February 15, 2010

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Arlene Carlstrom!

1,420 years ago
590

Asiatica
Khosrau II was crowned king of Persia.

1,340 years ago
670

Died on this date
Oswiu, 57-58 (?). King of Bernicia (642-670) and Northumbria (654-670. Oswiu, a son of King Æthelfrith, acceded to the throne of Bernicia upon the death of his brother Oswald. He was a Celtic Christian who established monasteries and presided over the Synod of Whitby in 664. Oswiu was succeeded on the throne by his son Ecgfrith.

320 years ago
1690

War
Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire signed a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire.

300 years ago
1710

Born on this date
Louis XV. King of France, 1715-1774. Louis XV, nicknamed "Louis the Beloved," succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of 5, with Philippe II, Duke of Orléans serving as regent until King Louis was 13. Wars, especially the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) severely drained the treasury, setting the stage for the French Revolution in 1789. Louis XV dealt with resistance from the nobility, and suppressed the Jesuit Order. He reigned longer than any French monarch except his predecessor, and died on May 10, 1774 at the age of 64, from what appeared to be smallpox. King Louis XV was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI.

250 years ago
1760

Born on this date
Jean-François Le Sueur. French composer. Mr. Le Sueur was known for his oratorios and operas. He composed the the Marche triomphale for the coronation of Emperor Napoleon I in 1804. Mr. Le Sueur died on October 6, 1837 at the age of 77.

200 years ago
1810

Born on this date
Mary S.B. Shindler. U.S. poetess. Mrs. Shindler was known for her poems and hymns in the mid-19th century. Her first husband, Charles Dana, and son Charlie died from the same fever within a few days of each other in 1839, inspiring Mrs. Dana to write poems and hymns about suffering. She converted from Calvinism to Unitarianism, and then to Episcopalianism after marrying Episcopalian minister Robert Shindler in 1848. Mrs. Shindler died in 1883 at the age of 73.

190 years ago
1820

Born on this date
Susan B. Anthony. U.S. feminist. Miss Anthony was an anti-slavery activist who then moved on to spend most of her life, much of it in partnership with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, agitating for women's suffrage. She died on March 13, 1906 at the age of 86.

170 years ago
1840

Born on this date
Titu Maiorescu. Prime Minister of Romania, 1912-1913. Dr. Maiorescu, a member of the Conservative Party, was a scholar and literary critic before he entered politics. He was Romania's Foreign Minister from December 29, 1910-January 4, 1914, and represented Romania at the peace conference in Bucharest that ended the Second Balkan War. Mr. Maiorescu died on June 18, 1917 at the age of 77.

140 years ago
1870

Academia
Stevens Institute of Technology was founded in Hoboken, New Jersey, and offered the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering.

120 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Robert Ley. German politician. Dr. Ley, a food chemist, joined the Nazi Party in the mid-1920s. He was head of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front) from 1933-1945, and committed suicide on October 25, 1945 at the age of 55, hanging himself in his prison cell in Nuremberg three days after being indicted for war crimes.

90 years ago
1920

Politics and government
Dominique Joseph Odry took office as High Commissioner of Memel Territory, which had been severed from Germany as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.

80 years ago
1930

Law
The report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Civil Rights of Women in Quebec was tabled and handed over to Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, who refrained from any comments. The report followed the creation, six months earlier, of the Dorion Commission on the Civil Rights of Women in Quebec. The report resulted in greater rights for women in Quebec, as well as lowering the age of legal marriage from 16 to 14 for boys and from 14 to 12 for girls.

75 years ago
1935

At the movies
Shadow of Doubt, directed by George B. Seitz, and starring Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Bruce, and Constance Collier, opened in theatres.



70 years ago
1940

War
Soviet forces in Finland were reportedly within 15 miles of Viborg. The United Kingdom offered to convey all neutral vessels regardless of destination. China claimed, and Japan admitted, the retreat of Japanese troops in the Chinese province of Kwangsi and Inner Mongolia.

