October 10, 2014

330 years ago
1684

Born on this date
Jean-Antoine Watteau. French artist. Mr. Watteau was a painter who revitalized the Baroque style, shifting it to Rococo. He was credited with inventing the genre of fêtes galantes, scenes of bucolic and idyllic charm, suffused with a theatrical air. Mr. Watteau long suffered from poor health, and died on July 18, 1721 at the age of 36, from what may have been tuberculous laringytis.

220 years ago
1794

Born on this date
William Whiting Boardman. U.S. judge and politician. Mr. Boardman, the son of U.S. Senator Elijah Boardman, was a Judge of Probate in New Haven, Connecticut (1825-1829), and as a Whig, sat in the Connecticut House of Representatives (1836-1839, 1845, 1849-1851), and represented Connecticut's 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1840-1843). He died on August 27, 1871 at the age of 76.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Han van Meegeren. Dutch painter. Mr. van Meegeren achieved modest success painting under his own name, but achieved tremendous success as a forger; the most prominent critics in the Netherlands, as well as wealthy collectors (including high-ranking Nazis such as Herrmann Goering), paid huge prices for paintings that were believed to be authentic "lost" masterpieces by Johannes Vermeer that in fact were painted by Mr. van Meegeren. He died on December 30, 1947 at the age of 58, just six weeks after being convicted and sentenced to a year in prison for forgery and fraud.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa I. Hakim of Bahrain, 1942-1961. Sheikh Salman bin Hamad acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Sheikh Salman bin Hamad achieved educational reforms and improvements in health during his reign, which ended when he died on November 2, 1961 at the age of 67, likely as a result of overwork. He was succeeded by his son Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Ivory Joe Hunter. U.S. musician. Mr. Hunter was a prominent rhythm and blues singer, pianist, and songwriter in the 1940s and '50s. His hit singles included Pretty Mama Blues (1945); I Almost Lost My Mind (1950); I Need You So (1950); and Since I Met You Baby (1956), all of which reached #1 on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart. Mr. Hunter died of lung cancer on November 8, 1974 at the age of 60.

Tommy Fine. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Fine played for the Boston Red Sox (1947) and St. Louis Browns (1950), posting a 1-3 record with an earned run average of 6.81 in 23 games. He had a lengthy minor league career spanning the years 1939-1956, missing several seasons while serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. On February 21, 1952, while playing for Leones del Habana against the Cervecería Caracas of Venezuela in Panama, Mr. Fine became the only man to pitch a no-hitter in the Caribbean World Series, while singling and scoring the only run in a 1-0 victory. Five days later, he came within 3 outs of a second consecutive no-hitter. Mr. Fine died on January 10, 2005 at the age of 90.

Died on this date
Carol I, 75. Domnitor of Romania, 1866-1881; King of Romania, 1881-1914. Carol was elected Domnitor (Ruling Prince) of Romania in 1866, and was proclaimed King in 1881, the first monarch of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty. He produced no male heir, and was succeeded on the throne by his nephew Ferdinand I.

Football
CRU
IRFU
Montreal (1-0) 18 @ Ottawa (0-1) 7
Hamilton (1-0) 20 @ Toronto (0-1) 5

Canadian university
Toronto (0-1) 1 @ McGill (1-0) 25

Baseball
World Series
Boston Braves 1 @ Philadelphia Athletics 0 (Boston led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Les Mann singled home Charlie Deal with 2 out in the top of the 9th inning as the Braves edged the Athletics before 20,562 fans at Shibe Park. Bill James pitched a 2-hit shutout in his first World Series game, while Eddie Plank allowed just 7 hits in taking the loss. For Mr. Plank, it was his seventh game in 4 World Series, and the last game of his 14-year career with the Athletics.

