October 15, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Angela Nixon!

475 years ago
1542

Born on this dae
Akbar. Mughal emperor, 1556-1605. Akbar succeeded his father Humayun, and succeeded in tripling the size and wealth of the Mughal Empire. He adopted policies that won the support of his non-Muslim subjects, and practiced the syncretistic religion, Din-i-Ilahi, centring on himself as prophet. Akbar died on October 27, 1605, 12 days after his 63rd birthday, and was succeeded by his son Jahangir.

130 years ago
1887

Football
ORFU
Hamilton 14 @ London 6
Ottawa 10 @ Kingston 1
Queen’s College 8 @ University of Toronto 10 (OT)

Baseball
World Series
Detroit Wolverines 9 St. Louis Browns 0 @ New York (Detroit led 15-game series 4-2)

Winning pitcher Charlie Getzein settled for a 5-hitter after carrying a no-hitter into the 9th inning before 5,797 fans at the Polo Grounds. Charlie Ganzel led the Detroit attack with 4 hits. The Browns made 8 errors as Dave Foutz took the loss.

125 years ago
1892

Football
ORFU
Round 1
Osgoode Hall 51 Trinity College 1 (1st game of 2-game total points series)
Hamilton @ Stratford (Hamilton won by default)
Toronto 12 @ University of Toronto 5 (Toronto won 2-game total points series 31-13)
Queen’s University 3 @ Royal Military College 5 (Queen’s won 2-game total points series 12-11)
Petrolia @ London (postponed, rain—Petrolia defaulted 2-game total points series)

Baseball
Charles "Bumpus" Jones, making his major league debut, pitched a no-hitter for the Cincinnati Reds as they defeated the Pittsburg Pirates 7-1 at League Park in Cincinnati. Cincinnati outfielder Buster Hoover played the 127th and last game of his 3-year major league career.

The Boston Beaneaters swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators 7-4 and 4-0 at Boundary Field in Washington. Jack Stivetts was pitching a no-hitter for the Beaneaters after 5 innings when the game was called, presumably on account of darkness.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Jan Miner. U.S. actress. Miss Miner was an actress in various radio series in the 1940s and 1950s, but was best known for her portrayal of the character Madge in television commercials for Palmolive dishwashing liquid from 1966-1992. She died on February 15, 2004 at the age of 86.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.. U.S. historian. Professor Schlesinger specialized in American history, and won the Pulitzer Prize for his Master's thesis, Age of Jackson (1945). He served as an adviser and "court historian" to President John F. Kennedy from 1961-1963, and his book A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (1965) also won a Pulitzer Prize. Professor Schlesinger died on February 28, 2007 at the age of 89.

Alan W. Livingston. U.S. recording and television executive. Mr. Livingston, born Alan Levison, was the younger brother of songwriter Jay Livingston. Alan Livingston was an executive with Capitol Records in the 1940s and '50s and again in the 1960s, and has been credited with greatly increasing the company's profits. He created the character Bozo the Clown in 1946 for a series of record albums and accompanying read-along books. Mr. Livingston spent several years with NBC in the late 1950s as Vice-President in charge of Programming, and oversaw the development of the Western series Bonanza. Mr. Livingston died on March 13, 2009 at the age of 91, after a series of small strokes.

Died on this date
Mata Hari, 41. Dutch-born dancer and spy. Mata Hari, born Margaretha Zelle, was an exotic dancer who pioneered the striptease in the early 1900s. She was recruited as a spy by both France and Germany during World War I in 1916. Mata Hari was arrested by French authorities in Paris in February 1917, and was convicted in July of espionage, perhaps becoming a scapegoat for French military and intelligence failures. She was executed by firing squad in Paris.

Baseball
World Series
Chicago White Sox 4 @ New York Giants 2 (Chicago won best-of-seven series 4-2)

The White Sox scored 3 runs in the 4th inning to open the scoring and held on to defeat the Giants before 33,969 fans at the Polo Grounds to win their first World Series championship since 1906 and their last until 2005. A 2-base throwing error by New York third baseman Heinie Zimmerman on a ground ball by Eddie Collins and right fielder Dave Robertson's muff of a fly ball by Joe Jackson started Chicago's 3-run 4th inning. Mr. Collins was trapped in a rundown between third base and home plate on a ground ball by Happy Felsch, but scored when Mr. Zimmerman chased him across the plate with the ball because neither pitcher Rube Benton nor catcher Bill Rariden were covering the plate. Red Faber pitched a 6-hit complete game for his third win of the series, while Mr. Benton allowed 4 hits and 3 runs--all unearned--iin 5 innings to take the loss.