World events
Brazil ordered the German merchant ship Koenigsberg to return to Paraguay or sail outside territorial waters.

Politics and government
Petitions to put U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's name in nomination for the Democratic presidential nomination again in 1940 were filed in Nebraska and Oregon. U.S. Vice President John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner appointed a five-man committee headed by U.S. Senator Guy Gillette (Democrat--Iowa) to police the Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Olympics
Despite advances of Soviet troops along the Finnish border, the International Olympic Committee continued to plan for the 1940 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki.

60 years ago
1950

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Ben Wright and Eric Snowden, on ABC
Tonight’s episode: The Case of the Sentimental Monarch

The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Jackson Beck, on ABC

At the movies
Cinderella, an animated film produced by Walt Disney, and directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson, opened in theatres in Boston.



World events
British Honduras was placed under a state of emergency after six weeks of civil unrest resulting from currency devaluation and increased living costs.

The Belgian government called for an advisory referendum on March 12 on whether King Leopold III should be invited to return to the throne despite his refusal to flee the advancing German forces in 1940.

Diplomacy
Columnist C.L. Sulzberger reported in The New York Times that secret clauses of the Sino-Soviet treaty signed the previous day gave the U.S.S.R. several hundred thousand Chinese workers for Siberian projects and the right to supply "advisers" to the Chinese Communist Army and secret police.

Defense
U.S. ambassador-at-large Philip Jessup and Assistant Secretary of State W. Walton Butterworth held a Far Eastern strategy conference in Bangkok with other U.S. envoys, and reportedly recommended U.S. arms aid but no American troops for Southeast Asian countries that wanted to fight Communism.

The U.S. Navy announced that the battleship USS Missouri would be retired from active service and turned into a training ship for Naval Academy midshipmen and reservists.

Environment
Dr. Wendell Camp of the Academy of Natural Sciences announced that America's oak forests were threatened with destruction by a microscopic fungus, Chalara quercina. The blight was spreading rapidly from the Upper Mississippi Valley.

Labour
The U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations Executive Board expelled three left-wing unions--the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Food and Tobacco Workers, and Office and Professional Workers--for allegedly promoting Communism and acting against CIO policy.

Sport
An Associated Press poll of sportswriters and sportscasters named Babe Ruth the best baseball player of the past 50 years; Johnny Weismuller the best swimmer; Jack Dempsey the best boxer; Jesse Owens the best runner; Bill Tilden the best tennis player; and Babe Didrikson Zaharias the best female athlete.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): El Día de los Enamorados--Monna Bell (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): T'aimer follement--Johnny Hallyday

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Teen Angel--Mark Dinning (2nd week at #1)
2 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
3 Handy Man--Jimmy Jones
4 He'll Have to Go--Jim Reeves
5 Where or When--Dion and the Belmonts
6 The Theme from "A Summer Place"--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
7 What in the World's Come Over You--Jack Scott
8 Lonely Blue Boy--Conway Twitty
9 Let it Be Me--The Everly Brothers
10 El Paso--Marty Robbins

Singles entering the chart were Beatnik Fly by Johnny and the Hurricanes (#69); Outside My Window by the Fleetwoods (#74); Too Pooped to Pop "Casey" by Chuck Berry (#78); Teensville by Chet Atkins (#79); Mumblin' Mosie by the Johnny Otis Show (#80); Baby What You Want Me to Do by Jimmy Reed (#82); Forever by Billy Walker (#83); (Do the) Mashed Potatoes (Part 1) by Nat Kendrick and the Swans (#84); Just a Little Bit by Rosco Gordon (#85); You're My Baby by Sarah Vaughan (#87); What's Happening by Wade Flemons (#97); If You Need Me by Fats Domino (#98); Let the Little Girl Dance by Billy Bland (#99); and Paradise by Sammy Turner (#100). If You Need Me was the B-side of Country Boy, charting at #37.

