August 31, 2021

Married on this date
Happy Anniversary, Lee and Lois Morrow!

1,860 years ago
161

Born on this date
Commodus. Emperor of the Roman Empire, 177-192. Lucius Aurelius Commodus was co-Emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177-180, and reigned alone until his assassination. An attempt at poisoning Commodus was unsuccessful, so his wrestling partner Narcissus strangled him in his bath on December 31, 192 at the age of 31. Pertinax was named Emperor the next day. Commodus turned his reign as Emperor into a cult of personality, and was not mourned.

225 years ago
1796

Died on this date
John McKinly, 75. U.K.-born U.S. politician. Dr. McKinly, a physician, emigrated to Delaware in 1742. He served in the militia during the French and Indian War, and represented New Castle County in the Assembly of the Delaware or Lower Counties (1771-1777). Dr. McKinly was elected by the Assembly as its first President, serving from February-September 1777, when he was captured by British forces. He was eventually taken to Flatbush, New York, and was returned to Delaware in August 1778 in exchange for Benjamin Franklin's son William, the Loyalist Governor of New Jersey. Dr. McKinly never sought political office again.

210 years ago
1811

Died on this date
Louis Antoine de Bougainville, 81. French military officer and explorer. Comte de Bougainville was a navy admiral who fought against in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. He led the first French settlement of the خles Malouines (Falkland Islands) (1763-1764), composed of Acadians who had been deported to France by the British because of their refusal to sign loyalty oaths. Comte de Bougainville commanded the first French circumnavigation of the globe (1766-1769). Bougainville Island of Papua New Guinea as well as the Bougainvillea flower were named after him.

180 years ago
1841

Disasters
The New Zealand ship Sophia Pate was wrecked on a sandbar at the entrance to Kaipara Harbour with the loss of 21 lives. The ship had been chartered by three Irish Wesleyan (Methodist) families to carry 23 settlers from Sydney, via Auckland, to the Kaipara district, where they planned to establish a settlement in the Kaihu Valley.

150 years ago
1871

Born on this date
James E. Ferguson. U.S. politician. "Pa" Ferguson, a Democrat, served a pair of one-year terms as Governor of Texas (1915-1917), but was impeached, convicted, and removed from office before the end of his second term on corruption-related charges. He ran unsuccessfully for President of the United States as the candidate of the American Party in 1920, and lost a Democratic Party runoff election in an attempt to be nominated to run for the U.S. Senate in 1922. His wife Miriam "Ma" Ferguson was elected Governor of Texas in 1924, serving as the state's first female governor (1925-1927, 1933-1935). Mr. Ferguson died of a stroke on September 21, 1944, three weeks after his 73rd birthday.

125 years ago
1896

At the movies
The first motion pictures to be shown in Toronto were screened at Robinson's Musee at 81 Yonge Street.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Arsenio Rodriguez. Cuban-born U.S. musician. Mr. Rodriguez, born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull, played the Cuban instruments tres and tumbadora and specialized in Afro-Cuban music, establishing the conjunto (small ensemble) format and had success as a songwriter and recording artist in Cuba for more than a dozen years before moving to New York in 1952. He recorded several albums thereafter, but his music fell out of fashion. Mr. Rodriguez died of pneumonia on December 30, 1970 at the age of 59.

Edward Brongersma. Dutch politician and activist. Dr. Brongersma was a member of the Dutch Labour Party who sat in the Dutch Senate (1946-1950, 1963-1977). He was a sodomite who served 11 months in prison for having sex with a then-underage 17-year-old youth; his main interest as a legislator was in trying to lower the age of consent for sex. Dr. Brongersma died by voluntary euthanasia on April 22, 1998 at the age of 86. The doctor who aided in his death, Flip Sutorius, was prosecuted but not punished.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Otis G. Pike. U.S. politician and journalist. Mr. Pike, a Democrat, represented New York's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1961-1979). In the mid-1970s he headed the Congressional Special Select Committee on Intelligence, investigating secret activities of the U.S. government. Mr. Pike supported legislation setting aside certain areas as wilderness reserves. He declined to run for re-election in 1978, and was a syndicated columnist for Newhouse Newspapers (1979-1999). Mr. Pike died after an illness on January 20, 2014 at the age of 93.

