August 26, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Viktoriya!

140 years ago
1873

Born on this date
Lee de Forest. U.S. inventor. Mr. de Forest held over 180 patents, but was best known for his 1906 invention of the audion vacuum tube, the first practical amplification device. He was involved in several patent lawsuits, and spent much of his income and time in litigation. Mr. de Forest died on June 30, 1961 at the age of 87, several years after suffering a severe heart attack. For more on him, see Ken Burns' television documentary Empire of the Air: The Men who Made Radio (1992), and read the companion book of the same title by Tom Lewis.

80 years ago
1933

Tennis
Helen Wills Moody of the United States endured her first tournament loss since being upended by Suzanne Lenglen of France at Cannes in 1926 after a stretch of 158 victories. The defeat came by default in the third set against Miss Wills's rival Helen Jacobs in the United States nationals at Forest Hills, New York.

75 years ago
1938

Hockey
NHL
The National Hockey League allowed the Montreal Maroons to suspend operations because of financial troubles. The franchise wasn't officially revoked until 1947.

70 years ago
1943

War
U.K. Royal Air Force bombers attacked Berlin for the third straight night, while other planes laid mines in German waters. For the second consecutive day, U.S. planes hit Japanese targets at Hong Kong and airports at Canton.

Abominations
A report of the American and World Jewish Congresses declared that 3,050,050 Jews had died from German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler's persecution policies in Europe.

Diplomacy
The U.S.A., U.K., and Canada gave limited recognition to the French Committee of National Liberation, stating that this did not give recognition to a government of France or of the French Empire.

Labour
Members of the Congress of Industrial Organizations United Auto Workers of America ended their four-day walkout at the Johnsville, Pennsylvania plant of Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, but voted to give the National War Labor Board a 30-day strike notice.

60 years ago
1953

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

Football
CRU
IRFU
Montreal (0-1) 9 @ Toronto (1-0) 11

Billy Bass's 1-yard touchdown rush provided the winning margin as the defending Grey Cup champion Argonauts edged the Alouettes before 18,000 fans at Varsity Stadium.



50 years ago
1963

Football
CFL
British Columbia (4-0) 22 @ Calgary (4-1) 19

Nub Beamer rushed for 2 touchdowns in the 3rd quarter, providing the difference as the Lions edged the Stampeders before 22,500 fans at McMahon Stadium.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Flashdance...What a Feeling--Irene Cara (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Codo--DÖF (4th week at #1)

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (1-6) 15 @ Toronto (6-2) 36
Ottawa (2-5) 17 @ Edmonton (4-3) 14

Condredge Holloway threw touchdown passes to Terry Greer and Emanuel Tolbert and Darrell Wilson returned an interception for a touchdown with 1:41 remaining in the game as the Argonauts defeated the Roughriders before 35,414 fans at Exhibition Stadium. Hank Ilesic kicked 2 converts and 4 field goals for Toronto, and Mr. Holloway completed a 2-point convert pass to Jan Carinci. Saskatchewan quarterback John Hufnagel threw touchdown passes to Ron Robinson and Leroy Campbell. It was the first game for the Roughriders under head coach Reuben Berry, who had assumed the position six days earlier upon the firing of Joe Faragalli.

Gerry Organ kicked 5 field goals and 2 singles as the Rough Riders held on to beat the Eskimos before 49,880 fans at Commonwealth Stadium. Ottawa led 17-6 until Warren Moon marched the Edmonton offense downfield--with a play that included a 25-yard pass from Mr. Moon to himself--and completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tom Scott and a 2-point convert pass to Brian Kelly with 3:09 remaining in regulation time. The Rough Riders had a first down on the Eskimos' 11-yard line in the last 2 minutes and ran six plays, getting stopped on third down at the Edmonton 1-yard line in the final seconds, but there wasn't enough time for the Eskimos to move the ball downfield for a possible tying field goal. Ottawa's Skip Walker rushed 16 times for 94 yards, while Donnie Little led Ottawa receivers with 8 receptions for 140 yards. Mr. Kelly led all receivers with 9 receptions for 150 yards. Mr. Scott's touchdown gave him a CFL career record with 62 games catching touchdown passes, and the TD was the 80th touchdown reception of his career, tying the record set by Terry Evanshen, who played from 1965-1978. Edmonton running back Jim Germany carried once for 6 yards before leaving with a knee injury, and he never played again. It was the final home game for Pete Kettela as head coach of the Eskimos, and he was heavily criticized for a sequence of plays in the 3rd quarter that included sending the short-yardage offense into the game to run the ball on second down-and-goal-to-go from the Ottawa 5-yard line, then removing the short-yardage team and putting the receivers back in for a third-down gamble from the 3, which was unsuccessful. It remains the only regular season win for an Ottawa team at Commonwealth Stadium.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Carlos Paião, 30. Portuguese singer and songwriter. Dr. Paião was a physician by training, but became one of Portugal's most popular singers and songwriters. His best-known song was probably Playback, which he performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981. Dr. Paião was killed in a car accident while returning home from a concert.

Football
CFL
Toronto (6-1) 23 @ Saskatchewan (4-3) 21



20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Mr. Vain--Culture Beat (2nd week at #1)

Space
Communication with the Mars Observer probe was lost.

Diplomacy
A United Nations convoy with food and medical supplies reached the Bosnian Muslim city of Mostar after making its way through Croats attempting to block entry into the city. Once the materials were unloaded, residents of the city, fearing a massacre once the UN workers had left the region, tried to prevent the convoy from leaving.

Defense
The U.S.A. imposed bans on exports to China of almost $1 billion in high-technology goods for two years as penalty for China's selling of sensitive missile technology to Pakistan in violation of international arms control agreements.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (2-7) 26 @ Toronto (1-8) 25

Tom Burgess connected with Stephen Jones for a 56-yard touchdown bomb and Terry Baker converted in the final seconds to give the Rough Riders the win over the Argonauts before 21,327 fans at SkyDome, ending Ottawa's 7-game losing streak. The winning score came seconds after the Argonauts had taken the lead on a 61-yard touchdown bomb from Reggie Slack to Manny Hazard, converted by Lance Chomyc to give Toronto a 25-19 lead. Mr. Hazard had also caught 25-yard TD passes from Mr. Slack in each of the 1st and 3rd quarters. The Rough Riders scored the game's first touchdown on a 29-yard fumble return by defensive tackle John Kropke in the 1st quarter.

10 years ago
2003

Disasters
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board concluded that National Aeronautics and Space Administration's overconfident management and inattention to safety doomed the U.S. space shuttle Columbia as much as damage to the craft did. The shuttle had broken up over Texas while approaching for landing at Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 1, 2003, with the loss of all seven crew members. The craft had been damaged when a piece of foam had come loose and, travelling 545 miles per hour, had punched a hole in the leading edge of the left wing, creating a 100-square-inch hole through which hot gases had entered. The board cited a "broken safety culture" at NASA--including schedule pressures, insufficient funding, and competing priorities. NASA engineers had become aware of the foam incident after launch and had attempted to communicate their concerns, only to be disregarded by management. The board suggested that a rescue mission could have been attempted if NASA had moved quickly enough.