September 27, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Berenice Jimenez!

500 years ago
1514

Americana
The Spanish crown granted explorer Juan Ponce de León a second patent to settle the islands of Bimini and Florida.

160 years ago
1854

Disasters
The U.S. steamship SS Arctic, sank with 300 people on board, four hours after colliding with the French steamer Vesta off the coast of Newfoundland while en route from New York to Liverpool.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Alfred Bergman. U.S. athlete. Mr. Bergman, nicknamed "Big Dutch," starred in several sports at the University of Notre Dame (1911-1914), winning 11 varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track. He returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown as a freshman with the football team in 1911, and quarterbacked the Fighting Irish in 1914. Mr. Bergman played second base with the Cleveland Indians (1916), batting .214 with no home runs or runs batted in in 8 games. He died on June 21, 1961 at the age of 79.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Lothar von Richthofen. German military aviator. Oberleutnant Baron von Richthofen, the younger brother of "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen, was, like his brother, a World War I ace, credited with 40 combat victories. He was a civilian pilot after the war, and was killed in a crash at Hamburg on July 4, 1922 at the age of 27.

90 years ago
1924

Football
ARU
Calgary (0-1) 5 @ Edmonton (1-0) 6

Blake Brunson scored a safety touch and rouge as the Eskimos edged the 50th Battalion at Diamond Park. Miles Palmer also scored a safety touch for the Eskimos, and Mr. Burnett added a rouge.

75 years ago
1939

War
Warsaw surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

70 years ago
1944

Died on this date
Aimee Semple McPherson, 53. Canadian-born U.S. evangelist. Mrs. McPherson, born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy on a farm in Salford, Ontario, was brought up in the Salvation Army and converted to Pentecostalism in her teens. She married Pentecostal missionary Robert Semple when she was 17. Mr. Semple died in 1910, and Aimee's later marriages, to Harold McPherson and David Hutton, ended in divorce in 1921 and 1934, respectively. Mrs. McPherson founded Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, which opened in 1923; the church evolved into the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Mrs. McPherson pioneered the use of radio for evangelism, and was a forerunner of modern televangelists. She was accused of faking her own kidnapping in 1926, but a grand jury investigation resulted in all charges being dropped. Mrs. McPherson died of an apparently accidental overdose of sleeping pills, 12 days before her 54th birthday.

War
More than 1,100 U.S. bombers attacked railway and industrial targets in Germany at Cologne, Mainz, Ludwigshafen, and Kassel, resulting in the largest loss by a U.S. Army Air Forces group on any mission in World War II. An Allied assault in the Adriatic resulted in the German evacuation of the Albanian coastal road, and the Yugoslavian partisan occupation of Paga Island. Italian Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Visconti Giovanni said in Rome that Italy considered itself at war with Japan, although no formal declaration of war had been made.

Diplomacy
Talks between Mohandas Gandhi and Mohammed Ali Jinnah aimed at settling differences between Hindus and Muslims in India broke down, although both men said they would meet again.

Oil
Ecuador cancelled the oil concessions to the German-controlled company known as Ecuapetrol, and transferred the concession to an Anglo-American group.

Economics and finance
U.S. Office of War Mobilization Director James Byrnes said that government control of prices, wages, and rationing must remain until after the total defeat of the enemy, otherwise rampant inflation would ruin plans for postwar recovery.

Football
Manitoba Armed Services Senior Football League
Bombing and Gunnery School (MacDonald) (0-1) 0 @ Wireless School (Winnipeg) (1-0) 15

Harry Winters scored 2 touchdowns and Paul Plantz added another TD as Wireless blanked Bombing and Gunnery at Osborne Stadium in Winnipeg. This was the first game for the MASSFL, the only senior-level league operating in western Canada in 1944.

60 years ago
1954

On television tonight
Tonight, hosted by Steve Allen, made its debut on NBC.

Diplomacy
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida arrived in Ottawa to begin a two-day visit to Canada.

Football
CRU
WIFU
Winnipeg (6-3-2) 6 @ Calgary (5-5) 4
Saskatchewan (6-3-2) 8 @ Edmonton (4-4) 6

Winnipeg quarterback Jack Jacobs completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Neill Armstrong late in the 4th quarter to give the Blue Bombers their win over the Stampeders before 12,000 fans on a rainy night at Mewata Stadium.

Joe Aguirre's field goal in the 4th quarter gave the Roughriders their win over the Eskimos before 15,161 fans on a rainy night at Clarke Stadium. Sully Glasser scored the lone Saskatchewan touchdown, while Rollie Miles rushed 15 yards for the Edmonton touchdown, converted by Bob Dean.

50 years ago
1964

Crime
The Warren Commission report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and found no evidence of a conspiracy.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies--The Drifters

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Rock Your Baby--George McCrae (5th week at #1)

Terrorism
Armed Dominican leftists in Santo Domingo calling themselves "The Freedom Movement of 12th January" seized Barbara Hutchison, director of the U.S. Information Service in the Dominican Republic, and then seized the Venezuelan embassy, taking seven more hostages. They announced that they had planted bombs in the embassy and would blow it up unless the U.S. paid $1 million in ransom, and 38 prisoners were released from Dominican jails. One hostage escaped the next day.

Protest
The Portuguese left won a major victory by forcing provisional President General Antonio de Spinola and his conservative supporters to cancel a mass demonstration in Lisbon.

Hockey
Canada (WHA) 8 Finland 3 (Exhibition) @ Helsinki

Andre Lacroix and Frank Mahovlich each scored 2 goals as the World Hockey Association's representatives of Canada defeated Finland before 6,943 fans. Ralph Backstrom, Gordie Howe, Rejean Houle, and Tom Webster scored the other Canadian goals. Lasse Oksanen, Seppo Ahokainen, and Seppo Lindstrom scored for Finland. Canada led 3-0 after 1 period and 4-1 after 2 periods. Gilles Gratton and Don McLeod shared the goaltending for Canada, while Jorma Valtonen played the entire game in goal for Finland.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Ehtaa tavaraa (80-luvun tykki)--Bat & Ryyd (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Jag mår illa--Magnus Uggla (2nd week at #1)

20 years ago
1994

On television tonight
Baseball, on PBS
Tonight's episode: Eighth Inning: A Whole New Ball Game

World events
U.S. forces in Haiti took control of the parliament building and began paying Haitians to turn in guns in order to reduce gunfire in the streets.

Diplomacy
Russian President Boris Yeltsin began two days of talks in Washington with U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Politics and government
More than 350 Republican candidates for the United States House of Representatives signed the "Contract with America," a 10-point platform they pledged to enact if voters sent a Republican majority to the House in the November 1994 elections.

Defense
The United States Navy closed its submarine detection base at Argentia, Newfoundland, the last U.S. military base in Canada.