August 24, 2012

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sabbah Rose!

440 years ago
1572

Abominations
Thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants) in Paris and elsewhere were killed by Roman Catholics in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.

330 years ago
1682

Americana
The Duke of York awarded Englishman William Penn a deed to the "Three Lower Counties" that make up the present state of Delaware, recently transferred from Dutch to British jurisdiction.

180 years ago
1832

Died on this date
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, 36. French physicist and engineer. Sous-lieutenant Carnot was a mechanical engineer in the French Army whose book Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu et sur les machines propres à développer cette puissance (Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire and on Machines Fitted to Develop that Power) (1824) earned him recognition as the "Father of thermodynamics." He died during a cholera epidemic, which resulted in many of his books and belongings being buried with him.

80 years ago
1932

Died on this date
Kate M. Gordon, 71. U.S. political activist. Miss Gordon directed the 1918 campaign for women's suffrage in the state of Louisiana, the first such statewide effort in the American South. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Aviation
Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the United States when she flew from Los Angeles to Newark.

50 years ago
1962

Football
CFL
The Toronto Argonauts fired head coach Lou Agase, the day after a 33-13 loss in Winnipeg had dropped the Argonauts to 0-3 on the season. Mr. Agase had coached Toronto to first place in the Eastern Football Conference in 1960 with a 10-4 record, but the team had lost to the Ottawa Rough Riders in the eastern finals. The Argonauts dropped to third place in 1961 with a 7-6-1 record, but beat the Rough Riders in the semi-final. After beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 25-7 in the first game of the EFC finals, the Argonauts blew the second game, giving up 4 converted touchdowns in overtime to lose the second game 48-2 and the series 55-27.

Hamilton (2-1) 31 @ Montreal (1-2) 11
Ottawa (2-1) 29 @ Edmonton (2-2) 21

Frank Cosentino rushed 3 yards for a touchdown and completed a 95-yard pass to Hal Patterson for another touchdown to lead the Tiger-Cats past the Alouettes before a Molson Stadium crowd of 22,393. Bobby Kuntz rushed 11 yards for a Hamilton touchdown and rookie Joe Zuger returned an interception 37 yards for another. George Dixon rushed 37 yards for the only Montreal touchdown.

Ron Lancaster and Russ Jackson shared the quarterbacking as the Rough Riders beat the Eskimos in front of 15,002 fans at Clarke Stadium. Mr. Lancaster threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bob Simpson, while Mr. Jackson completed 9 of 10 passes for 164 yards and touchdowns of 9 yards to Ernie White and 28 yards to Len Chandler. Mr. White also rushed 1 yard for an Ottawa touchdown. Jackie Parker rushed 1 yard for the first Edmonton touchdown and completed a 7-yard pass to Tommy-Joe Coffey for the other. Mr. Coffey added 2 converts, and 2 field goals, and Vic Chapman punted for a single to complete the Edmonton scoring. Mike Lashuk led the Edmonton rushing attack with 19 carries for 103 yards, while Johnny Bright carried 12 times for 83. Mr. Simpson led all receivers with 5 receptions for 94 yards.

40 years ago
1972

Football
CFL
Hamilton (2-3) 25 @ Montreal (2-2) 12

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): I Love Rock 'N' Roll--Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (4th week at #1)

Terrorism
Leftist guerrillas in Peru attacked a police station in the Andes Mountains and planted a bomb in a newspaper office in Lima.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices had risen 0.6% in July.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): The Loco-Motion--Kylie Minogue (3rd week at #1)

Law
A three-judge appeals court panel in Cincinnati reversed a Federal District Court ruling that public schools in Hawkins County, Tennessee could excuse children from classes because textbooks offended their parents’ religious beliefs. The lower court had held that the parents could take their children elsewhere and be reimbursed for the costs of private lessons. The appeals panel unanimously found no proof “that any plaintiff student was ever called upon to say or do anything that required the student to affirm or deny a religious belief…”

20 years ago
1992

Crime
In a dispute over tenure and plagiarism, Valery Fabrikant, an associate professor of engineering at Concordia University in Montreal, shot and killed three members of the university’s engineering faculty and seriously wounded the professor who chaired the electrical and chemical engineering department.

Disasters
Hurricane Andrew struck southern Florida with winds up to 165 miles per hour, levelling the city of Homestead and Homestead Air Force Base. 20 people were killed and 250,000 left homeless.