December 8, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michael O'Byrne!

325 years ago
1691

Died on this date
Richard Baxter, 76. English clergyman. Mr. Baxter was a Nonconformist and Puritan who wrote over 140 books. He was persecuted by the Church of England and served time in prison for operating a conventicle (a gathering of lay people not authorized by the state church).

240 years ago
1776

War
George Washington's retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War.

170 years ago
1846

Politics and government
U.S. President James K. Polk delivered his second annual State of the Union message to Congress. The main subjects were Texas and the war against Mexico.

130 years ago
1886

Labour
The American Federation of Labor was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio.

125 years ago
1891

Economics and finance
Canada imposed a duty on fish imported from Newfoundland, to retaliate for a Newfoundland law restricting bait for Canadian fishermen.

110 years ago
1906

At the movies
The Skyscrapers of New York, directed and filmed by Fred A. Dobson, and starring Gene Gauntier and Jim Slevin, opened in theatres.



100 years ago
1916

Born on this date
Richard Fleischer. U.S. movie director. Mr. Fleischer, the son of animator Max Fleischer, directed Design for Death (1947), which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and had success in the genre of film noir with movies such as Trapped (1949); Follow Me Quietly (1949) and The Narrow Margin (1952). He directed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954); Fantastic Voyage (1966); and Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), all of which won Academy Awards for special effects. Mr. Fleischer died on March 25, 2006 at the age of 89.

75 years ago
1941

War
The day after the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the United States Congress followed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's advice, and voted to declare war on Japan. The only dissenting vote was cast by Rep. Jeannette Rankin (Republican--Montana), who had also voted against U.S. entry into World War I. The Royal Rifles of Canada and Winnipeg Grenadiers, under command of Brigadier J. K. Lawson, were caught by the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. They had not received training as front-line troops, and as the first Canadian units to fight in World War II had almost no air or naval defences. At 8 A.M., Japanese aircraft destroyed all six Royal Air Force planes at Kai Tak airport; two men of the Royal Canadian Signals were wounded--the first Canadian casualties--in the camp at Sham Shui Po, as the Japanese 38th Division moved across the frontier of the New Territories. Governor General the Earl of Athlone announced that Canada was officially at war with Japan. Several dozen Japanese-Canadians suspected of subversion were arrested; the government of Canada began to impound all fishing boats owned by Japanese-Canadians and shut down Japanese language schools and newspapers. The governments of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Netherlands, Greece, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Panama, and the Free French Committee declared war on Japan. Japanese forces simultaneously invaded Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Netherlands East Indies. San Francisco underwent a 2½-hour blackout upon a report that two formations of enemy planes had flown to within 20 miles of the city. A German spokesman in Berlin said that winter weather had halted the German offensive against Moscow and that its capture was not expected before the end of 1941.



Crime
U.S. Federal Judge M.M. Joyce in Minneapolis sentenced 12 of the 18 Socialist Workers Party members convicted in the recent sedition trial to 16-month prison terms, and the other six to terms of a year and a day.

Horse racing
Whirlaway, the Triple Crown winner, was named horse of the year in a poll conducted by Turf & Sports Digest.

70 years ago
1946

Economics and finance
U.S. acting Secretary of State Dean Acheson said that the United States would not give free relief to nations which had not proved their need or which maintained large armies after the end of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

Labour
The New Jersey Congress of Industrial Organizations approved a strong resolution opposing Communist "interference in the affairs of the CIO."

Golf
Sam Snead won the Miami Open.

Football
NFL
Chicago Bears (8-2-1) 45 @ Detroit (1-10) 24
Green Bay (6-5) 17 @ Los Angeles (6-4-1) 38
Washington (5-5-1) 0 @ New York (7-3-1) 31
Philadelphia (6-5) 40 @ Boston (2-8-1) 14

AAFC
Cleveland (12-2) 66 @ Brooklyn (3-9-1) 14
Los Angeles (7-5-1) 7 @ San Francisco (9-5) 48

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Smoky--Die Sieben Raben (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray (5th week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Singing the Blues--Guy Mitchell (Best Seller--1st week at #1; Disc Jockey--1st week at #1; Top 100--1st week at #1); Love Me Tender/Any Way You Want Me--Elvis Presley (Jukebox--1st week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Singing the Blues--Guy Mitchell (2nd week at #1)
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 A Rose and a Baby Ruth--George Hamilton IV
10 Cindy, Oh Cindy--Vince Martin with the Tarriers
--Eddie Fisher

Singles entering the chart were Auctioneer by Leroy Van Dyke (#34); Tra La La by Georgia Gibbs (#37); Goodnight My Love, Pleasant Dreams, with versions by the McGuire Sisters, and Jesse Belvin (#39); Written on the Wind by the Four Aces (#44); Wisdom of a Fool by the Five Keys (#48); and Armen's Theme by David Seville and his Orchestra (#50). Written on the Wind was the title song of the movie.

Space
A 45-foot Viking rocket, a scale model of the 72-foot Vanguard rocket to be used to launch the first U.S. satellite, was successfully tested at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.

Protest
Renewed fighting in Hungary broke out in Bekescsaba, Tatabanya, Pecs, and Salgotarjan as police fired on workers demonstrating against the arrest of regional Peasant and Workers Council leaders.

