November 5, 2012

150 years ago
1862

War
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln removed General George McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac because of his apparent reluctance to fight the Confederate forces commanded by General Robert E. Lee.

Crime
More than 300 Santee Sioux Indians were sentenced to hang in Minnesota for raping and murdering white settlers.

140 years ago
1872

Politics and government
Republican Party incumbent U.S. Grant was re-elected President of the United States of America, and Henry Wilson was elected Vice-President, taking 286 electoral votes to 66 for the ticket of Horace Greeley and Benjamin G. Brown, candidates of both the Democratic Party and Liberal Republican Party. Mr. Wilson was a first-time candidate for the office of Vice-President, replacing incumbent Schuyler Colfax on the ticket. Feminist leader Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote for President Grant.

125 years ago
1887

Born on this date
Paul Wittgenstein. Austrian-born musician. Mr. Wittgenstein, the older brother Ludwig Wittgenstein, was a concert pianist who lost his right arm after being wounded in the elbow while fighting in World War I. He continued to play with his left hand, and commissioned works from numerous composers, most notably Concerto for the Left Hand by Maurice Ravel (1932). Mr. Wittgenstein had the habit of altering the works commissioned for him, which often resulted in strained relations with the composers. He moved to New York in 1941, became an American citizen in 1946, and died on March 3, 1961 at the age of 73.

Football
CRFU
Dominion Final
Ottawa College 10 @ Montreal 5

Ottawa College led 10-4 at halftime of a rough game on the strength of two touchdowns (then worth 4 points each).

120 years ago
1892

Football
ORFU
Final
Hamilton 14 @ Osgoode Hall 30

Osgoode Hall led 20-1 and coasted to victory before 2,500 fans.

100 years ago
1912

Politics and government
Democratic Party candidates Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall were elected President and Vice-President, respectively, of the United States of America, winning 435 electoral votes to 88 for the Progressive Party ticket of former President Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson, and the Republican Party ticket of incumbent President William Howard Taft and Nicholas Murray Butler. Dr. Butler, the President of Columbia University, was designated to receive vice-persidential electoral votes after the death of incumbent Vice-President James Sherman on October 30. The Wilson/Marshall ticket won an Electoral College landslide despite receiving just 41.8% of the popular vote. The Roosevelt/Johnson ticket took 27.4%, and the Taft/Butler ticket captured 23.2%. The Socialist party ticket of Eugene V. Debs and Emil Seidel took 6.0% (901,551 votes); Eugene Chafin and Aaron Watkins of the Prohibition Party took 1.4%; and the Socialist Labor Party ticket of Arthur Reimer and August Gillhaus received 0.2% of the popular vote.

90 years ago
1922

Albertana
Paul Welch of Edmonton, driving a 1923 McLaughlin Buick Master Four, completed a round trip from Edmonton to Calgary and back—a total distance of 416 miles—in a record time of 9 hours, 26 minutes, 55 seconds, an average speed of 43.5 miles per hour.

80 years ago
1932

Football
IRFU
Hamilton (4-1) 29 @ Ottawa (0-5) 0
Montreal (3-2) 5 @ Toronto (3-2) 8

Dave Sprague scored 2 touchdowns, one of them on a 65-yard rush, as the Tigers routed the Rough Riders at Lansdowne Park. Frank Turville scored 12 points--5 on a touchdown and 7 kicking--and Brian Timmis also scored a touchdown.

Kickers scored all the points as the Argonauts defeated the Winged Wheelers before 16,000 fans at Varsity Stadium. Toronto's Lou Snyder suffered a broken jaw when slugged by Montreal's Tommy Burns, putting him out for the rest of the season.

ORFU
Hamilton 11 @ St. Michael's College 1

Mr. Jocelyn rushed 45 yards for the game's only touchdown in the 2nd quarter as the Tiger Cubs won at Ulster Stadium in Toronto.

WCRFU
Semi-finals
Regina 9 @ Winnipeg St. John's 1

Calgary 6 @ Vancouver 4 (Calgary won 2-game total points series 11-10)

Winnipeg's Eddie James broke his arm in St. John's' loss to the Roughriders.

Canadian university
Toronto 8 @ McGill 4
Western Ontario 4 @ Queen's 4

The results clinched the intercollegiate title for the Varsity Blues.

60 years ago
1952

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: No Second Chance

On television tonight
The Unexpected, hosted by Herbert Marshall, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Landscape in Black, starring Coleen Gray and Victor Wood

40 years ago
1972

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Ring with the Red Velvet Ropes, starring Gary Lockwood, Joan Van Ark, and Chuck Connors

Died on this date
Reginald Owen, 85. U.K. actor. Mr. Owen acted in movies and television for more than half a century. He played Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes (1932) and Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet (1933), and played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1938). Other movies in which Mr. Owen appeared included A Woman's Face (1941); Mrs. Miniver (1942); Random Harvest (1942); Madame Curie (1943); Monsieur Beaucaire (1946); The Miniver Story (1950); and Mary Poppins (1964).

Labour
A 26-day strike against Chile’s Marxist government was ended by transport and business leaders following a government ultimatum to end the strike or face “severe action.”

