December 4, 2009

750 years ago
1259

War
Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agreed to the Treaty of Paris, ending the 100-year Capetian–Plantagenet rivalry. Henry renounced his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.

390 years ago
1619

Americana
38 Englishmen left their ship and ventured into the Virginia wilderness to observe a prayer of Thanksgiving for safe arrival in the New World. They then set about constructing a settlement known as Berkeley, 30 miles west of Jamestown.

180 years ago
1829

Society
In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issued a regulation declaring that anyone who abetted suttee--the Hindu funeral custom of a widow's self-immolation on her husband's pyre--in Bengal was guilty of culpable homicide. The prohibition resulted from years of campaigning by Ram Mohan Roy.

170 years ago
1839

Born on this date
Ezekiel Stone Wiggins. Canadian educator and weather forecaster. Mr. Wiggins, a native of Grand Lake, New Brunswick, moved to Ontario, and became known as the "Ottawa Prophet." He was a school principal, amateur historian, and cryptozoologist, but was best known for predicting weather disasters, basing his predictions on his belief that severe weather events were caused by planetary attraction. Mr. Wiggins accurately predicted some storms and earthquakes, but he received criticism in March 1883 when a severe hurricane and tidal wave that he predicted turned out to be less severe than his forecast. He sparked a panic in late September 1886 when he predicted a major disaster for North America for September 29; an earthquake struck Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania and the volcano Colima erupted in Mexico, but it fell short of Mr. Wiggins' forecast of the "greatest blow of the century." Mr. Wiggins continued to predict major weather events until his death in Ottawa on August 14, 1910 at the age of 70.

Politics and government
The U.S. Whig National Convention opened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of selecting the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 1840 election.

160 years ago
1849

Politics and government
U.S. President Zachary Taylor delivered his State of the Union message to Congress.

125 years ago
1884

Died on this date
Alice Mary Smith, 45. U.K. composer. Miss Smith wrote two symphonies, two large works for stage, a clarinet sonata, and numerous chamber works. She died of typhoid fever.

100 years ago
1909

Football
CRU
Grey Cup @ Rosedale Field, Toronto
University of Toronto 26 (Toronto) Parkdale Canoe Club Paddlers 6

Hugh Gall scored the game’s first touchdown and punted for 8 singles to lead the Varsity Blues to victory in the first Grey Cup game. Murray Thomson and Smirle Lawson also scored touchdowns for the U of T; Bill Ritchie converted one of the touchdowns and Mr. Lawson added 2 singles. Tom Meighan scored the Parkdale touchdown, and Percy Killaly added a single. 3,807 were in attendance at Rosedale Field in Toronto. The Grey Cup wasn’t presented to the U of T squad immediately after the game; the trophy wasn’t yet ready, and wasn’t presented to the winners until the following March.

Hockey
NHA
The Montreal Canadiens were granted a franchise in the National Hockey Association, which had been founded two days earlier.

90 years ago
1919

Boxing
Georges Carpentier (79-11-5) retained his European Boxing Union European heavyweight title by knocking out Joe Beckett (41-9-1) just 1:10 into the 1st round at Holborn Stadium in London.



70 years ago
1939

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: Charles Augustus Milverton

War
The British Royal Navy battleship HMS Nelson was struck by a mine (laid by German submarine U-31) off the Scottish coast, and was laid up for repairs until August 1940.

60 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Martin Gorski, 63. U.S. politician. Mr. Gorski, a Democrat, represented Illinois' 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1943-1949 and Illinois' 5th District from January 3, 1949 until his death.

Crime
Two weeks after taking office as British colonial Governor of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Duncan Stewart made his first official visit to the colony. After inspecting an honour guard and meeting schoolchildren, Mr. Stewart was stabbed by Malaysian nationalist Rosli bin Dhobi, 17, while Mr. Dhobi's friend Moshidi bin Sedek approached Mr. Stewart with a camera, claiming to want a photograph. Mr. Stewart carried on with his activities until blood seeped through his uniform. He was then flown to the capital of Kuching and eventually to Singapore, where he died on December 10.

Diplomacy
The United States named five diplomats, including Philip Jessup and Ralph Bunche, to a newly-formed United Nations panel of mediators available for work in international disputes.

Politics and government
The U.S. Progressive Party National Committee, meeting in New York, adopted a program calling for U.S.-U.S.S.R. understanding, recognition of the Chinese Communist government, and the major points of U.S. President Harry Truman's Fair Deal legislation.

