July 15, 2013

225 years ago
1788

Politics and government
The meeting location for New Brunswick’s Legislative Assembly moved from Saint John to Fredericton.

175 years ago
1838

Academia
Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered the Divinity School Address at Harvard Divinity School, discounting Biblical miracles and declaring Jesus a great man, but not God. The Protestant community reacted with outrage.

125 years ago
1888

Disasters
The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupted, killing approximately 500 people, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

120 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Enid Bennett. Australian-born U.S. actress. Miss Bennett appeared in silent films in Australia and then in the United States, and was best known for playing Maid Marian in Robin Hood (1922). She was married to director Fred Niblo from 1918 until his death in 1948. Miss Bennett died on May 14, 1969 at the age of 75.

Dick Rauch. U.S. football player and coach. Mr. Rauch was a lineman and head coach with the Pottsville Maroons (1924-1927) and New York Yankees/Boston Bulldogs (1928-1929). He led the Maroons to the championship of the Anthracite League in 1924, the year before they joined the National Football League. Mr. Rauch compiled a 33-24-3 coaching record in the NFL. He spent his later years as an ornithologist, among other activities. Mr. Rauch died on October 9, 1970 at the age of 77.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Cowboy Copas. U.S. musician. Mr. Copas was popular in the late 1940s and early '50s, with hits such as Filipino Baby (1946); The Tennessee Waltz (1946); and Tis Sweet to Be Remembered (1952). His biggest hit was Alabam (1960). Mr. Copas, Patsy Cline, and Hawkshaw Hawkins were on a small plane flying from Kansas City, Kansas to Nashville, Tennessee on March 5, 1963 when it crashed in a forest near Camden, Tennessee, 90 miles from Nashville. Mr. Copas' son-in-law, Randy Hughes, was the pilot, and he and his three passengers were killed instantly.

Duke Moore. U.S. actor. James Moore appeared in unaired television pilots and movies directed by Ed Wood, including Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and The Sinister Urge (1960). He died of a heart attack on November 16, 1976 at the age of 63.

Hammond Innes. U.K. author. Mr. Innes ' novels included Sabotage Broadcast (1938); The Trojan Horse (1940); Attack Alarm (1941); and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). He died on June 10, 1998 at the age of 84.

Darrell Huff. U.S. writer. Mr. Huff wrote a number of "How to" books in a career spanning more than 30 years, the best-known of which was How to Lie with Statistics (1954), the best-selling book on statistics in the second half of the 20th century. He worked on behalf of the tobacco industry in the 1960s, testifying before the U.S. Congress and writing the book How to Lie with Smoking Statistics, which was scheduled to be published in the late '60s. Publication was cancelled, but the manuscript is now publicly available. Mr. Huff died on June 27, 2001, 18 days before his 83rd birthday.

90 years ago
1923

Golf
Bobby Jones won the U.S. Open at Inwood Country Club, Inwood, Long Island, New York, defeating Robert Cruickshank by 2 stokes in an 18-hole playoff. The win was the first for Mr. Jones in a major tournament.

70 years ago
1943

War
The U.S.S.R. announced the recapture of 110 towns and the killing of 12,000 German troops east of Orel. Allied forces took four more Sicilian towns, bringing the total to 36, but reported that Axis resistance was stiffening. Allied forces captured Mubo, the Japanese base southwest of Salamaua, New Guinea.

Politics and government
Dispatches from Montevideo reported that the Argentine government had banned four groups, including a women's organization and a labour union, because they were anti-Nazi.

U.S. War Relocation Authority Director Dillion Myer said that disloyal Japanese would be segregated to a single centre.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order abolishing Vice President Henry Wallace's Board of Economic Warfare, and transferred its functions, together with the war financing powers of Commerce Secretary Jesse Jones' Reconstruction Finance Corporation, to an Office of Economic Warfare headed by Leo Crowley.

U.S. Price Administrator Prentiss Brown named New York advertising executive Chester Bowles as general mananger of the Office of Price Administration.

Law
Martinique Governor General Henri-Etienne Hoppenot abrogated all laws decreed during the pro-Vichy administration.

