November 2, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sil!

1,390 years ago
619

War
Chinese Emperor Gaozu allowed the assassination of a khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate by Eastern Turkic rivals, one of the earliest events in the Tang campaigns against the Western Turks.

460 years ago
1549

Born on this date
Anna of Austria. Queen consort of Spain, 1570-1580. Anna, the eldest daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, was the fourth wife of her uncle King Philip II of Spain, whose first three wives had died without producing a male heir. The marriage was reportedly happy, producing four sons and a daughter; only the youngest son lived to adulthood. Queen Anna died on October 26, 1580, a week before her 31st birthday.

270 years ago
1739

Born on this date
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. Austrian composer. Born August Carl Ditters, Mr. Ditters von Dittersdorf was a violinist who wrote at least 120 symphonies and numerous concertos for violin or oboe. He died on October 24, 1799, nine days before his 60th birthday.

210 years ago
1799

Born on this date
John Light Atlee. U.S. physician. Dr. Atlee was a surgeon and professor of anatomy who helped to found the American Medical Association in 1847. He became a vice president of the AMA in 1868, and served as its president in 1882. Dr. Atlee died on October 1, 1885 at the age of 85.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Marion Jones Farquhar. U.S. tennis player and musician. Mrs. Farquhar won the women's singles title at the U.S. Championships in 1899 and 1902, as well as the women's doubles competition in 1902 and mixed doubles in 1901. She won bronze medals in mixed doubles and women's singles at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. Mrs. Farquhar was a violinist and voice coach in New York City for many years before moving to California with her husband, architect Robert Farquhar. She died on March 14, 1965 at the age of 85, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.

120 years ago
1889

Americana
North Dakota and South Dakota entered the union as the 39th and 40th states, respectively.

Football
ORFU
Queen’s University 9 @ Ottawa Rough Riders 11

This was the third challenge to the Rough Riders’ title in 1889.

90 years ago
1919

Football
Wisconsin professional
Milwaukee Maple Leaf Athletic Club 0 @ Green Bay Packers (8-0) 53

80 years ago
1929

Football
CRU
ORFU
Twin Cities (3-3) 2 @ Camp Borden (1-5) 3 (OT)
Toronto (5-0) 18 @ St. Michael’s College (2-3) 13
Windsor (2-3) 12 @ University of Toronto II (1-4) 23
Sarnia (5-0) 16 @ Hamilton (2-3) 7

ARU
University of Alberta 7 @ Edmonton (1-5) 10

Joe Cook, in the 3rd quarter, and Phil Horne, in the 4th quarter, scored touchdowns for the Eskimos, while Cutsy Mills missed both converts. It was the only game in 1929 in which the Eskimos scored more than one touchdown. Freddie Hess scored the U of A TD touchdown in the 1st quarter to open the scoring, which held up for a 5-0 halftime lead.

NFL
Chicago Cardinals (1-4-1) 0 @ Frankford (5-2-2) 8

70 years ago
1939

Transportation
The first Trans Canada Airlines (Air Canada) flight arrived at the Maritime terminal in Moncton, New Brunswick.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Ben Wright and Eric Snowden

Died on this date
Jerome F. Donovan, 77. U.S. politician. Mr. Donovan, a Democrat, sat in the Connecticut House of Representatives (1901-1903); he moved to New York to practice law, and represented New York's 21st District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1918-1921), losing his bid for re-election in 1920. Mr. Donovan eventually returned to Connecticut, and died there.

Literature
The London Sunday Times awarded its gold medal for contributions to English literature to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for his two volumes of World War II memoirs.

Diplomacy
Yugoslavia charged Albania with frontier violations and attempts to stir unrest among ethnic minorities in Yugoslavian border areas.

Politics and government
The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference in The Hague ended with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies--except Dutch New Guinea--to the United States of Indonesia. The new state promised to protect Dutch commercial investments in Indonesia in return for withdrawal of Dutch troops.

Economics and finance
Following U.S. demands for greater economic integration, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation urged its member states to halve their import quota restrictions by mid-December.