Football
NFL
Philadelphia (10-1) 24 @ New York Giants (6-5) 3
Pittsburgh (5-5-1) 21 @ Chicago Bears (8-3) 30
Green Bay (2-9) 0 @ Washington (4-6-1) 30
New York Bulldogs (1-9-1) 27 @ Detroit (3-8) 28
Chicago Cardinals (6-4-1) 31 @ Los Angeles (7-2-2) 27

AAFC
Semi-Finals
New York (3rd place) 7 @ San Francisco (2nd place) 17
Buffalo (4th place) 21 @ Cleveland (1st place) 31



50 years ago
1959

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: Judgment Night, starring Nehemiah Persoff, Ben Wright, Patrick Macnee, and James Franciscus

This was the first of 12 episodes to be directed by John Brahm.

Died on this date
Martin Gorski, 63. U.S. politician. Mr. Gorski, a Democrat, represented Illinois' 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1943-1949 and Illinois' 5th District from January 3, 1949 until his death.

Crime
Two weeks after taking office as British colonial Governor of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Duncan Stewart made his first official visit to the colony. After inspecting an honour guard and meeting schoolchildren, Mr. Stewart was stabbed by Malaysian nationalist Rosli bin Dhobi, 17, while Mr. Dhobi's friend Moshidi bin Sedek approached Mr. Stewart with a camera, claiming to want a photograph. Mr. Stewart carried on with his activities until blood seeped through his uniform. He was then flown to the capital of Kuching and eventually to Singapore, where he died on December 10.

Diplomacy
The United States named five diplomats, including Philip Jessup and Ralph Bunche, to a newly-formed United Nations panel of mediators available for work in international disputes.

Politics and government
The U.S. Progressive Party National Committee, meeting in New York, adopted a program calling for U.S.-U.S.S.R. understanding, recognition of the Chinese Communist government, and the major points of U.S. President Harry Truman's Fair Deal legislation.

40 years ago
1969

On television tonight
Dragnet 1970, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Burglary Auto: Juvenile Genius



Died on this date
Fred Hampton, 21; Mark Clark, 22. U.S. activists. Mr. Hampton, chairman of the Illinois branch of the Black Panther party, and Mr. Clark, another Black Panther leader, were killed with a hail of shotgun and pistol fire during a raid on Mr. Hampton’s apartment near the group’s headquarters in Chicago. The police were searching for weapons. The two men and others in the apartment were alleged to all be asleep when the raid took place, and the only shot fired by a Black Panther was said to be from the shotgun held by Mr. Clark, which discharged as he fell after being shot. Mr. Hampton and Mr. Clark were both involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People before being attracted to the Black Panther party. More than 5,000 people attended Mr. Hampton's funeral.

Diplomacy
A communiqué issued at the end of a two-day summit meeting of Warsaw Pact nations in Moscow cautiously praised the new West German government but warned against alleged neo-Nazi and revenge-seeking forces in West Germany.

Abominations
The attorney for U.S. Army Captain Ernest Medina told the press that his client had not ordered a massacre in the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai on March 16, 1968, and refuted an earlier charge by an ex-soldier who said that he had seen Capt. Medina shoot a Vietnamese child.

30 years ago
1979

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution demanding the immediate release of the 50 hostages from the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and their immediate deliverance from Iran.

Politics and government
U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in a paid political television broadcast, officially declared himself a candidate for re-election. He said that he would have deferred his announcement had it not been for filing deadlines set by election laws. Because of the Iranian hostage crisis, Mr. Carter said that he would continue to postpone his campaign travels in order to deal with "an ever-changing situation of the greatest sensitivity and importance."

Crime
Bruce George Peter Lee, 19, set a fire in a house in Hull, East Yorkshire, England, which resulted in the deaths of brothers Charles, Paul, and Peter Hastie. Their mother Edith and brother Thomas survived. When he was questioned by police, Mr. Lee admitted to setting nine more fatal fires over the previous seven years.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): If I Could Turn Back Time--Cher (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): That's What I Like--Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers

Defense
U.S. President George Bush met with NATO leaders in Brussels and reported on his summit with U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev. Mr. Bush pledged a continued U.S. military presence in Europe, and discussed the question of German reunification.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Rose Bird, 63. U.S. judge. Miss Bird was a public defender before being appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California by Governor Jerry Brown serving from 1977-1987 and becoming the Court's first female Justice and first female Chief Justice. Critics accused her of substituting her own ideology for law, especially in death penalty cases, and she was defeated in a reconfirmation election in 1986, becoming the first--and so far, only--California Chief Justice to be voted out of office. She died after a long battle with breast cancer.