TODAY IN HISTORY:
Fowler’s no-hitter
In 1825, composer Ludwig van Beethoven made his final public appearance, two years before his death.
In 1945, Toronto-born Dick Fowler became the only Canadian to toss a major league no-hitter. Just back from more than 30 months as a Canadian Army private, the 24-year-old right-hander allowed only four walks as the Philadelphia Athletics shaded the visiting St. Louis Browns 1-0. He faced 29 batters — two over the minimum — and was helped by his teammates with two double plays. It took until 2018 for another Canadian — Seattle’s James Paxton — to toss a no-hitter. He died in 1972 of kidney disease at the age of 51. His last job was as a hotel clerk.
In 1948, North Korea was established as the Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Korea following the partitioning of North and South Korea into separate regimes under Soviet and U.S. influence.
In 1954, 16-year-old Marilyn Bell became the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. Bell started her swim the previous day from Youngstown, N.Y. She swam for 20 hours and 57 minutes under gruelling conditions, fighting five-metre waves and lamprey eels attacking her legs. About 300,000 people were on hand when she came ashore in Toronto. Bell continued her long-distance efforts and in 1955 became, at the time, the youngest person to swim the English Channel.
In 1955, Seeburg introduced its Dual Music System Jukebox, the first jukebox equipped to handle 100 singles or extended-play 45s. But unlike other models that were to follow, it could play only one side of the record.
In 1956, Elvis Presley made the first of his three appearances on Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” show. He sang “Love Me Tender,” “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Ready Teddy.” The ratings for Sullivan’s show went through the roof to 82.6 per cent of the total viewing audience, about 54 million people.
In 1967, the federal Progressive Conservative party ousted John Diefenbaker as leader at a Toronto convention and replaced him with Nova Scotia premier Robert Stanfield.
In 1997, actor Burgess Meredith died after suffering melanoma and Alzheimer’s disease. The two-time Academy Award nominee was 89. He was best known for playing Rocky Balboa’s trainer Mickey Goldmill in “Rocky” as well as The Penguin in the campy TV series “Batman.”