November 15, 2011

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Ken Powless!

320 years ago
1691

Died on this date
Aelbert Cuyp, 71. Dutch artist. Mr. Cuyp was a landscape painter during the Dutch Golden Age who was known for his large views of Dutch riverside scenes in a golden early morning or late afternoon light. He died 26 days after his 71st birthday.

250 years ago
1761

Died on this date
Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne, 58; Pierre Robineau de Portneuf, 53; Charles-René Dejordy de Villebon, 46. French military officers. Chevalier de la Corne, Sieur de Portneuf, and Ensign Dejordy de Villebon were being exiled to France following the fall of New France, and were among the casualties of the ship Auguste when it sank off the coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye, 44. Canadian explorer and trader. Mr. La Vérendrye, his three brothers, and father Pierre pushed the fur trade and exploration west from the Great Lakes. The La Vérendrye brothers and two colleagues were thought to be the the first Europeans to have crossed the northern Great Plains and seen the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye was six days past his 44th birthday when became one of the casualties of the Auguste.



Disasters
The British ship Auguste, en route from Montreal to France with a load of exiles from the fall of New France, sank at Aspy Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia during a gale, with the loss of 114 of her 121 passengers and crew members.

220 years ago
1791

Academia
Georgetown University, the first Roman Catholic college in the United States, opened in Georgetown, D.C.

150 years ago
1861

Journalism
Dunedin became the first New Zealand town with a daily newspaper when the first edition of the Otago Daily Times was published.

130 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Franklin P. Adams. U.S. journalist and author. Mr. Adams was a newspaper humour columnist who began his career in Chicago before moving to New York. His column The Conning Tower was published in several New York newspapers from 1913-1941, and often featured contributions from members of the Algonquin Round Table, of which Mr. Adams was a member. He was a panelist on the radio program Information Please (1938-1948), but his health declined in the 1950s, and he died on March 23, 1960 at the age of 78, after a long illness. Mr. Adams may be best remembered for his poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon (1910), celebrating the Chicago Cubs' double play combo of Tinker to Evers to Chance.

Labour
The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada was founded in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; it became the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886. Some Canadian branch unions were members.

120 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Erwin Rommel. German military officer. Field Marshal Rommel was popularly known as "The Desert Fox" because of his leadership of German and Italian forces in the North Africa campaign during World War II. He was linked to the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt to assassinate German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler, and elected the least objectionable option of committing suicide by taking a cyanide pill on October 14, 1944 at the age of 52.

W. Averell Harriman. U.S. politician and diplomat. Mr. Harriman, a Democrat, was U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the administration of President Harry Truman from 1946-1948, and was Governor of New York from 1955-1959. He held several diplomatic posts, and was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's special envoy to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II. Mr. Harriman died on July 26, 1986 at the age of 94.

80 years ago
1931

Football
NFL
Chicago Bears (5-3) 12 @ New York (5-4) 6
Cleveland (2-5) 6 @ Portsmouth (10-2) 14
Staten Island (2-6-1) 0 @ Providence (3-3-2) 6
Green Bay (9-1) 13 @ Chicago Cardinals (3-3) 21

70 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Piano Concerto in B Flat--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (7th week at #1)

War
Moscow radio reported that 20 boatloads of German troops attempting a surprise landing in the Murmansk coast in the far north of Russia had been sunk. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced in Ottawa that a Canadian force commanded by Brigadier J.K. Lawson had arrived in Hong Kong. Five U.S. Congressmen left New York for the United Kingdom to study war conditions.

Diplomacy
Special Japanese envoy Saburo Kurusu said upon his arrival in Washington, "I think I have a fighting chance to make a success of my mission."

Defense
Philippine President Manuel Quezon said in Manila that the Philippines would fully cooperate with the United States "to save democracy and banish the totalitarians from the face of the Earth."

Football
CRU
ERFU
Finals
Ottawa 10 @ Toronto Argonauts 1 (Ottawa won 2-game total points series 18-17)

WIFU
Finals
Regina 2 @ Winnipeg 8 (Winnipeg won best-of-three series 2-1)

George Fraser kicked 2 field goals, Arnie McWatters added 3 singles, including one for the winning point on the last play of regulation time, and Bert Haigh punted for another single as the Rough Riders overcame a 9-point deficit to defeat the Argonauts before 17,864 fans at Varsity Stadium. Earl Selkirk scored the only point for Toronto on a missed field goal in the 1st quarter to give the Argonauts a 1-0 lead in the game and a 17-8 lead in the series. The miss would later prove costly.

