August 22, 2014

375 years ago
1639

Indianica
Madras (now Chennai) was founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from the King of the Vijayanagara Empire, Peda Venkata Raya.

170 years ago
1844

Born on this date
George W. De Long. U.S. military officer. Lieutenant De Long led the U.S. Navy's Jeannette expedition (1879-1881) in search of the Open Polar Sea. The ship became trapped in an ice pack in the Arctic Ocean in September 1879, and drifted until it was crushed and sank in June 1881. Lt. De Long pulled three small boats over the ice pack until reaching open water in September 1881, but they became separated. Lt. De Long died of starvation near Matvay Hut, Yakutia circa October 31, 1881 at the age of 37.

150 years ago
1864

Diplomacy
12 nations--Switzerland, Baden, Belgium, Denmark, France, Hesse, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Prussia, Spain, and Wurtemburg--signed the First Geneva Convention, covering the treatment of sick and wounded soldiers on the battlefield.

140 years ago
1874

Born on this date
John Kee. U.S. politician. Mr. Kee, a Democrat, represented the 7th District in the West Virginia Senate (1923-1926) and West Virginia's 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1933-1951), serving as Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (1949-1951). He died of a heart attack on May 8, 1951 at the age of 76.

120 years ago
1894

Politics and government
Mohandas Gandhi formed the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal.

100 years ago
1914

Law
Canada's War Measures Act received Royal Assent. The Finance Act, 1914, also became law, giving the government of Canada the power to suspend payments in gold and to make paper money legal tender.

80 years ago
1934

Baseball
Boston Red Sox’ pitcher Wes Ferrell hit a home run in the eighth inning to tie the game and another with 2 out in the 10th inning to defeat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. It was the second time this season that Mr. Ferrell had hit 2 home runs in a game.

70 years ago
1944

War
German U-boats torpedoed and crippled the Canadian-manned aircraft carrier Nabob off Norway. Allied forces besieged Bordeaux on the French west coast as an American and French volunteer force landed by sea. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Parvan Dragnov said he was seeking peace with the Allies and that Bulgarian troops had been withdrawn from Yugoslavia.

Abominations
164 Greek civilians in 9 villages in Crete were killed by German Wehrmacht soldiers in the Holocaust of Kedros.

Labour
Japan began a compulsory labour draft for women and girls aged 12-40.

U.S. United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther asked the National War Labor Board to order General Motors to set up an employee postwar security fund.

Education
Mexican President Manuel Avila Camacho decreed that all literate citizens aged 18-60 must teach at least one illiterate aged 14-60 to read and write.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): A Hard Day's Night/Things We Said Today--The Beatles (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Ce Monde--Richard Anthony (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): In ginocchio da te--Gianni Morandi (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht--Siw Malmkvist (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Do Wah Diddy Diddy--Manfred Mann (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Where Did Our Love Go--The Supremes

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Where Did Our Love Go--The Supremes
2 Everybody Loves Somebody--Dean Martin
3 A Hard Day's Night--The Beatles
4 The House of the Rising Sun--The Animals
5 Wishin' and Hopin'--Dusty Springfield
6 Under the Boardwalk--The Drifters
7 C'mon and Swim--Bobby Freeman
8 Rag Doll--The 4 Seasons
9 Because--The Dave Clark Five
10 People Say--The Dixie Cups

Singles entering the chart were Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas (#72); Remember (Walking in the Sand) by the Shangri-Las (#73); Where Love has Gone by Jack Jones (#74); Yet...I Know (Et Pourtant) by Steve Lawrence (#76); We'll Sing in the Sunshine by Gale Garnett (#79); I'm on the Outside (Looking In) by Little Anthony and the Imperials (#83); There's Nothing I Can Say by Rick Nelson (#85); Johnny B. Goode by Dion Di Muci (#87); A Summer Song by Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde (#91); 20-75 by Willie Mitchell (#94); Thank You for Loving Me by Al Martino (#96); The James Bond Theme by Billy Strange (#99); and Sincerely by the 4 Seasons (#100).

Music
The Beatles gave their first Canadian concert before 20,000 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The show was hosted by disc jockey Red Robinson and broadcast live over radio station CKNW. The group played songs from their new album Something New. Police cut concert short after 27 minutes, fearing a riot. Top ticket price for the concert was $5.25.

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the satellites Cosmos 41, Cosmos 42, and Cosmos 43.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Abbeyshrule--Brendan Shine

Died on this date
Jacob Bronowski, 66. Polish-born U.K. mathematician and biologist. Dr. Bronowski was best known for hosting the television series (1973) and writing the book (1974) The Ascent of Man.

