March 27, 2010

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Beth Nyambura!

300 years ago
1710

Born on this date
Joseph Abaco. Belgian-born Italian musician and composer. Baron Abaco was a court cellist who wrote almost 40 cello sonatas and other works in the Baroque style. He died on August 31, 1805 at the age of 95.

200 years ago
1810

Politics and government
Ten days after being jailed for allegedly plotting with Americans against Britain, newspaper publisher Pierre Bédard was elected to the Lower Canada Assembly for Surray. On March 17, Lower Canada Lieutenant Governor Sir James Craig had ordered Le Canadien closed. Mr. Bédard and his co-owners, MLAs François Blanchet and Jean-Thomas Taschereau, and printer Charles Lefrançois, were also jailed and refused habeas corpus. Mr. Bédard was released a year later at the close of the Legislative Assembly's session.

190 years ago
1820

Born on this date
Edward Augustus Inglefield. U.K. military officer and explorer. Sir Edward served in the Royal Navy from 1832-1885, rising to the rank of admiral. He led three voyages to the British North American Arctic (1852-1854) in attempts to find the remains of Sir John Franklin's expedition, which had disappeared in 1847. Sir Edward's efforts were unsuccessful, but he was successful in charted previously unexplored areas along the northern coastline, including Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and Lancaster Sound. Sir Edward served in the Crimean War (1854-1856) and held several other posts, including Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station (1878-1879). Sir Edward invented the marine hydraulic steering gear and the anchor design that bears his name, and painted scenes of Arctic landscapes. He died on September 4, 1794 at the age of 74.

120 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Harald Julin. Swedish swimmer and water polo player. Mr. Julin won a bronze medal in the men's 100-metre freestyle swimming competition at the 1908 Olympic Games in London. He was a member of the water polo team that won the bronze medal at the 1908 Olympics; the silver medal at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm; and the bronze medal at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp. Mr. Julin died on July 31, 1967 at the age of 77.

Disasters
76 people were killed and 200 injured when a tornado struck Louisville, Kentucky.

90 years ago
1920

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Finals
Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) 3 @ Ottawa Senators (NHL) 1 (Ottawa led best-of-five series 2-1)

Frank Foyston scored in the 1st and 2nd periods for the Metropolitans as they overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the Senators at the Arena. Roy Rickey closed the scoring at 9:30 of the 3rd period. Buck Boucher opened the scoring for Ottawa 6 minutes into the game. Hap Holmes won the goaltending duel over Clint Benedict, although Mr. Benedict kept the score close. The game was played under NHL rules, and there were no penalties. The remainder of the series was moved to Arena Gardens in Toronto because of poor ice conditions in Ottawa.

80 years ago
1930

Politics and government
John W. McDonald of Fort Macleod was elected leader of the Alberta Liberal Party on the third ballot, defeating three other candidates in the party's leadership convention. He didn't have a seat in the Legislative Assembly.

Basketball
The Edmonton Grads defeated the Seattle Ferry Lines team by 59 points over a two-game series in Victoria, British Columbia to win the women's international basketball championship and retain the Underwood Trophy.

70 years ago
1940

Died on this date
Michael Savage, 68. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1935-1940. Mr. Savage, a native of Australia who emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 35, led the first N.Z. Labour Party government, and was the architect of the country's welfare state. He represented Auckland West in the House of Representatives from 1919, and led the Labour Party from 1933, until his death from colon cancer four days after his 68th birthday. Mr. Savage was succeeded as Prime Minister by Peter Fraser.

War
Evacuation of about 100,000 people from areas ceded to the U.S.S.R. by Finland officially ended at midnight.

World events
The Bolivian government of President Gualberto Villarroel suppressed a leftist revolt in La Paz.

Defense
U.S. War Secretary Harry Woodring revealed the government's plan to sell 1,200 planes to the U.K. and France.

Diplomacy
The United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved an investigation of foreign propaganda in the United States.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved and sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt the Starnes bill providing for deportation of any alien engaged in espionage or propaganda.

Politics and government
Finnish Prime Minister Risto Ryti organized a peacetime cabinet.

Leaders of the Progressive Republican Clubs in Wisconsin refused to endorse New York District Attorney Thomas Dewey as the party's nominee for President of the United States in the November 1940 election.

60 years ago
1950

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, starring George Englund, Gaye Jordan, John McQuade, and Carol Ohmart

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. walked out of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and the Transport and Communications Commission in protest against Chinese Nationalist representation.

