November 10, 2008

525 years ago
1483

Born on this date
Martin Luther. German theologian. Fr. Luther was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1507, but eventually rejected many of the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the selling of indulgences. He published his views in his Ninety-Five Theses (1517); when he refused to recant his teachings before the Diet of Worms (1521), he was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X and regarded as an outlaw by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Later in the 1520s, Fr. Luther organized what became the Lutheran Church, and became the leader of the Protestant Reformation, translating the Bible into the German vernacular and writing numerous hymns. His later years were marked by various health problems, which may have influenced his writings, the most notorious of which, On the Jews and Their Lies (1543), has been repudiated by modern Lutherans. Fr. Lutheran died of a stroke on February 18, 1546 at the age of 62, three days after delivering his last sermon, which was a polemic against Jews.

200 years ago
1808

Died on this date
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, 84. Governor General of British North America, 1786-1796. As Governor of Quebec from 1768-1778, Lord Dorchester led the British defense of Quebec during the American War of Independence, freeing slaves who joined the British forces, and overseeing the evacuation of Loyalists from New York. He was appointed Governor General of British North America in 1786, but his authority was mainly effective only in Quebec. Lord Dorchester returned to England in 1796; many places in Canada are named Carleton or Dorchester in his honour.

170 years ago
1838

War
Governor General Sir John Colborne arrived at Napierville, Lower Canada with 8,000 soldiers to meet the rebellion of the Frères chasseurs (Hunters Lodges).

140 years ago
1868

Economics and finance
The Saint John-based Commercial Bank of New Brunswick failed.

130 years ago
1878

Born on this date
Jorge Ubico Castañeda. 21st President of Guatemala, 1931-1944. General Ubico, the son of Liberal Party cabinet minister Arturo Ubico Urruela, received an army commission as a second lieutenant in 1897, probably through political connections. He rose through the ranks, led a campaign against El Salvador, and participated in the coup that installed General José Orellana as President in 1921. Gen. Ubico served as Secretary of War (1922-1923), and ran unsuccessfully for President in 1926 as candidate of the Political Progressive Party. After a period of political instability in 1930-1931, the Liberals allied with the Progressives, and Gen. Ubico was elected President in February 1931 as the only candidate on the ballot. He governed as an absolute dictator, militarizing political and social institutions, eliminating public corruption, and giving concessions to wealthy landowners and the American-owned United Fruit Company. Gen. Ubico resigned amidst nationwide protests against his rule on July 1, 1944, handing the government to a triumvirate of generals who continued his policies. However, the triumvirate was toppled by a revolution on October 19, 1944; Gen. Ubico went into exile in New Orleans, where he died of lung cancer on June 14, 1946 at the age of 67.

120 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Juan Antonio Rios. President of Chile, 1942-1946. Mr. Rios, a member of the conservative wing of the Radical Party, was first elected to Congress in 1924. He was elected President in 1942 following the death in office of President Aguirre Cerda. Mr. Rios opposed some of the policies of his own party as well as those of some other parties, leaving him with little political support. He died of cancer on June 27, 1946 at the age of 57, five months after transferring his presidential powers to Vice President Alfredo Duhalde.

Football
ORFU
Final
Hamilton 1 @ Ottawa College 10

110 years ago
1898

Diplomacy
A trilateral High Commission meeting in Washington failed to settle the Alaska Boundary Question.

World events
A mob of 2,000 white supremacists seized power in Wilmington, North Carolina, overthrowing the city's Fusionist government in the only instance of a municipal coup d'état in United States history. The number of Negroes killed was estimated at 60-300.

100 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Charles Merritt. Canadian military officer and politician. Lieutenant Colonel Merritt, a native of Vancouver, commanded the Canadian Army's South Saskatchewan Regiment in the August 19, 1942 raid on Dieppe, and was captured, but not before displaying courage that earned him the Victoria Cross. Lt. Col. Merritt spent the rest of the war as a prisoner; upon returning to Canada, he entered politics, and, as a Progressive Conservative, represented Vancouver-Burrard in the Canadian House of Commons from 1945-1949. Mr. Merritt then practiced law, and died in Vancouver on July 12, 2000 at the age of 91.

Religion
The Gideons International, an organization founded by Christian laymen in 1899, placed their first Bible in a room at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana.

90 years ago
1918

War
The Western Union Cable Office in North Sydney, Nova Scotia received a top-secret coded message from Europe (that would be sent to Ottawa and Washington, D.C.) saying that on November 11, 1918, all fighting would cease on land, sea and in the air.

World events
The day after abdicating the throne, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany departed into exile in the Netherlands. He was forced to wear civilian clothes, and suffered the indignity of having to produce the proper documents before he was allowed to cross the border.

