December 3, 2018

650 years ago
1368

Born on this date
Charles VI. King of France, 1380-1422. Charles VI, nicknamed "Charles the Beloved" and "Charles the Mad," succeeded his father Charles V on the throne at the age of 11. Beginning in 1392, he had bouts of insanity, which became more frequent and longer with the passage of time, and resulted in a violent struggle for power among his relatives. In 1420, King Charles VI signed the Treaty of Troyes (1420), which disinherited his offspring and recognized King Henry V of England as his legitimate successor on the throne of France. King Charles VI died on October 21, 1422 at the age of 53; his infant grandson, who had inherited the English throne as King Henry VI two months earlier, acceded to the French throne according to th Treaty of Troyes. King Charles' own son had to wait until 1429 to be crowned as King Charles VII.

200 years ago
1818

Americana
Illinois entered the Union as the 21st state.

190 years ago
1828

Politics and government
The day after the conclusion of popular voting in the U.S. presidential election, the Electoral College convened and elected Democratic party candidate Andrew Jackson. He received 178 electoral votes to 83 for incumbent President and National Republican Party candidate John Quincy Adams. In the voting for Vice President, incumbent John C. Calhoun was re-elected, receiving 171 of the Democratic Party electoral votes to 7 for William Smith, while Richard Rush received all 83 of the National Republican electoral votes.

180 years ago
1838

Born on this date
Princess Louise of Prussia. German Royal Family member. Luise Marie Elisabeth von Hohenzollern was the second child and only daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the older sister of Kaiser Friedrich III, and the aunt of Kaiser Wilhelm II. She was married to Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden from 1856 until his death in 1907. As Dowager Grand Duchess of Baden, Princess Louise was allowed after the German Revolution of 1918-1919 to live in retirement at Baden-Baden, and died on April 24, 1923 at the age of 84.

War
400 republicans and Canadian exiles crossed from Detroit and attacked Windsor, Upper Canada.

130 years ago
1888

Died on this date
Carl Zeiss, 72. German lens maker. Mr. Zeiss began manufacturing microscopes in the 1840s, and expanded his business to include cameras when photography started to become popular.

120 years ago
1898

Football
Roy Jackson rushed for 2 touchdowns and J.A. Gammons returned a punt 60 yards for another TD as the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club defeated an all-star team from western Pennsylvania 16-0 before 1,500 fans at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, in what is considered to be the first all-star game for professional American football.

90 years ago
1928

Defense
Approximately 180 fighting ships took part in the greatest display of sea power yet assembled in Eastern waters passed for inspection in Yokohama before newly-enthroned Emperor Hirohito in the grand enthronement naval review.

Disasters
Nine prominent Brazilians were drowned, together with five crew members, when the hydroplane in which they were flying plunged into the harbour of Rio de Janeiro. They were on their way to meet Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont.

80 years ago
1938

Football
CRU
Eastern Final
Sarnia 8 @ Toronto Argonauts 25

Art West scored 2 touchdowns in the 1st quarter--on an 8-yard rush, and a 25-yard pass from Bill Stukus--as the Argonauts opened an early 12-0 lead and coasted to victory over the Imperials before 16,000 fans at Varsity Stadium. After a scoreless 2nd quarter, the Argonauts scored a safety touch and a single in the 3rd quarter,while Arnie McWatters punted for 2 singles to get Sarnia on the scoreboard, making the score 15-2 after 3 quartes. Annis Stukus kicked a field goal early in the 4th quarter to increase Toronto's lead to 18-2, before Bernie Moros rushed 3 yards for the Imperials' only touchdown, with the convert making the score 18-8. Doug MacPherson then threw a touchdown pass to Annis Stukus, with Mr. Stukus converting his own TD.

75 years ago
1943

Literature
Houghton Mifflin Company announced that its $2,500 Life in America award had been given to Dixon Lecter for his book When Johnny Comes Marching Home.

War
A U.S.-Canadian First Special Service Force took Mount la Difensa on the Cassino front in Italy. U.S.S.R. forces reached Staraya Rudnya, only nine miles southeast of the rail junction at Zhlobin. The vital Chinese "rice bowl" city of Changteh fell to Japanese forces after a 15-day defense of the city failed. Japanese bombers struck at Tarawa atoll in the Gilberts, causing light damage.

Politics and government
Robert M. Lovett, William E. Dodd, Jr., and Goodwin Watson filed suit in Washington, questioning the right of the United States Congress to remove them from their government jobs because of alleged Communist sympathies.