Labour
The Congress of Industrial Organizations national convention in Cleveland expelled the leftist United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America and the United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America from the congress. A new International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, under former UEW President James Carey, was established to rival the two unions.

Baseball
An Associated Press poll of baseball writers chose Casey Stengel of the New York Yankees as the major league Manager of the Year; Mr. Stengel had led the Yankees to the World Series championship in his first year as their manager.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): You are My Destiny--Paul Anka (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin (5th week at #1)
2 Mr. Blue--The Fleetwoods
3 Put Your Head on My Shoulder--Paul Anka
4 Don't You Know--Della Reese
5 Teen Beat--Sandy Nelson
6 Lonely Street--Andy Williams
7 Deck of Cards--Wink Martindale
8 Primrose Lane--Jerry Wallace with the Jewels
9 Just Ask Your Heart--Frankie Avalon
10 Poison Ivy--The Coasters

Singles entering the chart were Always by Sammy Turner (#75); (If You Cry) True Love, True Love by the Drifters (#77); You Went Back on Your Word by Clyde McPhatter (#81); Starry Eyed by Gary Stites (#85); Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) by the Browns (#89); Tiny Tim by LaVern Baker (#93); You Got What it Takes by Marv Johnson (#94); Reveille Rock by Johnny and the Hurricanes (#95); Fancy Nancy by Skip and Flip (#96); Honestly and Truly by Tommy Edwards (#98); Smooth Operator by Sarah Vaughan (#99); and Wheel of Fortune by the Knightsbridge Strings (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Drifters (2nd week at #1)
--David Hill
2 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin
3 Teen Beat--Sandy Nelson
4 Lonely Street--Andy Williams
5 Broken-Hearted Melody--Sarah Vaughan
6 Morgen--Ivo Robic and the Song-Masters
7 Mr. Blue--The Fleetwoods
8 Deck of Cards--Wink Martindale
9 Battle Hymn of the Republic--The Mormon Tabernacle Choir with the Philadelphia Orchestra
10 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell

Singles entering the chart were Be My Guest by Fats Domino (#40); Believe Me by the Royal Teens (#41); I'm Movin' On by Don Gibson (#48); I'll Walk the Line by Don Costa, Orchestra and Chorus (#52); Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) by the Browns (#53); Marina, with versions by Willy Alberti; and Rocco Grenata and the International Quintet (#54); Smooth Operator by Sarah Vaughan (#55); and Do-Re-Mi by Mitch Miller and the Sing-Along Chorus (#60).

At the movies
Edge of Eternity, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Cornel Wilde, Victoria Shaw, and Mickey Shaughnessy, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Michael Considine, 74. U.K.-born labour leader and politician. Mr. Considine, a native of Ireland, moved to New South Wales with his mother in 1890. He participated in labour protests and was president of the Amalgamated Miners' Association during World War I. Mr. Considine was also a member of the Marxist Australian Socialist Party, but resigned because of his support for unions. He joined the Labour Party and represented Barrier in the Australian Parliament from 1917-1922, resigning from the Labour Party under pressure and joining the Socialist Labour Party. Mr. Considine ran for the latter party in the 1922 election and was defeated in the riding of Darling, and rejoined the Labour Party, losing in Darling again in the 1926 election.

Scandal
Charles Van Doren admitted to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight, chaired by Rep. Oren Harris (Democrat--Arkansas), that he had been given questions and answers in advance while he was a popular contestant on the NBC television quiz show Twenty-One in 1956.



Transportation
The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, was opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.

Business
Attorneys for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company announced that several top du Pont officials would resign from the board of General Motors in compliance with a U.S. federal court decision that there be no interlocking du Pont and GM directorate.

40 years ago
1969

Music
The album Willy and the Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Revival was released on Fantasy Records.

Football
CFL
Montreal (2-10-2) 18 @ Toronto (10-4) 22
Saskatchewan (13-3) 27 @ Edmonton (5-11) 25

Dennis Duncan rushed for 159 yards to finish with 1,037 for the season, but his Alouettes still lost to the Argonauts before 28,916 fans at CNE Stadium. It was the Alouettes' last game under the ownership of Joe Atwell, and the last game for Montreal under head coach Kay Dalton. In three years under Mr. Dalton the Alouettes compiled a record of 7-31-4.

