Saturday 3 October 2009

October 3, 2009

260 years ago
1739


War
Representatives of the Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Niš, ending the Russo–Turkish War.

220 years ago
1789

Americana

President George Washington issued the U.S.A.'s first Thanksgiving Proclamation:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be--That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions--to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.


120 years ago
1889


Born on this date
Carl von Ossietzky, German activist
. Mr. Ossietzky, a pacifist, was awarded the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for exposing Germany's clandestine re-armament i violation of the Treaty of Versailles. He was convicted of high treason and espionage in 1931, and died on May 4, 1938 at the age of 48--while still officaly in custody--of tuberculosis and the effects of mistreatment in concentration camps.

110 years ago
1899


Born on this date
Gertrude Berg
. U.S. actress and writer. Mrs. Berg, born Tillie Edelstein, created, wrote, produced, and starred in the radio series The Rise of the Goldbergs, which began airing on NBC in 1929 and shortened its title to The Goldbergs when it moved to CBS in 1936, running until 1956. Mrs. Berg continued her starring role as Molly Goldberg in the television series that aired on CBS (1949-1951); NBC (1952-1954); DuMont (1954); and in syndication (1955-1956). Mrs. Berg won an Emmy Award for her starring role in the series in 1950. She returned to star in the television comedy series Mrs. G. Goes to College/The Gertrude Berg Show (1961-1962), and died of heart failure on September 14, 1966, 19 days before her 67th birthday.

90 years ago
1919


Baseball
World Series
Cincinnati Reds 0 @ Chicago White Sox 3 (Cincinnati led best-of-nine series 2-1)

Dickie Kerr gave up just 3 hits in pitching the White Sox to their win over the Reds before 29,126 fans at Comiskey Park. Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch scored in the 2nd inning on a double by Chick Gandil. Ray Fisher allowed 7 hits in 7 innings in taking the loss; Dolf Luque, a native of Havana, pitched a perfect 8th inning for the Reds, becoming the first Latin American to play in a World Series.



80 years ago
1929


Died on this date
Gustav Stresemann, 51
. Chancellor of Germany, 1923. Dr. Stresemann was a member of the National Liberal Party (1907-1918), and was briefly associated with the German Democratic Party (1918), but became the founding chairman of the German People's Party after the end of World War I in 1918. He took office as Chancellor and Foreign Minister in a coalition government on August 13, 1923, but resigned on November 30 after the Social Democrats withdrew from the coalition. Dr. Stresemann remained as Foreign Minister through eight successive governments, recording achievements such as the Dawes Plan (1924); the Locarno Treaties (1925); and Germany's admission to the League of Nations (1926). He and French Prime Minister Aristide Briand shared the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize for their work on the Locarno Treaties, which normalized Germany's relations with the Allies of World War I. Dr. Stresemann died of a stroke, and was succeeded as Foreign Minister by Julius Curtius.

Jeanne Eagels, 39. U.S. actress. Miss Eagels, born Eugenia Eagles, was a Ziegfeld Girl in the early 1910s, eventually becoming an actress on Broadway and in silent movies. She achieved stardom as Sadie Thompson in three productions of the play Rain (1922-1924, 1924, 1926). Miss Eagels co-starred with John Gilbert in the silent movie Man, Woman and Sin (1927), and made a successful transition to sound in The Letter (1929) and Jealousy (1929). She became addicted to alcohol and drugs, and died shortly after going into convulsions while visiting her doctor. Miss Eagels was nominated for an Academy Award for her starring performance in The Letter, becoming the first actor to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination.

Europeana
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, "Land of the South Slavs," was formed. It included the regions of Serbia; Montenegro; Slovenia; Croatia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Macedonia.

75 years ago
1934


Baseball
Joe Medwick had 4 hits and the Detroit Tigers made 5 errors as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Tigers 8-3 in the opening game of the World Series at Navin Field in Detroit. Winning pitcher Dizzy Dean went the distance.

60 years ago
1949


On the radio
The Speckled Band, read by Laidman Browne, on BBC Home Service

Radio
WERD, the first Negro-owned radio station in the United States, began broadcasting in Atlanta at a frequency of 860 AM.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department and U.K. Foreign Office declined to take immediate action on Chinese Communist requests for diplomatic recognition.

Yugoslavian President Marshal Josip Broz Tito, speaking at the conclusion of large-scale military maneuvers, accused the U.S.S.R. of seeking to turn Yugoslavia into a "subject region," and promised that the army would defend the country.

A special United Nations conciliation commission began a three-week closed session aimed at reconciling Greece with her Balkan neighbours.

