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H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 28, 1867: Toronto officially becomes the capital of Ontario with the province having been newly created by Confederation earlier on Jul 1 -- which was the creation of the Dominion of Canada set forth by the British North America Act to unite with the separate colonies of Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as joined provinces in an ambitious aim that would become the foundational structure for a federal system. Toronto's earliest activity began with the First Nations Iroquois indigenous from the 1200's to 1500's, and French explorers & traders landing on the shores of Lake Ontario in Sept 1615. The Fort Portneuf trading post built along the Humber River in 1750, and the trading post named Fort Rouillé in 1751 -- on what is the present grounds of the CNE -- have both at various points been called Fort Toronto. After the Seven Years' War of 1756-63 saw New France (French North American territory including Canada) ceded to the British, the city having been previously called York (after the Duke of York), changed to the Town of York (to also distinguish it from New York City) which became the capital of Upper Canada in Aug 1793. (Jul 1793 had seen the establishment of the Fort York military fortification for the British garrisoned there). The Town of York was a heavily contested site during the War of 1812-14, was renamed Toronto after the city was incorporated in Mar 1834 with William Lyon Mackenzie as the first Mayor, and became a central point of prominence during the Rebellions of 1837-38 where a provisional government was set up. The actual name is likely derived from the Mohawk word 'tkaronto' meaning "where there are trees standing in the water". The namesakes of its downtown major arterial streets (King, Queen, Yonge, Dundas, Bloor) were 2 British royal monarchs, 2 influential British politicians, and an inkeeper/brewer who co-founded Yorkville. During his 1842 North American tour, author Charles Dickens described visiting Toronto as "full of life, motion, business and improvement. The streets are well-paved and lighted with gas". With Toronto's inhabitants made up largely of colonists from the UK and their descendants, during the American Civil War of 1861-65, the population's black citizens grew from the settlement of freed & escaped slaves by the Underground Railroad. As the city became an important connective regional center through expanding east-to-west train travel and on the British & American commerce markets, a profitable mining boom in northern Ontario began in 1903, and the financial sector competed with Montreal as American business opted more for branch offices in Toronto. WWI and WWII impacted the city tremendously as it was a mighty hub for armed forces recruitment & national mobilizations for overseas deployment. The post-war influx of demographic-changing immigration into suburbia in the 1950's resulted in the surrounding districts now unified as the 'Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto' in Apr 1953, and the city experienced an increase in the thriving urban sprawl of the 1960's & 70's. With a further boom of industry in the 1980's, in Jan 1998, the unified Municipality was scrapped for a brand new amalgamation of the 6 boroughs that now formed the singular concentrated 'City of Toronto' which has emerged as both Canada's largest city & economic mecca, as well as being one of the most multicultural & entertainment-driven cities in the world.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 27, 1975: In Spain, capital punishment is carried out for the last time when 5 men from left-wing terrorist groups -- 2 from the Basque separatist ETA, and 3 from the anti-Francoist Marxist–Leninist 'Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front' (FRAP) -- were executed by firing squads after having been convicted & sentenced by military tribunals for the murder of policemen & civil guards. Spain was Western Europe's last dictatorship (after the junta regimes in Portugal & Greece both fell in 1974) still under autocratic rule and had been unpopular & internationally isolated since post-WWII because of its leader Francisco Franco's previous fascist relationship with Germany & Italy as he successfully with their co-operation had overthrown a democratically elected government in the Civil War of 1936-39. In Aug 1975, new Spanish legislation imposed harsher punishments for terrorists & sympathizers which the European Parliament condemned as infringing on human rights, and called on the EEC (European Economic Community) to suspend relations with the country. With the various killings committed by the 5 men and their arrests, they were found guilty & given the death penalty. Their lawyers failed to appeal the verdicts and their executions sparked worldwide protests & mass demonstrations, hostile diplomatic criticism, attacks on Spanish embassies, and the withdrawl of ambassadors of 15 European countries. In Oct, a pro-government march was held in Madrid which state TV claimed that 1 million people had taken part. It was Franco's last public appearance as he addressed the crowd to denounce Communist subversion. He died in Nov and no further executions followed. In Dec 1978, the Spanish Constitution abolished the death penalty for all civil crimes and in Oct 1995, the Spanish parliament banned capital punishment entirely. The families of the executed appealed to the Constitutional Court of Spain to have the men's convictions overturned but their applications were first rejected as inadmissable, and rejected again by the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds of not having the power to deal with the cases prior to the 1978 Constitution coming into effect, and that Spain had not been a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1975.

