October 22, 2017

310 years ago
1707

Disasters
Four British Royal Navy ships ran aground near the Isles of Scilly because of faulty navigation; Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, 56-57, and 1,550 sailors drowned.

240 years ago
1777

War
American defenders of Fort Mercer on the Delaware River repulsed repeated Hessian attacks in the Battle of Red Bank in New Jersey.

220 years ago
1797

Adventure
André-Jacques Garnerin made the first recorded parachute jump, from 1,000 metres (3,200 feet) above Parc Monceau in Paris.

150 years ago
1867

Economics and finance
The Montreal-based Commercial Bank failed, leading to the subsequent Commercial Bank Act, 1867.

140 years ago
1877

Disasters
The Blantyre mining disaster in Scotland killed 207 miners.

130 years ago
1887

Football
ORFU
City series
Hamilton 13 Ottawa 1 @ Toronto

College series
University of Toronto 0 @ Ottawa College 9

Baseball
World Series
St. Louis Browns 5 Detroit Wolverines 1 @ Brooklyn (7 innings, darkness) (Detroit led 15-game series 8-4)

The Browns scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and coasted to victory over the Wolverines before 1,138 fans at Washington Park. Silver King (1-2) won the pitching matchup over Pete Conway (2-1).

125 years ago
1892

Football
ORFU
Round 1 (2nd game of 2-game total points series)
Osgoode Hall won by default over Trinity College

Round 2
Bye: Queen’s College
Ottawa College 5 @ Toronto 34
Hamilton 34 @ London 0

Baseball
The Cleveland Spiders blew a 6-0 lead and lost 12-7 to the Boston Beaneaters at South End Grounds in Boston. The Beaneaters took a 4-0-1 lead in their National League championship playoff series, with Jack Stivetts winning the pitching matchup over John Clarkson.

110 years ago
1907

Economics and finance
In what became known as the Panic of 1907, a run on the stock of Knickerbocker Trust Company set events in motion that led to a depression.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Alfred Pinkston. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Pinkston was an outfielder and first baseman with various teams in various Negro and minor leagues in a career spanning 1936-1965, with time out for service in World War II. Records from Mr. Pinkston's early years in baseball are hard to find, although he seemed to have been the leading hitter for whatever team he played for. He didn't play in what is regarded as "Organized Baseball" until 1953, when he was 35. In six years in the minor leagues from 1953-1958, Mr. Pinkston batted .334 with 97 home runs and 483 runs batted in in 700 games. At the age of 41, he went to the Mexican League, where he played right field with the Mexico City Red Devils (1959-1960) and Veracruz Aguilas (1961-1965). In seven seasons in the Mexican League Mr. Pinkston batted .372 with 108 homers and 659 RBIs in 879 games, and won the Mexican League batting title in each of his first four seasons; his career batting average remains the highest in Mexican League history, and he was inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974, as well as the U.S. National Black Sports Hall of Fame in 1977. Mr. Pinkston died of a heart attack on March 19, 1981 at the age of 63.

Joan Fontaine. U.K.-born U.S. actress. Miss Fontaine, born Joan de Havilland, was the younger sister of Olivia de Havilland. Miss Fontaine won an Academy Award for her starring performance in Suspicion (1941), and was nominated for Oscars for her starring performances in Rebecca (1940) and The Constant Nymph (1943). She died on December 15, 2013 at the age of 96.

Died on this date
Bob Fitzsimmons, 54. U.K.-born boxer. "Ruby Robert" was born in England, moved to New Zealand as a boy, and began his profesional boxing career in Australia. Years of working in the family's blacksmith forge had developed his arm and upper body strength, and Mr. Fitzsimmons became one of the hardest punchers in history. He knocked out "Nonpareil" Jack Dempsey to win the world middleweight title in 1891, a title which he vacated in 1895. Mr. Fitzsimmons knocked out "Gentleman Jim" Corbett to win the world heavyweight title in 1897, lost the heavyweight title in 1899 when he was knocked out by Jim Jeffries, but won the world light heavyweight title with a decision over George Gardner in 1903. Mr. Fitzsimmons lost the light heavyweight title when he was knocked out by Philadelphia Jack O'Brien in 1905, but he continued to fight for several years afterward, compiling a record of 68-12-13-7, with probably numerous other fights not officially recorded. Mr. Fitzsimmons was the first boxer to hold world titles in three different weight divisions, and the only man to hold the heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight belts. Mr. Fitzsimmons was married four times, had a gambling habit, and lost a lot of money to con men; he died of pneumonia in Chicago. Mr. Fitzsimmons was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the Old Timer category in 1990.

