August 9, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Kavita Duggal!

175 years ago
1842

Diplomacy
United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster and British diplomat Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in Washington, resolving issues between the United States and Canada over the borders of Maine and New Brunswick, Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods, and the 49th parallel.

150 years ago
1867

War
A peace treaty was signed between Russia and Bokara, nine months after a war of several months' duration between the two had ended.

140 years ago
1877

War
A small band of Nez Perce Indians began clashing with the United States Army in the Battle of the Big Hole in Montana.

125 years ago
1892

Technology
Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.

100 years ago
1917

Disasters
Fire destroyed a large section of Trail, British Columbia.

80 years ago
1937

At the movies
Souls at Sea, co-produced and directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gary Cooper, George Raft, and Frances Dee, received its premiere screening in New York City.

75 years ago
1942

At the movies
Bambi, produced by Walt Disney, received its world premiere screening in London.

War
German forces in the U.S.S.R. captured the oil center of Maikop and Krasnodar, capital of the Kuban region. Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal were surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force in the Battle of Savo Island. U.S. planes carried out a surprise attack on the big invasion port of Haiphong, Indochina without any loss.

Protest
All-India Congress Party leaders Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Maulana Abul Kalam were arrested in Bombay under the Defense of India Act; rioting followed later in the day.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)--Tex Williams and his Western Caravan

Terrorism
A mine planted by Irgun Zvai Leumi derailed a Cairo-Haifa troop train as the organization launched a campaign to disrupt all rail transport in Palestine.

Economics and finance
U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall invited France to participate in a London conference on German economic reconstruction, promising that French views would be taken into consideration before the U.S. and U.K. reached any final decisions.

The Argentine Central Bank restricted credit on speculative ventures in order to curb inflation.

Scandal
Aircraft manufacturer Howard Hughes made another appearance before the U.S. Senate War Investigating Committee and attacked U.S. Army procurement methods, claiming that contracts were assigned to firms that provided the most lavish entertainment for procurement officers.

60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Bambino--Dalida (19th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): All Shook Up--Elvis Presley (5th week at #1)

War
The Cuban Army reported that guerrilla activity had spread to the central province of Las Villas.

Religion
The Vatican rebuked the Association of Catholic Laymen of New Orleans for asking Pope Pius XII to reverse the racial desegregation policy of New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel.

Labour
Boston's major newspapers halted publication when mailroom workers affiliated with the International Typographical Union struck in a wage dispute.

Disasters
U.S. Air Force helicopter crews based in Thule, Greenland rescued 23 crewmen of a Norwegian freighter crushed in an ice pack off eastern Greenland.

Football
IRFU
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats traded quarterback Nobby Wirkowski to the Ottawa Rough Riders for intermediate players Gord Lamond and Ron Waldron and an undisclosed amount of cash. Mr. Wirkowksi began his career with the Toronto Argonauts in 1951 and led them to the Grey Cup championship in 1952.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)--Scott McKenzie

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 All You Need is Love/Baby, You're a Rich Man--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)
2 A Whiter Shade of Pale--Procol Harum
3 San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)--Scott McKenzie
4 Waterloo Sunset--The Kinks
5 Theme for a New Love--Davy Jones
6 This is My Song--Petula Clark
7 Carrie-Anne--The Hollies
8 Silence is Golden--The Tremeloes
9 Groovin'--The Young Rascals
10 Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead--The Fifth Estate

Singles entering the chart were To Love Somebody by the Bee Gees (#23); The Monkees Vol. 1 (EP): (Theme from) The Monkees by the Monkees (#25); Paper Sun by Traffic featuring Steve Winwood (#26); I Wanna Be Free by the Monkees (#36); Strange Brew by Cream (#38); The Boat that I Row by Lulu (#39); and Airplane Song by the Royal Guardsmen (#40).

Died on this date
Joe Orton, 34. U.K. playwright. Mr. Orton was a sodomite who liked to shock people with his plays, the best-known of which was Loot (1965). He was bludgeoned to death by his longtime lover and co-author Kenneth Halliwell, 41, who then committed suicide with an overdose of pills.

Music
The Monkees performed at Memorial Auditorium in Dallas.

War
White mercenaries in Congo recaptured Bukavu and escorted 300 refugees across the Ruzizi River into Rwanda.

Biafran forces captured Nigeria's Mid-western Region in the secessionists' first major offensive against federal troops.

