February 14, 2009

1,140 years ago
869

Died on this date
Cyril, 41-43. Greek missionary. Cyril, born Constantine, and his brother Methodius were Christian missionaries to the Slavs of Great Moravia, and were credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. Both are venerated in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

660 years ago
1349

Abominations
Several hundred Jews were burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews were forcibly removed from Strasbourg, France.

230 years ago
1779

Died on this date
James Cook, 50. U.K. explorer. Captain Cook was a Royal Navy officer who served in the Seven Years' War, and mapped much of British North America. He made three voyages from 1768-1779, recording the first European contact with Hawaii and the east coast of Australia, as well as the first circumnavigation of New Zealand. Capt. Cook was visiting Hawaii when one of his small boats was taken by natives. In an attempt to have the boat returned, Capt. Cook tried to kidnap Hawaiian king Kalaniʻōpuʻu, but was clubbed on the head and stabbed to death by natives.

War
An American Patriot militia force commanded by Colonel Andrew Pickens decisively defeated a Loyalist force led by Lieutenant Colonel John Boyd in the Battle of Kettle Creek, in Georgia.

190 years ago
1819

Born on this date
Christopher Latham Sholes. U.S. journalist, politician, and inventor. Mr. Sholes published the Southport Telegraph--later known as the Kenosha Telegraph-- in Wisconsin. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate as a Democrat (1848-1849) and as a Republican (1856-1857), and in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a member of the Free Soil Party (1852-1853). He co-invented a numbering machine in 1866, and co- invented the typewriter in 1868, as well as the QWERTY keyboard. Mr. Sholes died on February 17, 1890, three days after his 71st birthday, after a long battle with tuberculosis.

160 years ago
1849

Americana
In New York City, James K. Polk became the first sitting President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

150 years ago
1859

Born on this date
George Ferris, Jr. U.S. engineer. Mr. Ferris invented the Ferris Wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He died of typhoid fever on November 22, 1896 at the age of 37.

Americana
Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state.

Canadiana
Governor James Douglas proclaimed the capital of the new Crown Colony of British Columbia to be at New Westminster; he had wanted it to be at Fort Langley, but bowed to commercial pressure.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson. U.K. physicist and meteorologist. Mr. Wilson was awarded a share of the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour," i.e., his invention of the cloud chamber. He died on November 15, 1959 at the age of 90.

130 years ago
1879

War
The War of the Pacific broke out when Chilean forces occupied the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.

120 years ago
1889

Technology
In Saint John, New Brunswick, James T. Lipsett patented the rotary ventilator, which uses wind power to increase the updraft in chimneys or roof vents. This type of ventilator remains popular today for use in residential air exchange systems.

110 years ago
1899

Politics and government
Voting machines were approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

90 years ago
1919

War
The Polish–Soviet War began near the towns of Manevychi and Biaroza in Belarus.

80 years ago
1929

Crime
Six members of the Bugs Moran gang and another man were lined up against the rear inside wall of the garage of the SMC Cartage Company at 2122 North Clark Street in the Lincoln Park neighbourhood of Chicago's North Side, and were killed by machine gun fire in what became known as the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre." The killers were possibly members of Al Capone's South Side gang, "outside talent," or a combination of both. For more details, go here.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and George Spelvin (Wendell Holmes), on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Guest in the Coffin

Literature
Fear, War and the Bomb, a study by U.K. physicist P.M. Blackett of the military and political consequences of nuclear weapons, was published in London by Whittlesey.

World events
U.S.S.R. authorities arrested pro-Soviet writer Anna Louise Strong, publisher of the former English-language Moscow Daily News, on charges of espionage. Some Westerners who were familiar with Ms. Strong's long history of dishonesty sent congratulatory telegrams to the Soviet government.

Politics and government
Israel's Constituent Assembly was sworn in by acting President Chaim Weizmann in Jerusalem. Western states boycotted the ceremony, protesting that Jerusalem was, by United Nations declaration, an international city.

