October 13, 2017

710 years ago
1307

World events
Agents of King Philip IV of France launched a dawn raid, arresting many members of the Knights Templar, and subsequently torturing them into "admitting" heresy.

240 years ago
1777

War
With his army of over 5,000 British and Hessian troops surrounded by 16,000 American colonial troops after the Battle of Saratoga in New York, British General John Burgoyne's council opted to open negotiations.

225 years ago
1792

Americana
The cornerstone of the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House) was laid.

150 years ago
1867

Born on this date
William Z. Ripley. U.S. economist, sociologist, and anthropologist. Dr. Ripley was known for his criticisms of American railroad economics and American business practices in the 1920s and 1930s, and later for his tripartite racial theory of Europe, which was popular with eugenicists. His books included The Races of Europe: A Sociological Study (1899) and Main Street and Wall Street (1927). Dr. Ripley retired in 1933 after a couple of nervous breakdowns, and died on August 16, 1941 at the age of 73.

130 years ago
1887

Football
ORFU
Round 1
Hamilton 10 @ Toronto 8 (replay of October 8 protested game)

Baseball
World Series
Detroit Wolverines 8 St. Louis Browns 0 @ Pittsburgh (Detroit led 15-game series 3-1)

Lady Baldwin pitched a 5-hitter for the Wolverines to win the pitching matchup with Silver King before 2,447 fans at Recreation Park. The Browns made 6 errors.

125 years ago
1892

Space
E. E. Barnard discovered D/1892 T1--the first comet discovered by photographic means--on the night of October 13–14 at Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton in California.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Léon Balcer. Canadian politician. Mr. Balcer, a Progressive Conservative, represented Trois-Rivières in the House of Commons from 1949-1965. In the government (1957-1963) of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, Mr. Balcer was Solicitor General (1957-1960) and Minister of Transport (1960-1963). He quit the party in 1965 and sat as an independent, claiming "there is no place for a French Canadian in the party of Mr. Diefenbaker." Mr. Balcer declined to run in the 1965 federal election, but was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate in the 1966 Quebec provincial election. He died on March 22, 1981 at the age of 73.

Died on this date
Florence La Badie, 29. U.S. actress. Miss La Badie, born Florence Russ, was a native of New York City who was adopted at the age of 3 by a family named La Baie and raised in Montreal. She appeared in almost 200 movies from 1911-1917, and was known for performing her own stunts. Miss La Badie was perhaps best known for starring in the 23-chapter serial The Million Dollar Mystery (1914). She died in hospital of septicemia about six weeks after being seriously injured in a car accident.

War
Recruiting officers called the first class of conscripts to register for military service under Canada's Military Service Act. Bachelors aged 20-34 were required to take a medical exam.

Religion
The "Miracle of the Sun" was witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal. Extraordinary solar activity reportedly took place as fulfillment of a prophecy made by three shepherd children that the Virgin Mary would appear and perform miracles on that date.

Football
Winnipeg Patriotic Rugby Football League
Arenas (3-0) 26 Granites (0-3) 25

Helgy Bestrom scored 3 touchdowns and Cecil Brown added another as the Arenas, down 19-0 after the 1st quarter and 25-0 at halftime, rallied to beat the Granites on the grounds of Wesley College. Bob Ulrich converted 2 of the Arenas' touchdowns. Mr. Bennett scored 2 touchdowns for the Granites, with Mr. Reed and Mr. McGrath scoring 1 each.

Baseball
World Series
New York Giants 5 @ Chicago White Sox 8 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 3-2)

The White Sox scored 3 runs in each of the 7th and 8th innings to defeat the Giants in an error-filled game before 27,323 fans at Comiskey Park. The White Sox won despite making 6 errors, while the Giants made 3.

75 years ago
1942

War
As steadily worsening weather hindered German operations, Russian troops recaptured two strategic positions in Stalingrad. In heavy fighting on Guadalcanal, Japanese bombers attacked the U.S. airfield twice, losing three planes; U.S. reinforcements landed on the island, and during the night, Japanese warships bombarded American positions.

