March 2, 2010

110 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Elena Sánchez Valenzuela. Mexican actress and journalist, and archivist. Miss Sánchez starred in silent films from 1917-1921, specializing in "noble prostitute" roles. She worked as a journalist in Mexico and then in Paris in the 1920s and '30s before returning to Mexico. In 1936, at the request of Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas, Miss Sánchez founded Brigadas Cinematográficas, the country's first film archive. She travelled throughout Mexico and Latin America collecting films, and was put in charge of filmm preservation for the Filmoteca Nacional (Mexican National Film Library) when it was crated in 1942. Miss Sánchez died on September 30, 1950 at the age of 50.

70 years ago
1940

On television today
New York University won the first televised intercollegiate track meet, broadcast live from Madison Square Garden in New York over New York station W2XBS.

War
Reports from Finland indicated that Soviet forces had occupied Tammisuo, north of Viborg, and Lupin Lahti, east of the city. The government of New Zealand announced that it was supplying men to the British Royal Navy, as well as keeping its own navy at war strength.

Diplomacy
U.S. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles met with German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler in Berlin.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill increasing Import-Export Bank capital to $200 million; the U.S. immediately granted credit to Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

Law
The U.S. Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born opened its conference in Washington to protest anti-alien legislation before Congress.

Politics and government
The Rhode Island House of Representatives adopted a resolution asking Congress to prohibit a third term for a President of the United States.

Disasters
2 people were killed as tornadoes swept through the lower Ohio River and Mississippi River valleys.

Tennis
Bobby Riggs won the U.S. indoor title in Chicago.

Basketball
NCAA
Dartmouth College won the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball Conference title, while the University of North Carolina won the Southern Conference title.

60 years ago
1950

On television tonight
Escape, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Covenant, starring Pat Peardon and Kim Stanley

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head--Johnny Farnham (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Awazu ni Aishite--Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Venus--The Shocking Blue (4th week at #1)

On the radio
Lux Radio Theatre, on Springbok Radio
Tonight’s episode: Non Stop to Victoria

Africana
Prime Minister Ian Smith declared Rhodesia a republic, cutting the last link with the British crown.

Diplomacy
French President Georges Pompidou abruptly cancelled a visit with Jewish leaders in New York, prompting U.S. President Richard Nixon to hurry to New York to apologize to Mr. Pompidou for any discourtesy, and to say farewell at a dinner for Mr. Pompidou.

The first direct government negotiations between East and West Germany began when a five-man Bonn delegation crossed through the Berlin wall to prepare a summit meeting between West German Chancellor Willy Brandt and East German Premier Willi Stoph.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the five-year federal statute of limitations applied to those who failed to register for the draft at age 18 when they were required to do so. Three dissenting justices held that the ruling would free a non-registrant from draft liability at the age of 23 rather than 26, and encourage non-registration.

Protest
After three days of relative calm, the National Guard was withdrawn from the Santa Barbara campus of the University of California, where they had been sent by California Governor Ronald Reagan after riots broke out on February 25.

Basketball
NCAA
Pete Maravich of Louisiana State University scored 55 points against Mississippi State to bring his season total to 1,263, breaking Elvin Hayes’ single-season scoring record for the University of Houston in 1967-68. Mr. Maravich’s total, still a Division I record, reached 1,381 points.

Football
CFL
The Montreal Alouettes traded flanker Tom Cassese to the British Columbia Lions for flanker and cornerback Jake Scott. Mr. Cassese caught 32 passes for 712 yards--an average of 22.3 yards per reception--and 7 touchdowns in 14 games in 1969, while returning 1 kickoff for 20 yards and recovering one of his own team's fumbles. Mr. Scott caught 35 passes for 596 yards--a 17.0-yard average--and 3 touchdowns, while rushing twice for 11 yards and returning 7 kickoffs for 224 yards--a 32.0-yard average--in 11 games with B.C. Mr. Scott missed 5 games while recovering from an appendectomy.

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
There Never was an Arrow, on CBC

This was a documentary about the ill-fated Avro Arrow jet fighter plane.



Terrorism
Negotiations between April 19 Movement guerrillas holding hostages at the Dominican Republic’s embassy in Colombia and the Colombian government began in a van parked about 40 yards from the embassy.

Hockey
NHL
Philadelphia 1 @ Montreal 5

25 years ago
1985

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Careless Whisper--Wham! (3rd week at #1)
2 Easy Lover--Philip Bailey with Phil Collins
3 California Girls--David Lee Roth
4 Loverboy--Billy Ocean
5 Can’t Fight This Feeling--REO Speedwagon
6 Sugar Walls--Sheena Easton
7 I Want to Know What Love Is--Foreigner
8 The Heat is On--Glenn Frey
9 Mr. Telephone Man--New Edition
10 The Old Man Down the Road--John Fogerty

Hockey
NHL
New Islanders 2 @ Toronto 4

Jeff Brubaker scored 2 goals to lead the Maple Leafs to their upset win in the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast.

20 years ago
1990

Politics and government
At a meeting in Zambia, the executive committee of the African National Congress named Nelson Mandela the ANC’s Deputy President. Because ANC President Oliver Tambo was ill, Mr. Mandela in effect became the ANC leader.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the leading economic indicators were unchanged in January.

10 years ago
2000

World events
After spending 16 months in Britain, former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet left for home after British Home Secretary Jack Straw declared him mentally unfit to stand trial, and refused to extradite him to Spain or the other three countries that wanted to try Gen. Pinochet for human rights violations.

Diplomacy
Jose Imperatori, a Cuban envoy who had come to Ottawa from Washington, left his country’s embassy after a four-day stay. Mr. Imperatori maintained that he had been wrongly accused of spying in the United States.

Law
U.S. President Bill Clinton urged Congress to complete action on legislation that required background checks on gun buyers at gun shows; child safety locks on guns; and a ban on importation of large ammunition clips.

Politics and government
The government of Alberta tabled a bill to allow for-profit clinics to compete with public hospitals, setting off protests by people who felt the new law would undermine universal health care.

Scandal
Maria Hsia, a former fund-raiser for the U.S. Democratic Party, was convicted by a Washington, D.C. jury of violating federal law on political fund-raising during the 1996 election cycle. She was found guilty on 5 counts involving the masking of over $100,000 in donations as well as the disguising of contributions from individuals giving more than the $1,000 limit. One count involved the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, made notorious by a 1996 visit by Vice-President Al Gore. Ms. Hsia was convicted of making it seem that illegal contributions from the temple itself were legal contributions from individual monks, nuns, and temple volunteers. Mr. Gore had claimed that he did not know that he was appearing at a fund-raising event at the time.