December 13, 2015

470 years ago
1545

Religion
The Roman Catholic Council of Trent began, in reaction to the Reformation.

110 years ago
1905

Politics and government
Walter Scott led the Liberal Party to victory in the province's first provincial election, winning 16 out of 25 seats in the Legislative Assembly; the Provincial Rights Party, led by former Northwest Territories Premier Frederick Haultain, won the other 9 seats.

100 years ago
1915

At the movies
The Cheat, directed and co-produced by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring Fannie Ward and Sessue Hayakawa,, opened in theatres.



Born on this date
Curd Jürgens. German-born Austrian actor. Mr. Jürgens, aka Curt Jürgens, appeared in many plays and movies in a career that spanned almost 50 years. His films included The Longest Day (1962) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Mr. Jürgens died on June 18, 1982 at the age of 66.

Ross Macdonald. U.S. author. Mr. Macdonald, born Kenneth Millar, was a native of Los Gatos, California who grew up in Kitchener, Ontario. He wrote crime novels, the best-known of which featured the private eye Lew Archer. Mr. Macdonald died on July 11, 1983 at the age of 67.

John Vorster. Prime Minister of South Africa, 1966-1978; 4th State President of South Africa, 1978-1979. Mr. Vorster, a member of the National Party, was first elected to the House of Assembly in 1953, and succeeded Hendrik Verwoerd as Prime Minister upon Mr. Verwoerd's assassination. Mr. Vorster defended the South African policy of Apartheid, but adopted a practical foreign policy. He resigned as Prime Minister to accept the mainly ceremonial office of President, but was forced to resign as a result of scandal. Mr. Vorster died on September 10, 1983 at the age of 67.

90 years ago
1925

Football
NFL
Chicago Cardinals (11-2-1) 13 Hammond (1-4) 0
Pottsville 9 University of Notre Dame all-stars 7 @ Philadelphia (exhibition)

The Pros had already disbanded for the season, but hastily reassembled to play the Cardinals in a game ordered by NFL Commissioner Joe Carr in order to try to finish with a better winning percentage than the Pottsville Maroons, whom Mr. Carr was punishing for having scheduled the exhibition game against former University of Notre Dame all-stars at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, violating the territorial rights of the Frankford Yellow Jackets. The Maroons had defeated the Cardinals 21-7 on December 6 to improve their record to 10-2 (.833). The Cardinals wins against the Milwaukee Badgers on December 11 and the Pros gave them a percentage of .846, clinching Mr. Carr's idea of a title. A field goal in the last minute gave the Maroons their win in the exhibition game.

80 years ago
1935

Died on this date
Victor Grignard, 64. French chemist. Professor Grignard was awarded a share of the 1912 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the discovery of the [...] Grignard reagent."

Boxing
Joe Louis (23-0) scored a technical knockout of Paulino Uzcudun (50-17-3) at 2:32 of the 4th round in a heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.



75 years ago
1940

At the movies
Murder Over New York, starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, opened in theatres.



The Devil Bat, starring Bela Lugosi and Suzanne Kaaren, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
George Regas, 50. Greek-born U.S. actor. Mr. Regas played various ethnic roles in action and adventure movies. He died after an operation for a throat infection.

War
The United Kingdom claimed to have captured more than 20,000 Italian soldiers and two more generals in the Egyptian offensive, and stated that "the remnants of the beaten Italian Army" were falling back on Libya.

Defense
HMCS Royal Roads, along with the mansion Hatley Castle, was commissioned as a Canadian naval training centre, on the property owned by industrialist James Dunsmuir in Victoria. Earlier that year, the federal government had purchased Hatley Castle to be a wartime residence for the Royal family, but they decided to stay in Britain.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Duke of Windsor conferred aboard the USS Tuscaloosa about U.S. naval bases in the West Indies. The Duke told newsmen: "We are ready to do what the President wants when he gives the word."

Politics and government
French head of government Marshal Philippe Petain dismissed Vice Prime Minister Pierre Laval and replaced him with Pierre Étienne Flandin, shifting government policy away from its strongly pro-German orientation.