Economics and finance
The U.S. War Production Board announced that plane production in November had totalled 7,789 craft, including "more than 1,000' four-engine bombers, and that "about a dozen" aircraft carriers were among 250,000 tons of warships completed during the month.

70 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Jan Hofmeyr, 54. S.A. politician. Mr. Hofmeyr was a child prodigy who graduated from university at the age of 15, and began teaching classics at the age of 22. He served as Administrator of the Transvaal from 1924-1929 before entering politics as a member of the South African Party, winning election to Parliament in 1929 as the member for Johannesburg North. Mr. Hofmeyr, an Afrikaner, supported cooperation with English South Africaners, and helped to found the Union Party--a fusion of the South African Party and National Party--in 1933, with Nationalist J.B.M. Hertzog remaining as Prime Minister. Mr. Hofmeyr was in the cabinet, holding the portfolios of Education, Interior, and Public Health. He resigned from the cabinet several years later in opposition to laws restricting the rights of racial minorities. When South Africa declared war on Germany in 1939, Jan Smuts replaced Mr. Hertzog as Prime Minister, and Mr. Hofmeyr re-entered the cabinet as Minister of Finance and Minister of Education, while acting as Prime Minister when General Smuts was absent. Mr. Hofmeyr served in the cabinet until May 1948, when the National Party came to power. Mr. Hofmeyr was believed to be the natural successor to Gen. Smuts as Union Party leader, but his heavy workload probably contributed to his death.

Defense
The Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, providing for mutual defense of Western Hemisphere countries, went into effect, as Costa Rica deposited the 14th ratification with the Pan American Union in Washington.

Religion
The Federal Council of Churches in America ended a three-day national convention in Cincinnati after passing a strong civil rights resolution urging members to work for an end to segregation in all walks of life.

Academia
Florida Governor Millard Caldwell reported plans to run the projected Southern regional university system without federal aid in order to ensure continued racial segregation.

Economics and finance
The American Medical Association ended a four-day meeting in St. Louis after formulating plans to raise a $3.5-million fund to combat U.S. President Harry Truman's national health insurance program.

Business
The U.S. National Association of Manufacturers ended a three-day convention in New York after passing resolutions opposing government business controls, warning of inflation and urging reduction of government expenditures.

Labour
The Congress of Industrial Organizations American Radio Association accepted a 10% wage increase from West Coast shippers, the last of five striking unions to reach a settlement.

Disasters
The Chinese steamer Kiangya, filled with refugees bound for southern China, exploded and sank near Shanghai, killing 1,100 passengers and crew members.

60 years ago
1958

Space
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered a compromise in the dispute over National Aeronautics and Space Administration efforts to take over Army space scientists and facilities, transferring the Army's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California to NASA, but allowing the Army to keep its Ballistic Missile Agency and team of 2,000 space scientists.

Roy Johnson, director of the U.S. Defense Department Advanced Research Projects Agency, announced that the Air Force planned to launch Earth satellites at the rate about one per month, starting in 1959.

War
Syrian artillery shelled Hulata and seven other villages in the Huleh Valley region, following an exchange of gunfire begun when Syrian troops fired on an Israeli shepherd.

Defense
The East German Parliament unanimously declared that it would "conscientiously" assume Soviet military functions in Berlin.

At the Geneva talks on the suspension of nuclear tests, U.S. delegation chief William Foster introduced a plan for the creation of a detection system to guard against surprise missile attacks.

Protest
4,000 jobless Brazilians sacked the town of Caninde in Ceara State.

Economics and finance
The Indonesian Parliament approved a bill authorizing nationalization of an estimated $1.5 billion worth of Dutch holdings seized within the past year.

Labour
A six-day strike of 240,000 Argentine railway workers ended after troops were assigned to guard installations and run the trains.

The International Machinists Association and Trans World Airlines agreed on a new three-year contract, ending a strike of 6,700 workers.

United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis signed a contract with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association, increasing the daily wages of soft-coal miners by $2.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): With a Little Help from My Friends--Joe Cocker

On television tonight
Singer Presents...Elvis, on NBC

Popularly known as the "'68 Comeback Special," Elvis Presley's first TV special was the highest-rated program of the season, and inspired Mr. Presley to resume live performances, which he had abandoned shortly after returning from his tour of duty in the United States Army in 1960.