Defense
Brazilian Navy vessels were placed under the supervision of U.S. navy Admiral Jonas Ingram.

Movies
The Vichy French regime banned all U.S. and U.K. movies from being shown in France and French West Africa.

Politics and government
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate the Geyer bill outlawing the payment of poll taxes as a prerequisite for voting in federal elections.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Near You--Francis Craig and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)
--Larry Green and his Orchestra
--The Andrews Sisters
--Alvino Rey and his Orchestra
--Elliot Lawrence and his Orchestra
2 When You were Sweet Sixteen--Perry Como and the Satisfiers
3 Peg o' My Heart--The Harmonicats
--Three Suns
--Art Lund
--Buddy Clark
--Clark Dennis
4 Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)--Tex Williams and his Western Caravan
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
5 Feudin' and Fightin'--Dorothy Shay
--Jo Stafford
--Bing Crosby and the Jesters
6 That's My Desire--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Frankie Laine and Mannie Klein's All-Stars
7 I Have But One Heart (O Marinariello)--Vic Damone
8 I Wish I Didn't Love You So--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Betty Hutton
--Dinah Shore
9 I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now--Ted Weems and his Orchestra with Perry Como
--Perry Como
10 The Lady from 29 Palms--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
--The Andrews Sisters

Singles entering the chart were As Years Go By by Elliot Lawrence and his Orchestra (#31); Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo), with versions by Louis Prima and his Orchestra, and Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters (#34); and He's a Real Gone Guy by Nellie Lutcher and her Rhythm (#35). Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo) was originally from the musical play Angel in the Wings (1947).

Died on this date
Sidney Webb, 88. U.K. economist and politician. Professor Webb was one of the most prominent socialist theorists and activists in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th century. He joined the Fabian Society in 1884 three months after its founding, and helped to found the London School of Economics in 1895. Professor Webb and his wife Beatrice were members of the Labour Party, and Sidney was first elected to the House of Commons in 1922. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Passfield in 1929, and served as Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (1929-1930) and Secretary of State for the Colonies (1929-1931) in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. As Colonial Secretary, Baron Passfield issued the Passfield White Paper in 1930, increasing restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine. The Webbs spent their later years acting as propagandists for the U.S.S.R., deliberately turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed under the Soviet dictatorship of Josef Stalin.

Literature
Fruits of Manifest Destiny, 1847–1852, the first volume of Ordeal of the Union, the eight-volume history of the U.S. Civil War by Allan Nevins, was published in New York by Scribners.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. endorsed the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

Terrorism
A bomb attributed to Arab terrorists damaged the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, injuring two employees.

Economics and finance
Greek Prime Minister Thermistocles Sophoulis announced a new austerity program including strict price controls; elimination of luxury imports; and special exchange rates favouring exporters.

U.S. and U.K. occupation officials urged German food ministers meeting in Frankfurt to increase food collections and act against black market operations, estimated to absorb 30% of German food production.

Argentina granted Italy a $175-million loan for purchases of food and raw materials.

Hockey
NHL
All-Star Game
All-Stars 4 @ Toronto 3

Max Bentley of the Chicago Black Hawks and Grant Warwick of the New York Rangers scored in the 2nd period, and Rocket Richard of the Montreal Canadiens and Doug Bentley of the Black Hawks scored 58 seconds apart in the first 1:26 of the 3rd period as the All-Stars edged the defending Stanley Cup champion Maple Leafs before 14,169 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens in the first modern National Hockey League All-Star Game. Billy Mosienko of the Black Hawks broke his ankle and missed much of the following season. Montreal defenceman Ken Reardon was involved in a stick-swinging incident with Toronto players Bill Ezinicki and Gus Mortson in the 1st period, and received a major penalty for cutting Toronto defenceman Bob Goldham on the head with his stick in the 2nd period.

