August 30, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michelle Kent!

650 years ago
1363

War
The forces of two Chinese rebel leaders — Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang — began the Battle of Lake Poyang, one of the largest naval battles in history.

530 years ago
1483

Died on this date
Louis XI, 60. King of France, 1461-1483. Louis XI, nicknamed "The Universal Spider" for his scheming character, succeeded his father Charles VII on the throne. He was succeeded by his son Charles VIII.

200 years ago
1813

War
French forces were defeated by an Austrian-Prussian-Russian alliance in the Battle of Kulm in northern Bohemia.

Creek Indian "Red Sticks" killed over 500 white settlers (including over 250 armed militia) in Fort Mims, Alabama.

140 years ago
1873

Canadiana
In Winnipeg, George Arthur French formed first detachment of North-West Mounted Police with 150 recruits.

Exploration
Austrians Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht discovered the archipelago of Franz Josef Land in the Arctic Sea.

120 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Huey Long. U.S. politician. The man known as the "Kingfish," Mr. Long was Governor of Louisiana from 1928-1932 and United States Senator from 1932-1935. His populist policies included big spending on public works, educational institutions (e.g. Louisiana State University), and old-age pensions. He dubbed his program "Share Our Wealth," and sang a theme song called Every Man a King. Mr. Long was accused of dictatorial practices while Governor, and still controlled state politics while he was in the U.S. Senate. He was considered a likely challenger to President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Democratic party presidential nomination in 1936. Mr. Long died on September 10, 1935, 11 days after his 42nd birthday, and two days after being shot in the Louisiana state Capitol building. Dr. Carl Weiss, a physician whose father-in-law was a judge who had reportedly been gerrymandered out of his electoral district because of his opposition to Mr. Long, went to the Louisiana state Capitol building in Baton Rouge. Dr. Weiss had a gun in his coat, and shots were fired, most of them by Mr. Long's bodyguards, with 32 bullets going into or through Dr. Weiss. In the early 1990s the NBC television documentary program Unsolved Mysteries ran a segment on the incident, and the evidence indicated that the bullet that mortally wounded Mr. Long had been fired by one of his bodyguards, not by Dr. Weiss.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Richard Stone. U.K. economist. Mr. Stone, sometimes called "the father of national income accounting," won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1984 for developing an accounting model that could be used to track economic activities on a national and, later, an international scale. He died on December 6, 1991 at the age of 78.

75 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Max Factor, Sr., 65. Polish-born U.S. make-up artist and businessman. Mr. Factor, born Maksymilian Faktorowicz in Lodz, lived in Berlin and Moscow before moving to the United States in 1904. He founded the cosmetics firm Max Factor & Company in Los Angeles in 1909. Mr. Factor popularized the term "makeup" as a noun as well as a verb, and was given an honourary Academy Award in 1929 for his contributions to motion pictures.

70 years ago
1943

War
Soviet forces took Taganrog, the southern anchor of the German line since October 19, 1941. U.S. forces occupied Arundel Island in the Solomons, further closing the trap on the Japanese garrison at Vila, Kolombangara Island.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt returned to Washington from Quebec and conferred with Chinese Foreign Minister Dr. T.V. Soong. U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull said that charges that the State Department as anti-Soviet were "monstrous and diabolical falsehoods," and assailed columnist Drew Pearson for his assertion that Mr. Hull and other State Dept. officials "actually wished the Soviet Union to be bled white."

Defense
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet, successor to the vessel lost off Guadalcanal and previously used as a base for the raid on Tokyo, was launched at the Newport News, Virginia Shipbuilding and Drydock Company yards.

Abominations
The Swedish government reported that the Danish royal family had been interned by the Germans at Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen.

Economics and finance
U.S. Federal Judge Bascon Deaver ruled that rent ceiling prices of the Emergency Price Control Act were unconstitutional; the Office of Price Administration said that it would appeal the decision. U.S. Fuel Administrator Harold Ickes and the OPA announced in Washington that the ban on pleasure driving on the Atlantic seaboard that had been in effect since May 20 would be lifted on September 1.

Labour
About 60,000 members of the Mexican Confederation of Workers held a mass meeting in Mexico City to protest rising living costs and to demand wage increases.

Disasters
27 people were killed and 150 injured when the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad express Lackawanna Limited collided with a freight locomotive near Wayland, New York, and was wrecked. All but one of the fatalities were caused by live steam from the boiler of the freight locomotive.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Sweets for My Sweet--The Searchers

At the movies
Johnny Cool, directed by William Asher, and starring Henry Silva, Elizabeth Montgomery, and others, received its premiere screening in Chicago.





