December 1, 2016

775 years ago
1241

Born on this date
Margaret of Sicily. German royal family member. Princess Margaret was the fourth child and second daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and Empress Isabella, who died giving birth to her. Princess Margaret was betrothed in 1242 to Albert II "the Degenerate," Margrave of Meissen, and the couple married in 1255. They eventually settled in Wartburg and had five children; she left him when she discovered his adultery and went to Frankfurt-am-Main, supported by local citizens until her death six weeks later, on August 8, 1270 at the age of 28.

Died on this date
Isabella of England, 27 (?). Holy Roman Empress, 1235-1241. Isabella, the fourth child and second daughter of King John and Queen Isabella, married the twice-widowed Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1235, becoming Empress consort as well as Queen consort of Germany and Queen consort of Sicily. She died giving birth to the couple's fourth child, Margaret.

150 years ago
1866

Died on this date
George Everest, 76. U.K. geographer. Sir George was Surveyor General of India from 1830-1843; Mount Everest was named in his honour in 1865.

110 years ago
1906

Football
CRU
Dominion Final
Hamilton Tigers 29 @ McGill University 3

100 years ago
1916

Born on this date
Wan Li. Chinese politician. Mr. Wan was a Communist who held various offices in the People's Republic of China, including Vice Premier (1983-1988) and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (1988-1993). He died on July 15, 2015 at the age of 98.

War
The cabinet of Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden passed an Order-in-Council authorizing an increase of Canadian troop strength to 500,000.

90 years ago
1926

Politics and government
Premier Howard Ferguson led his governing Conservative Party to re-election in the Ontario provincial election. The Conservatives won 72 of 112 seats in the Provincial Parliament, down from 75 in the 1923 election. The Liberals and Liberal-Prohibitionists, led by W.E.N. Sinclair, were second with a total of 15 seats.

Society
In a referendum conducted in conjunction with the provincial election, Ontario voters decided on government control of sale of liquor rather than prohibition.

80 years ago
1936

Canadiana
The purple violet (Viola cuculata) became New Brunswick's official flower after a vote by school children and the Women's Institutes.

75 years ago
1941

War
The German government admitted that German forces had withdrawn from Rostov in the face of "reckless" attacks by superior Soviet forces. The British government admitted that General Erwin Rommel's German forces had succeeded in penetrating British defenses at Rezegh and Ed Duda, Libya, seizing Rezegh and Bir el-Hamed and fighting their way to Zaafran, cutting the corridor between Rezegh and Tobruk. Emperor Hirohito of Japan gave his final approval to initiate war against the United States. A dispatch from Manila said that an American air unit under the Chinese flag would protect the Burma Road supply line to China from Japanese air attacks.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt returned to Washington from Warm Springs, Georgia as Secretary of State Cordell Hull continued talks with Japanese Ambassador to the United States Kichisaburō Nomura and special envoy Saburo Kurusu.

French Prime Minister Philippe Pétain conferred with German Commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring near Paris.

Defense
Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense, signed Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol.

World events
Governor of the Straits Settlements Sir Shenton Thomas proclaimed a state of emergency in Singapore and called out the volunteer land, sea, and air force.

Crime
A jury in Minneapolis convicted 18 members of the Socialist (Trotskyist) Workers Party on charges of conspiracy to create insubordination in the U.S. Army.

Nick Dean, sought on a charge of extorting $1 million from the movie industry, was arrested by federal agents in Chicago.

Politics and government
U.S. Representative Thomas Winter (Republican--Kansas) charged that the Rural Electrification Administration "is teeming with Communists."

Medicine
Dr. E.R. Witwer said that the formation of cancer in brain cells could be detected in its earliest stages by means of a petrographic microscope.

Economics and finance
Maximum Prices Regulations were passed by the Canadian Parliament, to begin wartime wage and price controls in Canada. The regulations were based on the highest prices in the four weeks ending October 11, 1941.

Labour
Wayne Morse, chairman of U.S. President Roosevelt's fact-finding board, announced a settlement of thr threatened railroad strike scheduled for December 7. Under the agreement reached by 19 unions and railroad representatives, 1.2 million workers would get 10¢ hourly wage increases.

Football
NCAA
The final poll of Associated Press reporters named the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers as the best team in American college football for 1941, followed by Duke and Notre Dame.

70 years ago
1946

Diplomacy
King Michael of Romania affirmed a policy of friendship with the U.S.S.R.

Politics and government
Miguel Aleman Valdes was inaugurated as President of Mexico.

Alois Hundhammer led the Christian Social Union (CSU) to victory in the Bavarian state election, taking 104 of 180 seats in the Landtag. The Social Democratic Party (SPD), led by Jean Stock, was second with 54 seats, followed by the Economic Reconstruction Union (WAV), led by Alfred Loritz, with 13 seats. In Hesse, voters approved a new state constitution and gave the SPD a majority of seats in the Landtag.

Defense
The U.S. Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Bernard Bieri anchored in Beirut for a "goodwill" visit.

Protest
U.S. military veterans who had occupied 50 homes in Chicago as "squatters" began to move out after the Chicago Housing Authority promised not to prosecute them.

Economics and finance
King Michael of Romania announced that the government would take over the national bank.