The West German Parliament passed a law to admit political refugees from the Soviet occupation zone.

Politics and government
The Socialist German Workers' Party was established in Hamburg under the leadership of Herbert Ritter.

U.S. Senator Styles Bridges (Republican--New Hampshire) opened a Republican campaign to oust Secretary of State Dean Acheson with the charge that a "master spy" had shaped American foreign policy for Communism since the U.S.A. had recognized the U.S.S.R. in 1933.

Abominations
Travellers reaching Hong Kong reported that small children were being eaten in famine-stricken north-central China.

Crime
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 1947 conviction of Communist Party U.S.A. general secretary Eugene Dennis for contempt of Congress.

Energy
The Canadian cabinet of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent transferred water rights on the Niagara River to Ontario.

Health
The U.S. Public Health Service reported that the average life span of white American women was a record 71 years in 1948, against 65.5 years for the average white man. For non-whites, the average was 62.5 years for women, 58.1 years for men.

50 years ago
1960

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Madame Mystery, starring Audrey Totter, Joby Baker, and Harp McGuire

Basketball
NBA
Finals
St. Louis 122 @ Boston 140 (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)

The Celtics outscored the Hawks 46-26 in the 2nd quarter of their win before 10,002 fans at Boston Garden. Tom Heinsohn led Boston scorers with 24 points, while Cliff Hagan led St. Louis with 25 points.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Venus--The Shocking Blue (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): All Kinds of Everything--Dana (2nd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Venus--Shocking Blue (4th week at #1)
2 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
3 Hitchin' a Ride--Vanity Fare
4 Love is a Beautiful Song--Dave Mills
5 Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)--Edison Lighthouse
6 Reflections of My Life--The Marmalade
7 Pretty Belinda--Chris Andrews
8 Travelin' Band--Creedence Clearwater Revival
9 Arizona--Mark Lindsay
10 Bridge Over Troubled Water--Simon & Garfunkel

Singles entering the chart were Hey There Lonely Girl by Eddie Holman (#18); Good Morning by Leapy Lee (#19); and Wand'rin' Star by Lee Marvin (#20).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Come and Get It--Badfinger
2 Instant Karma (We All Shine On)--John Ono Lennon (with the Plastic Ono Band)
3 Let it Be--The Beatles
4 Spirit in the Sky--Norman Greenbaum
5 House of the Rising Sun--Frijid Pink
6 Bridge Over Troubled Water--Simon & Garfunkel
7 Ma Belle Amie--The Tee Set
8 Celebrate--Three Dog Night
9 The Rapper--The Jaggerz
10 Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)--Edison Lighthouse

Singles entering the chart were Little Green Bag by George Baker Selection (#25); Love or Let Me Be Lonely by the Friends of Distinction (#26); ABC by the Jackson 5 (#27); Reflections of My Life by the Marmalade (#28); Easy to Be Free by Rick Nelson (#29); and Come Running by Van Morrison (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Let it Be--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)
2 Instant Karma (We All Shine On)--John Ono Lennon (with the Plastic Ono Band)
3 Bridge Over Troubled Water--Simon & Garfunkel
4 Something's Burning--Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
5 Come and Get It--Badfinger
6 Celebrate--Three Dog Night
7 We were Happy--The Trials of Jayson Hoover
8 Jennifer Tomkins--Street People
9 Spirit in the Sky--Norman Greenbaum
10 House of the Rising Sun--Frijid Pink

War
Israel said that its planes, conducting their ninth raid in a week against Egyptian military positions along the Suez Canal, had shot down five Egyptian MiG-21 aircraft in a five-minute battle. An Israeli military analyst confirmed that the Israeli raids were intended to prevent the installation of new Soviet-made SAM-3 anti-aircraft missiles.

Protest
Following a demonstration in a Cambodian provincial town in which two members of the National Assembly were knifed to death, the new rulers of Cambodia, who had deposed Prince Norodom Sihanouk in a coup nine days earlier, imposed an overnight curfew on the capital city of Pnompenh, closed Pnompenh’s airport to all traffic, and intensified military security measures.

Disasters
23 people were killed when a bus plunged into a ravine near Puebla, Mexico.

