March 20, 2008

180 years ago
1828

Born on this date
Henrik Ibsen. Norwegian playwright. Mr. Ibsen was often referred to as the "father of modern drama." He took a critical view of Victorian values and morality, and his plays showed that surface propriety often hid a dark underside. Among Mr. Ibsen’s works were Brand (1865); Peer Gynt (1867); A Doll’s House (1879); Ghosts (1881);An Enemy of the People (1882); The Wild Duck (1884); Hedda Gabler (1890); and The Master Builder (1892). He died on May 23, 1906 at the age of 78. Henrik Ibsen is not to be confused with Henry Gibson, who recited poetry on the 1960s television comedy show Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.

120 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Amanda Clement. U.S. baseball umpire. Miss Clement played various sports, and sometime during the period 1903-1905, became the first woman to be paid to umpire a game, when she substituted for an absent umpire in a semi-professional game in Hawarden, Iowa. She umpired regularly for six years and occasionally for many years thereafter, and may have been the first woman to referee a high school basketball game. Miss Clement worked at several occupations, and was a social worker in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for 25 years until her retirement in 1966. She died on July 20, 1971 at the age of 83.

Opera
Children of the Forests, the first Romani-language operetta, received its premiere performance in Moscow.

80 years ago
1928

Aviation
Colonel Charles Lindbergh embarked on his program of making members of Congress "air minded" by taking two Senators and 40 Representatives and members of their families and friends in a series of eight flights over Washington, D.C.

Born on this date
Fred Rogers. U.S. clergyman and television personality. Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister who became one of the major names in children’s television. After several years hosting local children’s programs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mr. Rogers moved to Toronto, hosting MisteRogers on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1963-1966. He then moved his show to educational television in Pittsburgh; the title was changed to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in 1968. In 1969 the show moved to the Public Broadcasting Service, where it continued running until 2001. Mr. Rogers died on February 27, 2003.

75 years ago
1933

Died on this date
Dan Burke, 64. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Burke was a catcher, outfielder, and first baseman with the Rochester Broncos (1890); Syracuse Stars (1890); and Boston Beaneaters (1892), batting .175 with no home runs and 9 runs batted in in 42 games. He played in the minor leagues--mainly in the New England League--from 1886-1897.

Giuseppe Zangara, 32. U.S. assassin. Mr. Zangara, a native of Italy who had become a United States citizen in 1929, was executed in "Old Sparky," the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida, for the February 15, 1933 shooting in Miami of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Mr. Cermak had died of peritonitis on March 6. Five others had also been shot by Mr. Cermak, although U.S. President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, who may have been Mr. Zangara's target, was unharmed. Mr. Zangara spent only 10 days on death row.

Abominations
German Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau Concentration Camp and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.

60 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Manana (Is Soon Enough for Me)--Peggy Lee (2nd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover--Art Mooney and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--The Three Suns
--Uptown String Band
2 Now is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song)--Bing Crosby
--Gracie Fields
--Margaret Whiting
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
3 Beg Your Pardon--Francis Craig and his Orchestra
--Frankie Carle and his Orchestra
--Larry Green and his Orchestra
4 Manana (Is Soon Enough for Me)--Peggy Lee
5 Golden Earrings--Peggy Lee
6 Ballerina--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby with the Rhythmaires
--Buddy Clark
7 Serenade of the Bells--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Jo Stafford
--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
8 How Soon (Will I Be Seeing You)--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby and Carmen Cavallaro
--Jack Owens
--Dinah Shore
9 I'm My Own Grandpaw--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
10 I'll Dance at Your Wedding--Ray Noble and his Orchestra with Buddy Clark
--Peggy Lee

Singles entering the chart were the version of Now is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song) by Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra; The Big Brass Band of Brazil, with versions by Art Mooney and his Orchestra; and Danny Kaye and the Andrews Sisters (#27); Haunted Heart by Perry Como (#30); Lover, with versions by Stan Kenton and his Orchestra; and Gene Krupa and his Orchestra (#37); Teresa, with versions by Vic Damone; and Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters (#38); King Size Papa by Julie Lee and the Boy Friends (#39); Sabre Dance Boogie by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (#40).

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1947 were presented at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The winners included: Picture--Gentleman's Agreement; Director--Elia Kazan (Gentleman's Agreement); Actor--Ronald Colman (A Double Life); Actress--Loretta Young (The Farmer's Daughter); Supporting Actor--Edmund Gwenn (Miracle on 34th Street); Supporting Actress--Celeste Holm (Gentleman's Agreement).

