November 25, 2010

890 years ago
1120

Died on this date
William Adelin, 17. English royal family member. Prince William, the only legitimate son of King Henry I and Queen Matilda and heir apparent to the throne, perished in the sinking of the White Ship. His death without issue caused a succession crisis, known as the Anarchy. In addition to Prince William, his half-sister Matilda FitzRoy, half-brother Richard of Lincoln, and royal justice Geoffrey Ridel were also among the casualties of the disaster.

Disasters
The English White Ship struck a submerged rock off Barfleur, Normandy in the English Channel and sank, with the loss of all but one life of the approximately 300 people aboard.

500 years ago
1510

War
Portuguese naval forces under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque, and local mercenaries working for privateer Timoji, seized Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate, resulting in 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule.

310 years ago
1700

Died on this date
Stephanus van Cortlandt, 57. American politician. Mr. van Cortlandt was the first Mayor of New York to have been born in the city, holding the office from 1677-1678 and 1686-1688. He was a member of the Governor's Executive Council from 1691-1700.

130 years ago
1880

Died on this date
Mary Dobie, 29. U.K.-born artist. Miss Dobie travelled to the south seas and moved to New Zealand in 1878, painting scenes of her travels. She was confronted in Opunake by a local Maori named Tuhiata, and thought he was going to rob her. When she threatened to report him to the English authorities, he stabbed her in the throat, 27 days before her 30th birthday. Tuhiata was hanged for the murder on December 29, 1880.

110 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Helen Gahagan Douglas. U.S. actress and politician. Mrs. Douglas, the wife of actor Melvyn Douglas, achieved success on Broadway and then in opera in the 1920s and '30s. She went to Hollywood in 1935, starring in the movie She (1935). A Democrat, Mrs. Douglas represented California's 14th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1945-1951). She was the Democratic Party nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in California in 1950, but lost to Republican candidate and Congressman Richard Nixon, who borrowed a line from Mrs. Douglas's Democratic primary opponent Manchester Boddy and said that she was "pink down to her underwear." Mrs. Douglas never ran for office again, but continued to support Democratic party campiagns until her death from breast and lung cancer on June 28, 1980 at the age of 79.

90 years ago
1920

Died on this date
Gaston Chevrolet, 28. French-born U.S. auto racing driver and executive. Mr. Chevrolet, the younger brother of drivers Louis and Arthur Chevrolet, moved to the United States in the 1910s, and became a partner with his brothers in the Frontenac Motor Corporation in 1916. He finished 10th in the 1919 Indianapolis 500, and won the race in 1920. Mr. Chevrolet was killed in a crash on lap 146 of the final race of the American Automobile Association Championship Car Series of 1920, but had accumulated enough points in the five races to win the championship, after finishing third in the series in 1919.

Auto racing
AAA
Roscoe Sarles led 199 of 200 laps and won the 250-mile Thanksgiving Day race on a board track at Los Angeles Motor Speedway in Beverly Hills, California. Gaston Chevrolet and Eddie O'Donnell were involved in a crash on lap 146; Mr. Chevrolet and Mr. O'Donnell's riding mechanics were killed instantly, and Mr. O'Donnell died the next day. It was the last race of the season, with 11 cars in the field.

Football
APFA
Canton (6-2-1) 0 @ Akron (7-0-1) 7
Detroit (2-3-1) 0 @ Dayton (5-1-2) 28
Decatur (9-0-1) 6 @ Chicago Tigers (1-5-1) 0
Tonawanda 14 @ Rochester (5-3-1) 3
Columbus (1-6-2) 0 @ Elyria 0
Hammond (2-5) 0 @ Chicago Boosters 27

Wisconsin professional
Stambaugh Miners 0 @ Green Bay (8-1-1) 14

70 years ago
1940

Abominations
Reports from Warsaw said that effective the following day, approximately 500,000 Warsaw Jews would be forced to live in a ghetto surrounded by an eight-foot concrete wall built by the Germans as a "health measure."

Defense
The U.S.S.R. informed Germany that the Soviet Union was ready to join the Tripartite Pact only if German troops withdrew from Finland; if Germany conceded that Bulgaria was within the Soviet sphere of influence; and if Japan made concessions in Sakhalin. Informed Nazi sources in Berlin said that Bulgaria would not join the Axis "at present." Geoffrey de Havilland took the British combat plane de Havilland Mosquito for its first flight in England. In the United States, Ken Ebel took the bomber Martin B-26 Marauder for its first flight.

Terrorism
The French-built ocean liner SS Patria was sunk in Haifa harbour by a bomb placed by Munya Mardor of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, killing 267 people and injuring 172. There were 1,800 Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe aboard, who were about to be sent to Mauritius because they lacked entry permits to Palestine. The bomb was apparently intended just to prevent the ship from leaving Haifa, and not to kill people, but Haganah claimed to have miscalculated the effects of the bomb.

