August 20, 2010

300 years ago
1710

War
A multinational army led by Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg defeated the Spanish-Bourbon army commanded by Alexandre Maître, Marquis de Bay in the Battle of Saragossa.

150 years ago
1860

Born on this date
Raymond Poincaré. 10th President of France, 1913-1920; Prime Minister of France, 1912-1913, 1922-1924, 1926-1929. Mr. Poincaré co-founded the Democratic Republican Alliance in 1902. He was known for his anti-German attitude, and favoured French military occupation of the Rhineland, which he enacted as Prime Minister in 1923. Mr. Poincaré died on October 15, 1934 at the age of 74.

130 years ago
1880

Baseball
Jim Galvin pitched a no-hitter for the Buffalo Bisons as they edged the Worcester Brown Stockings 1-0 at Agricultural County Fair Grounds in Worcester.

120 years ago
1890

Born on this date
H. P. Lovecraft. U.S. author. Mr. Lovecraft was known for his horror stories, published in magazines such as Weird Tales. His stories often emphasized the irrelevance of man in the face of cosmic evils in the universe, including the deity created by Mr. Lovecraft, known as Cthulhu. Mr. Lovecraft, as is so often the case, didn't become famous until after his death from stomach cancer at the age of 46 on March 15, 1937.

110 years ago
1900

Baseball
Cy Young of the St. Louis Cardinals was knocked out of the box in a 15-7 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, then charged into the stands after a heckler who had accused him of quitting on the team.

100 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Eero Saarinen. Finnish-born U.S. architect and furniture designer. Mr. Saarinen moved with his family to the United States at the age of 13, and became an American citizen in 1940. His works included Washington Dulles International Airport and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, as well as the tulip chair and other futuristic furniture. Mr. Saarinen died while undergoing surgery for a brain tumour on September 1, 1961, 12 days after his 51st birthday.

Disasters
Extreme fire weather in the Inland Northwest of the United States caused many small wildfires to coalesce into the Great Fire of 1910, burning approximately 3 million acres (12,000 square kilometres) and killing 87 people.

90 years ago
1920

Radio
The first commercial radio station, 8MK (now WWJ), began operations in Detroit.

Football
APFC
Representatives of the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, and Dayton Triangles met at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio, and formed the American Professional Football Conference, intended to "raise the standard of professional football in every way possible, to eliminate bidding for players between rival clubs and to secure cooperation in the formation of schedules." A subsequent meeting was held on September 17, resulting in a change of name to American Professional Football Association (APFA).

Baseball
Shoeless Joe Jackson singled home 2-runs in a 4-run 1st inning and hit a 3-run home run in the 7th to help the Chicago White Sox defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 7-4 in the first game of a doubleheader at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The White Sox were leading the second game 5-2 with 2 out in the 9th inning when the crowd surged onto the field, thinking that a ground ball--ruled foul--had ended the game. A forfeit was declared in favour of the White Sox to complete the sweep, moving the White Sox into a virtual tie with the Cleveland Indians for first place in the American League, 5 percentage points behind Cleveland. Red Faber (18-8) and Dickie Kerr (15-5) pitched respective complete game victories, with Slim Harriss (7-10) and Scott Perry (10-20) taking the respective losses.

The Cincinnati Reds scored 5 runs in the 5th inning of a 10-3 win over the Brooklyn Robins before 10,000 fans at Redland Field, moving 2 games ahead of the second-place Robins in the National League pennant race. Cincinnati center fielder Edd Roush batted 4 for 5 with a triple and 3 runs. Winning pitcher Dolf Luque (11-7) allowed 7 hits and 1 run--earned--in 8 innings, and batted 1 for 3 with a base on balls and a double.

Dots Miller singled home Bevo LeBourveau and Irish Meusel with 2 out in the top of the 11th inning to break a 2-2 tie as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Huck Betts (1-0) pitched a 5-hit complete game for his first major league win, with Elmer Ponder (8-10) allowing 6 hits and 3 earned runs in taking the loss.