Defense
U.S. Navy Captain John Crommelin, Jr. publicized three confidential letters written to Navy Secretary Francis Matthews by Admirals Gerald Bogan, Arthur Radford, and Louis Denfeld. All denounced subordination of the naval air arm to Air Force strategic planning under the armed forces unification program.

Economics and finance
Argentine devalued its currency 46%.

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed and sent to President Harry Truman an $88-million appropriations bill establishing a 10-year rehabilitation program for the Navajo and Hopi Indians.

Labour
100,000 anthracite and Western U.S. coal miners returned to work, on the orders of United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis.

50 years ago
1959


Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Three Bells--The Browns (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Forever--Joe Damiano

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Am Tag, als der Regen kam--Dalida (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Only Sixteen--Craig Douglas (6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin (2nd week at #1)
2 I'm Gonna Get Married--Lloyd Price
3 Sleep Walk--Santo & Johnny
4 The Three Bells--The Browns
5 Put Your Head on My Shoulder--Paul Anka
6 ('Til) I Kissed You--The Everly Brothers
7 Red River Rock--Johnny and the Hurricanes
8 Broken-Hearted Melody--Sarah Vaughan
9 Teen Beat--Sandy Nelson
10 Just Ask Your Heart--Frankie Avalon

Singles entering the chart were Some Kind-A Earthquake by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#67); Unforgettable by Dinah Washington (#68); The Enchanted Sea, with versions by Martin Denny; and the Islanders (#71); Misty by Johnny Mathis (#77); Believe Me by the Royal Teens (#79); I'll Be Seeing You by the Poni-Tails (#84, charting with the version by Tommy Sands); Bad Girl by the Miracles (#87); Oh! Carol by Neil Sedaka (#95); Goodbye Charlie by Patti Page (#96); Crying in the Chapel by Sonny Til and the Orioles (#97); Six Boys and Seven Girls by Anita Bryant (#99); and Lies by Teddy Randazzo (#100). Crying in the Chapel was a new recording of the song that had been a major hit for the Orioles in 1953. Cash Box published its first Looking Ahead chart with this issue.

Died on this date
Aryeh Leib Shenkar, 85
. Russian-born Israeli industrialist. Mr. Shenkar was chairman of the Israeli Manufacturers' Association and chairman of the Israeli Industrial Bank.

Politics and government
Wijayanande Dahanayake, successor to the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike as Prime Minister of Ceylon, said that he would continue the socialist domestic and neutralist foreign policies of Mr. Bandaranaike, but would "insist on discipline" in solving unemployment and inflation problems.

Protest
French World War I veterans protested in Paris against restoration of the 3,500-franc annual pension for veterans over 65 as inadequate.

Football
CFL
IRFU
Toronto (4-5) 37 @ Montreal (4-5) 14
Ottawa (3-6) 9 @ Hamilton (7-2) 7

WIFU
Saskatchewan (0-10) 15 @ Edmonton (7-4) 44

ORFU
Kitchener-Waterloo (5-3) 20 @ London (6-2) 7
Detroit (1-7) 16 @ Sarnia (4-4) 15

Normie Kwong and Johnny Bright each scored 2 touchdowns, while Jackie Parker added a touchdown, 5 converts, and a field goal for the Eskimos as they routed the Roughriders before 17,500 fans at Clarke Stadium. Joe-Bob Smith scored the other Edmonton touchdown. The game was the first for former Saskatchewan quarterback Frank Tripucka as head coach of the Roughriders, replacing the fired George Terlep.

Terry Meyer scored his 9th and 10th touchdowns of the season for the Dutchmen in their win at Labatt Park. Mike Norcia added a touchdown and 2 converts. Pete King scored the Lords' touchdown, converted by Earl Kaiser.

At Norm Perry Park, Howard Neeley and Andy Kincannon scored touchdowns for the Raiders in their first win of the season. Pete Bentley and Chuck Stanley scored touchdowns for the Golden Bears as they suffered their fourth straight loss.

Canadian university
Alberta (1-1) 13 @ British Columbia (3-0) 36

Baseball
Junior World Series
Minneapolis Millers (AA) 4 @ Havana Sugar Kings (IL) 2 (Havana led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Tom Umphlett, Red Robbins, and Joe Macko hit consecutive singles with 2 out in the top of the 8th inning to break a 2-2 tie, and the Millers added an insurance run in the 9th when Ed Sadowski drew a base on balls and scored on John Goryl's triple as they beat the Sugar Kings at Gran Estadio de La Habana. Ted Wills pitched a 6-hit complete game victory, striking out 12 batters. Walt Craddock tok the loss on the mound for Havana.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade

#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Saint Paul--Shane (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Don't Forget to Remember--The Bee Gees