80 years ago
1928

Japanica
Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako were enthroned at the Shunykoden (permanent throne hall) in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto in a ceremony broadcast nationwide on radio. Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka led the assemblage in three "banzais"--cheers for 10,000 years.

Football
CRU
IRFU
Montreal (3-3) 8 @ Toronto (1-4-1) 1
Ottawa (1-4-1) 1 @ Hamilton (6-0) 34

Beano Wright drop-kicked a 30-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter and Mr. Bennett scored a touchdown in the 4th quarter as the Winged Wheelers defeated the Argonauts at Varsity Stadium. Frank Turville punted for a single in the 1st quarter to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.

Pep Leadley kicked 3 field goals for the Tigers in their rout of the Senators at the Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds. It was the last game played by the Ottawa team as the Senators, as they reverted to their previous name of Rough Riders in 1929. The game began a 25-game losing streak for Ottawa; they didn't win again until the season opener in 1933.

WCRFU-ARU
Exhibition
Regina 32 @ Calgary 0

The Roughriders scored 5 touchdowns, with Mr. Erskine adding 3 converts, as they routed the Tigers at Hillhurst Park.

Canadian university
Toronto 9 @ McGill 14

A record crowd of 15, 480 fans at Molson Stadium saw McGill defeat U of T to clinch the championship.

WCIRU
Alberta (3-0) 12 @ Saskatchewan (1-3) 6

Mickey Timothy rushed 60 yards for a touchdown in the 1st quarter, and Freddie Hess rushed 20 yards for a touchdown after faking a kick late in the 3rd quarter to help the U of A defeat the U of S at Cairns Field in Saskatoon to clinch the Hardy Cup championship. Mr. Hess punted for a single for the only point of the 4th quarter. Mr. Riches scored the only Saskatchewan touchdown late in the 2nd quarter when he intercepted a lateral pass from Mr. Hess intended for Mr. Hill.

NCAA
Notre Dame 12 Army 6 @ Yankee Stadium, New York

Johnny Niemiec completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Johnny O'Brien in the 4th quarter to break a 6-6 tie as the Fighting Irish overcame a 6-0 3rd-quarter deficit to defeat the Cadets before 85,000 fans. Mr. O'Brien's touchdown was his only play of the game, which ended with Army in possession of the ball on the Notre Dame 1-yard line. With the score tied 0-0 at halftime, Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne urged the team to win the game in memory of halfback George Gipp, who had died of pneumonia eight years earlier, and who, on his deathbed, had asked coach Rockne to one day ask the team to win one for the "Gipper."

70 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 57. Prime Minister of Turkey, 1920-1921; 1st President of Turkey, 1923-1938. Mr. Kemal, born Ali Rıza oğlu Mustafa, came to prominence as a field marshal in World War I, helping to defeat Allied forces in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following the war, Mr. Kemal led the Turkish National Movement, which succeeded in defeating Allied armies in the Turkish War of Independence and establishing a secular republic. His government initiated reforms in numerous areas of Turkish society, and he was granted the surname Atatürk--"Father of the Turks"--by the Turkish Parliament in 1934. Mr. Atatürk died of cirrhosis of the liver while still in office, and was succeeded as President by İsmet İnönü.

Music
Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's song God Bless America on U.S. network radio.

60 years ago
1948

World events
The Chinese Nationalist government placed Nanking and Shanghai under martial law as Communist forces threatened the nearby rail junction of Suchow.

German authorities arrested Hjalmar Schacht near Hamburg for retrial on charges of collaborating with the Nazi government, after an appeals court reversed his earlier acquittal.

Politics and government
Democratic Party leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives announced plans to kill the House Un-American Activities Committee and supplant it with a Committee on Civil Liberties.

Economics and finance
U.S. and U.K. military governors in Germany issued a decree giving control over Ruhr heavy industry to a German board of trustees pending election of a German government able to determine
ultimate ownership of the area's industry. France immediately protested renewed German authority in the Ruhr.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission authorized a stock issue permit for the Israel Corporation of America, formed in New York to raise money for housing construction in Israel.

Labour
New York dockworkers refused to ratify a contract negotiated by the International Longshoremen's Association, and began an unauthorized walkout.