50YRS AGO TODAY

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 26, 1983: In Russia, air force officer Stanislav Petrov identifies a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error instead of an actual American strike against the USSR thus preventing nuclear war. The false alarm had shown on the Soviet Air Defense early warning system as a launch of 5 warheads. After waiting for corroborating evidence which never came, instead of sending information up the chain of command, he had 30min. to decide if the danger was real and judged instead it was a mistake. Whether one hell of a lucky guess or professional calculated conclusion, Petrov's action was massively nerve-rackinging as a retaliatory Russian missile strike against the USA would have certainly been World War III pitting NATO against the Warsaw Pact with simultaneous nuclear launches. The incident came just 3 weeks after a military jet wrongly shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 for straying into Soviet airspace. All 269 on board were killed and the disaster brought scathing international scorn. Petrov was intensely questioned by his superiors and although his judgment was deemed correct & even praised with the promise of a reward, he was still reprimanded for improper filing of paperwork(!) and with some viewing his action as disobeying orders & violation of military protocol. While he wasn't punished, it is widely viewed that his reassignment to a lesser post and early retirement was to cover up Russian embarrassment over the failure of its scientists, and he later suffered a nervous breakdown. With the government known for its severe distrust of American leaders, Petrov stated he relied more on his civilian training than he did on paranoia with KGB intelligence later confirming that other officers would have taken the immediate course of launching in reprisal. Petrov's risky call resembled a surreal premise-reversal of the Oct 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis (of which he has been compared to Vasily Arkhipov, a Soviet Naval officer who refused to launch a nuclear torpedo from a submarine during the Crisis), and perhaps more bizarrely of the movies 'Dr. Strangelove' and 'Fail Safe' both from 1964. Investigation of the Russian warning system later determined that the radar computer had indeed malfunctioned, and that the further original detection had been created by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds that gave erroneous satellite readings. The story began to leak in the early 1990's after the publishing of memoirs from a former Soviet missile-defense Commander, and then to international media in 1998. In Jan 2006, Petrov was honored by the United Nations and met with anchorman Walter Cronkite. In 2011 and 2013, he was the subject of documentaries [with 2013's 'The Man Who Saved the World' that was still being nominated & winning awards in film festivals into 2016]. He died in May 2017.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 25, 1818: British obstetrician James Blundell performs the first successful human-to-human blood transfusion. The procedure of blood transfusion had first been done with animal blood with the first occurence of animal-to-animal in Feb 1665 by British physician Richard Lower using silver tubes between dogs, and then next performing an animal-to-human operation (using lamb's blood) in Nov 1667 to a clergyman named Arthur Coga in the presence of many witnesses. In Jun 1667 in France, Jean-Baptiste Denys (personal physician to King Louis XIV) transfused sheep's blood into a 15yr old boy. The early transfusions of animal blood were later abandoned due to mixed results, negative adverse reactions and legal prohibitions in the 1700's. Dr. Blundell had graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School in Jun 1813 and in Aug 1814, began lecturing in London on midwifery & physiology. Having also done extensive research into animals, Blundell's human-to-human patient was a wife needing treatment for postpartum hemorrhage. He extracted 4 ounces of blood from the arm of the woman's husband and used a syringe to transfuse it back into her. Blundell reported his procedure in an article in the medical journal The Lancet published in Jun 1829, and devised many new instruments with some still used today. He retired from practice in 1847 and died in Jan 1878. In 1900, Austrian-American biologist Karl Landsteiner's own studying/experiments with blood groups saw his findings released in 1901. The advent of blood typing in the wake of his research discoveries became a crucial development to immunology that made the process of transfusions much safer, more reliable, and paved the way for blood donation.

