February 20, 2009

670 years ago
1339

War
The Milanese army defeated the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti in the Battle of Parabiago in Lombardy.

200 years ago
1809

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the power of the federal government was greater than that of any individual state.

180 years ago
1829

Born on this date
Joe Jefferson, 76. U.S. actor. Mr. Jefferson was best known for his adaptation of Rip Van Winkle, originating the title role on stage and taking the play on the road for 40 years. He died on April 23, 1905 at the age of 76.

170 years ago
1839

Born on this date
Benjamin Waugh. U.K. clergyman and social activist. Rev. Waugh was a Congregationalist minister and hymnist who was best known for his opposition to workhouses and the Poor law, which led him to co-found the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in 1884. He died on March 11, 1908, 20 days after his 69th birthday.

Law
The United States Congress prohibited duelling in the District of Columbia.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Hod Stuart. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Stuart, a native of Ottawa, was a cover-point (defenceman) with seven different teams in four different amateur and professional leagues from 1898-1907, with combined totals of 53 goals and 11 assists in 93 regular season games and 1 goal and 2 assists in 8 playoff games. He played with the Calumet Miners and Pittsburgh Professionals from 1904-1906 in the International Professional Hockey League and was a First team All-Star in both seasons, but left the IPHL out of concerns about increasing violence. Mr. Stuart joined the Montreal Wanderers of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association in 1906-1907, and helped the Wanderers win the Stanley Cup. He was killed in a diving accident at Bay Quinte, Ontario on June 23, 1907 at the age of 28; on January 2, 1908, the Wanderers hosted an ECAHA All-Star team in a game for the benefit of Mr. Stuart's widow and children, the first such game in any sport. Mr. Stuart was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945 as a charter member.

70 years ago
1939

Society
The German American Bund, a pro-Nazi organization led by naturalized U.S. citizen Fritz Kuhn, drew 22,000 to a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Mr. Kuhn, with a huge portrait of George Washington behind him, denounced President Franklin D. Roosevelt, calling him "Frank D. Rosenfeld," and referring to the president's economic policy as the "Jew Deal." 3,000 members of the Ordnungsdienst, the militant arm of the Bund, were on hand, and used strong-arm tactics against protesters in maintaining order. The rally was the largest for the Bund, which operated camps for young people in New York and New Jersey. Before the year was out, Mr. Kuhn faced various criminal charges, and was eventually deported to Germany, where he died in obscurity in 1951. The Bund itself officially disbanded on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.





60 years ago
1949

On the radio
Pat Novak For Hire, starring Jack Webb, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Jack of Clubs

War
United Nations mediator Ralph Bunche submitted the text of a proposed armistice agreement to Egyptian and Israeli negotiators in Rhodes. The agreement gave Israel temporary control over Beersheba and the Negev desert pending negotiation of a permanent peace settlement.

Labour
11,000 Philadelphia Transit Company workers ended a 10-day strike by accepting an 8c hourly wage increase.

Hockey
IIHF World Championships @ Stockholm
Final Round
U.S.A. (3-2) 9 Austria (0-5) 1
Czechoslovakia (4-1) 3 Sweden (2-2-1) 0
Canada (2-1-2) 1 Switzerland (2-2-1) 1

The Czechoslovakians, who had lost six players in an air disaster several months earlier, shut out the Swedes to deny the host country a medal, as the Americans routed the Austrians to win the bronze medal. Canada, represented by the Sudbury Wolves, scored a goal in the 3rd period to tie Switzerland and take the silver medal.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): As I Love You--Shirley Bassey with Wally Stott and his Orchestra

Died on this date
Laurence Housman, 93. U.K. writer and illustrator. Mr. Housman, the younger brother of poet A.E. Housman, began his career as an illustrator before writing in various genres. He was best known for play such as Victoria Regina (1934). Mr. Housman spent much of his life promoting worthless causes such as socialism, pacifism, sodomy, and women's suffrage.

Space
U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Deputy Director Hugh Dryden told the U.S. Senate Space Committee that the U.S.S.R. had "the capability of putting a man into space before our program is complete" and was "likely to do so."

Defense
Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker told the House of Commons that the government was cancelling further development of the supersonic jet interceptor plane (the most advanced in the world) known as the Avro Arrow, while announcing that the government had no alternative air defense system to take the place of the Arrow. He indicated that the decision was due to a rapidly diminishing need for interceptors and the estimated cost of $7.3 million apiece for 100 aircraft. For detailed information about the Arrow, go here, and especially here. 14,528 workers at the Avro plant were immediately put out of work by the announcement, and 15,000 other employees in the Avro supply chain also lost their jobs. Information on the most prominent of the Avro employees can be found here. Mr. Diefenbaker also disclosed that the government was negotiating with the United States for the right to acquire nuclear warheads with which to arm the Bomarc surface-to-air guided missiles.



The Yugoslavian Foreign Ministry declared its opposition to efforts to revive the 1954 Bled agreement for the formation by Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey of a Balkan pact.

U.S. Navy Admiral Arleigh Burke said that America's "ability...to destroy the Soviet Union in several ways and several times over" made it unnecessary for the United States to race the U.S.S.R. in numbers of missiles.