Labour
The United States demanded that the United Nations Economic and Social Council investigate Soviet labour camps, claiming that 8-14 million prisoners were held there under conditions of slavery.

Australia became the first nation to ratify the International Labor Organization convention on wages and hours of seamen that had been drawn up in 1946.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Smoke Gets in Your Eyes--The Platters

#1 single in Italy: Piove (Ciao, ciao bambina)--Domenico Modugno

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Tom Dooley--Nilsen Brothers (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): One Night/I Got Stung--Elvis Presley (4th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Stagger Lee--Lloyd Price
2 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes--The Platters
3 16 Candles--The Crests
4 Donna--Ritchie Valens
5 The Children's Marching Song (Nick Nack Paddy Whack)--Cyril Stapleton and his Orchestra
--Mitch Miller and his Orchestra
6 Lonely Teardrops--Jackie Wilson
7 The Hawaiian Wedding Song (Ke Kali Nei Au)--Andy Williams
8 My Happiness--Connie Francis
9 Petite Fleur (Little Flower)--Chris Barber's Jazz Band
10 The All American Boy--Bill Parsons

Singles entering the chart were Venus by Frankie Avalon (#69); Frankenstein of '59 (Part 1) by Buchanan and Goodman with Count Dracula (#82); Lost by Jerry Butler (#86); The Hanging Tree by Marty Robbins (#92); Alvin's Harmonica by David Seville and the Chipmunks (#95); When the Saints Go Marching In by Fats Domino (#96); Since I Don't Have You by the Skyliners (#98); Fried Eggs by the Intruders (#99); and The 'ole Mummers' Strut by the Nu Tornados (#100).

Died on this date
Baby Dodds, 60. U.S. musician. Warren Dodds, the younger brother of clarinetist Johnny Dodds, was one of the most influential jazz drummers before the Big Band era. He was from New Orleans, and played with prominent New Orleans bands such as those of King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Jelly Roll Morton. Baby Dodds died after a series of strokes.

War
Tunisia formally protested a reported strafing attack by three Algerian-based French warplanes on Tunisian territory.

Politics and government
Doctors announced that U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles had cancer.

Society
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru told the sixth International Conference on Planned Parenthood in New Delhi that Indian government family control efforts had not succeeded in curbing population growth.

Economics and finance
Bulgarian Communist Party First Secretary Todor Zhivkov issued economic development orders compressing the current five-year plan into a three-year plan.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Eloise--Barry Ryan

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Touch Me--The Doors
2 Mendocino--Sir Douglas Quintet
3 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells
4 Long Line Rider--Bobby Darin
5 Build Me Up Buttercup--The Foundations
6 Sweet Cream Ladies--The Box Tops
7 To Susan on the West Coast Waiting--Donovan
8 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
9 But You Know I Love You--The First Edition
10 Crossroads--Cream

Singles entering the chart were Hang 'em High by Booker T. & the M.G.'s (#24); River Deep--Mountain High by Deep Purple (#27); This Girl's in Love with You by Dionne Warwick (#28); Dizzy by Tommy Roe (#29); and Indian Giver by 1910 Fruitgum Co. (#30).

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells (2nd week at #1)
2 Electric Stories--The 4 Seasons
3 Hooked on a Feeling--B.J. Thomas
4 Sweet Cream Ladies--The Box Tops
5 Proud Mary--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 You Showed Me--The Turtles
7 I Started a Joke--Bee Gees
8 Magic Carpet Ride--Steppenwolf
9 This Magic Moment--Jay and the Americans
10 Games People Play--Joe South