The band's standout crushing 4th album and the first to feature both guitarist Marty and drummer Nick whose predecessors were fired ahead of the 1988 Australian tour. Dimebag Darrell of PANTERA had been invited to join but declined after requesting his brother Vinnie be asked also which was turned down. Original guitarist Chris had been asked to rejoin and was nearly a lock but the move was turned down by management. With a formidable lineup (that would go on to be the band's most celebrated & accomplished for their chemistry), RIP's snarling nihilistic lyrical themes (considered some of singer Dave's finest writing) tackle politics, religion, conspiracy, war, and Dave's battle with substance abuse, while the music is steeped in melody, great crystal clear production, and impeccable dual trade-off shredding guitars in a complimentary barrage of surgical precision riffs & solos that skillfully don't fall into the trap of being boringly formulaic. RIP raised the thrash bar to a new level of boundary-bending maturity & complexity mixed with punkish rage in never a dull moment. Regardless of present controversial opinions on Dave, the album is an unconventional winning recipe viewed by many as a stepping stone, was nominated for a 1991 Best Metal Performance Grammy, featured 2 hit singles (each also videos that saw heavy video rotation), and is considered one of the genre's pinnacle best albums of the 90's having received numerous accolades & gold certification. Happy 35th Anniversary and R.I.P. Nick Menza.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 24, 1877: In Japan, the Battle of Shiroyama proves a decisive victory for the Imperial Army over the Satsuma Rebellion (also known as the Seinan War) which began in Feb and was the last major uprising of samurai. The ancient warrior class had been disenfranchised against the Meiji government's embracing of rapid modernization which in Jan 1868 (named under the new Emperor as the Restoration) sought to abolish old traditionalism in favor of industrialization and the adoption of westernization. Seeing this as a betrayal of their customs & values, the samurai were led by Saigo Takamori who initially was a supporter of the Meiji but turned against them when his wealthy private schools were seized and a plot against his life was discovered which sparked a full-scale revolt. The samurai raided government arsenals & a naval yard, and then attacked Kumamoto Castle (a seat of military power) but the garrison held out against the seige eventually overwhelming the rebel invaders with superior numbers, new mechanized weaponry and communication. After a series of retreats, the final stand came at Shiroyama on a hill which overlooked the castle resulting in the defeat of Saigo's forces who fought bravely but were annihilated. He was mortally wounded, captured, and committed ritual suicide (seppuku). In Feb 1889, Saigo was posthumously pardoned by the Meiji government as widespread public opinion affectionately regarded him as a misguided tragic national folk hero, and he became revered in a romanticized past upholding bushido (a code of honor deeply ingrained in the earliest ideals of respect, loyalty, courage and dying for valor). As Shiroyama was Japan's last internal mutiny, it marked an immense turning point to a solidified shift of dismantling the centuries-old feudal system effectively ending the samurai class & rendering them obsolete. The Meiji's reforms endorsed technology and having seen the supremacy of artillery & rifles wiping out the samurai banzai charges, the forwardness of the Imperial Army in democratization also changed to conscription with commoners (farmers, merchants, artisans) making up the vast majority of soldiers, as the previous hierarchical social structure that defined peasants now saw a more unified & centralized state. In the 2003 movie 'The Last Samurai' starring Tom Cruise, the final battle scene depicts Shiroyama.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 23, 1897: In Britain, 9yr old Stephen Kempton becomes the first child in the world to die in an automobile fatality in Hackney northeast London. He had been hitching a ride (called cadging) from the back of a taxi by jumping onto the springs when his coat got caught in the driving chain. He lost his grip and was pulled under the vehicle's wheels which crushed him to death. In Aug 1896, the first female -- and pedestrian -- to die in an accident was 44yr old housewife Bridget Driscoll who along with her teenage daughter & a female friend, stepped into the path of an oncoming car at the Crystal Palace in London that was holding a motor exhibition giving demonstration rides. The 2 other women managed to get out of the way but Driscoll was hit and died after the collision from head injuries & a fractured skull. In Feb 1898, the first motorist to die in an auto crash was 42yr old businessman Henry Lindfield in Surrey southwest London who was with his teenage son. Driving to his home in Brighton, his electric carriage overturned at high speed and crashed into a tree crushing his leg. His son was thrown from the vehicle unharmed. Lindfield was hospitalized in Croydon where his leg was amputated and he died the following morning. In Feb 1899, the first death of a passenger in an auto accident was that of Major James Stanley Richer in the borough of Harrow-on-the-Hill in London. The car's driver was E.R. Sewell who crashed at an intersection. Both men were not wearing seatbelts and were each thrown from the vehicle with Sewell killed on impact from hitting a wall while Richer died 3 days later from his head injuries. Overall, the world's first-ever auto fatality is recorded as being 42yr old prominent microscopist Mary Ward of the Irish Midlands who in Aug 1869 fell from her 3-wheeled steam-powered carriage after a sharp jolt on a bending road. She was crushed by its heavy iron wheels & a broken neck causing instant death.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 22, 1927: In his last professional fight, boxer Jack Dempsey loses his bid to regain the heavyweight title when he fails to return to his neutral corner after knocking down defending champion Gene Tunney in their Chicago 10-round match which brought in a record-setting $2 million gate. Nicknamed 'Kid Blackie' and the 'Manassa Mauler', Dempsey was one of the most iconic atheletes of the 1920's that defined the era in a golden age of sports alongside baseball's Babe Ruth, football's Red Grange, golfers Bobby Jones & Walter Hagen, and tennis' Bill Tilden & Helen Wills. Tunney (regarded for better footwork) had won the belt in an upset from a heavily favored Dempsey (considered the better puncher) almost exactly 1yr earlier on Sep 23, 1926 in Philadelphia which was originally scheduled for Chicago but changed because Dempsey didn't want notorious gangster Al Capone to attend who was a big fan. (Capone had allegedly bet $50,000 on him for the rematch which fueled false rumors of a fix). The 1927 bout was controversial and known as the 'Long Count Fight' for Tunney being knocked down in the 7th round and the count being delayed. The '10 seconds allowed' for a downed fighter to rise to his feet