August 24, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sabbah Rose!

1,930 years ago
79

Disasters
Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the Italian towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

660 years ago
1349

Abominations
6,000 Jews were killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.

250 years ago
1759

Born on this date
William Wilberforce. U.K. politician. Mr. Wilberforce, a member of the House of Commons from 1780-1825, was known for his opposition to slavery, a battle he fought for about 40 years in the House of Commons. He lived just long enough to achieve ultimate success, dying at the age of 73 on July 29, 1833, three days after hearing that the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 through Parliament was assured; it passed a month later.

120 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Jewel Ens. U.S. baseball player and manager. Mr. Ens was an infielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1922-1925), batting .290 with 1 home runs and 24 runs batted in in 67 games. He played at least 13 seasons in the minor leagues (1908-1921). Mr. Ens managed the Pirates from 1929-1931, compiling a record of 176-167. He coached in the National League for several years before managing the Indianapolis Indians (1941) of the American Association and Syracuse Chiefs (1942-1949) of the International League, leading the Chiefs to Governors' Cup championships in 1942, 1943, and 1947. Mr. Ens was still managing the Chiefs at the time of his death from pneumonia on January 17, 1950 at the age of 60; he was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame later in 1950.

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Albert Claude. Belgian biologist. Dr. Claude shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 with his student George Emil Palade and Christian de Duve for his discoveries concerning the structural and functional organization of cells. He died on May 22, 1983 at the age of 84.

Jorge Luis Borges. Argentine author and poet. Mr. Borges was best known for short stories and novels that influenced the genre of "magical realism." He became internationally famous after his works began to be translated from Spanish into English in the early 1960s, and died on June 14, 1986 at the age of 86.

90 years ago
1919

Baseball
With just 1 out to go for a complete game in his first game with the Cleveland Indians at Dunn Field in Cleveland, pitcher Slim Caldwell was flattened by lightning. He thought it might have hit the metal button on his cap, coursed through his body, and exited through his metal spikes; it left him with a burn on his chest. Mr. Caldwell, who had joined the Indians after being released by the Boston Red Sox in July, got up and retired Joe Dugan for the final out in a 4-hit 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Athletics to improve his 1919 record to 8-4. Losing pitcher Rollie Naylor allowed just 3 hits in a complete game, falling to 2-17.

Babe Ruth hit 2 home runs and singled in Harry Hooper with the winning run as the Boston Red Sox edged the Detroit Tigers 8-7 in 11 innings before 25,000 fans at Navin Field in Detroit.

Heinie Zimmerman led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double and scored when pitcher Hal Carlson made an error on Frankie Frisch's sacrifice bunt, giving the New York Giants a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Polo Grounds in New York. Fred Toney (12-5) pitched a 5-hit shutout, while Mr. Carlson (4-8) pitched a 6-hitter.

80 years ago
1929

Abominations
Arabs, incited by rumours that Jews were planning to seize the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, massacred 67 or 69 people in Hebron, seriously injuring many more. Jewish homes and synagogues were ransacked. Some of the 435 Jewish survivors were hidden by local Arab families. The massacre was part of a series of riots that occurred in August 1929 in Palestine, which was then administered by the United Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate.

75 years ago
1934

Baseball
Dizzy Dean recorded his 22nd win of the season as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Giants 5-0. Mr. Dean also had 2 singles and a stolen base as the Cardinals reduced the Giants’ lead in the National League to 6 games.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
A Book at Bedtime, read by Laidman Browne, on BBC Light Programme
Tonight's episode: The Bruce-Partington Plans, Part 3

At the movies
Sword in the Desert, directed by George Sherman, and starring Dana Andrews, Märta Torén, Stephen McNally, and Jeff Chandler, received its premiere screening at the Criterion Theatre in New York City.



War
French forces in Vietnam began a drive to retake Tonkin from Viet Minh guerrillas.

Chinese President Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek flew from Taiwan to Canton and Chungking in an effort to bolster faltering Nationalist resistance.

