August 5, 2014

1,075 years ago
939

War
Cordoban troops led by Abd-ar-Rahman III defeated Leonian forces led by Ramiro II of León in the Battle of Alhandic at Zamora, Spain.

325 years ago
1689

War
1,500 Iroquois attacked the village of Lachine in New France. Estimates of the number of people killed vary widely, from 24 to 250.

150 years ago
1864

War
In the U.S. Civil War, the Battle of Mobile Bay began at Mobile Bay near Mobile, Alabama as Admiral David Farragut led a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and sealed one of the last major Southern ports.

130 years ago
1884

Americana
The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island.

Baseball
The Richmond Virginias--a mid-season replacement for the disbanded Washington Nationals--made their American Association debut with a 14-0 home loss to the Philadelphia Athletics at Allen Pasture.

The major league debut of Chicago White Stockings’ deaf-mute pitcher Thomas Lynch went well until the 8th inning‚ when his arm gave out. When the umpire refused to allow Mr. Lynch to leave the game‚ he switched positions with first baseman Cap Anson‚ who proceeded to surrender 5 runs and lose the game to the Cleveland Blues 8-5 at Lakefront Park in Chicago. Mr. Lynch‚ the second deaf-mute in major league history‚ never played another game.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Conrad Aiken. U.S. author. Mr. Aiken wrote poems, short stories, and novels, winning numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for Selected Poems (1929). His best-known short story was Silent Snow, Secret Snow (1934). Mr. Aiken died on August 17, 1973, 12 days after his 84th birthday.

Politics and government
Manitoba Attorney General Joseph Martin pledged himself to abolish the official use of the French language in Manitoba.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
David Brian. U.S. actor. Mr. Brian starred in the radio (1952-1953) and television (1954-1955) series Mr. District Attorney and co-starred with Joan Crawford in the movies Flamingo Road (1949); The Damned Don't Cry (1950); and This Woman is Dangerous (1952). He died on July 14, 1993 at the age of 78.

Parley Baer. U.S. actor. Mr. Baer was a character actor in many radio and television programs, but was best known for portraying Chester in the radio series Gunsmoke (1952-1961). He died on November 22, 2002 at the age of 88.

War
The German minelayer SS Königin Luise laid a minefield about 40 miles off the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She was intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS Amphion. The guns of Point Nepean fort at Port Phillip Heads in Victoria, Australia fired across the bows of the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS Pfalz, which was attempting to leave the Port of Melbourne in ignorance of the declaration of war and was detained. This was said to be the first Allied shot of the Great War.

Technology
The first electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street. Cross arms were installed 15 feet above the ground and equipped with red and green lights and buzzers. Two buzzes signalled Euclid Avenue traffic to proceed, and one buzz signalled the traffic on East 105th Street.

90 years ago
1924

Popular culture
The comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray was first published in the New York Daily News.

80 years ago
1934

Baseball
While three teammates stood watching‚ a fly ball by Jimmie Foxx dropped for a double‚ the only hit given up by Lefty Gomez in the 3-1 win by the Yankees over the Philadelphia Athletics before 25,000 fans at Yankee Stadium. The win improved Mr. Gomez's record for the season to 18-3. Lou Gehrig led the New York offense by batting 4 for 4 with a home run.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Swinging on a Star--Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra and the Williams Brothers Quartet (Best Seller--1st week at #1); G.I. Jive--Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five (Jukebox--2nd week at #1)

Swinging on a Star was from the movie Going My Way (1944), and won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Music, Song.

Died on this date
Don Pardee Moon, 50. U.S. military officer. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Moon, who had commanded a task force in the Allied invasion of Normandy two months earlier, committed suicide in Washington, "apparently as a result of combat fatigue."

War
As Allied tanks in France cut off Brittany from the rest of the country, U.S. units reached the outskirts of Brest. German forces were reported to be making a strong stand and holding off Soviet forces 8 miles from the East Prussian border. The U.K. proposed to the U.S.S.R. an arrangement whereby Romania and Bulgaria should be Soviet zones of operation, and Greece and Yugoslavia British zones. Japanese troops began to flee south and west from all strong points on Geelvink Bay and the Upper Vogelkop Peninsula on Dutch New Guinea. Japanese forces opened a new drive in the southwestern part of the Chinese province of Kwangtung on the Luichow Peninsula. Possibly the biggest prison breakout in history occurred as 545 Japanese prisoners of war attempted to escape outside the town of Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.