90 years ago
1927

Football
CRU
IRFU
Montreal (0-3) 8 @ Hamilton (2-0) 24
Ottawa (2-0-1) 13 @ Toronto (0-1-1) 3

ORFU
Camp Borden (0-3) 0 @ Toronto Balmy Beach (2-0) 33
Hamilton (2-1) 2 @ University of Toronto II (1-1) 31

Canadian university
University of Saskatchewan President E.A. Hardy donated a cup for the championship of university football in western Canada; the Hardy Cup is still presented today.

Queen's (0-1) 10 @ McGill (2-0) 11

MRU
Winnipeg Tammany Tigers 7 Winnipeg Victorias 2

NFL
Frankford (1-1-1) 54 @ Buffalo (0-4) 0

75 years ago
1942

Theatre
The Skin of Our Teeth, written by Thornton Wilder and starring Tallulah Bankhead, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, and Montgomery Clift, opened at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.

War
The U.S. House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee approved the Wadsworth Amendment to the Selective Service Act, lowering the draft age from 20 to 18. A German U-Boat torpedoed a cargo ship in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Métis, Québec. Two German divisions supported by tanks and planes attacked Russian positions on the northern Stalingrad sector. Japanese forces executed three U.S. fliers captured during Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle's April 18, 1942 raid on Tokyo. The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Meredith was sunk by a 27-plane raid from the Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku; 192 of the 273 men aboard the Meredith perished. Japan landed 4,500 troops on Guadalcanal.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate a bill authorizing the government to control all rents, including hotel and rooming house rates.

70 years ago
1947

Literature
Speaking Frankly, the memoirs of former U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes, was published in New York by Harper. Mr. Byrnes warned of the U.S.S.R.'s intention "to dominate all of Europe," and urged increased nuclear weapons production in the United States to counter this threat.

War
French forces began a drive to close the northern Indochinese frontier to arms smuggling by Vietnamese nationalists.

Science
University of California physicist Ernest O. Lawrence announced the first experimental evidence of nuclear forces that bind together subatomic particles, the result of research in the Berkeley cyclotron.

Diplomacy
The United Nations General Assembly's Trusteeship Committee passed a resolution calling on South Africa to submit a trusteeship plan for South-West Africa by 1948.

Politics and government
Opening the second post-World War II session of the Romanian parliament, King Michael I proclaimed good relations with the U.S.S.R. "the foundation of our foreign policy."

The Draft Eisenhower for President League in Washington announced its slogan: "I Like Ike."

Economics and finance
France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg began talks in Paris on establishing free convertibility of their currencies to stimulate trade.

Agriculture
The U.S.S.R. announced the completion of the 1947 grain harvest, which it claimed was 58% larger than in 1946.

60 years ago
1957

Music
The Big Show, produced by Irvin Feld and headlined by Fats Domino, performed at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Diplomacy
Yugoslavia extended formal recognition to the government of East Germany.

Transportation
Queen Elizabeth II set off a dynamite charge to signal the start of construction of the Queensway expressway in Ottawa; the $31-million, 15-mile-long road bisects the city along the old Canadian Pacific Railway right-of-way.

Labour
350,000 Brazilian factory workers in the Sao Paulo area went on strike for a 45% wage increase.

Teamsters union President-elect Jimmy Hoffa pled not guilty in U.S. federal district court in New York on charges that he had lied to a federal grand jury investigating charges against him of illegal wiretapping.

50 years ago
1967

Football
CFL
British Columbia (2-9-1) 17 @ Hamilton (7-4) 22
Winnipeg (4-9) 29 @ Calgary (10-3) 51
Saskatchewan (10-3) 17 @ Edmonton (6-6-1) 21

Joe Zuger threw touchdown passes of 25 and 16 yards to Ted Watkins to help the Tiger-Cats defeat the Lions before 19,000 fans at Civic Stadium. B.C. almost won the game on the last play, but quarterback Bernie Faloney's pass to Jim Young at the Hamilton goal line went off Mr. Young's fingers. It was the only CFL game for B.C. defensive end Buddy Owens, who suffered a career-ending knee injury while blocking on the opening kickoff.

Peter Liske completed 20 passes for 349 yards and 6 touchdowns to lead the Stampeders over the Blue Bombers before 17,710 fans at McMahon Stadium. Bill Goods converted all 7 Calgary touchdowns. Winnipeg's total of 29 points was their greatest scoring output of the season.