Defense
The North Atlantic Treaty, which had been signed on April 4, went into effect, as all ratifications were deposited in Washington. The signatories were Belgium; Canada; Denmark; France; Iceland; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; United Kingdom; and the United States. The treaty was created with an armed attack by the Soviet Union against Western Europe in mind. The key section was Article V, which committed each member state to consider an armed attack against one state to be an armed attack against all states.

General Mark Clark was named to succeed Gen. Jacob Devers as chief of the U.S. Army Field forces, beginning September 30, 1949.

U.S. Defense Secretary Louis Johnson ordered the armed forces to dismiss 135,000 civilian workers, release 12,073 reserve officers from active duty, and close 51 installations by mid-1950 in an effort to save $200 million.

Law
Former U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Politics and government
J. Howard McGrath was sworn in as U.S. Attorney General, succeeding Tom Clark. The Democratic National Committee elected William Boyle, Jr. to succeed Mr. McGrath as national chairman. The committee also ousted five members who had supported the States' Rights party in the 1948 election, including presidential candidate Strom Thurmond.

Scandal
Suspended U.S. Army Quartermaster-General Herman Feldman completed two days of testimony before the U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating influence-peddling in Washington, denying all charges of graft and favouritism in the assignment of Army contracts.

Energy
Bulgaria and Romania announced the integration of their electric power systems within the framework of the Council for Economic Mutual Assistance.

Labour
The Finnish Federation of Labour expelled the construction, transport, forestry, and food workers unions for their refusal to call off strikes by their members.

Football
IRFU-ORFU
Pre-season
Hamilton Wildcats (1-0) 24 Hamilton Tigers (1-2) 5

12,000 were in attendance at Civic Stadium to witness the last game between the two Hamilton senior clubs. The Wildcats were in their second season in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union after many years in the Ontario Rugby Football Union. They had traded places with the Tigers, who moved into the ORFU in 1948 after being in the IRFU since that league’s founding in 1907.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Luna De Miel--Gloria Lasso (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 The Three Bells--The Browns
2 Sea of Love--Phil Phillips with the Twilights
3 Lavender-Blue--Sammy Turner
4 A Big Hunk o' Love--Elvis Presley
5 My Heart is an Open Book--Carl Dobkins, Jr.
6 What'd I Say (Parts I and II)--Ray Charles and his Orchestra
7 There Goes My Baby--The Drifters
8 Sleep Walk--Santo & Johnny
9 What a Diff'rence a Day Makes--Dinah Washington
10 I Want to Walk You Home--Fats Domino

Singles entering the chart were Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin (#59); Johnny Reb by Johnny Horton (#70); Poison Ivy by the Coasters (#73); The Mummy by Bob McFadden and Dor (#81); Hey Little Girl by Dee Clark (#86); True True Happiness by Johnny Tillotson (#87); Five Feet High and Rising by Johnny Cash (#88); Chapel of Dreams by the Dubs (#89); Okefenokee by Freddy Cannon (#90); Twice as Nice by Clyde McPhatter (#94); Poco-Loco by Gene and Eunice (#98); and I Looked at Heaven by Tommy Edwards (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 The Three Bells--The Browns
2 Mona Lisa--Conway Twitty
3 Lonely Boy--Paul Anka
4 Robbin' the Cradle--Tony Bellus
5 Caribbean--Mitchell Torok
6 Here Comes Summer--Jerry Keller
7 Velvet Waters--The Megatrons
8 The Battle of New Orleans--Johnny Horton
9 It was I --Skip and Flip
10 Broken-Hearted Melody--Sarah Vaughan

Singles entering the chart were Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin (#50); Mary Lou by Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks (#51); Don't Tell Me Your Troubles by Don Gibson (#56); Just as Much as Ever by Bob Beckham (#57); No Wheels by the Chordettes (#59); The Rockin' Lady (From New Orleans) by Penny Candy (#60).

War
Describing the Laotian military situation as "very dangerous," U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter told 10 senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committees that he favoured the dispatch of United Nations observers to threatened Laotian border areas.

Diplomacy
Haitian Presidential Secretary Clement Barbot said that Haiti would send the Vatican evidence that Port-au-Prince Archbishop Francois Poirier had plotted against the Haitian government.

Politics and government
The U.S.S.R. government announced the dismissal of Latvian Deputy Premier Eduards K. Berklavs.

