November 3, 2011

300 years ago
1711

Died on this date
Ferdinand Tobias Richter, 60. Austrian musician and composer. Mr. Richter became court organist in the imperial court in 1683, and was organist in the court chapel from 1690 until his death. His compositions included several toccatas, five suites, and other pieces for keyboard, as well as works for the stage.

210 years ago
1801

Born on this date
Vincenzo Bellini. Italian composer. Mr. Bellini wrote eight symphonies, seven piano works, an oboe concerto, and 40 sacred works, but was best known for his 11 operas, which were characterized by flowing melodies, earning him the nickname "The Swan of Catania." He died after an intestinal and liver illness on September 23, 1835 at the age of 33.

Karl Baedeker. German publisher. Mr. Baedeker founded Verlag Karl Baedeker in 1827, becoming world famous as a publisher of travel guides. He died from the strain of overwork on October 4, 1859, 30 days before his 58th birthday.

175 years ago
1836

Politics and government
In one of the most unusual elections in American history, Vice President Martin Van Buren was elected President, capturing areas representing 170 of 294 electoral votes. Mr. Van Buren, the candidate of the Democratic party, was running against four Whig party candidates; the Whigs had nominated different presidential and vice-presidential candidates in various regions of the country, hoping to prevent Mr. Buren from obtaining a majority of electoral votes and thus throwing the election into the House of Representatives. William Henry Harrison, former U.S. Senator from Ohio, was the Whig presidential candidate in northern and border states, with Francis Granger as his vice-presidential candidate. Hugh Lawson White, U.S. Senator from Tennessee, was the Whig candidate in middle and southern states, with John Tyler as his vice presidential candidate. Daniel Webster, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, was the Whig presidential candidate in his home state, with Mr. Granger as his running mate. Similarly, Willie P. Mangum, U.S. Senator from South Carolina, was that state's Whig candidate for president, with Mr. Tyler as his running mate. Mr. Harrison received 73 electoral votes, Mr. White 26, Mr. Webster 14, and Mr. Mangum 11. 63 of Mr. Harrison's votes were for a Harrison-Granger ticket, while he received 10 votes with Mr. Tyler as his running mate. Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, Mr. Van Buren's running mate, received 147 electoral votes, 1 short of the majority needed to win election. Virginia's 23 electors acted as "faithless electors," refusing to vote for Mr. Johnson. The remaining 23 Democratic electoral votes for vice-president went to William Smith of South Carolina. Mr. Granger received 77 electoral votes, and Mr. Tyler 47. With Mr. Johnson falling short of a majority, the vice-president would be elected by the United States Senate on December 7. In the popular vote, Mr. Van Buren captured 50.8%, to 36.6% for Mr. Harrison, 9.7% for Mr. White, and 2.7% for Mr. Webster.

130 years ago
1881

War
The Mapuche uprising against Chilean forces began when group of Arribanos attacked the fort of Quillem, two days earlier than the date agreed upon at a meeting of chiefs earlier in the year.

110 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Lionel Hitchman. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Hitchman, a native of Toronto, was a defenceman with the Ottawa Senators (1922-25) and Boston Bruins (1925-34), scoring 62 points on 28 goals and 34 assists in 417 regular season games and 2 goals and 2 assists in 35 playoff games. He played on Stanley Cup championship teams in 1926 and 1929, and was regarded as one of the best defensive defencemen of his era. His jersey #3 was the first to be retired by the Bruins. Mr. Hitchman worked as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer during off-seasons, and continued that work after his playing career. He died on January 12, 1999 at the age of 67.

André Malraux. French author and politician. Mr. Malraux explored foreign continents and fought in the Spanish Civil War and World War II, but was best known for novels such as La condition humaine (published in English as Man's Fate) (1933). He served in the cabinet of President Charles de Gaulle as Minister of Information (1945-1946) and Minister of Cultural Affairs (1959-1969). Mr. Malraux died on November 3, 1976, 20 days after his 75th birthday.

Leopold III. King of the Belgians, 1934-1951. Leopold III succeeeded to the throne upon the death of his father Albert I. He was King during World War II, and led his troops when the Nazis attacked Belgium. King Leopold surrendered to the Nazis on May 27, 1940, a move which was heavily criticized by the Allies. Leopold spent most of the war as a prisoner of the German occupation before being deported to Germany in 1944 and to Austria in 1945. He and his family spent the next five years in exile in Switzerland, returning to Belgium in 1950 after a referendum favoured his return. He soon abdicated in favour of his son Baudoin. King Leopold III died on September 25, 1983 at the age of 81.

100 years ago
1911

Business
The Chevrolet Motor Car Company was founded in Detroit by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant.