Died on this date
Guy Burgess, 52. U.K. traitor. Mr. Burgess, a British Foreign Office official, was one of the Cambridge Five spies who passed Western secrets to the U.S.S.R. during the early years of the Cold War. He and fellow traitor Donald Maclean escaped to the Soviet Union in 1951 after Mr. Maclean came under suspicion in Britain. Mr. Burgess was a sodomite who drank himself to death.

Music
The single Hello Little Girl/Just in Case by the Fourmost was released in the United Kingdom on Parlophone Records. Hello Little Girl was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon--and credited in that order. Just in Case was written by Boudleaux Bryant.

Diplomacy
A hot line between the Kremlin and the White House went into operation to reduce the chances of an accidental war.

Football
AFL
Stone Johnson, a rookie halfback with the Kansas City Chiefs, was critically injured when he broke his neck while attempting to make a block during a kickoff return in a pre-season game against the Houston Oilers in Wichita, Kansas.

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Where Three Counties Meet--Brendan Shine (2nd week at #1)

Protest
200 aboriginal protesters started a 2-day occupation of the Canadian federal government's Indian Affairs and Northern Development offices in Ottawa to demand a halt to the James Bay power development until Cree land claims were settled, and also protested the department's youth liaison program.

Striking Canadian rail workers forced their way into the Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Flashdance...What a Feeling--Irene Cara (4th week at #1)

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin its third mission, STS-8. The crew included the first Negro American to go into space--U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion Bluford--and the oldest U.S. astronaut to date, Dr. William Thornton, 54. The other crew members were Dick Truly, Commander; Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot; and Dale Gardner, Mission Specialist.

War
The day after two U.S. Marines had been killed by Muslims attacking Beirut, three French soldiers and a French embassy policeman in Beirut were killed during attacks by Muslim militias. U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in response to letters from U.S. Congressional leaders, said that the "continued presence of these U.S. forces in Lebanon is essential" and that he would keep Congress informed. Israel said that it had agreed to a U.S. request to delay its withdrawal from the Shouf mountains southeast of Beirut.

Diplomacy
U.S. Central American envoy Richard Stone met in Costa Rica with representatives of the Salvadoran rebel movement. It was reported that the rebels said they would not disarm and participate in elections without assurances on sharing power.

Crime
The Filipino government identified Rolando Galman y Dawang, a "gun for hire," as the man who was alleged to have assassinated political opposition leader Benigno Aquino on his arrival at Manila International Airport on August 21.

25 years ago
1988

Died on this date
Jack Marshall, 76. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1972. Sir Jack, a member of the National Party, represented Mount Victoria (1946-1954) and Karori (1954-1975) in Parliament, and held several cabinet posts, most notably Deputy Prime Minister (1957, 1960-1972). He served as Prime Minister from February-December 1972, and then as Leader of the Opposition until resigning the party leadership in 1974. Sir Jack died in England while en route to a conference of the United Bible Societies.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that leading economic indicators had declined 0.8% in July.

Swimming
Canadian Vicki Keith staggered ashore from Lake Ontario, ending her marathon swim of all five Great Lakes and setting the women's world distance record of 38 kilometres for the butterfly stroke. Miss Keith had started her marathon on July 1.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): What's Up?--4 Non Blondes (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Richard Jordan, 56. U.S. actor. Mr. Jordan appeared in many plays, television programs, and movies. His films included Rooster Cogburn (1975); Logan's Run (1976); Dune (1984); The Secret of My Success (1987); The Hunt for Red October (1990); and Gettysburg (1993). He was in the process of filming The Fugitive (1993) when his fatal brain tumor forced him to withdraw (he was replaced by Jeroen Krabbé).

10 years ago
2003

Died on this date
Charles Bronson, 81. U.S. actor. Mr. Bronson, born Charles Buchinsky, was known for rugged action roles in movies such as Machine-Gun Kelly (1958); The Magnificent Seven (1960); The Great Escape (1963); The Dirty Dozen (1967); and Death Wish (1974).

Terrorism
Iraqi authorities arrested four people--two former members of the Ba'ath Party from Basra, and two non-Iraqi Arabs from the Salafi sect (a Sunni sect)--in connection with the previous day's detonation of a car bomb outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf which had killed Shiite Muslim leader Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim and more than 80 other people.

Disasters
While being towed across the Barents Sea, the de-commissioned Russian submarine K-159 sank, taking 9 of her crew and 800 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel with her.