Football
IRFU
Hamilton (1-6-1) 6 @ Toronto (5-2-1) 6

WIFU
Winnipeg (4-2) 6 @ Saskatchewan (2-4) 27

WIFU-Canadian university
Exhibition
Calgary (2-0) 35 @ University of Saskatchewan (0-3) 5

ORFU
Windsor (3-5) 6 @ Ottawa (4-2-1) 24
Toronto Balmy Beach (4-3) 17 @ Hamilton (6-0) 30
Toronto Indians (3-3-1) 20 @ Sarnia (0-7) 11

Gabe Patterson scored 2 touchdowns, 2 converts, a field goal, and a single to lead the Roughriders over the Blue Bombers at Taylor Field in Regina. Stan Stasica and Sully Glasser scored the other Saskatchewan TDs, with Roy Wright converting Mr. Glasser's touchdown. Bob Sandberg scored the Winnipeg touchdown, which was converted by Don Hiney.

Ken Sluman scored 2 touchdowns, and Darrell Wardien, Paul Rowe, Bill Wusyk, and Dave Berry scored 1 each for the Stampeders as they routed the Huskies before 4,500 fans at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon. Bob Cherry scored the U of S touchdown in the 3rd quarter.

Canadian university
Queen's (0-0-1) 13 @ McGill (0-0-1) 13
Western Ontario (1-0) 31 @ Toronto (0-1) 7

60 years ago
1957

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Mail Order Prophet, starring E.G. Marshall and Jack Klugman

The Edsel Show, with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, and Louis Armstrong, on CBS

This variety show, the first CBS entertainment program to be videotaped, and believed to be the earliest surviving program on videotape, served to promote the 1958 Edsel automobile, which had been unveiled on September 4 by Ford Motor Company.



Defense
Egyptian military units landed in Syria, reinforcing other Egyptian units which had been in the country since September.

Diplomacy
Following a 10-day visit to Japan, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru joined Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi in a communique calling for the suspension of nuclear tests and the outlawing of nuclear weapons.

Economics and finance
The East German government sealed its borders and recalled all East-mark holdings for conversion into new currency.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)--Scott McKenzie (4th week at #1)

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 The Letter--The Box Tops (3rd week at #1)
2 To Sir with Love--Lulu
3 San Franciscan Nights--Eric Burdon & the Animals
4 Ode to Billie Joe--Bobbie Gentry
5 Dandelion--The Rolling Stones
6 Never My Love--The Association
7 Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil--Jefferson Airplane
8 Gimme Little Sign--Brenton Wood
9 Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)--The Buckinghams
10 Happy--The Sunshine Company
Pick hit of the week: Love is Strange--Peaches and Herb
New this week: Woman, Woman--The Union Gap
Love of the Common People--Wayne Newton
Hole in My Shoe--Traffic
Wake Up, Wake Up--The Grass Roots

At the movies
Reflections in a Golden Eye, co-produced and directed by John Huston and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Brian Keith, and Julie Harris, opened in theatres. It's the biggest waste of talent this blogger has ever seen.

Basketball
ABA
Anaheim (0-1) 129 @ Oakland (1-0) 134

Andrew Anderson scored 33 points to help the Oaks defeat the Amigos at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in the first regular season game in the history of the American Basketball Association. John Fairchild led the Amigos with 30 points.

NBA
Seattle (0-1) 116 @ San Francisco (1-0) 144

Nate Thurmond scored 19 points, grabbed 28 rebounds, and made 2 assists to lead the Warriors over the SuperSonics at the Cow Palace in Daly City in the first regular game ever for the expansion Seattle franchise. Fred Hetzel led San Francisco scorers with 24 points. Seattle guard Walt Hazzard led all scorers with 30 points.

