August 19, 2016

370 years ago
1646

Born on this date
John Flamsteed. English astronomer. Rev. Flamsteed, an ordained deacon in the Church of England, was appointed the first Astronomer Royal in 1675. He made some of the first observations of Uranus in 1690, erroneously thinking it was a star. Rev. Flamsteed prepared the 3,000-star catalogue Catalogus Britannicus and the Atlas Coelestis, both of which were published after his death on December 31, 1719 at the age of 73.

350 years ago
1666

War
Rear Admiral Robert Holmes led an English raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 150 merchant ships in an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire."

325 years ago
1691

Died on this date
Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha, 53 or 54. Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, 1689-1691. Fazıl Mustafa Pasha followed his father, elder brother, and two brothers-in-law as Grand Vizier (Prime Minister). He was killed in the Battle of Slankamen and was succeeded in office by Arabacı Ali Pasha.

War
Holy Roman Empire forces commanded by Margrave of Baden-Baden Louis Wilhelm defeated Ottoman Empire forces commanded by Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Pasha in the Battle of Slankamen in what is now part of Serbia.

110 years ago
1906

Born on this date
Philo T. Farnsworth. U.S. inventor. Mr. Farnsworth held 300 patents, mostly in radio and television. He was best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device (video camera tube), the image dissector, as well as the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. Mr. Farnsworth also invented the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor, a small nuclear fusion device. He had many legal battles over his patent rights, drank heavily in his later years, and died of pneumonia on March 11, 1971 at the age of 64. Mr. Farnsworth was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1984.

100 years ago
1916

Politics and government
Victor Christian William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, was appointed by King George V as Governor General of Canada, to take office on November 11, 1916.

90 years ago
1926

Politics and government
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Lord Willingdon, was appointed by King George V as Governor General of Canada, replacing Lord Byng effective October 2, 1926. Viscout Willingdon was the last Canadian Governor General to be appointed by the monarch.

80 years ago
1936

Died on this date
Federico Garcia Lorca, 38. Spanish poet. One of the "Generation of '27," Mr. Garcia Lorca was believed to have been shot to death by an anti-Communist death squad. His death took place a few weeks after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

75 years ago
1941

War
The German command announced that German troops, aided by Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian units, had captured all of Ukraine west of the Dnieper River, and that the attack on Odessa had begun. German forces launched an all-out attack on Tallinn, Estonia.

Diplomacy
U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson (Republican--California) charged that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had "violated the Constitution" in making an alliance with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to destroy German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler and establish a new world order. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King left Montreal aboard a bomber en route to the United Kingdom, where he was expected to confer with Mr. Churchill.

Politics and government
After the deadlocked Colombian Liberal Party convention adjourned without choosing a presidential candidate, 62 of the 120 delegates named former President Alfonso Lopez to head their ticket in the February 1942 election.

Society
Rev. Hubert Beller, spiritual director of the New York branch of the National Catholic Women's Union, said that birth control threatened the United States with "physical and moral decay."

Baseball
The Brooklyn Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates before 9,372 fans at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, winning 9-0 and 6-2, with Curt Davis and Hugh Casey the respective winning pitchers. Pittsburgh manager Frankie Frisch was ejected from the second game by umpire Jocko Conlan when he came onto the field carrying an umbrella to protest the playing conditions.

The Detroit Tigers scored 8 runs in the 2nd inning and coasted to a 12-3 win over the New York Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader before 17,570 fans at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. The Yankees won the second game 8-3.

Jimmy Bloodworth batted 4 for 5 with a double and a game-winning 2-run home run in the top of the 12th inning as the Washington Nationals came back from an early 4-0 deficit to beat the Cleveland Indians 8-6 before just 500 fans at League Park in Cleveland.

Thornton Lee pitched a 6-hitter and Johnny Humphries followed with a 4-hitter as the Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics 4-0 and 1-0 before 7,947 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Les McCrabb allowed 8 hits and Johnny Babich 5 in pitching complete games as the respective losing pitchers. The first game was played in 1 hour 37 minutes and the second game in 1 hour 44 minutes.