80 years ago
1931

Died on this date
Robert Williams, 37. U.S. actor. A stage actor on Broadway in the 1920s, Mr. Williams went to Hollywood in 1931, and appeared in supporting roles in several films before being cast as the male lead opposite Jean Harlow and Loretta Young in Platinum Blonde (1931), directed by Frank Capra. Mr. Williams projected definite star power, but he died of peritonitis just three days after the movie's release, shortly after falling ill while rehearsing for his next picture, Lady with a Past (1932); he was replaced in the latter picture by Ben Lyon.

75 years ago
1936

Politics and government
In one of the most lopsided presidential elections in American history, incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, was re-elected, winning a second term with 523 electoral votes to just 8 for Republican party challenger Alf Landon, the Governor of Kansas. Mr. Roosevelt took 60.8% of the popular vote to 36.5% for Mr. Landon, whose electoral votes came from Maine and Vermont. It was the only presidential election contested by the Union Party, which had been formed by Francis Townsend, Father Charles Coughlin, and Gerald L.K. Smith, all of whom were strongly opposed to Mr. Roosevelt's New Deal economic policies for dealing with the Depression. William Lemke, a Republican Congressman from North Dakota, was the Union Party presidential candidate, taking 2.0% of the vote. Socialist Party candidate Norman Thomas recieved 0.4% of the vote, and Communist Party candidate Earl Browder 0.2%. William Dudley Pelley, leader of the Silver Legion of America, ran as the Christian Party candidate in the state of Washington, receiving only about 2,000 votes. Incumbent Vice President John Nance Garner was re-elected on the ticket with Mr. Roosevelt; Mr. Landon's running mate was Illinois publisher Frank Knox. Mr. Browder's running mate, James W. Ford of New York, had also been the Communist Vice-Presidential nominee in 1932, becoming the first Negro to appear on a ticket in a U.S. presidential election.

70 years ago
1941

War
The German command announced the splitting of the Soviet forces in Crimea into two groups, both attempting to escape. Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich announced in Prague that he had "completed" his campaign to end Czech resistance, during which about 300 Czechs had been executed.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull said that if Finland wished to maintain American friendship, she must halt her invaion of Russia and withdraw her troops from Russian soil. The Uruguayan Chamber of Deputies adopted a resolution urging other American nations to protest jointly to Germany against the killing of civilians in occupied countries.

Defense
The U.S. Navy Department announced that it would build 50 convoy-escort warships in Navy yards for Britain out of Lend-Lease funds, at a total cost of $300 million.

U.S. Senators Francis Maloney (Democrat--Connecticut) and Theodore Bilbo (Democrat--Mississippi) announced their opposition to amending the Neutrality Act.

Scandal
James Mulloy, a former associate of U.S. Senator William Langer (Republican--North Dakota), testified before the Senate Elections Committee that he had acted as Sen. Langer's intermediary in a 1935 attempt to bribe a federal judge.

Howard Hopson, former president of Associated Gas & Electric System, pled guilty in New York to income tax evasion and was sentenced to two years in prison.

60 years ago
1951

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Too Young--Nat "King" Cole; Toni Arden (9th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Cold, Cold Heart--Tony Bennett (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Because of You--Tony Bennett (Disc Jockey--7th week at #1; Jukebox--6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 (It's No) Sin--The Four Aces
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
2 Because of You--Tony Bennett
--Les Baxter and his Orchestra
3 Cold, Cold Heart--Tony Bennett
4 I Get Ideas--Tony Martin
--Louis Armstrong
5 The World is Waiting for the Sunrise--Les Paul and Mary Ford
6 Down Yonder--Del Wood
--Joe "Fingers" Carr
--Champ Butler
7 And So to Sleep Again--Patti Page
8 The Loveliest Night of the Year--Mario Lanza
9 Undecided--The Ames Brothers and Les Brown and his Band of Renown
10 Turn Back the Hands of Time--Eddie Fisher

Singles entering the chart were Just One More Chance by Les Paul and Mary Ford (#34); and I Ran All the Way Home, with versions by Buddy Greco and Sarah Vaughan (#40).

On television tonight
Sherlock Holmes, starring Alan Wheatley and Raymond Francis, on BBC
Tonight's episode: The Dying Detective

Diplomacy
A Soviet note to Turkey protested Turkish entry into "the aggressive Atlantic bloc."

U.K. authorities in Suez evacuated 1,000 British women and children from Port Said.

Defense
The Egyptian government ordered all Egyptians employed by the British Army in the Suez to quit their jobs by the end of the month or face treason charges.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Dwight D. Eisenhower began a four-day round of consultations with U.S. President Harry Truman and military leaders.

