October 29, 2011

690 years ago
1321

Died on this date
Stefan Uroš II, 68 (?). King of Serbia, 1282-1321. Stefan Uroš II, the youngest son of King Stefan Uroš I, acceded to the throne of the Nemanjić dynasty upon the abdication of his brother Stefan Dragutin. During his reign, Serbian economic power grew, and he was successful in resisting the efforts of Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII to impose Roman Catholicism on Serbia, resulting in King Stefan Uroš being proclaimed a saint by the Serbian Orthodox Church.

420 years ago
1591

Religion
Cardinal Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti was elected Pope Innocent IX, succeeding Gregory XIV.

300 years ago
1711

Born on this date
Laura Bassi. Italian physicist. Dr. Bassi became the first woman to obtain a doctorate in science, which was awarded by the University of Bologna in 1732. She began teaching at that university a month later, becoming the first salaried female teacher at a university. Dr. Bassi was Italy's most important popularizer of Newtonian physics, and was the University of Bologna's Chairman of Experimental Physics from 1776 until her death on February 20, 1778 at the age of 66.

180 years ago
1831

Born on this date
James Boucaut. U.K.-born Australian politician. Sir James, a native of Cornwall, moved to South Australia with his parents in 1846, and was a lawyer before entering politics. He represented Adelaide (1861-1862); West Adelaide (1865-1868); The Burra (1868-1869); West Torrens (1871-1875); and Encounter Bay (1875-1878) in the South Australian House of Assembly, serving two terms as Attorney General and three terms as Premier of South Australia (1866-1867, 1875-1876, 1877-1878). Sir James left politics in 1878 when he accepted an appointment to the Supreme Court of South Australia, serving on the bench until his retirement. He died on February 1, 1916 at the age of 84.

150 years ago
1861

Born on this date
Andrei Ryabushkin. Russian artist. Mr. Ryabushkin painted scenes of ordinary Russian life in the 17th century. He died of tuberculosis on May 10, 1904 at the age of 42.

140 years ago
1871

Died on this date
Andrea Debono, 49. Maltese trader and explorer. Mr. Debono moved with his family as a young man to Alexandria, and then to Cairo, and finally Khartoum in 1848. In 1851, he adopted the name Latif Effendi and began representing Rustum Pasha Jarkas, Governor-General of Sudan when it was under Egyptian control. Mr. Debono made significant profits in the ivory trade and began exploring the Nile River in the early-mid 1850s, becoming the first European to explore the Sobat River tributary of the White Nile. He was British Consular Agent in Khartoum (1855-1856), but was accused by British Consul John Petherick of involvement in slave trading. All charges were later dropped, but Mr. Debono's reputation was ruined. He returned to Cairo, where he died of a heart attack, nine days before his 50th birthday.

130 years ago
1881

Born on this date
John DeWitt. U.S. athlete. Mr. DeWitt played football at Princeton University (1901-1903) as a guard, kicker, and occasionally as a fullback, earning All-American honours in his last two seasons. He also participated in discus and hammer throw, winning a silver medal in the latter at the 1904 Summer Olympic Games in St. Louis. Mr. DeWitt had a successful business career, but died suddenly aboard a train while commuting from his home in Connecticut to his office in New York City on July 28, 1930 at the age of 48. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1952; veteran college football writer Dan Jenkins named him the winner of a retroactive Heisman Trophy for 1903.

120 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Fanny Brice. U.S. entertainer. Miss Brice, born Fania Borach, was a singer, comedienne, and actress who made many appearances in plays and films, but was perhaps best know for playing the character Baby Snooks on radio from 1937-1951. She died on May 29, 1951 at the age of 59, five days after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, which occurred two days after the latest episode of The Baby Snooks Show. Miss Brice was the subject of the play (1964) and film (1968) Funny Girl, and the film sequel Funny Lady (1975).

110 years ago
1901

Died on this date
Leon Czolgosz, 28. U.S. assassin. Mr. Czolgosz was a factory worker before becoming a socialist and anarchist. On September 6, 1901, he shot U.S. President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo; Mr. McKinley died eight days later. Mr. Czolgosz was charged with first-degree murder on September 16; his trial began in Buffalo on September 23, and he was convicted after just two days. He was executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison.