Johnny Berardino hit a solo home run in the 3rd inning and then singled home Walt Judnich with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th to give the St. Louis Browns a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of a doubleheader before 2,100 fans at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Boston left fielder Ted Williams hit a solo home run on top of the right field pavillion roof in the first game and added 2 homers in the second game as the Red Sox won 10-7. Mr. Judnich homered and drove in 4 runs for the Browns in the second game.

70 years ago
1946

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 To Each His Own--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)
--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
--Tony Martin
--The Modernaires with Paula Kelly
2 Doin' What Comes Natur'lly--Dinah Shore and Spade Cooley and his Orchestra
--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra
3 The Gypsy--The Ink Spots
--Dinah Shore
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
4 Surrender--Perry Como
--Woody Herman and his Orchestra
5 They Say it's Wonderful--Perry Como
--Frank Sinatra
6 Prisoner of Love--Perry Como
--The Ink Spots
7 Five Minutes More--Frank Sinatra
--The Three Suns
8 I Don't Know Enough About You--The Mills Brothers
--Peggy Lee
9 Blue Skies--Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
10 In Love in Vain--Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest
--Margaret Whiting

Singles entering the chart were South America, Take it Away by Xavier Cugat and the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra (#18, charting with the version by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters); Two Silhouettes by Dinah Shore (#19); Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai) by Spike Jones and his Wacky Watakians (#20); Somewhere in the Night by Frank Sinatra (#24); Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had it Coming) by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five (#33); Pretending by Andy Russell (#34); and The Song is You by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra (#36).

On the radio
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Gale Gordon and Howard McNear, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Mad Dancer

War
Allied headquarters in Caserta announced that a U.S. transport plane had been downed by Yugoslavian fighter planed near the Italian border in the second such incident in the last 10 days.

Chinese Communist headquarters in Yenan broadcasted a call for mobilization of militiamen in Communist-controlled areas "to shatter Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's offensive."

Rita Zucca, the American-born "Axis Sally" who had made German propaganda radio broadcasts from Italy during World War II, was granted amnesty by an Italian court in Rome.

Diplomacy
The Argentine Senate ratified the Chapultepec solidarity pact and the San Francisco United Nations agreement.

Defense
General Lucius Clay of the U.S. military government in Germany announced that 70% of war plants in the American zone had been or were being destroyed.

Protest
South African Communist Party leader Daniel Duplessis was arrested in Johannesburg for allegedly instigating the previous week's four-day strike of gold miners.

Economics and finance
The Chinese government set a new exchange rate of $3,350 Chinese to $1 American.

The U.S. Office of Price Administration permitted price increases of 12-26.8% on automotive parts; 6% on refrigerators; and 1-7c on canned fruits and juices.

60 years ago
1956

War
Blaming French inactivity for continued fighting in Algeria, Algerian nationalist leaders called for direct negotiations between France and the National Liberation Front.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Millard Tydings (Democrat--Maryland) withdrew as a candidate for re-election in November 1956 because of ill health.

Energy
The U.S.S.R. and China announced an agreement to build a 13-million-kilowatt system of hydroelectric power stations on the Amur, Argun, and Ussuri Rivers along the Sino-Soviet border.

Auto racing
Carroll Shelby won the Sports Car Club of America races in Montgomery, New York, driving a Ferrari at an average speed of 70.4 miles per hour.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Daydream--The Lovin' Spoonful

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Summer in the City--The Lovin' Spoonful
2 Lil' Red Riding Hood--Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
3 Sunny--Bobby Hebb
4 Wild Thing--The Troggs
5 Born a Woman--Sandy Posey
6 Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby--The Beatles
7 I Couldn't Live Without Your Love--Petula Clark
8 Mother's Little Helper/Lady Jane--The Rolling Stones
9 This Door Swings Both Ways--Herman's Hermits
10 Sunshine Superman--Donovan
Pick hit of the week: Cast Your Fate to the Wind--Shelby Flint
New this week: Love Has Many Ways--Buddy Knox
Walk Away Renee--The Left Banke
We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin'--Wes Dakus
Cry Softly--Nancy Ames
Waco--Lorne Greene

Music
The Beatles continued their final concert tour with two shows at Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. The shows went on despite a city council vote to cancel the shows in response to John Lennon's comments in an interview that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus."