was a new rule not yet universally mandatory and had been requested by the Dempsey camp. Tunney by most accounts dominated the first 6 rounds but got trapped in the ropes, staggered from a combination of hits and was floored for the first & only time in his career. Dempsey stood over his disoriented opponent (a habit) and remained watching him enabling for precious seconds to recuperate which had he first gone to his corner at the referee's order, he would have likely been victorious (with the validity of the argument still debated as a superimposed clock on the film footage shows Tunney down for an extended 13 seconds). By the 8th round, Tunney had resumed boxing from a distance, knocked Dempsey down, and controlled the last 2 rounds to win & retain by unanimous decision. After the fight, Dempsey lifted Tunney's arm in the ring and said, "You were best. You fought a smart fight, kid". Tunney fought only one more time and retired undefeated after winning his bout against Tom Heeney in Jul 1928 in New York. Dempsey & Tunney became very good friends and in their later years often visited each other at a Palm Springs supper club. Tunney died in Nov 1978 and Dempsey passed away in May 1983. They are both in the the Boxing Hall of Fame, International Boxing HOF, and Ring Magazine's Boxing HOF.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 21, 1972: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines begins authoritarian rule by declaring martial law (Proclamation 1081) which will last for 9yrs until Jan 1981 but carry on de facto with another 5yrs of power until he was ousted in the EDSA People Power Revolution in Feb 1986. Marcos first became President in Dec 1965 where he presided over a growing economy & infrastructure development that initially made him popular. When extreme poverty, inflation, a debt crisis and social unrest followed, his rule quickly changed to that of a dictatorship and his installation of military rule came particularly after terrorist bombings in Manila. Along with being publicly supported by US President Richard Nixon, the country saw a violent crackdown on radical opposition, suppression of the media, the targeting of Muslims & Communists, the restriction of the Chinese language in schools, and alarming human rights abuses. Marcos had taken his first totalitarian steps in Aug 1971 when he suspended habeas corpus and from his iron-fisted rule, his administration next ratified martial law in Jul 1973 in a corrupt referendum. With the population suffering, the swelling discontent resulted in a resurgence of opposition in the parliamentary elections in May 1984 which had exposed his financial looting & false WWII records. In Aug 1985, impeachment proceedings against him fell flat after being accused of allegedly diverting American aid for personal use and misusing funds (specifically in the exhibition of pornography at the National Film Center contrary to Filipino customs & traditions). As a result of the embarassments and trying to re-assert legitimacy, Marcos called a snap election that was riddled with fraud & political turmoil which led to his downfall and saw Corazon Aquino become the Philippines' first female President who would establish a new Constitution in Mar 1986. Ironically, in the last months of his office, Russia had stepped up relations with the Philippines and was the only country to ever officially congratulate him as a victorious head of state. He and his wealthy family fled to Hawaii in exile and brought with them an estimated over $1 billion and millions more in precious stones, with a belief that in 21yrs his family had stolen $5-10 billion. He died in Sep 1989 and his wife Imelda was allowed to return to the Philippines in Nov 1991. She was still hated (even being snubbed by The Beatles in Jul 1966) for being just as corrupt as her husband and was especially notorious for her previous lavish lifestyle of extravagant parties, shopping sprees & her ostentatious shoe collection when she was the First Lady. She quite boldly returned to politics and was elected 4 times to the House of Representatives and failed twice to win the Presidency.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 20, 2005: Famed holocaust survivor turned Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal dies in his sleep. At the outbreak of WWII, he was an architect in the Ukraine and in Jul 1941 after the German invasion of Russia, was rounded up for forced labor and moved into a ghetto. He was deported to 5 concentration camps (including Buchenwald) with Mauthausen in Austria being his last. After his liberation in May 1945, he began working with an American army unit gathering evidence against war criminals and when the investigations ended, he continued on with the work for the rest of his life -- obsessed with & dedicated to the pursuit of justice as an act of defiance to never forget. By tracking down and helping to prosecute several notorious high-profile one-time officers (or guards such as the sadistic Austrian Hermine Braunsteiner of the Majdanek and Ravensbrück camps who was found living as a housewife in Queens, New York in Jul 1964), those who had any involvement in the machinery of extermination became targets he doggedly went after in a determination to pull them out of hiding, face extradition & hold them accountable. In no time at all by the 1950's & 60's, Wiesenthal had set up valuable documentation centers and grew to be a figure of great controversy. He played a small role in the capture of Adolf Eichmann in May 1960 and in the 1970's, he was exposing politicians and seen as a hero in the eyes of many (not just survivors), while he was equally the recipient of many death threats. In the Dec 1970 life imprisonment of Franz Stangl, he had helped prepare the dossier that led to his charges & sentencing and in 1977, the Simon Wiesenthal Center was established in Los Angeles. In Jun 1982, a bomb planted by neo-Nazis exploded outside his house in Vienna (resulting in police guards stationed outside his home 24hrs a day) and in Mar 1986, he got tangled in the Kurt Waldheim affair over a Nazi past. What he articulated as inevitable reckoning & retribution against murderous fugitives, his critics condemned as revenge but whether truly vengeance or the vindication of memory, his humanitarian contribution can't be dismissed. His most serious charges came from 2 authors (Briton Guy Walters, and Israeli Tom Segev) who've claimed that Wiesenthal had frequently lied about his background and war-time exploits through an inconsistent narrative of false claims, bragging, contradictions, fabricated storytelling & self-showmanship. Defenders have countered the attacks & disputes by noting that even if duplicitous, his overall legacy can't be tarnished because his intentions for the proper recording of history and education on genocide & tolerance have been indispensable. The number of world awards & doctorates he has been honored with is a testament to freedom, stability & peace, just as much as it is to reconciliation. Wiesenthal retired in Oct 2001 and in Nov 2003, his wife Cyla of 67yrs died. The couple are survived by their daughter Pauline.

