December 7, 2015

200 years ago
1815

Died on this date
Michel Ney, 46. French military officer. Marshal Ney was a commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, and was one of 18 Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon Bonaparte. After Napoleon's defeat in the Battle of Waterloo and subsequent exile, Marshal Ney was charged with treason. He was executed in Paris by firing squad after being convicted by the Chamber of Peers.

100 years ago
1915

Born on this date
Leigh Brackett. U.S. authoress and screenwriter. Miss Brackett was primarily a writer of science fiction stories and novels, but also wrote or co-wrote the screenplays to movies such as The Big Sleep (1946); Rio Bravo (1959); El Dorado (1967); and The Empire Strikes Back (1980). She died on March 18, 1978 at the age of 62.

Eli Wallach. U.S. actor. Mr. Wallach was a character actor in plays, movies, and television programs for more than 60 years. His movies included Baby Doll (1956); The Magnificent Seven (1960); and The Misfits (1961). Mr. Wallach died on June 24, 2014 at the age of 98.

80 years ago
1935

Football
CRU
Grey Cup @ Hamilton Amateur Athletic Grounds, Hamilton
Winnipeg 18 Hamilton 12

6,405 fans at Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds were shocked to see the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club defeat the Tigers on a rainy day to become the first western team to win the Grey Cup. Winnipeg amassed 367 yards in kick returns, with Fritz Hanson accounting for about 300 yards. WRFC got off to a fast start when Herb Peschel recovered the opening kickoff at the Hamilton 18-yard line. Quarterback Russ Rebholz promptly threw a touchdown pass to Bud Marquardt. The convert attempt was unsuccessful, and Winnipeg led 5-0. Frank Turville kicked a field goal for the Tigers to reduce the Winnipeg lead to 5-3 after the 1st quarter. Greg Kabat scored a Winnipeg touchdown in the 2nd quarter, converted by Mr. Rebholz. Mr. Turville and Mr. Kabat each punted for a single, and Winnipeg led 12-4 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Bert Oja of WRFC was penalized for rough play, which in those days involved the penalized player being sent off the field for 3 minutes. While Winnipeg was playing a man short, Wilf Patterson scored a Hamilton touchdown, converted by Mr. Turville, to make the score 12-10. Later in the quarter, Huck Welch’s punt was taken by Mr. Hanson at his own 32-yard line, and he broke free for a 78-yard touchdown. Mr. Rebholz converted to give WRFC an 18-10 lead after 3 quarters. The Tigers scored the only points of the 4th quarter when Winnipeg’s Joe Perpich was downed in his end zone after a bad snap prevented him from punting. In addition to his touchdown, Mr. Hanson returned 7 kicks for 35-50 yards. WRFC outrushed the Tigers 125 yards to 48 and gained 87 yards on 3 pass completions to 38 yards on 2 completed passes for Hamilton.

75 years ago
1940

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Only Forever--Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra (8th week at #1)

World events
The Vichy French government's Council of Ministers announced that General Charles de Gaulle would be deprived of French citizenship.

Defense
U.S. Navy Secretary Frank Knox asked the House of Representatives Naval Committee for authorization to spend $300 million for major improvements in the antiaircraft defenses aboard warships, as a result of lessons learned in the European war.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in a message to King George II of Greece that it was the policy of the United States to extend aid to those peoples who defended themselves against aggression.

U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull state that Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco had assured the United States that Spain would remain neutral in the European war if it got a U.S. credit of $100 million with which to buy foodstuffs.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Jesse H. Jones reported that a 14% rise in new private construction was due more to general prosperity than to the defense program.

Labour
Circuit Court Judge James Chenot enjoined the city of Dearborn, Michigan from enforcing a ban on the distribution of union handbills by the Congress of Industrial Organizations United Auto Workers of America near Ford Motor Company's River Rouge plant.

Football
CRU
Grey Cup
Toronto Balmy Beach 5 @ Ottawa 12 (Ottawa won 2-game total points series 20-7)

Only 1,700 fans--the smallest crowd in Grey Cup history--showed up at Lansdowne Park to see the Rough Riders win their first Grey Cup in 14 years. Tommy Daley of the Rough Riders scored the only Ottawa touchdown. Tiny Herman converted and added a single, and Sammy Sward punted for 5 singles. Bobby Porter, who had scored both Balmy Beach points in the first game, accounted for all the Balmy Beach scoring in the second game with a touchdown.