U.S.A. Top 10 (Music Vendor)
1 Teen Angel--Mark Dinning (2nd week at #1)
2 He'll Have to Go--Jim Reeves
3 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
4 What in the World's Come Over You--Jack Scott
5 Handy Man--Jimmy Jones
6 Where or When--Dion and the Belmonts
7 The Theme from "A Summer Place"--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
--Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra
--Leroy Holmes and his Orchestra
8 Lonely Blue Boy--Conway Twitty
9 El Paso--Marty Robbins
10 Let it Be Me--The Everly Brothers

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 He'll Have to Go--Jim Reeves
2 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
3 Teen Angel--Mark Dinning
4 First Name Initial--Annette with the Afterbeats
5 El Paso--Marty Robbins
6 Lonely Blue Boy--Conway Twitty
7 Hound Dog Man/This Friendly World--Fabian
8 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence
9 Down by the Station--The Four Preps
10 Lucky Devil/In My Heart--Carl Dobkins, Jr.

Singles entering the chart were Rockin' Little Angel by Ray Smith (#33); Money (That's What I Want) by Barrett Strong (#42); (Welcome) New Lovers/Words by Pat Boone (#53); and Angela Jones by Johnny Ferguson (#56).

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Sugar, Sugar--The Archies (9th week at #1)
2 Venus--The Shocking Blue
3 Anuschka--Udo Jürgens
4 Come Together--The Beatles
5 Geh' nicht vorbei--Christian Anders
6 (Call Me) Number One--The Tremeloes
7 Oh Well--Fleetwood Mac
8 Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye--Steam
9 Tarata-Ting, Tarata-Tong--Mireille Mathieu
10 Weiße Rosen--Gitte

Singles entering the chart were Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye; I'm a Man Part 1 by Chicago (#21); Carol ok by Chris Andrews (#25); Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition (#26); The Lord by the Bee Gees (#28); and Without Love by Tom Jones (#29).

Died on this date
Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, 87. U.K. military officer. Air Vice Marshal Dowding served as a fighter pilot and squadron leader with the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, and was Air Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain in 1940. He was credited with playing a crucial role in defeating the German forces, but was replaced by Sholto Douglas in November 1940. Lord Dowding became bitter about his treatment by the RAF, and was passed over for promotion to Marshal of the Royal Air Force. He became a theosophist, and was a member of the Fairy Investigation Society.

Frank Clement, 83. U.K. auto racing driver. Mr. Clement was a test driver for Bentley Motors in the 1920s, and competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1923-1930. He and John Duff combined to win the event in 1924.

Carlos Teo Cruz, 32. Dominican boxer. Mr. Cruz compiled a record of 42-13-2 in a professional career from 1959-1970, and was world lightweight champion from 1968-1969. He was on his way to San Juan, Puerto Rico to fight Roger Zami, and hoped to regain the world title, but was among the 102 people killed in the Dominicana air disaster.

Crime
William Kunstler, leading defense attorney in the "Chicago Seven" conspiracy trial, was sentenced by Judge Julius Hoffman, who charged Mr. Kunstler with fanning "the flames of disorder," to 4 years and 13 days in prison on 24 counts of contempt of court. The other defense attorney, Leonard Weinglass, was sentenced to 1 year, 8 months, and 5 days on 14 counts. The three defendants who weren’t sentenced the previous day were also jailed for contempt. The jury was still out.

Disasters
All 102 people aboard were presumed dead when a Dominicana McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 cartwheeled into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff from Santo Domingo, en rout to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fatalities included former world lightweight champion Carlos Teo Cruz and his family, and the Puerto Rican national women's volleyball team.

A freight train hit a stalled van south of Stockton, California, killing 8 boys and injuring 2.

