Saturday 25 August 2018

August 25, 2018

760 years ago
1258


World events
A coup led by the aristocratic faction under Michael Palaiologos assassinated regent George Mouzalon, 38, and his brothers, ultimately usurping the throne of the Empire of Nicaea.

475 years ago
1543


Exploration
Portuguese trader António Mota and Francisco Zeimoto landed on the island of Tanegashima, becoming the first Europeans to visit Japan.

330 years ago
1688


Died on this date
Henry Morgan, 53 (?)
. Welsh-born English pirate. Sir Henry, an admiral in the Royal Navy, was notorious for his raids on Spanish settlements in the Caribbean.

260 years aqgo
1758


War
Forces of King Frederick II of Prussia defeated Russian forces at the Battle of Zorndorf in present-day Sarbinowo, Poland.

200 years ago
1818


Economics and finance
The privately-owned Bank of Canada began operations in Montréal; it was not a success.

120 years ago
1898


Protest
700 Greek civilians, 17 British guards, and the British Consul of Crete were killed by a Turkish mob in Heraklion, Greece.

110 years ago
1908


Died on this date
Henri Becquerel, 55
. French physicist. Dr. Becquerel was awarded a share of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity." His death was caused by unknown causes, but it was reported that "he had developed serious burns on his skin, likely from the handling of radioactive materials."

100 years ago
1918


Born on this date
Richard Greene
. U.K. actor. Mr. Greene was a matinee idol who was best known for playing the title role in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1959) and for playing Sir Henry Baskerville in the movie The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), for which he received top billing. He died of a heart attack on June 1, 1985 at the age of 66 after several years of declining health.

Leonard Bernstein. U.S. orchestra conductor, composer, and pianist. Mr. Bernstein was best known for his tenure as music director and principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (1957-1969). He was the first classical music conductor to achieve widespread popularity through television appearances, conducting a series of 53 Young People’s Concerts that were broadcast on CBS from 1958-1973. Among his notable compositions were the musicals On the Town (1944); Wonderful Town (1953); and West Side Story (1957); the operetta Candide (1956); and Symphony No. 3 (Kaddish) (1963). Mr. Bernstein died on October 14, 1990 at the age of 72.

90 years ago
1928


Exploration
U.S. Navy Commander Richard Byrd's ice ship City of New York, with 32 aboard, left Hoboken, New Jersey for Dunedin, New Zealand.

Disasters
Bad weather and fog caused a BC Airways Ford Trimotor plane, on a one-hour flight from Victoria to Seattle, to crash and sink in Puget Sound near Port Townsend, Washington, killing 5 passengers and 2 crew in Canada's first major air disaster.

Football
The Tri-City Rugby Football Union, with teams from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, was founded in Winnipeg.

80 years ago
1938


Boxing
World light heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis (98-10-5) knocked out Domenico Ceccarelli (28-24-9) at 1:15 of the 3rd round of a heavyweight bout in Nutley, New Jersey.

75 years ago
1943


Married on this date
U.S. asbestos heir Tommy Manville and Macie Marie Ainsworth were wed in New York; it was his seventh (but not last) marriage, and her third.

War
Soviet Red Army forces took the flour-milling centre of Zenkov, 85 miles northwest of Kharkov. Acting U.K. Royal Navy Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten was appointed head of the new Allied Southeast Asia Command to conduct operations in India and Ceylon. U.S. planes attacked the Kowloon dock area of Hong Kong, destroying about 25,000 tons of Japanese shipping.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Ottawa to address Parliament and discuss mutual defense, becoming the first sitting American President to make an official state visit to Canada.

Law
U.S. Federal Judge Delbert Metzger fined Hawaiian military Governor Lieutenant General Robert Richardson, Jr. $5,000 for contempt of court for refusing to produce two interned aliens on habeas corpus writs.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge told the American Bar Association that a world court must be established after World War II and that eventually Germany and Japan should be given membership.

Medicine
A U.S. National Research Council report declared that penicillin was a "remarkably potent anti-bacterial agent" when injected or applied locally, but was ineffective if taken orally.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Roosevelt reported that Lend-Lease aid to July 31 totalled $13,973,339,000.