Politics and government
A District of Columbia reorganization plan approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and unopposed by the Senate gave Washington, D.C. a single chief executive and a nine-member city council nominated by the President and subject to Senate approval.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (0-2) 25 @ Ottawa (1-0) 28
Calgary (1-1) 16 @ Winnipeg (2-0) 27

Margene Adkins, playing his first CFL game, caught 6 passes for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns to help the Rough Riders edge the Eskimos before 21,803 fans at Lansdowne Park. Jim Thomas scored 2 Edmonton touchdowns and Art Perkins scored another. The Eskimos scored a touchdown with 35 seconds remaining in the game and recovered a short kickoff, but Ottawa defensive back Don Sutherin, playing his first game since being acquired in a trade with the Eskimos for offensive tackle Earl Edwards, batted down a pass from Frank Cosentino on the Ottawa 10-yard line to end the threat. It was also the first Canadian Football League game for, among others, Ottawa linebacker Wayne Giardino and Edmonton linebacker Dave Gasser and guard Allen Ische, as well as Mr. Edwards.

Kenny Ploen quarterbacked the Blue Bombers to victory over the Stampeders before 19,727 fans at Winnipeg Stadium. Lovell Coleman and Bob Paremore scored Calgary TDs in the last 2 minutes of the game to make the score respectable.

40 years ago
1977

Football
CFL
Ottawa (1-3) 17 @ Saskatchewan (2-3) 27
Edmonton (3-1) 24 @ British Columbia (2-2) 18

Steve Molnar rushed for 3 short touchdowns to help the Roughriders defeat the Rough Riders before 19,216 fans at Taylor Field in Regina. The Rough Riders barely arrived on time for the game after a 20-hour trip from Ottawa, with a national air traffic controllers' strike making travel difficult.

The Eskimos led 21-18 at halftime and barely held on to defeat the Lions before 26,131 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. In the last couple of minutes of the game, B.C. quarterback Jerry Tagge marched his team 98 yards from their own 11-yard line, but fullback Jim Harrison was stopped on third down and goal-to-go from the Edmonton 1-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. Jim Germany rushed for over 100 yards for the Eskimos for the third straigh game, and Larry Washington added 98.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Respectable--Mel and Kim (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: It's a Sin--Pet Shop Boys (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Joe le taxi--Vanessa Paradis (2nd week at #1)

Labour
More than 250,000 black South African gold and coal miners went on strike. They wanted a 30% pay increase, but mine owners refused to agree to increases beyond their offer of 15%-23%. White employees earned much more than blacks.

Football
CFL
Calgary (2-6) 39 @ Ottawa (2-4) 38

Ottawa kicker Dean Dorsey, who had kicked 3 field goals to set a CFL record for consecutive field goals to 23, missed his last 2 attempts, allowing the Stampeders to complete one of the greatest comebacks in CFL history and end a 6-game losing streak before 21,036 fans at Lansdowne Park. The Rough Riders led 37-11 after 3 quarters as Todd Dillon threw 2 touchdown passes to Larry Mohr and another to Gerald Alphin, and Cedric Minter rushed for another touchdown. Calgary scored first on a touchdown pass from Rick Johnson to Ron Wheeler, but didn’t score another major until the 4th quarter, when they scored 4, all on the ground—2 by Tim Petros and 1 each by Gary Allen and Mr. Johnson. Mr. Petros’s second touchdown, from 1 yard, came with 29 seconds remaining in regulation time, and came just 59 seconds after Mr. Dorsey had unbelievably missed a field goal attempt from just 14 yards. He got another chance in the final seconds from 45 yards, but missed that one too, and the Stampeders prevented a single point that would have sent the game into overtime. The comeback, ironically, marked the end of the line for Calgary Bob Vespaziani as head coach of the Stampeders; he was fired several days later and replaced by assistant coach Lary Kuharich.



25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I'll Be There--Mariah Carey featuring Trey Lorenz (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): ABBA-esque--Erasure (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Rhythm is a Dancer--Snap! (7th week at #1)

Olympics
Competition concluded at the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona; Canada finished with 6 gold, 5 silver, and 7 bronze medals.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Everybody (Backstreet's Back)--Backstreet Boys (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Alane--Wes (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112

#1 single in Wallonia (Ultratop 40): Alane--Wes (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I'll Be Missing You--Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 (9th week at #1)

Football
CFL
Montreal (4-3) 45 @ British Columbia (4-3) 31

10 years ago
2007

Football
CFL
Calgary (3-4) 18 @ Montreal (4-3) 30