September 19, 2009

670 years ago
1339

Born on this date
Go-Daigo. Emperor of Japan, 1318-1339. Go-Daigo, born Takaharu-shinnō, acceded to the throne upon the abdication of his second cousin Emperor Hanazono. Go-Daigo overthrew the Kamagura shogunate in 1333 and established the Kenmu Restoration, which in turn was overthrown by the Ashikaga shogunate in 1336. He was the last Emperor to have real power until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Go-Daigo died on September 19, 1339 at the age of 50, and was succeeded on the throne by his son Emperor Go-Murakami.

210 years ago
1799

War
French and Dutch forces defeated British and Russian forces in the Battle of Bergen in the Batavian Republic (The Netherlands).

190 years ago
1819

Literature
English poet John Keats wrote the poem To Autumn.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Ben Turpin. U.S. comedian and actor. Mr. Turpin had a successful career in vaudeville, burlesque, and silent movies, and became famous for his crossed eyes and moustache, and his ability to perform pratfalls. He made enough money investing in real estate to be able to retire in 1929 after sound came into movies. Mr. Turpin died of a heart attack on July 1, 1940 at the age of 70.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Louis Joseph Vance. U.S. author. Mr. Vance was a novelist who was best known for creating the detective character known as the Lone Wolf, who was featured in 8 books and 24 films between 1914 and 1949. Mr. Vance died on December 16, 1933 at the age of 54, in a fire that started after he fell asleep while holding a lighted cigarette.

125 years ago
1884

Baseball
The Union Association decided to drop the Wilmington Quicksteps and Pittsburg Stogies from the league, and invited two teams from the minor Northwestern League to replace them: Omaha and the Milwaukee Grays.

120 years ago
1889

Disasters
A rock slide in Quebec City's lower town killed 45 people.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Ferry Porsche. Austrian automotive executive. Mr. Porsche, whose father Ferdinand founded Porsche AG in 1931, worked closely with his father, and ran the company after World War II while Ferdinand Porsche, Sr. was imprisoned for war crimes. Ferry Porsche took over the firm following his father's death in 1951, and ran it until his retirement in 1989. He died on March 27, 1998 at the age of 88.

90 years ago
1919

Baseball
George Mogridge pitched a 3-hitter and batted 1 for 1 with a base on balls, sacrifice, and was hit by a pitch, and also scored a run, improving his 1919 record to 8-9 as the New York Yankees scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning and coasted to a 7-0 win over the Detroit Tigers before 5,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York. Leadoff hitter Sammy Vick led the New York attack, batting 3 for 4 with a sacrifice, 2 runs, and 2 runs batted in.

The Cleveland Indians scored 5 runs in each of the 7th and 8th innings as they beat the Washington Nationals 12-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Winning pitcher Jim Bagby (17-10) pitched a 12-hit complete game and batted 2 for 4 with a double and 2 runs. Frank Kelliher made an out as a pinch hitter for the Nationals in the bottom of the 7th inning in his only major league appearance.

80 years ago
1929

Baseball
Hal McKain pitched a 4-hitter to improve his 1929 record to 6-8 as the Chicago White Sox scored 4 runs in the 4th inning and shut out the New York Yankees 7-0 at Yankee Stadium. Bill Cissell led the Chicago attack, batting 3 for 5 with 3 runs batted in. It was the 2,570th and last game for New York's Miller Huggins as a major league manager; suffering from erysipelas, he resigned the next day in favour of coach Art Fletcher, and checked into a hospital.

Sam West singled home Sam Rice and Goose Goslin with the bases loaded and none out in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Washington Nationals a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Browns at Griffith Stadium in Washington in a game that was played in 1 hour 33 minutes. The Browns had scored an unearned run in the top of the 9th to take a 1-0 lead. Firpo Marberry (16-11) pitched a 7-hitter to win the pitchers' duel over George Blaeholder (13-14), who allowed 9 hits, including 4 straight in the 9th.

75 years ago
1934

Crime
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the kidnap and murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr.

70 years ago
1939

War
The Battle of Kępa Oksywska in Poland concluded in a German victory, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged.

60 years ago
1949

Died on this date
George E.Q. Johnson, 75. U.S. lawyer and judge. Mr. Johnson was a district attorney in Chicago who succeeded in obtaining convictions of Al Capone and several associates on charges of tax evasion. Mr. Johnson received a recess appointment to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in August 1932 but the appointment expired with the session of Congress in March 1933, and he returned to the private practice of law.

