August 15, 2013

Married on this date
Happy Anniversary, Janet & Tim Sproule!

1,590 years ago
423

Died on this date
Honorius, 38. Western Roman Emperor, 395-423. Honorius was Emperor when Rome was sacked by Visigoths in 410. He died of edema and left no heir. Honorius was succeeded temporarily by Joannes before Honorius' cousin Valentinian III was elected Emperor the following year.

975 years ago
1038

Died on this date
Stephen I, 63 (?). King of Hungary, ca. 1000-1038. Stephen was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians from 997-ca. 1000 and the first King of Hungary. He was succeeded on the throne by Peter Orseolo.

170 years ago
1843

Popular culture
Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest extant amusement parks in the world, opened in Copenhagen.

Religion
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu was dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.

150 years ago
1863

War
The Anglo-Satsuma War between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom began with the Royal Navy's bombardment of the Japanese town of Kagoshima in retaliation for fire from coastal batteries near the town.

120 years ago
1893

Diplomacy
Fijabi, the Baale (civic ruler) of Ibadan, and George Denton, acting Governor of Lagos, signed a treaty making the Ibadan area a British protectorate. Ibadan is now part of Nigeria.

70 years ago
1943

War
U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill returned to Ottawa after completing his visit with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, New York. An invasion force of 34,426 Canadian and U.S. troops landed on Alaska's Kiska Island to find that Japanese troops had fled. Superior German forces surrounded Cretan partisans, who managed to escape against all odds in the Battle of Trahili. Allied forces captured Taormina, Kaggi, and Castiglione on the east coast of Sicily, and the Americans reached the vicinity of Milazzo on the north coast. The Soviet Red Army fought its way into Karachev, the last German outpost east of Bryansk. U.S. troops occupied Vella lavella Island in the central Solomons, bypassing Japanese garrisons at Vila and Bairoko Harbor.

Politics and government
General Higinio Morinigo was inaugurated into a five-year term as President of Paraguay.

Protest
More than 8,000 Independistas rallied in San Juan and approved a message to President Roosevelt asking for Puerto Rican independence.

Track and field
Stella Walsh--who, years after her death, was proven to be a man--won three events in the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union women's championships in Cleveland, and her Polish Olympic Women's Athletic Club of Cleveland won the team title.

60 years ago
1953

Hit Parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?--Patti Page (2nd week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)--Les Paul and Mary Ford (Best seller--2nd week at #1); No Other Love--Perry Como (Disc Jockey--1st week at #1); I'm Walking Behind You--Eddie Fisher (Jukebox--7th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 No Other Love--Perry Como
2 Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)--Les Paul and Mary Ford
3 Crying in the Chapel--Darrell Glenn
--June Valli
--The Orioles
4 I'm Walking Behind You--Eddie Fisher
5 P.S. I Love You--The Hilltoppers
6 You, You, You--The Ames Brothers
7 The Song from Moulin Rouge (Where is Your Heart)--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
8 With These Hands--Eddie Fisher
9 April in Portugal--Les Baxter and his Orchestra
10 Oh!--Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Ebb Tide by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra (#19); A Fool was I by Nat "King" Cole (#27); God Bless Us All, with versions by Bruce Weil and Jimmy Boyd (#29); Lighthouse by Rusty Draper (#30); You're Fooling Someone by Joni James (#32); Dragnet, with versions by Ray Anthony and his Orchestra and Buddy Morrow and his Orchestra (#34); and False Love by the Four Aces (#36). You're Fooling Someone was the B-side (or maybe the A-side) of My Love, My Love, which charted at #24.

Protest
Inmates at Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario rioted, burning three buildings and causing $2 million damage.

Football
IRFU-WIFU pre-season
Ottawa (0-1) 14 @ Winnipeg (1-0) 18

15,600 fans attended the first game ever played at Winnipeg Stadium.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Sweets for My Sweet--The Searchers (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Henry John Burnett, 21. U.K. murderer. Mr. Burnett was hanged at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen, Scotland for the May 31, 1963 shooting of Thomas Guyan, estranged husband of the woman Mr. Burnett had recently been living with. Mr. Burnett was the last man to be hanged in Scotland.

World events
The government of President Fulbert Youlou was overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital city of Brazzaville.

Football
CFL
Montreal (0-2) 14 @ Ottawa (1-1) 31
Hamilton (1-1) 3 @ Saskatchewan (2-1) 5

The Rough Riders took a 31-0 halftime lead and coasted to victory over the Alouettes at Lansdowne Park. Sandy Stephens, playing his final game in a Montreal uniform, completed 15 of 32 passes and threw touchdown passes to Don Clark and Meco Poliziani in the 4th quarter.