Football
NFL
Chicago Cardinals (6-5) 35 @ Chicago Bears (7-2-1) 28
Green Bay (6-4) 20 @ Washington (5-4-1) 7
Los Angeles (5-4-1) 21 @ New York (6-3-1) 21
Pittsburgh (5-5-1) 7 @ Philadelphia (5-5) 10

AAFC
Buffalo (3-10-1) 14 @ Los Angeles (7-4-1) 62

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)--Perry Como (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Smoky--Die Sieben Raben (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray (4th week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Love Me Tender/Any Way You Want Me--Elvis Presley (Best Seller--5th week at #1); Love Me Tender--Elvis Presley (Disc Jockey--5th week at #1; Top 100--2nd week at #1); The Green Door--Jim Lowe (Jukebox--3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Singing the Blues--Guy Mitchell
2 Love Me Tender--Elvis Presley
3 The Green Door--Jim Lowe
4 True Love--Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly
--Jane Powell
5 Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray
6 Blueberry Hill--Fats Domino
7 Honky Tonk (Parts 1 and 2)--Bill Doggett
8 Hey! Jealous Lover--Frank Sinatra
9 Cindy, Oh Cindy--Vince Martin with the Tarriers
--Eddie Fisher
10 A Rose and a Baby Ruth--George Hamilton IV

Singles entering the chart were Love Me by Elvis Presley (#22); Moonlight Gambler by Frankie Laine (#37); I Feel Good by Shirley and Lee (#46); and Baby Doll by Andy Williams (#50).

At the movies
The Girl Can't Help It, co-written, directed, and produced by Frank Tashlin, and starring Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, and Edmond O'Brien, opened in theatres.





Baseball
The Baseball Writers Association of America named Cincinnati Redlegs' left fielder Frank Robinson as the National League Rookie of the Year for 1956, and Chicago White Sox' shortstop Luis Aparicio as the American League Rookie of the Year. Mr. Robinson batted .290 with 38 home runs and 83 runs batted in in 152 games, and led the NL with 122 runs. Mr. Aparicio batted .266 with 7 homers and 33 RBIs in 152 games, and led the AL with 21 stolen bases.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Lady Godiva--Peter and Gordon (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Green, Green Grass of Home--Tom Jones

Politics and government
The West German Bundestag elected Kurt Kiesinger to replace Ludwig Erhard as Chancellor of West Germany.

Baseball
The Los Angeles Dodgers traded shortstop Maury Wills to the Pittsburgh Pirates for third baseman Bob Bailey and shortstop Gene Michael. Mr. Wills, who had been with the Dodgers since 1959, had fallen into disfavor with team management after leaving the club during a post-season tour of Japan.

40 years ago
1976

Diplomacy
Angola was admitted to the United Nations.

Politics and government
Jose Lopez Portillo took office as President of Mexico; he called for national unity and told Mexicans to look forward to "austerity as a way of life."

Scandal
An Italian parliamentary commission implicated former Prime Minister Mario Rumor in connection with the Lockheed bribery scandal.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You're the Voice--John Farnham (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): ¿A Quién Le Importa?--Alaska y Dinarama (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Horace Heidt, 85. U.S. musician. Mr. Heidt was a pianist and bandleader who was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He hosted several radio programs and had numerous hit singles, reaching #1 on the Billboard singles chart with Gone with the Wind (1937); Ti-Pi-Tin (1938); and I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (1941).

Frank McCarthy, 74. U.S. military officer and movie producer. Brigadier General McCarthy was secretary of the U.S. Department of War General Staff from 1943-1945, winning several decorations. He then embarked on a career in film production, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture for Patton (1970).

Business
The value of shares of the British distiller Guinness dropped by more than £300 million after the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ordered an inquiry into the affairs of the company.

Law
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Canada Post was not obligated to provide door-to-door delivery to every Canadian household.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Black or White--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Black or White--Michael Jackson

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Let's Talk About Sex!--Salt-N-Pepa (3rd week at #1)
2 (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams
3 Any Dream Will Do--Jason Donovan
4 Do the Limbo Dance--David Hasselhoff
5 Always Look on the Bright Side of Life--Monty Python
6 Jambo--Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung
7 The Fly--U2
8 Send Me an Angel--Scorpions
9 Something Got Me Started--Simply Red
10 Black or White--Michael Jackson

Singles entering the chart were Cream by Prince and the New Power Generation (#15); and Spending My Time by Roxette (#21).

Died on this date
Pat O'Callaghan, 85. Irish athlete. Mr. O'Callaghan won the men's hammer throw at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympic Games, becoming the first person to win an Olympic medal under the Irish flag instead of the British flag.

George Stigler, 80. U.S. economist. Dr. Stigler, a key figure in the Chicago School of Economics, was awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences "for his seminal studies of industrial structures, functioning of markets and causes and effects of public regulation."

Europeana
Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum for independence from the U.S.S.R., with 92% voting in favour.

Politics and government
In addition to the independence referendum, Ukrainian voters elected a President. Independent candidate Leonid Kravchuk was elected, receiving 61.6% of the vote, while People's Movement of Ukraine candidate Viacheslav Chornovil received 23.3%, with four other candidates accounting for the remaining 15.1%.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): No Diggity--BLACKstreet (featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen) (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)--Backstreet Boys (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)--Backstreet Boys (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): One and One--Robert Miles featuring Maria Nayler

Died on this date
Irving Gordon, 81. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Gordon, born Israel Goldener, wrote popular songs from the 1930s through the '50s; his best-known song was Unforgettable (1951).

Politics and government
Dalton McGuinty was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, replacing Lyn McLeod, who had led the party since 1992.

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Bruce Trigger, 69. Canadian archaeologist and anthropologist. Dr. Trigger, a native of Preston, Ontario, spent most of his career at McGill University. He was best known for The Children of Aataentsic (1976), a two-volume study of the Huron peoples. Dr. Trigger died of cancer.

Claude Jade, 58. French actress. Miss Jade acted in plays, films, and television programs. Her movies included Topaz (1969); Bed and Board (1970); and Love on the Run (1979). Miss Jade died of cancer.