Science
Production of a light wave that did not vary by more than one fifty-billionth of an inch was reported by Jacob Wiens and Dr. Luis Alvarez. The light beam was generated from mercury made from gold in an atom-smashing cyclotron and was said to make the measurement of length more accurate.

Scandal
A U.S. federal grand jury in Chicago indicted nine people associated with the Resources Corporation International of Chicago on charges of defrauding hundreds of investors of $7 million by the fraudulent sale of stock in a Mexican timber deal.

Disasters
More than 200 Jewish refugees from Bulgaria on their way to Palestine were drowned when their ship, the 60-ton Salvator, sank in a storm on the Sea of Marmara.

A Northrop A-17 Nomad aircraft collided in-flight with a similar plane while on a search mission for an airman who had gone missing near Bracebridge, Ontario. The other plane was located shortly after the crash; both men on board were killed. The Nomad carrying 24-year-old pilot Peter Campbell and 27-year-old observer Theodore Bates was finally found by Ontario Provincial Police divers in July 2010 at the bottom of Lake Muskoka; the remains of the men were recovered by a Royal Canadian Navy team in October 2012 and honoured in an internment ceremony. Remains of the plane were recovered on October 28, 2014, to be restored at the Trenton Air Museum.

Boxing
Ken Overlin (117-18-5) retained his New York State Athletic Commission world middleweight title with a 15-round split decision over Steve Belloise (31-4-1) at Madison Square Garden in New York. Mr. Overlin had won a majority decision over Mr. Belloise at the same venue six weeks earlier.

70 years ago
1945

Died on this date
Henri-Fernand Dentz, 63. French military officer and diplomat. General Dentz was Commander in Chief of the Army of the Levant and High Commissioner to the Levant during World War II under the Vichy regime. He was sentenced to death in 1945 for aiding the Axis powers, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by President Charles de Gaulle. General Dentz died three days before his 64th birthday.

Josef Kramer, 39. German war criminal. SS-Hauptsturmführer Kramer was commandant of the Bergen-Belsen comcentration camp, and was known as the "Beast of Belsen." He was hanged by English executioner Albert Pierrepoint at the jail in Hamelin, Germany.

Elisabeth Volkenrath, 26. Polish-born German war criminal. Mrs. Volkenrath was hanged at the jail in Hamelin for crimes committed at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.

Irma Grese, 22. German war criminal. Miss Grese was hanged in the jail at Hamelin for crimes committed while she was an SS guard at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. She was the youngest woman executed under British law in the 20th century.

War
36 of those convicted the previous day at the Nazi war crimes trial in Nuremberg were sentenced to death, and 4 were given long prison terms by a U.S. military court. An Australian military court convicted 11 Japanese soldiers for crucifying three Australian airmen and one American. Three Japanese officers were sentenced to death by a U.S. military court at Kwajalein for killing American airmen.

Diplomacy
The United Kingdom and France signed an agreement to withdraw their trooops from Lebanon and Syria and to collaborate in the Near East.

Economics and finance
The British House of Commons approved the Anglo-American loan agreement and Bretton Woods Monetary Stabilization Agreement.

The U.S. State Department was reported to have invited 14 countries to a preliminary meeting for the International Trade Conference to discuss reciprocal lowering of tariffs.

Art
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Harlan Stone accepted custody, on behalf of the National Gallery of Art, 200 paintings brought to the United States from German museums.

Labour
Justice Ivan Rand of the Supreme Court of Canada got Ford Motor Company of Canada and 17,000 United Auto Workers, on strike since September 12, 1945, to agree to binding arbitration, and end their strike December 20, 1945.

Health
The U.S. Public Health Service reported 49,694 new cases of influenza for the week ending December 8, 1945, compared with 13,220 the previous week.

60 years ago
1955

Died on this date
Egas Moniz, 81. Portuguese psychiatrist and neurosurgeon. Dr. Moniz was awarded a share of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy (lobotomy) in certain psychoses"--a practice which soon fell into disrepute.

Boxing
Sonny Liston (13-1) scored a technical knockout of Larry Watson (38-25-2) in the 4th round of a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout at Almad Temple in East St. Louis, Illinois.