A pair of 60-yard punt singles by Martin Fabi in the 4th quarter gave the Roughriders their win over the Tiger-Cats on a muddy field on a rainy night before 12,609 fans at Taylor Field in Regina. Ron Lancaster, in his first game with Saskatchewan since being purchased from the Ottawa Rough Riders on July 30, completed 9 of 20 passes for 127 yards and 2 interceptions. He fumbled 4 times, but lost only 1. Hamilton quarterbacks Bernie Faloney, Frank Cosentino, and Joe Zuger combined to complete just 7 of 22 passes for 46 yards and 4 interceptions.

40 years ago
1973

Scandal
In an address on the scandal surrounding the 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., U.S. President Richard Nixon stated that uncertainty over the Watergate affair was sapping confidence in the American economy, currency, and foreign policy. Mr. Nixon said "the time has come to turn Watergate over to the courts" and "for the rest of us to get on with the urgent business of our nation."

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned Israel for "a serious interference with international civil aviation and a violation of the Charter of the United Nations" for the August 10 incident in which a Lebanese Middle East jetliner with 81 people aboard had been intercepted by Israel and forced to land at a military airfield, in a search for Dr. George Habash, leader of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine. The people were freed after two hours, and Israeli authorities admitted they had intercepted the wrong plane.

Protest
French sailors boarded and seized the Canadian yacht Greenpeace II, which was protesting French nuclear tests and had entered the security zone around the test site.

Crime
The Superior Court Grand Jury in Washington, D.C. indicted seven men, all from Philadelphia, for the January 1973 slayings of two men and five children at the Hanafi Muslim headquarters in Washington.

Three jurors, including the foreman, from a trial that had resulted in life sentences for five Black Muslim terrorists for the September 1972 murders of eight people at a luxurious golf club in Christiansted, Virgin Islands said they had been pressured into rendering a guilty verdict. The defense, led by attorney William Kunstler, immediately filed a motion for an evidentiary hearing and a new trial.

Football
CFL
Montreal (2-1) 21 @ Toronto (3-0) 22
Winnipeg (1-3) 9 @ Calgary (2-1) 18

Gerry Shaw caught a touchdown pass from Peter Liske and another from Jim Lindsey as the Stampeders beat the Blue Bombers at McMahon Stadium. Don Jonas passed to Lee Fobbs for the Winnipeg touchdown. It was the final game in a Calgary uniform for guard Granville Liggins, who was promptly traded to the Toronto Argonauts for running back Leon McQuay. Mr. Liggins was in his sixth season with the Stampeders, and his fourth as a guard, after beginning his career as a defensive tackle. Mr. McQuay had been the Eastern Football Conference's nominee for the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in his rookie season of 1971. It was the second and last CFL game for Calgary punter Paul Knill, who departed with an average of 37.6 yards per kick on 18 punts.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Australiana--Austen Tayshus

Environment
A U.S. federal district judge in Georgia issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting further spraying of marijuana plants in White County with the herbicide Paraquat, which had been linked to more than 1,000 deaths since its first use in the 1960s.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Age of Reason--John Farnham (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
The U.S. Republican National Convention opened at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. President Ronald Reagan addressed the convention, saying that Vice President and presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee George Bush had played a major role in his administration, and asking of him one more favour: "Go out there and win one for the Gipper."

Swimming
Vicki Keith became the first person to swim across Lake Superior.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Austria (Ö3): What's Up?--4 Non Blondes

#1 single in Switzerland: What's Up?--4 Non Blondes

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): What's Up?--4 Non Blondes (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Living on My Own--Freddie Mercury (2nd week at #1)

Terrorism
Gold miners in Brazil attacked a Yanomami Indian reservation, killing 73.

Religion
400,000 young people celebrated World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II in a field 14 miles from Denver, Colorado.

Golf
Paul Azinger won the PGA Championship at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Greg Norman when Mr. Norman missed two consecutive putts, and Mr. Azinger made his putt for a par 4. The two had finished the four rounds with 12-under-par totals of 272. First prize money was $300,000.

Auto racing
Damon Hill, son of 1960s' champion Graham Hill, became the first second-generation winner of a Formula One race when he won the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

10 years ago
2003

Diplomacy
Israel announced that it would cede control of Jericho and Qalqilya to Palestinian authorities and allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to travel outside his Ramallah compound, contingent on an end to violence by Palestinians and the disarmament of Palestinian terrorists.

Terrorism
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Libya accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland that had killed 270 people. Libya agreed to pay reparations that could total $2.7 billion. $4 million was to go to each family when UN sanctions against Libya were lifted, another $4 million if U.S. sanctions were lifted, and a final $2 million if the U.S. State Department dropped Libya from its list of countries sponsoring terrorism. The settlement was worked out by diplomats from Libya, U.S.A., and U.K.

Football
CFL
Montreal @ Hamilton (postponed to August 16)

The game between the Alouettes and Tiger-Cats at Ivor Wynne Stadium was postponed because of the power blackout affecting much of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.