October 27, 2016

525 years ago
1491

Born on this date
Zhengde. Emperor of China, 1505-1521. Zhengde, born Zhu Houzhao, acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Hongzhi. He was known for his childish behaviour, sexual promiscuity, and preference for Muslims and eunuchs. Emperor Zhengde died on April 20, 1521 at the age of 29 after reportedly falling off a boat while drunk and contracting an illness from the waters of the Yellow River. He was succeeded as Emperor by his cousin Jiajing.

110 years ago
1906

Football
CRU
ORFU
Toronto Victorias (0-5) 6 @ Hamilton (5-0) 55
Toronto Argonauts (3-1) 13 @ Peterborough (1-3) 7

100 years ago
1916

War
Negus Mikael, marching on the Ethiopian capital in support of his son Emperor Iyasu V, was defeated by Fitawrari abte Giyorgis in the Battle of Segale, 40 miles north of Addis Ababa, securing the throne for Empress Zewditu I.

75 years ago
1941

War
The Canadian Army sent two infantry battalions of 1,975 men to Hong Kong to reinforce the imperial garrison against Japanese attack; the troops sailed on HMS Awatea, escorted by HMCS Prince Robert. U.S.S.R. Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov, commander of the Moscow Front, issued an order of the day commanding his army not to retreat a single step. A Soviet news agency reported that 2o Japanese soldiers had crossed the Soviet-Japanese Far Eastern Frontier on October 23, but had been forced to withdraw after clashing with Soviet troops near the village of Raskino; Japan denied that the incident took place. Vichy France announced that the Germans had postponed the execution of 100 hostages to give the people more time to find the guilty in the October 22 assassination of Major Hans Reimers in Bordeaux.

Diplomacy
Arabic World Agency reported that Haj Amin al-Husseini, exiled Mufti of Jerusalem, was now in Rome.

Defense
U.S. Navy Secretary Frank Knox urged that the Neutrality Act be completely repealed.

Politics and government
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed to merge the Civilian Conservation Corps into the National Youth Administration.

Business
A jury in Lexington, Kentucky convicted the R.J. Reynolds, Liggett & Myers, and American Tobacco companies; American Suppliers, Inc.--an American Tobacco Company subsidiary--and 13 individuals on charges of monopoly and price fixing in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Labour
Congress of Industrial Organizations United Mine Workers of America struck mines owned by steel companies, as UMW President John L. Lewis rejected U.S. President Roosevelt's appeal to permit more time for a settlement.

70 years ago
1946

Diplomacy
Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King arrived in Washington, a day prior to talks at the White House with U.S. President Harry Truman.

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur reported that U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. negotiations to unify Korea had broken down because of the Soviet refusal to tolerate opposition political parties in their zone.

Politics and government
Elections for the Bulgarian National Assembly resulted in Communists winning 277 of 465 seats.

The Democratic Action Party gained an overwhelming victory in elections for the Venezuelan Constitutional Congress.

Health
The American Social Hygiene Association announced that reported cases of syphilis had increased 42% in the 12 months ended June 30, 1946.

Football
CRU
IRFU
Hamilton (0-8-2) 16 @ Montreal (6-2-2) 21

NFL
Detroit (0-4) 7 @ Green Bay (2-2) 10
Los Angeles (2-2-1) 10 @ Chicago Cardinals (3-2) 34
Philadelphia (3-1) 28 @ Washington (3-1-1) 24
Chicago Bears (3-1-1) 0 @ New York (4-1) 14
Pittsburgh (3-1-1) 33 @ Boston (0-4) 7

AAFC
Chicago (3-3-2) 17 @ Buffalo (2-6-1) 49
San Francisco (5-3) 34 @ Cleveland (7-1) 20
New York (5-2-1) 31 @ Los Angeles (3-3-1) 17



