March 12, 2009

1,040 years ago
969

Died on this date
Muzong, 37. Emperor of China, 951-969. Muzong, whose personal name was Yelü Jing, acceded to the throne of the Liao Dynasty upon the assassination of his cousin Emperor Shizong. Emperor Muzong had to deal with plots and rebellions against him, and forcibly suppressed all but the least, in which he was murdered by his servants while on a hunting trip. Muzong was succeeded by Jingzong.

720 years ago
1289

Died on this date
Demetrius II, 29 or 30. King of Georgia, 1270-1289. Demetrius II acceded to the throne at the age of 11 upon the death of his father David VII. He ruled under a regency for some time, but distinguished himself in battle. In 1288, Mongol Emperor Arghun Khan suspected King Demetrius of involvement in a plot against him, and summoned him to the capital of Mokavan, or else he would invade Georgia. King Demetrius ignored his advisers, and went to Mokavan, where he was imprisoned, and finally beheaded. Demetrius II was succeeded on the throne by his cousin Vakhtang II.

510 years ago
1499

Exploration
King Henry VII wrote a letter to his lord chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury John Morton, ordering him to suspend a lawsuit facing Bristol shipping merchant William Weston until after Mr. Weston's return from North America. Mr. Weston had apparently sailed, with the king's approval, for the "new founde land" reached by John Cabot two years earlier.

320 years ago
1689

War
The Williamite War in Ireland between Jacobites (supporters of King James II, a Roman Catholic) and Williamites (supporters of King William III, a Protestant) began.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
George Forbes. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1930-1935. Mr. Forbes, nicknamed "Honest George," who began his career as a Liberal, represented the riding of Hurunui in Parliament from 1908-1943. He won the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1925, which was renamed the National Party. The NP allied with Reform party dissidents to form the United Party in 1927, and when the UP formed the government after the 1928 election, Mr. Forbes became a cabinet minister, succeeding Joseph Ward as Prime Minister in 1930. Mr. Forbes had the misfortune to be Prime Minister during the Depression, and his government was defeated in the 1935 election, leaving Mr. Forbes as Leader of the Opposition. He briefly led a new United Party in 1936. Mr. Forbes died on May 17, 1947 at the age of 78.

120 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Idris I. King of Libya, 1951-1969. Idris of Libya was elected King of Libya by the National Congress, and took the throne when the United Kingdom of Libya was proclaimed as a sovereign state on December 24, 1951. While he was in Turkey for medical treatment, King Idris was deposed on September 1, 1969 by a military coup led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Idris went into exile in Egypt, and died in Cairo on May 25, 1983 at the age of 94.

100 years ago
1909

Hockey
ECHA
Exhibition @ St. Nicholas Rink, New York
Ottawa 6 Montreal Wanderers 4

This was the first of two exhibition games played between the top two teams in the Eastern Canadian Hockey Association. Ottawa Hockey Club had finished first to win the Stanley Cup from the defending champion Wanderers.

80 years ago
1929

Died on this date
Asa Candler, 77. U.S. businessman and politician. Mr. Candler founded the Coca-Cola Company in 1892, and managed the company until 1917, when he took office as Mayor of Atlanta, serving until 1919. He died three years after suffering a stroke.

75 years ago
1934

World events
Using the authority of the Constitution of 1933, State Elder Konstantin Päts and General Johan Laidoner staged a coup in Estonia, and banned all political parties in an attempt to to neutralize the right-wing populist Vaps Movement. The coup was supported by the army and parliament.

70 years ago
1939

Religion
Pope Pius XII was crowned at the Vatican.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys; Gene Autry (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Cruising Down the River--Blue Barron and his Orchestra

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Far Away Places--Bing Crosby
--Perry Como
--Margaret Whiting and the Crew Chiefs
2 Powder Your Face with Sunshine (Smile! Smile! Smile!)--Evelyn Knight and the Stardusters
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
3 A Little Bird Told Me--Evelyn Knight and the Stardusters
4 I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm--Les Brown and his Orchestra
--The Mills Brothers
5 Cruising Down the River--Blue Barron and his Orchestra
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters
6 Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Dinah Shore
7 Down by the Station--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
8 Galway Bay--Bing Crosby
9 Red Roses for a Blue Lady--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
10 So Tired--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Blue Skirt Waltz by Frankie Yankovic and his Yanks with the Marlin Sisters (#22); Beautiful Eyes by Art Mooney and his Orchestra (#37); and Love Me! Love Me! Love Me! by Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (#39).

On the radio
Tales of Fatima, starring Basil Rathbone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: The Tower of Ice

World events
The Berlin airlift completed its highest one-week total to date, with 45,683 tons of supplies flown in seven days.

Politics and government
The French National Assembly approved a government plan to establish a territorial government in Cochin China.

U.S. Senate supporters of President Harry Truman conceded defeat in their efforts to restrict filibusters, following a successful three-week Southern filibuster.

Economics and finance
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) in Japan General Douglas MacArthur ordered the Japanese government to work for greater productivity in the nation's coal mines without permitting any cost increases.

Labour
U.S. railroad unions and employers, meeting in Chicago, agreed to accept the recommendations of a presidential commission for a 7c hourly wage increase and an eight-hour reduction in the work week of non-operating railroad workers.