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): It's Only Make Believe--Conway Twitty

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Tom Dooley--The Kingston Trio (3rd week at #1)
2 Topsy II--Cozy Cole
3 It's All in the Game--Tommy Edwards
4 Queen of the Hop--Bobby Darin
5 I Got Stung/One Night--Elvis Presley
6 The End--Earl Grant
7 The Day the Rains Came--Jane Morgan
--Raymond Lefevre and his Orchestra
8 Mexican Hat Rock--The Applejacks
9 To Know Him is to Love Him--The Teddy Bears
10 I Got a Feeling/Lonesome Town--Ricky Nelson

Singles entering the chart were Problems by the Everly Brothers (#39); Bimbombey by Jimmie Rodgers (#45); I Want to Be Happy Cha Cha by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra starring Warren Covington (#46); Come Prima, with versions by Polly Bergen, and Marino Marini (#52); Goodnight by the Elegants (#57); A House, a Car and a Wedding Ring, with versions by Dale Hawkins, and Mike Preston (#58); Whole Lotta Lovin' by Fats Domino (#59); and Gotta Travel On by Billy Grammer (#60).

Space
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration sought bids for the construction of a space capsule that would be capable of sustaining a man for up to 28 hours.

World events
A Baghdad military tribunal condemned to death former Iraqi Prime Minister Fahdil al-Jamali and two former military leaders for alleged conspiracy to organize a Western-backed coup in Iraq.

U.K. authorities in Cyprus barred 4,000 Greek Cypriot employees from British military bases following the killing of two Royal Air Force men in a canteen bombing at Nicosia airport.

The 1958 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Rev. Dominique Pire of Belgium, a Dominican Roman Catholic priest who founded the charitable organization Aid to Displaced Persons.

Education
The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Little Rock School Board to take affirmative steps to integrate the city's high schools under a long-delayed court-approved plan.

Popular culture
New York jeweller Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond, valued at $1.5 million, to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Sport
Donald Campbell set a world water speed record of 248.62 miles per hour in his jet-propelled Bluebird K7 at Coniston Water, England.

50 years ago
1968

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the lunar flyby probe Zond 6 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Disasters
13 people were killed and 57 injured in the explosion of a fuel tank in Illiolo, Philippines.

14 people were killed when a bus plunged into a river near Sotik, Kenya.

Boxing
Chartchai Chionoi (48-11-2) retained his World Boxing Council world flyweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over Bernabe Villacampo (20-8-3) at Carusathiars Stadium in Bangkok.

Football
CFL
Western Semi-Final
Edmonton 13 @ Calgary 29

Dave Cranmer rushed 19 times for 127 yards and a touchdown to help the Stampeders defeat the Eskimos before 23,380 fans at McMahon Stadium. The only Edmonton touchdown came on a 63-yard pass from Frank Cosentino to Randy Kerbow, whose final game this was. Peter Kempf, also in his final game that counted, converted and added 2 field goals. Mr. Cosentino, who was working on his Master's thesis in history at the University of Alberta, was traded to the Toronto Argonauts in the off-season. His thesis was published in 1969 as a book titled Canadian Football: The Grey Cup Years. For the Eskimos, it was the third straight season in which they'd lost the semi-final.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): You're the Greatest Lover--Luv'

#1 single in France (IFOP): You're the One that I Want--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (9th week at #1)

Football
CIAU
Western Bowl @ Empire Stadium, Vancouver
Wilfrid Laurier 16 @ British Columbia 25

Gord Penn rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown, and John Mackay rushed for another 78 yards, while Dan Smith completed 15 of 22 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown to Chris Davies to help the Thunderbirds come back from a 15-10 halftime deficit to defeat the Golden Hawks before 5,000 fans. Dave Negrin rushed 1 yard for the other UBC touchdown. Bernie Pickett scored the first Wilfrid Laurier touchdown when he recovered an opposition fumble in the B.C. end zone, and Jim Reid rushed 1 yard for the other WLU TD.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Love, Truth and Honesty--Bananarama

Politics and government
U.S.S.R. leaders said they would take new initiatives to broaden autonomy at the regional level.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Labor Department reported that prices charged by producers for finished goods had held steady in October.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Hal Newhouser, 77. U.S. baseball pitcher. "Prince Hal" played with the Detroit Tigers (1939-1953) and Cleveland Indians (1954-1955), compiling a record of 207-150 with an earned run average of 3.06 in 488 games. He led the American League in wins four times, in earned run average twice, and in strikeouts twice, and was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1944 and 1945. Mr. Newhouser helpd the Tigers win the AL pennant in 1940 and was 2-1 in the 1945 World Series, which the Tigers won in seven games over the Chicago Cubs. He was a relief pitcher with the Indians when they won the AL pennant in 1954, and pitched in one game of their four-game loss to the New York Giants. Mr. Newhouser batted .201 with 2 home runs and 81 runs batted in in 492 games. He scouted for several major league teams for many years, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, and died of emphysema and heart problems.

Mary Millar, 62. U.K. actress. Miss Millar, whose real name was Irene Mary Wetton, was best known for playing Rose in the television comedy series Keeping Up Appearances (1991-1995). She died of ovarian cancer.