Abominations
The Nazis began a week-long massacre of anywhere between 40,000 and 100,000 civilians and prisoners of war in Wola, Poland.

Protest
Polish insurgents liberated a German labour camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.

World events
The government of Argentina released a number of political prisoners, including Juan Antonio Solari, Americo Ghildi, Ernesto Sammartino, and Federico Pinedo Argentina.

50 years ago
1964

At the movies
Ride the Wild Surf, directed by Don Taylor, and starring Fabian, Shelley Fabares, Peter Brown, Barbara Eden, Tab Hunter, Linda Hart, and Jim Mitchum, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Art Ross, 78. Canadian-born U.S. hockey player and executive. Mr. Ross was a defenseman with several amateur and professional clubs from 1905-1918, and became known as the first defenseman to rush up the ice with the puck. He was the first coach and general manager of the Boston Bruins, even giving them their name when they entered the NHL in 1924. Mr. Ross was one of the game's great innovators, devising the nets that became standard and being the first coach to pull his goaltender for a sixth attacker. He donated the Art Ross Trophy for the NHL player leading the league in scoring during the regular season. Mr. Ross was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1949.

Music
The Beach Boys were at Western Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, where they began recording the song When I Grow Up (To Be a Man).

War
In Operation Pierce Arrow, American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bombed North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Billy - Don't Be a Hero--Paper Lace (8th week at #1)

Defense
The U.S. Congress placed a $1 billion limit on U.S. military aid to South Vietnam.

Scandal
U.S. President Richard Nixon, under pressure from his counsel, James St. Clair, released transcripts of three June 23, 1972 White House conversations with aide Bob Haldeman, along with an admission that he had made a "serious act of omission" in his previous accounts of the cover-up of the June 17, 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Mr. Nixon admitted that the transcripts showed that on June 23, 1972 he had originated plans to have the Federal Bureau of Investigation halt its probe of the break-in for political as well as national security reasons. Mr. Nixon admitted that he had kept the evidence from his lawyer, his staff, and his supporters on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. He maintained that he would not resign his office and said that although it was "virtually a foregone conclusion" that the House would vote to impeach him, he hoped that the Senate would look at all the evidence "in perspective" and would vote to acquit him.

Football
CFL
Calgary (0-3) 6 @ Edmonton (2-0) 20

Edmonton defensive back Dick Dupuis returned a Rick Galbos fumble 65 yards for a touchdown just 1:51 into the game, and the Eskimos coasted to victory over the Stampeders before 21,696 fans on a rainy night at Clarke Stadium. Mr. Dupuis' touchdown was the first of his 10-year CFL career. Edmonton quarterback Tom Wilkinson rushed 8 yards for the game's other TD with 2:49 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Baseball
Curran Percival pitched a 7-inning no-hitter as the Bristol Red Sox blanked the Trois Rivieres Eagles 5-0 in the second game of an Eastern League doubleheader at Muzzy Field in Meriden, Connecticut.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Self Control--Laura Branigan

#1 single in Switzerland: Self Control--Laura Branigan (6th week at #1)

Died on this date
Mary Miles Minter, 84. U.S. actress. Miss Minter, a silent movie starlet, was a central figure in Sidney D. Kirkpatrick's book A Cast of Killers (1986).

Richard Burton, 58. U.K.-born U.S. actor. Mr. Burton, born Richard Jenkins, achieved a reputation as a great stage actor in the 1950s for his Shakespearean roles, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, but is perhaps best remembered for his two marriages to actress Elizabeth Taylor, and his hard-drinking lifestyle, which damaged his career and shortened his life.

Theatre
Eleusinian Rites, Mysteries, and Drama Soirees staged a mock murder mystery at the home of prominent Edmontonian Bob Fahlman. This blogger’s performance as a character reading aloud from Nietzsche received rave reviews from the audience.

Politics and government
Following an indecisive national election in July, Israeli President Chaim Herzog called on Labor Party leader Shimon Peres to form a government.