Defense
The Iraqi government disclosed that its forces in Jordan under the Iraq-Jordan-Syria defense agreement had been recalled at Jordan's request.

Politics and government
The White House announced that Massachusetts Governor Christian Herter had been named to succeed Herbert Hoover, Jr. as U.S. Undersecretary of State.

Society
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples presented Brooklyn Dodgers' third baseman Jackie Robinson with the Spingam Medal for the highest achievement by an American Negro.

Weather
University of Arizona scientists called the southwestern United States' current drought the worst in 700 years.

Disasters
45 people died in Jakarta and 7,500 homes in Indonesia were destroyed by a typhoon and landslides.

Olympics
Closing ceremonies were held for the Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne. 46 of 175 members of the Hungarian Olympic team elected to remain in Australia as political refugees.

Football
CRU
Shrine Game @ Empire Stadium, Vancouver
West 35 East 0

Bud Grant of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, in his last game as a player, scored 2 touchdowns as the Western Interprovincial Football Unuion All-Stars routed the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union All-Stars before 13,546 rain-soaked fans. Jackie Parker and Normie Kwong of the Edmonton Eskimos each scored a touchdown, as did By Bailey of the British Columbia Lions. Reg Whitehouse of the Saskatchewan Roughriders kicked 5 converts, while Saskatchewan teammate Frank Tripucka had a good game at quarterback. Sam Etcheverry of the Montreal Alouettes played most of the game at quarterback for the East, with Tony Curcillo of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats relieving him late in the game. It was also the final game for Calvin Jones of the Blue Bombers and Mel Becket and Gordon Sturtridge of the Roughriders; they, along with Saskatchewan teammates Mario DeMarco and Ray Syrnyk, who were in attendance, were among the 62 passengers and crew members killed the next day when the plane they were flying in crashed into Mount Slesse in the Rocky Mountains while flying eastward from Vancouver.



50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Lady Godiva--Peter and Gordon (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Green, Green Grass of Home--Tom Jones (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Ward Morehouse, 71. U.S. journalist. Mr. Morehouse was primarily known as a theatre critic, whose column Broadway After Dark ran in the New York Sun from 1926-1950 and other newspapers in later years.

Disasters
The Greek ship SS Heraklion sank in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200 people.

Football
CFL
Denny Veitch was named general manager of the British Columbia Lions; he replaced Herb Capozzi, who had resigned after nine years as general manager upon being elected to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly as a candidate for the Social Credit Party in the 1966 provincial election. Mr. Veitch had been the Lions' coordinator of minor football for five years at the time of his appointment as general manager.

Baseball
The New York Yankees traded outfielder Roger Maris to the St. Louis Cardinals for third baseman Charley Smith. Mr. Maris had joined the Yankees in 1960 after playing with the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Athletics, and had set a major league record for home runs in a single season with 61 in 1961, but had been plagued by injuries in recent years, and his productivity had declined greatly. Mr. Maris batted .233 with 13 home runs and 43 runs batted in in 119 games in 1966. Mr. Smith had played with five major league teams in seven seasons, batting .266 with 10 homers and 43 RBIs in 116 games with the Cardinals in 1966.

40 years ago
1976

At the movies
A Star is Born, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, opened in theatres. Earlier versions of the movie had been released in 1937 and 1954.



30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You're the Voice--John Farnham (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Lessons in Love--Level 42

Science
John Polanyi of the University of Toronto shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Americans Dudley Herschenbach and Yuan T. Lee "for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes" and the development of the chemical laser.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Black or White--Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Black or White--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

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

Singles entering the chart were No Son of Mine by Genesis (#25); and Change by Lisa Stansfield (#29).

Died on this date
Buck Clayton, 80. U.S. musician. Wilbur Dorsey Clayton was a jazz trumpeter and arranger who worked with various bands, but was best known for playing with Count Basie.

Kimberly Bergalis, 23. U.S. medical patient. Miss Bergalis died of AIDS, which she contracted from her dentist, Dr. David Acer, a bisexual. It was the first known case of clinical transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Politics and government
The heads of state of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine met at Minsk, Belarus to sign a treaty creating the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Romanian Constitution was adopted in a referendum.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): No Woman, No Cry--The Fugees

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)--Backstreet Boys (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)--Backstreet Boys (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): A Different Beat--Boyzone

Died on this date
Howard Rollins, 46. U.S. actor. Mr. Rollins was best known for his performances in the movies Ragtime (1981) and A Soldier's Story (1984), and for playing Virgil Tibbs in the television series In the Heat of the Night (1988-1994). He was fired from the series because of his heavy drinking and cocaine abuse, but sobered up, and returned to acting before he died of AIDS-related lymphoma.

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Martha Tilton, 91. U.S. singer. Miss Tilton was the vocalist with Benny Goodman's band in the late 1930s before having several hit singles of her own in the 1940s.

José Uribe, 47. Dominican baseball player. Mr. Uribe, born José Altagracia González Uribe, was a shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals (1984); San Francisco Giants (1985-1992); and Houston Astros (1993), batting .241 with 19 home runs and 219 runs batted in in 1,038 games. He was killed in a car accident.

Politics and government
The Canadian House of Commons passed the Conservative government’s Federal Accountability Act.