November 18, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Veronica Vamosi and Patty Werbicki!

520 years ago
1493

Exploration
Christopher Columbus first sighted the island now known as Puerto Rico.

130 years ago
1883

Born on this date
Carl Vinson. U.S. politician. Mr. Vinson, a Democrat, represented Georgia's 6th (1914-1933) and 10th (1933-1965) Districts in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was co-sponsor of the Two-Ocean Navy Act (1940), which increased the size of the United States Navy by 70%. Rep. Vinson was Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (1949-1953, 1955-1965). He died on June 1, 1981 at the age of 97.

Society
Standard time, devised by Canadian engineer Sanford Fleming, went into effect at midnight Atlantic Time in Nova Scotia and in eastern seaboard states in the U.S.A. Standard Railway Time went into effect on North American railways at noon.

120 years ago
1893

Football
ORFU
Finals
Toronto 1 @ Queen's College 27 (Queen's won 2-game total points series 55-3)

110 years ago
1903

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and French diplomatic representative for Panama Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla signed the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, establishing the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal.

100 years ago
1913

Baseball
The New York Giants and Chicago White Sox continued their post-season exhibition tour, with the White Sox winning 2-0 in Portland, Oregon.

70 years ago
1943

At the movies
Distinto amanecer (Another Dawn), directed by Julio Bracho, and starring Andrea Palma, Pedro Armendáriz, and Alberto Galán, opened in theatres in Mexico.



War
444 U.K. Royal Air Force planes bombed Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost 9 aircraft and 53 crewmen. U.S.S.R. forces took the German base at Rechitsa in White Russia and the rail junction of Korosten,90 miles northwest of Kiev. Chinese troops penetrated 30 miles deeper into Burma, ahead of American units building the Ledo Road. Australian troops moved to within a mile of Satelberg, the last Japanese stronghold in northeastern New Guinea.

Diplomacy
Ray Atherton was nominated as the first U.S. Ambassador to Canada.

Society
A special commission appointed by Brazilian President Getulio Vargas to draft a new Brazilian immigration law recommended that Japanese and Negroes be barred as unassimilable.

Medicine
Dr. W.E. Gye of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratory in London reported that a new substance called patulin had given promising results when used in treating common colds.

60 years ago
1953

Died on this date
Ruth Crawford Seeger, 52. U.S. composer. Mrs. Seeger was a modernist classical composer in the 1920s and '30s. After her marriage to musicologist Charles Seeger in 1935, she became prominent in arranging and preserving American folk music. Mrs. Seeger was the stepmother of folk musician Pete Seeger and the mother of musicians Mike and Peggy Seeger.

50 years ago
1963

On television tonight
The Outer Limits, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Corpus Earthling, starring Robert Culp, Salome Jens, and Barry Atwater

At the movies
The Victors, written, produced, and directed by Carl Foreman, and starring Vincent Edwards, Albert Finney, George Hamilton, Melina Mercouri, Jeanne Moreau, and George Peppard, received a royal premiere screening in London.



Politics and government
U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited Tampa. On his arrival, he spoke about the 50th anniversary of scheduled air service, and later delievered addresses to the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the United Steelworkers of America. President Kennedy then went to Miami; upon his arrival at Miami International Airport, he delivered a speech defending his Administration's economic policies, and later addressed the Inter-American Press Association.



40 years ago
1973

Died on this date
Stan Melton. Canadian realtor. Mr. Melton, the founder of Melton Real Estate in Edmonton, suffered a fatal heart attack at the CFL Western Final playoff game between the Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders at Clarke Stadium.

Hockey
WHA
All three members of the Howe family combined on a goal for the first time, as Mark scored with assists from father Gordie and brother Marty for the Houston Aeros in a game against the Quebec Nordiques at Le Colisee in Quebec.

