November 4, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Guille Ramirez Morales!

175 years ago
1842

Married on this date
Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. The Illinois lawyer and the daughter of wealthy parents were married at her sister's home in Springfield, Illinois.

170 years ago
1847

Died on this date
Thiệu Trị, 40. Emperor of Vietnam, 1840-1847. Thiệu Trị, born Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông, was the eldest son of Emperor Minh Mạng, and succeeded him on the throne. He ordered all Roman Catholic missionaries expelled from Vietnam, which led to a brief skirmish with French gunboats. Emperor Thiệu Trị then issued orders for the immediate execution of Christian missionaries, but he died before his orders could be carried out. Thiệu Trị was succeeded as Emperor by his son Tự Đức.

Felix Mendelssohn, 38. German composer. Mr. Mendelssohn was a pianist and one of the most popular composers of the Romantic era, with several symphonies, Songs Without Words, and music for A Midsummer Night's Dream among his best-known works. He was born into a Jewish family, but was baptized as a Christian at the age of 7. Mr. Mendelssohn died after a series of strokes, which seemed to run in his family.

Medicine
Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.

150 years ago
1867

War
The day after his forces were defeated in the Battle of Mentana in Italy, General Giuseppe Garibaldi and his son were captured on their way to Florence.

125 years ago
1892

Scandal
Former Quebec Premier Honoré Mercier was acquitted in the Baie des Chaleurs Railway bribery scandal, after being removed from office on December 17, 1891 by Lieutenant-Governor Auguste-Réal Angers for alleged misuse of public funds in the Baie des Chaleurs Railway scandal. Mr. Mercier was later re-elected in Bonaventure, and served until his death on October 30, 1894.

100 years ago
1917

War
The Brazilian ships Acari and Guaíba were torpedoed by the same German submarine, SM U-151.

90 years ago
1927

At the movies
Uncle Tom's Cabin, directed by Harry A. Pollard, and starring Margarita Fischer, James B. Lowe, Arthur Edmund Carew, and George Siegmann, opened in theatres.



75 years ago
1942

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 4 songs (Variety)
1 White Christmas
2 Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
3 When the Lights Go On Again
4 My Devotion

At the movies
X Marks the Spot, directed by George Sherman, and starring Damian O'Flynn, Helen Parrish, Dick Purcell, Jack LaRue, and Neil Hamilton, opened in theatres.



War
Disobeying a direct order by Fuehrer Adolf Hitler, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel led his German forces on a five-month retreat in the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt. Russian forces held German-Romanian troops southeast ot Natchik in the Caucasus for the second day. Japanese troops landed onthe north coast of Guadalcanal despite Allied air efforts to force their withdrawal.

Economics and finance
In the wake of Republican Party victories in U.S. gubernatorial and congressional elections, New York Stock Exchange sales totalled 771,830, the largest volume in three weeks.

70 years ago
1947

Literature
U.S. Army General George Patton's memoirs, War as I Knew It, were posthumously published by Houghton Mifflin.

War
India and Pakistan exchanged notes charging each other with neutrality violation in the Kashmir dispute, as Indian troops invaded the territory.

Diplomacy
The Austrian government charged U.S.S.R. authorities in the Soviet zone with seizing property ion an unauthorized land reform project.

Politics and governnment
Judge John Stennis (Democrat) won the election to fill the U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi that had been vacated by the death of Theodore G. Bilbo (Democrat) on August 21. Earle Clements (Democrat) was elected Governor of Kentucky.

New York City voters elected to discard a proportional representation system under which two Communists had won City Council seats in 1946.

Local elections in Scotland resulted in a net gain of 62 seats for the Conservatives.

Journalism
Returning from a European visit, U.S. columnist Walter Lippman wrote in the New York Herald Tribune that the U.S.S.R. had lost the "cold war," and urged the United States to "push toward a settlement which permits the recovery of Europe and the world."

Crime
A jury in Brunswick, Georgia acquitted former prison warden H.G. Worthy and four guards of unnecessarily killing eight Negro convicts.

Economics and finance
A 10-man tax advisory committee set up by the U.S. House of Representatives urged the Ways and Means Committee to initiate large cuts in personal and corporate income taxes.

Labour
The Greek General Confederation of Labour called off a general strike in Athens when the government authorized wage increases of up to 30%.

Basketball
PBLA
Louisville (0-3) 43 @ Grand Rapids (1-1) 53
Birmingham (1-1) 48 @ Atlanta (5-0) 59
Springfield (1-3) 41 @ Chattanooga (0-2) 47

Baseball
The Chicago White Sox and their general manager, Leslie O'Connor, abandoned plans for a court test of their expulsion from the American League for signing high school player George Zoeterman, and were reinstated by Commissioner Happy Chandler after paying a $500 fine.