George Shiels, 68. Irish playwright. Mr. Shiels moved to Canada as a young man and worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway, but suffered an accident in 1913 that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He returned to Ireland and achieved success as a playwright for more than 30 years, especially at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Mr. Shiels' most famous plays were The New Gossoon (1930); The Passing Day (1936); and The Rugged Path (1940).

Nikos Skalkottas, 45. Greek composer. Mr. Skalkottas wrote orchestral, chamber, piano, and vocal works, as well as ballets and concertos for piano and violin. He died from the rupture of a neglected hernia.

Economics and finance
10 countries, including Canada, France, Sweden, and Israel, followed the United Kingdom in devaluing their currencies to free market level.

Labour
A strike of 480,000 coal miners in the United States began when mine operators refused to resume payments to the United Mine Workers of America welfare and pension fund before negotiation of a new contract.

U.S. Steel and United Steel Workers of America representatives met with Federal Mediation Service director Cyrus Cing in an attempt to settle the steel industry's pension dispute.

Football
CRU
WIFU
Edmonton (2-3) 10 @ Winnipeg (1-5) 3
Calgary (5-0) 13 @ Saskatchewan (3-3) 1

Pat West scored a touchdown, convert, and field goal, while Chuck Fenenboch added a single for the Eskimos as they defeated the Blue Bombers before 4,000 fans at Osborne Stadium. It was the Eskimos’ first win outside Edmonton since a 4-1 win over the Tigers in Calgary on October 27, 1928 (the Eskimos hadn’t played from 1933-1937 and 1940-1948).

Baseball
The New York Yankees moved 3 games ahead of the idle second-place Boston Red Sox in the American League pennant race with a 6-0 win over the Cleveland Indians before 27,889 fans at Yankee Stadium, with Ed Lopat pitching a 5-hitter to improve his 1949 record to 15-8, while Bob Feller allowed 9 hits and 3 runs--all earned--in 6 innings to fall to 13-13. The loss dropped the defending World Series champions, currently in fourth place in the AL, 9½ games behind the Yankees, with just 11 games remaining for the Indians.

Davey Williams’ first major league home run--a 2-run blow off Randy Gumbert with 2 out in the top of the 10th inning--enabled the New York Giants to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 before 11,542 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ralph Kiner hit his 50th home run of the season for the Pirates off Kirby Higbe in the 2nd, becoming the first National League player to have more than one 50-homer season (he had hit 51 in 1947). Sheldon Jones (14-10) allowed 1 hit and no runs in 3 innings of relief to get the win. Rip Sewell, the third of four Pittsburgh pitchers, entered the game to begin the 8th inning, allowing 1 hit and 1 run--unearned--with 1 base on balls in 0 innings in the 423rd and last game of his 13-year major league career.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Mona Lisa--Conway Twitty (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Il tuo bacio e' come un rock--Adriano Celentano

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Am Tag, als der Regen kam--Dalida (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Only Sixteen--Craig Douglas (4th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Three Bells--The Browns (4th week at #1)
2 Sleep Walk--Santo & Johnny
3 Sea of Love--Phil Phillips with the Twilights
4 I'm Gonna Get Married--Lloyd Price
5 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin
6 Broken-Hearted Melody--Sarah Vaughan
7 ('Til) I Kissed You--The Everly Brothers
8 Red River Rock--Johnny and the Hurricanes
9 Baby Talk--Jan & Dean
10 I Want to Walk You Home--Fats Domino

Singles entering the chart were Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat by Paul Evans and the Curls (#76); A Lover's Prayer (#80)/Every Little Thing I Do (#82) by Dion and the Belmonts; Got the Feeling by Fabian (#86); Don't You Know by Della Reese (#89); Ski King by E.C. Beatty (#90); Love Walked In by the Flamingos (#97); Shout (Part 1) by the Isley Brothers (#98); I'll Never Fall in Love Again by Johnnie Ray (#100); Tucumcari by Jimmie Rodgers (also #100); and Torquay by the Fireballs (also #100).

Space
The United States Air Force launched Jupiter AM-23 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying 12 pregnant mice and 2 frogs aboard one of the nation's earliest medium-range ballistic missiles. The rocket, however, was destroyed 13 seconds after launch when it started to veer off course

War
The Laotian government rejected Soviet proposals for a second Geneva conference on Indochina to deal with the Laos crisis.

Diplomacy
U.S.S.R. Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened to end his tour of the United States after listening to a critical speech by Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson. Mr. Khruschev had continually touted Soviet superiority during his tour of Los Angeles, but Mr. Poulson, citing Mr. Khrushchev's oft-quoted phrase, "We will bury you," said, "You shall not bury us and we shall not bury you. We tell you in the friendliest terms possible we are planning no funerals, yours or our own." Mr. Khrushchev also denounced the refusal, for security reasons, to permit him to visit Disneyland.



