July 26, 2014

275 years ago
1739

Born on this date
George Clinton. 4th Vice President of the United States, 1805-1812. Mr. Clinton was a brigadier general in the Continental Army and served as Governor of New York from 1777-1795 and 1801-1804. He served as Vice President under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and became the first Vice President to die in office when he succumbed to a heart attack on April 20, 1812 at the age of 77.

200 years ago
1814

War
In the War of 1812, U.S. forces led by Major General Jacob Brown withdrew to Fort Erie, Upper Canada with General Eleazor Ripley after their mauling at Lundy's Lane the previous day. The battle had resulted in 853 U.S. casualties, including 171 killed, and ended the American offensive in Niagara.

140 years ago
1874

Born on this date
Serge Koussevitzky. Russian-born U.S. musician and conductor. Mr. Koussevitzky was a double bass virtuoso in his native Russia before moving to Berlin, where he began his professional debut as a conductor in 1908. He returned to Russia as performer and conductor, but left again in 1920 for Berlin and Paris. Mr. Koussevitzky moved to the United States in 1924, and conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1924-1949), building it into a major orchestra, with numerous recordings and educational programs. He died on June 4, 1951 at the age of 76.

125 years ago
1889

Religion
A group of over 100 Roman Catholics made a pilgrimage to the church at Lac Ste-Anne, Alberta, 30 miles northwest of Edmonton. The church was built to commemorate the vision of a parish priest from St. Albert, who had seen a vision of the Saint on a visit to Ste. Anne's shrine in France in 1889. The tradition continues today.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Aldous Huxley. U.K. author. Mr. Huxley, who was best known for his novel Brave New World (1932), was an agnostic who was keenly interested in Eastern mysticism, and advocated and practiced the use of psychedelic drugs. He died on November 22, 1963 at the age of 69.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Ellis Kinder. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Kinder played with the St. Louis Browns (1946-1947); Boston Red Sox (1948-1955); St. Louis Cardinals (1956); and Chicago White Sox (1956-1957), compiling a record of 102-71 with 102 saves and an earned run average of 3.43. His best season was 1949, when he was 23-6 with 6 shutouts. He moved to the bullpen in 1951 and was the best relief pitcher in the American League for the next four years. Mr. Kinder, a heavy drinker, died after undergoing open-heart surgery at the age of 54 on October 16, 1968.

Erskine Hawkins. U.S. musician. Mr. Hawkins was a trumpeter and bandleader from Birmingham, Alabama. He was best known for co-writing and recording Tuxedo Junction, a major hit in 1939 that became a jazz standard. Mr. Hawkins died on November 11, 1993 at the age of 79.

C. Farris Bryant. U.S. politician. Mr. Bryant, a Democrat, was Governor of Florida from 1961-1965. He died on March 1, 2002 at the age of 87.

Diplomacy
Serbia and Bulgaria severed diplomatic relations.

70 years ago
1944

War
Canadian forces in France reportedly captured Tilly before dawn, but they only controlled half the village, and the German panzers counter-attacked, destroying most Canadian tanks and cutting off the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. U.S. forces in France, led by tanks, advanced all along their 40-mile front. British troops in Italy reached a point 8 miles south of Florence. Soviet troops in Poland reached the Vistula River and took Deblin, 55 miles southeast of Warsaw. Chinese troops recaptured Leiyang in the province of Hunan, 40 miles south of besieged Hengyang. U.S. Marines gained control of the northern third of Tinian Island.

Politics and government
The Chinese government reported a "partial agreement" with the Communist Party, but indicated that it was "too much to expect a total accord." Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek had offered the Communists free participation in politics after the war in return for wartime control by the Kuomintang regime in Chungking.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull made public a memorandum to American nations recommending continued refusal to recognize the government of Argentina.

The government of Colombia seized property of German nationals to cover damage by German war measures.

Labour
U.S. Army Service Forces Commander Lieutenant General Brehon Somervell cancelled leaves of U.S. Army civilian workers in arsenals and depots and ordered a 54-hour work week.

Minneapolis Judge W.W. Bardwell issued a warrant for the arrest of American Federation of Musicians President James Petrillo, the day after Mr. Petrillo had ordered 16 musicians at radio station KSTP in St. Paul to go on strike despite a court order.

50 years ago
1964

Scandal
U.S. Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Band On The Run--Paul McCartney & Wings

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Theo, wir Fahr’n Nach Lodz--Vicky Leandros

Politics and government
Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis formed the country's first civil government after seven years of military rule.