Happy 35th Anniversary to gore-infested guttural landmark Florida death metal. COD was the Tampa band's 2nd album, first with bassist Frank, and first & only with guitarist James. As the competitive genre was steeped in incorporated blast beats, the band was fusing more hardcore styling breakdowns & slower proto-grooves with both elements dripping in riffs for a pure sound brooding in brutality. Along with its transformative technical progression, singer John's vocally-stretched gurgling, creeping eerie ambience and permeating crushing force, COD was a template of expressive doom and a unique evolvement in fertile ground that also saw them churn out a strong cover of CELTIC FROST's 'Circle of the Tyrants' which was endorsed by CF's singer Tom. The album cover artwork by H.P. Lovecraft was originally meant for SEPULTURA's 'Beneath the Remains' but the Roadrunner label mixed up the intended illustrations resulting in a forced switch. Regarded as their most heralded album (with many saying the title belongs to 1992's 'The End Complete') COD is considered one of death metal's most quintessential offerings of the 90's decade, and one of the genre's greatest seminal releases period. R.I.P. Frank Watkins.

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H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 18, 1927: The Columbia Broadcasting System first debuts on the air in Manhattan, New York as a radio network. Its origins began as the United Independent Broadcasters, Inc. founded in Chicago in Jan 1927, and in Apr had an investment from a parent Record company resulting in its rebranding as the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System. In 1928, CPBS was sold to the WCAU Philadelphia affiliate who changed the name again to CBS. In Sep 1929, Paramount Pictures bought 49% of the company's stock shares but during the Great Depression, sold them back to the network in Mar 1932. Operating independently as one of the largest radio organizations in the USA, its popular programs included Lux Radio Theater; comedies such as Jack Benny, Duffy's Tavern & Amos 'n' Andy; mystery & chiller programs; detective serials such as The Shadow, and Westerns. CBS then expanded its horizons into television starting in the 1940's eventually becoming one of the big 3 national broadcasters alongside ABC & NBC also both in New York. In Oct 1951, the trademark circular eye-logo was designed and in Mar 1952, CBS began its syndication division which became Viacom in Jul 1970 which in itself spun off into its own separate company in Jan 1971. In Jan 1974, another name change followed this time becoming CBS, Inc. Its biggest TV programs have been its political talk show Face the Nation; news programs & 60 Minutes; late night talk shows such as Ed Sullivan; sitcoms such as The Honeymooners & I Love Lucy; Star Trek; The Twilight Zone; pro football & golf; daytime soap operas; games shows; Westerns such as Gunsmoke & Rawhide; children's programming & Saturday morning cartoons; the Miss USA beauty pageant; National Geographic specials; and animated primetime holiday specials. In Nov 2017, CBS sold its radio division to Entercom which became Audacy, Inc. in Mar 2021. To date, CBS has 15 owned & operated stations, as well as current & pending affiliation agreements with 228 additional TV stations in all 50 US states. Its programs are aired in 91 countries through cable, digital, video-on-demand streaming, and satellite.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 17, 1949: The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto harbour claiming 119 lives (all but one were American and with some estimates stating 139 victims). The ship's construction was first conceived in 1910 as part of an operating agreement with 2 companies on behalf of the Grand Trunk Railway, and the Noronic was launched in Jun 1913 as a passenger & freight service on the Great Lakes. On the day of the disaster, the ship had embarked on a 7-day cruise from Detroit. After picking up additional passengers in Cleveland and passing the Thousand Islands archipelago, Noronic docked for the night in Toronto at 7PM (with its final destination to be Sarnia where it would remain for the winter). Hours later at 2:30AM, smoke was reported in a C deck corridor and without an alarm sounded, flames began engulfing the hallway which quickly spread because of the interior's oil-polished wood paneling on the non-fireproof walls. As passengers used fire extinguishers (many being defective), Captain William Taylor was informed as the ship's distress whistle blew and half the ship's decks were now ablaze. First spotted by 2 officers and a pier night watchman, they saw passengers jumping out of porthole cabin windows & scaling down ropes into the lake. Many fell to their deaths as human torches. Police, ambulances & fire trucks were dispatched immediately and raced frantically to the harbourfront (arriving at 2:40AM) as fireboats joined the rescue operation to pull people out of the water. With the entire ship now consumed, only 15 crew members had been onboard alongside over 500 passengers and after an hour of fighting the inferno, the fire was extinguished at 5AM and took another 2hrs before the wreckage could cool and the recovery of bodies could begin. The Noronic was a burned-out hull with firefighters finding charred bodies & embraced skeletons completely incinerated with some of the dead still in their bunks. Identifications had to be done through forensic dentistry and the CNE's Horticultural Building served as a temporary morgue. In Ottawa, an Inquiry was ordered by the House of Commons to investigate the accident and found the flash fire had started in a linen closet with most dying from burns & suffocation while some had been fatally trampled in the awful panic to escape. One victim had drowned and one crewmember died from sustained injuries. Blame was largely place on the ineptitude & even cowardice of crew who had failed to wake passengers, make proper sweeps of the upper decks (with exits found on only 1 deck instead of all 5), or inform passengers of emergency evacuation routes/procedures. Taylor was hailed as a hero in the weeks afterward for helping passengers and being the last off the vessel but the Canadian Department of Transport faulted both him & the steamship line for negligence over inadequate precautions taken, and he was suspended for 1yr. One witness accused Taylor of being drunk but other survivors dismissed the damning allegation saying he had behaved normally. After the Noronic sank & lay on the bottom of the shallow water, it was later dismantled on the scene & then its re-floated hull towed afterwards in Nov to Hamilton where it was scrapped. Civil lawsuits were next settled for just over $2 million and in Sep 1999 in commemoration of the disaster's 50th anniversary, the Ontario Heritage Foundation installed a memorial plaque at the Toronto Islands Ferry Docks waterfront site (which was renamed the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal in Jun 2012).

R.I.P. Tomas Lindberg. 1972-2025.

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H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 15, 1954: During the filming of 'The Seven Year Itch' romantic comedy by director Billy Wilder, Hollywood bombshell Marilyn Monroe shoots her famous skirt scene (whose sequence may have been copied from a 77-second 1901 short film) with the iconic image immortalized in photographs. The movie is about a middle-aged New York publishing executive named Richard whose wife & son are away in Maine. He meets Monroe's character who is a new upstairs neighbor in his apartment. She's an actress & former model and he begins to fantasize about having an affair (from a psychiatry book he's reading about how monogamy can grow stale) imagining her as a femme fatale, and feeling guilt for an illusion of unfaithfulness to his wife which turns into comical jealousy when he believes that she is betraying him while absent. The sexy skirt scene occurs twice when Richard & Monroe are chatting on the way home from a cinema having just seen 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon'. Briefly standing on a subway grate, an updraft from a passing train blasts up her seductive pleated white halterneck dress, blowing the billowing skirt in the breeze exposing her legs & thighs. Monroe loved the scene which started at 1AM, did 14 takes for 3hrs and as a precaution had worn 2 pairs of white underwear to make sure she wasn't showing too much for anyone to get an actual glimpse. Her then-husband ex-New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio who was on set for the filming, hated it calling it exhibitionist. As a bonafide star in his own right for his baseball career, his preference of keeping a low profile saw him angrily storm off the set in disgust & humiliation by the attention from assembled reporters, photographers & onlookers (nearing some 5000 people) in attendance who loudly reacted in cheering & whistling, with some film critics later calling the scene vulgar & misognystic. The friction from the scene is believed to have led to the couple's divorce as after Monroe went back to their hotel, both got into a violent fight with DiMaggio allegedly slapping her. When she returned to their California home, she filed for divorce which was granted in Oct 1954 on the grounds of mental cruelty. Their marriage had lasted only 9 months. [Her next husband was intellectual playwright Arthur Miller. They married in Jun 1956 with the media viewing them a strange combination and dubbed them "The Egghead and the Hourglass"]. Monroe's outfit was designed by William Travilla and unimpressed with his creation or the scene's renown, he dismissed it as "that silly dress". After Monroe's death in Aug 1962, the dress was bought by actress Debbie Reynolds in 1971 who paid $200 but later sold it for assets to avoid bankruptcy. In 2011, it was auctioned for $4.6 million, and the skirt scene has long since been a pop culture staple that has been parodied around the world.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  T O
SEP 14, 1226: Just 2yrs after Italian mystic & friar Saint Francis of Assisi proclaimed hearing Christ's voice telling him to rebuild a church, [and also experiencing visions of the Crucifixion, and being the first person historically recorded to receive the marks of the stigmata (the suffering wounds of Jesus) on his hands, feet & side], his ordeals lead to the first recording of the Catholic practice of the Eucharist formally beginning in Avignon, France. The ritual sacrament during Mass is a sign of divinity, devotion & renewal where consecrated bread & wine is consumed representing the host body & blood of Christ in a doctrinal conversion known as transubstantiation. Also known as the Holy Communion or Lord's Supper, the Eucharist is a memorial of the sacrifice/martyrdom on the Cross with the receiving of the bread & wine meant to increase union with Jesus, along with the forgiving of venial sins and protection from damnation. The tradition began as meditation in monasteries & convents and is physically expressed by worshipping parishioners as gratitude to God for his gifts & love, while theologically is deemed as the strengthing of grace & faith.