Ches McCance kicked 2 field goals out of the mud at Osborne Stadium as the Blue Bombers defeated the Rough Riders to win their fifth straight WIFU title. Wayne Sheley added 2 singles for Winnipeg, while Norm Geller and Mr. Caprara punted for singles to account for the Regina scoring.

60 years ago
1951

Died on this date
Frank W. Benson, 89. U.S. artist. Mr. Benson was known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolours, and etchings. Some of his best known paintings depicted his daughters outdoors at the family's summer home in Maine.

Abominations
U.S. President Harry Truman called Communist atrocities in Korea "the most uncivilized thing that has happened in the past century."

Terrorism
Anti-government rebels killed 11 people in an attack on a rubber plantation in Malaya.

World events
Greek Communist Party member and resistance leader Nikos Beloyannis and 11 resistance comrades were sentenced to death by a court-martial after being convicted of treason, allegedly having transmitted information to the Soviet Union.

Diplomacy
The Netherlands rejected an Indonesian demand for negotiations on the transfer of Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia.

Defense
The first units of the 27th Canadian Brigade arrived in Hanover, Germany for NATO service.

Politics and government
Farouk formally adopted the title King of Egypt and Sudan. U.K. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden told the House of Commons that Sudan would remain under British control until the end of 1952, at which time it could opt for independence or union with Egypt.

U.S. Republican Party leaders named Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (Massachusetts) to direct an effort to gain the party's 1952 U.S. presidential nomination for General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

U.S. Economic Stabilization Agency Director Eric Johnston resigned in order to resume his post as president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Literature
Per Lagerkvist was awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind."

Science
The 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Edwin McMillan and Glenn T. Seaborg of the University of California "for their discoveries in the chemistry of transuranium elements." The 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Sir John Cockroft of the United Kingdom and Ernest Walton of Ireland "for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles."

50 years ago
1961

Died on this date
Elsie Ferguson, 78. U.S. actress. Miss Ferguson was a leading lady on stage and screen in the 1910s and '20s; many of her films were based on plays she had appeared in. Miss Ferguson was known as a difficult person to work with, and she often played such roles. Her only surviving complete silent film is The Witness for the Defense (1919).

Space
The United States launched two satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a single Thor-Able-Star rocket. The satellites were the 240-pound Transit Research and Attitude Control (TRAAC) and the U.S. Navy's 190-pound Transit IV-B, an experimental navigation aid. The two were separated in space.

The United States launched the Discoverer 35 satellite into a polar Earth orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The satellite's capsule was captured in mid-air after 18 orbits by a U.S. Air Force plane based in Hawaii.

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Banks of the Ohio--Olivia Newton-John (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ame no Midōsuji--Ouyang Fei Fei (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mammy Blue--Pop-Tops (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Rudolf Abel, 68. U.K.-born U.S.S.R. spy. Mr. Abel, whose real name was William August Fisher, was born in England to Russian émigré parents of Bolsehvik sympathies; the family returned to Moscow in 1921. Mr. Fisher was fluent in several languages, and joined the Soviet secret police agency OGPU in 1927, but was dismissed from the agency--renamed the NKVD--in 1938, and narrowly escaped the Great Purge. He worked with military intelligence in World War II, and rejoined the secret police--renamed again as KGB--in 1946. Mr. Fisher succeeded in illegally entering the United States in 1948, and established a spy network. He returned to the Soviet Union for six months in 1955, and when he returned to New York in 1956, he found that his network had disintegrated, largely to the incompetence of his assistant, Reino Häyhänen. Mr. Häyhänen defected to the United States in 1957 and furnished information that led to the arrest of Mr. Fisher, who identified himself as Rudolf Abel. Mr. Fisher was convicted in October 1957 of three counts of conspiracy, and was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison and a fine of $3,000. He was imprisoned at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary until February 1962, when he was exchanged in Berlin for captured American U-2 pilot Gary Powers; his work in the United States had been a failure for the KGB, although they portrayed him as a master spy. Mr. Fisher continued to work for the KGB, giving lectures on intelligence, but he became increasingly disillusioned, and died from lung cancer after years of heavy smoking.

Technology
Intel released the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.

Football
NFL
St. Louis (3-6) 17 @ San Diego (4-5) 20

Dennis Partee's 45-yard field goal on the last play of the game gave the Chargers their win over the Cardinals at San Diego Stadium. The Chargers took possession of the ball after an unsuccessful short kickoff by St. Louis kicker Jim Bakken with 16 seconds remaining.