Football
CFL
Toronto (3-11) 16 @ Hamilton (11-3) 26
Calgary (6-10) 14 @ Edmonton (10-6) 28

Al Brenner intercepted 4 passes to tie a single-season record for interceptions, and Lewis Porter returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown as the Tiger-Cats defeated the Argonauts before an Ivor Wynne Stadium record crowd of 35,217 to clinch first place in the eastern Football Conference and eliminate the defending Eastern champion Argonauts from playoff contention. Mr. Brenner’s interceptions--all off Joe Theismann--tied him with several players for the greatest number in a CFL regular season game to that date and gave him 15 for the season, tying him with Lou Kusserow, who had accomplished the feat with the Tiger-Cats in 1953. Hamilton quarterback Chuck Ealey completed 16 of 26 passes for 343 yards and touchdowns to Dave Fleming and Tommy-Joe Coffey. For Mr. Coffey, his touchdown was the 65th and last of his CFL career. Garney Henley led the Tiger-Cats with 91 yards on 4 receptions. Eric Allen caught 8 passes for 172 yards and both Toronto touchdowns; Leon McQuay of the Argonauts led all rushers with 62 yards on 13 carries, while catching 4 passes for 59. Eastern Conference rushing leader Dave Buchanan of Hamilton was held to 36 yards on 9 carries. The Tiger-Cats led 25-13 at halftime and were able to coast to victory. Toronto head coach Leo Cahill, completing his 6th season in the position, was fired several days after the game. It was the last CFL regular season game for several members of the Argonauts, including quarterback Wally Gabler, defensive back Dick Thornton, offensive tackle Ellison Kelly, linebacker Pete Martin, and defensive back Elmars Sprogis.

The Eskimos rushed for 3 touchdowns and made 6 interceptions as they beat the Stampeders in snow before 16,107 fans at Clarke Stadium. Tom Wilkinson started at quarterback for Edmonton and threw a 19-yard pass to George McGowan for the game’s first touchdown in the 1st quarter. Dave Syme soon relieved Mr. Wilkinson and rushed 1 yard for his only CFL touchdown on the last play of the 1st half. Bob Wyatt rushed 4 yards for the first Calgary TD in the 3rd quarter, but the Eskimos replied with a 53-yard rush for a touchdown by Roy Bell and a 1-yard TD rush by Gene Foster on the last play of the 3rd quarter. Calgary quarterback Jerry Keeling threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Gary Kerr in the 4th quarter. It was the last CFL regular season game for Mr. Kerr and several other Stampeders, including veteran tight end Herm Harrison and defensive back Terry Wilson, who made an interception. Calgary flanker Gerry Shaw finished the season with 1,002 yards receiving, the only time he cracked the 1,000-yard barrier in his 10-year career.

30 years ago
1982

Died on this date
Jacques Tati, 75. French film director and actor. Mr. Tati, a great observer of the humour of everyday life, directed only nine movies, but they were generally of very high quality, including Jour de Fête (1949); Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday) (1953); Mon Oncle (1958); Playtime (1967); and Trafic (1971).

Personal
This blogger attended the first annual Bahama Boogie, a dance put on by the CHQT QT’s to pay the Edmonton Eskimos’ cheerleaders’ way to the Grey Cup in Toronto.

Basketball
NBA
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost 99-91 to the New Jersey Nets to set a league record of 24 consecutive losses, stretching over 2 seasons. They had lost their last 19 games of the 1981-82 season, and dropped to 0-5 for 1982-83.

25 years ago
1987

Diplomacy
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega returned from Moscow—where he may have received a promise of more Soviet aid—and offered a proposal for a cease-fire between government troops and Contra rebels supported by the United States. Mr. Ortega said he was prepared to negotiate indirectly with Contra leaders, and that 981 prisoners would be released under an amnesty.

War
Leftist rebels in El Salvador rejected a unilateral cease-fire declared that day by the government.

Defense
Caspar Weinberger, who had supervised the largest peacetime military buildup in American history since assuming the position of U.S. Secretary of Defense in January 1981, resigned his office. President Ronald Reagan nominated National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci to succeed Mr. Weinberger and nominated Lieutenant General Colin Powell, Mr. Carlucci’s deputy, to succeed Mr. Carlucci. Mr. Powell became the first Negro to hold the position.

Economics and finance
For the second time in two weeks, U.S. banks lowered their prime lending rate from 9% to 8.75%.

20 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Jan Oort, 92. Dutch astronomer. Dr. Oort was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. In 1932 he became the first person to discover the evidence of dark matter.

Hockey
NHL
Chicago 1 Toronto 0

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Billy Guy, 66. U.S. singer. Mr. Guy was a member of the Coasters from 1955-1973 and sang lead on such songs as Searchin' (1957) and Little Egypt (1961).

Politics and government
In U.S. elections, the Republican Party gained enough victories to take control of the Senate. Going into the elections, Democrats held 50 seats to 49 for the Republicans and 1 independent. The elections gave the Republicans 51 seats to 47 for the Democrats, 1 independent, and an incumbent Democrat facing a runoff election in Louisiana. In the House of Representatives, the Republicans increased their total from 223 seats to 228, to 203 for the Democrats, and 4 other seats yet to be decided. It was the first time in 68 years that the party of the president had made
gains in both houses of Congress in mid-term elections.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his leadership in a fractured parliament, called for new elections to take place early in 2003.

Diplomacy
Representatives of 40 countries, meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland, endorsed the Kimberly Process, which guaranteed that only diamonds mined legally in Africa could be traded on the international market. The intent of the pact was to deny the rebel armies who mined “conflict” diamonds the money to buy weapons.

Baseball
Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks was unanimously voted the winner of the National League Cy Young Award for 2002 after compiling a record of 24-5 with 334 strikeouts. It was the fourth year in a row and the fifth time in his career that Mr. Johnson had won the award.