60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)--Doris Day (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heimweh--Freddy Quinn (14th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Woman in Love--Frankie Laine (2nd week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel--Elvis Presley (Best Seller--11th week at #1; Jukebox--9th week at #1); Don't Be Cruel--Elvis Presley (Disc Jockey--8th week at #1; Top 100--8th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Love Me Tender--Elvis Presley
2 Don't Be Cruel--Elvis Presley
3 The Green Door--Jim Lowe
4 Honky Tonk (Parts 1 and 2)--Bill Doggett
5 Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray
6 Canadian Sunset--Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra with Eddie Heywood
--Andy Williams
7 Tonight You Belong to Me--Patience and Prudence
--Lawrence Welk and his Sparkling Strings
8 True Love--Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly
--Jane Powell
9 Blueberry Hill--Fats Domino
10 Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)--Pat Boone

Singles entering the chart were Night Lights by Nat "King" Cole (#33); Singing the Blues, with versions by Guy Mitchell and Marty Robbins (#36); Garden of Eden by Joe Valino (#43); Rudy's Rock by Bill Haley and his Comets (#45); Moonlight Love by Perry Como (#46); First Born by "Tennessee" Ernie Ford (#49); and Buchanan and Goodman on Trial by Buchanan and Goodman (#50). Night Lights was the other side of To the Ends of the Earth, charting at #34.

Politics and government
Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy annouced formation of a "National Front" cabinet, including two members of the suppressed conservative Smallholders Party, as fighting against Communist troops continued in Budapest and spread throughout the coountry.

King Hussein of Jordan named National Socialist leader Suleiman Nabulski as Prime Minister.

Horse racing
Barbizon, with Bill Hartack up, won the Garden State Stakes in Camden, New Jersey. At $319,210, it was the richest horse race yet run.

Football
CRU
IRFU
Montreal (10-3) 14 @ Hamilton (7-6) 50
Ottawa (6-7) 30 @ Toronto (3-10) 19

WIFU
Edmonton (11-5) 0 @ Winnipeg (9-7) 33

All the scoring took place in the 1st half as the Blue Bombers routed the Eskimos at Winnipeg Stadium. The Eskimos, having clinched first place several days earlier, left many of their regular players at home, and the Blue Bombers rested their regulars in the 2nd half. Buddy Leake scored 2 touchdowns and 3 converts to win the WIFU scoring title with 103 points, 1 ahead of teammate Bob McNamara. Mr. McNamara also scored 2 TDs to finish the season with 17 touchdowns, and was given a chance to kick 2 converts, but missed them both.

Calgary (4-12) 0 @ Saskatchewan (10-6) 33



50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Reach Out I'll Be There--Four Tops

Diplomacy
The United Nations revoked South Africa's mandate in South West Africa; the General Assembly created a 14-state committee for the territory.

Defense
The People's Republic of China exploded its fourth atomic device in the province of Sinkiang.

40 years ago
1976

Defense
The U.S. Defense Department announced plans to boost the number of fighter planes in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by 20%.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Venus--Bananarama (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Easy Lady--Spagna (7th week at #1)

Canadiana
Tina May Simpson, Miss Niagara Region, was chosen Miss Canada 1987. The pageant was televised by CTV.



Abominations
Representatives of 12 religions joined Pope John Paul II at Assisi, Italy for a "World Day of Prayer for Peace."

Economics and finance
The British government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher suddenly deregulated financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operated in the U.K.

Baseball
World Series
Boston Red Sox 5 @ New York Mets 8 (New York won best-of-seven series 4-3)

The Red Sox were leading 3-0 after 6½ innings before 55,032 fans at Shea Stadium, but the Mets tied the game with 3 runs off Boston starting pitcher Bruce Hurst in the bottom of the 6th inning, and Ray Knight led off the bottom of the 7th with a home run off Red Sox' relief pitcher Calvin Schiraldi to give the Mets a 4-3 lead, and the Mets scored 2 more in the inning to make the score 6-3 in their favour. Dwight Evans drove in 2 runs with a double in the top of the 8th to reduce the lead to 6-5, but Darryl Strawberry led off the bottom of the 8th inning with a home run off Boston reliever Al Nipper, and New York reliever Jesse Orosco singled in a run to make the score 8-5. Mr. Orosco retired the Red Sox in order in the 9th for his second save of the series as the Mets won their first World Series championship since 1969. Roger McDowell (1-0), who had followed Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez on the mound for the Mets, was the winning pitcher, while Mr. Schiraldi (0-2) became the only pitcher to lose both the 6th and 7th games in the same World Series. Mr. Knight, the Mets' third baseman, was named the series' Most Valuable Player.