75 years ago
1935

Baseball
The Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics 13-4 and 11-4. Jock Conlin batted 7 for 8 in the 2 games for the White Sox, while Luke Sewell drove in 5 runs for Chicago in the second game, 4 coming on a grand slam. Jimmie Foxx hit a home run in each game for the Athletics.

70 years ago
1940

War
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the House of Commons and praised the Royal Air Force's performance in the Battle of Britain, saying, "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few." He reiterated British determination to enforce a strict blockade against all countries under German control, including France. Mr. Churchill also announced that the U.K. was willing to lease the U.S. defense facilities in the West Indies in Newfoundland. Italian Duce Benito Mussolini announced a "total blockade" of all British possessions in the Mediterranean and Africa. Japanese incendiary bombs destroyed an estimated 25,000 homes in Chungking.

Defense
U.S. Army General George Marshall said that a U.S. army of four million was required for adequate defense of the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee approved the registration procedures of the Burke-Wadsworth bill.

World events
Exiled Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky was wounded with an ice pick by Ramón Mercader in Mexico City.

Politics and government
The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Chicago Daily News announced their support of Republican Party candidate Wendell Willkie for President of the United States in the November 1940 election. President Franklin D. Roosevelt claimed that he was too busy to engage Mr. Willkie in a series of public debates as part of the presidential campaign.

Business
A joint statement issued by Douglas, Lockheed, Consolidated, Boeing, and Vultee aircraft companies asked the U.S. government to discuss excess profits at a later time.

Baseball
The Cleveland Indians scored 7 runs in the 8th inning as they defeated the Boston Red Sox 11-6 before 20,200 fans at Fenway Park in Boston. The 8th-inning outburst allowed Bob Feller to be the winning pitcher, improving his record for the season to 22-6 despite allowing 10 hits and 5 runs--all earned--in 7 innings.

The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers 4-3 and 4-2 before 30,346 fans at Yankee Stadium, with Red Ruffing (12-8) and Ernie Bonham (2-2) the respective winning pitchers.

The Chicago White Sox scored 5 runs in the 9th inning to defeat the Philadelphia Athletics 6-1 in the first game of a doubleheader before 5,500 fans at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, but Wally Moses stole home in the 10th inning of the second game to give the Athletics a 4-3 win.

60 years ago
1950

War
United Nations forces repelled an attempt by North Korea to capture the temporary South Korean capital of Taegu.

Diplomacy
The United Kingdom, United States, and Australia asked the United Nations General Assembly to investigate charges that the U.S.S.R. had deliberately detained hundreds of thousands of German and Japanese prisoners of war.

Defense
Iraq agreed to sign the Arab League's collective security pact.

Politics and government
South Korea protested proposals to make North Korea a United Nations trust territory, stating it did "not accept the validity of the 38th Parallel as a military, political or economic concept."

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Clap Your Hands--The Beau-Marks

#1 single in Italy: Il nostro concerto--Umberto Bindi (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Milord--Dalida (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Apache--The Shadows

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 It's Now or Never--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)
2 Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini--Brian Hyland
3 Walk - Don't Run--The Ventures
4 I'm Sorry--Brenda Lee
5 The Twist--Chubby Checker
6 Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel)--Roy Orbison
7 Finger Poppin' Time--Hank Ballard
8 Volare--Bobby Rydell
9 Feel So Fine--Johnny Preston
10 Please Help Me, I'm Falling--Hank Locklin

Singles entering the chart were My Love for You by Johnny Mathis (#83); Pineapple Princess by Annette with the Afterbeats (#90); Run Samson Run by Neil Sedaka (#93); Chain Gang by Sam Cooke (#95); Swingin' Down the Lane by Jerry Wallace (#97); You're Looking Good by Dee Clark (#100); Devil or Angel by Bobby Vee (also #100); and One Wonderful Love by Ray Smith (also #100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Storm Clouds--Buddy Knox
2 The Twist--Chubby Checker
3 It's Now or Never--Elvis Presley
4 No--Dodie Stevens
5 Cool Water--Jack Scott
6 The Blamers--Les Vogt
7 A Teenager Feels it Too--Denny Reed
8 Yogi--The Ivy Three
9 Hot Rod Lincoln--Johnny Bond
10 Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel)--Roy Orbison

Singles entering the chart were Let's Have a Party by Wanda Jackson (#16); Come Back to Me (My Love) by Mark Dinning (#33); I Love You in the Same Old Way by Paul Anka (#36); Stranger from Durango by Richie Allen (#39); My Heart Has a Mind of its Own by Connie Francis (#40); Strawberry Kisses by Gini Hayes (#42); Anymore by Teresa Brewer (#44); Sons and Lovers by Percy Faith and his Orchestra (#45); A Million to One by Jimmy Charles and the Reveletts (#46); Miller's Cave by Hank Snow (#48); Candy Sweet by Pat Boone (#49); and La Bamba by the Carlos Brothers (#50).Come Back to Me (My Love) was the B-side of The Lovin' Touch, which was not on the chart.

Space
The Soviet satellite Sputnik 5, with dogs Belka and Strelka aboard, came down the day after its launch. Its purpose was to test life support systems on re-entry, and the dogs survived nicely.

Football
CFL
EFC
Ottawa (1-1) 35 @ Hamilton (0-2) 6

WIFU
Saskatchewan (0-1-1) 12 @ British Columbia (1-2) 27

18,500 at Civic Stadium saw Angelo Mosca play his first game for the Rough Riders after being let go by the Tiger-Cats.

29,532 were in attendance at Empire Stadium in Vancouver to see the Lions defeat the Roughriders.

40 years ago
1970

Scandal
English soccer captain Bobby Moore was granted "unconditional freedom" by the Bogota Superior Court in Colombia of stealing an emerald bracelet in Bogota the previous month.

Crime
A Berkeley, California policeman was shot and killed by an unknown gunman while writing a ticket. It was the third murder of a policeman in the San Francisco Bay area in two months.

Weather
It rained in Yellowknife for the second straight year on this date.

Disasters
Tropical storm Dorothy hit the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Dominica, leaving at least 43 dead, hundreds injured, and 650 homeless. Guadeloupe’s banana crop was also demolished.

Four French sailors were killed, several were injured, and two were missing when French and South African submarines collided in the Mediterranean Sea off Toulon, France.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (1-4) 14 @ Toronto (2-1) 16
Calgary (3-2) 13 @ British Columbia (3-2) 27

The Argonauts stopped the Eskimos three times from inside the Toronto 3-yard line and barely withstood a late Edmonton rally to hold on before the usual sellout crowd of 33,135 at CNE Stadium. Don Jonas, who alternated at quarterback for the Argonauts with Tom Wilkinson, threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tom Bland in the 1st quarter. Mr. Wilkinson completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jim Thorpe in the 2nd quarter. Mr. Jonas converted both touchdowns and added a single on a missed field goal in the 3rd quarter. Dave Mann punted 66 yards for a single for the other Toronto point. Edmonton quarterback Don Trull threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Tom Nettles in the 2nd quarter, converted by Dave Cutler. Late in the game, with the Argonauts leading 16-7, the Eskimo defense stopped the Argonauts on a third-down gamble at the Edmonton 21-yard line. Mr. Trull completed a pass to Mr. Nettles for 68 yards to the Toronto 21-yard line. Several plays later, Mr. Trull sneaked over for the touchdown from 1 yard, converted by Mr. Cutler. Tight end Sam Campbell, playing his fifth and final CFL game, recovered a short kickoff at the Toronto 48. On the final play of the game, Mr. Cutler’s 53-yard field goal attempt fell short of the goal line.

Jim Evenson and A.D. Whitfield each rushed for a touchdown and Ted Gerela kicked 2 converts, 4 field goals (including kicks from 46, 52, and 38 yards), and a single before 35,627 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The B.C. defense contributed 4 interceptions and stopped the Stampeders twice on third-down gambles. Larry Robinson kicked 2 field goals for the Stampeders and converted Calgary’s only touchdown, a 3-yard rush by Hugh McKinnis in the 4th quarter. Wayne Holm, who had played university football at Simon Fraser University in nearby Burnaby, replaced Jerry Keeling at quarterback for the Stampeders late in the game and threw 1 incomplete pass. It was the only time that Mr. Holm ever played quarterback in a regular season game in his CFL career.