Diplomacy
The first Inter-Maritime Conference opened in Washington for the purpose of promoting shipping and trade facilities in the Western Hemisphere.

The Marquess of Lothian, the United Kingdom's new Ambassador to the United States, conferred with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull, later telling reporters that Britain expected substantial aid from the U.S. in the next year in the form of credits, warplanes, ships, and munitions.

Politics and government
Paraguayan President Higinio Moríñigo tightened his rule by ousting several opponents from his cabinet and key army positions.

Crime
Rufo Romero, leader of the Philippine Boy Scouts, was convicted by a general court martial in Manila of conspiring to sell military information, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Law
The Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that exclusion of Negroes from a Texas grand jury violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

15 Democratic U.S. Senators joined 19 Republicans in a vote to take up the Logan-Walter Bill, which would increase the authority of the courts to review and set aside the decisions of government boards and agencies.

Labour
American Federation of Labor President William Green said at the AFL convention in New Orleans that no strike "for any reason" should be permitted to interrupt the production of war materials for national defense or for the United Kingdom.

60 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Mona Lisa--Dennis Day; Nat "King" Cole (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Harbor Lights--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Tony Alamo and the Kaydets (Best Seller--2nd week at #1; Jukebox--2nd week at #1); All My Love (Bolero)--Patti Page (Disc Jockey--5th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Harbor Lights--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Tony Alamo and the Kaydets (3rd week at #1)
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby
2 All My Love (Bolero)--Patti Page
--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Bing Crosby
3 Nevertheless (I’m in Love with You)--Paul Weston and his Orchestra
--The Mills Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
4 Thinking of You--Don Cherry
--Eddie Fisher
5 Goodnight Irene--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra and the Weavers
--Frank Sinatra
6 Mona Lisa--Nat "King" Cole
--Victor Young and his Orchestra (Don Cherry, vocal)
--Art Lund
7 A Bushel and a Peck--Perry Como and Betty Hutton
--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
8 Can Anyone Explain? (No, No, No!)--The Ames Brothers
9 La Vie en Rose--Tony Martin
--Bing Crosby
--Edith Piaf
10 Our Lady of Fatima--Richard Hayes and Kitty Kallen
--Red Foley

Singles entering the chart were Oh, Babe!, with versions by Kay Starr; and Louis Prima and Keely Smith (#21); The Tennessee Waltz by Patti Page (#29); and To Think You've Chosen Me by Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (#36).

Died on this date
Johannes V. Jensen, 77. Danish author. Mr. Jensen wrote novels, short stories, plays, poetry, and non-fiction, and was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style." He was an atheist and a believer in Darwinian evolution, and expressed his views on the subject in the six-novel cycle Den lange rejse (The Long Journey) (1908–22).

War
United Nations forces in northwestern Korea encountered strong Communist Chinese forces near Taechon and Unsan.

Politics and government
The new Libyan state authorized by the United Nations General Assembly established an appointive National Constituent Assembly in Tripoli.

Disasters
The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 impacted 22 American states, killing 353 people, injuring over 160, and causing $66.7 million in damages (1950 dollars).

Football
CRU
Grey Cup @ Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Toronto 13 Winnipeg 0

The Canadian Rugby Union neglected to cover the field at Varsity Stadium with a tarpaulin, and a snowfall followed by a thaw turned the field into a quagmire. The resulting game became known as the "Mud Bowl," and was one of the most notorious games in Canadian football history. The field conditions nullified the high-powered passing attack of the Blue Bombers, and Winnipeg quarterback Jack Jacobs completed just 2 of 11 passes for 21 yards before backup Pete Petrow managed slightly more success. All of the scoring took place in the first half. Joe Krol scored the only point of the 1st quarter when he punted into the Winnipeg end zone and Tom Casey was rouged. Mr. Jacobs lost 2 fumbles, and Nick Volpe kicked 2 field goals. A pass interception led to another single by Mr. Krol to make the score 8-0. Jake Dunlap then blocked a punt by Mr. Jacobs to give the Argonauts possession of the ball at the Winnipeg 20-yard line. Quarterback Al Dekdebrun moved the Argonauts to the 1-yard line, from which he sneaked over for the game’s only touchdown. Mr. Volpe’s convert attempt was unsuccessful. Mr. Dekdebrun, who completed 1 of 3 passes for 7 yards early in the game and then refrained from passing, was able to handle the ball in the first half because he’d taped thumb tacks to his fingers. Referee Hec Crighton ordered Mr. Dekdebrun to remove the tacks for the second half. Mr. Crighton also pulled Winnipeg tackle Buddy Tinsley out of a puddle where he had fallen face-first, but Mr. Tinsley always denied that he had been at risk of drowning. 27,101 fans showed up for the spectacle. Frank Clair, in his first year in Canadian football, was the winning head coach, while Frank "Butch" Larson was fired by the Blue Bombers, becoming the first of four consecutive head coaches of western teams to be fired after losing the Grey Cup.



