December 12, 2010

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Robb Findlay!

140 years ago
1870

Born on this date
Walter Benona Sharp. U.S. businessman. Mr. Sharp was an innovator in oil-drilling techniques, and developed the Sharp-Hughes Rock Bit to drill through hard rock. He made a fortune from trading leases and contracting for oil wells, and co-founded the Moonshile Oil Company and the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company with Howard Hughes, Sr. Mr. Sharp died, perhaps from overwork in fighting an oil fire, on November 28, 1912, two weeks before his 42nd birthday.

Politics and government
Joseph Rainey (Republican--South Carolina) took his seat as the first Negro member of the United States House of Representatives.

90 years ago
1920

Football
APFA
Akron (8-0-3) 0 @ Decatur (10-1-2) 0

70 years ago
1940

Died on this date
Charles Pace, 71. U.S. educator. Mr. Pace founded Pace Institute in New York and business schools in other American cities.

Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, 58. U.K. politician and diplomat. Mr. Kerr, a Liberal, served in the colonial government of South Africa from 1905-1910 before entering the House of Lords in 1930 and serving as Undersecretary of State for India from 1931-1932 in the National Government of Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald. Lord Lothian was an advocate of appeasement of Germany in the 1930s, but changed his mind in 1939. He was appointed British Ambassador to the United States in September 1939, and died in Washington after an illness for which he refused treatment because of his Christian Science beliefs.

War
Approximately 70 people were killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, England as a result of a German air raid.

Diplomacy
Yugoslavian Foreign Minister Alexander Cincar-Markovitch and Hungarian Foreign Minister Count Stephen Csaky signed a treaty of “constant peace and perpetual friendship” in Belgrade.

Politics and government
General J.B.M. Hertzog, former antiwar Prime Minister of South Africa, and former Finance Minister N.C. Havenga resigned from Parliament because of the Nationalist Party's “lack of confidence” in them.

Three Uruguayan cabinet ministers and Herrerista Party members resigned in protest on the eve of the signing of the Argentine-Uruguayan defense pact.

The executive committee of Chile’s Popular Front refused to oust the Communist Party as recommended by the Socialist Party.

Defense
The U.S.A. and Ecuador signed a four-year agreement under which the U.S. would furnish a military aviation and naval commission to advise the Ecuadorian defense ministry. The United States Army's 2nd Armored Division, composed of 10,000 men in 1,102 vehicles, including 400 tanks, travelled 90 miles from Fort Benning, Georgia to Blakely and Abbeville in the first cross-country test of a full armoured division in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. education commissioner John Studebaker announced a $9-million program to train 25,000 students as defense industry technicians in 65 engineering institutions.

Law
Mexican President Manuel Avila Camacho ordered that agricultural workers on communal farms be given full title to the lands they tilled.

Labour
U.S. Representative Leland Ford (Republican--California) charged that some Congress of Industrial Organizations leaders had "done everything they possibly could do disturb, disrupt, and destroy the defense program."

I.A. Capizzi, chief counsel for Ford Motor Company, said that the company would not consent to a bargaining election among the 100,000 production workers because the Congress of Industrial Organizations-United Auto Workers did not represent even a small portion of Ford employees.

60 years ago
1950

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Mallet, starring Walter Slezak, Cara Williams, and Michael Shepley



Died on this date
Peter Fraser, 66. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1940-1949. Mr. Fraser, a native of Scotland, emigrated to New Zealand in 1910, and was involved with the founding of the N.S. Labour Party in 1916. He represented Wellington Central (1918-1946) and Brooklyn (1946-1950) in the House of Representatives, and held various cabinet posts in the first Labour Party government, which came to power in 1935, led by Prime Minister Michael Savage. As Minister of Health in 1938, Mr. Fraser oversaw the 1938 Social Security Act, which socialized the health care system. After Mr. Savage died in office in 1940, Mr. Fraser was elected leader of the Labour Party and succeeded Mr. Savage as Prime Minister. He led New Zealand through World War II, using methods that some criticized as authoritarian. Continuation of rationing and other wartime measures after the war contributed to a decline in Mr. Fraser's popularity, and the Labour Party was defeated in the 1949 general election. Mr. Fraser remained as Leader of the Opposition, but his health was failing, and he died of a heart attack while under hospitalization for influenza.

Married on this date
U.S. television hostess Faye Emerson and bandleader Skitch Henderson were married in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Defense
West Germany and France clashed over the means of integrating W.G. troops into a Western European defense force. French officials at a NATO staff meeting in London insisted on limiting the size of W.G. units to 6,000 men, dispersed among larger Allied units. W.G. cabinet spokesmen called the plan "unacceptable," insisting on division-sized West German units officered by Germans and organized by a W.G. defense ministry.

Society
The Cuban Congress passed a bill granting women equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, and transfer of property.

World events
At a dinner at the Sulgrave Club in Washington, D.C., U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy (Republican--Wisconsin) confronted columnist Drew Pearson, kneed him in the groin, and violently slapped him. Sen. Richard Nixon (Republican--California) intervened to prevent further damage.