70 years ago
1945

At the movies
House of Dracula, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Martha O'Driscoll, John Carradine, Lionel Atwill, and Glenn Strange, opened in theatres.





Crime
General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese commander in the Philippines, was convicted by a U.S. Military Commission of condoning atrocities, and was sentenced to death; he immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

War
According to evidence introduced at the Nuremberg trial of accused German war criminals, German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler had planned a full-scale campaign in the West through the Low Countries to start November 7, 1939, but had been delayed until May 1940 by bad weather.
World events
The U.S. State Department announced plans to resettle 6.6 million Germans from eastern Europe in the American and Soviet zones of Germany within the next eight months.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes told a Senate committee that U.S. policy was to encourage Chinese Nationalists to broaden their government to include "so-called Communists," and defended career State Department officials against former U.S. Ambassador to China General Patrick Hurley's charges that the State Dept.'s "China hands" had "sabotaged" his work with the Nationalist government.

Business
Brazilian President Jose Linares ordered all publications under federal and state control sold at public auction within 30 days.

Economics and finance
U.S. Reparations Commissioner Edwin Pauley recommended that Japan be stripped of all assets abroad and most domestic heavy industry.

60 years ago
1955

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): L'Homme et l'Enfant--Eddie & Tania Constantine

Politics and government
Former British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, 72, resigned as leader of the British Labour Party, and was made an Earl hours later by Queen Elizabeth II. Herbert Morrison replaced him as interim party leader until a permanent leader could be chosen.

Boxing
Bob Baker (44-5-1) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Nino Valdes (33-11-3) in a heavyweight bout at Cleveland Arena.





50 years ago
1965

On television tonight
The Fugitive, starring David Janssen, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Stranger in the Mirror, with guest stars William Shatner, Norman Fell, and Julie Sommars

Space
The Soviet probe Luna 8 crashed in the Ocean of Storms on the Moon, four days after launch.

Religion
Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously read out the Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965, revoking mutual excommunications between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople that had been in place since the Great Schism of 1054.

Boxing
Canadian champion George Chuvalo (34-10-2) won a 10-round decision over former British and Commonwealth champion Joe Bygraves (42-27-2) in a heavyweight bout at Royal Albert Hall in London.



40 years ago
1975

Died on this date
Thornton Wilder, 78. U.S. author. Mr. Wilder won Pulitzer Prizes for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) and the plays Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942).

War
Indonesian forces invaded East Timor, leading to a 25-year occupation. Portugal severed diplomatic relations with Indonesia and called for United Nations Security Council action.

Cuban forces using Soviet-made equipment allegedly spearheaded a drive by pro-Communist forces in Angola.

Skiing
Ken Read of Canada won the FIS World Cup downhhill race at Val d'Isère, France, with a time of 2:04:97. It was the first major win for the "Crazy Canucks" - Mr. Read, Dave Irwin, Jim Hunter, and Steve Podborski - who also finished in the top ten against the Europeans.

Football
NFL
New York Jets (3-9) 30 @ New England (3-9) 28
Baltimore (8-4) 21 @ New York Giants (3-9) 0
Washington (8-4) 30 @ Atlanta (3-9) 27
Los Angeles (10-2) 14 @ New Orleans (2-10) 7
Cincinnati (10-2) 31 @ Philadelphia (3-9) 0
Cleveland (2-10) 17 @ Pittsburgh (11-1) 31
Buffalo (7-5) 21 @ Miami (9-3) 31
Dallas (8-4) 17 @ St. Louis (9-3) 31
San Diego (1-11) 28 @ Kansas City (5-7) 20
Detroit (6-6) 21 @ Chicago (3-9) 25
Green Bay (3-9) 3 @ Minnesota (11-1) 24
Houston (8-4) 27 @ San Francisco (5-7) 13

30 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Election Day--Arcadia (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Only Love--Nana Mouskouri (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Nikita--Elton John

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I'm Your Man--Wham!