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SEP 13, 1993: As part of the Oslo Accords Peace Treaty (which began as secret negotiations with Norwegian diplomats), Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin shakes hands with Palestinian PLO Chairman Yasser Araft in a landmark pact that was brokered by US President Bill Clinton at the White House in Washington,DC. The Oslo pact was based on the Sept 1978 Camp David Accords overseen by President Jimmy Carter (with a ceremony at the White House concluding with a handshake between Egyptian Pesident Anwar Sadat and Israeli President Menachem Begin) which sought to build a framework of trying to find peace in the MidEast from a conflict dating back to the late 19th Century. The Oslo agreement had granted limited Palestinian autonomy (not a definitive state) with the leaders agreeing on Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza & Jericho, a Palestinian government established in the West Bank, and a resolving of border issues to determine the status of Jerusalem (of sacred importance being a focal point whom both Jews & Palestinians each claim as their holy capital). The interim of Arab self-rule would still see Jewish military bases & settlements in place with an overall transitional period of the region projected to take 5yrs. In a letter to Rabin prior to the signings, Arafat had recognized Israel's right to exist -- which was the first time the Palestinians had ever made such an acknowledgment and Israel in turn recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative for its people. Both men shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize. With security controls a major concern, Oslo's key goals became economic development, liberalized markets, civil administration, the sustainment of democratic institutions, the distribution of foreign aid, and protection of human rights. Many on both sides did not meet the Oslo pact with enthusiasm as many Palestinians were staunchly against it and angered over Arafat's outward gesture of co-operation. Militants groups were especially infuriated such as Hamas and Islamic Jihadis who carried out terrorist attacks & suicide bombings. Far-right Jews were also deeply opposed and in Feb 1994, American-Israeli Baruch Goldstein (an ultr-Zionist in the extremist Kach Party) killed 29 Palestinians & wounded 125 more in a mass shooting at a mosque in Hebron. All had been kneeling in prayer observing Ramadan in what came to be called the Cave of the Patriarchs (or Purim) Massacre. Goldstein was rushed by spectators who beat him to death. In Nov 1995, Rabin was assassinated in Tel Aviv by an extremist law student opposed to Oslo. New Prime Minister Shimon Peres (an architect of Oslo and also co-recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize) continued to be a proponent of the peace treaty while Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud Party (and Prime Minister in 1996) routinely denounced it. Arafat died in Nov 2011.

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SEP 12, 1940, In France during WWII, the Lascaux network of caves are discovered revealing over 600 wall & ceiling paintings of the Upper Paleolithic era, consisting largely of animals such as horses, cattle, deer, bears & feline, and of handprints. With an age dated back to 22,000yrs old, the artistic technique used early forms of brushes (hair, moss) & tubes (hollow bones, reeds), with the paint being from mineral pigments (iron oxides & charcoal) mixed with animal fat, plant sap, groundwater, and possible also spit, urine & blood. With the colors primarily red, yellow, brown, black & white, the sheer complexity and scale of the sophisticated works stands as one of the finest examples of insight into the social & spiritual lives of primitive peoples. The caves were first discovered by an 18yr old boy whose dog had crawled through a hole by an uprooted tree. He returned with 3 friends and they entered a tunnel system which they intitially thought might be a secret passage to a nearby Manor. All 4 returned again on Sep 21 with a local Catholic Priest who made many personal sketches, and himself informed the curator of a National Museum in a neighboring village. From galleries that were given names to 6 caverns representing a visual context, the cave complex opened to the public in Jul 1948 but after problems were detected in 1955 such as carbon dioxide, heat & humidity damage, and deteriorating conditions from too many visitors, Lascaux was permanently closed in May 1963. In Dec 1979, it was placed by UNESCO on its World Heritage conservation list for the preservation of prehistoric sites. Today, a full-scale high-quality replica of the exhibition in a 3D reconstruction are available as an interactive experience for tourists.