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (Hot Press): Xanadu--Olivia Newton John/Electric Light Orchestra (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Al Hermann, 81. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Hermann was an infielder with the Boston Braves (1923-1924), batting .234 with no home runs and 11 runs batted in in 32 games. He played at least 579 games in at least 7 seasons in the minor leagues (1924-1930).

Joe Dassin, 41. U.S.-born French musician. Mr. Dassin, the son of movie director Jules Dassin, was a singer-songwriter who released almost 70 singles and more than a dozen albums from the mid-1960s until his death from a heart attack while on vacation in Tahiti.

Protest
The Communist government of Poland attempted to break the solidarity of striking workers, arresting leaders of the Social Self Defense Committee (KOR), a dissident group that had supported the strikes. The government also began offering wage settlements to striking factories on an individual basis. Unrest was continuing to spread outside the Baltic region.

Diplomacy
U.S. Republican Party vice presidential candidate George Bush began a three-day visit to China, during which he told the Chinese leaders that Mr. Reagan would not renew official U.S. ties with Taiwan, which China regarded as a province of theirs rather than as an independent country--the same view held by the United States since the establishment of full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China on January 1, 1979.

Adventure
Reinhold Messner of Italy made the first successful solo ascent of Mount Everest and without oxygen.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (2-4) 34 @ Hamilton (3-3) 13
British Columbia (4-2) 31 @ Saskatchewan (1-5) 21

The Blue Bombers made 5 interceptions as they came back from a 10-0 deficit to defeat the Tiger-Cats before 24,152 fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium. Dieter Brock threw 47 yards to Mike Holmes for the first Winnipeg touchdown, and the Blue Bombers put the game away with 2 touchdowns in the last 3 minutes of the game on an 8-yard rush by William Miller and a 62-yard punt return by Robert Woods. Hamilton quarterback Dave Marler scored the Tiger-Cats’ only touchdown on a 6-yard rush late in the 1st quarter. It was the final CFL game for former punting leader Gerald Kunyk, who had been activated by Winnipeg head coach Ray Jauch to replace rookie Bob Cameron. Mr. Kunyk averaged just 34.9 yards per punt on 8 punts, and Mr. Cameron resumed the position and kept it for the next 23 years. It was also the final CFL appearance for Leo Lewis III, who had been dropped after 5 games with the Calgary Stampeders. Activated by the Tiger-Cats, he caught 1 pass for 9 yards, returned 4 punts for 30, and returned 2 kickoffs for 36. Winnipeg rookie defensive end Jeff Henry returned a fumble 19 yards but broke his ankle when tackled, and never played again.

Rookie quarterback Roy Dewalt threw touchdown passes to Al Charuk and Leon Bright to lead the Lions to their win in front of 25,124 at Taylor Field in Regina. Don Taylor rushed 6 yards for the other B.C. touchdown. Saskatchewan quarterback John Hufnagel threw 2 touchdown passes to Dwight Edwards, who finished with 5 receptions for 108 yards. Jim Washington led the Roughriders with 14 rushes for 91 yards, and added 70 yards on 4 pass receptions. Judge Thomas added 42 yards for the Roughriders on 13 carries.

Baseball
Tom Brookens batted 5 for 5 with a home run and triple, and started a 5-4-3 triple play to lead the Detroit Tigers to an 8-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers before 20,520 fans at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Jerry Ujdur (1-0) allowed 8 hits and 3 runs--2 earned--in 6+ innings to get his first major league win.

George Brett batted 3 for 3 with 3 bases on balls, a home run, 2 runs, and 2 runs batted in to raise his batting average to .406 as the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 in 12 innings before 16,996 fans at Arlington Stadium. The Royals broke a 3-3 tie in the 12th inning, wih Mr. Brett scoring the final run on a wild pitch.

