August 9, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Kavita Duggal!

200 years ago
1814

War
U.S. Army Major General Andrew Jackson and the Creek Indians signed the Treaty of Fort Jackson, ending the Creek War and providing for the surrender of 23 million acres of Creek land--large parts of modern Alabama and Georgia--to the United States.

125 years ago
1889

Baseball
Hugh Duffy hit 2 inside-the-park home runs to lead the Chicago White Stockings to a 9-0 win over the Boston Beaneaters at West Side Park in Chicago.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Tove Jansson. Finnish authoress and artist. Miss Jansson was a painter and illustrator, but was best known for writing the Moomin series of books and a comic strip for children (1945-1993), for which she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966. Miss Jansson died of cancer on June 27, 2001 at the age of 86.

War
The Battle of Mulhouse, part of a French attempt to recover the province of Alsace and the first French offensive of World War I, began.

80 years ago
1934

Baseball
The Boston Red Sox routed the Philadelphia Athletics 15-2 at Shibe park in Philadelphia in a game called after 5 innings because of rain.

70 years ago
1944

War
The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ended in a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to defensive positions, and the front remained stable until the end of the war. In a joint announcement, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill claimed that 500 German submarines had been sunk since the start of World War II. U.S. armoured forces in France entered Le Mans and pushed beyond toward Paris. After 20 days of fighting, organized Japanese resistance on Guam ended. U.S. troops took control of Baker Island, 2,000 miles southeast of Honolulu.

Defense
U.S. Selective Service Director Lewis Hershey said that the end of the war in Europe would not end the draft, as both the U.S. Army and Navy would need replacements.

Politics and government
Newsweek reported that 50 political writers believed that Franklin D. Roosevelt would be elected to a fourth term as President of the United States in November, but the writers were split on the question of whether that would be good for the country.

Business
U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle reported that the Justice Department would bring suit against 12 western railroads for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Popular culture
The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council first released posters featuring Smokey the Bear.

Oddities
A Colombian newspaper reported that Abjon Jaramillo, 75, the father of 43 children, had this day become the father of quadruplets.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Sugar Baby Love--The Rubettes (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
U.S. Vice President Gerald Ford took the oath of office as the 36th President of the United States of America from Chief Justice Warren Burger at 12:03 Eastern Time upon the resignation of President Richard Nixon, who departed for his home in San Clemente, California. In his farewell speech to members of his administration, Mr. Nixon said, "Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them--and then you destroy yourself." At 11:35 A.M. Mr. Nixon handed his resignation to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and boarded the helicopter to take him to his plane. Mr. Ford, the first President not to have been elected to the offices of either President or Vice President, pledged to conduct an administration of "openness and candor," stated that "our long national nightmare is over." He asked the nation to pray for Mr. Nixon, that the man "who had brought peace to millions" might "find it for himself." Mr. Ford announced that Mr. Kissinger would remain as Secretary of State, and named Detroit Free Press columnist J.F. terHorst as his press secretary. Mr. Ford also named a four-member committee--former Pennsylvania Governor Bill Scranton; NATO Ambassador Donald Rumsfeld; Interior Secretary Rogers Morton; and John Marsh, a member of Mr. Ford's vice presidential staff--to oversee the transition and make recommendations on staff changes.





Scandal
11 days after being indicted, former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Connally pled not guilty before U.S. District Court Judge George Hart to charges of accepting a bribe, perjury, and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with his 1971 recommendation to raise federal milk price supports. Mr. Connally's plea came two days after American Milk Producers, Inc. attorney Jake Jacobsen had pled guilty to bribing Mr. Connally, stating at his arraignment that he had paid Mr. Connally a total of $10,000 in milk co-op funds in return for Mr. Connally's recommendation in March 1971 for the price support increase.

War
Nine Canadians peacekeepers in Lebanon were killed when a Syrian anti-aircraft missile shot down a United Nations transport plane en route to Damascus from Beirut. The plane was providing air transport and communications support to the UN Emergency Force.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (2-1) 23 @ Saskatchewan (2-1) 24

Saskatchewan defensive back Lorne Richardson blocked Dave Cutler's 41-yard field goal attempt in the last minute to preserve the Roughriders' win over the Eskimos before 19,461 fans at Taylor Field in Regina. The Roughriders trailed 20-10 at halftime, but quarterback Ron Lancaster passed to Bobby Thompson for a 10-yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter and handed off to Mr. Thompson for a 1-yard run for the winning touchdown with 3:25 remaining in the game. Mr. Lancaster also completed a 78-yard TD pass to Pete Watson in the 1st quarter. Calvin Harrell and Garry Lefebvre scored Edmonton touchdowns.

