November 23, 2019

520 years ago
1499

Died on this date
Perkin Warbeck, 25. English pretender. Mr. Warbeck claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who, with King Edward V, were the "Princes in the Tower" of London, sons of King Edward IV who were imprisoned by King Richard III after he seized the throne in 1483. There was some popular doubt as to whether the Duke of York may have survived, and Mr. Warbeck bore some resemblance to Edward IV, enabling him to receive some support for his claim. He made an unsuccessful landing in Kent in 1495, and was arrested after landing in Corwall in 1497. Mr. Warbeck was hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. His Irish ally John Atwater was hanged at Tyburn the same day.

270 years ago
1749

Born on this date
Edward Rutledge. U.S. politician. Mr. Rutledge, a Federalist, was a delegate from South Carolina to the Continental Congress (1774-1776), and at 26 was the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence. He represented Charleston in the S.C. House of Representatives (1776-1778, 1783-1796) and Senate (1796-1798), and was Governor of South Carolina from 1798 until his death on January 23, 1800 at the age of 50. He was suffering from gout, but some contemporary accounts said that Mr. Rutledge died of apoplexy upon hearing the news of the death of former U.S. President George Washington, who had died on December 14, 1799.

150 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Valdemar Poulsen. Danish engineer. Mr. Poulsen made significant contributions to early radio technology. He invented a magnetic wire recorder called the telegraphone in 1898. In 1903, he invented the first continuous wave radio transmitter--the Poulsen arc transmitter--which was used in some of the first broadcasting stations until the early 1920s. Mr. Poulsen died on July 23, 1942 at the age of 72.

130 years ago
1889

Technology
The first jukebox was installed at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.

120 years ago
1899

Died on this date
Thomas Henry Ismay, 62. U.K. shipping magnate. Mr. Ismay purchased the bankrupt Oceanic Steam Navigation Company--better known as the White Star Line--in 1868, and turned it into a successful company. He died two months after suffering a heart attack. Mr. Ismay's son Bruce took over the White Star Line, and became infamous for surviving the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912.

110 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Nigel Tranter. U.K. historian and author. Mr. Tranter, a lifelong resident of Scotland, wrote more than 130 books, the best-known of which was the five-volume history The Fortified House in Scotland (1962-1970). He wrote historical novels about Scotland, and wrote Western novels under the pseudonym Nye Tredgold. Mr. Tranter died on January 9, 2000 at the age of 90.

100 years ago
1919

Football
Wisconsin professional
Green Bay Packers (10-1) 0 @ Beloit Fairies 6

This was the last game of the Packers' first season.

90 years ago
1929

Football
NFL
Minneapolis (1-8) 0 @ Frankford (9-2-3) 24

80 years ago
1939

War
The British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi was sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau north of the Faroe Islands, with the loss of 238 men, including Captain Edward Kennedy. 48 survivors were picked up.

75 years ago
1944

Theatre
The Man Who Had All the Luck, written by Arthur Miller and starring Karl Swenson, opened at the Forrest Theatre on Broadway in New York City. It was Mr. Miller's first play to be performed on Broadway.

War
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King issued an order-in-council making 16,000 conscripts--popularly known as "Zombies"--eligible for immediate overseas duty as reinforcements. French troops entered Strasbourg against light German opposition. Soviet troops renewed their drive in the eastern end of Slovakia, capturing Cop. American planes destroyed or damaged four troop-laden Japanese ships heading for Ormoc in the Philippines.

World events
Two days after being arrested, U.K. author P.G. Wodehouse was released by Paris police with the provision that he report at intervals to French authorities.

Politics and government
Yugoslavian leader Marshal Tito announced plans for a federal democratic government in Yugoslavia.

Aviation
The technical committees of the International Civil Aviation Conference in Chicago adopted a code of common practices involving worthiness of craft; identification markers; weather reporting procedures; scales; symbols; and customs procedures.

Health
The Journal of the American Medical Association published a Duke University study claiming that Americans with a normal diet did not benefit from vitamins.