Federal League
The Federal League's first season ended. The Brooklyn Tip-Tops and Baltimore Terrapins split a doubleheader at Terrapin Park in Baltimore; the Tip-Tops scored all their runs in the 5th inning as they won the first game 6-3, while the Terrapins scored a run in the bottom of the 8th as they won the second game 1-0, with Kaiser Wilhelm winning the pitchers' duel over Three Finger Brown. In the only other game, the Pittsburgh Rebels defeated the Buffalo Blues 8-4 before 5,000 fans at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh in a game called after 7 innings. The Indianapolis Hoosiers won the FL pennant, finishing 1 1/2 games ahead of the Chicago Chi-Feds.

90 years ago
1924

Died on this date
Hartog Hamburger, 37. Dutch baseball player. Mr. Hamburger was an infielder with OVVO in Amsterdam, which belonged to the highest division of Dutch baseball, the Hoofdklasse. He died at his home the day after being hit in the head by a line drive, and is believed to be the only European baseball player to die as the result of being injured in a game.

Baseball
World Series
New York Giants 3 @ Washington Nationals 4 (12 innings) (Washington won best-of-seven series 4-3)

In one of the most dramatic endings in World Series history, Earl McNeely hit a ground ball that took a bad hop over the head of New York third baseman Fred Lindstrom to drive home Muddy Ruel with the winning run to give the Nationals the only World Series championship yet won by a team from Washington. When Mr. Ruel had been at bat, he had hit a foul popup that should have been caught by New York catcher Hank Gowdy, but Mr. Gowdy had tripped over his mask, allowing the ball to hit the ground. Mr. Ruel had then doubled off losing pitcher Jack Bentley. The winning hit was the second grounder to take a bad hop over Mr. Lindstrom's head; with the Giants leading 3-1 in the 8th inning, Bucky Harris's grounder had taken a similar hop and driven home Nemo Liebold and Mr. Ruel with the tying runs. Virgil Barnes started on the mound for New York and pitched 7 2/3 innings before being relieved by Art Nehf. In a move by Mr. Harris, who doubled as the Nationals' second baseman and manager, Washington starter Curly Ogden faced just 2 batters--recording a strikeout and a base on balls--before being removed in favour of George Mogridge, who pitched 4 2/3 innings. Firpo Marberry pitched the next 3 innings before Walter Johnson, who was in his 18th season with the Nationals, was brought into the game, pitching 4 innings of scoreless relief before his teammates finally provided him with the only World Series championship of his Hall of Fame career. 31,667 were in attendance at Griffith Stadium.

Little World Series
Baltimore Orioles (IL) 4 @ St. Paul Saints (AA) 0 (Baltimore led best-of-nine series 4-2-1)

Tommy Thomas (1-0) pitched a 3-hitter and the Orioles took advantage of 4 St. Paul errors as they shut out the Saints at Lexington Park.

70 years ago
1944

War
U.S. forces delivered a 24-hour surrender ultimatum to German forces in Aachen. Soviet troops reached the Baltic Sea at Palanga, Lithuania. British troops in Greece entered Corinth and found it evacuated by the Germans. After securing Garakayo Island in the Palaus, U.S. forces landed on Bairakaseru Islet without meeting opposition.

Abominations
800 Gypsy children were murdered by Nazis at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

Politics and government
Dr. Ramon Grau San Martin took office as President of Cuba.

Labour
American Music Federation President James Petrillo told U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the union would not grant his request that it permit its members to make phonograph recordings for commercial use unless all recording companies paid royalties on each record to the union treasury.