Dan Spillner (11-9) of the Cleveland Indians came within 2 outs of a no-hitter, giving up a single to Leo Sutherland with 1 out in the 9th inning, as the Indians blanked the Chicago White Sox 3-0 before 8,696 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

Dennis Eckersley (9-11) had a no-hitter for 7 innings and finished with a 2-hitter, but lost 2-1 to the Oakland Athletics before 7,569 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mitchell Page singled to lead off the bottom of the 7th inning, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by Boston catcher Carlton Fisk, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wayne Gross to tie the game. Mario Guerrero hit his 7th and last career major league home run with 1 out in the 8th to break the 1-1 tie. Winning pitcher Mike Norris (17-7) pitched a 10-hit complete game, with 2 wild pitches and 2 balks.

John Lowenstein drew a base on balls to lead off the top of the 10th inning, stole second base, advanced to third on an outfield fly, and scored on a 2-out single by Doug DeCinces to break a 5-5 tie as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the California Angels 6-5 before 27,013 fans at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to send the game into extra innings.

The Atlanta Braves scored 7 runs in the 1st inning en route to a 9-5 win over the Chicago Cubs before 7,549 fans at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

Dan Driessen scored Cesar Geronimo with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Cincinnati Reds a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals before 30,013 fans at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Mr. Geronimo led off the inning with a line drive off the leg of pitcher Don Hood, and was credited with an infield single.

25 years ago
1985

Baseball
Dwight Gooden struck out 16 batters, increasing his strikeout total for the season to 208, as the New York Mets blanked the San Francisco Giants 5-0. The win was Mr. Gooden’s 13th straight and improved his record for the season to 19-3. He became just the second pitcher in major league history (Herb Score of the Cleveland Indians in 1955 and '56 was the first) to strike out 200 or more batters in each of his first 2 seasons.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Odoru Pompokolin--(おどるポンポコリン)--B.B.Queens (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Verdammt, Ich Lieb' Dich--Matthias Reim (14th week at #1)

Protest
The Canadian Armed Forces moved to dismantle barricades on the Mercier Bridge south of Montreal put up by Mohawks, after three days of rioting by South Shore residents against the police.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (4-3) 36 @ British Columbia (2-4-1) 34

B.C. kicker and punter Lui Passaglia scored 10 points to increase his CFL career points total to 2,244--breaking Dave Cutler’s record--but missed 3 of 4 field goal attempt, including a 34-yard attempt on the last play of the game that would have sent the game into overtime. Hamilton kicker Paul Osbaldiston, a former teammate of Mr. Passaglia’s kicked 5 field goals and 3 converts for the Tiger-Cats. Much of the action came in the last 5 minutes. B.C. quarterback Doug Flutie rushed 10 yards for a touchdown, converted by Mr. Passaglia, to give the Lions a 30-26 lead with 4:46 remaining in regulation time. With 2:50 remaining, Mr. Osbaldiston kicked a 49-yard field goal to reduce the lead to 30-29. The Lions came back with Mr. Passaglia’s 26-yard field goal 1:07 later to increase their lead to 33-29. Hamilton quarterback Mike Kerrigan then drove the Tiger-Cats downfield and threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Richard Nurse. Mr. Osbaldiston’s convert gave the Tiger-Cats a 36-33 lead with 24 seconds left. Mr. Flutie brought the Lions back, setting them up for Mr. Passaglia’s kick on the last play. Derrick McAdoo rushed 1 yard for the first Hamilton touchdown, and Lee Knight scored on a 20-yard pass from Mr. Kerrigan. Joe Paopao started at quarterback for the Lions and threw touchdown passes to Larry Willis and Ray Alexander. Mr. Alexander also scored on a pass from Mr. Flutie. Mr. Kerrigan finished with 26 completions in 46 passes for 396 yards. Mr. Knight led all receivers with 9 catches for 153 yards. 32,699 fans witnessed the action at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver.



10 years ago
2000

Golf
Tiger Woods edged Bob May by 1 stroke in a 3-hole playoff to win the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. The two were tied after 4 rounds with 18-under-par total scores of 270. It was Mr. Woods’ third straight win in a major tournament. First prize money was $900,000.