Died on this date
Vito Genovese, 71. Italian-born U.S. gangster. Mr. Genovese moved to New York with his family at the age of 15. He became involved in organized crime in the early 1920s, ruthlessly rising through the ranks of the Mafia. Mr. Genovese became an American citizen in 1936, but fled to Italy in 1937 to avoid prosecution for the 1934 murder of mobster Ferdinand Boccia. He supported the Fascist government of Duce Benito Mussolini, but when the government fell in 1943, Mr. Genovese switched sides and worked with the Allies. He was arrested in 1944 by U.S. military police on suspicion of running a black market ring, and was returned to New York in 1945, where he was charged with the murder of Mr. Boccia. The prosecution witnesses were murdered, the case collapsed, and Mr. Genovese was freed in 1946. He resumed his criminal activities, reaching his peak as Boss of All Bosses from 1957-1959. Mr. Genovese was convicted in 1959 of selling heroin, and was sentenced to 15 years at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. He continued to control his criminal operations from prison until his death from a heart attack.

World events
Tensions between Peru and the United States increased when a Peruvian Navy boat attacked two American tuna boats fishing 26 miles offshore, damaging one and capturing another. The captured ship was later released, after the captain paid a fine of $2,000 for fishing without a Peruvian license. Other boats fled into Ecuadorian waters.

Pakistani President Mohammad Ayub Khan conceded two of three opposition demands on the first day of a violent general strike in which at least three people were killed. He freed a number of political prisoners and lifted the state of emergency that had been declared in 1965.

Diplomacy
Heinz Felfe, who in 1963 had been revealed to have been a high-level Soviet spy in the West German intelligence organization headed by General Gehlen, was exchanged for three West German students who had been imprisoned by the Soviet Union as spies. The exchange took place in Bonn.

Economics and Finance
The United States Department of Commerce revised its Gross National Product figures downward for the fourth quarter of 1968, indicating a genuine slowdown for the economy.

Labour
Port of New York dock workers ended their record 57-day dock strike with a vote of 9,328 to 3,213 for a new 3-year contract. Although the settlement brought 22,000 members of the AFL-CIO International Longshoremen's Association back to work, about 43,000 other ILA dock workers continued to strike in 20 other ports along the East and Gulf Coasts.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Chiquitita--ABBA

Died on this date
Adolph Dubs, 58. U.S. diplomat. Mr. Dubs was a career diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from June 27, 1978 until he was kidnapped by Muslim terrorists and slain in a shootout between the kidnappers and government security forces in Kabul. The murder of Mr. Dubs was regarded by the U.S. State Department as a "Significant Terrorist Incident," and significantly negatively affected relations between the two countries.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived in Mexico for three days of talks with Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo.

Terrorism
Guerrillas attacked the American Embassy in Tehran, trapping Ambassador William H. Sullivan and staff inside. Pro-Ayatollah Khomeini forces freed the captives after a brief gun battle. The United States announced the evacuation of 7,000 Americans remaining in Iran.

Crime
Alvin Ross Diaz and Guillermo Novo Sampol, Cuban anti-Communist exiles, were convicted in Miami of murder in the 1976 slaying in Washington, D.C. of Orlando Letelier, a former official in the Chilean government of Salvador Allende, and a leading opponent of Chile's subsequent military regime.

A 2,500-year-old Greek marble head valued at $150,000 was found in a locker at Grand Central Terminal in New York City after an anonymous tip to police, five days after it had been stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The sculpture had a small Valentine-like heart tattooed over its right eye; according to a museum official, "It matched a graffiti heart that had been carved over its left eye before we acquired it."

Torontonia
North York officially became a city.

Labour
U.K. Prime Minister James Callaghan announced an agreement with the Trades Union Congress to work toward an annual inflation rate of no more than 5% within three years. The "concordat" also called for a joint assessment of national economic prospects, consultation on picketing practices, and the maintenance of supplies essential to public safety and welfare.

