August 31, 2013

Married on this date
Happy Anniversary, Lois & Lee Morrow!

420 years ago
1593

Died on this date
Pierre Barrière. French criminal. Mr. Barrière was executed by breaking on the wheel and dismemberment four days after attempting to assassinate King Henry IV. Mr. Barrière was denounced by a Dominican priest to whom he had confessed the crime.

325 years ago
1688

Died on this date
John Bunyan, 59. English author and preacher. Mr. Bunyan, a non-conformist, was best known for his allegorical novel The Pilgrim's Progress (1678-1684).

200 years ago
1813

War
In the final stage of the Peninsular War, British and Portuguese troops captured the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián) in northern Spain, resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town. Elsewhere, Spanish troops repelled a French attack in the Battle of San Marcial near Irun, Spain.

130 years ago
1883

Journalism
Andrew M. Armour and Thomas B. Braden published the first issue of their Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranch Advocate and General Advertiser newspaper; a four-pager published, edited and typeset from a tiny hand-press in a tent on the banks of the Elbow River, with a one-year subscription available for $3 (in advance).

125 years ago
1888

Died on this date
Mary Ann Nichols, 43. U.K. murder victim. Mrs. Nichols, a prostitute in the Whitechapel area of London, was considered to be the first victim of the murderer known as Jack the Ripper.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Bernard Lovell. U.K. astronomer. Sir Bernard was probably the world's best-known radio astronomer, and was the first director of the Jodrell bank Observatory from 1945-1980. He died on August 6, 2012 at the age of 98.

75 years ago
1938

Disasters
Torrential rains hit the St. Lawrence River Valley in Quebec; 12 people were killed in flooding and landslides.

70 years ago
1943

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): White Christmas--Bing Crosby (3rd month at #1)

War
The Soviet Red Army opened a drive on Smolensk, 220 miles south of Moscow.

Politics and government
Chilean President Juan Antonio Rios revised his cabinet to give more posts to Radical Party members.

Law
India's highest tribunal upheld the right of the British viceroy to hold Hindu nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi and other political prisoners without trial.

Journalism
Without mentioning Drew Pearson's name, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a press conference, assailed the columnist as a chronic liar and said that his charge that Secretary of State Cordell Hull was anti-Soviet was a lie from beginning to end.

Oil
The U.S. Office of Price Administration announced plans for new gasoline ration coupon centres to check thefts and permit stricter investigation of requests for extra supplies, after U.S. Representative Fred Hartley, Jr. (Republican--New Jersey) had charged that fuel saved by reducing Midwest allotments was going to black markets.

60 years ago
1953

Football
WIFU
Calgary (1-1) 10 @ Winnipeg (2-0) 16
Edmonton (1-1) 19 @ Saskatchewan (0-2) 17

Tommy Thompson completed 13 of 23 passes for 119 yards and touchdowns to Neill Armstrong and Bud Korchak as the Blue Bombers beat the Stampeders at Winnipeg Stadium. Mr. Korchak converted both touchdowns and added 2 field goals. Pete Thodos scored 2 touchdowns for the Stampeders. Calgary running back John Henry Johnson was ejected in the 2nd quarter for slugging Winnipeg's Normie Hill.

Billy Vessels returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to provide the winning margin for the Eskimos as they edged the Roughriders at Taylor Field in Regina. Mr. Vessels' touchdown immediately followed Herb Johnson's second touchdown of the game, ona 5-yard rush. Mr. Johnson's first TD came on a league record 109-yard punt return. The Eskimos used rookie Ed Crowder at quarterback; it was his first game, and he threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Frank Anderson and handed off to Rollie Miles for the other TD. It was the first game of Canadian football for Saskatchewan quarterback Frank Tripucka, and he completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mac Speedie.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): 55 Days at Peking--Rob E.G. (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Pauvre Petite Fille Riche--Claude François (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Cuore--Rita Pavone (9th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Ich will 'nen Cowboy als Mann--Gitte (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Bad to Me--Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): My Boyfriend's Back--The Angels

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp)--Allan Sherman
2 My Boyfriend's Back--The Angels
3 Fingertips - Part 2--Little Stevie Wonder
4 Candy Girl--The 4 Seasons
5 Blowin' in the Wind--Peter, Paul and Mary
6 If I Had a Hammer--Trini Lopez
7 Judy's Turn to Cry--Lesley Gore
8 More--Kai Winding & Orchestra
--[Vic Dana]
9 Mockingbird--Inez Foxx
10 Heat Wave--Martha and the Vandellas

Singles entering the chart were Hello Heartache, Goodbye, Love by Little Peggy March (#76); That Sunday, That Summer by Nat King Cole (#77); Be My Baby by the Ronettes (#78); Organ Shout by Dave "Baby" Cortez (#87); (I Cried At) Laura's Wedding by Barbara Lynn (#88); and Pay Back by Etta James (#91).

#1 single in Calgary: Lucky Lips--Cliff Richard and the Shadows (2nd week at #1)

World events
Sarawak, North Borneo, and Singapore achieved technical independence, pending accession to the Federation of Malaysia.

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Playground in My Mind--Clint Holmes (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Can the Can--Suzi Quatro (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
John Ford, 79. U.S. film director. Mr. Ford, born John Feeney, was primarily known for directing westerns. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Informer (1935); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); How Green was My Valley (1941); and The Quiet Man (1952).

Protest
After 3½ hours of deliberation, a Gainesville, Florida jury acquitted the Gainesville 8--seven members and one supporter of Vietnam Veterans Against the War--of charges to disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention with weapons, slingshots, and crossbows. The prosecution's case had rested heavily on the testimony of five paid informers and undercover policemen who had infiltrated the group. The defense called only one witness and argued that the charges had been trumped up to discredit the organization's activities.

Oil
Shell Canada announced plans to build a $700-million oil extraction plant on the Athabasca tar sands at Fort McMurray, Alberta.

30 years ago
1983

On the radio
Chuck Chandler worked his last regular shift at CFRN in Edmonton.

War
Counterattacking Lebanese army units recaptured parts of Beirut that had fallen to Muslim militias.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had risen only 0.3% in July, the smallest increase in 11 months.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Superstitious--Europe (4th week at #1)

Journalism
Moncton's daily newspaper Le Matin declared bankruptcy, leaving L'Acadie NOUVELLE, in Caraquet, as the only French-language daily in New Brunswick.

Football
CFL
Calgary (2-6) 17 @ Toronto (7-1) 33


Saskatchewan (4-4) 35 @ Winnipeg (4-4) 38

20 years ago
1993

World events
Church bells rang in Lithuania as the last Russian troops left Lithuania after more than half a century of Soviet and Russian occupation.

Environment
Canadian Fisheries Minister Ross Reid announced that east coast fisheries would be shut down in five more areas until the end of the 1993 fishing season and that quotas would be slashed in three other areas.

10 years ago
2003

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (8-3) 36 @ Saskatchewan (6-5) 18