Baseball
The Sporting News named its selections for Most Valuable Player in the major leagues for 1944, choosing St. Louis Cardinals' shortstop Marty Marion in the National League and Boston Red Sox' second baseman Bobby Doerr in the American League.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Pretty Woman--Roy Orbison

#1 single in France: Vous Permettez Monsieur?--Salvatore Adamo (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): In ginocchio da te--Gianni Morandi (13th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Das kommt vom Rudern, das kommt vom Segeln--Peter Lauch & Die Regenpfeifer (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Oh, Pretty Woman--Roy Orbison

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Oh, Pretty Woman--Roy Orbison (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Oh, Pretty Woman--Roy Orbison (3rd week at #1)
2 Do Wah Diddy Diddy--Manfred Mann
3 We'll Sing in the Sunshine--Gale Garnett
4 Dancing in the Street--Martha and the Vandellas
5 Remember (Walking in the Sand)--The Shangri-Las
6 Bread and Butter--The Newbeats
7 It Hurts to Be in Love--Gene Pitney
8 The House of the Rising Sun--The Animals
9 G.T.O.--Ronny and the Daytonas
10 When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)--The Beach Boys

Singles entering the chart were Ain't That Loving You Baby by Elvis Presley (#67); Leader of the Pack by the Shangri-Las (#75); When You're Young and in Love by Ruby and the Romantics (#80); Is it True by Brenda Lee (#83); Ain't Doing Too Bad (Part 1) by Bobby Bland (#86); I'm Into Something Good by Herman's Hermits (#88); Garden in the Rain by Vic Dana (#92); Look Away by Garnet Mimms (#94); Chained and Bound by Otis Redding (#95); When You Walk in the Room by the Searchers (#96); Four by the Beach Boys (EP) (#97); Once a Day by Connie Smith (#99); and Shaggy Dog by Mickey Lee Lane (#100). The songs on Four by the Beach Boys were: Little Honda; Wendy; Don't Back Down; and Hushabye.

On television tonight
The Outer Limits, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Expanding Human, starring Skip Homeier, Keith Andes, James Doohan, and Vaughn Taylor

Died on this date
Eddie Cantor, 72. U.S. entertainer. Mr. Cantor, born Isidore (or Edward Israel) Itzkowitz, was popular in vaudeville, recordings, radio, motion pictures, and television. He was known for performing songs such as Makin' Whoopee; If You Knew Susie; and How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?.

Space
The U.S.A. launched the satellite Explorer 22, whose mission was to study the ionosphere, measure electron density and temperature, and conduct geodetic measurements.

Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games opened in Tokyo. The opening ceremony was broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast to be relayed by geostationary communication satellite.

Football
CFL
Montreal (4-6) 7 @ Calgary (9-4) 23
Edmonton (3-9) 6 @ British Columbia (8-1-3) 26

Larry Robinson kicked 3 field goals, a convert, and a single as the Stampeders beat the Alouettes before 16,000 fans at McMahon Stadium.

Pat Claridge, Mack Burton, and Bob Swift scored touchdowns for the Lions as they beat the Eskimos before 29,277 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. Peter Kempf added 2 converts and 2 field goals. Quarterback Bill Redell scored the Eskimos' only touchdown. It was the first CFL game for B.C. offensive tackle Ken Sugarman, who was activated in place of injured Bill Frank, and wore Mr. Frank's jersey #68.

Canadian university
Saskatchewan 7 @ Alberta at Edmonton (2-0) 55

Baseball
World Series
St. Louis Cardinals 1 @ New York Yankees 2 (New York led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Jim Bouton (1-0) of the Yankees and Curt Simmons of the Cardinals engaged in a pitchers' duel, but Mr. Simmons was removed for a pinch hitter in the top of the 9th inning, and when Barney Schultz (0-1) took the mound for St. Louis in the bottom of the 9th, Mickey Mantle hit his first pitch for a home run to end the game before 67,101 fans at Yankee Stadium. The homer was Mr. Mantle's 16th in World Series competition, breaking the mark formerly held by Babe Ruth.