80 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square--Vera Lynn; West End Players (4th month at #1)

Died on this date
Thomas Bavin, 67. N.Z.-born Australian politician. Sir Thomas moved to Australia at the age of 15, became a barrister at the age of 23, and was Australian correspondent for the London Moring Post (1907-1911). He failed in attempts to enter federal politics, but as a member of the Nationalist Party, represented Albury (1917-1920, 1927-1935) and Ryde (1920-1927) in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Sir Thomas was Attorney General of New South Wales (1921-1925), and became leader of the N.S.W. Nationalist Party and Leader of the Opposition after the Labour Party won the 1925 state election. The Nationalist and Country parties formed a coalition that won the 1927 N.S.W. election, with Sir Thomas serving as Premier of New South Wales (1927-1930). His government introduced tax reforms that angered conservative supporters, and he suffered from poor health. Labour won the 1930 state election, and Sir Thomas remained as Nationalist Party leader until 1932, when he joined the new United Australia Party. He sat on the N.S.W. Supreme Court from 1933 until his death from cancer.

Marina Tsvetaeva, 58. Russian poetess. Miss Tsvetaeva is regarded as one of Russia's greatest lyric poets. Her husband Sergei Efron joined the White Army in the Russian Civil War, and she and their two daughters suffered economic hardships, and the youngest daughter died of hunger. Miss Tsvetaeva and her family fled Russia for Paris in 1922, eventually settling there from 1925-1939. Mr. Efron and their daughter Alya developed Soviet sympathies, and Sergei became an NKVD agent. They were arrested for espionage in 1941; Mr. Efron was executed by shooting, aand Alya Efron served eight years in prison. Miss Tsvetaeva, reportedly under pressure to work for the NKVD, committed suicide by hanging herself.

War
The Canadian Privy Council issued an Order-in-Council authorizing the formation of the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC). Serbian paramilitary forces defeated German forces in the Battle of Loznica. Newspapers in London published reports from Stockholm that U.S.S.R.-Finland peace negotiations were under way.

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a certificate under his unlimited emergency powers revoking a 1904 ban on shipping gasoline and fuel oil in foreign vessels, permitting British and Dutch tankers, operating from the Netherlands East Indies, to supply U.S. troops in the Philippines with vital lubricants.

Golf
Ben Hogan won the Hershey (Pennsylvania) Open with a 17-under-par score of 275.

75 years ago
1946

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe--Bing Crosby; Judy Garland (1st month at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): To Each his Own--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with Stuart Wade (Best Seller--1st week at #1); To Each his Own--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra with Eddy Howard and Trio (Airplay--5th week at #1; Juke Box--1st week at #1); To Each his Own (Honor Roll of Hits--3rd week at #1)

Journalism
The New Yorker devoted its entire August 31 issue to John Hersey's account of the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima, emphasizing "the terrible implications" of the atomic bomb.

War
The nine-month Nuremberg trial of accused Nazi war criminals ended after the 21 defendants made their final pleas. The judges announced that a verdict would be handed down on September 23.

Diplomacy
U.S.S.R. Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov left the Paris Peace Conference after being summoned to Moscow without explanation.

Defense
The United States Navy ended its demobilization program, reporting 3,070,581 discharges since V-J Day in 1945.

Chinese Premier T.V. Soong and U.S. Foreign Liquidation Commissioner Thomas McCabe announced the conclusion of a surplus property agreement which would give the Nationalist Chinese government more than $800 million in U.S. war goods.

