October 25, 2021

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Grace Padaca!

230 years ago
1791

Politics and government
U.S. President George Washington delivered his third annual State of the Union address to Congress. Subjects included the Bank of the United States.

200 years ago
1821

Born on this date
Antonio Ciseri. Swiss-born Italian artist. Mr. Ciseri moved to Florence in 1833. He was a painter of religious subjects; his works included The Transport of Christ to the Sepulcher (1864-1870) and Ecce Homo (1871). Mr. Ciseri died on March 8, 1891 at the age of 69.

160 years ago
1861

Economics and finance
Herbert Mortimer, the first President of the Toronto Stock Exchange Association, opened the TSE's first trading floor; 13 companies were listed.

140 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Pablo Picasso. Spanish artist. Mr. Picasso was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. He co-founded the Cubist movement in painting, invented constructed sculpture, and co-invented collage. His works included Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937). Mr. Picasso died on April 8, 1973 at the age of 91.

130 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Charles Coughlin. Canadian-born U.S. clergyman and broadcaster. Father Coughlin, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, was the priest at the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan from 1926-1966, but was best known for his radio broadcasts, which began in 1926 on the Detroit station WJR, and were picked up by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1930. Fr. Coughlin began injecting political content into his broadcasts, and initially supported U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but from 1934 on, increasingly opposed the Roosevelt administration's New Deal economic policies. Fr. Coughlin helped to found the Union Party, but its 1936 U.S. presidential candidate, William Lemke, failed to attract much support. Fr. Coughlin's broadcasts became more anti-Jewish and pro-Fascist, and the Roosevelt administration imposed regulations that had the effect of forcing Fr. Coughlin off the air in 1940. Fr. Coughlin published the weekly newsletter Social Justice from 1936-1942, but ceased its publication on orders of Roman Catholic authorities, under pressure from the Roosevelt administration. Fr. Coughlin ended his public career, and continued as priest of the Shrine of the Little Flower, retreating into obscurity. He died on October 27, 1979, two days after his 88th birthday.

Football
ORFU
Round 1
Royal Military College 17 @ Queen's College 25 (Queen's University won 2-game total points series 53-24)

100 years ago
1911

Died on this date
Feng-shan. Chinese military officer. General Feng-shan was a Qing officer who was assassinated by the Chinese Assassination Corps, as the Xinhai Revolution spread to Guangzhou.

Baseball
World Series
Philadelphia Athletics 3 @ New York Giants 4 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Rube Oldring's 3-run home run after an error by the Giants' Larry Doyle gave the Athletics 3 unearned runs in the top of the 3rd inning, but the Giants scored a run in the 7th to reduce the Athletics' lead to 3-1. With 2 out in the bottom of the 9th and Art Fletcher on third base, New York pitcher Doc Crandall, who had entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 7th, doubled off Philadelphia ace Jack Coombs to drive in Mr. Fletcher, and Josh Devore singled him home with the tying run. Eddie Plank came in to pitch in the bottom of the 10th, and gave up a leadoff double to Mr. Doyle. Fred Snodgrass was safe on a fielder's choice on a bunt, with Mr. Doyle going to third. Fred Merkle then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, and Mr. Doyle beat Danny Murphy's throw to home plate for the winning run, sending 33,228 fans home happy from the Polo Grounds. Umpire Bill Klem later said that Mr. Doyle had missed the plate with his slide, but nobody with the Athletics noticed, and they didn't appeal the play, so the run stood.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Michael. King of Romania, 1927-1930, 1940-1947. Michael was the son of Crown Prince Carol, who was pressured into renouncing his claim to the throne as the result of an extramarital affair. Michael acceded to the throne upon the death of his grandfather Ferdinand I, but since he was a minor, the country was ruled by a regency council composed of his uncle Prince Nicolae, Patriarch Miron Cristea and Supreme Court President Gheorghe Buzdugan. The council proved ineffective, and Carol returned from exile to rule as King Carol II, with Michael returned to the role of heir apparent. Michael again acceded to the throne upon his father's forced abdication; in 1944 he participated in a coup against pro-Nazi military dictator Ion Antonescu, appointing Constantin Sănătescu s Prime Minister and allying Romania with the Allies. King Michael was forced to appoint a pro-Communist government led by Petru Groza, who forced him to abdicate on December 30, 1947. King Michael married in 1948, and he and Queen Anne settled in Switzerland. He was thwarted in an attempt to return to Romania in 1990, after the Communist government had been overthrown. He was allowed to return for visits in 1992 and 1997, and confiscated properties were restored to his family. King Michael died on December 5, 2017 at the age of 96.

