August 18, 2012

425 years ago
1587

Born on this date
Virginia Dare. Miss Dare was the first child of English parents to be born in the Americas.

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Twist of Fate, starring Constance Ford, E.G. Marshall, and Howard Smith

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: Stai lontana da me--Adriano Celentano (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Remember You--Frank Ifield (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Breaking Up is Hard to Do--Neil Sedaka (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Loco-Motion--Little Eva
2 Breaking Up is Hard to Do--Neil Sedaka
3 Roses Are Red (My Love)--Bobby Vinton
4 You'll Lose a Good Thing--Barbara Lynn
5 Sealed with a Kiss--Brian Hyland
6 Ahab, the Arab--Ray Stevens
7 The Wah Watusi--The Orlons
8 Sheila--Tommy Roe
9 Twist and Shout--The Isley Brothers
10 Things--Bobby Darin

Singles entering the chart were Lie to Me by Brook Benton (#70); Venus in Blue Jeans by Jimmy Clanton (#72); Every Night (Without You) by Paul Anka (#75); I Love You the Way You Are by Bobby Vinton (#79); Do You Love Me by the Contours (#80); Hully Gully Baby by the Dovells (#81); So What by Bill Black's Combo (#82); What Kind of Love is This by Joey Dee and the Starliters (#93); (I'm the Girl On) Wolverton Mountain by Jo Ann Campbell (#94); Broken Heart by the Fiestas (#96); Glory of Love by Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford (#99); Sherry by the Four Seasons (#100); There is No Greater Love by the Wanderers (also #100); Patches by Dickey Lee (also #100); and Forgive Me by Babs Tino (also #100).

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the satellite Cosmos 8.

Football
CFL
Toronto (0-2) 23 @ Hamilton (2-0) 29

Hamilton quarterback Bernie Faloney threw 2 touchdown passes to Tommy Grant and Bobby Kuntz and backup quarterback Frank Cosentino each rushed for a touchdown as the Tiger-Cats defeated the Argonauts before 26,315 fans at Civic Stadium. Former Tiger-Cat Gerry McDougall scored both Toronto touchdowns. Mr. Cosentino entered the game after Mr. Faloney left with an injury.

40 years ago
1972

Terrorism
A ski-masked hijacker who had commandeered a United Airlines plane bound from Reno, Nevada to Vancouver, British Columbia and had forced it to land in Seattle was shot and captured by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, six hours after the hijacking had begun. The hijacker had extorted a ransom of $2 million, the highest ever taken from a U.S. airline.

30 years ago
1982

Protest
Five people were killed in Bombay in rioting and looting that followed a police demonstration. About 9,500 of the 22,000 members of the Bombay police department halted trains on the outskirts of the city in protest over low pay and poor working conditions. Some of the commuters on the train went on a rampage, causing heavy damage at several railroad stations and looting many nearby stores. Loyal policemen fought against their protesting colleagues and also with the angry commuters. A 24-hour curfew was imposed in several areas of the city, 22 policemen were arrested, 92 others were fired from the force, and the police union was suspended. By August 24, the number of policemen who had been dismissed had reached more than 300.

World events
Felixberto Olalia, chairman of the radical May 1st Movement in the Philippines, was formally charged with sedition and rebellion.

Terrorism
The French cabinet banned the extreme leftist group Direct Action, the group that had taken responsibility for three recent anti-Semitic bombings in Paris. Members of the group faced up to two years in prison and fines of $8,700.

Baseball
Jerry Reuss was the winning pitcher in both games as the Los Angeles Dodgers edged the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in 21 innings in the completion of a suspended game from the previous day, and then defeated the Cubs 7-4 in the regularly scheduled game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Mr. Reuss pitched the last 4 innings of the first game, which had been suspended after 17 innings. The Dodgers ran out of position players and were forced to use pitchers Fernando Valenzuela and Bob Welch as outfielders.

25 years ago
1987

Crime
Donald Harvey, 35, a hospital orderly from Middletown, Ohio, pled guilty in Hamilton County Court to killing 24 people, 21 of them in 1986 and 1987 at Daniel Drake Memorial Hospital in Cincinnati. Mr. Harvey reportedly confessed to 30 other killings since the 1970s. He said that he poisoned most of his victims. The investigation into the killings began when an autopsy showed that a patient had died of a lethal dose of cyanide. Mr. Harvey was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison.

Terrorism
American Broadcasting Company reporter Charles Glass, who had been kidnapped in Beirut on June 16, escaped and made contact with Syrians who drove him to Damascus, where he was handed over to U.S. officials. Mr. Glass said that he had slipped out of his chains and locked the sleeping guards inside the apartment in which he was being held.

Medicine
U.S. health officials and MicroGeneSys Inc. announced that the first test on humans of an experimental vaccine for AIDS would begin in October. The company, based in West Haven, Connecticut, developed the vaccine, which had already been tested on animals. 81 volunteers would be recruited in the Washington, D.C. area for the tests.

20 years ago
1992

Died on this date
John Sturges, 82. U.S. film director. Mr. Sturges, who directed 45 films, was known for action movies with large all-male (or nearly all-male) casts. His movies included Mystery Street (1950); Escape from Fort Bravo (1953); Bad Day at Black Rock (1955); Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957); The Magnificent Seven (1960); The Great Escape (1963); The Satan Bug (1965); Ice Station Zebra (1968); Marooned (1969); and The Eagle has Landed (1976).

Abominations
Conditions in two Serbian detention camps were condemned by French cabinet minister Dr. Bernard Kouchner, leader of a delegation inspecting the camps.

Business
Wang Laboratories, Inc., a company that had led the way in developing minicomputers, filed for bankruptcy. The company had been founded by the late An Wang, acknowledged as the inventor of word processors. Analysts said the company had failed to respond effectively to the rising popularity of personal computers.

Basketball
NBA
Larry Bird announced his retirement from the Boston Celtics after 13 seasons because of recurring back problems. Mr. Bird had led the Celtics to NBA championships in 1981, 1984, and 1986, and been named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1984, 1985, and 1986.