December 20, 2013

210 years ago
1803

Americana
The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans.

130 years ago
1883

Transportation
The first cantilever bridge between the U.S.A. and Canada over the Niagara River gorge was officially opened at Queenston, Ontario. The 150-metre-long structure was the first to be called a cantilever.

125 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Fred Merkle. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Merkle was a first baseman with the New York Giants (1907-1916); Brooklyn Robins (1916-1917); Chicago Cubs (1917-1920); and New York Yankees (1925-1926), batting .273 with 82 home runs and 733 runs batted in in 1,638 games. Mr. Merkle played with National League pennant-winning teams in 1911-1913, 1916, and 1918, but is best known for "Merkle's boner," a baserunning mistake on September 23, 1908 that helped cost the Giants the pennant. With the Cubs and Giants separated by only percentage points in the Nationl League pennant race and tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning before 20,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York, Moose McCormick was at third base and Mr. Merkle at first base, with Al Bridwell at bat. Mr. Bridwell singled home Mr. McCormick with the apparent winning run. Mr. Merkle, however, took off for the clubhouse before touching second base. Chicago manager Frank Chance, playing first base, ran to second base to get a throw in an attempt to have Mr. Merkle forced out on the play, but New York pitcher Joe McGinnity, coaching at first base, was on the field and interfered with the throw, and many fans had swarmed onto the field, thinking the Giants had won. Umpire Hank O'Day called Mr. Merkle out, but ruled that the game could not be resumed because of the large number of fans on the field. National League President Harry Pulliam upheld Mr. O'Day's decision and ruled that the game would have to be replayed. The Cubs won the replayed game 4-2 on October 8 to win the pennant, finishing 1 game ahead of the Giants. Mr. Merkle played 8 seasons in the minor leagues, including 6 years in the International League with the Rochester Colts/Tribe (1921-1925) and Reading Keystones (1927). He was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 1953. Mr. Merkle also played a year of professional football as an end with the Toledo Athletic Association of the Ohio League in 1906. He died on March 2, 1956 at the age of 67.

120 years ago
1893

Canadiana
The Chateau Frontenac hotel in Quebec City officially opened.

Politics and government
The Liberal Party won all four seats in Māori electorates for the House of Representatives in the New Zealand general election. The Liberals had won 51 of 70 seats in voting in general electorates on November 28.

100 years ago
1913

Boxing
Sam Langford (96-9-27-3-2) won a 20-round decision over Joe Jeannette (78-18-16-1) at Luna Park Arena in Paris to win recognition as world heavyweight champion from the French Boxing Federation, which had stripped Jack Johnson of its recognition as champion. It was the tenth fight between the two men. Mr. Langford was stripped of French recognition as world champion shortly thereafter.



75 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Matilda Howell, 79. U.S. archeress. Mrs. Howell won the Ohio state championship in 1881, and competed until 1907. She won gold medals in double national round, double Columbia round, and team round at the Summer Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904.

70 years ago
1943

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Missing Black Dog

War
Major-General Christopher Vokes and the 1st Canadian Division were ordered to take the medieval Italian seaport of Ortona as part of the advance of General Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army up the Italian Adriatic coast. The Loyal Edmonton Regiment and Seaforth Highlanders of Canada attacked from the south, since the town was flanked by sea cliffs on the north and east and by a deep ravine to the west.

World events
Major Gualbert Villaroel led a coup to depose Bolivian President Enrique Penaranda.

Labour
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt summoned the leaders of the railroad brotherhoods to the White House, and urged them to accept the carriers' offer of an additional increase of 4c per hour--a total of 8c per hour, as compared with their demands of raises of $3 per day.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Don't Talk to Him--Cliff Richard and the Shadows

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Move Over--Bobby Curtola (2nd week at #1)
2 Johnny Liar--Molly Bee
3 Pretty Paper--Roy Orbison
4 Dominique--The Singing Nun
5 Shindig--The Shadows
6 I'm Leaving it Up to You--Dale & Grace
7 Forget Him--Bobby Rydell
8 Sugar and Spice--The Searchers
9 It's All in the Game--Cliff Richard
10 Judy Loves Me--Johnny Crawford
Pick hit of the week: Roll Over Beethoven--The Beatles
New this week: Do You Hear What I Hear--Bing Crosby
The Twelve Gifts of Christmas--Allan Sherman
Promises (You Made are Now Broken)--Ray Peterson
Hootenanny Saturday Night--The Brothers Four
Rags to Riches--Sunny & the Sunliners
The Chickens are in the Chimes--Sascha Burland and the Skipjack Choir

On television tonight
Twilight Zone, hosted by Rod Serling, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Ninety Years Without Slumbering, starring Ed Wynn, Carolyn Kearney, James T. Callahan, and William Sargent

This was the seventh and last episode of the series for which Bernard Herrmann composed the score.