Died on this date
Bat Masterson, 67. Canadian-born U.S. gambler and lawman. Bartholomew Masterson, a native of Henryville, Canada East, moved to the United States with his family as a child, and went to the Great Plains with his brothers in the 1870s to hunt buffalo and gamble. He was a U.S. Army scout in the mid-1870s, and settled in Dodge City, Kansas, where he was elected Ford County Sheriff in November 1877, and was involved in several incidents over the next few years. Mr. Masterson was appointed city marshal in Trinidad, Colorado in 1882, moved to Denver, and finally settled in New York City in 1902. He became a sportswriter and boxing timekeeper, and wrote tales of his adventures. Mr. Masterson died of a heart attack at his newsroom desk, shortly after finishing a column for the New York Morning Telegraph.

90 years ago
1931

Football
NFL
Portsmouth (7-0) 20 @ Staten Island (1-3) 7
Providence (1-3-1) 20 @ Green Bay (7-0) 48
Brooklyn (2-6) 0 @ New York (3-3) 27
Frankford (1-4-1) 13 @ Chicago Bears (3-2) 12

80 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Piano Concerto in B Flat--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (4th week at #1)

At the movies
The Tell-Tale Heart, a short film directed by Jules Dassin, and starring Joseph Schildkraut and Roman Bohnen, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Franz von Werra, 27. Swiss-born German military aviator. Hauptmann (Captain) Werra was raised by relatives in Germany, and joined the Luftwaffe in 1938. He became an air ace in World War II, scoring four combat victories in France in May 1940, and nine in Britain in August. Hauptmann Werra was shot down in England and captured in September 1940; he made several attempts to escape from prisoner of war camps, but was always recaptured and finally sent to Canada in January 1941. Hauptmann Werra was in a group of prisoners who were to be taken to a camp on the north shore of Lake Superior in Ontario. On January 21, 1941, he escaped from a prison train after its departure from Montreal, crossed the frozen St. Lawrence River near Smiths Falls, Ontario, and turned himself over to police in Ogdensburg, New York, at a time when the United States was still a neutral country. While the U.S.A. and Canada were discussing his extradition, Hauptmann Werra was aided by the German vice consul to cross the border into Mexico, and passed through Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, and Rome before arriving in Germany on April 18, being greeted as a hero, reportedly the only German prisoner of war to escape Canadian custody and return to Germany. He returned to service in the Luftwaffe, and was deployed to the Russian front, scoring 13 more victories before being killed on a practice flight when his plane suffered engine failure and crashed into the sea north of the Dutch city of Vlissingen. Hauptmann Werra's story was made into the movie The One that Got Away (1957), starring Hardy Krüger.

Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art curator Henri Marceau announced that an 18 X 30-inch painting titled Crucifixion that for two centuries had been attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn was in fact spurious.

Diplomacy
German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler conferred with Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano at the German headquarters in Russia.

The government of Costa Rica announced that foreigners who attacked friendly nations or democratic principles would be expelled.

Defense
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-11 in favour of permitting U.S. merchant ships to arm themselves and enter war zones.

Politics and government
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Office of Facts and Figures, with Archibald MacLeish as unpaid director.

Labour
Transportation and newspaper employees in La Paz, Bolivia ended their five-day strike after being granted a 20% wage increase.

