same position under President Gerald Ford in the mid-1970s.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that he would pocket-veto a bill that would have tightened restrictions on lobbying by former government officials. Mr. Reagan said the bill, which would have imposed restrictions on members of Congress and would have permanently barred contact by most ex-White House staffers and high U.S. officials with any government executives, excessive and discriminatory, arguing that it would discourage qualified people from entering government service.

Disasters
Five days of heavy rainfall in southern Thailand that had resulted in floodwaters, mudslides, and heavy logs sweeping through low-lying villages ended with nearly 1,000 deaths.

Hockey
NHL
Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings, playing against the Detroit Red Wings, scored his 600th career NHL goal.



10 years ago
1998

Crime
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal overturned Robert Latimer's sentence of two years less a day in the murder of his disabled daughter Tracy, and sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. He started serving day parole in March 2008 and granted full parole on December 6, 2010.