December 1, 2017

130 years ago
1887

Literature
Sherlock Holmes appeared for the first time in A. Conan Doyle's short novel A Study in Scarlet, published in the 1887 edition of the British publication Beeton's Christmas Annual.

125 years ago
1892

Literature
The December 1892 issue of The Strand Magazine contained the short story The Adventure of Silver Blaze by A. Conan Doyle, first in a series that was published in book form in 1894 as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

120 years ago
1897

Politics and government
Thomas Robert McInnes was installed as Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Marty Marion. U.S. baseball player and manager. Mr. Marion, nicknamed "Slats," was a shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals (1940-1950) and St. Louis Browns (1952-1953), batting .263 with 36 home runs and 624 runs batted in in 1,572 games. He helped the Cardinals win four National League pennants and three World Series championships, and was named the NL's Most Valuable Player in 1944. Mr. Marion managed the Cardinals (1951); Browns (1952-1953); and Chicago White Sox (1954-1956), compiling a record of 356-372. He died of an apparent heart attack on March 15, 2011 at the age of 93.

75 years ago
1942

War
Stiffening Russian resistance slowed Russian offensives west of Stalingrad and northwest of Moscow. Allied forces in Tunisia repulsed a German counterattack at Tebourba, 20 miles west of Tunis. The U.S. Navy frustrated a Japanese attempt to land reinforcements on Guadalcanal, sinking several transports. U.S. heavy bombers raided the Burmese capital of Rangoon and the Andaman Islands.

Politics and government
French Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan took over authority as chief of state in North Africa on the grounds that French Prime Minister Marshal Philippe Petain was a prisoner of the Nazis in Vichy.

Economics and finance
The British government of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in the Beveridge Report, unveiled plans for a welfare state to be implemented after the end of World War II.

U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Canadian External Affairs Minister Leighton McCarthy agreed to a series of conferences o postwar economic settlements and reduction of trade barriers with other United Nations members.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that the question of limiting income from sources other than salries up to $25,000 after taxes must be decided by Congress.

Oil
Nationwide gasoline rationing began in the United States.

Labour
U.S. War Manpower Commission Chairman Paul McNutt reported that the WMC and Agriculture Department were preparing a plan to ensure adequate agricultural labour in 1943.

Academia
The U.S. Office of Education reported that college and university enrollment had declined 13.7% since October, and predicted a sharper drop when 18- and 19-year-olds were drafted into the military.

70 years ago
1947

Died on this date
Aleister Crowley, 72. U.K. occultist. Mr. Crowley was often referred to as "the wickedest man in the world." He was born into a Christian family, but rejected the faith of his parents and founded the pagan religion of Thelema, proclaiming "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will." Mr. Crowley believed himself to be the prophet of a new age, the Æon of Horus, a time of self-realization. He joined the British esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1898 and later joined the German esoteric order Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) and became the leader of its British branch. Mr. Crowley was a drug user and bisexual, and enjoyed flouting traditional morality. He died after several years of failing health, but remains influential.

Literature
The Meaning of Treason by Rebecca West, a report on the British treason trials, was published in New York.

Defense
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced plans to construct a nuclear testing ground on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The United Kingdom, India, and Nepal reached an agreement allowing Ghurka troops from Nepal to continue serving in the British Army.

Politics and government
The four-day international Socialist Conference ended in Antwerp, after voting to create a permanent "Committee for the International Socialist Conference" (COMISCO) to offset the Cominform.

The Egyptian Chamber of Deputies voted to help keep Palestine a totally Arab state.

The American Jewish Congress, representing 62 major U.S. Jewish groups, was reorganized as a permanent agency.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate passed the $597-million stop-gap aid appropriation for Europe that had been requested by U.S. President Harry Truman.

The U.S.A., Canada, and the Netherlands agreed to accept conciliation of conflicting claims to $500 million in Nazi assets left in 18 countries.

General Chiang Ching-kuo, eldest son of Chinese leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, was named supervisor of an anti-inflation drive in Shanghai.

Disasters
A hurricane off the Portuguese coast near Oporto killed 165 fishermen.

60 years ago
1957

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Young One, starring Carol Lynley and Vince Edwards

Ballet
Agon, composed by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by George Balanchine, received its premiere performance from the New York City Ballet.

Died on this date
Robert Colvert. U.S. crime victim. Mr. Colvert, a service station attendant, was robbed and murdered by Charlie Starkweather, 19. It was the first murder committed by Mr. Starkweather, who, with girlfired Caril Ann Fugate, went on a killing spree throughout the state less than two months later.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles offered to meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Fawzi in an effort to change Egypt's anti-Western policies.