Football
CRU
ERFU
Toronto Argonauts (4-1) 6 @ Ottawa (4-1) 24
Montreal (0-5) 0 @ Toronto Balmy Beach (2-3) 9

Murray Griffin, Johnny Fripp, and Stan O'Neil scored touchdowns for the Rough Riders in their win over the Argonauts at Lansdowne Park, while George Fraser added 3 converts and 2 field goals. Red Storey scored the Argonauts' touchdown, converted by Earl Selkirk.

Hugh Cuddie scored Balmy Beach's touchdown, while Bobby Reid converted and added a field goal.

75 years ago
1946

At the movies
The Strange Woman, directed and co-written by Edgar G. Ulmer, and starring Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, and Louis Hayward, opened in theatres.



War
23 German physicians accused of concentration camp atrocities during World War II went on trial in Nuremberg. Among the accused was Karl Brandt, Adolf Hitler's personal physician. Iva Toguri, an American citizen who had spent World War II making radio broadcasts from Japan and who was one of those known by the collective nickname "Tokyo Rose," was released from prison in Tokyo.

World events
Cuban Prime Minister Carlos Prio Socarras announced the suppression of an anti-government plot.

Defense
In response to a U.S. War Department request for a report on the morale of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur blamed military-civilian clashes in the Philippines on Filipino nationalism and the "irresponsibility" of some American recruits.

Politics and government
The United States Army announced the suspension of the military government officer of Nuremberg pending investigation of an alleged anti-German demonstration in the city on September 30 by American soldiers and Jewish and Polish refugees.

John Rogge, special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General, was dismissed for indicating in a speech that the German Nazi regime had favoured the election of Republican candidate Thomas Dewey as President of the United States in 1944.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman proclaimed a state of emergency in housing and ordered the lifting of import duties from lumber and lumber products.

Football
AAFC
Miami (1-6) 7 @ Brooklyn (2-4-1) 30

70 years ago
1951

War
U.S. and Communist negotiators resumed Korean truce talks in Panmunjom after a 63-day lapse.

Politics and government
The Conservative Party, led by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, won a narrow majority in the House of Commons in the British general election, winning 321 of 625 seats, an increase of 22 from before the election. The governing Labour Party of Prime Minister Clement Attlee, who had been in power since 1945, dropped from 315 seats to 295, while the Liberals, led by Clement Davies, dropped from 9 seats to 6. Labour actually received more votes than the Conservatives, but had some lopsided wins in safe seats.





General Conrad Snow, Republican Party member of the U.S. State Department's Loyalty Review Board, said in a speech in Washington that Senator Joe McCarthy's (Republican--Wisconsin) charges against the department were "baseless accusations" made for "political advancement."

Crime
A U.S. federal grand jury in New York reindicted former U.S. government economist William Remington on perjury charges, accusing him of falsely claiming at his trial that he had never passed government secrets to a Soviet agent and never attended Communist Party meetings.

Montrealana
According to the 1951 Canadian census, Montreal was the first Canadian city to reach a population of more than one million people.

Economics and finance
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced plans to negotiate a trade agreement with the U.S.S.R.

60 years ago
1961

Space
The United States Air Force announced that it had been unable to contact by radar the package of 350 million copper wires released from the satellite MIDAS 4, launched four days earlier, and that indications were that the needles, expected to form a band 5 miles wide around the Earth, had not been dispersed as planned. The purpose of the plan, named Project West Ford, had been to test the efficiency of a metallic space belt to relay radio communications. Scientists throughout the world had condemned the experiment as one that would "befoul" space.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Banks of the Ohio--Olivia Newton-John

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ame no Ballad--Masayuki Yuhara (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mammy Blue--Pop-Tops

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Tatyana!

Died on this date
Mikhail Yangel, 59. U.S.S.R. engineer. Mr. Yangel was an associate of chief rocket designer Sergei Korolev, and was the Soviet Union's leading fighter plane and missile designer from the 1940s until his death from his fifth heart attack, 13 days before his 60th birthday. He took rocket technology in a new direction, based on the use of high-boiling propellants and an autonomous control system, which significantly increased the combat readiness of strategic missiles.