30 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Say I Love You--Renée Geyer (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Japanese Boy--Aneka (4th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Ja, wenn wir alle Englein wären--Fred Sonnenschein und seine Freunde
2 Du entschuldige - i kenn' di--Peter Cornelius
3 Dance Little Bird--Electronica's
4 Japanese Boy--Aneka
5 Tainted Love--Soft Cell
6 Dance Little Bird--Bobby Setter Showband
7 Hold on Tight--Electric Light Orchestra
8 Green Door--Shakin' Stevens
9 Strada del sole--Rainhard Fendrich
10 Only Crying--Keith Marshall

Singles entering the chart were Tainted Love; Just Another Broken Heart by Sheena Easton (#17); and Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants (#18).

Died on this date
Enid Markey, 87. U.S. actress. Miss Markey appeared on stage, screen, and television in a career spanning more than 50 years. She originated the role of Jane in films, playing the role in Tarzan of the Apes (1918) and The Romance of Tarzan (1918). Miss Markey played Aunt Violet Flower in the television comedy series Bringing Up Buddy (1960-1961).

Steve Macko, 27. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Macko was a utility infielder with the Chicago Cubs (1979-1980), batting .250 with no home runs and 5 runs batted in in 25 games. He hit .274 with 21 homes and 178 RBIs in 386 games in 4 seasons in the minor leagues (1977-1980). Mr. Macko suffered a season-ending knee injury shortly after being called up by the Cubs in 1980, and an examination revealed the presence of testicular cancer, which soon spread to his lungs. He remained with the Cubs through the 1981 season on the team's disabled list, and played briefly in an exhibition game against the team's top farm team on May 18. Mr. Macko died four days after being hospitalized with breathing difficulties while playing golf with his father.

Football
CFL
Eastern Final
Ottawa 17 @ Hamilton 13

Western Final
British Columbia 16 @ Edmonton 22

J.C. Watts threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Pat Stoqua in the 1st quarter and then connected with him for a 102-yard touchdown with 6:40 remaining in regulation time as the Rough Riders upset the Tiger-Cats before 28,120 fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium to advance to the Grey Cup. Hamilton's only touchdown came in the 3rd quarter on a 10-yard pass from Tom Clements to Rocky DiPietro. The Tiger-Cats were leading 13-7 and appeared to be on the verge of putting the game away, with a first down on the Rough Riders' 13-yard line, when Mr. Clements was intercepted in the end zone by Glenn Cook, who returned the ball to his own 8, setting the stage for the go-ahead touchdown. Mr. Clements threw 3 interceptions in the game, and Hamilton kicker Bernie Ruoff missed 2 field goals. Ottawa tight end Tony Gabriel caught 9 passes for 138 yards, while Mr. Stoqua finished with 3 catches for 127 yards.



A Commonwealth Stadium crowd of 52,861--the largest to see a sporting event in western Canada to that date--saw Warren Moon throw a 33-yard touchdown pass on a second-down-and-18 play with 5:33 remaining in regulation time to put the Eskimos ahead to stay. It was the only touchdown of the game for the Eskimos, who had trailed 16-9 at halftime and 16-15 after 3 quarters. The Lions scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Joe Paopao to Ricky Ellis in the 2nd quarter, and a convert and 3 field goals by Lui Passaglia. Dave Cutler converted the Edmonton touchdown and added 5 field goals in as many attempts. Mr. Moon completed just 7 of 20 passes in the 1st half, but was 13 for 20 in the 2nd half. It was the final game for former Eskimos John Beaton and Sam Britts, and the final home game for legendary Edmonton cheerleader Michelle Guenard.



25 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Notorious--Duran Duran

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Don't Leave Me This Way--The Communards

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Don't Leave Me This Way--The Communards (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Take My Breath Away--Berlin (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Take My Breath Away--Berlin

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Amanda--Boston (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Amanda--Boston (2nd week at #1)
2 Human--Human League
3 True Blue--Madonna
4 You Give Love a Bad Name--Bon Jovi
5 Take Me Home Tonight--Eddie Money
6 True Colors--Cyndi Lauper
7 I Didn't Mean to Turn You On--Robert Palmer
8 The Next Time I Fall--Peter Cetera with Amy Grant
9 Word Up--Cameo
10 Typical Male--Tina Turner