#1 single in the U.K.: I'm Your Man--Wham! (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Broken Wings--Mr. Mister

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Broken Wings--Mr. Mister
2 Separate Lives--Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin
3 We Built This City--Starship
4 You Belong to the City--Glenn Frey
5 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
6 Never--Heart
7 Alive and Kicking--Simple Minds
8 Who’s Zoomin’ Who--Aretha Franklin
9 Lay Your Hands on Me--Thompson Twins
10 Sleeping Bag--ZZ Top

Singles entering the chart were My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen (#49); How Will I Know by Whitney Houston (#55) Living In America by James Brown (#84); One Vision by Queen (#85); Go by Asia (#87); and Somewhere by Barbra Streisand (#90). Living in America was from the movie Rocky IV. One Vision was from the movie Iron Eagle (1986).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 We Built This City--Starship
2 Separate Lives--Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin
3 Broken Wings--Mr. Mister
4 Alive and Kicking--Simple Minds
5 Part-Time Lover--Stevie Wonder
6 Tarzan Boy--Baltimora
7 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
8 Situation Critical--Platinum Blonde
9 Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire--David Foster
10 Oh Sheila--Ready for the World

Singles entering the chart were When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going by Billy Ocean (#77); Go Home by Stevie Wonder (#79); Rock Me Amadeus by Falco (#81); Take Me Home by Phil Collns (#84); The Sweetest Taboo by Sade (#86); Secret by OMD (#87); Let Me Down Easy by Roger Daltrey (#90); and With a Little Help from My Friends by Kick Axe (#96).

Died on this date
Robert Graves, 90. U.K. author and poet. Mr. Graves produced over 140 works, including the World War I memoir Good-bye to All That (1929) and the historical novel I, Claudius (1934).

Potter Stewart, 70. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1958-1981. Mr. Stewart was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, where he served from 1954-1958 before being nominated by Mr. Eisenhower for the Supreme Court. He was regarded as a centrist on the Supreme Court.

Football
NCAA
In the closest balloting in the history of the Heisman Trophy, running back Bo Jackson of Auburn edged Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 votes of the 2,973 cast.

25 years ago
1990

Died on this date
Joan Bennett, 80. U.S. actress. Miss Bennett appeared in more than 70 movies, but was probably best known for her co-starring roles in The Woman in the Window (1944) and Scarlet Street (1945).

Dee Clark, 52. U.S. singer. Mr. Clark had a string of hit singles from 1959-1961. His last and biggest hit, Raindrops, reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached #1 in several other countries. Like many other singers of his era, Mr. Clark ended up in poverty, and he died of a heart attack, three years after suffering a stroke.

World events
Eight days of violent clashes between Muslims and Hindus in several Indian cities began in Aligarh and Hyderabad, cities with large Muslim populations. Hindu fundamentalists in Ayodhya, a city near Aligarh, wanted to tear down a mosque and build a temple to the god Rama, whom they believed was born on the site.

Politics and government
Polish Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki, who had been eliminated from contention in the first round of elections for the Polish presidency, urged members of the Solidarity trade union movement to close ranks behind its leader, Lech Walesa, who was leading after the first round of voting.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate in November at 5.9%, up from 5.7% in October. The November percentage was the highest in three years. The number of payroll jobs lost in October and November was put at 445,000, the greatest for any two consecutive months since the 1982 recession.

20 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Boombastic--Shaggy (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Kathleen Harrison, 103. U.K. actress. Miss Harrison was a character actress who appeared in numerous plays, movies, and television programs in a career that spanned more than 60 years.

Space
The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it had been launched by the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-34. A 746-pound probe from the spacecraft hurtled into Jupiter's atmosphere, sending back data to the mothership before it was destroyed.



Environment
The British Columbia Legislature became the first provincial legislature in Canada to pass regulations for auto makers to provide less-polluting vehicles.

10 years ago
2005

At the movies
The World's Fastest Indian, starring Anthony Hopkins and Diane Ladd, opened in theatres in New Zealand.



Died on this date
Bud Carson, 75. U.S. football coach. Mr. Carson was head coach at Georgia Institute of Technology from 1967-1971 and then spent the next quarter-century as an assistant coach with various National Football League teams. He was best known as the defensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl championship teams of 1974-75 and 1975-76.

Rigoberto Alpizar, 44. Costa Rican-born U.S. terrorism suspect. Mr. Alpizar was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, and was shot and killed by a team of U.S. federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.

World events
Ante Gotovina, a Croatian army general accused of war crimes but later acquitted, was captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife, by Spanish police.

Environment
At a conference in Montreal, the European Union and Canada pressured the United States to join an international pact to curb greenhouse gas emissions and limit the predicted chaos from global warming.