Happy 45th Aniversary to Ozzy's solo debut following his being fired from BLACK SABBATH in Apr 1979 because of his alcohol & drug binging. For 1980 alone, BOO was one of the year's huge rock albums alongside AC/DC, JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, MOTORHEAD, VAH HALEN, BLACK SABBATH (their first with Dio), RUSH and DEF LEPPARD. Ozzy's departure from his former band had at one point left him thinking his career in music was over but once BOO was released to critical acclaim, he then would consider himself in direct competition with his ex-outfit. The album's 3 hit singles would become staples of classic rock radio, would see Ozzy mired in controversy over the song 'Suicide Solution' (which was wrongly blamed as an advocacy for youth to take their own life when infact it was about both his own substance abuse issues and the tragic death of friend Bon Scott) and was the first of 2 studio records with guitarist Randy Rhoads before his plane crash death in Mar 1982. In 2019, BOO was certified 5x platinum and in 2002 was controversially re-released by wife/manager Sharon and with new recorded parts by bassist Robert Trujillo (who joined METALLICA in 2003) and drummer Mike Bordin (ex-FAITH NO MORE). The release was highly unpopular with fans and saw the original musicians filing a lawsuit for unpaid royalties. Their case was dismissed and in 2010, BOO's 30th Anniversary box set restored the original version. The 2020 expanded 40th Anniversary edition features bonus tracks, outtakes & live songs from the 1980-81 tour.

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SEP 11, 1995: In the first game of the Classical World Chess Championship (known then as the Professional Chess Association), the defending champion Garry Kasparov from Russia played against Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand in a 21-game match, held as a 1-month competition at the World Trade Center in New York. In 1993, Kasparov was the International Chess Federation (FIDE) reigning champion but bitterly quit the organization calling it corrupt and formed the rival PCA. In response, the FIDE stripped him of his status & arranged a new event to determine a new champion with that winner becoming fellow Russian Anatoly Karpov (whom Kasparov had beaten in 1985 to become the then youngest-ever champion at 22). Kasparov next claimed he had not been defeated by a challenger for his title and infact had last beaten rightful opponent Nigel Short of Britain therefore making him still the incumbent. For the first time since the inaugural World Championship from Jan-Mar 1886, there were 2 rival organization tournaments. The PCA Qualifiers began in Holland from Dec 1993 to Mar 1995 with 54 participants from 26 countries -- many of whom were simultaneously also playing in the 1993 FIDE Qualifiers for their Championship (held in Jun-Jul 1996 in Russia and won by defending titleholder Karpov). On Oct 16 after 18 games, Kasparov emerged victorious over Anand with 4 wins, 1 loss and 13 draws (the first 8 of which were consecutive starting from game 1). In 1996-97, Kasparov drew publicity for his pivotal matches against the powerful IBM supercomputer known as 'Deep Blue' which became a major precursor milestone for artificial intellegence. While he won the 6-game series 4-2 in Philadelphia in Feb '96, he lost the May '97 rematch in New York. As Deep Blue was a customized machine that evaluated millions of chesss positions per second through superhuman processing under standard professional play conditions, Kasparov's defeat shocked the International Chess community and the era ushered in the advance of the 'big data' age. [Deep Blue itself would be surpassed by 2 successor chess-playing computers -- Deep Thought & Deep Thought II -- whose algorithms were incredibly even stronger]. In 2000, after a 15yr reign, Kasparov was dethroned by Russian Vladimir Kramnik in London to which he retired in Mar 2005 and ventured into politics & writing. A Deep Blue/Kasparov documentary was made in 2003 and in Feb 2011, a similar IBM supermachine named Watson made history on TV's Jeopardy by defeating 2 of the quiz show's foremost all-time champions (Brad Rutter & Ken Jennings).

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SEP 10, 1937: In Switzerland, the Nyon Conference is attended by 9 nations (UK, France, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece, Egypt) to address attacks on international shipping in the Mediterranean Sea during the ongoing Spanish Civil War (Jul 1936 to Apr 1939). The diplomats had convened because Italy had been carrying out unrestricted submarine warfare and although they weren't accused directly, their actions were called piracy. Italy and Germany had refused participation at Nyon (as did Albania) as both fascist nations were supporting dictator Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces against the Republicans backed by the UK, France & Russia. After 4 days, an agreement was signed that affirmed aggressive submarines would be counterattacked, naval patrols to be established (with Italy and Germany invited and both withdrawing), the signatory countries would patrol their own waters, and similar provisions to be applied to surface ships. As Nyon had been specifically designed with the aim of strengthening non-intervention in Spain (alongside the 1936-formed Non-Intervention Committee meant to prevent foreign involvement and embargo war materials), it had been viewed favorably by the League of Nations in the belief of isolating right-wing totalitarianism & its proxy alliance. The rejection of using convoy systems however led to squabbling between nations over co-operation & compromise and as goodwill soured, tensions only heightened in Europe. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in seeking better relations with Italy and Germany, later signed the Anglo-Italian Agreements in Apr 1938, and in Sept, attended the Munich Conference in Germany (involving Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland) reaching an agreement with Adolf Hitler that history would heavily condemn as shameful appeasement.