Politics and government
Colombians voted in a plebiscite to amend the 1886 constitution to allow a joint Conservative and Liberal party government.

Economics and finance
The Indonesian government ordered a 24-hour boycott of Dutch-owned businesses in Indonesia.

Auto racing
The Maserati firm announced that it would withdraw from competition because of the expense.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: (The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts--The Bee Gees

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Daydream Believer--The Monkees
2 Beg, Borrow and Steal--Ohio Express
3 (The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts--The Bee Gees
4 The Rain, the Park and Other Things--The Cowsills
5 Incense and Peppermints--Strawberry Alarm Clock
6 (Alone) In My Room--Willie & the Walkers
7 I Can See for Miles--The Who
8 Kentucky Woman--Neil Diamond
9 Soul Man--Sam & Dave
10 Ten Little Indians--The Yardbirds
Pick hit of the week: Out of the Blue--Tommy James and the Shondells
New this week: Dancing Bear--The Mamas and the Papas
Ain't That Peculiar--The Tokens
Come See About Me--Jr. Walker & the All-Stars
Autumn Almanac--The Kinks
In Another Land--Bill Wyman

World events
The government of Thailand declared martial law in five provinces because of increased Communist guerrilla activity. An estimated 2,000 members of the Communist Patriotic Front were believed to be operating in the country, which previously had imposed martial law in seven other provinces where rebels had been particularly active.

Crime
U.S. singer Jimmie Rodgers suffered a fractured skull after his car was stopped by an off-duty police officer on the San Diego Freeway in Los Angeles. Mr. Rodgers suffered a fractured skull and was found unconscious in his car. The Los Angeles Police Department claimed that off-duty officer Michael Duffy had stopped Mr. Rodgers for erratic driving, that Mr. Rodgers had fallen and hit his head, and that Mr. Duffy and two other policemen had put Mr. Rodgers into his car and left him there, where he was found later by a worried friend.

Economics and finance
Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda inaugurated the East African Community.

40 years ago
1977

Hockey
CHL
Tulsa 2 @ Phoenix 0

30 years ago
1987

Died on this date
George “Punch” Imlach, 69. Canadian hockey coach and executive. As coach and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1958-1969, Mr. Imlach led the team to Stanley Cup championships in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967. He became the first coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres when they joined the National Hockey League in 1970, stepping down as coach in January 1972 after suffering a heart attack. Mr. Imlach remained with the Sabres as their general manager through the 1977-78 season. He rejoined the Maple Leafs as general manager from 1979-1981, but the organization and the sport had changed, and Mr. Imlach was unsuccessful in his attempts to restore the Maple Leafs to the success that they had achieved in the 1960s.

James Baldwin, 63. U.S. author. Mr. Baldwin was one of the major Negro writers of the 1950s and 1960s. His books included Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953); Notes of a Native Son (1955); Nobody Knows My Name (1961); Another Country (1962); and The Fire Next Time (1963).

Hockey
NHL
Minnesota 3 Toronto 2 (OT)

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Tubthumping--Chumbawumba (4th week at #1)
2 Fly--Sugar Ray
3 Sweet Surrender--Sarah McLachlan
4 Walkin' on the Sun--Smash Mouth
5 The Sound Of--Jann Arden
6 Show Me Love--Robyn
7 I Don't Want to Wait--Paula Cole
8 I've Just Seen a Face--Holly Cole
9 Surrounded--Chantal Kreviazuk
10 Foolish Games--Jewel

Singles entering the chart were All Cried Out by Allure (#71); The Girl I Love by Led Zeppelin (#80); Without Expression by John Mellencamp (#85); Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden (#91); On and On by the Long Pigs (#92); and Back to You by Bryan Adams (#94).

Died on this date
Stéphane Grappelli, 89. French musician. Mr. Grappelli was known as the "grandfather of jazz violinists." He founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934, and enjoyed a recording and concert career into his 80s.

Endicott Peabody, 77. U.S. politician. Mr. Peabody, a Democrat, was Governor of Massachusetts from 1963-1965. In an effort to abolish capital punishment, he commuted every death sentence handed down during his term. Mr. Peabody ran for several offices in later years, but was always unsuccessful.

Terrorism
In the Indian state of Bihar, the upper-caste landlord militia Ranvir Sena attacked the Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Party Unity stronghold of Lakshmanpur-Bathe, killing 63 lower caste people.