March 30, 2009

310 years ago
1699

Religion
Guru Gobind Singh established the Sikh warrior group Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.

200 years ago
1809

Britannica
The Labrador Act gave Labrador to Newfoundland, with all the watersheds flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The boundaries were later disputed by Quebec; the Privy Council made the final decision in 1927 in favour of Newfoundland.

175 years ago
1834

Politics and government
William Lyon Mackenzie was appointed the first mayor of Toronto by city council, defeating John Rolph.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Coen de Koning. Dutch speed skater and cyclist. Mr. de Koning won the world allround championship in 1905, and the Dutch allround championship in 1903, 1905, and 1912; he won the silver medal in the European Championships in 1904, and the bronze medal in 1906. Mr. de Koning died on July 29, 1954 at the age of 75.

120 years ago
1889

Soccer
English FA Cup
Final @ Kennington Oval, London
Preston North End 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Indian author. Mr. Bandyopadhyay wrote short stories, novels, and screenplays. He was best known for creating the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi, who appeared in 32 stories from 1932-1970. Mr. Bandyopadhyay died on September 22, 1970 at the age of 71.

Science
The German Society of Chemistry issued an invitation to other national scientific organizations to appoint delegates to the International Committee on Atomic Weights.

75 years ago
1934

At the movies
House of Mystery, directed by William Nigh, and starring Ed Lowry, Verna Hillie, and Brandon Hurst, opened in theatres.



70 years ago
1939

War
Prime Minister Mackenzie King said that Canada would not conscript men for foreign service.

Defense
The German Heinkel He 100 fighter set a world airspeed record of 463 miles per hour (745 kilometres per hour).

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
New York Rangers 2 @ Boston 1 (OT) (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Toronto 1 @ Detroit 3 (Best-of-three series tied 1-1)

Clint "Snuffy" Smith scored at 17:19 of the 1st overtime period to give the Rangers their win over the Bruins at Boston Garden.

60 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Friedrich Bergius, 64. German chemist. German chemist. Dr. Bergius shared the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Carl Bosch "[for] their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high pressure methods." He was best known for the Bergius process for producing synthetic fuel from coal. Dr. Bergius worked with the notorious chemical company IG Farben during World War II, and fled Germany after the war, eventually settling in Buenos Aires, where he worked as an adviser to the Ministry of Industry.

World events
The Syrian Army seized power in the country, following a wave of demonstrations protesting armistice negotiations with Israel. Army Chief of Staff Husni Zayim was named temporary head of state, and promised to continue armistice talks.

Defense
U.S. President Harry Truman signed a bill authorizing the construction of a U.S.-Canadian radar system to protect North America from air attack.

Portugal and Iceland agreed to participate in the North Atlantic security system, the last of 12 member states to give their formal consent.

Protest
A riot broke out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík after the announcement that Iceland was joining NATO. Thousands participated, rocks were thrown, windows of the House of the Althing were smashed, and arrests were made.

Politics and government
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities Chairman John Wood introduced a bill barring federal employees and defense workers from belonging or contributing to the Communist Party or front groups.

Crime
Former Communist Louis Budenz completed eight days of testimony as the first prosecution witness in the New York trial of 11 U.S. Communist Party leaders. He charged that American Communists were directed from Moscow and were dedicated to overthrowing the U.S. government.

Indianica
15 princely states merged to form the Union of Greater Rajastan, a new state in the Indian Dominion.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Toronto 3 @ Boston 2 (Toronto won best-of-seven series 4-1)

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mariquilla--José Luís y su Guitarra (7th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Venus--Frankie Avalon (4th week at #1)
2 Come Softly to Me--The Fleetwoods
3 Charlie Brown--The Coasters
4 It's Just a Matter of Time--Brook Benton
5 Tragedy--Thomas Wayne with the DeLons
6 Alvin's Harmonica--David Seville and the Chipmunks
7 Never Be Anyone Else But You--Ricky Nelson
8 Pink Shoe Laces--Dodie Stevens
9 I've Had It--The Bell Notes
10 It's Late--Ricky Nelson