Crime
Nurse Jane Toppan was arrested in Amherst, Massachusetts for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.

100 years ago
1911

Died on this date
Joseph Pulitzer, 64. Hungarian-born U.S. publisher and politician. Mr. Pulitzer emigrated to the United States at the age of 17, served with the Union Army in the Union Army in the American Civil War, becoming an American citizen in 1867. He was briefly a lawyer and represented the 5th St. Louis District in the Missouri House of Representatives (January-March 1870), beginning his journalistic career in St. Louis in the late 1860s with the German-language newspaper Westliche Post. Mr. Pulitzer bought the St. Louis Dispatch in December 1878 and merged it with the St. Louis Post, promptly merging them into the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1883, he bought the New York World from railroad magnate Jay Gould, using his papers to pioneer yellow journalism, emphasizing gossip, sex, violence, and crime. Mr. Pulitzer, originally a Republican, switched his allegiance to the Democratic Party in 1874, and represented New York's 9th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1885-1886). His health declined over many years, and he died aboard his yacht in Charleston, South Carolina while on the way to his winter home on Jekyll Island, Georgia. Mr. Pulitzer bequeathed $2 million to Columbia University, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism was founded in 1912. The school founded the Pulitzer Prizes in 1917, originally just for journalism, and later expanded to literature, poetry, history, music, and drama.

90 years ago
1921

Football
CRU
ARU
The game between the Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Tigers, scheduled to be played at Hillhurst Park in Calgary, was cancelled. The Eskimos had beaten the Tigers 72-2 on October 1 in Edmonton, and the Tigers apparently weren't enthusiastic about playing them again. The Eskimos' record currently stood at 3-0, while the Tigers were 1-1.

NCAA
Centre College 6 @ Harvard 0

The Praying Colonels of Centre College from Danville, Kentucky ended the Crimson's 25-game winning streak at Cambridge, Massachusetts in the "upset of the century."

80 years ago
1931

Baseball
Philadelphia Athletics' pitcher Lefty Grove was named the Most Valuable Player in the American League for 1931. He posted a record of 31-4, leading the AL in wins; winning percentage (.886); complete games (27); strikeouts (175); shutouts (4); and earned run average (2.05) in helping the Athletics win their third straight American League pennant.

75 years ago
1936

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Louis Hector and Harry West, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Haunted Bagpipes

70 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Harvey Hendrick, 43. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Hendrick played football and baseball at Vanderbilt University before playing first base and outfield with seven major league teams from 1923-1934, batting .308 with 48 home runs and 413 runs batted in in 922 games. His best season was 1929, when he batted .354 with 14 homers and 82 RBIs with the Brooklyn Robins. As a rookie in 1923, Mr. Hendrick was a member of the New York Yankees when they won their first World Series championship, and batted 0 for 1 in the World Series. Mr. Hendrick committed suicide by shooting himself, 11 days before his 44th birthday.

War
The German command announced that its forces had broken through Soviet defenses and entered the Crimean Peninsula after a battle lasting from October 18-28. U.S. Navy Secretary Frank Knox announced that the destroyer USS Kearny had been struck on October 17 by one of three torpedoes after she had dropped depth bombs on a submarine attacking a convoy west of Iceland.

Abominations
In a massacre known as the "Great Action," over 10,000 Jews were shot by German occupiers at the Ninth Fort in the Kaunas Ghetto in Lithuania.

Terrorism
The U.S. Justice Department announced the arrest of William Michael Etzel by federal agents in Baltimore on charges of sabotaging bombers at the Glenn L. Martin Company. Mr. Etzel was of German ancestry.

Politics and government
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Charles Fahy to succeed Francis Biddle as U.S. Solicitor General.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Export-Import Bank announced that it would offer more than $70 million monthly to Latin American importers to finance purchases in the United States.

Labour
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt conferred at the White House with Congress of Industrial Organizations United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis and asked Mr. Lewis to reopen struck coal mines pending consideration of the UMW's union shop demand by the National Defense Mediation Board.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers signed contracts in New York permitting the NBC and CBS radio networks to use its songs for the first time since January 1, 1941.