Hockey
NHL
Minnesota 8 Vancouver 1

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): My Oh My--Slade (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
Celebrity: Part III

Diplomacy
At the funeral for Yuri Andropov in Moscow, Konstantin Chernenko, who had replaced Mr. Andropov as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, met with foreign dignitaries, including U.S. Vice President George Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Mr. Bush later said that the mood and spirit of the meeting were good and that he had delivered a letter from U.S. President Ronald Reagan conveying his interest in productive talks with the new Soviet leadership.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan concluded two days of talks in Washington with King Hussein of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mr. Reagan reaffirmed his commitment to his 1982 peace initiative proposing Palestinian self-government in the occupied West Bank and Gaza "in association with Jordan." After the three men met, Mr. Mubarak contraindicated U.S. policy; he called for talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization, saying there was no substitute for "a direct dialogue" with the Palestinian people through "their chosen representatives."

Olympics
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean of the United Kingdom received unanimously perfect scores for quality--an unprecedented achievement--and were awarded the gold medal in the ice dancing competition at the Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

20 years ago
1989

Died on this date
James Bond, 89. U.S. ornithologist. Mr. Bond was curator of ornithology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. He was expert on Caribbean birds, and wrote the book Birds of the West Indies (1936). British writer Ian Fleming was a birdwatcher, and came across Mr. Bond's book while working in Jamaica. He obtained Mr. Bond's approval to use his name for the main character of Mr. Fleming's spy novels. Mr. Bond won several awards in ornithology.

Vincent Crane, 45. U.K. musician. Mr. Crane was a pianist and organist with the rock acts The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1967-1969) and Atomic Rooster (1969-1983). He suffered from bipolar disorder from 1968 on, and committed suicide with a deliberate overdose of Anadin tablets.

World events
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa--a legal judgment--encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of the novel The Satanic Verses (1988), accused of being disrespectful to the prophet Muhammad.

Diplomacy
Presidents of five Central American countries signed an agreement in El Salvador that would disarm and repatriate Contra rebels based in Honduras who were opposing Nicaragua's Sandanista regime. The Contras could be relocated in other countries, along with their families. Nicaragua agreed to hold an election by February 1990 and to allow outside observers to monitor it. Nicaragua also agreed to free Contra prisoners as well as former members of the National Guard under the late and deposed dictator Anastasio Somoza. U.S. President George Bush, whose administration had been taken by surprise by the announcement of the accord, said that the U.S. should be wary of any promises made by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Disasters
The Supreme Court of India ordered Union Carbide Corporation to pay $470 million to victims of the 1984 leak of methyl isocyanate gas in Bhopal, India that had killed 3,329 people and had caused lasting effects to 20,000 more. The court issued the order after the company and the government agreed to a proposal by the chief justice. Union Carbide was to pay the amount in a lump sum by March 31, 1989. All other civil and criminal charges relating to the incident would be dropped. The court did not consider the question of liability for the disaster.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
John Ehrlichman, 73. U.S. political aide. Mr. Ehrlichman was White House Counsel from January-November 1969 and Domestic Affairs Advisor in the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon from November 1969-April 1973. He was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury resulting from his involvement in the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and served 18 months in prison. Mr. Ehrlichman became a business executive, writer, and commentator after his release from prison, and died from complications of diabetes.

Joe Shea, 73. U.S. aerospace engineer. Dr. Shea worked at Bell Labs before joining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1961. He was Deputy Director of NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight, and later head of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, playing a major role in the development of Project Apollo. Dr. Shea was regarded as a brilliant systems engineer, but has been criticized as a poor administrator. When the Apollo 1 crew of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died in a fire on the launch pad on January 27, 1967, Dr. Shea took the disaster personally, and suffered a nervous breakdown. He soon left NASA, worked with Raytheon Technologies Corporation (1968-1990), and was a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Shea died after years of declining health.

Buddy Knox, 65. U.S. musician. Mr. Knox was a rockabilly performer from Texas who led the group the Rhythm Orchids, and was best known for his first and biggest hit single, Party Doll, which reached #1 on the Billboard Best Seller and Cash Box charts. His other hits included Hula Love (1957); Somebody Touched Me (1958); and Lovey Dovey (1960). Mr. Knox lived and performed in western Canada from the 1970s through the '90s, but eventually settled in Bremerton, Washington, where he died of lung cancer.