United Press reported that recent nuclear tests in Nevada showed that the United States had a tactical atomic bomb that could be used in the field without harming friendly troops in foxholes little more than half a mile away.

Politics and government
The Minnesota State Republican Convention endorsed former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen for the 1952 Republican Party U.S. presidential nomination.

Football
CRU
IRFU
Montreal (3-9) 6 @ Hamilton (7-5) 31
Ottawa (7-5) 18 @ Toronto (7-5) 23

The game between the Rough Riders and Argonauts at Varsity Stadium included an unusual incident when Ottawa's Pete Karpuk, who was standing on the sidelines, ran onto the field during a play and tackled Toronto's Uly Curtis in order to prevent a touchdown. The tackle took place at the Ottawa 24-yard line, and referee Seymour Wilson penalized the Argonauts half the distance to the goal line, and forced the Rough Riders to play with just 11 men while Mr. Karpuk sat out a 3-minute penalty.

Unlike the Western Interprovincial Football Union, the Big Four had no formula for breaking a three-way tie for first place at the end of the regular season. Coin tosses resulted in the Ottawa Rough Riders winning a bye into the 2-game total points finals, while the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats would play 2-game total points semi-finals.

WIFU
Finals
Saskatchewan 11 @ Edmonton 15 (Edmonton led best-of-three series 1-0)

Rollie Miles returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown to spark the Eskimos to victory over the Roughriders at Clarke Stadium. Jim Chambers scored the winning touchdown on a 95-yard rush in the 4th quarter, wearing a pair of workman's boots he had bought for $3 shortly before game time.

ORFU
Finals (1st game of 2-game total points series)
Sarnia 15 @ Toronto 23

Bobby Lee scored 3 touchdowns to lead Balmy Beach past the Imperials at East York Memorial Stadium. It was general manager Paul McGarry's first game as Balmy Beach coach; he had taken over from quarterback Gerry Tuttle, who had taken the coaching reins just a week earlier after the sudden dismissal of Art West the day before the last game of the regular season.

Canadian university
Queen's (0-5) 2 @ McGill (4-1) 19
Toronto (4-0-1) 13 @ Western Ontario (1-3-1) 13

50 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Walkin' Back to Happiness--Helen Shapiro (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight's episode: It's a Good Life, starring Billy Mumy, John Larch, and Cloris Leachman

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley of Nymans!. The boy, born in Clarence House in London, was the first child of Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon. He stands 14th in succession to the throne.

Diplomacy
U Thant, 52, Burmese Ambassador to the United Nations, was unanimously elected Acting Secretary-General of the UN by the 103-member General Assembly. He replaced Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden, who had been killed in a plane crash on September 18.

Football
AFL
Dallas (3-5) 21 @ Boston (5-3-1) 28

On the last play of the game, Texans' quarterback Cotton Davidson threw a pass into the Patriots' end zone, but a fan who had sneaked onto the field ran through the end zone at Boston University Field and knocked the ball away. Game officials chose to do nothing, and the game was over.



40 years ago
1971

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Midnight Never Ends, starring Susan Strasberg and Robert F. Lyons; Brenda, starring Laurie Prange, Glenn Corbett, Robert J. Hogan, and Barbara Babcock

30 years ago
1981

Died on this date
Thérèse Casgrain, 85. Canadian politician. Mrs. Casgrain, a native of Saint-Irénée-les-Bains, Quebec, was the daughter of Conservative Member of Parliament Rodolphe Forget, but married Pierre-François Casgrain, a Liberal, who succeeded Mr. Forget in the riding of Charlevoix-Montmorency. She campaigned for women's suffrage and other feminist causes in Quebec, and after suffrage was finally granted in 1941, campaigned unsuccessfully to win her husband's riding after he was appointed to the judiciary. Mrs. Casgrain joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1948, and led its Quebec wing, the Parti social démocratique du Québec (1951-1957). She ran six times in federal elections and by-elections as a candidate of the CCF and its successor, the New Democratic Party, but failed to get elected. Mrs. Casgrain represented the Quebec riding of Mille Isles in the Canadian Senate from October 7, 1970 until her mandatory retirement on July 10, 1971, her 75th birthday. She died in Montreal.

Politics and government
The Ontario government of Premier Bill Davis invoked closure to end debate in the Legislature for the first time since 1874, in order to get access to tax funds.

Oil
Dome Petroleum found huge new oil deposits in the Beaufort Sea, about 68 miles north of the Mackenzie River delta in the Northwest Territories.