25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Set Adrift on Memory Bliss--PM Dawn (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (13th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (5th week at #1)
2 Do the Limbo Dance--David Hasselhoff
3 Any Dream Will Do--Jason Donovan
4 Wind of Change--Scorpions
5 Keep Your Love Alive--Bilgeri
6 Ich hab' mich so auf dich gefreut--Matthias Reim
7 Bacardi Feeling (Summer Dreamin')--Kate Yanai
8 Something Got Me Started--Simply Red
9 Love and Understanding--Cher
10 Pandora's Box--OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)

Singles entering the chart were Jambo by Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung (#24); Gipsy Girl by David Hasselhoff (#27); and Love to Hate You by Erasure (#28).

Asiatica
Turkmenistan achieved independence from the U.S.S.R.

Football
CFL
Toronto (12-5) 39 @ Hamilton (2-15) 34

Rickey Foggie threw for 2 touchdowns--including the winner for 8 yards to David Williams--and rushed for another TD to lead the Argonauts over the Tiger-Cats before 17,453 fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

British Columbia (11-6) 36 @ Saskatchewan (6-11) 5

Doug Flutie passed for 2 touchdowns and Jon Volpe rushed for 2 TDs as the Lions routed the Roughriders before 18,192 fans at Taylor Field in Regina.



Calgary (10-7) 23 @ Edmonton (11-6) 24

A controversial pass interference call against a Calgary defensive back led to the winning touchdown by the Eskimos on a 3-yard pass from Tracy Ham to Michael Soles with 1:42 remaining in regulation time as they edged the Stampeders before 23,391 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in one of the coldest games this blogger has ever attended.

Baseball
World Series
Atlanta Braves 0 @ Minnesota Twins 1 (10 innings) (Minnesota won best-of-seven series 4-3)

Pinch hitter Gene Larkin singled off Alejandro Pena with the bases loaded and 1 out, bringing home Dan Gladden in the bottom of the 10th inning before 55,118 fans at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Jack Morris (2-0) pitched a complete game, giving up 7 hits and striking out 8,a nd was named the series' Most Valuable Player. John Smoltz started on the mound for the Braves and pitched 7.1 innings before giving way to Mike Stanton. Mr. Pena (0-1) entered the game in the 9th inning. The 1991 World Series joined the 1987 series, in which the Twins played the St. Louis Cardinals, as the only ones in which all the games were won by the home team.



20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): What's Love Got to Do with It--Warren G featuring Adina Howard (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Break My Stride--Unique II (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Salva Mea--Faithless (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): Say You'll Be There--Spice Girls (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Morey Amsterdam, 87. U.S. comedian and actor. Mr. Amsterdam had a long career in vaudeville, radio and television, hosting The Morey Amsterdam Show on radio (1948-1949) and television (1948-1950). He was best known for playing comedy writer Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966). Mr. Amsterdam died of a heart attack.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (4-13) 21 @ Toronto (14-3) 25

Doug Flutie's 13-yard touchdown pass to Mike Clemons with 1:41 remaining in regulation time provided the winning margin for the Argonauts as they defeated the Lions before 20,657 fans at SkyDome.

Calgary (12-5) 32 @ Edmonton (11-7) 41

The Eskimos scored 17 points in the 1st quarter and Danny McManus completed 20 of 30 passes for 296 yards and touchdowns to Marc Tobert, Eddie Brown, Jim Sandusky, and Darren Flutie to lead the Eskimos over the Stampeders before 27,332 fans at Commonwealth Stadium. Tony Burse rushed for the other Edmonton touchdown, while Sean Fleming added 5 converts and 2 field goals. Mr. Flutie caught 7 passes for 98 yards, while Mr. Brown caught 5 for 90.