Football
CFL
Western Final
Saskatchewan 23 @ Edmonton 25

Bruce Lemmerman completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to George McGowan with 1:14 remaining in regulation time to provide the winning margin as the Eskimos edged the Roughriders before 20,021 fans at Clarke Stadium and advance to the Grey Cup for the first time in 13 years. The winning touchdown, converted by Dave Cutler, came just 1:24 after the Roughriders had taken a 23-18 lead on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Ron Lancaster to Bob Pearce, converted by Jack Abendschan. Larry Highbaugh returned Mr. Abendschan's kickoff 29 yards to the Edmonton 42-yard line. Mr. Lemmerman, who had entered the game in relief of starting quarterback Tom Wilkinson in the 4th quarter, completed a pass to Garry Lefebvre for 21 yards to the Saskatchewan 47 and then found Mr. Highbaugh, who was normally a defensive back and hadn't caught a pass on offense all year, for a 39-yard gain to the Saskatchewan 8-yard line. Mr. Highbaugh was well-covered by rookie defensive back Lorne Richardson, but somehow made the catch. Roy Bell ran for 3 yards on first down, and Mr. Lemmerman completed the touchdown pass to Mr. McGowan on second down. The Roughriders attempted a last-minute drive, but rookie defensive back John Beaton intercepted Mr. Lancaster's pass and returned it 52 yards to the Saskatchewan 22-yard line on the last play of the game. The first half was played in a heavy fog, which didn't hamper vision at field level, but made the game very hard to see from the stands and on television. The Eskimos led 12-6 at halftime on 4 field goals by Mr. Cutler--including one on the final play of the half--to 2 for Mr. Abendschan. Saskatchewan fullback George Reed, who led all rushers 29 carries for 168 yards, ran 8 yards for the game's first touchdown at 6:53 of the 3rd quarter, and Mr. Abendschan's convert gave the Roughriders a 13-12 lead after 3 quarters. The lead changed hands several times in the 4th quarter: 2 more field goals by Mr. Cutler--giving him a CFL single-game playoff record of 6--and another by Mr. Abendschan left the Eskimos ahead 18-16 until Mr. Pearce's touchdown. Mr. McGowan led all receivers with 7 receptions for 84 yards. None of the 7 Saskatchewan players who caught passes caught more than 2 passes, and Al Ford led the team in yards with 51 on 2 receptions. Mr. Wilkinson, who left the game because of a sore back, completed 13 of 22 passes for 160 yards, while Mr. Lemmerman was 5 for 5 for 74 yards. Mr. Lancaster was 11 for 23 for 182 yards and 2 interceptions. Roy Bell led the Edmonton ground game with 21 carries for 94 yards. Among players whose CFL careers ended with this game were Saskatchewan receivers Rick Eber (2 receptions for 20 yards) and Gord Barwell (1 for 8).

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Karma Chameleon--Culture Club (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Come Back and Stay--Paul Young (2nd week at #1)

At the movies
A Christmas Story opened in theatres.



Personal
This blogger attended the second and last annual Bahama Boogie, a season-ending party put on by the Edmonton Eskimos' cheerleaders at Belvedere Hall.

Defense
A conference committee of the United States Senate and House of Representatives rejected legislation to approve production of nerve gas. The legislation had narrowly passed the Senate but had been rejected by the House.

Economics and finance
Just before adjourning for the year, the U.S. Congress voted to increase the national debt limit to $1.49 trillion from $1.389 trillion, and to increase the U.S. contribution to the International Monetary Fund by $8.4 billion.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Don't Worry Be Happy--Bobby McFerrin (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The governments of Cuba and Angola approved the November 15 agreement with the U.S.A. and South Africa on a timetable for the withdrawal of Cuba's 50,000 troops from Angola and independence for Namibia.

Law
U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a Cabinet-level drug czar and providing the death penalty for drug traffickers who killed.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Got to Get It--Culture Beat (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
Representatives of 20 parties approved a new constitution for South Africa to take effect after the April 1994 elections that would be open to voters of all races. Both black and white parties, including the ruling National Party, participated in writing the constitution. It provided for a 400-seat National Assembly and a 90-seat Senate that would write a permanent constitution under the coalition government that would run the country from 1994-1999. Under the new draft, the president would be elected by the National Assembly, and his cabinet would contain members of all parties receiving at least 5% of the national vote. The president would also have the power to choose 11 members of a Constitutional Court, members of which would serve seven-year terms and would decide constitutional questions. The constitution gave full political rights to blacks and forbade discrimination on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, age, or physical disability.

The lower house of the Japanese Diet voted 270-226 to approve four political reform bills, orchestrated by Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, which included a ban on direct contributions to candidates by corporations. Public funding for campaigns was authorized. The legislation created a new parliament with a 500-seat lower house in which 274 members would be chosen in single-seat districts and 226 seats would be apportioned to parties based on their share of the total national vote. Each voter would cast two votes, one for an individual candidate and one for a preferred party. The reform bills would now be considered by the Diet's upper house. The approval of the bills was regarded as a defeat for the Liberal Democratic Party, which had lost its longtime parliamentary majority earlier in the year as a result of public displeasure with repeated revelations of corruption.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Labour
Members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants began a strike against American Airlines. The airline had lost almost $1 billion in 1992 and had announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs by the end of 1994.

10 years ago
2003

Diplomacy
U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in London to begin a four-day visit to Great Britain.

Abominations
The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that barring sodomites and lesbians from marrying violated the state constitution.

Scandal
U.S. federal prosecutors arrested 47 participants in the foreign exchange markets for defrauding big banks and small investors.