25 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You're the Voice--John Farnham

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Holiday Rap--MC Miker G & DJ Sven

Asiatica
The Federated States of Micronesia gained its independence from the United States of America.

Scandal
The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran, bringing the Iran-Contra affair to light.

20 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): The Fly--U2

#1 single in Switzerland: (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (14th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (6th week at #1)
2 Do the Limbo Dance--David Hasselhoff
3 Any Dream Will Do--Jason Donovan
4 Bacardi Feeling (Summer Dreamin')--Kate Yanai
5 Wind of Change--Scorpions
6 Love and Understanding--Cher
7 Jambo--Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung
8 Ich hab' mich so auf dich gefreut--Matthias Reim
9 Keep Your Love Alive--Bilgeri
10 Something Got Me Started--Simply Red

Singles entering the chart were Send Me an Angel by the Scorpions (#13); and Let's Talk About Sex by Salt-N-Pepa (#17).

Died on this date
Chris Bender, 19. U.S. singer. Mr. Bender was a rhythm and blues singer who released two albums before he was shot to death while sitting in his car outside the housing project in Brockton, Massachusetts where his mother lived.

Music
Neil Young reunited with Crosby, Stills & Nash before 300,000 people in a free concert at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in memory of recently-deceased rock promoter Bill Graham. Other acts included the Grateful Dead; Joan Baez; Santana; and Journey.

Crime
Allan Legere was convicted in Fredericton of four counts of first-degree murder in the beating deaths of three women and a Catholic priest during a reign of terror in the Miramachi region of New Brunswick after his 1989 jail break. He filed a hand-written appeal a few days later.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (7-11) 31 @ Toronto (13-5) 34
Edmonton (12-6) 28 @ Winnipeg (9-9) 18
Saskatchewan (6-12) 27 @ Calgary (11-7) 39

Lance Chomyc kicked a 50-yard field goal on the last play of regulation time to give the Argonauts their win over the Rough Riders before 36,001 fans at SkyDome. Mr. Chomyc finished the season with a CFL record of 236 points.

Much of one end zone at Winnipeg was covered with ice, so CFL officials decided to shorten the length of the field of play. Edmonton quarterback Tracy Ham completed 12 of 29 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown to Chris Armstrong. Mr. Ham, who had rushed for over 1,000 yards in 1990, rushed 5 times for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns, finishing with 998 yards in 1991. 24,240 fans were in attendance.

Danny Barrett threw 3 touchdown passes and Keyvan Jenkins rushed for a TD as the Stampeders clinched second place in the West Division ahead of the British Columbia Lions with their win over the Roughriders before 18,488 fans at McMahon Stadium. For Saskatchewan quarterback Rick Worman, it was the last game of his 6-year CFL career, most of which was spent with the Stampeders.

10 years ago
2001

Football
CFL
Toronto (7-11-0-1) 20 @ Hamilton (11-6) 31

Kerwin Bell started at quarterback for the Argonauts on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Ivor Wynne Stadium, and his career ended in memorable fashion when head coach Mike Clemons pulled him from the game and replaced him with Jimmy Kemp. Mr. Bell said something to Mr. Clemons that went beyond the bounds of acceptability, and the coach decided on the spot that Mr. Bell would never quarterback the Argonauts again. It was one of Chris Walby's most entertaining games as a colour analyst on the CBC telecast. Scott Oake reported from the sidelines that Hamilton punter/kicker Paul Osbaldiston was pacing himself after an injury, and the former Blue Bomber tackle said, "I've gotta jump all over that statement...A kicker's gotta pace himself? He plays 10 plays a game..." Later, when Toronto receiver Mookie Mitchell was on the bench when his team had the ball, Mr. Oake reported that the Argonauts were saying that he'd be available "if we need him." Mr. Walby immediately said, "You're down here playing for your playoff lives. What does that mean: 'If we need him?'"



Saskatchewan (6-12) 42 @ British Columbia (7-10) 10

The Roughriders' upset win over the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver clinched first place in the West Division for the Edmonton Eskimos, and prevented the Lions from clinching the CFL's final playoff spot.

Baseball
World Series
New York Yankees 2 @ Arizona Diamondbacks 15 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

The Diamondbacks scored all their runs in the first 4 innings as they routed the Yankees before 49,707 fans at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. The big inning was the 3rd, when Arizona scored 8 runs to take a 12-0 lead. Danny Bautista batted 3 for 4 with 5 runs batted in. Winning pitcher Randy Johnson (2-0) struck out 7 in 7 innings. New York starter Andy Pettitte (0-2) lasted just 2+ innings, giving up 6 runs--all earned. The Diamondbacks set a World Series record for a single game with 22 hits.