70 years ago
1948


War
Burmese government forces reported the suppression of Communist-led guerrilla bands in the Rangoon area.

Diplomacy
Yugoslavia threatened to break off relations with Romania, which it charged with leading Cominform attacks on Yugoslavian President Marshal Josip Broz Tito.

The U.S.S.R. broke off consular relations with the U.S.A. in retaliation for the expulsion of Soviet Consul General Jacob Lomakin. The action meant the closing of Soviet consulates in New York and San Francisco and the U.S. consulate in Vladivostok and the suspension of plans to open a new U.S. consulate in Leningrad. Former U.S.S.R. consular employee Oksana Kosenkina held a press conference in her New York hospital room, stating that she had intended to seek U.S. asylum ever since her transfer two years earlier to the Soviet consulate in New York. She had been critically injured on August 12 in a jump from a third-floor window at the consulate.

Politics and government
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities held its first-ever televised congressional hearing: "Confrontation Day," in which former U.S. State Department employee Alger Hiss and Time editor Whittaker Chambers testified jointly, upholding their contradictory versions of their past association.

Chilean Interior Minister Alsonso Quintana Burgos resigned after admitting failure in his conciliatory policy toward the Communist Party. He was succeeded by anti-Communist Admiral Immanual Holger.

Medicine
The World Health Organization announced the development of a chemical dehydration process for extracting insulin, simplifying production of the drug and raising hopes of alleviating the drastic world insulin shortage.

Lederle Laboratories in New York announced the discovery of APF (animal protein factor), a vitamin that built red corpuscles in pernicious anemia sufferers.

Labour
The American Federation of Labor Executive Council concluded a three-day meeting in Chicago by announcing that an independent committee of affiliated union presidents would actively support U.S. President Harry Truman's election campaign.

Football
WIFU
Saskatchewan (1-1) 1 @ Calgary (1-0) 12

Harry Hood scored the game's only touchdown and Bill Wusyk added a convert and field goal for the Stampeders as they beat the Roughriders at Mewata Stadium.

60 years ago
1958


Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Bird Dog--The Everly Brothers (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Little Star--The Elegants (Hot 100--1st week at #1)

War
A Nationalist Chinese communique reported that Nationalist naval units had routed a 10-vessel Communist fleet attempting to land troops on Tunting Island, 18 miles southwest of Quemoy.

Seven people were killed and at least 21 wounded in Algerian nationalist attacks on police and civilian targets in France, the heaviest since the start of the Algerian revolt.

Politics and government
French Overseas Territories Minister Bernard Cornut-Gentille said that Algeria would not be given the right to secede from the French Union because it was legally part of metropolitan France.

The New York State Democratic Party convention in Buffalo renominated Governor Averell Harriman, while the Republican Party state convention in Rochester nominated Nelson Rockefeller for Governor of New York.

Football
CFL
WIFU
Winnipeg (2-1) 15 @ Edmonton (1-3) 8
Calgary (3-0) 34 @ British Columbia (0-3) 13

Leo Lewis completed a halfback option pass to John Varone for an 85-yard touchdown and Charlie Shepard added a touchdown and 2 singles to help the Blue Bombers beat the Eskimos before 17,000 fans at Clarke Stadium. Gerry James converted Mr. Varone's TD. Normie Kwong rushed 7 yards for the Edmonton touchdown in the 1st quarter, with Joe Mobra converting and adding a single on the subsequent kickoff.

Ernie Warlick scored 2 touchdowns and Jim Morse, Chuck Holloway, and Jim Bakhtiar added touchdowns for the Stampeders as they beat the Lions before 26,358 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. Doug Brown converted 4 of the Calgary TDs. Howie Schnellenberger and By Bailey scored the B.C. touchdowns, with Ted Hunt adding a convert. B.C. head coach Clem Crowe was fired the next day.

50 years ago
1968


Golf
Bob Murphy won the Philadelphia Golf Classic in a playoff after posting a four-round total score of 276. First prize money was $20,000.

Football
CFL
Toronto (2-2) 17 @ Saskatchewan (3-2-1) 32
Winnipeg (1-4) 17 @ British Columbia (2-3) 10

40 years ago
1978


Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Rivers of Babylon--Boney M. (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): En chantant--Michel Sardou (6th week at #1)

War
Chinese and Vietnamese forces clashed in the Friendship Pass area on the two nations' borders.

Labour
Air Canada workers went on strike.

30 years ago
1988


Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Gimme Hope Jo'anna--Eddy Grant (12th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): The Loco-Motion--Kylie Minogue

Died on this date
Art Rooney, 87
. U.S. football executive. Mr. Rooney played minor league baseball in the 1920s and founded the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National Football League in 1933, renaming them the Steelers in 1941. It took Mr. Rooney's team more than four decades to win a championship, but they won four Super Bowls in six years from 1975-1980. Mr. Rooney was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1964.

War
Five days after the cease-fire between Iran and Iraq went into effect, foreign ministers of the two countries began talks in Geneva.

Football
CFL
Edmonton (4-3) 10 @ British Columbia (4-3) 28

Blake Marshall scored the Eskimos' only touchdown in their loss to the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. It was the final CFL game for Edmonton linebacker Craig Shaffer and the only CFL game for Edmonton defensive lineman Mike Ruzinek.

25 years ago
1993


Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): What's Up?--4 Non Blondes (3rd week at #1)

Terrorism
Egyptian Muslim Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, known for his fiery sermons, was indicted for being a leader of a group behind the plot to blow up the World Trade Center in New York, as well as the killing of militant Jewish leader Rabbi Meir Kahane.

Football
CFL
Hamilton (3-5) 8 @ Edmonton (5-3) 46

Damon Allen threw 2 touchdown passes to Eddie Brown and another to Henry "Gizmo" Williams in the 1st half as the Eskimos scored 28 points and coasted to victory over the Tiger-Cats before 24,356 fans at Commonwealth Stadium. Edmonton defensive back Doug Parrish returned a fumble 32 yards for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter, Mr. Williams caught another TD pass in the 4th quarter, and Don Wilson returned an interception 34 yards for the Eskimos' final touchdown. Former University of Calgary quarterback Bob Torrance started at quarterback for Hamilton; it was the only starting assignment of his CFL career.

20 years ago
1998


Died on this date
Lewis Powell, 90
. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1972-1987. Justice Powell was a corporate lawyer from Virginia who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon. He was a "swing vote" on the Court, with a penchant for compromise. Justice Powell sided with the majority in the 7-2 Roe v. Wade (1973) case, which effectively legalized abortion on demand in the United States.

Bob Montgomery, 79. U.S. boxer. Mr. Montgomery compiled a record of 75-19-3 in a professional career spanning 1938-1950. He held the New York State Athletic Commission version of the world lightweight title from May-November 1943 and 1944-1947, and was perhaps best known for his four bouts against Beau Jack, resulting in each man winning two decisions. Mr. Montgomery became a boxing promoter in later years, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998. He died after a stroke.

10 years ago
2008


Died on this date
Kevin Duckworth, 44
. U.S. basketball player. Mr. Duckworth was a center with the San Antonio Spurs (1986); Portland Trail Blazers (1986-93); Washington Bullets (1993-95); Milwaukee Bucks (1995-96); and Los Angeles Clippers (1996-97), scoring 8,085 points (11.8 per game), with 598 assists (0.9 per game) and 3,945 rebounds (5.8 per game) in 684 regular season games, and 785 points (11.7 per game), with 84 assists (1.3 per game) and 393 rebounds (5.9 per game) in 67 playoff games. He was named the National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player in 1988, and was a Western Conference All-Star in 1989 and 1991, while helping the Trail Blazers reach the NBA finals in 1990 and 1992. Mr. Duckworth died of heart failure in Gleneden Beach, Oregon while helping to host a free basketball clinic for children.

Politics and government
The U.S. Democratic National Convention opened at Pepsi Center in Denver.

Environment
The government of Canada established the first sanctuary for bowhead whales in eastern Arctic waters: 4,500 square kilometres of land and sea around Baffin Island designated as national wildlife heritage areas.

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