60 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Veil, starring Lee J. Cobb and Arlene Francis



Died on this date
J.L.F.M. de Raymond. French diplomat. Jean Louis Francois Marie de Raymond, France's commissioner in Cambodia, was stabbed to death while asleep by a member of a Communist terror cell.

Diplomacy
U.K. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden recalled Ambassador to Iran Sir Francis Shepherd to London for consultations.

Defense
The U.S. Defense Department reported that it had bought or ordered $62.9 billion worth of weapons and equipment since the beginning of the Korean War, compared to $13.2 billion in the 12 months preceding the conflict.

France offered to furnish 100,000 Berber tribesmen from French Morocco as NATO troops, calling for U.S. political support in Morocco.

Religion
Pope Pius XII, addressing Italian obstetricians, urged doctors and midwives to oppose abortion (even to save a mother's life), sterlization, contraception, and artificial insemination.

50 years ago
1961

Died on this date
Astrid Holm, 68. Danish actress. Mrs. Holm, born Astrid Rasmussen, appeared in plays from the 1910s through the 1940s, and movies in the 1910s and '20s. Her films included Körkarlen (The Phantom Carriage) (1921) and Du skal ære din hustru (Master of the House) (1925). Mrs. Holm died after years of declining health.

Football
CFL
Montreal (3-9-1) 9 @ Toronto (7-5-1) 15

NFL
Chicago (5-2) 21 @ Baltimore (3-4) 20
Cleveland (5-2) 21 @ St. Louis (3-4) 10
Dallas (4-3) 17 @ New York (5-2) 16
Detroit (4-3) 28 @ Los Angeles (1-6) 10
Minnesota (1-6) 10 @ Green Bay (6-1) 28
Philadelphia (6-1) 27 @ Washington (0-7) 24
San Francisco (4-3) 10 @ Pittsburgh (2-5) 20

AFL
Denver (3-5) 0 @ San Diego (8-0) 37
New York (4-3) 14 @ Oakland (1-6) 6
Boston (4-3-1) 18 @ Dallas (3-4) 17
Houston (3-3-1) 28 @ Buffalo (3-5) 16

Baseball
Nippon Series
Nankai Hawks 3 @ Yomiuri Giants 4 (Yomiuri led best-of-seven series 3-1)

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): L'Amour est l'Enfante de la Liberte--Rumour (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Borriquito--Peret (2nd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Mammy Blue--Charisma (2nd week at #1)
2 Never Ending Song of Love--The New Seekers
3 You--Peter Maffay
4 Butterfly--Danyel Gerard
5 Co-Co--The Sweet
6 Daar's Niks Soos Ware Liefde--Groep Twee
7 Silver Threads and Golden Needles--Barbara Ray
8 Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum--Middle of the Road
9 Tom Tom Turnaround--New World
10 Hey--Hedgehoppers Anonymous

Singles entering the chart were Get Me Some Help by Neville Whitmill (#19); and What are You Doing Sunday by Dawn (#20).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves--Cher
2 Theme from Shaft--Isaac Hayes
3 Yo-Yo--The Osmonds
4 Peace Train--Cat Stevens
5 Birds of a Feather--Raiders
6 The Desiderata--Les Crane
7 I've Found Someone of My Own--The Free Movement
8 Only You Know and I Know--Delaney & Bonnie
9 Superstar--Carpenters
10 Imagine--John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Singles entering the chart were Two Divided by Love by the Grass Roots (#24); Trapped by a Thing Called Love by Denise LaSalle (#28); Rock Steady by Aretha Franklin (#29); and Do I Love You by Paul Anka (#30).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKVN)
1 Theme from Shaft--Isaac Hayes
2 Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves--Cher
3 Mammy Blue--Pop-Tops
4 If You Really Love Me--Stevie Wonder
5 Peace Train--Cat Stevens
6 Imagine--John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
7 I've Found Someone of My Own--The Free Movement
8 Down by the River--Joey Gregorash
9 What are You Doing Sunday--Dawn
10 Birds of a Feather--Raiders

Singles entering the chart were It's a Cryin' Shame by Gayle McCormick (#33); Lovin' You Ain't Easy by Pagliaro (#34); Everybody's Everything by Santana (#35); I Believe in You by Rita Coolidge (#39); and That Girl Becomes a Woman by Michael Vincent (#40).