60 years ago
1953

On the radio
I Was a Communist for the FBI, starring Dana Andrews
Tonight’s episode: Double Exposure

40 years ago
1973

Football
CFL
Pre-season
British Columbia (1-2) 7 @ Winnipeg (1-1-1) 22

Baseball
Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out 17 batters as he pitched his second career major league no-hitter, and second of the season, blanking the Detroit Tigers 6-0 before 41,411 fans at Tiger Stadium. Detroit first baseman Norm Cash, having had no success in his first 2 at bats, unscrewed a table leg from the clubhouse and took that with him for his last plate appearance, but the umpire noticed and made him switch to a real bat. Mr. Cash struck out.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Total Eclipse of the Heart--Bonnie Tyler (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Baby Jane--Rod Stewart

Terrorism
A terrorist attack was launched by Armenian organization ASALA at the Paris-Orly Airport in Paris, leaving 8 people dead and 55 injured. The terrorists were trying to draw attention to the genocide of Armenians by Turks during World War I.

Defense
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau approved testing of U.S. cruise missiles in northern Canada to begin early in 1984.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that prices paid by producers for finished goods had increased 0.5% in June. The Federal reserve Board reported that industrial production had risen 1.1% in June.

Popular culture
The Nintendo Entertainment System, the best-selling game console of its time, was released in Japan.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (1-1) 20 @ Edmonton (1-1) 18

Winnipeg quarterback Dieter Brock, who had returned to the team after a long holdout, relieved starter Nickie Hall early in the game and completed just 12 of 35 passes, but one of them went for an 82-yard touchdown to James Murphy, making the difference in the Blue Bombers' win over the Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium. Jim Germany and Tom Scott scored Edmonton touchdowns. It was the first regular season game for Edmonton offensive lineman Blake Dermott, beginning a 14-year career. It was also the first game for rookie Edmonton runnng back Scott Stauch and the last CFL game for Winnipeg wide receiver Ricky Martin.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Im Nin'Alu--Ofra Haza (5th week at #1)

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that prices charged by producers for finished goods had risen 0.4% in June. The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. deficit on merchandise trade had increased slightly in May to $10.9 billion.

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (1-0) 48 @ Ottawa (0-1) 21



20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): I Can't Help Falling in Love (With You)--UB40 (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
David Brian, 78. U.S. actor. Mr. Brian starred in the radio (1952- and television series Mr. District Attorney in the 1950s. He played Joan Crawford's leading man in the movies Flamingo Road (1949); The Damned Don't Cry (1950); and This Woman is Dangerous (1952).

Football
CFL
Edmonton (1-1) 22 @ Saskatchewan (1-1) 23

Dave Ridgway's 50-yard field goal with 2:31 remaining in regulation time provided the winning margin as the Roughriders edged the Eskimos before 17,566 fans--including this blogger--at Taylor Field in Regina. Saskatchewan quarterback Kent Austin completed touchdown passes of 64 yards to Jeff Fairholm and 25 yards to Byron Williams. Blake Marshall rushed 1 yard for the first Edmonton touchdown, and linebacker Willie Pless recovered a Saskatchewan fumble in the Roughrider end zone for the other Eskimo major. The Eskimos had a chance to win the game in the last minute, but quarterback Rickey Foggie mismanaged the clock, and Sean Fleming's 52-yard field goal attempt on the last play was short and conceded for a single by Rico Cartwright, who was making what turned out to be his last play in the CFL. It was the second and last game as a Roughrider for rookie punter Mike Vanderjagt, who didn't return to the CFL until he joined the Toronto Argonauts in 1996.

10 years ago
2003

Elisabeth Welch, 99. U.S.-born U.K. singer and actress. Miss Welch spent most of her career in Britain, where she was known for performing in musicals.

Tex Schramm, 83. U.S. football executive. Mr. Schramm was an executive with the Los Angeles Rams from 1947-1956, but made hs name as the first general manager of the Dallas Cowboys from 1960-1989. During his tenure the Cowboys won two Super Bowls and appeared in three more. Mr. Schramm served as the first president of the World League of American Football from 1989-1990.

Economics and finance
The White House Office of Management and Budget foresaw a $455-billion deficit for the 2003 fiscal year and $475 billion for 2004. The previous record had been $290 billion in fiscal 1992. U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan told a House of Representatives Committee that he was optimistic about the economy but that the Fed would keep interest rates low.

Business
AOL Time Warner disbanded Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation was established on the same day.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (4-1) 14 @ Toronto (2-3) 24

Baseball
Major League All-Star Game @ U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago
American League 7 National League 6

Hank Blalock of the Texas Rangers hit a 2-run home run off Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers with 2 out in the bottom of the 8th inning to climax a 3-run rally to give the AL the win before 47,609 fans.