Labour
The U.S. Labor Department of Employment Security released a list of 17 major industrial centres and 53 smaller areas suffering a "chronic labor surplus."

Golf
Jack Nicklaus, a 19-year-old junior at Ohio State University, sank a birdie putt on the final hole to defeat the defending champion Charlie Coe of Oklahoma for a 1-up victory in the United States Amateur Championship at Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs.



Football
CFL
IRFU
Ottawa (2-5) 43 @ Montreal (4-3) 6

WIFU
Edmonton (5-3) 32 @ Saskatchewan (0-8) 0
Winnipeg (6-3) 6 @ British Columbia (6-3) 17

ORFU
Kitchener-Waterloo (3-3) 30 @ Detroit (0-6) 7
London (5-1) 14 @ Sarnia (4-2) 0

Normie Kwong, Johnny Bright, Joe-Bob Smith, and Fred Meyers scored touchdowns for the Eskimos. Jackie Parker kicked 3 converts and a field goal, and Art Walker added a safety touch. Attendance at Taylor Field in Regina was about 10,000.

Andy Gilmour scored 3 touchdowns for the Dutchmen in their win over the Raiders, while Terry Meyer scored his eighth touchdown of the season, having scored at least one in every game. Mike Norcia added 3 converts and 2 singles. Lee Williams scored the Raiders’ touchdown.

At Norm Perry Park, Larry Aldrich and Ron King scored touchdowns, both converted by Earl Kaiser, as the Lords earned their second straight win over the Golden Bears.

Canadian university
Saskatchewan (0-1) 7 @ Alberta (1-0) 32

Ernie Takacs rushed 20 times for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns and Ross Christensen carried 17 times for 107 yards and 2 TDs to account for most of the Golden Bears' 318 yards rushing as they routed the Huskies at Varsity Stadium in Edmonton in the U of A's first regular season football game since 1948, and their first under head coach Steve Mendryk.

Baseball
Roger Craig pitched a 6-hitter to improve his 1959 record to 9-5, outduelling Johnny Antonelli (19-10) as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader before 22,737 fans at Seals Stadium in San Francisco. The Dodgers scored all their runs in the 7th inning as they won the second game 5-3 to complete the sweep, moving the Dodgers into a tie with the Giants for first place in the National League, with the Milwaukee Braves 1 game behind. Don Drysdale (17-13) allowed 3 hits and 1 run--unearned--in 6 innings to win over Mike McCormick (12-15).

Del Crandall hit a grand slam in the 6th inning and Lee Maye, who entered as a defensive substitute in the 2nd inning, batted 3 for 3 with a base on balls, home run, 3 runs and 4 runs batted in to help the Milwaukee Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 before 17,216 fans at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, with Bob Buhl (14-9) pitching a 10-hit complete game victory over Don Cardwell (9-10).

Bill Mazeroski tripled home Dick Stuart and Don Hoak with 2 out in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds before 8,406 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roy Face allowed 5 hits and 1 run--earned--in 4 innings of relief to get the win, improving his 1959 record to 18-1, winning over Brooks Lawrence (7-12), who entered the game and hit Mr. Hoak immediately before surrendering Mr. Mazeroski's triple. Bobby Henrich entered the game in the top of the 9th inning for the Reds, running for Willie Jones at first base and remaining in the game at third base for the next 2 innings, with no fielding chances in the 48th and last game of his 3-year major league career.

International League
Finals
Havana 2 @ Richmond 1 (Havana led best-of-seven series 3-1)

American Association
Finals
Minneapolis 9 @ Fort Worth 6 (Minneapolis led best-of-seven series 2-0)

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Honky Tonk Women--The Rolling Stones

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)--Zager & Evans

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Which Way You Goin' Billy?--The Poppy Family
2 Little Woman--Bobby Sherman
3 Everybody Knows Matilda--Duke Baxter
4 Sugar, Sugar--The Archies
5 Easy to Be Hard--Three Dog Night
6 Jean--Oliver
7 Muddy Mississippi Line--Bobby Goldsboro
8 Commotion/Green River--Creedence Clearwater Revival
9 Move Over--Steppenwolf
10 This Girl is a Woman Now--Gary Puckett and the Union Gap

Singles entering the chart were Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley (#22); We Gotta All Get Together by Paul Revere and the Raiders (#25); Something in the Air by Thunderclap Newman (#28); Oh, What a Night by the Dells (#29); and No One for Me to Turn To by the Spiral Starecase (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Which Way You Goin’ Billy?--The Poppy Family
2 Sugar, Sugar--The Archies
3 Honky Tonk Women--The Rolling Stones
4 That’s the Way God Planned It--Billy Preston
5 Little Woman--Bobby Sherman
6 Jean--Oliver
7 A Boy Named Sue--Johnny Cash
8 Move Over--Steppenwolf
9 Lay Lady Lay--Bob Dylan
10 Get Together--The Youngbloods

At the movies
Yellow Submarine was showing at the Capitol Theatre in beautiful downtown Yellowknife, and this blogger was there with his friends. We were expecting to see a live-action Beatles movie, and were surprised to see an animated picture instead.