Scandal
The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee began debate on Article I (Obstruction of Justice) of the articles of impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (0-1) 7 @ Edmonton (1-0) 31

Tom Wilkinson threw 4 touchdown passes--2 to Don Warrington and 1 each to Garry Lefebvre and Larry Highbaugh--and the defensive line of Bruce Smith, Leroy Jones, John LaGrone, and Ron Estay dominated the Saskatchewan offense as the Eskimos routed the Roughriders before 21,456 fans on a rainy night at Clarke Stadium. The Roughriders broke up the shutout when Randy Mattingly, playing his first CFL game, relieved Ron Lancaster at quarterback and completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Steve Mazurak with 39 seconds remaining in the game. Among other players making their CFL debuts were Edmonton defensive tackle Dave Fennell and slotback Stu Lang, and Saskatchewan tight end Lawrie Skolrood and offensive tackle Elbert Walker.

30 years ago
1984

Died on this date
George Gallup, 82. U.S. pollster. Dr. Gallup was head of the journalism department at Drake University before founding, in 1935, the American Institute of Public Opinion (Gallup Poll), America's best known firm for surveying public opinion. He launched the the Gallup International Association in 1947, and combined his organizations into the Gallup Organization in 1958. Dr. Gallup was also instrumental in the creation of several other public opinion organizations. He died of a heart attack.

Ed Gein, 77. U.S. criminal. Mr. Gein, a farmer from Plainfield, Wisconsin, killed two women (by his own admission) and robbed the graves of at least a dozen others between 1944 and 1957. Authorities investigating the disappearance of a Plainfield woman in 1957 went to Mr. Gein's farm and found the missing woman's body hanging by the heels in the woodshed, dressed out like a deer. Inside the house, they found furniture and clothing made from human skulls and skin, and a human heart simmering in a pot on the stove. Mr. Gein was judged insane, and was committed to the Waupan State Hospital, where he spent the rest of his life. He's often credited as being the real-life inspiration for the novel and movie Psycho.

Politics and government
Results from the Israeli election of three days earlier were announced. Labour had 44 seats and Likud 41, both short of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Labour leader Shimon Peres and Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir began to negotiate with prospective allies among minority parties, but neither was immediately successful in building a majority coalition.

Economics and finance
A rescue package for Continental Illinois Corporation, the U.S.A.’s 8th largest bank holding company, was unveiled. U.S. bank regulators said that the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would buy most of the bank’s "problem" loans and would provide $1 billion in aid to the bank, for a total outlay of $4.5 billion in support--in effect, owning 80% of the bank. The new plan was subject to approval of the bank’s stockholders. Continental Illinois reported a loss of $1.1 billion for the second quarter of 1984.

Baseball
Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announced that free agent pitcher Vida Blue had been suspended for the remainder of the season after being convicted the previous November of possession of cocaine.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Sealed with a Kiss--Jason Donovan

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Licence to Kill--Gladys Knight

Licence to Kill was the title song of the movie.

Law
The Quebec Court of Appeal prohibited Chantal Daigle, a woman who was 21 weeks pregnant, the right to an abortion, ruling that a child had a civil status "regardless of the stage of pregnancy." The judgment followed the steps taken by Ms. Daigle's former lover, Jean-Guy Tremblay, who wanted her to complete her pregnancy. On August 8th, it was announced that Ms. Daigle had obtained an abortion in the United States. The Supreme Court of Canada then "broke" the Quebec Court of Appeal's order to continue the pregnancy, unanimously concluding that "the fetus was not a human being and, therefore, enjoyed neither the right to life nor the legal personality, and that (...) moreover he will be treated as a person only in cases where it is essential to do so to protect his interests after birth. " In arriving at this conclusion, the Supreme Court referred to the fact that "the Quebec Charter, taken as a whole, does not reflect any clear intention on the part of the legislator to take into consideration the status of the fetus"; the Charter does not provide an exact definition of the terms "human being" and "person". The Quebec Civil Code also did not recognize the fetus as a legal personality.

Technology
A U.S. federal grand jury indicted Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. for releasing the Morris worm, thus becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Football
CFL
Calgary (1-2) 28 @ British Columbia (0-3) 26

Danny Barrett quarterbacked the Stampeders to victory over the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver in an impressive effort just five days after losing 54-4 at home to the Edmonton Eskimos.

20 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Christy Henrich, 22. U.S. gymnast. Miss Henrich was a member of the U.S. national team who died of anorexia nervosa after being told by an official to lose weight.

Terrorism
14 people were injured when a car bomb exploded outside the Israeli embassy in London.

Diplomacy
King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin addressed the United States Congress, the day after they had signed the Washington Declaration, ending the enmity between the countries.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
William A. Mitchell, 92. U.S. chemist. Mr. Mitchell, who joined General Foods in 1941, received over 70 patents. He was the key inventor behind such products as Tang, Pop Rocks, Cool Whip, and quick-set Jell-O.

Politics and government
The Democratic National Convention opened at the FleetCenter in Boston.

Energy
U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham ordered a halt in all classified operations at all of the Energy Department's laboratories.