October 23, 2009

1,960 years ago
949

Died on this date
Yōzei, 80. Emperor of Japan, 876-884. Yōzei, born Sadaakira, acceded to the throne at the age of 7 upon the abdication of his father Seiwa. Even as a child, Yōzei exhibited an extremely violent disposition. His aunt Fujiwara no Mototsune, who wielded tremendous influence, and imperial advisers forcibly removed Yōzei from power on March 4, 884 in favour of his father's uncle Emperor Kōkō. Yōzei lived in retirement until his death.

270 years ago
1739

War
The British government of Prime Minister Robert Walpole reluctantly declared war on Spain, beginning what came to be known as the War of Jenkins' Ear.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
John Heisman. U.S. football player, coach, and sportswriter. Mr. Heisman was a football lineman at Brown University (1887-1888) and the University of Pennsylvania (1889-1891), but was better known as a coach. He coached football, basketball, and baseball at several universities from 1892-1927, but spent the greatest part of his career at Georgia Tech, where he coached football (1904-1919), basketball (1908-1909, 1912-1914), and baseball (1904-1917), leading the Golden Tornados to the 1917 national football championship. Mr. Heisman compiled a football coaching record of 186-70-18, and a baseball record of 199-108-7. He was an innovator and was instrumental in legalizing the forward pass, and changing the game from two halves to four quarters. The Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the outstanding college football player in the United States, was named after Mr. Heisman, and was first presented in 1935. He died of pneumonia on October 3, 1936, 20 days before his 67th birthday. Mr. Heisman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954.

Died on this date
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, 70. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1852, 1858-1859, 1866-1868. The Earl of Derby led the Conservative Party from 1846-1868, and remains the party's longest-serving leader. He held several cabinet posts before becoming Conservative Party leader, including Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1833-1834, 1841-1845). Lord Derby has been credited by creating the modern Conservative Party, derived from the Whig Party, which dissolved in 1859. He retired from politics on the advice of his doctor, and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Benjamin Disraeli.

125 years ago
1884

Baseball
World Series
Providence Grays 6 @ New York Metropolitans 0 (Providnece led best-of-five series 1-0)

Old Hoss Radbourne pitched a 2-hitter as the Grays of the National League defeated the Metropolitans of the American Association in front of 1,800 fans at the Polo Grounds in the first game of the first-ever officially sanctioned post-season championship series between the champions of two major leagues. Tim Keefe took the loss on the mound for New York.

120 years ago
1889

Baseball
World Series
New York Giants 7 @ Brooklyn Bridegrooms 10 (6 innings) (Brooklyn led best-of-eleven series 3-1)

Oyster Burns hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 6th inning to give the Bridegrooms the win over the New York Giants at Washington Park in Brooklyn in a game called because of darkness. The Giants had scored 5 runs in the top of the 6th to tie the game. The Bridegrooms made only 5 hits, but were helped by 8 New York errors.

110 years ago
1899

Theatre
William Gillette gave his first performance in the starring role of his play Sherlock Holmes: A Drama in Four Acts at the Star Theatre in Buffalo. The play received three performances in Buffalo, one in Syracuse, and one in Rochester before moving to Broadway. Bruce McRae played Doctor Watson.

80 years ago
1929

Economics and finance
See News from 1930.

70 years ago
1939

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Man with the Twisted Lip

60 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Emilio Jaramillo. Colombian journalist and politician. Mr. Jaramillo was the leader of the Colombian Liberal Party and publisher of the newspaper El Diario.

Politics and government
French President Vincent Auriol named Popular Republican leader Georges Bidault as Prime Minister, following the failure of Socialist and radical leaders to form a new cabinet.

Football
NFL
Washington (2-3) 14 @ Philadelphia (4-1) 49
New York Bulldogs (0-5) 13 @ Pittsburgh (4-1) 24
Chicago Bears (3-2) 28 @ New York Giants (3-2) 35
Green Bay (1-4) 7 @ Los Angeles (5-0) 35
Detroit (1-4) 24 @ Chicago Cardinals (2-3) 7

AAFC
Los Angeles (2-6) 14 @ Buffalo (2-5-1) 17
San Francisco (6-2) 3 @ New York (5-1) 24
Chicago (4-3) 17 @ Baltimore (1-7) 7



Baseball
A poll of baseball writers by The Sporting News named Brooklyn Dodgers' pitcher Don Newcombe as National League Rookie of the Year, and St. Louis Browns' outfielder Roy Sievers as American League Rookie of the Year. Mr. Newcombe posted a 17-8 record with an earned run average of 3.17 in 38 games and tied for the National League lead with 5 shutouts in helping the Dodgers win the NL pennant. Mr. Sievers batted .306 with 16 home runs and 91 runs batted in in 140 games with the Browns in 1949.