Baseball
Nippon Series
Mainichi Orions 6 @ Shochiku Robins 7 (Mainichi led best-of-seven series 2-1)

The Robins scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to defeat the Orions before 19,399 fans at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya. Shigeo Sanada (1–0) pitched a complete game victory over Atsushi Aramaki (0–1). Yasuji Hondo and Atsushi Aramaki hit home runs for Mainichi.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): It's Now or Never--Elvis Presley (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Patria Mirabal Reyes, 36; Minerva Mirabal Reyes, 34; María Teresa Mirabal Reyes, 25. Dominican political activists. The Mirabal sisters, with their sister Dedé, were opponents of the dictatorial regime of Dominican Republic President Rafael Trujillo in the 1950s, and were involved in clandestine activities against the regime. Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa were on their way home from visiting the incarcerated husbands of two of the sisters when they and their driver, Rufino de la Cruz, were stopped by Mr. Trujillo's secret police henchmen. The four were separated, strangled, clubbed to death, and put back in their Jeep, which was run off the road in an attempt to make the crime look like an accident. The assassinations turned the sisters into symbols of popular resistance, and helped pave the way for Mr. Trujillo's own assassination six months later.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Voodoo Chile--Jimi Hendrix Experience

Died on this date
Yukio Mishima, 45. Japanese author, playwright, and political activist. Mr. Mishima, whose real name was Kimitake Hiraoka, took four members of his Tatenokai (Shield Society)--an 80-man private army he had founded to protect the emperor--to Ichigaya Camp, the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. They tied up the commandant, and Mr. Mishima stepped out on the balcony to deliver a speech to 1,000 soldiers below. Mr. Mishima denounced the "disgrace" of losing World War II, and urged them to support him in a coup d’etat. The soldiers mocked and jeered Mr. Mishima, and Mr. Mishima returned to the commandant’s office and committed the traditional Japanese suicide ritual of seppuku (hara-kiri). A Tatenokai member named Hirosayu Koga ritually beheaded Mr. Mishima. Mr. Mishima’s literary output included 40 novels, 18 plays, 20 books of short stories, and at least 20 books of essays.

Edmontonia
56.4% of 130,000 eligible ratepayers braved below-zero (Fahrenheit) weather to vote on the approval of Omniplex, a proposed domed stadium/arena complex. The proposed bylaws were: 1/to authorize city council to borrow $26.4 million for the building, equipment, and site; 2/to authorize city council to borrow $1.2 million for parking--garage or facility; 3/to authorize a rapid transit pedestrian passageway. Bylaw 1 was defeated by about 54%-46%; bylaw 2 was defeated 57%-43%; and bylaw 3 was defeated 60%-40%.

Politics and government
Julian Kinisky was easily elected to Edmonton’s city council to take the seat that had been held by his mother Julia before her death the previous fall. Mr. Kinisky became the last Edmonton alderman to be elected by the city at large; the ward system was implemented for the 1971 election and all elections thereafter. Future alderman and provincial legislator Percy Wickman finished seventh of nine candidates in the voting.

U.S. President Richard Nixon fired Interior Secretary Walter Hickel because "essential elements of mutual confidence" did not exist between the two, according to the White House. The former Governor of Alaska had been opposed by conservationists upon his nomination to the cabinet post, but he turned out to be a supporter of protection of the environment. Republican National Committee chairman Rogers Morton, a Maryland Congressman, was designated to replace Mr. Hickel.

30 years ago
1980

World events
Upper Voltan President Sangoule Lamizana was overthrown by a group called the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress, led by Colonel Saye Zerbo. Col. Zerbo said that the coup had been necessary because of the political and economic situation of the country, and he guaranteed all individual and group freedoms except that of political activity.

Three more members of the group accused of plotting to assassinate China’s Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976 testified that they had participated in the plot, but Zhang Chunqiao, a member of the "Gang of Four," refused to confess.

Economics and finance
The U.S. government announced that a surge in mortgage rates had pushed consumer prices up 1% in October, and that those prices were 12.6% higher than in October 1979. The average worker was able to buy 6% fewer goods than had been possible a year earlier.

Labour
Miners in Poland struck for two hours, and the trade union movement Solidarity threatened a general strike.

Disasters
The death toll from the previous two days’ earthquakes in southern Italy had risen to more than 1,000, and the estimate of the number of quakes had risen from 7 to 32. Rescue operations continued.

Boxing
Sugar Ray Leonard regained the World Boxing Council world welterweight title in New Orleans with a technical knockout when champion Roberto Duran quit 2:44 into the 8th round, saying "No mas, no mas. No more box."