50 years ago
1965

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): El Mundo (Il Mondo)--Jimmy Fontana (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Carnival is Over--The Seekers

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Make it Easy on Yourself--The Walker Brothers (2nd week at #1)
2 Roses and Rainbows--Danny Hutton
3 Look Through Any Window--The Hollies
4 Here it Comes Again--The Fortunes
5 I Found a Girl--Jan & Dean
6 You Really Got a Hold on Me--Little Caesar and the Consuls
7 Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues--Gordon Lightfoot
8 It Was I--The Big Town Boys
9 Tears--Ken Dodd
10 Butterfly--Van McCoy

Singles entering the chart were The Sounds of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel (#36); The Little Girl I Once Knew by the Beach Boys (#37); I Really Love You by Dee Dee Sharp (#38); Yesterday Man by Chris Andrews (#39); and Our World by Johnny Tillotson (#40).

At the movies
A Thousand Clowns, starring Jason Robards, Barry Gordon, Barbara Harris, and Martin Balsam, opened in theatres.



40 years ago
1975

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Profondo rosso--Goblin (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): That's the Way (I Like It)--K.C. and the Sunshine Band (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Bohemian Rhapsody--Queen (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Fly, Robin, Fly--Silver Convention (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 That's the Way (I Like It)--K.C. and the Sunshine Band (3rd week at #1)
2 Let's Do it Again--The Staple Singers
3 Fly, Robin, Fly--Silver Convention
4 Saturday Night--Bay City Rollers
5 Nights on Broadway--Bee Gees
6 Sky High--Jigsaw
7 My Little Town--Simon and Garfunkel
8 I Write the Songs--Barry Manilow
9 Love Rollercoaster--Ohio Players
10 I Love Music (Part 1)--O'Jays

Singles entering the chart were 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon (#61); Breaking Up is Hard to Do by Neil Sedaka (#62); Golden Years by David Bowie (#75); All By Myself by Eric Carmen (#78); Slow Ride by Foghat (#81); Free Ride by Tavares (#83); Don't Cry Joni by Conway Twitty (#93); The Blind Man in the Bleachers by Kenny Starr (#96); I Want to Dance with You (Dance with Me) by the Ritchie Family (#98); Deep Purple by Donny and Marie Osmond (#99); and Make Love to Your Mind by Bill Withers (#100). Breaking Up is Hard to Do was a new version of a song that had reached #1 for Mr. Sedaka in 1962.

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 That's the Way (I Like It)--K.C. and the Sunshine Band
2 Nights on Broadway--Bee Gees
3 Saturday Night--Bay City Rollers
4 The Way I Want to Touch You--Captain & Tennille
5 Island Girl--Elton John
6 Low Rider--War
7 Fly, Robin, Fly--Silver Convention
8 Eighteen with a Bullet--Pete Wingfield
9 My Little Town--Simon and Garfunkel
10 Sky High--Jigsaw

Singles entering the chart were Fly, Robin, Fly; Eighteen with a Bullet; Venus and Mars Rock Show by Wings (#13); Fox on the Run by Sweet (#14); Cowboys to Girls by Sweet Blindness (#18); I'm on Fire by Jim Gilstrap (#19); Down to the Line by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (#20); Every Bit of Love by Ken Tobias (#21); Do You Know Where You're Going To by Diana Ross (#23); I Write the Songs by Barry Manilow (#24); Make Me Your Baby by Suzanne Stevens (#25); Calypso by John Denver (#29); Welcome to My Nightmare by Alice Cooper (#33); Over My Head by Fleetwood Mac (#35); Part Time Lover by Gladys Knight (#37); Secret Love by Freddy Fender (#41); For the Love of You by the Isley Brothers (#42); You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate (#43); The Last Game of the Season (A Blind Man in the Bleachers) by David Geddes (#45); I Wanta Do Something Freaky to You by Leon Haywood (#46); Scotch on the Rocks by Band of the Black Watch (#47); Let's Do it Again by the Staple Singers (#48); Love Rollercoaster by Ohio Players (#49); I Love Music (Part 1) by the O'Jays (#50); Since I Met You Baby by Freddy Fender (#52); Santa Jaws by Homemade Theatre (#57); Caribbean Festival by Kool & The Gang (#60); Love Power by Willie Hutch (#63); Walk Away from Love by David Ruffin (#65); Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.) by Glen Campbell (#66); Full of Fire by Al Green (#75); Carry Me by David Crosby and Graham Nash (#76); Sing a Song by Earth, Wind & Fire (#77); School Boy Crush by Average White Band (#78); Love to Love You Baby by Donna Summer (#80); Hurricane (Part 1) by Bob Dylan (#84); Times of Your Life by Paul Anka (#86); Wake Up Everybody by Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes (#87); Squeeze Box by the Who (#88); Bringing it Back by Elvis Presley (#91); Woman Tonight by America (#94); and Rock and Roll All Nite by Kiss (#96). This was the first chart published since October 18, 1975, because of a national postal strike.

