February 11, 2008

180 years ago
1828

Died on this date
DeWitt Clinton, 58. U.S. politician. Mr. Clinton, a Democratic-Republican, was a nephew of U.S. Vice President George Clinton, and represented New York in the United States Senate (1802-1803) before serving as Mayor of New York City (1803-1807, 1808-1810, 1811-1815), Lieutenant Governor of New York (1811-1813), and Governor of New York (1817-1822, 1825-1828). He was the Federalist Party candidate for President of the United States in 1812, losing to incumbent James Madison. As Governor, Mr. Clinton presided over the construction of the Erie Canal, and influence the improvement of infrastructure throughout the United States. Mr. Clinton died suddenly in office, 19 days before his 59th birthday, and was succeeded as Governor of New York by Nathaniel Pitcher.

90 years ago
1918

Economics and finance
The Canadian government set up the Food Board, controlled by Ministry of Agriculture, replacing the Food Controller.

80 years ago
1928

Aviation
French aviators Dieudonne Costes and Joseph Lebrix flew from Washington, D.C. to Mitchell Field, Long Island, ending their 23,000-mile flight in the Breguet biplane Nungesser-Coli from Paris via Africa, the South Atlantic, and South and Central America.

Olympics
The second Winter Olympics opened at St. Moritz, Switzerland.

70 years ago
1938

On television tonight
BBC Television produced the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term "robot."

50 years ago
1958

At the movies
The Gift of Love, directed by Jean Negulesco, and starring Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack, opened in theatres.



Diplomacy
The Tunisian government ordered further evacuations of French civilians and demanded the closure of five French consulates.

The Dominican Republic asked former Argentine President Juan Peron to leave the country "without delay" for violating his conditions of asylum by using the Dominican mails to send instructions to his Argentine followers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced that the United States no longer considered it "essential" for proposed East-West summit talks to be preceded by a conference of foreign ministers.

Politics and government
The Indonesian government of President Sukarno and Prime Minister Djuanda rejected an ultimatum from insurgent Army and political leaders on Sumatra calling for the formation of a new central government by former Vice President Mohammed Hatta.

Labour
The U.S. Labor and Commerce Departments reported that unemployment had risen from 3,374,000 in mid-December 1957 to 4,494,000 in mid-January 1958, the highest mid-winter increase since the government had begun recording such data in 1941.

40 years ago
1968

Died on this date
Howard Lindsay, 78. U.S. playwright, actor, and producer. Mr. Lindsay, born Herman Nelke, teamed with Russel Crouse to write Broadway plays from 1935-1962, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for State of the Union (1946). Mr. Lindsay also wrote and acted with his wife Dorothy Stickney, and the two co-starred in Life with Father on Broadway in New York in 1939.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Solo Tu--Matia Bazar (10th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Mull of Kintyre--Wings (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Mull of Kintyre--Wings (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Figaro--The Brotherhood of Man

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 If I Had Words--Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley with the St. Thomas More School Choir (3rd week at #1)
2 Mull of Kintyre--Wings
3 It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler
4 Singin' in the Rain--Sheila B. Devotion
5 Smurfenbier--Vader Abraham
6 Take a Chance on Me--ABBA
7 Lailola - No Ablas Mas--José e Los Reyes
8 Is Je Moeder Niet Thuis--Nico Haak
9 She's Not There--Santana
10 Black Betty--Ram Jam

Singles entering the chart were Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees (#24); Galaxy by War (#28); Big City by Tol Hansse (#30); Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll by Ian Dury (#31); All for a Reason by Alessi (#31); Gloria by Dee Jay (#37); and Red Hot by Robert Gordon with Link Wray (#38).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)
2 Short People--Randy Newman
3 Just the Way You Are--Billy Joel
4 Baby Come Back--Player
5 We are the Champions--Queen
6 Sometimes When We Touch--Dan Hill
7 Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)--Chic
8 Emotion--Samantha Sang
9 (Love Is) Thicker than Water--Andy Gibb
10 You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)--Rod Stewart

Singles entering the chart were Hot Legs by Rod Stewart (#77); Thank You for Being a Friend by Andrew Gold (#78); The Circle is Small (I Can See it in Your Eyes) by Gordon Lightfoot (#83); Flash Light by Parliament (#84); California by Debby Boone (#85); Running on Empty by Jackson Browne (#86); Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) by Styx (#87); Disco Inferno by the Trammps (#88); The Closer I Get to You by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway (#89); Shout it Out by B.T. Express (#97); and Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys by Waylon and Willie (#98).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Baby Come Back--Player
2 You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)--Rod Stewart
3 We are the Champions--Queen
4 Sometimes When We Touch--Dan Hill
5 Short People--Randy Newman
6 Slip Slidin' Away--Paul Simon
7 Here You Come Again--Dolly Parton
8 Desiree--Neil Diamond
9 Turn to Stone--Electric Light Orchestra
10 Just the Way You Are--Billy Joel

Singles entering the chart included The Circle is Small (I Can See it in Your Eyes) by Gordon Lightfoot (#79); Let it Go, Let it Flow by Dave Mason (#85); So Long by Firefall (#91); Poor Poor Pitiful Me by Linda Ronstadt (#93); Before My Heart Finds Out by Gene Cotton (#96); What a Difference You've Made in My Life by Ronnie Milsap (#98); and Ebony Eyes by Bob Welch (#100).

Disasters
Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737 jet, crash-landed at Cranbrook, British Columbia, killing 43 people, when it hit a snowplow on the runway.

Skiing
Ken Read of Calgary won the men's World Cup downhill race at Chamonix, France. It was Mr. Read's second career win, and his first since 1975.

Hockey
NHL
New York Rangers 2 @ Toronto 3
St. Louis 3 @ Montreal 7

25 years ago
1983

Politics and government
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon resigned his position, the day after the cabinet accepted the report of a state commission of inquiry concerning the massacre in 1982 of several hundred Palestinian refugees in Beirut. The commission blamed the Christian Phalangist militia for the deaths, but faulted Israeli officials for not foreseeing the killings or making a serious effort to stop them. The commission redommended the removal of Maj. Gen. Yehoshua Saguy, director of military intelligence, and Brig. Gen. Amos Yaron, a field commander, and criticized Lt. Gen. Rafael Eytan. Prime Minister Menachem Begin was criticized only for not taking a more direct interest in the situation in West Beirut.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Always on My Mind--Pet Shop Boys

Crime
Testifying before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, accountant Ramon Milan Rodriguez said that he had laundered $11 billion from the Medellin drug cartel through Panamanian banks, with the help of dictator General Manuel Noriega. Mr. Rodriguez said that some of the money went to the Contras in Nicaragua.

Hockey
NHL
Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scored a goal and 2 assists in a game at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton to reached the 100-point mark in a season for a record ninth time.

10 years ago
1998

Society
The United States Senate defeated a bill that would have banned human cloning. The Republican measure aroused concerns over the effect such a bill would have on scientific research.

Law
Golfer Casey Martin won his suit under the Americans With Disabilities Act for the right to use a golf cart in professional tournaments. The professional golf establishment had opposed Martin, arguing that being able to walk around the course was a requirement for professional golfers. Mr. Martin suffered from a disability in one leg that made walking difficult and painful. His golf career has since gone nowhere.