Protest
The Greek government announced that 31 arrests had been made in two days of clashes between Communists and royalists.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate War Investigating Committee issued its annual report, recommending an industrial mobilization plan kept up to date with technological developments and a clear government production control system.

Football
CRU
WIFU
Saskatchewan (0-1) 0 @ Calgary (1-0) 9

The Roughriders' loss to the Stampeders at Mewata Stadium was their first game as the Saskatchewan Roughriders after having been known as the Regina Roughriders since their inception in 1910.

70 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Tales of Tomorrow, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Last Man on Earth, starring Martin Brandt, Andrew Branham, Cloris Leachman, and Lon McCallister

Died on this date Abraham Cahan, 91. Lithuanian-born U.S. writer. Mr. Cahan became involved in radical circles as a teenager, and emigrated to New York at the age of 21. He co-founded the Yiddish-language newspaper The Forward in 1897 and was its editor-in-chief from 1903-1946, using it to promote socialism. Mr. Cahan died of congestive heart failure.

Paul Demel, 48. Czech actor. Mr. Demel began his career in his native Czechoslovakia before fleeing to Britain, where he appeared in minor roles in movies such as Passport to Pimlico (1949); State Secret (1950); and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951).

War
U.S. forces began a drive against the northern part of the "Punchbowl" area of Korea.

Politics and government
Argentine First Lady Eva Peron turned down the vice presidential nomination that the Peronista Party had offered her.

Crime
The U.S. Senate Crime Investigating Committee issued its final report, stressing the spread of organized crime to medium-sized cities and towns, and recommending the creation of a National Crime Coordinating Council.

Religion
The General Assembly of the Universalist Church of America, meeting in Portland, Maine, voted to merge with the Unitarian Church.

Economics and finance
The Yugoslavian government introduced an economic decentralization program permitting prices and wages to fluctuate with market conditions and relaxing central control over industrial production.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade): Dum Dum--Brenda Lee

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Johnny Remember Me--John Leyton

Football
CFL
Hamilton (3-0) 30 @ Winnipeg (4-2) 9

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Kvällstoppen): Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)--Raiders (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Co-Co--The Sweet

Football
CFL
Hamilton (2-2) 24 @ Montreal (3-1) 25

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Jessie's Girl--Rick Springfield

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): High School Lullaby--Imo-kin Trio (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): De niٌa a Mujer--Julio Iglesias (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Dance Little Bird (Chicken Dance)--Electronica's

Television
The 30-year contract between Milton Berle, and NBC-TV finally expired. "Uncle Miltie" had received $6 million for not being on the air since his show The Texaco Star Theatre/The Buick-Berle Show/The Milton Berle Show (1948-1956) had gone off the air some 25 years earlier. NBC held Mr. Berle to the contract to keep him from appearing on competing networks.

Baseball
Jim Frey, who had managed the Kansas City Royals to the American League pennant the previous season, was fired and replaced by former New York Yankees' manager Dick Howser. The Royals were 30-40 overall in 1981, and 10-10 in the second half of the season, when Mr. Frey was fired.

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Rapput (Senza Fiato)--Claudio Bisio; Rocco Tanica (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): You Could Be Mine--Guns N' Roses (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): La Zoubida--Lagaf' (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (CIN): (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (8th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (3rd week at #1)
2 Now that We Found Love--Heavy D and the Boyz
3 Always There--Incognito featuring Jocelyn Brown
4 Send Me an Angel--Scorpions
5 All 4 Love--Color Me Badd
6 Baila Me--Gipsy Kings
7 Winter in July--Bomb the Bass
8 Burbujas de Amor--Juan Luis Guerra y 4;40
9 Zomer--André Hazes
10 Love And Understanding--Cher