40 years ago
1977

Terrorism
Four West German terrorists hijacked a Lufthansa Boeing 737 jet over the French Riviera and forced it to fly to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The hijackers threatened to kill the 86 hostages on board as well as industrialist Hanns-Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped in Cologne on September 5, unless 13 imprisoned West German terrorists, including Andreas Baader, were freed.

Energy
At a nationally-televised press conference, U.S. President Jimmy Carter identified the oil industry as the main source of opposition to his energy program. He accused the oil industry of staging the "biggest rip-off in history," and warned against "potential war profiteering" by the companies in an "impending energy crisis." Mr. Carter then indicated that if Congress did not produce energy legislation that he considered suitable, he might turn to gasoline rationing or an import tax on foreign oil, and suggested that he might veto energy legislation passed by Congress if it "is not a substantial step forward."



30 years ago
1987

Died on this date
Walter Brattain, 85. Chinese-born U.S. physicist. Dr. Brattain, the son of an American father teaching in China, moved to the United States with his mother at the age of 1. He shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen and William Shockley "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect."

Politics and government
Frank McKenna led the Liberal Party to a complete sweep of Premier Richard Hatfield's governing Progressive Conservatives, winning all 58 seats in the Legislative Assembly in the New Brunswick provincial election. The sweep was the second in Canadian history, and the first since the Liberals had won all 30 seats in the Prince Edward Island election in 1935. The PCs had been in power under Mr. Hatfield for 17 years and had won 39 seats in the most recent election in 1982, but had lost two seats to the Liberals in by-elections in 1986, and lost the remainder, including Mr. Hatfield's seat, in 1987. The lone New Democratic Party member also lost. The Liberals had won 18 seats in 1982. The Liberals took 60.4% of the popular vote to 28.6% for the PCs and 10.55% for the NDP. Mr. Hatfield immediately announced his resignation as Progressive Conservative Party leader.

Baseball
National League Championship Series
San Francisco 0 @ St. Louis 1 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

John Tudor allowed just 6 hits over 7 1/3 innings to win the pitchers' duel over Dave Dravecky, who allowed 5 hits in 6 innings before 55,331 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium. The only run came in the 2nd inning when Giants' right fielder Candy Maldonado misplayed Tony Pena's fly ball and it fell for a triple. Mr. Pena then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jose Oquendo.



25 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Hughes Rudd, 71. U.S. journalist. Mr. Rudd worked for several newspapers before becoming a reporter with CBS. He anchored the CBS Morning News on television from 1973-1977. Mr. Rudd moved to ABC in 1979 and remained with that network until 1986. He spent his last years in France, where he died from an aneurysm, 29 days after his 71st birthday

Literature
Canadian author Michael Ondaatje and British author Barry Unsworth shared the Booker Prize. Mr. Ondaatje won for his novel The English Patient, and Mr. Unsworth for his novel Sacred Hunger.

Labour
The British government of Prime Minister John Major announced plans to close one-third of the U.K.'s deep coal mines, with the loss of 31,000 jobs.

Environment
The government of Canada laid charges against Tioxide Canada Inc. of Tracy, Quebec, a long-time polluter of the St. Lawrence River, after the company had ignored a provincial clean-up order and attempts to shut the plant down by claiming that the river was under federal jurisdiction.

Disasters
An Antonov An-124 operated by Antonov Airlines-registered CCCP-82002, crashed near Kiev, killing eight.

Baseball
The Seattle Mariners fired manager Bill Plummer. Mr. Plummer guided the Mariners to a 64-98 record in 1992, seventh and last in the American League West Division, in his only year in the position.

National League Championship Series
Pittsburgh 13 @ Atlanta 4 (Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)

The Pirates erupted for 8 runs in the 2nd inning and knocked Braves’ starting pitcher Tom Glavine out of the box. Barry Bonds and Lloyd McClendon each had 2 hits for the Pirates in the 2nd inning. Tim Wakefield pitched a complete game to get the victory before 51,975 fans at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.