Alfredo Edmead, 18. Puerto Rican baseball player. Mr. Edmead, a rookie right fielder with the Salem Pirates of the Class A Carolina League, died an hour after hitting his head against the knee of second baseman Pablo Cruz as they dove for a pop fly in the 6th inning of the Pirates' game in Rocky Mount. Mr. Edmead was knocked unconscious and stopped breathing on the field; he was revived by the team trainer and taken to hospital, but died of severe brain injuries. Mr. Cruz suffered a serious knee injury in the collision, but was too distraught to accept medical help. Mr. Edmead died two days after being named to the Carolina League All-Star team. In his last game, he stole 2 bases to increase his total for the season to 61. In 119 games in 1974, Mr. Edmead batted .314 with 7 home runs and 59 runs batted in. He was one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' brightest prospects, and was on track to make it to the major leagues.

Scandal
The United States House of Representatives Judicary Committee's 528-page report on the impeachment of President Nixon, containing the evidence on which the three articles of impeachment had been voted, as well as personal statements by all the members of the committee except chairman Peter Rodino, and majority and minority opinions on each of the three articles.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (3-3) 9 @ British Columbia (3-2) 4

Rick Cassata completed a 52-yard pass to Jim Foley early in the 2nd quarter for the game's only touchdown as the defending Grey Cup champion Rough Riders defeated the Lions before 26,803 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. B.C. kicker Ivan MacMillan scored 3 singles off missed field goals, and his third single, late in the 3rd quarter, was the only scoring of the 2nd half. B.C. running back Monroe Eley rushed for 92 yards.

WFL
Chicago (6-1) 35 @ Detroit (0-7) 23

30 years ago
1984

Politics and government
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush were re-nominated in nearly unanimous votes at the Republican National Convention in Dallas.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department announced that the consumer price index had advanced only 0.3% in July.

25 years ago
1989

Died on this date
Robert Grondelaers, 56. Belgian cyclist. Mr. Grondelaers won the silver medal in the individual men's road race competition and shared a gold medal in the men's team road race at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki. He competed professionally from 1954-1962.

Huey P. Newton, 47. U.S. criminal and activist. A co-founder and leader of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, Mr. Newton was a street thug from Oakland who eventually earned a Ph.D. after getting out of prison. He was shot to death in Oakland by an alleged drug dealer named Tyrone Robinson.

Diplomacy
U.S. President George Bush said that Colombian President Virgilio Barca had told him that additional financial aid for Colombia in fighting drug lords was necessary, but that sending in U.S. troops would not be necessary.

Football
CFL
Winnipeg (3-4) 10 @ Calgary (4-3) 31

Baseball
The Oakland Athletics defeated the Texas Rangers 2-0 before 42,869 fans at Arlington Stadium, with Bob Welch (14-7) winning over Nolan Ryan (13-7). However, Mr. Ryan fanned Rickey Henderson in the 5th inning for his 5,000th career major league strikeout. Mr. Ryan struck out 13, while Mr. Welch struck out 9 in 8 innings.

In his only inning of work, Atlanta Braves’ pitcher Paul Assenmacher struck out 4 batters in the 5th inning of a 10-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): I Swear--All-4-One (5th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Can You Feel the Love Tonight--Elton John (3rd week at #1)
2 Stay (I Missed You)--Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
3 Prayer for the Dying--Seal
4 Love is Strong--Rolling Stones
5 Wild Night--John Mellencamp with Me’shell Ndegeocello
6 Black Hole Sun--Soundgarden
7 Afternoons and Coffeespoons--Crash Test Dummies
8 Crazy--Aerosmith
9 Anytime You Need a Friend--Mariah Carey
10 You Better Wait--Steve Perry

Singles entering the chart were Jane by Barenaked Ladies (#51); Lucky One by Amy Grant (#69); High Hopes by Pink Floyd (#80); Circle of Life by Elton John (#84); 7 Seconds by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry (#85); Sadness Grows by Spirit of the West (#87); Coax Me by Sloan (#88); You Got Me Rockin' by the Rolling Stones (#93); I'll Be the One by Boz Scaggs (#94); and But it's Alright by Huey Lewis (#95). Circle of Life was from the movie The Lion King (1994).

Died on this date
Gilles Groulx, 63. Canadian film director. Mr. Groulx, a native of Montreal, directed numerous documentaries with the National Film Board of Canada from the 1950s through the 1970s. his best-known film was the drama Le Chat dans le sac (The Cat in the Bag) (1964).

Exploration
The Canadian icebreaker Louis St-Laurent reached the North Magnetic Pole.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Angus Bethune, 95. Australian politician. Sir Angus, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, was first elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1946, and was Premier of Tasmania from 1969-1972.

Daniel Petrie, 83. Canadian-born U.S. film and television director. Mr. Petrie, a native of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, had a career spanning more than 40 years and was best known for directing the movie A Raisin in the Sun (1961).

Crime
The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, were stolen in a daylight robbery at the crowded Munch Museum in Oslo.