The Edmonton defense recovered a fumble on the Saskatchewan 31-yard line in the 4th quarter, leading to the game-winning touchdown by quarterback Frank Cosentino before 21,000 fans at Clarke Stadium. Mr. Cosentino threw a pass to Randy Kerbow for the other Edmonton TD. Peter Kempf added 2 converts, 2 field goals, and a single.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Ti Amo'--Umberto Tozzi (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Ti Amo'--Umberto Tozzi (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): Do You Remember--Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Silver Lady--David Soul (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K (BMRB): Silver Lady --David Soul (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): You Light Up My Life--Debby Boone

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 You Light Up My Life--Debby Boone (2nd week at #1)
2 Keep it Comin' Love--K.C. and the Sunshine Band
3 Nobody Does it Better--Carly Simon
4 Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band--Meco
5 That's Rock 'n' Roll--Shaun Cassidy
6 Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')--Johnny Rivers
7 On and On--Stephen Bishop
8 Boogie Nights--Heatwave
9 I Feel Love--Donna Summer
10 Cold as Ice--Foreigner

Singles entering the chart were You Make Loving Fun by Fleetwood Mac (#64); Draw the Line by Aerosmith (#66); Slip Slidin' Away by Paul Simon (#70); Swingtown by the Steve Miller Band (#77); Hard Times by Boz Scaggs (#82); Money, Money, Money by ABBA (#88); Echoes of Love by the Doobie Brothers (#90); Georgia Rhythm by Atlanta Rhythm Section (#97); Heaven's Just a Sin Away by the Kendalls (#99); and School's Back by Philadelphia (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Keep it Comin' Love--K.C. and the Sunshine Band
2 Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band--Meco
3 Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')--Johnny Rivers
4 That's Rock 'n' Roll--Shaun Cassidy
5 Telephone Line--Electric Light Orchestra
6 On and On--Stephen Bishop
7 Nobody Does it Better--Carly Simon
8 Strawberry Letter 23--The Brothers Johnson
9 Barracuda--Heart
10 Sugar Daddy--Patsy Gallant

Singles entering the chart were Ma Baker by Boney M. (#71); She's Not There by Santana (#90); Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes by Jimmy Buffett (#91); Thunder in My Heart by Leo Sayer (#92); Knockin' My Head by Malcolm Tomlinson (#94); Isn't it Time by the Babys (#95); Until We Meet Again by Fosterchild (#96); Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton (#97); Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in its Spotlight) by Thin Lizzy (#98); Life Still Goes On (I'm Lonely) by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (#99); and Don't Let Me Down by Shirley Eikhard (#100).

Hockey
NHL
New York Rangers 0 @ Montreal 5

Ken Dryden got the shutout in goal for the Canadiens as they blanked the Rangers at the Montreal Forum in the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast on CBC.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (4-9) 28 @ Ottawa (6-7) 36
Montreal (9-5) 17 @ British Columbia (10-3) 18

Richard Holmes and Bill Hatanaka scored touchdowns in the 2nd half to help the Rough Riders defeat the Tiger-Cats before 24,750 fans at Lansdowne Park.

Lui Passaglia tied a league record for a single game with 6 field goals, the last coming with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game, to give the Lions their win over the Alouettes before 32,719 fans on a wet Saturday night at Empire Stadium in Vancouver.

CIAU
Alberta (4-2-1) 16 @ British Columbia 42

Dan Smith completed 81% of his passes, for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Thunderbirds over the Golden Bears at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. UBC tight end Evan Jones caught 7 passes for 171 yards, including a 90-yard touchdown. Alberta receiver Joe Poplawski caught 11 passes for 140 yards. The Thunderbirds led 35-7 at halftime.

Baseball
World Series
New York Yankees 4 @ Los Angeles Dodgers 2 (New York led best-of-seven series 3-1)

The Yankees scored 3 runs off Los Angeles starting pitcher Doug Rau in the top of the 2nd inning and held on to defeat the Dodgers before 55,995 fans at Dodger Stadium. Reggie Jackson hit a solo hme run for the Yankees in the 6th, his first homer of the series. Ron Guidry pitched a 4-hit complete game victory.





30 years ago
1987

Died on this date
Thomas Sankara, 37. Prime Minister of Upper Volta, 1983; 5th President of Burkina Faso, 1983-1987. Captain Sankara, a Marxist, seized power in a coup in 1983 and changed the name of the country from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso ("Land of Upright Man"). He initiated sweeping social reforms while acting as a dictator, and was assassinated with 12 of his officials in a coup d'état led by his former colleague Blaise Compaoré.

World events
Sir Penaia Ganilau resigned as Governor-General of Fiji at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Vancouver, saying there was nothing he could do to prevent Fiji from becoming a republic following the September 28 military coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka, which had abolished the monarchy. A republic had been proclaimed on October 7.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. announced that it was paying all its debts to the United Nations, including U.S. $197 million owed for peacekeeping operations. These bills dated from 1973; the Soviet Union had just paid $28 million to bring it up to date on its regular contributions.

War
The American-owned tanker Sungari, flying the Liberian flag, was struck by an Iranian missile in Kuwaiti waters.

Law
The majority report of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee claimed that Judge Robert Bork, President Ronald Reagan’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, was unfit for the Court because he was insensitive to individual rights and liberties.

