December 9, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mary-Ann Murphy and Natalia!

325 years ago
1688

War
In the only substantial military action in England during the Glorious Revolution, forces loyal to William of Orange were decisively victorious in the Battle of Reading, forcing the flight of King James II from the country.

220 years ago
1793

Journalism
New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, was established by Noah Webster.

170 years ago
1843

Academia
George Mountain, the Anglican Bishop of Montreal, founded Bishop's College as a liberal arts college in Lennoxville, Quebec. It became Bishop's University in 1853.

150 years ago
1863

Born on this date
Alexander Donoghue. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Donoghue was an outfielder and shortstop with the Philadelphia Phillies (1891), batting .318 with no home runs and 2 runs batted in in 6 games. He played 11 seasons in independent and minor leagues (1886-1896), and died on July 11, 1931 at the age of 67.

100 years ago
1913

Baseball
The New York Giants and Chicago White Sox continued their post-season exhibition tour, departing Japan aboard RMS Empress of China via Kobe and Nagasaki en route to Shanghai.

80 years ago
1933

Football
CRU
Grey Cup @ Davis Field, Sarnia
Toronto Argonauts 4 Sarnia Imperials 3

Ab Box's punt single late in the 4th quarter broke a 3-3 tie as the Argonauts edged the Imperials before 2,751 fans in the only Grey Cup ever played in Sarnia. The Imperials led 1-0 at halftime on a punt single by Hugh "Bummer" Stirling. The Imperials missed 2 field goal attempts in the 3rd quarter; Mr. Box punted the ball back out of the end zone on the first miss to save a point, and Mr. Stirling scored a single on the second to give Sarnia a 2-0 lead. Tuffy Griffiths of the Argonauts then blocked one of Mr. Stirling's punts, and Tommy Burns kicked a field goal to give Toronto a 3-2 lead after 3 quarters. Mr. Stirling punted for another single to tie the game before Mr. Box put the Argonauts ahead. Shortly after Mr. Box scored the go-ahead single, Sarnia's Norm Perry took a pass from Rocky Parsaca and ran down the sidelines to the Toronto 7-yard line, putting his team within range of a tying or possibly winning kick. However, official Jo-Jo Stirrett ruled that Mr. Perry had stepped out of bounds on the Toronto 42-yard line. The Sarnia fans were most displeased by the ruling, which was a difficult call because the field was covered with snow, making the sidelines and yard lines hard to see. The Imperials were unable to move close enough to attempt a kick for the tying point. The win was the first Grey Cup championship for the Argonauts since 1921, and the first for head coach Lew Hayman.

70 years ago
1943

War
Canadian troops crossed Moro River and pushed through San Leonardo towards Ortona, opening a bloody new campaign in Italy. U.S.S.R. forces, after giving ground for two days to German counterattacks, finally held west of Kiev near Chernyakhov. Chinese troops recaptured Changteh from Japanese forces at dawn. Australian troops mopped up on the Huon Peninsula of New Guinea and took Bazuluo, 1½ miles west of Wareo.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Ellison Smith (Democrat--South Carolina) "nominated" Sen. Harry F. Byrd (Democrat--Virginia) as a U.S. presidential candidate, and advised the South to organize a Democratic Party of its own.

Labour
The Canadian government ordered a ban on wage increases for the war's duration except in cases of "gross inequality or gross injustice." The U.S. Senate passed a resolution approving a wage increase of 8c per hour for 1.1 million non-operating railroad employees.

60 years ago
1953

At the movies
Wicked Woman, directed and co-written by Russell Rouse, and starring Beverly Michaels and Rickard Egan, opened in theatres.





50 years ago
1963

On television tonight
The Outer Limits, on ABC
Tonight's episode: It Crawled Out of the Woodwork, starring Scott Marlowe, Kent Smith, Michael Forest, Barbara Luna, Joan Camden, and Edward Asner

Music
Roll Over Beethoven/Please Mister Postman by the Beatles was released on Capitol Records 72133, becoming their fifth single to be released in Canada.

Business
Studebaker Corporation announced the closure of its main automobile manufacturing plant in South Bend, Indiana. Operations would be consolidated in Hamilton, Ontario.

40 years ago
1973

On the radio
The Royal Canadian Air Farce was first broadcast on CBC.

Politics and government
U.K. Prime Minister Edward Heath, Irish Premier Liam Cosgrave, and leaders of political parties from Northern Ireland signed the Sunningdale Agreement for a Council of Ireland to take effect on January 1, 1974.

Social Democratic candidate Carlos Andres Perez was elected to a five-year term as President of Venezuela.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Uptown Girl--Billy Joel

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Come Back and Stay--Paul Young (5th week at #1)

Politics and government
Former Argentinian President Isabel Martinez de Peron, who had been in exile in Spain since being ousted by the military in 1976, returned to Argentina to attend the following day's inauguration of Raul Alfonsin, who had won the October 30 election, ending seven years of military rule.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Don't Worry Be Happy--Bobby McFerrin (6th week at #1)

War
A raid by Israeli forces on a Palestine Liberation Organization guerrilla base in Beirut concluded with reports of one Israeli officer and 20 Palestinian guerrillas killed.

Transportation
The Michael Hughes Bridge in Sligo, Ireland was officially opened.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Maximum Overdrive--2 Unlimited

Space
U.S. space shuttle astronauts Story Musgrave and Jeff Hofman completed repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Defense
The U.S. Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices charged by producers for finished goods had remained level in November.

10 years ago
2003

Diplomacy
North Korea announced that it would freeze its nuclear program in exchange for concessions from the United States, including fuel aid and removal of North Korea from the list of sponsors of state terrorism. The U.S.A. countered with a plan demanding the dismantling of North Korea's entire nuclear weapons program.

War
The Japanese government agreed to end up to 1,000 troops to Iraq within a year, the largest deployment of Japanese troops since World War II. Since the Japanese constitution forbade the country from going to war, the contingent would be limited to a humanitarian role only.

Business
A U.S. Defense Department directive barred Canada, France, Germany, and Russia from bidding on lucrative contracts for rebuilding Iraq. Only the U.S.A. and its coalition partners were deemed eligible to bid.