10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Marlin McKeever, 66. U.S. football player. Mr. McKeever was a fullback, defensive end, and punter with the University of Southern California Trojans (1958-1960) and a linebacker with the Los Angeles Rams (1961-1966, 1971-1972); Minnesota Vikings (1967); Washington Redskins (1968-1970); and Philadelphia Eagles (1973). He and his twin brother Mike were teammates at USC. Marlin was named to play in the Pro Bowl in 1966; he died of a blood clot on the brain the day after falling at his home.

Joe Niekro, 61. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Niekro, like his older brother Phil, threw a knuckleball, and had a lengthy major league career. Joe played with the Chicago Cubs (1967-1969); San Diego Padres (1969); Detroit Tigers (1970-1972); Atlanta Braves (1973-1974); Houston Astros (1975-1985); New York Yankees (1985-1987); and Minnesota Twins (1987-1988), compiling a record of 221-204 with an earned run average of 3.59 in 702 games. His best seasons were 1979 and 1980, when he posted respective records of 21-11 and 20-12; he and Phil, with the Braves, tied for the National League lead in wins in 1979. Joe was with the Twins when they won the World Series in 1987. The brothers were teammates with the Braves and Yankees; Phil won 318 games in his major league career, and their combined total of 539 is a major league record for a brother combination, 10 more than Jim and Gaylord Perry. Joe died 11 days before his 62nd birthday, the day after suffering an aneurysm.

Politics and government
Quebec Inuit voters approved a land claim agreement giving them ownership of 80% of the small islands in the waters off their northern shore, a share of offshore resource royalties, and $86 million transferred to Inuit coffers over nine years.

Economics and finance
The Saskatchewan government of Premier Lorne Calvert dropped the provincial sales tax from 7% to 5% to share the wealth of its oil and gas boom.

Football
CFL
Saskatchewan (9-9) 18 @ Edmonton (7-11) 20

Ricky Ray threw touchdown passes to Ron McClendon and Jason Tucker as the Eskimos held off a late Saskatchewan rally to defeat the Roughriders before 31,779 fans at Commonwealth Stadium. Mr. Ray was taken out of the game after the touchdown pass to Mr. Tucker enabled him to reach 5,000 yards passing for the season. Steven Jyles and Jason Johnson--in his last CFL game--played the remainder of the game at quarterback, with little success. Former Edmonton quarterback rushed 1 yard for the only Saskatchewan touchdown in the 2nd quarter. Luca Congi converted and added 3 field goals, the last coming from 43 yards with 2:33 remaining in regulation time. Mr. Congi had a chance to give the Roughriders the lead in the last minute, but his FG attempt fell short. Edmonton wide receiver Ed Hervey caught 6 passes for 87 yards in the final game of his 8-year CFL career, while linebacker Singor Mobley made 5 defensive tackles in the last game of his 12-year professional career, 9 seasons of which were spent with the Eskimos. Defensive back Malcolm Frank played the last game of his 10-year CFL career, 8 years of which were with Edmonton. Saskatchewan receiver Craig Yeast caught 1 pass for 2 yards in his only game as a Roughrider and the last game of his 4-year CFL career.



Baseball
World Series
Detroit Tigers 2 @ St. Louis Cardinals 4 (St. Louis won best-of-seven series 4-1)

An error by Detroit starting pitcher Justin Verlander (0-2) led to 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning, turning a 2-1 Detroit lead into a 3-2 St. Louis lead as the Cardinals held on to defeat the Tigers before 46,638 fans at Busch Stadium. St. Louis starting pitcher Jeff Weaver (1-1) allowed 4 hits and 2 runs--1 earned--in 8 innings, with 9 strikeouts, to get the win. St. Louis shortstop David Eckstein, who batted .364 with 4 runs batted in, was named the series' Most Valuable Player.