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Which Way You Goin' Billy?--The Poppy Family (3rd week at #1)
2 Everybody Knows Matilda--Duke Baxter
3 Little Woman--Bobby Sherman
4 Easy to Be Hard--Three Dog Night
5 Make Believe--Wind
6 This Girl is a Woman Now--Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
7 Suspicious Minds--Elvis Presley
8 Don't it Make You Want to Go Home--Joe South and the Believers
9 Muddy Mississippi Line--Bobby Goldsboro
10 What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am--Bill Deal & the Rhondels

Singles entering the chart were Something/Come Together by the Beatles (#26); Jesus is a Soul Man by Lawrence Reynolds (#27); Baby it's You by Smith (#28); Carry Me Back by the Rascals (#29); and Cherry Hill Park by Billy Joe Royal (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Which Way You Goin’ Billy?--The Poppy Family (3rd week at #1)
2 Little Woman--Bobby Sherman
3 Sugar, Sugar--The Archies
4 Honky Tonk Women--The Rolling Stones
5 Don’t it Make You Want to Go Home--Joe South and the Believers
6 That’s the Way God Planned It--Billy Preston
7 Birthday--Underground Sunshine
8 Suspicious Minds--Elvis Presley
9 Get Together--The Youngbloods
10 Jean--Oliver

Birthday was a version of the song originally performed by the Beatles on the "white album."

Politics and government
West German Social Democrat leader and Foreign Minister Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel, leader of the Free Democrats, called on President Gustav Heinemann to tell him that they were ready to form a new government. The Free Democrats, with 30 seatss, represented the balance of power in the Bundestag. Neither the Social Democrats nor the Christian Democratic Union had been able to achieve a majority in the national election on September 28.

Law
Press censorship, arbitrary arrest, and trial by military courts were abolished by the military-backed regime in Greece--except in cases involving public order and security. Premier George Papadopoulos announced the measures and loopholes the day after a Greek official returned from talks in which U.S. officials asked for a liberalization of the regime.

Defense
After acrimonious protests over a rule limiting speaking to just 45 seconds and all debate to 30 minutes, and after liberals won tighter restrictions on the use of chemical and biological weapons, the United States House of Representatives passed a $21.35-billion military procurement authorization bill.

Scandal
A U.S. Senate panel investigating irregularities in the operation of servicemen’s clubs was told that a former provost marshal general--the Army’s top policeman--Major General Carl Turner, tried to whitewash an investigation involving the Army’s then-top enlisted man, Sergeant Major of the Army William O. Wooldridge. There had been allegations that Sgt. Maj. Wooldridge was head of a ring of senior sergeants profiting from club irregularities.

Economics and finance
The first international money other than gold, to be called Special Drawing Rights, was created by the member nations of the International Monetary Fund to settle accounts among nations and foster steady growth in international trade, travel, and investment.

Labour
U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered a 60-day cooling-off period in a dispute between seven railroads and four shop craft unions. Mr. Nixon’s action, his first in a major labour/management struggle, averted a threatened nationwide railroad shutdown at midnight.

30 years ago
1979


Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Cars--Gary Numan

Religion
Pope John Paul II said goodbye to New York after he received a rainy ticker-tape parade down Broadway and addressed high school students at Madison Square Garden and the faithful at Shea Stadium. In Philadelphia, an outdoor mass was held at Logan Circle, and close to one million people attended. To an audience of 12,000 priests, nuns, and seminarians at Philadelphia Civic Center, the pope reaffirmed the traditional doctrine of the clergy by insisting that the priesthood must be celibate, male, and "forever."

Baseball
National League Championship Series
Pittsburgh 3 @ Cincinnati 2 (10 innings) (Pittsburgh led best-of-five series 2-0)
Omar Moreno singled to lead off the top of the 10th inning and scored on a 1-out single by Dave Parker to break a 2-2 tie as the Pirates edged the Reds before 55,000 fans at Riverfront Stadium.



American League Championship Series
California 3 @ Baltimore 6 (10 innings) (Baltimore led best-of-five series 1-0)

Pinch hitter John Lowenstein hit a 3-run home run off John Montague with 2 out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Orioles their win over the Angels before 52,787 fans at Memorial Stadium. It was the first post-season game in the Angels’ 19-year history.





25 years ago
1984


Scandal
U.S. Vice-President George Bush revealed that in June he had paid the Internal Revenue Service $198,000 in back taxes and interest after the IRS held that he had failed to report $500,000 in income from the sale of a house on his 1981 returns, and had improperly used $29,000 in leftover campaign funds. Mr. Bush’s attorneys said that Mr. Bush believed tht he did not have to report the income from the sale of the house.

Terrorism
The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Intelligence reported that the officials responsible for security at the U.S. embassy near East Beirut had paid insufficient attention to warnings of potential terrorist attacks prior to the September 20 bombing of the embassy.