Born on this date
Happy birthday, Bobby Orr!
One of the greatest hockey players ever (the greatest, according to some), Mr. Orr revolutionized the game in the 1960s. The term "offensive defenseman" had usually been an oxymoron until Mr. Orr came along. He could control the tempo of the game by controlling the puck. Mr. Orr is still the only defenseman to win a scoring title, which he did in 1969-1970 and 1974-75. After winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s outstanding rookie in 1966-67, Mr. Orr won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league’s top defenseman for eight straight seasons from 1967-68 through 1974-75. He also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player from 1969-70 through 1971-72. He led the Boston Bruins to Stanley Cup championships in 1969-70 and 1971-72. Mr. Orr scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal 41 seconds into overtime in the fourth game of the finals at the Boston Garden vs. the St. Louis Blues on May 4, 1970. He was tripped by Blues’ defenseman Noel Picard as he shot the puck, and the image of Mr. Orr flying through the air with his stick raised is one of the most memorable in hockey history. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy that year as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and won it again in 1972, when the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers in six games in the finals. The only question concerning Mr. Orr’s greatness is what he might he might have done if a series of knee injuries (beginning in his second NHL season) hadn’t interrupted and prematurely ended his career. The 1974-75 season was his last full season; he played just 10 games the following season, and then signed with the Chicago Black Hawks as a free agent. Mr. Orr played just 20 games in 1976-77, took the next season off, and retired in the fall of 1978 after playing in 6 games at the start of the 1978-79 season. His last moment of glory occurred in the inaugural Canada Cup tournament in September 1976. He’d been unable to play in the 1972 series vs. the Soviet Union, but was the Canada Cup’s most valuable player for the victorious host nation.

Politics and government
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, director of the Jewish Agency's U.S. office, attacked the "shocking reversal" in American policy in Palestine announced the previous day. Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion rejected "any sort of trusteeship, permanent or temporary." U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall disclosed that he had originated the U.S. shift in Palestine policy, recommending trusteeship to President Harry Truman as the best way to preserve peace in the area.

The U.S.A., U.K., and France jointly proposed abandoning United Nations trusteeship of Trieste and returning the city to Italian control. The statement cited difficulties in choosing a governor for the international zone and frequent clashes between Yugoslavian and Allied troops as reason for the change.

The U.S.S.R. Communist Party Central Committee sent a secret message to the Yugoslavian Communist Party, accusing it of deviating from the "internationalist" line laid down for European Communists in Moscow, and attempting to follow a separate path of economic and political development for Yugoslavia.

Tennis
Bill Talbert won the men's singles title at the U.S. indoor championships in New York, while Pat Todd won the women's singles title.

50 years ago
1958

Born on this date
Holly Hunter. U.S. actress. Miss Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress for 1993 for her performance in The Piano, one of the decade’s most overrated movies. Miss Hunter’s other Oscar nominations were for Broadcast News (Actress, 1987); The Firm (Supporting Actress, 1993); and Thirteen (Supporting Actress, 2003).

World events
U.S., U.K., and Dutch nationals left Medan in northern Sumatra for Singapore.

Politics and government
The Sudanese House of Representatives voted to retain Prime Minister Abdullah Khalil as head of a new coalition cabinet.

Union Party candidates retained their pro-British majority in the Northern Irish House of Commons, winning 34 seats in the general election.

A Gallup Poll reported that U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's public approval was down to 52%, "the lowest point ever recorded since he took office" on January 20, 1953.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): The Legend of Xanadu--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)--John Fred and his Playboy Band (3rd week at #1)
2 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra
3 Bottle of Wine--The Fireballs
4 Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)--Johnny Farnham
5 The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde--Georgie Fame
6 Tin Soldier/I Feel Much Better--Small Faces
7 Woman, Woman--The Union Gap
8 Green Tambourine--The Lemon Pipers
9 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Company
10 Different Drum--Stone Poneys

Singles entering the chart were Delilah by Tom Jones (#29); Everlasting Love by the Love Affair (#39); and Suddenly You Love Me by the Tremeloes (#40).

Died on this date
Charles Chaplin, Jr., 42. U.S. actor. Mr. Chaplin, the son of Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey, died of a blood clot. His movie appearances included Limelight (with his father) (1952); The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955); High School Confidential! (1958); The Beat Generation (1959); Girls Town (1959); and Sex Kittens Go to College (1960).

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Hohoemi Gaeshi--The Candies (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Te Amo--Umberto Tozzi (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Jacques "Toto" Brugnon, 82. French tennis player. Mr. Brugnon was one of the "Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was primarily a doubles specialist who won 10 Grand Slam doubles titles in the French, American, Australian and British championships. He was also a fine singles player but never won a major title. Along with the other Musketeers (Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, and René Lacoste), Mr. Brugnon was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.

Politics and government
French Socialist leader Francois Mitterand blamed the Communists for the left’s defeat in the national elections the day before; the Communists had repeatedly attacked the Socialists during the campaign.

Law
The Florida State Supreme Court ruled that acknowledgment of homosexual preference was not in itself grounds to deny a qualified applicant the right to practice law in the state.

20 years ago
1988

Politics and government
In the contest for the presidential nominations, Jesse Jackson won the Democratic preference vote in Puerto Rico; Vice President George Bush won the Republican vote.

Jose Napoleon Duarte’s centrist party lost ground in elections in El Salvador. The right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) won about half the seats in the National Assembly. ARENA had called for a more vigorous war against leftist rebels and had criticized the Duarte government for corruption and various economic problems. The rebels called for a boycott of the vote.
ARENA won in about 80% of the municipalities--including San Salvador--that voted. A preliminary report from the ruling party said that ARENA had won 31 of the 60 seats in the assembly.

World events
Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze arrived in Washington to meet with U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz in order to work out details of a summit between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to take place in Moscow from May 29-June 2.

Hockey
CIAU
The York University Yeomen won the national men’s hockey championship with a 5-2 win over the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in the final.

10 years ago
1998

Scandal
U.S. President Bill Clinton invoked executive privilege and attorney-client confidentiality in order to block testimony by senior White House aides in the grand jury investigation of the president’s alleged affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.