Former St. Louis Browns' manager Luke Sewell signed a two-year contract to manage the Cincinnati Reds. Mr. Sewell had managed the Browns from 1941-1946, leading them to their only American League pennant in 1944. He replaced Bucky Walters as manager of the Reds for the last 3 games of the 1949 season, posting a record of 1-2.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin (2nd week at #1)

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Drifters
2 Just Ask Your Heart--Frankie Avalon
3 Mr. Blue--The Fleetwoods
4 One Minute to One--Ricky Nelson
5 Poco-Loco--Gene and Eunice
6 Teen Beat--Sandy Nelson
7 ('Til) I Kissed You--The Everly Brothers
8 Come on and Get Me--Fabian
9 Igmoo (The Pride of South Central High)--Stonewall Jackson
10 We Got Love--Bobby Rydell

Singles entering the chart included We Got Love; The Enchanted Sea, with versions by the Islanders; and Martin Denny (#21); Rockin' Lady by Penny Candy (#31); Deck of Cards by Wink Martindale (#32); Oh! Carol by Neil Sedaka (#37); and I Ain't Sharin' Sharon by Buddy Knox (#40).

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine, starring Ida Lupino

This was the only episode of The Twilight Zone for which legendary movie composer Franz Waxman wrote the score.

Died on this date
Gerda Lundequist, 88. Swedish actress. Miss Lundequist was a stage actress who was known for starring in plays written by Henrik Ibsen, and was known as the "Swedish Sarah Bernhardt." Her few films included Gösta Berlings saga (1924).

George Bouzianis, 73. Greek artist. Mr. Bouzianis was an Expressionist painter whose work was popular in the 1920s, but eventually fell out of fashion. He died 16 days before his 74th birthday.

Music
Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich arrived in New York for a one-month tour with leading American symphony orchestras as part of the U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. cultural exchange program.

Diplomacy
Indian and Pakistani delegates issued a joint communique in New Delhi announcing settlement of disputes concerning the Indian-East Pakistani frontier.

Politics and government
Hugh Gaitskell was re-elected Labour Party leader in the British Parliament, with Aneurin Bevan as deputy leader and Herman Bowden re-elected as chief party whip.

40 years ago
1969

On the radio
A Book at Bedtime, on BBC 4
Tonight's episode: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 3, read by Nigel Stock

On television tonight
Dragnet 1970, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Juvenile: The Little Pusher



Died on this date
Tommy Edwards, 47. U.S. singer. Mr. Edwards’ version of It’s All in the Game was a hit in 1951. In 1958 he re-recorded it, and it went to #1 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart for 6 weeks, and #1 on the Best Seller chart for 3 weeks. Mr. Edwards also had hits with two different versions of Morning Side of the Mountain (1951, 1959) and Please, Mr. Sun (1952, 1959). His career declined after 1960, and he drank himself to death, dying eight days after his 47th birthday.

Scandal
U.S. Army Sergeant major William O. Wooldridge, who was accused of running a "khaki Mafia," bilking servicemen’s clubs throughout the United States, appeared before Congressional investigators and repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment. His performance was so bad that the Army took away his command status while he was on the stand.

Literature
The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Samuel Beckett for his plays and novels of loneliness and despair, and human degradation, "containing a love of mankind that grows in understanding as it plumbs further into the depths of abhorrence," as the Swedish Academy’s secretary put it.

30 years ago
1979

Baseball
New York Yankees’ manager Billy Martin was involved in a fight with Joseph Cooper, a Minnesota marshmallow salesman, in the lobby of the Hotel de France in Bloomington, Minnesota. Mr. Cooper, who weighed more than 200 pounds, had approached Mr. Martin in the hotel bar shortly after midnight, identified himself as the "Marshmallow King," and told Mr. Martin that he hadn’t deserved the Manager of the Year award. Mr. Martin replied, "Well, maybe you’re not the best marshmallow salesman." Mr. Cooper taunted Mr. Martin until the Yankee manager put $300 on the bar and bet it against Mr. Cooper’s penny that Mr. Cooper couldn’t whip him. On the way out of the bar, Mr. Cooper threw a left. Mr. Martin fended it off and countered with a right, which cut Mr. Cooper’s lip for 20 stitches, and dropped him "like a sack of coal."

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 3 @ New York Islanders 3

25 years ago
1984

Crime
Corazon Agrava, head of a five-member panel investigating the August 1983 assassination of Filipino opposition leader Benigno Aquino, delivered a report to President Ferdinand Marcos in which she implicated an air force general and 6 soldiers in the murder.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Swing the Mood--Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Lambada--Kaoma (10th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Mixed Emotions--Rolling Stones
2 Sowing the Seeds of Love--Tears for Fears
3 Miss You Much--Janet Jackson
4 Cherish--Madonna
5 Heaven--Warrant
6 Girl I'm Gonna Miss You--Milli Vanilli
7 If I Could Turn Back Time--Cher
8 The Best--Tina Turner
9 Healing Hands--Elton John
10 18 and Life--Skid Row

Singles entering the chart were Rollin' with the Thunder by White Heat (#73); Another Day by Paradox (#79); Do You Want to Tell Me by The Grapes of Wrath (#81); Save for the Memory by Indio (#86); Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz (#88); Living in Sin by Bon Jovi (#90); and 100 Years by Andrew Cash (#92).

Died on this date
Armida, 78. Mexican-born U.S. entertainer. Armida Vendrell began her career at a young age, shortly after her family moved to California. She performed in vaudeville before moving into films, where she usually appeared in small roles from 1929-1951. One of Armida's few starring roles was in The Girl from Monterrey (1943). She died of a heart attack.