Protest
Central African Federation Prime Minister Sir Roy Welensky sent troops into Nyasaland to suppress riots and anti-government demonstrations by African nationalists.

Politics and government
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was dropped from membership in the Indian National Congress Party's Executive Committee by Indira Gandhi, his daughter and party President.

Energy
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mexican President Adolfo Lopez Mateos announced an agreement to cooperate in building the $100-million Diablo Dam on the Rio Grande near Del Rio, Texas.

Crime
A U.S. federal court in New York revoked the American citizenship of gangster Frank Costello for concealing bootlegging activities when he was naturalized in 1925.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average topped the 600 mark for the first time.

40 years ago
1969

On television tonight
Dragnet 1969, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Frauds: DR-28



World events
Seven more Iraqis, all Muslims, were executed as Israeli spies in Baghdad. Four of the men, civilians, were hanged like those found guilty of spying by the Iraqi Revolutionary Court in January, while the other three, who were soldiers, were shot by a firing squad.

Politics and government
Pakistani President Mohammad Ayub Khan failed to persuade Sheik Mujibur Rahman, leader of the East Pakistan autonomy movement, to join in his talks with opposition leaders.

Hockey
Canadian Minister of Health and Welfare John Munro announced the formation of Hockey Canada, a federal corporation to develop a national hockey team.

30 years ago
1979

On television tonight
The Paper Chase, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Apprentice



Diplomacy
U.S. President Jimmy Carter said that turmoil in the Middle East and Indochina would not deter American efforts to conclude a new Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreement with the U.S.S.R., but warned the Soviet Union to respect Iran's independence or face possibly unfavourable consequences.

Education
The Quebec Department of Education releases a document titled The Quebec School: Policy Statement and Action Plan. In its Orange Book, the government proposed ways to boost primary and secondary education. Among other things, it concerned the implementation of educational projects in schools; the creation of guidance councils to encourage the participation of the various stakeholders; the revision of programs; and the evaluation of learning.

Disasters
An earthquake cracked Sinila volcanic crater in Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)--The Proclaimers

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Real Gone Kid--Deacon Blue

Terrorism
50 British soldiers escaped injury when they evacuated their barracks at Tern Hill, Shropshire before two bombs planted by Irish Republican Army terrorists exploded.

Politics and government
Afghan Prime Minister Mohammed Hassam Sharq resigned after nine months in office, and a military council assumed most government functions.

Government leader Tony Penikett led his New Democratic Party to a majority in the Legislative Assembly in the Yukon territorial election, taking 9 of 16 seats, with the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Willard Phelps, capturing the remaining 7 seats. Going into the election the NDP held 8 seats to 6 for the PCs and 2 for the Liberals. The Liberal Party, led by Jim McLachlan, were shut out in 1989, and Mr. McLachlan lost his seat in Faro to NDP candidate Maurice Byblow.

Hockey
NHL
Washington 2 @ Calgary 6

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Gene Siskel, 53. U.S. film critic. Mr. Siskel, film critic with the Chicago Tribune, teamed up with Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert in 1975 to review movies on a show called Coming Soon to a Theater Near You on Chicago's PBS affiliate. In 1980 the program, now titled Sneak Previews, began running on the national PBS network. Mr. Siskel and Mr. Ebert left PBS in 1982, and their program went through several changes in title and affiliation over the years. My favourite S&E moment was the show in 1987, when disagreements over Full Metal Jacket (thumb up for Siskel, down for Ebert) and Benji the Hunted (up for Ebert, down for Siskel) became somewhat heated. My favourite special episodes were Hail, Hail, Black and White; They'll Do it Every Time (several episodes); and the one on trailers. Despite Mr. Ebert's seniority (and a Pulitzer Prize) as a Chicago newspaper film critic, Mr. Siskel's name came first in the billing during their 23 1/2-year run on television. Mr. Siskel fought bravely against brain cancer, and was still able to write reviews and appear on television into the early weeks of 1999. In his last few years he became increasingly critical of the quality of writing in current movies, and complained (correctly) that teenage boys, the only segment of the population that will go to see anything in a theater on a weekend regardless of quality, are the people who actually dictate what movies are made. On one of his last television appearances, Mr. Siskel picked Babe: Pig in the City as the best movie of 1998, which may have been an indication of how ill he was. According to Mr. Ebert, Mr. Siskel was in much worse health toward the end than his television appearances would indicate. After a lengthy auditioning process, Richard Roeper, a colleague of Mr. Ebert's at the Sun-Times, won the permanent spot as Mr. Siskel's replacement, albeit with Mr. Ebert finally getting top billing. The show wasn't as good without Mr. Siskel, but was certainly better than when Mr. Ebert left in 2006 because of his own health problems.In 2008 Mr. Roeper left, and the program, now called At the Movies, is hosted by Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons (son of Geoffrey Lyons, one of the co-hosts who took over Sneak Previews when Mr. Siskel and Mr. Ebert left PBS). The current show is almost unwatchable. For Mr. Ebert's reminiscence about his friend and colleague, go to his blog.

Diplomacy
Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan began two days of meetings in Pakistan to discuss the divisions between their countries.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 2 @ Toronto 3 (OT)

Steve Thomas scored the winning goal as the Maple Leafs edged the Canadiens to win the first National Hockey League game ever played at Air Canada Centre in the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast.