March 9, 2010

780 years ago
1230

War
Forces of Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria defeated those of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, the ruler of Epirus, in the Battle of Klokotnitsa in Bulgaria, enabling the Second Bulgarian Empire to re-emerge as the most powerful state in southeastern Europe.

510 years ago
1500

Exploration
The fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral left Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet discovered Brazil a month later.

190 years ago
1820

Born on this date
Samuel Blatchford. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1882-1893. Justice Blatchford, the son of politician and diplomat R.M. Blatchford, served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (1867-1878) and U.S. Circuit Court for the Second Circuit (1878-1882) before being appointed to the Supreme Court by President Chester Arthur, thus becoming the first person to serve at all three levels of the federal judiciary. Justice Blatchford was known as an expert in admiralty law, and authored 430 opinions and 2 dissents while on the Supreme Court. He died on July 7, 1893 at the age of 73, shortly after being stricken with paralysis.

120 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Vyacheslav Molotov. U.S.S.R. politician. Mr. Molotov held various positions with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, but was best known as the U.S.S.R.'s Foreign Minister from 1939-1949 and 1953-1956. He died on November 8, 1986 at the age of 96.

100 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Samuel Barber. U.S. composer. Mr. Barber was one of the most acclaimed American composers in history, writing numerous orchestral, vocal, piano, and chamber works, as well as several ballets and operas. He won Pulitzer Prizes for his opera Vanessa (1958) and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1962). Mr. Barber's other notable works included Adagio for Strings (1936); Violin Concerto (1941); and Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947). He died of cancer on January 23, 1981 at the age of 70.

75 years ago
1935

Track and field
Jesse Owens of Ohio State University set a world record in the 60-yard dash with a time of 6.1 seconds at the 25th annual Western Conference indoor meet in Chicago, putting him on the national stage for the first time.

70 years ago
1940

War
The British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Dunedin and Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Assiniboine seized the German merchant ship MV Hannover between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The French and British governments asked Norway and Sweden to permit increased Allied aid to be shipped to Finland. U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Key Pittman (Democrat-Nevada) urged a 30-day truce in Europe to permit neutrals to negotiate a peace settlement.

Diplomacy
The U.K. released Italian coal ships on Italy's promise not to send any more ships for German coal.

Swimming
Patty Aspinwall, 13, set a 220-yard breaststroke record of 3:01.1 at Miami Beach, Florida.

60 years ago
1950

On television tonight
Escape, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Trouble with Grandfather, starring Kathryn Grill and Clock Ryder

Diplomacy
Turkey became the first Muslim nation to recognize Israel.

Australian External Affairs Secretary Percy Spender said that Australia wanted a partnership with the United States as close as the one existing among British Commonwealth nations.

Politics and government
The West German government issued a White Paper on the Saar question, reiterating its demand for a Saar plebiscite to decide whether the region would remain separated from Germany.

Crime
In New York, U.S. Federal Judge Sylvester Ryan sentenced former U.S. Justice Department employee Judith Coplon and U.S.S.R. engineer and former United Nations employee Valentin Gubitchev to 15 years in prison, two days after they were convicted of espionage for the U.S.S.R. Judge Ryan told Mr. Gubitchev that he would suspend his sentence if he would leave the country in two weeks.

Transportation
A British jet-propelled jet automobile, powered by two kerosene turbines, was given its first public demonstration at nearly 90 miles per hour, on an airstrip near Towcester.

Economics and finance
A conference of U.S. ambassadors to South American republics stressed the need for more Point Four-type economic aid to Latin America. The conferees agreed that U.S. investments were concentrated in oil and mining, which had no widespread social effect.

Labour
Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray rejected United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis's proposal for an inter-union "mutual aid pact for common defense" as serving no useful purpose.

50 years ago
1960

On television tonight
The last episode of The Unforeseen, a horror/supernatural dramatic series that was in its second season, was broadcast on CBC.

Medicine
Kidney dialysis specialist Dr. Belding Hibbard Scribner implanted the Scribner shunt--invented by Dr. Scribner, Wayne Quinton, and David Dillard--into patient Clyde Shields for the first time, allowing the patient to receive hemodialysis on a regular basis.