90 years ago
1927

Technology
Nikola Tesla introduced six new inventions, including single-phase electric power.

Football
IRFU
Toronto (0-2-1) 2 @ Montreal (1-3) 3
Hamilton (3-0) 14 @ Ottawa (2-1-1) 7

ORFU
Toronto Balmy Beach (3-0) 26 @ Hamilton (2-2) 3
University of Toronto II (2-1) 11 Camp Borden (0-4) 6

Canadian university
Toronto (0-2) 0 @ Queen's (2-0) 3

Ralph Harrison's field goal in the 1st quarter stood up as the winning score for the Winged Wheelers as they edged the Argonauts before 3,500 fans at Molson Stadium.

Pep Leadley kicked 2 field goals and 3 singles to lead the Tigers over the Senators at Lansdowne Park.

A safety touch and a rouge late in the game gave the Tricolor their win over Toronto at Richardson Stadium in Kingston.

75 years ago
1942

War
U.S. Major General Mark Clark met in Algeria with French Resistance fighters and officers loyal to the Allied cause to discuss Operation Torch, the first Allied amphibious landing of World War II.

Politics and government
Chilean President Juan Antonio Rios completed the organization of his new cabinet with one major change: Joaquin Fernandez y Fernandez was named Foreign Minister.

Society
The U.S. Senate defeated a proposal to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages in or near military reservations.

70 years ago
1947

At the movies
Forever Amber, directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, and George Sanders, opened in theatres.

War
The Kashmir conflict, a territorial conflict primarily between India and Pakistan, began, shortly after the partition of India.

Nationalist Chinese sources reporteda revolt of Turkic tribes in the northwestern province of Sinkiang.

World events
The Chilean government placed four nitrate and copper-producing provinces under military control to prevent renewed unrest among miners.

Diplomacy
U.S. Minister to Finland Maxwell Hamilton was appointed assistant to Secretary of State George Marshall to conduct preliminary negotiations for a Japanese peace conference.

Defense
The Jewish National Council in Jerusalem began recruiting a militia to protect Jewish urban centres.

Politics and government
French Prime Minister Paul Ramadier dissolved and reorganized his cabinet, reducing it from 24 to 13 ministers.

Testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer script supervisor James McGuinness charged that "an active fifth column" in Hollywood wanted to "destroy our government in the service of foreign ideology."

Oil
The Iranian Parliament rejected the U.S.S.R.'s demand for an oil concession in Iran, and approved Prime Minister Ahmad Ghavam el-Saltaneh's bill for a five-year exploration program barring all foreign capital.

Standard Oil Company of New Jersey imposed a 15% reduction in gasoline deliveries to its service stations in eastern U.S. states because of a gas shortage.

Journalism
The Chilean government arrested the staff of the Communist daily newspaper Siglo.

Labour
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Baltimore ruled that a union was liable for damages if it failed to protect a worker from racial discrimination in collective bargaining.

60 years ago
1957

War
The U.S.A. suffered her first casualties in Vietnam when 13 U.S. servicemen and 15 Vietnamese children were injured when two plastic bombs exploded in front of a U.S. officers' quarters, and under a bus loaded with American enlisted men.

Defense
The U.S. Army announced the successful test of a Jupiter intermediate-range missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Politics and government
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier took office as the 34th President of Haiti and the first elected head of state since the 1956 ouster of Paul Magloire. Martial law and the 2 A.M. curfew were lifted.