Kenyan nationalist leader Tom Mboya announced the formation of a new African party--the Kenya Independence Movement--which would seek the opening of Kenya's fertile "white highlands" to African farmers, and more civil service jobs and equal voting rights for Africans.

Energy
A fuel cell capable of producing five kilowatts of electricity from the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen in a caustic soda electrolyte was demonstrated at a factory near Cambridge, England.

Economics and finance
Indonesian President Sukarno issued decrees devaluing Indonesia's currency, wiping out private fortunes, and revising Indonesian export trade regulations.

Football
CFL
WIFU
British Columbia (2-2) 17 @ Calgary (3-1) 29
Saskatchewan (0-3) 0 @ Edmonton (1-1) 55

The Eskimos' rout of the Roughriders at Clarke Stadium was the most lopsided shutout in Canadian Football League history until the Roughriders topped it with a 56-0 loss in Winnipeg on July 5, 1986. Johnny Bright scored 2 touchdowns, while other Eskimo touchdowns were scored by Joe-Bob Smith, Fred Meyers, Jim Letcavits, Normie Kwong, Vic Chapman, Rollie Miles, and Jackie Parker. Mr. Parker converted all but the first score.

Baseball
New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses allocated $150‚000 for a preliminary study on building a stadium to house the New York club in the Continental League.

40 years ago
1969

On television tonight
Conquest of Space, hosted by Percy Saltzman, on CBC

This was the fifth and final episode of the series.

Space
American scientists studying the lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo 11 astronauts disclosed that the samples proved the moon to be very ancient. Preliminary results indicated that the Sea of Tranquility assumed its present form 3.5 billion years ago.

War
U.S. President Richard Nixon announced from San Clemente that a decision on further U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam would be delayed until September. White House press secretary Ron Ziegler said that Mr. Nixon wanted more time to gather information and further evaluate the mid-month upsurge of enemy activity.

In the Vietnamese jungle of Song Chang Valley, the battle-worn men of Alpha Company of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade’s Third Battalion, United States Army, refused to move when ordered to push again down a rocky slope into a deadly labyrinth of Communist bunkers and trenches. Their number had been reduced from 95 to 52 after five days of being repeatedly thrown back. Their commander, Lieutenant Eugene Shurtz, Jr., 26, radioed the refusal to his battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Bacon. Lt. Shurtz explained: "Some of them simply had enough; they’re broken. There are boys here who have only 90 days left in Vietnam. They want to go home in one piece...They didn’t say they wouldn’t go--they just stood there and hung their heads." Lt. Shurtz tried to rally his men again, but 5 still refused to budge. The men finally did go back to the war when Sergeant Okey Blankenship, a seasoned Vietnam veteran, was brought in, and egged the men on. They followed down the slope, but met little enemy action. The United States Army decided not to press charges against the men, but Lt. Shurtz was shifted to a new assignment. He lauded his company as "an excellent unit," and said it would be "a slap" at those who gave their lives or were wounded, as well as the rest of the company, "to consider them anything but courageous."

World events
Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban said that the campaign of Arab governments against Israel following the burning of Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem two days earlier was an attempt "to extract political advantage unparalleled in our age," instead of sharing the "shock and grief" of the world.

Baghdad radio announced that 15 people convicted of being spies for Israel and the United States had been executed during the night, including two Jews and two Christians.

Transportation
S.S. Manhattan, a gigantic American icebreaker attempting to become the first commercial ship to cross the Northwest passage to Alaska, moved out of her berth at Chester, Pennsylvania and headed down the Delaware River.

Baseball
The Seattle Pilots traded pitcher Jim Bouton to the Houston Astros for pitchers Dooley Womack and Roric Harrison. Mr. Bouton was 2-1 with an earned run average of 3.91 and 1 save in 57 games with Seattle in 1969. Mr. Womack was 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA in 30 games with Houston, and was traded to Seattle the day before his 30th birthday. Mr. Harrison was 0-0 in 3 games with the Oklahoma City 89ers of the AAA American Association in 1969.