Singles entering the chart were I Need Your Love Tonight by Elvis Presley (#33); Take a Message to Mary (#61)/Poor Jenny (#69) by the Everly Brothers; Guess Who by Jesse Belvin (#70); Turn Me Loose by Fabian (#79); Three Stars by Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires (#82); Rockin' Crickets by the Hot-Toddys featuring Bill Pennell (#87); Who's That Knocking by the Genies (#88); Hawaiian War Chant by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#89); French Foreign Legion by Frank Sinatra (#90); A House of Love by Scott Garrett (#92); Star Love by the Playmates (#93); Raining in My Heart by Buddy Holly (#95); Almost Grown by Chuck Berry (#96); I Miss You So by Paul Anka (#97); Boom-A-Dip-Dip by Stan Robinson (#98); "Yep!" by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#99); and The Chick by Lee and Paul (#100). Three Stars was a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, who had been killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 It's Late/Never Be Anyone Else But You--Ricky Nelson
2 Come Softly to Me--The Fleetwoods
3 Venus--Frankie Avalon
4 I Need Your Love Tonight/(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I--Elvis Presley
5 Sea Cruise--Frankie Ford
6 I've Had It--The Bell Notes
7 Charlie Brown--The Coasters
8 Guitar Boogie Shuffle--The Virtues
9 Stagger Lee--Lloyd Price
10 It Doesn't Matter Anymore--Buddy Holly

Singles entering the chart were Enchanted by the Platters (#33); I Miss You So by Paul Anka (#37); "Yep!" by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#43); Someone by Johnny Mathis (#48); Guess Who by Jesse Belvin (#49); Yeah Yeah (Class Cutter) by Dale Hawkins (#50); Being True to One Another by Tony Bennett (#53); Boom-a-Dip-Dip by Stan Robinson (#54); Three Stars by Tommy Dee with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires (#57); Lovey Dovey by Clyde McPhatter (#58); Secret Love by Jimmy Ricks (#59); and I Never Felt Like This by Jack Scott (#60).

Died on this date
Byron Quimby, 70. U.S. military aviator. Colonel Quimby originated aerobatics and stunt flying.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. agreed to participate in a foreign ministers meeting in Geneva, with an agenda suggested by the West.

Japan offered to submit the recurrent Soviet-Japanese dispute over northern Pacific fishing rights to the World Court.

Defense
A Japanese District Court in Tokyo ruled that the presence of U.S. military forces in Japan was contrary to Japanese law and that the U.S.-Japanese security treaty violated the anti-war preamble of the Japanese constitution.

The U.S. House of Representatives Defense Appropriations subcommittee released testimony by two Joint Chiefs of Staff members that the United States had considerably more atomic retaliatory strength than it needed to destroy the U.S.S.R.

Protest
6,000 members of the U.K.'s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ended a 53-mile march with a rally in Trafalgar Square in London demanding the banning of nuclear weapons and U.S. military bases in Britain.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two separate cases that defendants could could be tried for the same offense in both federal and state courts.

40 years ago
1969

Yellowknifiana
The annual Caribou Carnival ended, the first one attended by this blogger.

Crime
One Detroit policeman was killed and a second policeman and four civilians were wounded in an apparent shootout between the police and members of a Negro separatist group. The firing erupted inside and outside a church in the heart of the area where the 1967 riots took place. In the subsequent arrest of 135 people, all but two were later released.

Americana
After a three-hour military procession along Constitution Avenue, the body of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower lay in state at the Capitol. At least 55,000 people filed past the bier in 24 hours, including French President Charles de Gaulle, who saluted the coffin twice.