60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Jailhouse Rock/Treat Me Nice--Elvis Presley (Best Seller--3rd week at #1); Jailhouse Rock--Elvis Presley (Top 100--1st week at #1); Wake Up Little Susie--The Everly Brothers (Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Shoghi Effendi, 60. Iranian religious leader. Mr. Effendi, born Shoghí Effendí Rabbání, succeeded `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1921 as leader of the Bahá’í Faith, being given the title Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. During Mr. Effendi's time as Guardian, membership in Bahá’í Faith grew from 100,000 to 400,000, National Spiritual Assemblies were formed, and many thousands of Local Spiritual Assemblies were created. Mr. Effendi was travelling in London when he died of the Asian Flu, without appointing a successor.

Grigore Preoteasa, 42. Romanian politician. Mr. Preoteasa was Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1955-1957 and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party. He and the Soviet crew were killed when their plane crashed while landing at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Several Romanian politicians, including future dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, were among other passengers who were seriously injured.

Diplomacy
The Jordanian government denied Egyptian accusations that Jordan had opened contacts with Israel.

Politics and government
Venezuelan President Marcos Perez Jiminez ordered that a plebiscite on his continued rule be substituted for an originally-scheduled election.

Crime
Acy Lennon, secretary to U.S. Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (Democrat--New York), began serving a one-year prison sentence in New York for income tax evasion.

Labour
A U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. upheld a preliminary injunction barring Jimmy Hoffa from assuming the presidency of the Teamsters union.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Last Waltz--Engelbert Humperdinck (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Une Larme aux Nuages--Salvatore Adamo (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): A Whiter Shade of Pale--Procol Harum (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)--Scott McKenzie (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): (The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts--The Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Whiskey on a Sunday--Danny Doyle (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): (The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts--The Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): To Sir with Love--Lulu (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 To Sir with Love--Lulu (3rd week at #1)
2 How Can I Be Sure--The Young Rascals
3 Soul Man--Sam & Dave
4 Incense and Peppermints--Strawberry Alarm Clock
5 The Letter--The Box Tops
6 It Must Be Him--Vikki Carr
7 Your Precious Love--Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
8 Expressway to Your Heart--Soul Survivors
9 The Rain, the Park and Other Things--The Cowsills
10 People are Strange--The Doors

Singles entering the chart were She's My Girl by the Turtles (#56); Wild Honey by the Beach Boys (#60); Out of the Blue by Tommy James and the Shondells (#62); I Second That Emotion by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (#63); Yesterday by Ray Charles (#74); Paper Cup by the 5th Dimension (#76); Pony with the Golden Mane by Every Mother's Son (#79); Ten Little Indians by the Yardbirds (#83); Georgia Pines by the Candymen (#84); You've Got Me Hummin' by the Hassles (#87); Red and Blue by the Dave Clark Five (#89); Whole Lotta Woman by Arthur Conley (#93); Shame on Me by Chuck Jackson (#94); I Almost Called Your Name by Margaret Whiting (#98); Nobody But Me by the Human Beinz (#99); and Different Drum by the Stone Poneys (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 People are Strange--The Doors
2 Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song)--The Buckinghams
3 Soul Man--Sam & Dave
4 Hole in My Shoe--Traffic
5 Your Precious Love--Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
6 How Can I Be Sure--The Young Rascals
7 Even the Bad Times are Good--The Tremeloes
8 Holiday--The Gee Gees
9 Let Love Come Between Us--James & Bobby Purify
10 You Can't Do That--Nilsson

Singles entering the chart were Get it Together (Part 1) by James Brown and the Famous Flames (#74); Watch the Flowers Grow by the 4 Seasons (#77); You Better Sit Down Kids by Cher (#78); Out of the Blue by Tommy James and the Shondells (#81); Go Go Girl by Lee Dorsey (#82); Suzanne by Noel Harrison (#83); Nine Pound Steel by Joe Simon (#84); You are My Sunshine by Mitch Ryder (#86); By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Glen Campbell (#87); Can't Stop Loving You by the Last Words (#89); Skinny Legs and All by Joe Tex (#90); Lapland by the Baltimore & Ohio Marching Band (#92); This Town by Frank Sinatra (#93); Paper Cup by the 5th Dimension (#94); Stag-O-Lee by Wilson Pickett (#95); For Once in My Life by Tony Bennett (#96); Give Everybody Some by the Bar-Kays (#97); Birds of Britain by the Bob Crewe Generation (#98); Sweet, Sweet Lovin' by the Platters (#99); and Lovey Dovey (You're So Fine) by Bunny Sigler (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 The Rain, the Park and Other Things--The Cowsills
2 Hole in My Shoe--Traffic
3 I Can See for Miles--The Who
4 Itchycoo Park--Small Faces
5 I'll Never Fall in Love Again--Tom Jones
6 Let it All Hang Out--The Hombres
7 Get Together--The Youngbloods
8 Pata Pata--Miriam Makeba
9 Next Plane to London--The Rose Garden
10 I'm Wondering--Stevie Wonder

Singles entering the chart were She's My Girl by the Turtles (#23); Love is Strange by Peaches and Herb (#26); Ten Little Indians by the Yardbirds (#27); I Say a Little Prayer by Dionne Warwick (#28); Wild Honey by the Beach Boys (#29); and Daydream Believer by the Monkees (#30).