40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Kung Fu Fighting--Carl Douglas (2nd week at #1)

Football
WFL
Shreveport (4-10-1) 22 @ Southern California (11-4) 25

30 years ago
1984

Baseball
World Series
Detroit 3 @ San Diego 5 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Kurt Bevacqua’s 3-run home run off Dan Petry in the 5th inning enabled the Padres to overcome an early 3-run deficit and defeat the Tigers before 57,911 fans at Jack Murphy-San Diego Stadium. San Diego starting pitcher Ed Whitson lasted just 2/3 inning, but Andy Hawkins relieved him and pitched 5 1/3 innings to get the win, with Craig Lefferts throwing 3 scoreless innings to earn the save.



25 years ago
1989

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight’s episode: Math Class

Diplomacy
Azerbaijani nationalists agreed to end a rail embargo that had prevented fuel and other essential supplies from reaching Armenia.

Oddities
The Soviet news agency Tass insisted that reports of aliens landing in a space vehicle in a park in the Russian city of Voronezh, 300 miles southeast of Moscow, were not a hoax. Tass said that scientists had confirmed the incident, and that a crowd had observed the extraterrestrials. One was described as being 9 feet tall and as having 3 eyes.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Eins, Zwei, Polizei--Mo-Do (3rd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 All I Wanna Do--Sheryl Crow
2 I'll Make Love to You--Boyz II Men
3 Jane--Barenaked Ladies
4 Could I Be Your Girl--Jann Arden
5 Lucky One--Amy Grant
6 Circle of Life--Elton John
7 Right Beside You--Sophie B. Hawkins
8 Healing Hands--Alan Frew
9 Silver--Moist
10 What's the Frequency, Kenneth--R.E.M.

Singles entering the chart were Out of Tears by the Rolling Stones (#53); Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots (#71); Feel the Pain by Dinosaur Jr. (#85); Am I Wrong by Roch Voisine (#90); Some Kinda Woman by Traffic (#93); Claire by Rheostatics (#94); One More Moment by Julie Maase (#95); Ocean Pearl by 54-40 (#96); Turn the Beat Around by Gloria Estefan (#97); and Blond Hair, Blue Jeans by Chris DeBurgh (#98).

Politics and government
Lieutenant General Raoul Cedras, commander-in-chief of Haiti's armed forces, formally resigned his position, two days after his chief aide, Brigadier General Philippe Biamby, had done the same, and a week after Jean-Bertrand Aristide had been restored as President, three years after being deposed by a military coup.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (4-10) 24 @ Calgary (12-2) 28

Doug Flutie threw 3 touchdown passes to Will Moore as the Stampeders beat the Rough Riders before a Thanksgiving crowd of 22,615 at McMahon Stadium. Gerry Collins rushed 11 yards for the first Ottawa touchdown to open the scoring in the 1st quarter, and Danny Barrett completed a 10-yard pass to Horace Brooks for the other Ottawa TD with just over 5 minutes remaining in regulation time.



10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Maurice Shadbolt, 72. N.Z. writer. Mr. Shadboult wrote numerous books of fiction and non-fiction about New Zealand.

Christopher Reeve, 52. U.S. actor. Mr. Reeve was best known for playing Superman in several movies, beginning with Superman (1978). He became a quadriplegic as a result of an equestrian accident in 1995, and became a prominent activist on behalf of research into spinal cord injuries. Mr. Reeve died of cardiac arrest, perhaps from a bad reaction to an antibiotic.

Ken Caminiti, 41. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Caminiti was a third baseman with the Houston Astros (1987-1994, 1999-2000); San Diego Padres (1995-1998); Texas Rangers (2001); and Atlanta Braves (2001), batting .272 with 239 home runs and 983 runs batted in in 1,760 games. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1996, when he hit .326, with 40 home runs and 130 RBIs. Mr. Caminiti later admitted that he had used steroids that year and for several years afterwards. He was a heavy drinker and cocaine snorter, and he died of an overdose of cocaine and heroin.

Baseball
National League Division Series
Atlanta 6 @ Houston 5 (Best-of-five series tied 2-2)
St. Louis 6 @ Los Angeles 2 (St. Louis won best-of-five series 3-1)