Abominations
The United Nations General Assembly voted 76-35, with 17 abstentions, to admit the People's Republic of China as a member and to expel Taiwan.

Transportation
The Christchurch–Dunedin overnight express, headed by a JA-class locomotive, ran the last scheduled steam-hauled service on New Zealand Railways (NZR), bringing to an end 108 years of regular steam rail operations in this country.

Football
NFL
Baltimore (4-2) 3 @ Minnesota (5-1) 10



40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe it or Not)--Joey Scarbury (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Japanese Boy--Aneka

Died on this date
Ariel Durant, 83. Ukrainian-born U.S. historian. Mrs. Durant, born Chaya Kaufman, emigrated to the United States with her family in 1901. She was a student of Will Durant and married him in 1913, when she was 15 and he was a few days short of 28. The Durants worked together, and were best known for the 11-volume The Story of Civilization (1935-1975). They attempted to unify the body of knowledge, which they thought had become too specialized, and to write for a general audience. The Durants were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 for The Story of Civilization X. Rousseau and Revolution (1967) and were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. Will entered the hospital in the fall of 1981, and Ariel stopped eating, which led to her death. Will Durant died just 13 days later, two days after his 96th birthday.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (9-6) 34 @ Hamilton (10-4-1) 7
Saskatchewan (9-6) 24 @ Calgary (6-9) 11

The Stampeders' loss to the Roughriders at McMahon Sadium eliminated them from contention for the playoffs.

Baseball
World Series
New York Yankees 1 @ Los Angeles Dodgers 2 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 3-2)

The Yankees were leading 1-0 in the 7th inning, but consecutive home runs by Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager off New York ace Ron Guidry (1-1) provided the winning margin as Los Angeles starter Jerry Reuss (1-1) won the pitchers' duel before 56,115 fans at Dodger Stadium. After the game, Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner emerged with a fat lip and a broken hand, claiming to have scuffled with fans in a hotel elevator.



Nippon Series
Nippon-Ham Fighters 3 @ Yomiuri Giants 6 (Yomiuri won best-of-seven series 4-2)

30 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Bill Graham, 60. German-born U.S. concert promoter. Mr. Graham, born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca, was sent to France in 1939 and later to the United States in order to escape the Nazi regime in Germany. He was known for promoting concerts in San Francisco at the Fillmore Auditorium (1965-1968) and Fillmore West (1968-1971), and in New York at the Fillmore East (1968-1971). Mr. Graham was killed, with girlfriend Melissa Goold, and pilot Steve Kahn, in a helicopter crash west of Vallejo, California.

Margo Sylvia, 55. U.S. singer-songwriter. Mrs. Sylvia and her husband John were original members of the vocal group the Tune Weavers, and she co-wrote their only major hit, Happy, Happy Birthday Baby (1957), which reached #5 on the Billboard pop singles chart and #4 on the Rhythm and Blues chart. The group broke up in 1964, and occasionally reunited in later years. Mrs. Sylvia was performing as a solo artist, and wa just about to begin a concert tour, when she died of a heart attack and stroke.

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Free Like a Flying Demon--E-type

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Words--Boyzone (3rd week at #1)

Labour
The Ontario Federation of Labour organized "Days of Action" to protest spending cuts by the provincial government of Premier Mike Harris. Protesters shut down the Toronto Transit Commission mass transit system, and many downtown businesses closed when their employees couldn't make it to work. Mr. Harris planned to cut the provincial budget by 20% in order to wipe out the deficit by 2000.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (8-9) 41 @ Montreal (11-6) 45 (OT)

Hamilton quarterback Anthony Calvillo set a team record with 542 yards passing, but surrendered 4 interceptions, and the Alouettes outscored the Tiger-Cats 7-3 in overtime before 20,231 fans at Olympic Stadium.

20 years ago
2001

Technology
Microsoft released the Windows XP operating system.

Crime
The British Crime Survey revealed that the chances of being a victim of crime were at their lowest since 1981.

Baseball
Nippon Series
Yakult Swallows 4 @ Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 2 (Yakult won best-of-seven series 4-1)