War
Congolese troops took Bukavu, capital of the province of Kivu, which had been held by white mercenaries and Katangese rebels since August 9.

Disasters
An Iberia Airlines Caravelle jet crashed on approach to London, killing 12 of 37 people aboard.

Football
CFL
Ottawa (9-4-1) 15 @ Montreal (2-12) 1
Calgary (12-4) 35 @ British Columbia (3-12-1) 30

Bo Scott scored a touchdown in the 1st quarter and Ron Stewart added a TD in the 2nd quarter as the Rough Riders built a 15-0 halftime lead and coasted to victory in a driving rain before only 6,000 fans in the last Canadian Football League game at Molson Stadium until 1972.

Peter Liske threw 5 touchdown passes to lead the Stampeders over the Lions before 23,706 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, clinching first place in the Western Football Conference for the second time in the last three years. Mr. Liske finished the regular season with 303 completions in 508 passes, with 40 touchdowns--all league single-season records at the time, with a total of 4,479 yards. Calgary flanker Terry Evanshen finished with 96 pass receptions--another record--for 1,662 yards and a record 17 touchdown receptions. Mr. Evanshen, with 102 points, became the last man to lead the CFL in scoring in a season on touchdowns alone. Among the players whose CFL careers ended with this game were B.C. quarterback Bernie Faloney, linebacker Norm Fieldgate, and defensive back Neal Beaumont.

CIAU
British Columbia 16 @ Calgary 11

Dave Corcoran rushed for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter and another in late in the 4th quarter to give the Thunderbirds their win over the Dinosaurs before 800 fans at McMahon Stadium, eliminating Calgary from the possibility of a tie in the standings with first-place Alberta. Calgary led 8-0 at halftime, with Don Maxwell rushing 12 yards for a touchdown.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Yes Sir, I Can Boogie--Baccara (12th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Belfast--Boney M. (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France: La Java de Broadway--Michel Sardou (4th week at #1)

Music
The single Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush was released in the United Kingdom on EMI Records.

Defense
The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted in favour of a mandatory embargo on arms and military material to South Africa. The action, the first such punitive measure against one of its members in the UN's 32-year history, was directed against South Africa's apartheid policy of racial separation.

Scandal
In Washington, D.C., U.S. Federal District Judge Barrington Parker fined former Central Intelligence Agency Director Richard Helms $2,000 and gave him a two-year suspended sentence and a stern rebuke for falsely testifying before a Senate committee in 1973 on covert operations in Chile. After the sentencing, Mr. Helms said that he had felt bound by his oath as an intelligence official "to protect intelligence sources and methods" when he had testified falsely before the Senate.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate had risen to 7% in October, an increase of 0.1% over September.

Boxing
Former Canadian welterweight champion Clyde Gray (59-6-1) knocked out Larry Smith (11-7) when Mr. Smith retired after 3 rounds of a scheduled 10-round bout at Winnipeg Convention Centre. On the undercard, former Canadian light heavyweight champion Al Sparks (23-13-1) of Winnipeg, in his first fight in more than 5 1/2 years, concluded his professional career with an 8-round unanimous decision over George Jerome (11-9-3). The bouts were televised in Canada on November 19 on CTV's Wide World of Sports.

Football
CIAU
Hardy Cup
British Columbia 12 @ Calgary 13

This blogger was among the almost 9,000 fans--the largest crowd for a U of C game to date--to see the Dinosaurs edge the Thunderbirds on a cold Friday night at McMahon Stadium. UBC kicker Gary Metz missed a field goal attempt late in the game that went for a single point, and Calgary was able to preserve the lead.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley (6th week at #1)

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Just Another Day--Jon Secada (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
George Klein, 88. Canadian inventor. Mr. Klein, a mechanical engineer with the National Research Council of Canada from 1929-1969, helped with the design of the Canadarm, the mechanical arm used on the U.S. space shuttle. His other inventions included the ZEEP nuclear reactor and a microsurgical staple gun.

20 years ago
1997

Died on this date
Richard Hooker, 73. U.S. author. Mr. Hooker, whose real name was Dr. Richard Hornberger, was a surgeon from Waterville, Maine who served with the United States Army during the Korean War, and used those experiences as the basis for his novel MASH (1968), which was made into a successful movie and an even more successful long-running television series. Mr. Hooker wrote the sequel novel M*A*S*H Goes to Maine (1971), and was credited as the co-author of numerous other sequels through 1977. He retired from his medical practice in 1988, and died of leukemia.

Literature
Mordecai Richler won the Giller Prize, Canada's richest literary award, for his novel Barney's Version.

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Peter Viertel, 86. German-born U.S. writer. Mr. Viertel, who moved with his family to the United States as a boy, wrote screenplays for movies such as Saboteur (1942) and The African Queen (1951). His experiences on The African Queen served as the basis for his novel White Hunter Black Heart (1953), which was made into a movie in 1990. Mr. Viertel was married to actress Deborah Kerr from 1960 until her death on October 16, 2007, just 19 days before he died of lymphoma, 12 days before his 87th birthday.