Agrarian members of Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander's coalition cabinet resigned in protest against Socialist pension plans providing for payment of 65% of average income after 30 years' work.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped to 417.79--its lowest level since March 1955--Following a three-month price decline on the New York Stock Exchange.

50 years ago
1967

Football
CFL
Ottawa (7-4-1) 28 @ Toronto (5-6-1) 28
Hamilton (8-4) 31 @ Winnipeg (4-10) 4
Calgary (11-3) 19 @ Saskatchewan (10-4) 11

Jim Dillard scored 3 touchdowns for the Argonauts as they tied the Rough Riders before 27,238 fans at CNE Stadium to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 1961. Ottawa led 28-27 as the Argonauts lined up for a field goal attempt on the last play of the game; Dave Mann's kick was wide, but into the end zone, and a punting exchange ensued, which ended when Toronto quarterback Wally Gabler, who was holding the ball for the field goal attempt, punted for the tying point. Ottawa quarterback Russ Jackson completed 2 touchdown passes to Whit Tucker and another to Margene Adkins. U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy (Democrat--New York) wasin attendance as a guest of Argonauts' owner John Bassett, and expressed his enjoyment of the game, especially the last play, which is impossible in American football.

The Tiger-Cats intercepted 3 passes and recovered 2 Winnipeg fumbles as they beat the Blue Bombers before 13,045 fans at Winnipeg Stadium.

Peter Liske completed 24 of 31 passes for 269 yards to lead the Stampeders over the Roughriders before 21,845 fans at Taylor Field in Regina.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): L'angelo azzurro'--Umberto Balsamo

#1 single in Switzerland: Ti Amo'--Umberto Tozzi (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): Do You Remember--Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Silver Lady--David Soul (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K (BMRB): Silver Lady --David Soul (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): You Light Up My Life--Debby Boone (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 You Light Up My Life--Debby Boone (3rd week at #1)
2 Nobody Does it Better--Carly Simon
3 Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band--Meco
4 That's Rock 'n' Roll--Shaun Cassidy
5 Keep it Comin' Love--K.C. and the Sunshine Band
6 Boogie Nights--Heatwave
7 I Feel Love--Donna Summer
8 Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')--Johnny Rivers
9 Brick House--Commodores
10 Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue--Crystal Gayle

Singles entering the chart were We are the Champions by Queen (#74); You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim) by Rod Stewart (#79); The Happy Girls by Helen Reddy (#85); You Can't Turn Me Off (In the Middle of Turning Me On) by High Inergy (#88); Why Do Lovers (Break Each Other’s Heart?) by Daryl Hall and John Oates (#96); Can't it All Be Love by Randy Edelman (#97); Falling by LeBlanc & Carr (#98); and Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) by Chic (#100).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band--Meco
2 Keep it Comin' Love--K.C. and the Sunshine Band
3 Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')--Johnny Rivers
4 That's Rock 'n' Roll--Shaun Cassidy
5 Nobody Does it Better--Carly Simon
6 Boogie Nights--Heatwave
7 I Feel Love--Donna Summer
8 It was Almost Like a Song--Ronnie Milsap
9 Sugar Daddy--Patsy Gallant
10 Cold as Ice--Foreigner

Singles entering the chart were I Believe in Love by Kenny Loggins (#79); It's So Easy by Linda Ronstadt (#81); Stone Cold Sober by Crawler (#82); The Way I Feel Tonight by the Bay City Rollers (#83); You're Moving Out Today by Carole Bayer Sager (#84); Silver Lady by David Soul (#92); Avenging Annie by Roger Daltrey (#93); Needles and Pins by Smokie (#94); Crying in My Sleep by Art Garfunkel (#95); From Graceland to the Promised Land by Merle Haggard (#96); The Happy Girls by Helen Reddy (#97); Do Your Dance by Rose Royce (#99); and Spaceship Superstar by Prism (#100).

Diplomacy
The Palestine Liberation Organization totally rejected the U.S. proposal for Middle East peace conference in Geneva on the ground that it neglected the Palestinian question as a whole.