World events
United States Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams said that U.S. officials and international relief agencies had determined that between 100,000 and 200,000 people had been killed in the past three years in the area of Uganda occupied by the Baganda tribe, which the Ugandan army allegedly believed was supporting an insurgent movement.

Disasters
All 49 people aboard a Bangladeshi plane were killed when it attempted to land at Dhaka in a driving rainstorm.

Olympics
Joan Benoit of Freeport, Maine, who had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery only four months before, won the first women's Olympic marathon, finishing in 2 hours 24 minutes 52 seconds, about a third of a mile ahead of the favourite, Grete Waitz of Norway.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (3-3) 14 @ Toronto (4-2) 49
British Columbia (4-1) 29 @ Saskatchewan (1-3-1) 7

Baseball
Cliff Johnson of the Toronto Blue Jays hit his 19th career pinch hit home run‚ breaking the major league record of 18 he had shared with Jerry Lynch. Mr. Johnson's 8th-inning blast gave the Blue Jays a 4-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles before 34,016 fans at Memorial Stadium.

Frank Robinson‚ who had led his club to a 42-64 record‚ was fired as manager of the San Francisco Giants and was replaced by Danny Ozark.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Viva la mamma--Edoardo Bennato (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): No More Boleros--Gerard Joling (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)--Soul II Soul (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Lambada--Kaoma (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Swing the Mood--Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Batdance--Prince
2 On Our Own--Bobby Brown
3 So Alive--Love and Rockets
4 Right Here Waiting--Richard Marx
5 Toy Soldiers--Martika
6 Once Bitten Twice Shy--Great White
7 Lay Your Hands on Me--Bon Jovi
8 I Like It--Dino
9 Cold Hearted--Paula Abdul
10 If You Don't Know Me by Now--Simply Red

Singles entering the chart were Girl I'm Gonna Miss You by Milli Vanilli (#53); Hey Ladies by the Beastie Boys (#67); It's Not Enough by Starship (#80); And the Night Stood Still by Dion (#86); Gypsy Road by Cinderella (#88); Oh Daddy by Adrian Belew (#95); and My First Night Without You by Cyndi Lauper (#96).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Batdance--Prince (2nd week at #1)
2 On Our Own--Bobby Brown
3 If You Don't Know Me by Now--Simply Red
4 So Alive--Love and Rockets
5 Lay Your Hands on Me--Bon Jovi
6 Express Yourself--Madonna
7 I Like It--Dino
8 Right Here Waiting--Richard Marx
9 Toy Soldiers--Martika
10 What You Don't Know--Expose

Singles entering the chart were It's Not Enough by Starship (#70); Hey Ladies by the Beastie Boys (#79); Love Has Taken its Toll by Saraya (#82); Love Song by the Cure (#85); You Better Dance by the Jets (#89); Girl I'm Gonna Miss You by Milli Vanilli (#92); and My First Night Without You by Cyndi Lauper (#93).

Music
Rod Stewart headlined a Terry Fox benefit concert in Boston; Mr. Fox's mother flew from Vancouver, British Columbia to attend the sold-out show, which raised about $175,000 for the American Cancer Society.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Love is All Around--Wet Wet Wet

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Riverdance--Bill Whelan (14th week at #1)

War
Bosnian Serbs seized vehicles and an anti-aircraft gun from a United Nations weapons depot near Sarajevo in violation of the exclusion zone, bringing a quick response from two U.S. ground-attack jets, which destroyed a Bosnian Serb anti-tank vehicle south of Sarajevo.

Protest
Opponents of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro clashed with police in Havana. Mr. Castro blamed the unrest on U.S. radio broadcasts to Cuba, and warned that the government might stop putting obstacles in the way of those who sought to leave.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that 259,000 nonfarm jobs had been created in July.

Football
CFL
Shreveport (0-5) 15 @ Hamilton (1-4) 38

Timm Rosenbach passed to Earl Winfield for 2 touchdowns and rushed for a TD of his own as the Tiger-Cats came back from an early 14-0 deficit to defeat the Pirates before 12,612 fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium.



10 years ago
2004

Defense
Canadian Defense Minister Bill Graham announced that Canada had signed an amendment to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) Agreement that would allow NORAD to share its missile-warning information with the organization responsible for the U.S. ballistic missile defense program.

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (2-5) 20 @ Montreal (7-1) 24