Died on this date
Arne Tiselius, 69. Swedish biochemist. Dr. Tiselius was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his research on electrophoresis and adsorption analysis, especially for his discoveries concerning the complex nature of the serum proteins." He died of a heart attack.

A.C. Valdez, Jr., 55. U.S. evangelist. Alfred Clarence Valdez was the son of Pentecostal evangelist Adolpho Clarence Valdez, who was usually referred to as A.C. Valdez, Sr. A.C., Jr. worked with his father at Trinity Tabernacle in Phoenix, and became a travelling faith healer after the "healing movement" broke out in 1948. He was involved with the Voice of Healing organization in the early 1950s, but ran into trouble when a couple in Winnipeg killed their 7-year-old foster daughter while following his teachings. Mr. Valdez then toured Europe before conducting meetings in Milwaukee in the fall of 1953. He received such an enthusiastic reception that he decided to make the Wisconsin city his home base, founding the Milwaukee Evangelistic Temple in 1954. Mr. Valdez became known as the "Flying Evangelist" for his practice of occasionally holding services on planes. In 1970 Mr. Valdez, Jr. fell ill, and R.W. Culpepper took over the ministry of his church (which, of course, makes the reader wonder why Mr. Valdez, Jr. wasn't able to heal himself). In July 1971 A.C. Valdez, Jr. petitioned for bankruptcy in Federal Court in Milwaukee, but died of a heart attack three months later. A.C., Sr. and Mr. Culpepper attempted to keep the church going, but it closed a few years later. A.C. Valdez, Sr. died on February 12, 1981 at the age of 84.

Duane Allman, 24. U.S. musician. Mr. Allman was a Southen rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who performed with his younger brother Gregg in several bands in the 1960s before forming the Allman Brothers Band in 1969. Duane was known as the best slide guitarist of his era, playing not only with his own band, but as a session player with other artists. He contributed greatly to the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominoes (1970). Mr. Allman died several hours after suffering serious injuries in a motorcycle crash in Macon, Georgia.

Politics and government
Finnish Prime Minister Ahti Karjalainen and his centre-left coalition government resigned, and a caretaker government headed by Teuvo Auro was appointed by President Urho Kekkonen.

Protest
More than 10,000 people demonstrated in Montreal in support of locked-out employees of the newspaper La Presse. The rally was organized by the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), la Fédération des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ), and the Corporation des enseignants du Québec (CEQ). One woman at the rally died from suffocation.

Journalism
The English-language Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph decided to publish weekly instead of daily.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate voted 41-27 to refuse to authorize the continuation of U.S. foreign aid. It was the first Senate rejection of such aid in more than 20 years.

Boxing
George Foreman (32-0) scored a knockout over Luis Pires (18-8-1) when Mr. Pires retired after the 4th round of their heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.



30 years ago
1981

Hit parade
Edmonton's Top 10 (CFRN)
1 More to Love--Jim Photoglo (5th week at #1)
2 We're in this Love Together--Al Jarreau
3 Arthur's Theme (Best that You Can Do)--Christopher Cross
4 Hard to Say--Dan Fogelberg
5 Physical--Olivia Newton-John
6 When She was My Girl--Four Tops
7 Alien--Atlanta Rhythm Section
8 Private Eyes--Daryl Hall & John Oates
9 Here I Am--Air Supply
10 (You'll Always Find Me) In the Kitchen at Parties--Jona Lewie

20 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Mario Scelba, 90. Prime Minister of Italy, 1954-1955. Mr. Scelba was an early member of Christian Democracy in the 1940s, and served as Minister of Mails and Communications (1945-1947) and Minister of the Interior (1947-1953, 1954-1955, 1960-1962). He was known for his law and order and anti-Communist policies, and successfully reorganized the Italian police force. Mr. Scelba was Prime Minister from February 1954-July 1955, but a couple of scandals and intraparty machinations led to his resignation. He was a Member of the European Parliament (1960-1979), and was its President (1969-1971). Mr. Scelba died from a thrombosis.

Space
The American Galileo probe made its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid.

Disasters
Fire destroyed the Yale Hotel in Grand Forks, British Columbia.

10 years ago
2001

Television
Los Angeles TV station KTLA originated the first coast to coast high-definition telecast.