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (2nd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd
2 Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough--Michael Jackson
3 The Part of Me that Needs You Most--Exile
4 Rise--Herb Alpert
5 Crazy Little Thing Called Love--Queen
6 Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles
7 Great Balls of Fire--Nightmare
8 She's in Love with You--Suzi Quatro
9 Babe--Styx
10 If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body (Would You Hold it Against Me)--Bellamy Brothers

The only single entering the chart was Do That to Me One More Time by Captain & Tennille (#15).

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 I Have a Dream--ABBA
2 Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd
3 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan--Marianne Faithfull
4 Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles
5 Confusion--Electric Light Orchestra
6 Tusk--Fleetwood Mac
7 Lucifer--The Alan Parsons Project
8 Bobby Brown--Frank Zappa
9 Maybe--Thom Pace
10 Zabadak--Saragossa Band

Singles entering the chart were Sun of Jamaica by Goombay Dance Band (#11); Computer Games by Mi-Sex (#18); and A Message to You Rudy by the Specials (#20).

Music
The album Get Happy!! by Elvis Costello and the Attractions was released on F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and on Columbia Records in North America.

War
The United States admitted that it had been supplying light-infantry weapons to Afghan insurgent groups in mid-January, the first covert mission of this sort by the Central Intelligence Agency since 1976 during the Angolan civil war.

Economics and finance
It was reported in the United States that producer prices--the prices that retailers and manufacturers pay for goods--had increased 1.6% in January. This was the largest monthly increase in five years, and led the Federal Reserve Board the same day to tighten credit by increasing its discount rate a full percentage point to a record 13%.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (4th week at #1)

At the movies
Das schreckliche Mädchen (The Nasty Girl) , directed by Michael Verhoeven and starring Lena Stolze, opened in theatres in West Germany.



World events
Government and Communist party leaders in the Soviet republic of Tajikistan resigned after 18 people had been killed in rioting.

Diplomacy
The presidents of the United States, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru signed an accord in Cartagena, Colombia to work together in the fight against illegal drug traffic. The presidents agreed to the need for encouraging trade and investment in the three South American countries. The presidents also recognized that reducing demand in the U.S.A. was as important as reducing supply. The meeting was held under tight security. U.S. President George Bush had been under some pressure not to attend because of the danger of violence from drug traffickers.

Eight years after fighting a war over the Falkland Islands, Argentina and Great Britain restored diplomatic relations.

Protest
Up to 20,000 conservative whites protested in Pretoria against the legalization of the African National Congress and the freeing from prison on February 11 of anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.

Abominations
Responding to anti-bilingual action by a number of Ontario municipalities, the Canadian House of Commons reaffirmed "its commitment to support, protect and promote linguistic duality in Canada." The motion was introduced by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney after 40 cities and towns in Ontario had passed resolutions declaring themselves English-only.

Scandal
Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of cocaine possession and three counts of perjury. The perjury counts related to testimony he had given to a grand jury in January 1989. Meanwhile, Mr. Barry had entered an alcohol treatment program in Florida. He had denied having a drug problem, and called the indictments "a continuation of the political lynching and excesses of the Justice Department."

10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Angus MacLean, 95. Canadian politician. Mr. MacLean, native of Lewes, Prince Edward Island and a Progressive Conservative, represented Queen's (1951-1968) and Malpeque (1968-1976) in the Canadian House of Commons, and was Canada’s Minister of Fisheries in the government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker from 1957-1963. He left federal politics in 1976 to take the leadership of the provincial PC Party in P.E.I.; he led them to victory in the 1979 provincial election, serving as Premier of Prince Edward Island until his retirement in 1981. Mr. MacLean was credited with bringing national attention to the economic plight of the Atlantic fisheries, leading to equalization payments. He was criticized in the national (i.e., Toronto) media for remarks in 1980 that he regarded himself as a Prince Edward Islander before he regarded himself as a Canadian. Mr. MacLean died in Charlottetown.