Died on this date
Cyril Delevanti, 86. U.K.-born U.S. actor. Mr. Delevanti was a character actor in numerous films and television programs from 1931-1974.

Yellowknifiana
Sir John Franklin Territorial High School held its annual Christmas dance, with Friends as the band. This blogger was in attendance. The event was memorable only because of the number of girls who were attractively dressed.

Politics and government
The Liberal-National Country Party, led by recently-appointed Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, defeated the Labour Party, led by recently-dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, in the Australian federal election. The Liberals captured 68 seats in the 127-seat House of Representatives, with the National Country Party taking 23. The Labour Party was reduced to 36 seats, a decrease of 30 since the election of May 18, 1974.

Football
NFL
Cincinnati (10-3) 14 @ Pittsburgh (12-1) 35
Washington (8-5) 10 @ Dallas (9-4) 31



30 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Nikita--Elton John

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Take on Me--A-Ha (3rd week at #1)

Business
Westland Helicopters, Britain’s only helicopter manufacturer, announced an agreement in principle to a partial purchase by Sikorsky Aircraft division of United Technologies of the United States and by Fiat of Italy.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that prices paid by producers for finished goods had risen 0.8% in November; the U.S. Federal Reserve Board announced that industrial production had risen 0.4% in November.

25 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Christmas No 1--Zig and Zag

World events
More than 5,000 people were at the Johannesburg airport to welcome African National Congress President Oliver Tambo back to South Africa after three decades in exile. ANC Deputy President Nelson Mandela, who had assumed de facto leadership of the ANC after Mr. Tambo had suffered a stroke in 1989, hailed his friend as "one of the greatest heroes of Africa."

Abominations
The Goods and Services Tax bill was passed by the Canadian Senate after a two-month filibuster by Liberal senators. The 7% tax would take the place of the 13.5% manufacturers tax. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had employed a rarely-used maneuver and appointed extra Progressive Conservatives to the Senate in order to obtain a majority to pass the bill, which would take effect on January 1, 1991 once it received royal assent.

Law
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms did not protect the right to promote hatred. All seven judges found that anti-hate laws were an infringement of the guarantee of "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression" provided for in the Charter. But in three separate 4-3 decisions, the majority ruled that the infringement was justified as a legitimate limit on individual rights for the sake of a wider social goal. One of the cases, R v Keegstra, involved former Alberta school teacher James Keegstra, who had been convicted in 1985 of promoting hatred for telling his social studies students that Jews were conspiring to take over the world.

20 years ago
1995

Died on this date
Ann Nolan Clark, 99. U.S. teacher and authoress. Mrs. Clark taught literacy to Native American children in New Mexico for 25 years, beginning in the early 1920s. She wrote books of fiction and non-fiction; her children's novel Secret of the Andes won the 1953 Newbery Medal. Mrs. Clark died eight days after her 99th birthday.

Movies
The U.S. National Board of Review announced its awards for 1995. The winners included: Film: Sense and Sensibility; Foreign Film: Shanghai Triad; Director: Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility); Actor: Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas); Actress: Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility and Carrington); Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects and Se7en); Supporting Actress: Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite). The awards were presented on February 26, 1996.

Protest
Hundreds of black and white youths in the Brixton area of London attacked police, ransacked shops, and burned cars after the death of a Negro man in police custody

Politics and government
Lucien Bouchard resigned his seat in the Canadian House of Commons and his Bloc Québecois leadership to run for the leadership of the Parti Québecois.

MontrealanaL
The new arena in Montreal was named Centre Molson.