Labour
An airline strike in the United States ended as the machinists' union accepted a three-year contract.

40 years ago
1976

Died on this date
Alastair Sim, 75. U.K. actor. Mr. Sim was a character actor who was known for his elocution on stage and in movies such as Green for Danger (1946); Scrooge (aka A Christmas Carol) (1951); An Inspector Calls (1954); and The Green Man (1957).

Politics and government
The Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena in Kansas City nominated U.S. President Gerald Ford as the party's candidate for President in the November 1976 election. Mr. Ford narrowly defeated former California Governor Ronald Reagan 1,187-1,070 on the first ballot. Mr. Ford chose U.S. Senator Bob Dole (Kansas) as his vice presidential running mate.

Society
The Science Council of Canada suggested slowing urbanization and immigration in order to maintain Canada's standard of living.

Labour
Workers in Denmark began a four-day strike over passage of a government economic plan that would limit wage increases.

30 years ago
1986

Died on this date
Hermione Baddeley, 79. U.K. actress. Miss Baddeley was a character actress in numerous plays, movies, and television programs. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Room at the Top (1959), and was perhaps best known to North American audiences for playing housekeeper Mrs. Naugatuck in the television comedy series Maude (1974-1977).

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Say Yes--Chage and Aska (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Enter Sandman--Metallica

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Bacardi Feeling (Summer Dreamin')--Kate Yanai

World events
U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev was briefly overthrown by a coup of Communist hardliners.

Protest
Negro groups began three days of riots targeting Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York after two Negro children had been hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Spinning the Wheel--George Michael

#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Gud! Hvor du er deilig--Bjelleklang (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Killing Me Softly--The Fugees (8th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Change the World--Eric Clapton (3rd week at #1)
2 Tucker's Town--Hootie & the Blowfish
3 You Learn--Alanis Morissette
4 Free to Decide--The Cranberries
5 Give Me One Reason--Tracy Chapman
6 Jerk--Kim Stockwood
7 Angel Mine--Cowboy Junkies
8 Ahead by a Century--The Tragically Hip
9 Lack of Water--The Why Store
10 Jealousy--Natalie Merchant

Singles entering the chart were 18 Til I Die by Bryan Adams (#72); All I Want is Everything by Def Leppard (#74); Why by Bass is Base (#92); I Will Take Care of You by Amy Sky (#97); You and I by the Scorpions (#98); and One More Try by Kristine W (#99).

Television
Radio-Québec, which had been founded on February 22, 1968 as a provincially-owned radio and television network, changed its name to Télé-Québec.

Scandal
Former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker (Democrat) was sentenced to four years' probation for crimes related to the Whitewater Development Company. U.S. President Bill Clinton--Mr. Tucker's immediate predecessor as Governor of Arkansas--and his wife Hillary were also involved with Whitewater.

10 years ago
2006

Football
CFL
Montreal (7-2) 6 @ Toronto (4-5) 31
Hamilton (2-8) 15 @ Saskatchewan (4-5) 46

Toronto quarterback Damon Allen passed the 70,000 mark in career yards passing in leading the Argonauts over the Alouettes before 30,786 fans at Rogers Centre.

Kenton Keith rushed 13 times for 148 yards and a touchdown and caught 2 passes for 101 yards--including an 80-yard touchdown--as the Roughriders routed the Tiger-Cats before 22,820 fans at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.