Jack Abendschan’s field goal with 15 seconds remaining gave the Roughriders their season-ending win before 20,500 fans at Clarke Stadium, eliminating the Eskimos from playoff contention and putting the British Columbia Lions into the Western Football Conference playoffs for the first time in five years. The winning field goal climaxed a drive that came just after the Eskimos appeared to have scored the winning touchdown when quarterback Corey Colehour connected with Terry Swarn for a touchdown on a third-down gamble. Mr. Colehour scored the Eskimos’ first touchdown, while Dave Cutler, in the best game of his CFL career so far, added 2 converts and 3 field goals. Edmonton linebacker Roger Kettlewell, playing his last CFL game, punted for 2 singles. The disappointing ending marked the end of the line for Neill Armstrong after 6 years as Edmonton’s head coach. Including playoffs, his record was 37-59-3.

NFL
Green Bay (5-2) 38 @ Pittsburgh (1-6) 34
Detroit (4-3) 26 @ San Francisco (1-5-1) 14
Philadelphia (3-4) 23 @ New York (3-4) 20
New Orleans (1-6) 51 @ St. Louis (2-4-1) 42
Los Angeles (7-0) 38 @ Atlanta (2-5) 6
Washington (4-2-1) 17 @ Baltimore (4-3) 41
Chicago (0-7) 14 @ Minnesota (6-1) 31
Dallas (6-1) 10 @ Cleveland (5-1-1) 42

AFL
Houston (4-4) 0 @ Boston (1-7) 24
Kansas City (7-1) 29 @ Buffalo (1-7) 7
San Diego (4-4) 0 @ Denver (4-4) 13
Oakland (6-1-1) 17 @ Cincinnati (4-4) 31
Miami (1-6-1) 31 @ New York (6-2) 34

Baseball
Nippon Series
Yomiuri Giants 9 @ Hankyu Braves 2 (Yomiuri won best-of-seven series 4-2)

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Oh! Susie--Secret Service (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): We Don't Talk Anymore--Cliff Richard (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Aline--Christophe (4th week at #1)

World events
The day after a military coup in Bolivia, the U.S.A. cut off all food aid to the country, except for its Food for Peace aid. Military leader Col. Alberto Natusch Busch closed the Congress when Bolivia’s political parties refused to support him. A labour federation called for a general strike, which closed down Bolivia’s crucial tin mines and most of the stores in the cities.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 7 New York Islanders 5

25 years ago
1984

Died on this date
Velma Margie Barfield. U.S. murderess. Ms. Barfield became the first woman to be executed in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.

Football
CIAU
Manitoba (0-8) 6 @ Calgary (7-1) 64

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): Lambada--Kaoma (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Swing the Mood Again--Various Artists (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) pulled out of peace talks with the government of El Salvador after 10 were killed in the bombing of a labour federation headquarters.

Journalism
The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner ceased publication. The Examiner, a morning paper founded by William Randolph Hearst in 1903, merged with the Herald-Express, an afternoon paper, in 1962 to form the Herald-Examiner. A strike of Herald-Examiner employees that began in December 1967 lasted more than nine years, and the paper never recovered.

10 years ago
1999

Diplomacy
U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met during ceremonies in Oslo to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The discussed the upcoming final-status peace talks.

Politics and government
New leaders were named in Armenia to replace those assassinated six days earlier during an assault on the parliament building. Parliament appointed a new speaker and two deputy speakers.

Crime
In the worst mass murder in the history of Hawaii, Byran Uyesugi, a Xerox copier repairman, was arrested and charged after seven employees of Xerox Corporation were shot to death in their office building in Honolulu. Mr. Uyesugi was arrested after a five-hour standoff with police. I don’t know if the murders were considered to be "copier killings."

Society
The Alberta government of Premier Ralph Klein announced that it would compensate 242 people who had been sterilized under the Sexual Sterilization Act, which had been in place in the province from 1928-1972.

Economics and finance
Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin said that Canadians must decide what to do with a budget surplus of $95.5 billion over the next five years.