Singles entering the chart were Calling Elvis by Dire Straits (#19); Gett Off by Prince and the New Power Generation (#27); Generations of Love by Jesus Loves You (#29); Lekker Op De Trekker - 'n Boerinnen-Wervingslied by Mannenkoor Karrespoor (#30); Love...Thy Will Be Done by Martika (#31); It Happened 25 Years Ago by BZN (#34); and Rave the Rhythm by Channel X (#37).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (6th week at #1)
2 Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)--Roxette
3 It Ain't Over 'til it's Over--Lenny Kravitz
4 Wind of Change--Scorpions
5 The Promise of a New Day--Paula Abdul
6 Every Heartbeat--Amy Grant
7 3 A.M. Eternal--The KLF
8 I Can't Wait Another Minute--Hi-Five
9 Motownphilly--Boyz II Men
10 Things that Make You Go Hmmm...--C+C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams

Singles entering the chart were Emotions by Mariah Carey (#35); Straight to Your Heart by Bad English (#90); She's Gone (Lady) by Steelheart (#91); Gonna Catch You by Lonnie Gordon (#96); The Devil Came Up to Michigan by K.M.C. KRU (#97); and Everyotherday by Or-N-More (featuring Father M.C.) (#98). Gonna Catch You was from the movie Cool as Ice (1991).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (5th week at #1)
2 Every Heartbeat--Amy Grant
3 The Promise of a New Day--Paula Abdul
4 Fading Like a Flower--Roxette
5 Temptation--Corina
6 It Ain't Over 'til it's Over--Lenny Kravitz
7 Time, Love and Tenderness--Michael Bolton
8 Crazy--Seal
9 Wind of Change--Scorpions
10 Things that Make You Go Hmmm...--C+C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams

Singles entering the chart were Emotions by Mariah Carey (#36); My Blue Angel by Michael Learns to Rock (#82); For You by Michael W. Smith (#87); Just Ask Me To by Tevin Campbell (#88); and Straight to Your Heart by Bad English (#90).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 (Everything I Do) I Do it for You--Bryan Adams (5th week at #1)
2 Fading Like a Flower--Roxette
3 The Motown Song--Rod Stewart (with the Temptations)
4 It Ain't Over 'til it's Over--Lenny Kravitz
5 Something to Talk About--Bonnie Raitt
6 Learning to Fly--Tom Petty
7 Every Heartbeat--Amy Grant
8 Superman's Song--Crash Test Dummies
9 Hole Hearted--Extreme
10 Time, Love and Tenderness--Michael Bolton

Singles entering the chart were Real, Real, Real by Jesus Jones (#57); Slowly Slipping Away by Harem Scarem (#71); Just Another Day by Keven Jordan (#72); Faithlessly Yours by Art Bergmann (#84); Standing Push and Fall by World on Edge (#86); The Ghosts that Haunt Me by Crash Test Dummies (#93); Nothing Can Be Done by Joni Mitchell with David Baerwald (#94); Stranger than Fiction by Joe Jackson (#95); and You Come to My Senses by Chicago (#98).

Died on this date
Cliff Lumsdon, 60. Canadian swimmer. Mr. Lumsdon was a marathon swimmer from the late 1940s until his retirement in 1965. He won the 15-mile world marathon championship at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in 1949, and was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's outstanding athlete of 1949. Mr. Lumsdon was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1976.

Asiatica
Kyrgyzstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

Defense
The United Nations awarded UN service medals to 226 Canadian peacekeepers for their work in Yugoslavia with the Bosnian Serbs.

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Macarena--Los Del Río

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Killing Me Softly--The Fugees (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Killing Me Softly--The Fugees (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Wallonia (Ultratop 40): Killing Me Softly--The Fugees (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Killing Me Softly--The Fugees (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Aquarius--Party Animals (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Wannabe--Spice Girls (6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)--Los Del Rio (5th week at #1)
2 I Love You Always Forever--Donna Lewis
3 Hit Me Off--New Edition
4 Twisted--Keith Sweat
5 Loungin--LL Cool J
6 C'mon n' Ride It (The Train)--Quad City DJ's
7 Change the World--Eric Clapton
8 You're Makin' Me High/Let it Flow--Toni Braxton
9 I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)--R. Kelly
10 Give Me One Reason--Tracy Chapman