Died on this date
Dick Shikat, 71. German wrestler. Mr. Shikat wrestled professionally from 1918-1953, and was world heavyweight champion for 54 days in March-April 1936. He was also recognized as world heavyweight champion by the New York State Athletic Commission in 1929 and by the National Wrestling Association in Florida in 1940. Mr. Shikat was inducted in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Dreadlock Holiday--10cc

#1 single in Switzerland: You're the Greatest Love--Luv' (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
William Grant Still, 83. U.S. composer. Mr. Still, the "Dean of Afro-American composers," wrote over 200 works, including five symphonies and six operas. His best-known work was Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American" (1931), which was, until 1950, the most widely-performed symphony composed by an American.

Terrorism
Former FLQ terrorists Jacques Cossette and Micheline Lanctôt returned from exile in Cuba and France, eight years after the Quebec organization had kidnapped U.K. High Commissioner to Canada James Cross and kidnapped and murdered Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte.

Economics and finance
A three-day summit on Quebec's cultural industries began in Quebec City, with a bill concerning the creation of a Cultural Enterprise Development Corporation (SODEC) at the heart of the discussions.

Disasters
6 people were killed an 60 injured when seven of eight passenger cars of the Southern Railway's Southern Crescent derailed, 35 miles south of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 2 @ Philadelphia 7
Montreal 4 @ Buffalo 1

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): È qui la festa?--Jovanotti

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Wee Rule--Wee Papa Girl Rappers

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Orinoco Flow--Enya

#1 single in France (SNEP): Pourvu qu'elles soient douces--Mylène Farmer

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Missing You--Chris de Burgh

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): First Time--Robin Beck (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Free Baby)--Will to Power

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Free Baby)--Will to Power
2 How Can I Fall?--Breathe
3 Desire--U2
4 Look Away--Chicago
5 Bad Medicine--Bon Jovi
6 I Don't Want Your Love--Duran Duran
7 Giving You the Best That I Got--Anita Baker
8 Walk on Water--Eddie Money
9 Waiting for a Star to Fall--Boy Meets Girl
10 Kissing a Fool--George Michael

Singles entering the chart were Straight Up by Paula Abdul (#79); A Little Respect by Erasure (#82); What I Am by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (#84); Wild Thing by Tone Loc (#85); Shake for the Sheik by Escape Club (#86); My Heart Can't Tell You No by Rod Stewart (#87); and It's No Secret by Kylie Minogue (#90).

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis continued its secret four-day mission for the U.S. Defense Department. It was believed that a new radar reconnaissance satellite, able to "see" through clouds and at night had been put into orbit.

Diplomacy
Soviet diplomats and representatives of Afghan rebels met in Taif, Saudi Arabia for three days of talks to discuss withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, scheduled for completion by mid-February 1989. The talks were believed to be the first contact between the U.S.S.R. and anti-Communist Muhajadeen rebels since the Soviet invasion in December 1979.

Health
U.K. Health Minister Edwina Currie alleged that most of Great Britain's egg production was infected with salmonella, provoking outrage from farmers and other politicians.

Hockey
NHL
Buffalo 2 @ Montreal 3 (OT)

25 years ago
1993

Died on this date
Lewis Thomas, 80. U.S. physician and etymologist. Dr. Thomas was best known for his essays in the New England Journal of Medicine. His essay collection The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher (1974) won two National Book Awards. Dr. Thomas died eight days after his 80th birthday.

Popular culture
Criticizing the British press for the amount of attention she was receiving, Diana, Princess of Wales announced that she would curtail her busy schedule of public appearances.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate in November was 6.4%, a decline of 0.4% from October, the largest one-month decline in 10 years. The Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had increased 0.5% in October.

20 years ago
1998

At the movies
Shakespeare in Love, directed by John Madden, and starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck, and Judi Dench, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Pierre Hétu, 62. Canadian musician and conductor. Mr. Hétu, a native of Montreal, was a pianist before turning to conducting. He was assistant conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (1963-1968) ; music director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (1968-1972); associate director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1970-1973); and music director (1973-1979) and principal guest conductor (1979-1980) of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. He died of cancer after years of declining health.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this date
Robert Zajonc, 85. Polish-born U.S. psychologist. Dr. Zajonc was a prisoner in a German labour camp during World War II, eventually escaping and serving in the French resistance before moving to England, and eventually, the United States. He taught at the University of Michigan from 1955-1994, and was a social psychologist known for work on a wide range of social and cognitive processes, including the effect of birth order and family size on intelligence.