Died on this date
Rex Ingram, 73. U.S. actor. Mr. Ingram appeared in plays, films, and television programs in a career spanning more than 50 years. His movies included The Green Pastures (1936) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940). Mr. Ingram died of a heart attack.

War
U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that draft calls for the rest of 1969 would be cut by 50,000 men in a move that amounted to a suspension of the draft in November and December.

Football
CIAU
Pre-season
Manitoba 23 @ Dalhousie 6

Baseball
Hank Bauer was fired as manager of the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics were in second place in the American League West Division with a record of 80-69, but were well behind the first-place Minnesota Twins. John McNamara replaced Mr. Bauer.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): We Don't Talk Anymore--Cliff Richard (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The U.S.A., Egypt, and Israel reached a tentative agreement for monitoring the Egyptian-Israeli peace pact in the Sinai peninsula.

Politics
The counting of votes from Sweden’s general election on September 16 returned a majority of the moderate, centre, and liberal parties after mail balloting cancelled an early lead by the Socialist-Communist coalition.

The United States House of Representatives voted 213-192 to reject the proposed 1980 federal budget. The Senate had passed a $546.3 billion budget that included a deficit of $31.6 billion.

Baseball
The Pittsburgh Pirates scored 3 runs in the 8th inning and 5 in the 9th as they overcame a 6-1 deficit to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6 in the first game of a doubleheader before 30,566 fans at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt hit a grand slam for the Phillies in the 7th. In the second game, the Phillies overcame a 5-1 deficit with 2 runs in the 5th inning and 3 in the 6th to win 6-5, reducing the Pirates' lead over the second-place Montreal Expos in the National League East Division pennant race to 1 game.

Ross Grimsley (9-9) and Rudy May (10-3) were the respective winning pitchers as the Montreal Expos swept a doubleheader from the New York Mets 3-1 and 4-1 before 4,973 fans at Shea Stadium in New York.

Hal McRae scored 3 runs and Darrell Porter batted in 3 to help the Kansas City Royals defeat the California Angels 6-4 before 31,412 fans at Royals Stadium, moving the second-place Royals to within 2 games of the American League West Division-leading Angels. Larry Gura (12-11) allowed 6 hits and 4 earned run in 7 innings to win over Nolan Ryan (15-13), who allowed 11 hits and 3 earned runs in a complete game.

25 years ago
1984

Married on this date
Happy Silver Anniversary, Kathy and Matt Dunigan!

Religion
Pope John Paul II continued his Canadian tour in Ottawa and Hull.

Politics and government
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, campaigning for re-election in Connecticut, called on "good and decent Democrats of the JFK, FDR, and Harry Truman tradition--people who believe in the interests of working people" to cross party lines and support him.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that housing starts had fallen 12.8% in August, while personal income had risen 0.5%.

20 years ago
1989

Died on this date
Willie Steele, 66. U.S. long jumper. Mr. Steele was considered the world's best long jumper in 1942 and 1946, and was ranked #1 in the world in 1947 and 1948, the first two years in which Track and Field News published rankings. He won the gold medal in the men's long jump event at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games in London in 1948. Following the Olympics, Mr. Steele tried out for the Los Angeles Rams as a halfback, but was cut after playing in some pre-season games. He worked with the Parks and Recreation Department in Oakland, California until his retirement in 1988, and died of cancer.

Terrorism
An explosion on Union de Transports Aériens Flight 772, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 bound for Paris from Brazzaville, caused the death of all 170 people aboard. An examination of the wreckage, scattered in Niger, indicated that the explosion was caused by a bomb.

10 years ago
1999

Football
CFL
British Columbia (8-3) 12 @ Montreal (8-3) 21

Montreal defensive end Elfrid Payton recovered a fumble by B.C. quarterback Damon Allen in the Lions’ end zone for an Alouette touchdown in the third quarter to break an 11-11 tie. Mike Pringle carried 22 times for 119 yards for the Alouettes. 19,461 were in attendance at Molson Stadium to witness a possible Grey Cup preview.