Hockey
IIHF World Championships
Group A @ Stockholm
Finland (2-8) 7 U.S.A. (0-10) 3
Sweden (8-2) 1 Czechoslovakia (8-2) 0
U.S.S.R. (8-2) 4 Canada (4-6) 2

Juha Rantasila and Jorma Peltonen each scored 2 goals to help the Finns defeat the Americans, who were dropped to Group B in 1970.

Roger Olsson scored the game's only goal in the 1st period as the Swedes edged the Czechoslovakians.

Boris Mikhailov scored 2 goals, and Igor Romishevsky and Aleksandr Maltsev each scored 1 as the Soviets defeated the Canadians. Ab Demarco and Bill Heindl scored for Canada in what turned out to be Canada's last game in world championship competition until 1977. Canada withdrew from international competition in 1970 because of the International Ice Hockey Federation's refusal to allow Canada to use professional players.

The U.S.S.R. finished first, Sweden second, and Czechoslovakia third on the basis of goal differential. The Soviets scored 59 goals and allowed 23 for a differential of +36; Sweden scored 45 and allowed 19 (+26); and Czechoslovakia scored 40 and allowed 20 (+20).

CHL
Adams Cup
Quarter-Finals
Omaha 3 @ Kansas City 1 (Omaha led best-of-five series 2-1)
Houston 1 @ Dallas 3 (Dallas won best-of-five series 3-0)

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Y.M.C.A.--Village People (8th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heart of Glass--Blondie (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Born to Be Alive--Patrick Hernandez (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: An Apple for the Teacher

Airey Neave, 63. U.K. politician. Mr. Neave was a Lieutenant Colonel in World War II, and became the first British prisoner to escape from Colditz Castle. A Conservative, he represented Abingdon in the House of Commons from 1953 until his death. Mr. Neary began serving as shadow secretary for Northern Ireland in 1974, and was a close adviser to party leader Margaret Thatcher. He was assassinated by a car bomb as he left the Palace of Westminster car park. The Irish National Liberation Army claimed responsibility.

Environment
Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh issued an emergency warning that children and pregnant women should be evacuated from the vicinity of the Three Mile Island nuclear power accident. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission warned Congress that a core meltdown was still possible at the reactor.

Labour
The Teamsters union reached a tentative accord with the trucking industry on wage issues in a proposed three-year master freight contract, covering 300,000 union members. The present contract expired on April 1, 1979.

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Poi E--Patea Maori Club (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Relax--Frankie Goes to Hollywood (6th week at #1)

At the movies
Romancing the Stone, starring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, and Danny DeVito, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Lorne Anderson, 52. Canadian hockey goaltender. Mr. Anderson spent many years in the minor leagues, but played 3 games with the New York Rangers in the 1951-52 season, averaging 6.00 goals against while posting a 1-2 record. In his final NHL game on March 23, 1952, Mr. Anderson gave up 3 goals to Billy Mosienko of the Chicago Black Hawks in a 21-second span, a record for the fastest 3 goals by a single player that still stands.

War
U.S. President Ronald Reagan formally ended U.S. participation in the multinational peacekeeping force in Beirut.

Defense
The United States restricted the sale to Iraq of five chemical compounds that could be used to make poison gases.

Economics and finance
The United States, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and a group of commercial banks agreed on a package of assistance that would permit Argentina to make a long-overdue interest payment to American banks. The sum of $500 million included $100 million of Argentina's own reserves.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): Like a Prayer--Madonna

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Paradise City--Guns N' Roses

10 years ago
1999

Politics and government
Nunavut's new legislature and mace were unveiled in Iqaluit.

Health
A jury in Multnomah County (Oregon) Circuit Court awarded $81 million to the family of a cigarette smoker who died of lung cancer. Attorneys for the plaintiffs presented documents from cigarette maker Philip Morris showing an apparent effort by the company to conceal the health threats and addictiveness of smoking. The jury's award, including $79.5 million in punitive damages, was the highest ever awarded against a tobacco company. Philip Morris said that the award would be appealed.