Basketball
Hamline College defeated St. Regis 57-46 in Kansas City to win the U.S. National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball title.

50 years ago
1959

Americana
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to President Dwight D. Eisenhower a bill making Hawaii the 50th state.

Defense
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to President Eisenhower a bill continuing the peacetime draft for four more years.

Politics and government
The Catholic People's Party won a small margin over Socialists in general elections for the Dutch House of Representatives.

Northern Rhodesian Governor Sir Arthur Benson outlawed the Zambia African Nationan Congress, and held Kenneth Kaunda and other Congress leaders for deportation to tribal areas.

The Ceylonese Senate approved a new Public Security Act giving Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike sweeping powers to outlaw political strikes and suppress civil and racial disorders.

Labour
U.S. Labor Secretary James Mitchell, warning against "the risk of substantially curtailing employment and earning power in low-wage industries," told congressional leaders that the administration of President Eisenhower opposed any increase in the $1 hourly federal minimum wage.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?--Peter Sarstedt (3rd week at #1)

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Build Me Up Buttercup--The Foundations
2 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da/While My Guitar Gently Weeps--The Beatles
3 Edge of Reality/If I Can Dream--Elvis Presley
4 Lily the Pink--The Scaffold
5 I Started a Joke/Kilburn Towers--The Bee Gees
6 Star Crossed Lovers--Neil Sedaka
7 Eloise--Barry Ryan
8 Son-of-a Preacher Man--Dusty Springfield
9 Fox on the Run--Manfred Mann
10 Going Up the Country--Canned Heat

Singles entering the chart were Games People Play by Joe South (#27); Monsieur Dupont by Sandie Shaw (#28); Crosstown Traffic by the Jimi Hendrix Experience (#38); and This Girl's in Love with You by Dionne Warwick (#40).

Married on this date
U.K. musician Paul McCartney of the rock group the Beatles and U.S. photographer Linda Eastman were married in a civil ceremony at Marylebone Register Office in London.

War
In a proposal sent to the foreign ministers of the six European Economic Community nations, Colonel Chuckwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, military leader of Biafra, asked a month's truce in Biafra's war to secede from Nigeria, asserting that the two belligerents could work out a permanent cease-fire in that period. The proposal, which asked the EEC countries to get the United Kingdom to stop arms shipments to Lagos, also urged a total arms embargo to both sides.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Le Freak-Chic (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)--Hideki Saijo

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?--Rod Stewart (2nd week at #1)

Protest
15,000 Iranian women marched through Tehran in continuing protests against the government's traditionalist Islamic policies toward women.

Defense
Resumption of a limited military draft was proposed in a Congressional debate over a solution to critical manpower shortages faced by the armed services.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut declared his candidacy for the 1980 Republican Party U.S. presidential nomination.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 3 Detroit 3

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Love Is a Battlefield--Pat Benatar (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Thriller--Michael Jackson (5th week at #1)

War
Reconciliation talks among various factions in Lebanon began. Lebanese President Amin Gemayel appealed to those present to end "nine years of insane and continuous war." Mohammed Ibrahim Massoud, one of Syria's new vice presidents and a key player in the reconciliation talks, came as an observer.

Diplomacy
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain arrived in Ottawa to begin a six-day state visit to Canada.

Labour
The British coal miners' strike that had begun a week earlier at Cortonwood Colliery in Yorkshire had now spread to Kent, Scotland, and South Wales, and included more than half of the United Kingdom's 187,000 coal miners.

Figure skating
The British ice dancing team of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean became the first skaters to receive nine perfect 6.0 scores in the world championships, in Ottawa.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart--Marc Almond featuring Gene Pitney (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Maurice Evans, 87. U.K. actor. Mr. Evans was known for his starring roles in plays by William Shakespeare on stage in the U.K. and U.S.A. from the 1930s through the 1950s, and on television in the United States in the 1950s.

Curling
The Alberta rink of Pat Ryan defeated British Columbia 3-2 to win the Brier.

Hockey
NHL
Los Angeles 6 Edmonton 3

CIAU
Canada West Finals
Calgary 1 @ Alberta 3 (Alberta won best-of-three series 2-1)

The Golden Bears scored 2 goals in a 5-second span as they defeated the Dinosaurs at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Yehudi Menuhin, 82. U.S.-born U.K. musician. Mr. Menuhin was one of the most renowned violinists of the 20th century, with a performing career of more than 75 years. He had the longest recording career on record, spanning 1929-1999, all with the British company EMI.

Marcus Lockman, 77. U.S. boxer. Mr. Lockman was a welterweight and middleweight who compiled a record of 31-12-3 in a professional career from 1941-1946. He lost a 10-round decision to future middleweight champion Jake LaMotta on March 29, 1946. Just over two months later, on June 5, Mr. Lockman was knocked down twice and out by Sam Baroudi in the 6th round, was hospitalized, and had his license revoked in Massachusetts. He had one more fight three months later, losing by technical knockout in the 6th round to Danny Williams.

Defense
The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland--all former Iron Curtain countries--formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The foreign ministers of the three countries attended a ceremony with United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Independence, Missouri. NATO planned to commit considerable resources to upgrading the military forces of the three nations.