70 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Ben Wright and Eric Snowden, on ABC

Diplomacy
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky informed the United Nations General Assembly that the U.S.S.R. no longer recognized the Nationalist government's right to represent China at the UN, but refrained from pressing for immediate seating of a Communist Chinese delegation.

Economics and finance
The Czechoslovakian government announced a drive against black market activities and other forms of alleged economic "sabotage" by prosperous farmers.

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mare Nostrum (Ola, Ola, Ola)--Elder Berber

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin (7th week at #1)
2 Mr. Blue--The Fleetwoods
3 Don't You Know--Della Reese
4 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
5 Put Your Head on My Shoulder--Paul Anka
6 So Many Ways--Brook Benton
7 Deck of Cards--Wink Martindale
8 In the Mood--Ernie Fields Orchestra
9 Primrose Lane--Jerry Wallace with the Jewels
10 We Got Love--Bobby Rydell

Singles entering the chart were This Friendly World by Fabian (#61); Way Down Yonder in New Orleans by Freddie Cannon (#72); It's Time to Cry by Paul Anka (#74); Among My Souvenirs by Connie Francis (#76); Pretty Blue Eyes by Steve Lawrence (#80); Talk That Talk by Jackie Wilson (#87); Sandy by Larry Hall (#89); Why by Frankie Avalon (#95); and We Told You Not to Marry by Titus Turner (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell (2nd week at #1)
2 Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Drifters
--David Hill
3 In the Mood--Ernie Fields Orchestra
4 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin
5 Mr. Blue--The Fleetwoods
6 Deck of Cards--Wink Martindale
7 Teen Beat--Sandy Nelson
8 Don't You Know--Della Reese
9 Lonely Street--Andy Williams
10 Morgen--Ivo Robic and the Song-Masters

Singles entering the chart were Old Shep by Ralph DeMarco (#50); Ebb Tide by Bobby Freeman (#56); Honestly and Truly by Tommy Edwards (#57); Do-Re-Mi by Mitch Miller and the Sing-Along Chorus (#59); and (It's No) Sin by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#60).

Divorced on this date
U.S. actress Eleanor Powell was divorced from actor Glenn Ford in Santa Monica, California.

Defense
West German Defense Minister Franz-Josef Strauss outlined an arms procurement program designed to rebuild key military industries but to prevent recreation of a German "armaments autarchy that would not be feasible economically today."

Politics and government
French President Charles de Gaulle declared in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals."

Indian National Congress Party delegates, criticizing the inaction of Defense Minister Krishna Menon in the face of Chinese incursions, demanded that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru dismiss Mr. Menon and assume the defense portfolio.

Law
Ruling that suspicion alone was not grounds for arrest, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the lower court conviction of John Patrick Henry, who had received a one-year jail sentence for stealing radios.

Labour
Addressing an Economic Club meeting in Detroit, National Association of Manufacturers President Stanley Hope proposed that the U.S. Congress outlaw industry-wide collective bargaining and require that union-management negotiations be conducted at the local level.

50 years ago
1969

War
For four hours Israeli jets hit Egyptian positions between Qantara and Suez city in the most sustained air strike since the Six-Day War in 1967.

World events
It was reported that Iraq had executed eight more men, including one identified as a Jew, as spies for Israel.

Crime
Stressing that fear of violence "is gnawing at the vitals of urban America," the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence warned in a report that crime would turn cities into armed camps "in a few years," unless the nation changed its priorities and embarked on a massive spending program ranging from improving local law enforcement to cleaning up slums.

Football
CFL
Atlanta (3-7) 20 @ Washington (5-3-2) 27
San Francisco (2-7-1) 38 @ New Orleans (3-7) 43
New York (3-7) 17 @ Cleveland (7-2-1) 28
Detroit (7-3) 16 @ Green Bay (5-5) 10
Baltimore (6-4) 24 @ Chicago (1-9) 21
Pittsburgh (1-9) 14 @ Minnesota (9-1) 52
Philadelphia (4-5-1) 34 @ St. Louis (3-6-1) 30
Dallas (8-2) 23 @ Los Angeles (10-0) 24

AFL
Houston (5-4-2) 32 @ Miami (2-8-1) 7
Buffalo (3-8) 21 @ Boston (3-8) 35
Cincinnati (4-6-1) 7 @ New York (8-3) 40
Oakland (9-1-1) 27 @ Kansas City (9-2) 24
Denver (4-6-1) 24 @ San Diego (5-6) 45

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Oh! Susie--Secret Service (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Maybe--Thom Pace (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Merle Oberon, 68. Indian-born actress. Miss Oberon, born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson in British India, achieved success in movies in the United Kingdom in the 1930s and in the United States in the 1940s. Her films included The Dark Angel (1935); Wuthering Heights (1939); and The Lodger (1944). Miss Oberon died after suffering a stroke.

