August 26, 2012

220 years ago
1792

Born on this date
Manuel Oribe. President of Uruguay, 1835-1838. Mr. Oribe, a member of the White Party, was forced from office after three years as President, but led a rebel army and laid siege to Montevideo from 1843-1851 before his forces were defeated. He died on November 12, 1857 at the age of 65.

120 years ago
1892

Born on this date Jesse Barnes. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Barnes played with the Boston Braves (1915-1917, 1923-1925); New York Giants (1918-1923); and Brooklyn Robins (1926-1927), compiling a record of 152-150 with an earned run average of 3.22 in 422 games, batting .214 with 1 home run and 69 runs batted in in 435 games. He led the National League with 25 wins in 1919, won 20 games in 1920, and helped the Giants win World Series championships in 1921 and 1922, pitching a no-hitter in 1922 and posting a 2-0 record with a 1.17 ERA in 4 World Series games, with both his wins coming in 1921. Mr. Barnes was 84-58 in 185 games in 8 seasons in the minor leagues (1912-1915, 1927-1930), and helped the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association win the 1927 Junior World Series, posting a 2-0 record in the JWS as the Mud Hens defeated the Buffalo Bisons of the International League 4 games to 1. Mr. Barnes and his brother Zeke pitched against each other several times in the major and minor leagues, and played on a barnstorming team with their brother Clark in the early 1930s. Mr. Barnes was a policeman in El Dorado, Kansas for 17 years after his playing career was over. He died of a heart attack on September 9, 1961 at the age of 69.

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Woman in Love, starring Arnold Moss, Gaby Rodgers, Berry Kroeger, and Paul Newman

This was Mr. Newman's second television appearance, 18 days after he had appeared in the Tales of Tomorrow episode Ice from Space.



50 years ago
1962

Abominations
Sherri Finkbine, a mother of four from Phoenix, Arizona, returned home from Sweden after having an abortion that been denied her in the United States. Mrs. Finkbine had taken the drug Thalidomide, and wanted the abortion because she didn't want to give birth to a deformed child. The baby, who had no legs and one arm, would be turning 50 years old in 2012 if given the chance to live.

Baseball
Jack Kralick came within 2 outs of a perfect game and settled for a no-hitter as the Minnesota Twins edged the Kansas City Athletics 1-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. With 1 out in the 9th inning, pinch hitter George Alusik drew a base on balls on a 3-2 pitch.

Brooks Robinson and Jim Gentile each hit solo home runs and Robin Roberts outduelled Whitey Ford as the Baltimore Orioles edged the New York Yankees 2-1 to complete a five-game series sweep. Mr. Roberts had started the season with the Yankees, but had been let go a month into the season without pitching in a single game for New York.

40 years ago
1972

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K.: School's Out--Alice Cooper (3rd week at #1)

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Daddy Don't You Walk so Fast--Wayne Newton
2 Puppy Love--Donny Osmond
3 Red Back on the Toilet Seat--Slim Newton
4 Long Haired Lover from Liverpool--Little Jimmy Osmond
5 The Candy Man--Sammy Davis, Jr. with the Mike Curb Congregation
6 Beautiful Sunday--Daniel Boone
7 Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)--The Hollies
8 (Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All--The 5th Dimension
9 It's Four in the Morning--Faron Young
10 Nice to Be with You--Gallery

Singles entering the chart were It's Going to Take Some Time by the Carpenters (#29); Take Me Bak 'Ome by Slade (#33); Hold Your Head Up by Argent (#37); and Isn't Life Strange by the Moody Blues (#40).

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)--Looking Glass

U.S. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Alone Again (Naturally)--Gilbert O'Sullivan (3rd week at #1)
2 Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)--Looking Glass
3 I'm Still in Love with You--Al Green
4 Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)--The Hollies
5 (If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right--Luther Ingram
6 Hold Your Head Up--Argent
7 Back Stabbers--O'Jays
6 School's Out--Alice Cooper
8 Goodbye to Love--Carpenters
9 The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.--Donna Fargo
10 You Don't Mess Around with Jim--Jim Croce

Singles entering the chart were Sweet Caroline by Bobby Womack and Peace (#84); Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues by Danny O'Keefe (#85); From the Beginning by Emerson, Lake & Palmer (#88); (It's the Way) Nature Planned It by the Four Tops (#91); Guess Who by B.B. King (#94); I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash (#96); Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Jackie DeShannon (#98); Witchy Woman by the Eagles (#99); and Dedicated to the One I Love by the Temprees (#100). (It's the Way) Nature Planned It was the Four Tops' last single on the Motown label before moving to ABC/Dunhill.