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SEP 9, 1845: Considered the possible start of the Irish Potato Famine, this catastrophic period of mass starvation & disease would last until 1852, with a scale of suffering that created such a major social crisis, that it brought a third of Ireland's entire population on dependancy for food and forever altered the country's history as a whole. The potato crop had been infected by a fungus-like micro-organism that came to be called 'blight' and saw the worst year of drought in 1847 alongside an epidemic of typhus. With the period also known as The Great Hunger, roughly 1 million people are estimated to have died (with fatalities mostly from fever, influenza, cholera, smallpox, dysentery, diptheria) and the population fell by 20-25% further leading to one of the world's largest mass emigrations as some 1.5 million Irish left for the USA & Canada (with 200,000 settling in England), resulting in one the greatest exoduses from a single island under tragic circumstances. As a singular defining watershed moment, the famine permanently changed Ireland's demographic/political/cultural landscape, stirred anti-British sentiment (with some nationalists accusing England of being responsible in an effort of deliberate genocide), saw pleas for charity from Queen Victoria and Pope Pius IX (as the British government was heavily blasted for their inadequate response), reformed the system of the tenant/landlord relationship (farming, property rights, rent, evictions) in UK government, and brought military response from the Royal Navy to assist with relief. With a gradual recovery of the potato crop combined with stabilized food supplies & increased imports, a considerable reduction came at last from the terrible misery and in the aftermath, marriages had dropped due to discouragement from low wages & economic hardship, and many female orphaned children later turned to sex work as they got older. The Apr 1879 Land War (with 2 more phases & ending in 1911) of agrarian agitation underwent another blight and while nowhere as severe, the difficulties stoked activism that resulted in Land Act legislation to help rural citizens with proprietorship. From its legacy to date, more than 100 memorials to the Irish Famine have been erected worldwide (largely comprising the UK, USA, Canada and Australia).

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SEP 8, 1819: The Philadelphia Balloon Riot occurs at the Vauxhall Garden after overreacting amusement park guards beat a 14yr old boy bloody & unconscious for trying to climb a fence (which was blocking the view of an intended balloon lift & parachute jump) that separated the wealthy paying guests from impatient onlookers (estimated at 30,000 in vacant lots & nearby fields) who couldn't afford the $1 admission price. At the time, hot air balloon aviation & passenger rides had captured the public's fascination, and visible divisions in society between the rich against the impoverished had been responsible for class-conscious friction leading to several instances of frustrated exchanges & occasional physical outbursts of unrest. [This was especially evident in the backdrop of the Panic of 1819 financial crisis in the USA where deflation, bank failures & widespread unemployment led to a collapse of the economy that persisted through 1821]. After the boy was mercilessly mistreated and a false rumor spread of his death, the aroused anger of the patrons (many of them drunk) led to the fence being broken down by a flagpole used as a makeshift battering ram. The furious mob then threw stones & punctured the grounded balloon with sticks, tearing it to pieces. Nearby assembled musicians fled in panic while the rowdy crowd smashed their instruments, destroyed a refreshment bar, looted alcohol, and then set fire to the pavillion which was completely gutted in 15 minutes. The Garden property was sold in Mar 1822, cleared of the ruins, renewed, and re-opened in Jul 1824 as a summer resort for stage plays.

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SEP 7, 1963: The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio with the first 17 charter member inductees all comprising players, coaches, officials, franchise owners, and business executives. The city was successfully lobbied on 3 reasons: the NFL's founding (then known as the American Professional Football Association) in Sept 1920, its Canton Bulldogs pro team being the 1st repeat champions in 1922 & 1923, and a community fundraiser that netted $400,000 for the building with groundbreaking started in Aug 1962. Originally containing only 2 rooms, a first expansion was completed in May 1971 for more space due to football's rising popularity over baseball, increasing game attendances & TV viewership. Another expansion in Nov 1977 costing $1.2 million was for the enlargement of the gift shop and research library, and still another expansion was finished in Jul 1993 at $9.2 million to add a 5th room. The biggest addition was its GameDay Stadium for its NFL Films Division showing productions on a Cinemascope screen. In Jun 2013, the Hall's largest renovation yet brought a total size of 118,000sq ft. There are currently 382 total members in the HOF with between 4-9 new inductees enshrined annually. The Chicago Bears have the most members with 42. Along with an adjacent HOF Village for its mixed-use visitor experience, and the Tom Benson Stadium that holds a yearly HOF Game, Canton also gives nods to the Canadian Football League (whose own HOF in Hamilton, Ontario first opened in Nov 1972), Black College Football (whose HOF in Atlanta opened in Oct 2009), and the Ralph Hay Piooner Award for pioneering contributions, achievements & dedication to the sport. The HOF also acknowledges careers partially played in other leagues such as arena football in the USFL (United States), AFL (Arena), WFL (World), and IFL (Indoor). Billy Shaw of the Buffalo Bills is the only enshrined player to have played his entire career in the AFL (American) prior to the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The Canton HOF hasn't been without its criticism such as a perceived unequal representation of some positions such as defensive players, special teams & wide receivers; deserving players being overlooked because of playing almost entirely on poor teams; senior nominees after 1967 who were bypassed (with arguments that they should be designated as a category in a special recipient wing); the prominent absence of legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell whose style redefined commentary; and the eligibility of highly polarizing figures such as O.J. Simpson, Joe Namath, Lawrence Taylor, Terrell Owens and Darren Sharper whom which the HOF policy guidelines state that their off-field character/controversies aren't allowed to influence the selections process. Under these bylaws with zero provisions, no inductee has ever been removed.

In memoriam of Candice Marion Vadala aka CANDIDA ROYALLE

Today is the 10th anniversary of Candida passing away (2015). Born in Oct 1950, she was originally trained in arts, dance & music in New York City, and moved to San Francisco in 1970 where she sang in clubs & theaters before entering porn. She was an early feminist pioneer flimmaker and sex educator who went on to also produce couples-oriented xxx in response to what she called 'degrading & misogynistic' material. She was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame in 1997 and is also in the AVN Hall of Fame. Candida died from ovarian cancer. R.I.P.