Transportation
Québec Premier Antonio Barrette announced that his Union Nationale government would invest $4 million to build a road that would join the mining operation at Lac Matagami. Matagami Lake Mines promised to inject $ 50 million into the project.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Venus--The Shocking Blue

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Shiroi Chō no Samba--Kayoko Moriyama

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Venus--The Shocking Blue (5th week at #1)

On the radio
The Challenge of Space, on Springbok Radio
Tonight’s episode: Prometheus IX is Missing

Sport
The first Arctic Winter Games, including competitors from the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska, opened in Yellowknife. This blogger was in attendance, and enjoyed the beginning of an entire week off from school for the games. Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was on hand to open the games, along with Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Jean Chretien and Health and Welfare Minister John Munro. The outdoor ceremony took place at Petitot Park, and then the action moved indoors to Gerry Murphy Arena. Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Chretien detested Mr. Munro so much that when they returned to Ottawa, they refused to fly on the same plane as Mr. Munro.

Terrorism
Two Negro militants were killed in an explosion in a car near Bel Air, Maryland. The FBI later said that the blast was caused by the detonation of a charge of dynamite they were carrying.

Police in Albuquerque found an incendiary bomb under the floor of a Reserve Officers Training Corps building, 15 minutes before the bomb was set to go off.

Diplomacy
Because the U.S.A. still regarded the U.K. as the lawful sovereign over Rhodesia, U.S. Secretary of State William Rogers announced that the American consulate general in Salisbury would close, and diplomatic recognition would be withdrawn from Rhodesia, which had declared itself a republic a week earlier.

War
U.S. and South Vietnamese officials in Saigon reported that the pace of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong attacks had slowed drastically, although the enemy appeared to be engaged in a large resupply effort.

The Pathet Lao and Laotian government agreed to an exchange of messages centring on peace proposals.

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (6th week at #1)

Politics and government
U.S. Senator John Connally of Texas withdrew from the race for the Republican party nomination for President of the United States.

Curling
Brier @ Stampede Corral, Calgary
Final
Saskatchewan (Rick Folk) 11 Northern Ontario (Al Hackner) 6

This was Saskatchewan’s first win since Harvey Mazinke had taken the Canadian title in 1973.

Hockey
NHL
Philadelphia 5 Edmonton 3

25 years ago
1985

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

20 years ago
1990

Politics and government
Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells confirmed that his province would be rescinding its approval of the Meech Lake constitutional accord. In the speech from the throne opening the new session of the Newfoundland House of Assembly, Premier Wells, through Lieutenant-Governor James McGrath, said he was taking this action because Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa were unwilling to amend the accord, which Mr. Wells said was unacceptable in its present form. He objected to Meech’s granting of special status to Quebec, and a provision that would make Senate reform more difficult. Federal Trade Minister John Crosbie, a fellow Newfoundlander, accused Mr. Wells of "constitutional vandalism," while federal Environment Minister Lucien Bouchard said that Mr. Wells’ position might force Canada to choose "between Newfoundland and Quebec."

Dr. Antonia Novello was sworn in as both the first Hispanic and woman to be U.S. Surgeon General.

Scandal
Former U.S. National Security Council staff member Oliver North, testifying as a prosecution witness at the trial of former national security adviser John Poindexter, sought to resist implicating Adm. Poindexter in a cover-up, and said, "No one told me to lie to Congress." Adm. Poindexter was on trial for his role in the Iran-Contra arms deal of 1986.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Labor Department reported that unemployment stood at 5.3% in February.

10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Jean Coulthard, 92. Canadian composer. Miss Coulthard, a native of Vancouver, was a piano teacher, and taught composition at the University of British Columbia, while writing four symphonies, a piano concerto, and other instrumental and choral works.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Bill Bradley withdrew from the race for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States and endorsed Vice President Al Gore. U.S. Senator John McCain, the main challenger to Texas Governor George W. Bush for the Republican nomination, also withdrew, but did not endorse Mr. Bush.

The Canadian Human Resources and Development Department, already under fire for bungling job grants, took over the high-risk $1.5-billion per year Canada Student Loans program.

Economics and finance
President Gustavo Noboa Bejarano of Ecuador announced that he had signed a bill replacing his country’s currency, the sucre, with the U.S. dollar. Ecuador’s economic crisis had brought then-Vice President Noboa to the presidency in January after a coup had removed President Jamil Mahuad Witt. The International Monetary Fund said that it would put together $2 billion in aid for Ecuador.