December 11, 2017

225 years ago
1792

World events
King Louis XVI of France was put on trial for treason by the National Convention.

110 years ago
1907

Disasters
The New Zealand Parliament Buildings in Wellington were almost completely destroyed by fire.

100 years ago
1917

War
British Army General Sir Edmund Allenby entered Jerusalem on foot through the Jaffa Gate and declared martial law, two days after Ottoman Empire authorities had surrendered the city to British troops, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule of Jerusalem.

90 years ago
1927

World events
Communist Red Guards in China launched an uprising in Canton, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet. Within two days, the city had been recaptured, and 600 were executed, including 14 "bobbed-hair girls" and the Soviet Vice Consul.

80 years ago
1937

Radio
CBF, Radio-Canada's first station, went on the air in Montreal.

Diplomacy
Italy left the League of Nations.

Football
CRU
Grey Cup @ Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Toronto Argonauts 4 Winnipeg 3

A field goal by Earl Selkirk and a punt single by Bob Isbister provided the scoring for the Argonauts as they edged the Blue Bombers before 11,522 fans on a cold day in the latest Grey Cup ever played, as far as the calendar is concerned. The Blue Bombers had the first scoring opportunity of the game when Bob Fritz recovered Art West's fumble on the Winnipeg 40-yard line and appeared to be gone for a touchdown, only to be tackled by Mr. Isbister at the Toronto 7-yard line. The play set up a punt single by Steve Olander, which gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead. Shortly after, Winnipeg's Fritz Hanson fumbled a punt by Mr. Isbister, and Bill Bryers recovered for the Argonauts at the Winnipeg 20-yard line, leading to Mr. Selkirk's 31-yard field goal and a 3-1 Toronto lead. The Blue Bombers thought they'd scored a touchdown when Toronto's Bill Stukus fumbled a punt and Bill Ceretti of the Blue Bombers returned it for a touchdown, but Winnipeg was penalized for no yards, although newspaper reports said the infraction was far from flagrant. The umpire who made the call, Eddie Grant, was from Winnipeg, and had scored the only point for the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers in the ir 24-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the 1925 Grey Cup. Mr. Olander punted for another single in the 2nd quarter and Mr. Isbister did the same for the Argonauts, and Toronto led 4-2 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Greg Kabat of the Blue Bombers missed a 40-yard field goal but scored a single to reduce the deficit to 4-3, but that was the end of the scoring. It was the last Grey Cup without a touchdown until 1975.

75 years ago
1942

War
U.K. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 8th Army began a new drive against the Axis line at El Agheila after a three-week lull. Two German columns supported by infantry were repulsed in drives on Medjez el Bab, 28 miles southwest of Tunis. U.S. dive bombers scored two hits on 11 Japanese destroyers headed for Guadalcanal. U.S. bombers hit a Japanese ship off Kiska and strafed shore installations in the Aleutian Islands. U.S. heavy bombers hit Japanese installations at Rangoon, Burma and Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt told Congress that America's expeditionary forces would total one million men by January 1, 1943.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Roosevelt appointed William Phillips as his personal representative to India, with the rank of Ambassador.

Politics and government
Delegates to the Conservative Party of Canada's leadership convention at Winnipeg Civic Auditorium changed the name of their party to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in order to broaden its appeal and to please its new leader. Manitoba Premier John Bracken was chosen as Progressive Conservative Party leader on the second ballot, replacing former Prime Minister Arthur Meighen. Mr. Bracken received 538 votes, defeating M. A. MacPherson (255) and John Diefenbaker (79).

70 years ago
1947

Politics and government
A Bulgarian cabinet shuffle gave 13 of 23 ministerial posts to Communists, with Georgi Dimitrov continuing as Prime Minister.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $590-million stop-gap foreign aid appropriation, cutting $7 million from President Harry Truman's request and including a $60-million grant to China in the total amount.

Labour
South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts abandoned a plan to import Italian farm workers, saying he would seek Dutch and Scandinavian workers instead.

Academia
Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania severed its connection with the Presbyterian Church.

Baseball
Major league teams rejected the Pacific Coast League's request for major league status.

60 years ago
1957

At the movies
Wild is the Wind, directed by George Cukor and starring Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn, and Anthony Franciosa, opened in theatres.

Peyton Place, starring Lana Turner and many others, received its premiere screening in Camden, Maine, where most of it had been filmed.

Jamboree, starring Dick Clark and numerous rock and roll artists, received its premiere screening in Hollywood. The songs included Wait and See by Fats Domino and Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis.

Died on this date
John McDowell, 55. U.S. politician. Mr. McDowell, a Republican, represented Pennsylvania's 31st District in the United States House of Representatives from 1939-1941 and that state's 29th District from 1947-1949. During his second term, he served on the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and helped to uncover damaging information during the investigation of former State Department employee Alger Hiss. Mr. McDowell committed suicide.

Space
The U.S. Army released photographs of an 80-inch cylindrical satellite that it planned to place in Earth orbit with the Jupiter-C rocket.

Defense
In a letter to West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin proposed the creation of an "atom free zone" across Europe, to include East and West Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor (Aranjuez, Mon Amour)--Richard Anthony (2nd week at #1)

Disasters
172 people were reported killed and 1,000 left homeless when an earthquake struck Koyna Nagar, India.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Float On--The Floaters (5th week at #1)

Business
United States Steel announced an average price increase of 5.5%, effective February 1, 1978. The American steel industry was suffering from job losses and cheaper foreign imports.

Hockey
CHL
Dallas 2 @ Kansas City 5
Tulsa 4 @ Phoenix 3

The Oilers' win over the Roadrunners at Veterans Memorial Coliseum was the last game for the Phoenix franchise, which was in its first season in the Central Hockey League. The Roadrunners, affiliated with both the Cleveland Barons and Colorado Rockies of the National Hockey League, folded the next day, with a record of 4-20-3.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Whenever You Need Somebody--Rick Astley (2nd week at #1)

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Sweat (A La La La La Long)--Inner Circle (12th week at #1)

Business
Woodward's filed for court protection from creditors who were owed over $65 million. The company consisted of 26 department stores, 33 Woodwyn discount outlets, 20 travel agencies, four Abercrombie & Fitch specialty stores, and three Commercial Interiors divisions in British Columbia and Alberta. The assets were acquired in 1993 by the Hudson's Bay Company, which converted old Woodward's stores into new Bay or Zellers outlets. The first store was established in Vancouver by Charles Woodward in 1892 selling dry goods, men's clothing and footwear; it moved from Main and Hastings Street over to Hastings and Abbott in 1903.

Hockey
National Basketball Association executive Gary Bettman was named the first Commissioner of the National Hockey League, effective February 1, 1993.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight--Elton John (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Smack My Bitch Up--The Prodigy (4th week at #1)

Environment
Canada joined over 150 other countries in signing the Kyoto Accord to control greenhouse gases and combat global warming in the 21st century.

10 years ago
2007

At the movies
The Great Debaters, co-produced by Oprah Winfrey and directed by and starring Denzel Washington, received its premiere screening at Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.



Terrorism
Two car bombs exploded in Algiers, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.

Crime
After reading 18 victim impact statements, British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Justice James Williams sentenced serial killer Robert Pickton to life with no possibility of parole for 25 years – the maximum punishment for second-degree murder – and equal to the sentence which would have been imposed for a first-degree murder conviction. Two days earlier he had been found guilty of the second-degree murders of Sereena Abotsway, Marnie Frey, Andrea Joesbury, Georgina Papin, Mona Wilson and Brenda Wolfe, prostitutes who had disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside between 1997 and 2001.