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis and her five-member crew commanded by Donald Williams landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, concluding mission STS-34.



World events
Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, in a speech to the legislature, said that the U.S.S.R.’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was illegal. Saying that the invasion "violated the norms of proper behaviour," Mr. Shevardnadze blamed it on then-President Leonid Brezhnev and some others in the Soviet inner circle. Mr. Shevardnadze also acknowledged that the Soviet radar complex at Krasnoyarsk had violated the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty. He said that historic changes taking place in Poland and Hungary were acceptable to the Kremlin, and that the Soviet Union looked forward to the eventual dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Politics and government
The Hungarian Republic was officially declared by acting President Mátyás Szűrös, replacing the communist Hungarian People's Republic.

Protest
300,000 East Germans protested in Leipzig on behalf of political reform.

Business
The Finnish shipbuilding company Wärtsilä Marine declared bankruptcy, the biggest bankruptcy in Nordic countries to date.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Eric Reece, 90. Australian politician. Mr. Reece, a member of the Labour Party, sat in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1946-1975. He was a cabinet member in various portfolios fro 1946 until he succeeded Sir Robert Cosgrove as Premier of Tasmania in 1958, and served as Premier from 1958-1969 and 1972-1975.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (5-11) 33 @ Montreal (11-5) 36

Terry Baker kicked a 32-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining and Anthony Calvillo completed touchdown passes to Michael Soles, Tyree Davis, and Alfonzo Browning as the Alouettes outlasted the Eskimos in a heavy rain before 17,105 hardy souls at Molson Stadium. Dwight Henry scored the other Montreal touchdown on a 14-yard interception return. Mike Pringle carried 24 times for 143 yards, while Mr. Calvillo added 44 on 8 carries. Marcus Crandell went the distance at quarterback for the Eskimos, but completed just 14 of 34 passes, one of which went to Rick Walters for the Eskimos’ only offensive touchdown. Troy Mills carried 15 times for 95 yards, including one run of 60 yards, but left the game with a broken hand. Sean Fleming was good on just 3 of 7 field goal attempts for the Eskimos. It was the Edmonton kick returners who kept the team in the game: Henry Williams returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, and Donnie Ashley returned another kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It’s the only time I know of that 2 kickoffs have been returned for touchdowns in a CFL game, and the feat made a winner of an Edmonton woman named Gail Sinclair, who won $1 million in the Safeway Score and Win contest.

CIAU
St. Mary’s (5-1) 41 @ St. Francis Xavier (1-5) 7
Acadia (4-2) 3 @ Mount Allison (2-4) 16
Concordia (6-1) 8 @ Bishop’s (2-5) 18
Wilfrid Laurier (5-2) 24 @ Ottawa (7-0) 34
Queen’s (2-5) 55 @ Toronto (1-6) 3
Western Ontario (6-1) 27 @ McMaster (5-2) 34
Guelph (2-5) 15 @ Waterloo (4-3) 17
York (2-5) 27 @ Windsor (0-7) 14
Saskatchewan (6-1) 24 @ Regina (0-7) 7
Manitoba (5-2) 27 @ Calgary (2-5) 22
British Columbia (6-1) 19 @ Alberta (2-5) 14

The Bishop’s Gaiters made 4 interceptions, 2 by Geoff Smith, and Ben Ouimet rushed 75 yards for a touchdown in their upset over the Stingers at Coulter Field in Lennoxville, Quebec.

Quarterback Shane Munson rushed 91 yards for a touchdown early in the 4th quarter and passed 9 yards to Cory Larsen with 51 seconds remaining to conclude a 102-yard drive as the Bisons came back from 22-10 deficit after 3 quarters to defeat the Dinos at McMahon Stadium.

Akbal Singh rushed 37 times for 305 yards and a touchdown as the Thunderbirds came back from a 14-1 deficit to defeat the Golden Bears at Varsity Stadium in Edmonton. Alberta’s points all came in the first quarter on touchdown passes from Blair Zahara to Hardeep Bamara (75 yards) and Jamie Stoddard (25 yards), both converted by Robert Rawcliffe. B.C.’s other touchdown was scored by Sean Dovre on a pass from backup quarterback Phil Deeks.

Baseball
World Series
New York Yankees 4 @ Atlanta Braves 1 (New York led best-of-seven series 1-0)

The Yankees scored all their runs in the 8th inning as they defeated the Braves 4-1 before 51,342 fans at Turner Field. Orlando Hernandez pitched 7 innings to get the win while Scott Brosius had 3 hits and Paul O’Neill drove in 2 runs. The Braves’ only run came on a home run by Chipper Jones in the 4th inning.



Nippon Series
Chunichi Dragons 0 @ Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 3 (Fukuoka led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Kimiyasu Kudoh pitched a 6-hitter and struck out 13 batters to lead the Hawks over the Dragons before 36,199 fans at the Fukuoka Dome. Koji Akiyama led off the bottom of the 6th inning with a home run to open the scoring, and Melvin Nieves doubled home 2 runs later in the inning.