Fred Sgambati, 58. Canadian sportscaster. Mr. Sgambati began his sportscasting career on radio in 1951 and joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1957, where he spent the rest of his life. Mr. Sgambati broadcast many sports, including football and hockey, especially on radio. Mr. Sgambati, who lost a long battle with cancer, was able to call the play-by-play for the Canadian College Bowl football game on CBC radio just six days before his death.

Judee Sill, 35. U.S. musician. Miss Sill was a singer-songwriter who served time in prison for armed robbery in her late teens and battled drug addiction for much of her life. She released albums in 1971 and 1973, but they sold poorly, and she ran afoul of Asylum Records boss David Geffen, which combined with increasing drug use to impede her career. Miss Sill died of a drug overdose at her North Hollywood, California apartment; her musical reputation and influence have increased since her death.

Politics and government
The struggle between military and civilian authority in Bolivia resumed when interim President Lidia Gueiler Tejada ordered the army commander to step down and he refused. The commander acquiesced to the order only after securing the right to name his successor.

Crime
Thomas McMahon, 31, was found guilty of the August 27 murder of Lord Louis Mountbatten and was sentenced to life in prison. Mr. McMahon, according to police, was the leading expert in remote-controlled bombs in the provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army.

Disasters
60 were killed when an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rocked Pereira, Colombia.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): Lambada--Kaoma (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville) (2nd week at #1)

Protest
Alexander Dubcek, leader of the "Prague Spring" reform movement in Czechoslovakia in 1968, spoke to a pro-democracy crowd in Bratislava.

20 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Irwin Kostal, 83. U.S. musical arranger and orchestra conductor. Mr. Kostal won Academy Awards for scoring the musical films West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965).

Tommy Boyce, 55. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Boyce and Bobby Hart were known for writing songs for the Monkees, such as (Theme From) The Monkees; Last Train to Clarksville; and Valleri. They also performed as a duo, achieving chart success in 1968 with singles such as I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight and Alice Long. Mr. Boyce had suffered a brain aneurysm not long before and had reportedly been told by his doctor that he was likely to suffer another more serious one in the future, which may have led to him committing suicide by shooting himself.

Art Barr, 28. U.S. wrestler. Mr. Barr began his professional career in the United States in 1987, but achieved his greatest popularity wrestling in Mexico from 1991 until his death, which may have been from a drug-related heart attack in his sleep.

War
About 50 NATO aircraft attacked three Serb militia bases in Bosnia in reprisal for the previous day's missiles fired at British aircraft on NATO patrol.

20 years ago
1999

World events
A boat carrying Cuban refugees to the United States sank, and 10 of the 13 people aboard drowned.

Politics and government
U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said that she would run for a U.S. Senate seat from New York, although this was not a formal announcement. She said that she would soon move into the new home that she and President Bill Clinton had found in Chappaqua, New York.

Crime
A jury in Yorkton, Saskatchewan convicted Larry Fisher of the 1969 murder of Gail Miller, the sex slaying for which David Milgaard spent 23 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence.

Health
Health Canada released 1,200 pages of industry documents showing that Canadian-based Imperial Tobacco Ltd. assessed smokers as young as nine and "fortified" products to increase their addictive qualities.

Hockey
Wayne Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

10 years ago
2009

Abominations
58 people on their way to register Esmael Mangudadatu's candidacy for governor of Maguindanao, Philippines, were kidnapped, murdered, and dumped into mass graves by supporters of his rival, Andal Ampatuan Jr. At least 34 of the victims were journalists.