Scandal
Richard Miller, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation who had been assigned to the bureau’s counterintelligence squad in Los Angeles, became the first FBI agent to be charged with espionage. Two Russian immigrants, Svetlana Ogorodnikova and her estranged husband Nikolay, were also arrested. It was alleged that Mr. Miller, who was reportedly in financial need, had offered to sell FBI documents to the couple for $65,000. Reportedly, one document that had gone to the Russians was a classified manual describing U.S. intelligence activities. The FBI said that Mr. Miller had had a "personal relationship" with Mrss. Ogorodnikova.

Environment
Officials in Quebec reported that more than 7,000 migrating caribou had drowned in northern Quebec while crossing two rivers, and there were fears that the toll might be higher. The caribou were overwhelmed by high water or swept over waterfalls. Inuit leaders charged that a public utility had caused the disaster by letting too much water spill over a dam. Quebec officials chartered aircraft to create a "wall of sound" and began constructing a fence to discourage more caribou from crossing the rivers at dangerous spots.

Baseball
National League Championship Series
San Diego 2 @ Chicago 4 (Chicago led best-of-five series 2-0)

Steve Trout allowed 5 hits and 2 earned runs 8 1/3 innings and Lee Smith picked up the save as the Cubs beat the Padres before 36,282 fans at Wrigley Field.



American League Championship Series
Detroit 5 @ Kansas City 2 (11 innings) (Detroit led best-of-five series 2-0)

Kirk Gibson drove in 2 runs with a double in the top of the 11th inning to give the Tigers their win over the Royals before 42,019 fans at Royals Stadium.



20 years ago
1989


On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight’s episode: Summer Song

The opening episode of the series’ third season, in which Kevin Arnold spends much of the last weekend of summer with an older girl he met on the beach, is this blogger’s favourite.

World events
Rebel officers in the Panama Defense Forces led an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow dictator General Manuel Noriega. The U.S. administration of President George Bush knew of the coup attempt in advance. The rebels, led by Major Moises Giroldi, attacked the Panamanian military headquarters, and for a time, Gen. Noriega was under the control of the rebels. U.S. troops blocked two roads leading to the scene of the fighting, but a third road was left open, and soldiers loyal to Gen. Noriega travelled along this road and came to his rescue. By early afternoon the coup had collapsed, and it was reported that Gen. Noriega had shot Maj. Giroldi. It was believed that about 240 rebels had launched the attack. The death toll was relatively low, and some of those killed may have been executed after surrendering.

More than 8,000 people fleeing East Germany were inside West German embassy in Prague, or milling around outside. East Germany agreed to let them depart for West Germany, but then said that it was suspending passport- and visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia.

Football
NFL
Art Shell was named head coach by the Los Angeles Raiders, becoming the National Football League’s first Negro head coach since Fritz Pollard of the Hammond Pros from 1923-1925.

Baseball
American League Championship Series
Toronto 3 @ Oakland 7 (Oakland led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Dave Henderson and Mark McGwire hit home runs as the Athletics defeated the Blue Jays before 49,435 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.



10 years ago
1999


Died on this date
Akio Morita, 78
. Japanese industrialist. Mr. Morita and Masaru Ibuka co-founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation)--eventually known as Sony--in 1946. Mr. Morita suffered a stroke in 1993, retired in 1994, and died of pneumonia.

Football
CFL
Montreal (9-4) 41 @ Saskatchewan (3-10) 26
Winnipeg (4-9) 27 @ Edmonton (4-9) 19

Mike Pringle carried 23 times for 155 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Alouettes to their win before 17,715 fans at Taylor Field in Regina. Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo completed 17 of 23 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown (to Alfonzo Browning). Mike Saunders scored 2 touchdowns for the Roughriders.

Deland McCullough rushed 21 times for 140 yards and a touchdown to lead the Blue Bombers’ attack in front of 27,211 fans at Commonwealth Stadium. Edmonton quarterback Nealon Greene carried 13 times for 141 yards and completed 21 of 32 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown (to Terry Vaughn), but also threw 2 interceptions. Sean Fleming, in his first game with the Eskimos since returning from a tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, kicked a 46-yard field goal just 3 minutes into the game, but missed his next 3 attempts. The loss was the fifth for the Eskimos at home in 1999, guaranteeing their first losing season at home in 30 years.

CIAU
Ottawa (4-0) 34 @ Laval (3-1) 27

Ottawa quarterback Phill Cote rushed for 4 touchdowns to lead the Gee-Gees to victory. Mathieu Brassard rushed for 46 yards and scored 3 touchdowns for the Rouge et Or.

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