Singles entering the chart were Hit Me Off; If Your Girl Only Knew by Aaliyah (#34); Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First) by John Mellencamp (#47); Let's Make a Night to Remember by Bryan Adams (#68); Tell Me by Dru Hill (#91); Dirty South by Goodie Mob (#92); Guys Do it All the Time by Mindy McCready (#94); and Can You Feel Me by Dru Down (#95). Tell Me was from the movie Eddie (1996).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)--Los Del Rio (2nd week at #1)
2 I Love You Always Forever--Donna Lewis
3 Loungin--LL Cool J
4 Twisted--Keith Sweat
5 C'mon n' Ride It (The Train)--Quad City DJ’s
6 Change the World--Eric Clapton
7 Who Will Save Your Soul--Jewel
8 You're Makin' Me High/Let it Flow--Toni Braxton
9 I Can't Sleep (If I)--R. Kelly
10 Jealousy--Natalie Merchant

Singles entering the chart were Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder) by Maxwell (#53); Missing You by Brandy, Tamia, Gladys Knight & Chaka Khan (#58); Gettin' It by Too Short featuring Parliament Funkadelic (#67); and Nowhere to Go by Melissa Etheridge (#82).

Music
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra's Symphony Under the Sky series continued at Hawrelak Park. This blogger was in attendance with enjoyable female company. The performances included a recital by Canadian soprano Tracy Dahl.

War
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK.

Terrorism
Marxist rebels in Colombia concluded two days of attacks against military bases and police stations throughout the country, killing 100 people and taking at least 60 hostages. The attacks were believed to be in support of local coca growers, suppliers for the cocaine trade.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Crash Davis, 82. U.S. baseball player. Lawrence Columbus Davis was a second baseman with the Philadelphia Athletics (1940-1942), batting .230 with 2 home runs and 42 runs batted in in 148 games. He played 7 seasons in the minor leagues (1946-1952), hitting at least 39 homers. Mr. Davis played with the Durham Bulls of the Carolina League in 1948, and his name was used for the main character in the movie Bull Durham (1988). He died of stomach cancer.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (5-4) 19 @ Montreal (7-2) 23



Baseball
40-year-old shortstop Julio Franco, who was leading the Mexican League with a batting average of .437 but hadn't played in the major leagues since 1997, was purchased from the Mexico City Tigres by the Atlanta Braves.

Rookie Robin Jennings hit a grand slam--his first major league home run--and added a 3-run triple to lead the Cincinnati Reds to an 11-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates before 19,090 fans at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. Chris Piersoll, the second of three Cincinnati pitchers, allowed 1 hit and no run, striking out 1 batter and walking none in his major league debut.

Royce Clayton's 3-run home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th inning broke an 8-8 tie as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians 11-8 before 24,097 fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Chicago third baseman John Valentin drove in 5 runs with a pair of homers.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Wade Belak, 35. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Belak, born Wade Aadland in Saskatoon, played right wing and defence with the Colorado Avalanche (1996-99); Calgary Flames (1999-2001); Toronto Maple Leafs (2001-04, 2005-07); Florida Panthers (2007-08); and Nashville Predators (2008-11), scoring 8 goals and 25 assists, with 1,263 minutes in penalties in 549 regular season games, and 1 goal with 36 minutes in penalties in 22 playoff games. He was mainly known as an "enforcer," on his teams for his fighting rather than playing ability. Mr. Belak retired in March 2011 because of arthritis, and was preparing to appear in the television program Battle of the Blades when he was found dead at his home in Toronto. His death from stragulation was treated by police as a suicide, but others believe his death was accidental. Mr. Belak suffered from depression and was the third hockey enforcer, after Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien, to die by his own hand within a span of four months, leading to discussions about hockey and fighting, concussions, and depression.