25 years ago
1985

Crime
Sharon Scranage, an employee of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, was sentenced to five years in prison for giving the names of U.S. intelligence agents in Ghana to a citizen of Ghana.

Ronald Pelton, a former employee of the U.S. National Security Agency, was charged with selling U.S. intelligence secrets to the U.S.S.R.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): To Sir with Love--Ngaire (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: I've Been Thinking About You--Londonbeat (4th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 I've Been Thinking About You--Londonbeat (3rd week at #1)
2 Cult of Snap--Snap!
3 Ich hab' geträumt von dir--Matthias Reim
4 I'm Your Baby Tonight--Whitney Houston
5 Crazy for You--David Hasselhoff
6 The Invisible Man--Dance with a Stranger
7 Tom's Diner--DNA featuring Suzanne Vega
8 Keep on Running--Milli Vanilli
9 The Joker--Steve Miller Band
10 The Anniversary Waltz (Part One)--Status Quo

Singles entering the chart were Keep on Running; Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice (#12); Sadeness Part I by Enigma (#15); and You Gotta Love Someone by Elton John (#25).

Politics and government
In the first round of voting to elect a President of Poland, Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity trade union movement, led with 40%. Stanislaw Tyminski, a businessman who had emigrated to Canada in 1969, was second with 23%. Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki was third of six candidates with 18%. The winner needed to draw more than 50% of the vote, and only the top two candidates were allowed to move on to the second round of voting.

Football
CFL
Grey Cup @ B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver
Winnipeg 50 Edmonton 11

The Blue Bombers recovered 4 Eskimo fumbles and made 3 interceptions and a turnover on downs to win their second Grey Cup in 3 years before 46,968 fans. Winnipeg led 10-0 after the 1st quarter on a 13-yard Trevor Kennerd field goal and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Tom Burgess to Lee Hull, converted by Mr. Kennerd. Ray Macoritti got the Eskimos on the scoreboard with a 56-yard punt single in the 2nd quarter, and kicked a 37-yard field goal with 1 second remaining to reduce Winnipeg’s lead to 10-4 at halftime. The key play of the game occurred at 5:16 of the 3rd quarter when Winnipeg linebacker Greg Battle made a great play for an interception and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown, converted by Mr. Kennerd. The Blue Bombers quickly turned the game into a rout, as Mr. Burgess completed touchdown passes of 5 yards to Perry Tuttle and 18 yards to Warren Hudson, and handed off to Mr. Hudson for a 2-yard touchdown rush on the last play of the 3rd quarter. All were converted by Mr. Kennerd, and Winnipeg led 38-4 after 3 quarters. The only Edmonton touchdown came on a 20-yard pass from Tracy Ham to Larry Willis at 2:34 of the 4th quarter, converted by Mr. Macoritti. James West sacked Mr. Ham in the Edmonton end zone for a safety touch, Mr. Kennerd added a 14-yard field goal, and backup quarterback Danny McManus completed a 56-yard touchdown pass to Rick House, converted by Mr. Kennerd. Mr. Burgess completed 18 of 31 passes for 286 yards, while Mr. McManus was 2 for 2 for 66 yards and Sammy Garza was 1 for 4 for 15 yards and an interception. Mr. Ham completed 20 of 37 passes for 253 yards and led all rushers with 84 yards on 11 carries. Robert Mimbs led the Blue Bombers with 11 carries for 55 yards. Edmonton’s Craig Ellis led all receivers with 8 receptions for 131 yards; Mr. House led the Blue Bombers with 107 yards on 6 receptions. Eight different Eskimos caught at least one pass, while seven different Blue Bombers made at least one reception. Mr. Burgess was named the game’s outstanding offensive player; Mr. Battle was the outstanding defensive player; Mr. Hudson was the outstanding Canadian. The game was the last as a CFL head coach for Winnipeg’s Mike Riley, and was the end of the line for Joe Faragalli with the Eskimos; he was retired a few days later.



10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Hugh Alexander, 83. U.S. baseball player and scout. Mr. Alexander was an outfielder who batted .348 with 28 home runs in 122 games with the Fargo-Moorhead Twins of the Class D Northern League in 1936 and .344 with 29 home runs in 79 games with the Springfield Indians of the Class C Middle Atlantic League in 1937. He played in 7 games with the Cleveland Indians in 1937, batting .091 (1 for 11) with no home runs or runs batted in. Mr. Alexander lost his left hand in an oil-drilling accident after that season and promptly became a scout for the Indians. In a 64-year career with five major league teams, he signed such players as Allie Reynolds, Dale Mitchell, Steve Garvey, Frank Howard, Dave Lopes, and Don Sutton. Mr. Alexander was still active when he died.

Disasters
An earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 7.0 left 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, and became the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years.