The Chicago Cubs scored 3 runs in the 7th inning and 4 in the 8th as they overcame an 8-2 deficit to defeat the Houston Astros 10-9 in the first game of a doubleheader before 40,439 fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks hit 2 home runs for the Cubs and Billy Williams hit a single, double, and triple, while Jim Wynn hit 2 homers for the Astros. Gene Oliver caught the 5th-7th innings for the Cubs, batting 0 for 1 and making 2 putouts in the 786th and last game of his 10-year major league career. Don Wilson pitched a 6-hitter to improve his 1969 record to 16-8 as the Astros overcame a 2-0 1st-inning deficit and won the second game 3-2.

Hank Aaron’s 3-run home run off Mudcat Grant with 2 out in the top of the 14th inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Atlanta Braves a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals before 35,198 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

Tony Oliva reached third base on a 3-base error by left fielder Bill Robinson to lead off the bottom of the 9th inning, and after Bob Allison and Leo Cardenas were intentionally walked to load the bases, George Mitterwald singled home Mr. Oliva to give the Minnesota Twins a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees before 31,441 fans at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. Tom Hall (6-4) pitched a 4-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over Al Downing (4-4), who also pitched a 4-hit complete game.

Ken Harrelson singled home Jose Cardenal and Tony Horton followed with a triple to score Mr. Harrelson as the Cleveland Indians scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th inning to break a 4-4 tie and held on to defeat the Seattle Pilots 6-5 before 5,900 fans at Sick's Stadium in Seattle, handing the Pilots their 10th straight loss. Wayne Comer led off the bottom of the 9th with a home run, and John Donaldson and Jim Pagliaroni hit consecutive singles with 2 out, but pinch hitter Dick Simpson popped out to second base to end the game.

Chuck Dobson (14-10) pitched an 8-hitter to win the pitching matchup over Dave McNally (17-4) and Reggie Jackson hit his 44th home run of the season as the Oakland Athletics shut out the Baltimore Orioles 9-0 in the first game of a doubleheader before 24,970 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Danny Cater led off the bottom of the 18th inning with a base on balls and scored on a 2-out single by Ted Kubiak to give the Athletics a 9-8 win in the second game to complete the sweep. Mr. Jackson hit his 45th homer of the season--a 3-run blast in the 3rd. Frank Robinson homered with 2 out and nobody on base in the top of the 9th to give the Orioles an 8-7 lead, but with 2 out and nobody on in the bottom of the 9th, Jose Tartabull doubled, and Mr. Jackson singled him home with his fourth run batted in of the game.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Born to Be Alive--Patrick Hernandez (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): El Lute--Boney M. (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Honesty--Billy Joel (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Hanna Reitsch, 67. German aviatrix. Miss Reitsch set more than 40 altitude records and records for women in aviation. She was a prominent test pilot during the Nazi regime in Germany, and spent time in prison after she was captured by Allied authorities. Miss Reitsch set records for gliding in the 1950s, and lived in Ghana from 1962-1966, founding the first black African gliding school. She returned to West Germany, and continued to fly gliders through the 1970s.

Diplomacy
United States immigration authorities delayed takeoff of a Moscow-bound Aeroflot jetliner in New York carrying Ludmila Vlasova, wife of dancer Aleksandr Godunov, who had defected to the United States the day before.

The U.S.A. succeeded in delaying a United Nations vote on a resolution calling for Palestinian self-determination.

Scandal
White House chief of staff Hamilton Jordan denied allegations by owners of New York’s Studio 54 disco that he had used cocaine there the previous year. The U.S. Justice Department was to investigate the charges.

Track and field
The three-day IAAF World Cup in Athletics opened at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

25 years ago
1984

Politics and government
United States Democratic party presidential candidate Walter Mondale said that President Ronald Reagan, if re-elected, would raise taxes for the workers and "leave his rich friends alone."