20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Fly--Sugar Ray
2 Building a Mystery--Sarah McLachlan
3 Anybody Seen My Baby?--The Rolling Stones
4 Invisible Man--98 Degrees
5 Foolish Games--Jewel
6 Push--Matchbox 20
7 I Don't Want to Wait--Paula Cole
8 Honey--Mariah Carey
9 If You Could Only See--Tonic
10 The Sound Of--Jann Arden

Singles entering the chart were Three Marlenas by the Wallflowers (#34); Tubthumping by Chumbawumba (#35); Cry Love by Sugar Cane (#40); Legend of a Cowgirl by Imani Coppola (#43); What I Think She Sees by Del Amitri (#57); Blue Boy by John Fogerty (#58); All that You Are by Econoline Crush (#64); and Lazy Eye by Goo Goo Dolls (#75).

Politics and government
Raymond Frenette was sworn in as Premier of New Brunswick, succeeding Frank McKenna, who retired 10 years to the day after first leading the Liberal Party to victory in the provincial election.

Disasters
A bus carrying daytrippers enjoying the autumn leaves in Charlevoix County, Quebec failed to navigate a hairpin curve and crashed into a ravine near St-Joseph-de-la-Rive, killing 43 seniors from St-Bernard-de Beauce and their driver from Sherbrooke, and leaving only 5 survivors in the worst road accident in Canadian history. 13 other people were killed in a crash on the same hill in June 1974.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (2-14) 13 @ Calgary (9-7) 31

Jeff Garcia passed for 342 yards and a touchdown to lead the Stampeders over the Tiger-Cats before 29,298 fans at McMahon Stadium. Calgary led 20-0 at halftime, and the Calgary defense limited the Hamilton offense to 11 net yards in the 1st half.

Baseball
American League Championship Series
Baltimore 4 @ Cleveland 2 (Cleveland led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Eric Davis led off the top of the 9th inning with a home run to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead, which became 4-0 before the Indians mounted a 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th before 45,068 fans at Jacobs Field. Cleveland had runners on second and third bases with 2 out in the 9th, but Omar Vizquel grounded out to second base to end the game.

10 years ago
2007

Politics and government
Roger Duguay was chosen as leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party at the party's leadership convention in Fredericton.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (11-3-1) 24 @ Edmonton (5-9-1) 13

Jarious Jackson's 6-yard touchdown pass to Geroy Simon with 3:52 remaining in regulation time, converted by Paul McCallum, gave the Lions their win over the Eskimos before 33,663 fans at Commonwealth Stadium. Joe Smith rushed 2 yards for the first B.C. touchdown in the 2nd quarter, and Ian Smart rushed 3 yards for the other B.C. TD in the 3rd quarter. Mr. Smart's touchdown came less than 2½ minutes after quarterback Stefan LeFors rushed 6 yards for the only Edmonton touchdown. Mr. LeFors rushed 8 times for 60 yards, while completing 21 of 40 passes for 250 yards and 3 interceptions. Tyler Ebell led the Eskimos with 64 yards rushing on 14 carries and 55 yards on 6 pass receptions.



CIS
British Columbia (3-4) 14 @ Manitoba (6-0) 26
Alberta (2-5) 16 @ Regina (5-1) 35
Calgary (2-4) 20 @ Saskatchewan (4-2) 19

John Makie threw touchdown passes to Terry Firr and Jeff Strome, and Kenton Onofrychuk returned an interception for a touchdown to help the Bisons defeat the Thunderbirds before 1,200 fans at University Stadium in Winnipeg.

Baseball
American League Championship Series
Cleveland 13 @ Boston 6 (11 innings) (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Franklin Gutiérrez hit a 3-run home run to climax a 7-run 11th inning as the Indians defeated the Red Sox before 37,051 fans at Fenway Park in a game that took 5 hours 14 minutes to play. The 7 runs were the most ever scored by one team in an extra inning in post-season play.