Singles entering the chart were This is the Time by Billy Joel (#80); Miami by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (#82); Will You Still Love Me? by Chicago (#83); Stop to Love by Luther Vandross (#85); You Got it All by the Jets (#87); Nobody's Fool by Cinderella (#88); and Some People by Paul Young (#90).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Human--Human League
2 The Lady in Red--Chris de Burgh
3 True Blue--Madonna
4 True Colors--Cyndi Lauper
5 Two of Hearts--Stacey Q
6 Spirit in the Sky--Doctor and the Medics
7 Amanda--Boston
8 Rumors--Timex Social Club
9 When I Think of You--Janet Jackson
10 The Next Time I Fall--Peter Cetera with Amy Grant

Singles entering the chart were Land of Confusion by Genesis (#73); Falling in Love (Uh-Oh) by Miami Sound Machine (#79); Control by Janet Jackson (#84); Goldmine by the Pointer Sisters (#86); War by Bruce Springsteen (#88); All Cried Out by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force (#97); The Future's So Bright by Timbuk 3 (#98); and Turn it On by Zappacosta (#99).

Football
CFL
Western Semi-Final (3rd @ 2nd)
Winnipeg 14 @ British Columbia 21

The second-place Lions jumped out to a 21-14 lead over the third-place Blue Bombers and barely hung on to win before 40,381 fans at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. B.C. wide receiver Merv Fernandez rushed 16 yards for a touchdown late in the 1st quarter and caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Roy Dewalt in the 2nd quarter. Lui Passaglia converted both and added 2 converts, 2 field goals, and a single. Winnipeg's star running back Willard Reaves, playing his first game in more than 3 months because of a knee injury, was ejected from the game in the 3rd quarter with his team trailing 21-0, and his absence proved costly. Winnipeg quarterback John Hufnagel rallied the Blue Bombers in the 4th quarter with touchdown passes to Perry Tuttle and James Murphy, both converted by Trevor Kennerd. Late in regulation time, Mr. Hufnagel drove the Blue Bombers from their own 27-yard line to the B.C. 4, where they had a first down. With Mr. Reaves unavailable, Mr. Hufnagel handed off to the smaller and less powerful Sean Kehoe, who was stopped twice, and then deliberately fumbled forward on third down, only to have the Lions take possession. It was the final game for Mr. Kehoe as well as the great Winnipeg receiver Joe Poplawski, and backup quarterback Jim Zorn. It was the final game in a Winnipeg uniform for Mr. Hufnagel, who had played very well after starter Tom Clements had suffered a season-ending broken collarbone on Labour Day weekend. The Lions were to play the western final against the winner of the following day's semi-final between the fourth-place Calgary Stampeders and the first-place Edmonton Eskimos.



CIAU
Central Bowl
British Columbia 32 @ Bishop's 30

Atlantic Bowl
Western Ontario 29 Acadia 22 @ Halifax

Terry Cochrane rushed for 117 yards and 3 touchdowns and Tom Munro caught a pass from quarterback Jordan Gagner as the Thunderbirds barely held off the Gaiters before more than 5,000 fans. Wally Zatylny scored 2 touchdowns for Bishop's and Dennis Walker scored the other as the Gaiters took a 24-21 at halftime lead. UBC came back to take a 32-24 lead in the 4th quarter before Bishop's quarterback Tony Harris rushed 3 yards for a touchdown in the final minute of regulation time. UBC was called for pass interference on the 2-point convert attempt, giving the Gaiters another opportunity from the 1-yard line. Fullback Doug Johnson took the ball on a handoff and was stopped a foot short of the goal line.

Blake Marshall rushed 24 times for 193 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown late in the 3rd quarter, as the Mustangs defeated the Axemen at Huskies Stadium. Rob Stewart, on a 69-yard rush, and Dave Sapunjis, on a 3-yard rush, also scored touchdowns for UWO, while Jeff Crews added 3 converts, 2 field goals, and 2 singles. Paul Masotti caught 2 touchdown passes for Acadia, while Terry Baker added 2 converts, 2 field goals, and a single on the game's opening kickoff.

20 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Rob McCall, 33. Canadian figure skater. Mr. McCall, a native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and ice dancing partner Marie McNeil won the Canadian national championship in 1981. He then teamed up with Tracy Wilson, and the pair won seven Canadian championships in a row from 1982-1988, and won the bronze medal at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Mr. McCall was a sodomite who died of AIDS-related brain cancer.

10 years ago
2001

Technology
Microsoft launched the Xbox game console.

Baseball
Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees, who had posted a 20-3 record with an earned run average of 3.51 in 33 games, was voted the winner of the American League's Cy Young Award for 2001, making him the first six-time winner of the award.