Hockey
CHL
Adams Cup
Semi-Finals
Omaha 2 @ Fort Worth 3 (Fort Worth led best-of-seven series 2-0)

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (Hot Press): Take that Look Off Your Face--Marti Webb

Died on this date
Steve Fisher, 67. U.S. writer. Mr. Fisher wrote pulp novels and short stories in a career spanning 40 years, but was mainly known for writing screenplays and teleplays. His screen credits included Destination Tokyo (1943); Lady in the Lake (1946); Dead Reckoning (1947); and Song of the Thin Man (1947). Mr. Fisher's television credits included 13 episodes of Fantasy Island (1978-1981). He died of a heart attack.

Economics and finance
The price of silver, which had reached a record $50.05 U.S. per ounce in January, plunged to $10.50 per ounce--down $5 during the day, causing huge losses for speculators and threatening the collapse of the $2-billion silver empire of Texas brothers Herbert and Bunky Hunt. The investment house of Bache Halsey Stuart Shields Inc. announced that the brothers had failed to meet $100 million of margin calls on their silver accounts the previous day, which caused panic in the silver market. Bunky had been appointed by Campus Crusade for Christ President Bill Bright to head up CCC’s effort to fulfill the Great Commission internationally, and as late as 1979 (in Mr. Bright’s book Believing God for the Impossible, where Nelson Bunker Hunt was described as "one of the world’s most prominent businessmen"), Mr. Bright was still predicting fulfillment of the Great Commission worldwide by 1980. The sudden and dramatic drop in the price of silver may have played a role in the indefinite postponement of that event. Had the Hunt brothers been able to pull off their scheme to corner the world silver market, some of Bunky’s share of the profits would have been given to Campus Crusade for Christ; even a small percentage would have been a considerable amount of money.

Disasters
123 oil rig workers were killed when a North Sea accommodation platform collapsed during gales. There were 85 survivors.

31 South African miners were killed when the cable of a mine shaft elevator snapped, plunging the miners more than a mile to their deaths in the Vaal Reefs mine.

Basketball
Exhibition
Athletes in Action 81 Canadian national men’s team 78 @ Edmonton

This blogger was a volunteer at the game, which took place at the University of Alberta’s Main Gym. Four years earlier Canadian national team coach Jack Donohue had conducted a clinic with my high school Phys. Ed. class, and I was able to renew acquaintances with him after this game.

20 years ago
1990

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Faith

The United States began broadcasting TV Martí--a network broadcasting propaganda against the Cuban dictatorship of Fidel Castro--to Cuba.

Died on this date
Percy Beard, 82. U.S. hurdler and coach. Mr. Beard set a world record time of 1.2 seconds in the 120-metre hurdles in 1931, and tied the record in 1934. He won a silver medal in the men's 110-metre hurdles at the 1932 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Mr. Beard was track and field coach of the University of Florida Gators from 1937-1964, and used his civil engineering background to design all-weather tracks. He was inducted into the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1981.

Marilyn Buferd, 65. U.S. actress. Miss Buferd, representing California, was Miss America for 1946. Her undistinguished movie career included The Unearthly (1957) and Queen of Outer Space (1958).

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. government ordered all foreigners to leave Lithuania.

Protest
Two days of fighting began between Negro factions in South Africa.

Politics and government
The outgoing Sandanista government of Nicaragua signed an agreement recognizing recently-elected President Violetta Chamorro's right to have full authority over the army and security forces.

Economics and finance
Provincial finance ministers declined to help the government of Canada collect the goods and services tax, scheduled to go into effect on January 18, 1991.

10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
George Allen, 85. Canadian hockey player and coach. Mr. Allen, a native of Bayfield, New Brunswick, played left wing with the New York Rangers (1938-39); Chicago Black Hawks (1939-44, 1945-46); and Montreal Canadiens (1946-47), scoring 197 points on 82 goals and 115 assists in 339 regular season games, and 9 goals and 10 assists in 41 playoff games. He played several seasons in the minor leagues after his National Hockey League career ended, and served as playing coach with the Regina Capitals of the Western Canada Senior Hockey League (1950-51). Mr. Allen died in Red Deer, Alberta.

Ian Dury, 57. U.S. musician and actor. Mr. Dury was a singer-songwriter and guitarist who led the new wave rock group Ian Dury and the Blockheads, achieving commercial success with singles such as What a Waste (1978) and Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick (1978-1979). He performed on his own and with other artists through the 1990s, and appeared in several films and television programs. Mr. Dury died after a long battle with cancer.

Politics and government
The Canadian Alliance, newly-created successor to the Reform Party of Canada, became the official Opposition party in the House of Commons.

Disasters
An explosion at a Phillips Petroleum plant in Pasadena, Texas killed one person and injured 71 others.