Boxing
Leon Spinks (5-0-1) and Scott Ledoux (21-6-2) fought a 10-round draw in a heavyweight bout at the Aladdin Theater in Las Vegas. One judge scored the fight even, one had Mr. Spinks ahead by 2 points, and the other had Mr. Ledoux ahead by 1 point.

Hockey
NHL
Philadelphia 1 @ Toronto 6

Football
CFL
Ottawa (6-8) 16 @ Montreal (10-5) 28

Sonny Wade completed 20 of 28 passes for 3 touchdowns, 2 to Peter Dalla Riva, as the Alouettes beat the Rough Riders at Olympic Stadium.

30 years ago
1987

War
An Iranian missile struck Kuwait’s principal offshore oil terminal, through which one-third of Kuwait’s oil imports were transported. In response to China’s alleged sale of Silkworm missiles to Iran, the U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan said that it was curbing exports of some high-technology U.S. products to China. China had not acknowledged that it was selling arms to Iran.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Ronald Reagan said that the economy was fundamentally sound and that the 1987 deficit would be $148 billion, down $73 billion from 1986. He blamed Congress for the deficit.

Major U.S. banks lowered their prime lending rate from 9.25% to 9%.

Baseball
Sachi Kinugasa played the last game of his 23-year career in Japan. He played in 2,215 consecutive games from October 19, 1970 through his last game. Mr. Kinugasa began his career with the Hiroshima Carp in 1965.

World Series
Minnesota Twins 2 @ St. Louis Cardinals 4 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 3-2)

The Cardinals broke a 0-0 tie with 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning--2 on a single by Curt Ford--as they beat the Twins before 55,347 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium. Danny Cox pitched 7 1/3 innings to get the win, while Bert Blyleven pitched 6 innings in taking the loss.



25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Sleeping Satellite--Tasmin Archer (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Red Barber, 84. U.S. sportscaster. One of the most famous broadcasters in baseball history, Mr. Barber was the radio (and later, television) broadcaster for games of the Cincinnati Reds (1934-1938), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939-1953), and New York Yankees (1954-1966). He and colleague Mel Allen were the first broadcasters to be honoured by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978.

Cleavon Little, 53. U.S. actor. Mr. Little was known for his roles in the movies Vanishing Point (1971) and Blazing Saddles (1974) and the television comedy series Temperatures Rising (1972-1974).

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Columbia, with a six-member crew commanded by James Wetherbee, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin the 10-day mission STS-52. The crew included one Canadian, Payload Specialist Steve MacLean, making his first space flight.

Baseball
World Series
Atlanta Braves 7 @ Toronto Blue Jays 2 (Toronto led best-of-seven series 3-2)

The Braves broke a 2-2 tie with 5 runs in the 5th inning before 52,268 fans at SkyDome, with the big blow being a grand slam by Lonnie Smith. John Smoltz pitched 6 innings to get the win, while losing pitcher Jack Morris gave up 9 hits and 7 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.



20 years ago
1997

At the movies
This blogger, with enjoyable female company, attended a pre-release screening of Fairytale: A True Story, starring Florence Hoath, Elizabeth Earl, Harvey Keitel, and Peter O'Toole.

Health
U.S. meat inspectors in North Dakota discovered E. coli bacteria in imported Canadian beef, halting shipments of 34,000 pounds.

Baseball
World Series
Florida Marlins 3 @ Cleveland Indians 10 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)

The Indians scored 3 runs in the 1st inning--the first 2 coming on a home run by Manny Ramirez--and 3 in the 3rd as they coasted to victory over the Marlins before 44,887 fans on a cold night at Jacobs Field .



10 years ago
2007

War
A raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base, Sri Lanka was carried out by 21 Tamil Tiger commandos. All except one died in this attack; eight Sri Lanka Air Force planes were destroyed, and 10 damaged.

Politics and government
The 17th Congress of the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China gave President Hu Jintao a second five-year term.