Baseball
Jim Northrup, playing his first game in the National League after a decade with the Detroit Tigers, hit a home run and a single and scored 2 runs to help the Montreal Expos defeat the Houston Astros 4-3 before 12,832 fans at the Astrodome. Mr. Northrup, who had been an outfielder with Detroit from 1964-1974, had initially balked at reporting to Montreal after being sold to the Expos on August 7, but had changed his mind. Playing left field and batting seventh, Mr. Northrup hit a solo home run to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the 7th inning and singled and scored the go-ahead run in the 9th.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
Edmonton's Top 30 (CHED)
1 Ghostbusters--Ray Parker, Jr.
2 She Bop--Cyndi Lauper
3 Sad Songs (Say So Much)--Elton John
4 Stuck On You--Lionel Richie
5 When Doves Cry--Prince
6 She's Mine--Steve Perry
7 Missing You--John Waite
8 What's Love Got to Do With It--Tina Turner
9 Legs--ZZ Top
10 I Can Dream About You--Dan Hartman
11 I'm Free--Kenny Loggins
12 Run Runaway--Slade
13 Lights Out--Peter Wolf
14 If This is It--Huey Lewis and the News
15 Rock Me Tonight--Billy Squier
16 Drive--The Cars
17 Infatuation--Rod Stewart
18 Lovers in a Dangerous Time--Bruce Cockburn
19 State of Shock--Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger
20 Jump (For My Love)--Pointer Sisters
21 Must I Always Remember--The Box
22 The Warrior--Scandal
23 Right By Your Side--Eurythmics
24 Let's Go Crazy--Prince and the Revolution
25 Panama--Van Halen
26 Deeper and Deeper--The Fixx
27 My Oh My--Slade
28 Dancing with Tears in My Eyes--Ultravox
29 Doctor! Doctor!--Thompson Twins
30 Go for Soda--Kim Mitchell

Died on this date
Walter Tevis, 56. U.S. author. Mr. Tevis was known for writing the novels The Hustler (1959); The Man Who Fell to Earth (1963); and The Color of Money (1984). He died of lung cancer.

World events
Poland had released more than 20,000 convicted criminals and most of the 652 political prisoners included in the amnesty that the government had declared on July 21. Some top leaders of the outlawed Solidarity trade union movement were among those released.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, testifying before two subcommittees of the House of Representatives, said that the United States had received "repeated reports of large-scale civilian massacres, forced starvation and impeded humanitarian relief operations" in Uganda. An official of the Ugandan embassy called the charges "totally untrue."

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Minä olen muistanut--Kim Lönnholm (11th week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Licence to Kill--Gladys Knight (3rd week at #1)

Economics and finance
U.S. President George Bush signed legislation to rescue the savings and loan industry. The bill provided $16 billion over 10 years to close or merge insolvent S & L's, also called thrifts. The total cost of rescuing and restructuring the industry was put at $300 billion over 30 years, most of which would be paid by taxpayers. The bill created the Resolution Trust Corporation, whose responsibility would include liquidating failing thrifts and helping stronger institutions affiliate with or become commercial banks.

Politics and government
A day after being chosen as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Toshiki Kaifu was formally elected Prime Minister of Japan by the Diet.

Disasters
Up to 150 people were killed when a passenger train derailed and plunged into the San Rafael de Bamoa River in northwestern Mexico.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (4-1) 33 @ British Columbia (0-5) 13

Rick Worman threw touchdown passes to Tom Richards and Blake Marshall, and Mr. Marshall rushed for another Eskimo touchdown, while Jerry Kauric added 4 field goals as the Eskimos beat the Lions before 32,158 fans at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. B.C. quarterback Matt Dunigan completed just 11 of 23 passes for 158 yards before giving way to Rickey Foggie, who threw a touchdown pass to Jan Carinci late in the game. Lions’ running back Tony Cherry was held to 13 yards on 11 carries. The loss was the first for the Lions under head coach Joe Galat, who had replaced the fired Larry Donovan; the 0-5 start was the worst for B.C. in 20 years. This was the first game televised on TSN to be seen by a large audience, since the network had just been added to the basic cable package of most Canadian viewers.



20 years ago
1994

Politics and government
David Wilhelm, chairman of the U.S. Democratic National Committee, announced that he would resign after the November Congressional elections. Public opinion polls indicated the likelihood of big Republican gains, and the Democrats had suffered a string of defeats in scattered elections in 1993 and 1994. Mr. Wilhelm announced that Representative Tony Coelho (Democrat--California) had joined the DNC as its chief strategist for the campaign.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
David Raksin, 92. U.S. composer. Mr. Raksin was known for his scores for movies such as Laura (1944); Forever Amber (1947); and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). He died five days after his 92nd birthday.

Tony Mottola, 86. U.S. musician. Mr. Mottola was a session guitarist who worked with artists such as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, and released more than 50 albums of his own performances.