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, on CBS
Tonight's episode: How to Get Rid of Your Wife, starring Bob Newhart, Jane Withers, and Joyce Jameson

Music
Sam Cooke began a recording session at RCA Studio in Los Angeles, recording Good News and beginning recording on Good Times.

Diplomacy
The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.

Boxing
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (18-4) scored a technical knockout of world welterweight champion Emile Griffith (38-5) at 2:13 of the 1st round of a middleweight bout at Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Referee Buck McTiernan stopped the fight after Mr. Griffith was knocked down for the second time in the round. It was Mr. Griffith's first loss by knockout.



40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Merry X'mas Everybody--Slade

Died on this date
Luis Carrero Blanco, 70. Prime Minister of Spain, 1973. Mr. Carrero Blanco had become Prime Minister six months earlier when dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco had decided to separate the positions of head of state and head of government. Mr. Carrero Blanco, his chuaffeur, and a bodyguard were killed and four others injured when a car bomb detonated near a church where Mr. Carrero Blanco had just attended mass. ETA, a Basque nationalist terrorist group, claimed credit for the assassination, which was said to be revenge for the killing of nine Basque militants by the government.

Bobby Darin, 37. U.S. singer and actor. Mr. Darin, born Walden Robert Cassotto, first attracted attention as a rock and roll singer with the hit singles Splish Splash and Queen of the Hop in 1958. He had a major hit in 1959 with his own composition, Dream Lover, and followed that with a version of Mack the Knife that spent 9 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and 8 weeks at #1 on the Cash Box chart, establishing Mr. Darin as a mainstream entertainer. Six more top 10 singles followed, the last being If I were a Carpenter in 1966. Mr. Darin married actress Sandra Dee and appeared in a number of movies himself, including Come September (1961), If a Man Answers (1962), and Pressure Point (1962). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting performance in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963). Mr. Darin changed his appearance and musical styles in the late 1960s and early 1970s and became politically active, and his record sales declined. His health also declined; he had contracted rheumatic fever as a child, which left him with a weak heart and a belief that he wouldn't live a long life. Mr. Darin recorded with Motown Corporation in the last couple of years of his life; he was still an active performer when he succumbed to his heart ailment.

Law
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced that it would set up a Commission of Human Rights and Interests to protect Canadians from discrimination.

Maurice Nadon succeeded W.L. Higgitt as Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Hockey
NHL
Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens scored his 1,000th career NHL point with an assist in a 2-2 tie with the Buffalo Sabres.

30 years ago
1983

World events
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat and 4,000 of his men left Tripoli, Lebanon on five Greek ships, ending a six-week siege during which his forces had been trapped by rival Palestinians supported by Syria. After weeks of negotiations, the United Nations had agreed to permit Mr. Arafat to fly the UN flag over the evacuation ships. Greece agreed to provide the ships, and Israel ended 10 days of bombardment of Mr. Arafat's forces, and consented to the evacuation. The ships transported Mr. Arafat's men to Tunis.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that housing starts had increased 6.4% in November.

Hockey
NHL
Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens became the 10th NHL player to score 500 career goals as his Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers 6-0 at the Montreal Forum. Mr. Lafleur's linemate Steve Shutt scored his 400th career NHL goal in the game.

25 years ago
1988

Diplomacy
The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances governing international cooperation against the illegal drug trade was signed in Vienna.

Politics and government
Three anglophones resigned from the Liberal cabinet of Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa to protest passage of Bill 178, mandating the use of only French on outside signs, but permitting bilingual signs inside.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices had risen 0.3% in November.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf (5th week at #1)

Scandal
The U.S. administration of President Bill Clinton confirmed that files on Mr. Clinton and his wife Hillary's involvement with Whitewater Development Company, a defunct real estate firm in Arkansas, had been removed from the office of White House counsel Vince Foster--who had died, allegedly committing suicide in Fort Marcy Park in Washington, D.C. on July 20, 1993--by White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum before U.S. Park Police investigators could visit Mr. Foster's office. The Clintons and James McDougal, a political supporter, had been co-owners of the Whitewater Development Co., and Mr. McDougal had owned Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, which had failed in 1989. The U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether Mr. McDougal had illegally from Madison to the campaigns of Mr. Clinton, who was then Governor of Arkansas, and of other Arkansas political figures. Mr. Foster was the lawyer who had handled the details when the Clintons had sold their Whitewater holdings to Mr. McDougal.

10 years ago
2003

Politics and government
The Swiss parliament elected Christoph Blocher of the Swiss People's Party to the country's seven-man cabinet.