August 4, 2012

120 years ago
1892

Died on this date
Andrew J. Borden, 70; Abby Borden, 67. U.S. crime victims. Mr. Borden, a retired undertaker, and his wife Abby were found bludgeoned and hacked to death at their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Their daughter Lizzie, 32, discovered the bodies.

110 years ago
1902

Born on this date
Bill Hallahan. U.S. baseball pitcher. "Wild Bill" played with the St. Louis Cardinals (1925-1926, 1929-1936); Cincinnati Reds (1936-1937); and Philadelphia Phillies (1938), compiling a record of 102-94 with an earned run average of 4.03 in 324 games, batting .162 with 2 home runs and 32 runs batted in in 328 games. He led the National League in bases on balls and wild pitches three times each, in strikeouts twice, and tied for the NL lead in wins in 1931 (19). Mr. Hallahan played in four World Series with the Cardinals, and helped them win in 1926, 1931, and 1934; he was 3-1 with a 1.36 ERA in 7 World Series games. Mr. Hallahan died of cancer on July 8, 1981, 25 days before his 79th birthday.

90 years ago
1922

Died on this date
Enver Pasha, 48. Ottoman military officer and politician. İsmail Enver Pasha was a leader of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 that established democracy in the Ottoman Empire, and with Talaat Pasha and Cemal Pasha, was one of the Three Pashas who effectively ruled the empire after taking power in a coup d'état in 1913. Enver Pasha was a mirliva (brigadier general) who served with the Ottoman Army (1903-1918); as Minister of War and defacto commander-in-chief (1904-1918), he led a disastrous attack against Russian forces in the Battle of Sarikamish (1914-1915), and blamed Armenians for his defeat. Enver Pasha was one of the principal perpetrators of the genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks during World War I; he escaped the Ottoman Empire at the end of the war, and was convicted in absentia of the genocide. Enver Pasha ended up in central Asia, and was killed by machine-gun fire while leading the Basmachi Revolt against the Bolsheviks.

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Man in the Dark, starring Romney Brent, Joe De Santis, Margaret Draper, and Joseph Wiseman

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: Stai lontana da me--Adriano Celentano (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Remember You--Frank Ifield (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Roses are Red (My Love)--Bobby Vinton (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Roses Are Red (My Love)--Bobby Vinton (4th week at #1)
2 Ahab, the Arab--Ray Stevens
3 Breaking Up is Hard to Do--Neil Sedaka
4 The Wah Watusi--The Orlons
5 Sealed with a Kiss--Brian Hyland
6 Speedy Gonzales--Pat Boone
7 The Loco-Motion--Little Eva
8 You'll Lose a Good Thing--Barbara Lynn
9 I Can't Stop Loving You--Ray Charles
10 Twist and Shout--The Isley Brothers

Singles entering the chart were She's Not You (#51)/Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (#77) by Elvis Presley; Ramblin' Rose by Nat King Cole (#74); Your Nose is Gonna Grow by Johnny Crawford (#92); Beechwood 4-5789 by the Marvelettes (#95); The Boys' Night Out by Patti Page (#96); Theme from A Summer Place by Dick Roman (#97); Let's Dance by Chris Montez (#98); A Wonderful Dream by the Majors (#100); Too Bad by Ben E. King (also #100); and Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow by the Rivingtons (also #100). The Boys' Night Out was from the movie Boys' Night Out (1962).

On television tonight
Stardust Theatre, on CBXT
Tonight's movie: How to Marry a Millionaire, starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall

The movie began running on CBXT at 11:15 P.M., just a few hours before Miss Monroe was found dead in her California home.

40 years ago
1972

Crime
After deliberating for 1 hour and 35 minutes on the fifth day of the trial in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, a jury of six men and six women rejected Arthur Bremer’s plea of insanity and convicted him on all counts relating to the May 15 shooting of Alabama Governor George Wallace and three bystanders at a political rally in Laurel, Maryland. Mr. Wallace was campaigning for the Democratic party nomination for President of the United States at the time. Mr. Bremer, 21, was convicted on four counts of assault to murder, four counts of assault with a firearm, and one count of carrying an illegal gun. Mr. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison.

The United States Justice Department announced that it had dismissed an indictment for perjury against Leslie Ann Bacon, the only person charged with any offense relating to the March 1, 1971 bombing of the United States Capitol, which had destroyed a washroom in the Senate wing. Miss Bacon, 19 at the time of the bombing, had been indicted in March 1972 by a grand jury of perjuring herself in a previous grand jury questioning. In dismissing the indictment, the Justice Department cited a decision “not to answer defendant’s motions of disclosure of electronic surveillance.” It was the latest of several criminal prosecutions dropped by the U.S. federal government as a result of a Supreme Court ruling broadening the obligation to tell a defendant how evidence connected to wiretap had been obtained.

Terrorism
Five air pirates who had hijacked a Delta Airlines jet bound from Detroit to Miami on August 1 and diverted it to Algiers and then asked for political asylum in Algeria were freed. The hijackers joined the expatriate Black Panthers, headquartered in Algiers, who demanded the ransom of $1 million that had been demanded to free the plane’s passengers, for the “liberation cause.”

30 years ago
1982

War
Israeli armoured units thrust into west Beirut as planes, gunboats, and artillery bombarded the city, ending the latest cease-fire and halting negotiations among the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Lebanese government, and U.S. envoy Philip Habib on the plan to withdraw 6,000 PLO guerrillas still trapped in west Beirut.

It was reported that the war between Iran and Iraq was deadlocked.

World events
It was reported that more than 3,000 people had been arrested as a result of an attempted coup on August 1 by Kenyan air force officers against the country’s civilian government. The arrested included all 2,100 members of Kenya’s air force.

25 years ago
1987

Crime
British murderer Ian Brady, in prison since 1966 for killing three children, admitted in a letter to killing five more people.

Communications
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission abolished the Fairness Doctrine, which had required radio and television stations to offer balanced coverage of controversial issues. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader argued that the move would inhibit minority views, while fundamentalist Christian pastor and broadcaster Carl McIntire had long argued that broadcast media should be no more regulated than print media. The United States Congress had attempted to write the Fairness Doctrine into law earlier in the year, but it had been vetoed by President Ronald Reagan.

20 years ago
1992

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had declined 0.2% in June, the first decline in six months.

10 years ago
2002

Crime
British police said they were "extremely concerned" about the disappearance of two 10-year-old girls from their homes in Cambridgeshire.