Economics and finance
The Canadian cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney issued a White Paper on the reform of Canada's financial institutions.

Labour
The National Football League Players Association ended its 24-day strike without achieving its objectives. Negotiation committees had reached agreement on eight minor issues but not on free agency—the players’ biggest demand—which would permit them to move from one club to another when their contracts expired. Owners had hired replacement players during the strike, and the strike was weakened when players began to return to their teams. The union filed an antitrust suit against the league.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Sleeping Satellite--Tasmin Archer

Died on this date
Talwinder Singh Parmar, 48. Indian-born terrorist. Mr. Parmar, a Sikh, founded the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1979 and later became a Canadian citizen. He was the prime suspect in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, which resulted in the deaths of all 329 people aboard. Mr. Parmar was back in India when he was reportedly killed in a gun battle with police; it was also alleged that Mr. Parmar died in police custody.

Canadiana
Dr. Eric Hoskins, 31, was named the winner of the 1992 Pearson Peace Medal, awarded by the United Nations Association in Canada; Dr. Hoskins gave humanitarian aid to Iraq after the Gulf War in 1991.

20 years ago
1997

Space
The United States launched the Cassini probe from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Saturn.

Auto racing
On the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, the first supersonic land speed record was set by U.K. Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green in the jet-propelled car ThrustSSC when it achieved a speed of 763 miles per hour (1,228 kilometres per hour).

Baseball
American League Championship Series
Cleveland 1 @ Baltimore 0 (11 innings) (Cleveland won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Tony Fernandez hit a solo home run with 2 out in the top of the 11th inning for the only run of the game as the Indians edged the Orioles before 49,075 fans at Oriole Park to win their second AL pennant in the past three years. With 2 out in the bottom of the 11th and Brady Anderson on first base, Baltimore second baseman Roberto Alomar flinched away from a pitch he thought was going to hit him, only to have the pitch called for a third strike to end the series. Baltimore starting pitcher Mike Mussina allowed just 1 hit and struck out 10 batters in 8 innings, while Cleveland starter Charles Nagy allowed 9 hits but no runs in 7 1/3 innings.





10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Bobby Mauch, 86. U.S. actor. Billy and Bobby Mauch were identical twins who were best known for starring in the movie The Prince and the Pauper (1937). Billy eventually became a sound editor for Warner Brothers, while Bobby worked as a film editor. Billy died on September 29, 2006 at the age of 85.

Politics and government
Stephen Mandel was elected to a second consecutive term as Mayor of Edmonton, taking 65.80% of the vote to 25.34% for runner-up Don Koziak. None of the remaining seven mayoral candidates received more than 1.79% of the vote. This blogger was presiding deputy returning officer at Oliver School, where everything went smoothly, and I was able to step outside a few times to enjoy a little of the beautiful weather that day.

Dave Bronconnier was elected to a third consecutive term as Mayor of Calgary, taking 61.08% of the vote to 16.90% for runner-up Alnoor Kassam. Sandy Jenkins was next with 7.88%, and none of the remaining six mayoral candidates received more than 3.83% of the vote.

Disasters
The report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Concorde Viaduct, chaired by former Quebec Premier Pierre-Marc Johnson, was made public. He identified a series of causes explaining the collapse of La Concorde viaduct in Laval, Quebec on September 30, 2006, which killed five people. According to Commission experts, most of the identified causes were related to phase construction of the viaduct: poor specifications, bad concrete, negligence in the conduct and supervision of works, etc. This accumulation of faults was directly responsible for the fundamental weakness of the structure. The Commission also censured the Quebec Ministry of Transport "... for the systemic weaknesses that have persisted for many years and which have prevented it from understanding the state of increasing degradation of the viaduct and to remedy it . In anticipation of the tabling of the report and its findings, Premier Jean Charest announced a week earlier the investment of $ 30 billion by 2012 for infrastructure upgrades.

Terrorism
17 activists in New Zealand were arrested in the country's first post-9/11 anti-terrorism raids.

Baseball
The New York Yankees and third baseman Alex Rodriguez agreed on a record 10-year, $275-million contract, the richest in sports history to date.

American League Championship Series
Boston 2 @ Cleveland 4 (Cleveland led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Kenny Lofton's 2-run home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning opened the scoring and the Indians added 2 more in the 5th, but Jason Varitek's 2-run homer in the 7th was the only comeback the Red Sox could muster before 44,402 fans at Jacobs Field.





National League Championship Series
Arizona 4 @ Colorado 6 (Colorado won best-of-seven series 4-0)

The Rockies scored all their runs in the 4th inning as they defeated the Diamondbacks before 50,213 fans at Coors Field in Denver to win the first NL pennant in their 15-year history.