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Alone Again (Naturally)--Gilbert O'Sullivan (2nd week at #1)
2 Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)--Looking Glass
3 School's Out--Alice Cooper
4 Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)--The Hollies
5 Daddy Don't You Walk so Fast--Wayne Newton
6 Goodbye to Love--Carpenters
7 How Do You Do--Mouth and MacNeal
8 Coconut--Nilsson
9 Sealed with a Kiss--Bobby Vinton
10 You Don't Mess Around with Jim--Jim Croce

Singles entering the chart were You Wear it Well by Rod Stewart (#66); My Ding-A-Ling by Chuck Berry (#83); Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar by Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen (#87); Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile) by Van Morrison (#88); Tight Rope by Leon Russell (#90); Southbound Train by Graham Nash and David Crosby (#94); If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry by Jerry Wallace (#97); Rock Me Baby by David Cassidy (#98); For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her by Simon & Garfunkel (#99); and Sunshine in the Morning by Bollard (#100). The version of For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her that was released as a single was recorded live when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunited for a benefit concert for the U.S. presidential campaign of Democratic party candidate George McGovern, and was one of several songs from that concert that appeared on the album Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits.

Calgary’s top 10
1 Alone Again (Naturally)—Gilbert O’Sullivan
2 Wild Eyes—Stampeders
3 Some Sing, Some Dance—Pagliaro
4 Concrete Sea--Terry Jacks
5 Black & White--Three Dog Night
6 Coconut--Nilsson
7 City of New Orleans--Arlo Guthrie
8 Hold Her Tight--The Osmonds
9 Play Me--Neil Diamond
10 Rock and Roll Part 2--Gary Glitter
Pick hit of the week: Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me--Mac Davis

Died on this date
Francis Chichester, 70. U.K. aviator and sailor. Mr. Chichester, an aviator and yachtsman, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II after circumnavigating the globe in his yawl Gipsy Moth IV, becoming the first person to complete a circumnavigation solo from west to east via the great capes. He departed Plymouth, England on August 27, 1966; his return to Plymouth on May 28, 1967 after 226 days of sailing was televised live in the U.K. Sir Francis' book about the voyage, Gipsy Moth Circles the World (1967), was a bestseller. He died 22 days before his 71st birthday.

Baseball
Leo Durocher, recently fired as manager of the Chicago Cubs, replaced Harry Walker as manager of the Houston Astros.

Ron Santo's 2,000th major league hit and 1,200th run batted in both came on a 3-run home run off Ron Bryant and was the difference in the game as the Chicago Cubs edged the San Francisco Giants 10-9 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
Edmonton’s top 10 (CFRN)
1 Eye in the Sky—Alan Parsons Project
2 Take it Away—Paul McCartney
3 Wasted on the Way—Crosby, Stills & Nash
4 Love Will Turn You Around—Kenny Rogers
5 Ain’t No Money—Rosanne Cash
6 Blue Eyes—Elton John
7 Route 101—Herb Alpert
8 American Music—Pointer Sisters
9 You Drive Me Crazy—Shakin’ Stevens
10 Abracadabra—Steve Miller Band

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): It's a Sin--Pet Shop Boys (5th week at #1)

Defense
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl offered to dismantle 72 Pershing missiles in order to clear a roadblock to a U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. treaty on intermediate nuclear forces. West Germany controlled the missiles, but the United States controlled their nuclear warheads. The Soviet Union wanted the missiles eliminated as part of an overall INF treaty.

Law
A three-judge appeals court panel in Atlanta unanimously reversed a district court ruling banning 44 textbooks from Alabama public schools because they promoted the “religion” of “secular humanism.” The district judge, W. Brevard Hand, had held that the textbooks violated the constitutional ban on government establishment of religion. The panel found no evidence that the “omission of certain facts regarding religion from the textbooks of itself constituted an advancement of secular humanism” or hostility to other religions. The ruling held that a constitutional mandate requiring neutrality on religion had been stretched incorrectly “into an affirmative obligation to speak about religion.”

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Abba-esque--Erasure (10th week at #1)

Scandal
The Iran-Contra trial of former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency official Clair George, who had once run the CIA’s worldwide clandestine operations, ended in a mistrial. Mr. George had been charged with lying to Congress and to investigators about what he knew about the sale of arms to Iran and the diversion of proceeds to the Nicaraguan Contras. Jurors reported that they were deadlocked on all nine counts.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (4-4) 16 @ Toronto (3-5) 24

The Argonauts scored 2 touchdowns in the last minute of regulation time to beat the Rough Riders before 44,922 fans at SkyDome. Ottawa led 13-3 after 3 quarters, but Mike Kerrigan, who relieved starter John Congemi at quarterback, rushed 1 yard for the first Toronto touchdown with 8:49 remaining in the 4th quarter, and completed a pass to Paul Nastasiuk for a 2-point convert to make the score 13-11. Terry Baker kicked a 44-yard field goal to give the Rough Riders a 16-11 lead, but Mr. Kerrigan completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to Darrell K. Smith to give the Argonauts a 17-16 lead with exactly 1 minute remaining. A 2-point convert attempt was unsuccessful, but Toronto linebacker Jeff Braswell put the game away when he intercepted a Tom Burgess pass and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown just 18 seconds after Mr. Smith’s touchdown.

10 years ago
2002

Baseball
Manny Ramirez had 5 hits, including 2 home runs, as the Boston Red Sox edged the Anaheim Angels 10-9 in 10 innings.