Football
CFL
Hamilton (1-6-1) 14 @ Edmonton (4-4) 35

This blogger was on the sidelines taking pictures, and I had the pleasure of seeing my friend Chris Woods return a Bernie Ruoff punt 90 yards for the game’s first touchdown. It was the first kick return for a touchdown by an Edmonton player in 8 years. Brian Kelly caught his 13th touchdown pass of the season, and Neil Lumsden rushed for another Eskimo touchdown. The final points of the game came on a field goal by Dave Cutler of the Eskimos; he kicked the ball low but over the crossbar, and it was only after a long discussion that referee Jake Ireland confirm that the kick was good. For Hamilton defensive back Less Browne, it was the first game of an 11-year career in which he became the CFL’s career interception leader, and ended up in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Eskimo running back Greg Marshall, who was due to come off the injured list, had announced his retirement the day before after 2½ seasons of battling serious knee injuries. He was on the sidelines, and was kind enough to pose for one last picture for me while wearing his Eskimo jersey #38. For the Tiger-Cats, the loss was their 6th in a row.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): London Nights--London Boys

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Lion in a Cage--Dolores Keane

Terrorism
Colombian drug lords issued a communiqué vowing "total and absolute war" on the government, and began a new wave of bombings and arson. The Extraditables, a paramilitary group (not, apparently, a rock group), said that 10 judges would be killed for every Colombian extradited to the United States.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high of 2734.64, completely erasing the plunge in stock values that had begun two years earlier.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (2-5) 37 @ Saskatchewan (4-3) 25

Baseball
Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti announced that Cincinnati Reds’ manager Pete Rose was being banned from major league baseball for life for gambling on games, including those played by the Reds while Mr. Rose was managing them.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Mary Jane Croft, 83. U.S. actress. Miss Croft had recurring roles in Lucille Ball's various television comedy series from 1954-1974, and played Miss Enright in the radio (1948-1957) and television (1953-1955) comedy series Our Miss Brooks.

Alexandre Lagoya, 70. Egyptian-born French musician. Mr. Lagoya was a classical guitarist who often performed with his wife, guitarist Ida Presti. She died suddenly in 1967, and Mr. Lagoya withdrew from performing for many years, but returned as a teacher and then as a performer. He wrote several pieces and numerous transcriptions for guitar.

Economics and finance
The United States Federal Reserve Board announced that it was raising two short-term interest rates: the federal funds rate (the rate banks charge each other on overnight loans) from 5% to 5.25%; and the discount rate (the rate the Federal Reserve charges on loans made to commercial banks) from 4.5% to 4.75%. The Fed said the increases would "markedly" reduce the risk of future inflation.

Business
Conrad Black announced plans to sell the Southam Inc. chain and the National Post newspaper to Izzy Asper's CanWest Global.

Onex announced a plan to buy and merge Air Canada and Canadian Airlines; the offer was killed by opposition from Air Canada.

Baseball
Rob Ducey had 5 hits and Bobby Abreu hit 2 home runs and drove in 6 runs for the Philadelphia Phillies as they routed the San Diego Padres 18-2 before 18,126 fans at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-4 before 17,142 fans at Olympic Stadium in Montreal despite giving up Mark McGwire’s 51st home run of the season and 508th of his major league career. It was Mr. McGwire’s 493rd home run as a first baseman, tying Lou Gehrig’s record. Montreal second baseman Jose Vidro batted 4 for 5 with a run and 3 runs batted in.

Jeff Bagwell's 3-run home run climaxed a 4-run 10th inning as the Houston Astros broke a 1-1 tie and beat the New York Mets 5-1 before 35,673 fans at Shea Stadium in New York.

B.J. Surhoff led off the top of the 10th inning with a single and Albert Belle followed with a home run to break a 3-3 tie as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 before 12,171 fans at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

Tino Martinez hit a 3-run home run off Corey Lee with 2 out in the top of the 11th inning to break a 7-7 tie as the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 10-7 before 39,727 fans at the Ballpark in Arlington. Mr. Lee, the seventh and last Texas pitcher, allowed 2 hits and 3 runs--all earned--with 1 base on balls and no strikeouts in 1 inning to take the loss in his only major league game.

Randy Velarde and John Jaha hit solo home runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to enable the Oakland Athletics to defeat the Cleveland Indians 11-10 before 17,417 fans at Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland. Mr. Jaha batted 3 for 5 with 2 home runs, a base on balls, 3 runs, and 5 runs batted in as the Athletics came back from a 5-0 1st-inning deficit.