Economics and finance
The New York Times reported extensive year-end rises in durable goods and metal products, reflecting efforts of producers to "get in under the wire" before the government applied a general price freeze.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): It's Now or Never--Elvis Presley

#1 single in France (IFOP): Itsy Bitsy Petit Bikini--Dalida (6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley (3rd week at #1)
2 Last Date--Floyd Cramer
3 A Thousand Stars--Kathy Young with the Innocents
4 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
5 North to Alaska--Johnny Horton
6 Sailor (Your Home is the Sea)--Lolita
7 He Will Break Your Heart--Jerry Butler
8 Many Tears Ago--Connie Francis
9 Poetry in Motion--Johnny Tillotson
10 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher

Singles entering the chart were Angel Baby by Rosie and the Originals (#40); Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee (#64); Shop Around by the Miracles (#71); Adeste Fideles (Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful) by Bing Crosby (#79); I'm Hurtin' by Roy Orbison (#84); The Puppet Song (#86)/A Perfect Love (#88) by Frankie Avalon; Happy Days by Marv Johnson (#93); I Idolize You by Ike & Tina Turner (#94); Calcutta by Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra (#95); You Don't Want My Love by Andy Williams (#96); My Last Date (With You) by Skeeter Davis (#98); and The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) by Nat "King" Cole (#100). My Last Date (With You) was an "answer" to Last Date. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) had originally been a hit for the King Cole Trio in 1946. This version was a reissue of a new recording that had been released in 1954, but had failed to chart.

U.S.A. Top 10 (Music Vendor)
1 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley (3rd week at #1)
2 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
--Louis Prima
3 A Thousand Stars--Kathy Young with the Innocents
4 Last Date--Floyd Cramer
--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
5 He Will Break Your Heart--Jerry Butler
6 Stay--Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
7 Many Tears Ago--Connie Francis
8 North to Alaska--Johnny Horton
9 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
--Mantovani & his Orchestra
10 Sailor (Your Home is the Sea)--Lolita

Law
The Supreme Court of the United States upheld a Federal Court ruling that Louisiana’s anti-integration laws were unconstitutional. The Supreme Court unanimously denied Louisiana’s application for a stay of the lower court order "pending appeals which are being prepared." Louisiana had enacted an interposition law declaring the Supreme Court’s school desegregation rulings ineffective within the state and making it a crime for a federal judge or other official to enforce them. In its appeal from the lower court ruling, Louisiana argued that the state "has interposed itself in the field of public education over which it has exclusive control." The Supreme Court ruled that this stand was "without substance." Meanwhile, a white boycott of two New Orleans elementary schools where integration had started a month earlier remained substantially effective.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Cracklin' Rosie--Neil Diamond

#1 single in France: Noël 70--Les Poppys

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Anna--Lucio Battisti (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): A Song of Joy--Miguel Ríos (11th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds (3rd week at #1)

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Lookin' Out My Back Door/Long as I Can See the Light--Creedence Clearwater Revival (4th week at #1)
2 It's Only Make Believe--Glen Campbell
3 Cracklin' Rosie--Neil Diamond
4 Julie, Do Ya Love Me--Bobby Sherman
5 A Song of Joy--Miguel Rios
6 Spill the Wine--Eric Burdon and War
7 Montego Bay--Bobby Bloom
8 (They Long to Be) Close to You--Carpenters
9 Joanne--Michael Nesmith & the First National Band
10 Yellow River--Autumn
--Jigsaw
--Christie
--Leapy Lee

Singles entering the chart were Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (#46); Light Across the Valley by Hans Poulsen (#58); Morning Much Better by Ten Wheel Drive (#59); and Lucretia MacEvil by Blood, Sweat & Tears (#60).

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 She Likes Weeds--Tee-Set
2 Where Have I Been Wrong--The Cats
3 See Me, Feel Me--The Who
4 To My Father's House--The Les Humphries Singers
5 Love is All Around--Sandra & Andres
6 Memo from Turner--Mick Jagger
7 Hello Darkness--Shocking Blue
8 Over and Over--George Baker Selection
9 Voodoo Chile--The Jimi Hendrix Experience
10 Lonely Days--Bee Gees

Singles entering the chart were My Sweet Lord by George Harrison (#15); Geef Mij de Liefde En.... by De Twee Pinten (#37); and Teardrop on Teardrop by the Shuffles (#39).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 The Tears of a Clown--Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
2 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
3 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
4 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
5 I'll Be There--The Jackson 5
6 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
7 Black Magic Woman--Santana
8 No Matter What--Badfinger
9 Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?--Chicago
10 Share the Land--The Guess Who

Singles entering the chart were Love the One You're With by Stephen Stills (#67); Amazing Grace by Judy Collins (#76); Flesh and Blood by Johnny Cash (#81); Whiter Shade of Pale by R.B. Greaves (#82); Born to Wander by Rare Earth (#83); Mean Mistreater by Grand Funk Railroad (#85); Somebody's Watching You by Little Sister (#86); Heartbreak Hotel by Frijid Pink (#89); We Got to Live Together - Part I by Buddy Miles (#92); Wrap it Up by Archie Bell & the Drells (#93); A Woman's Way by Rozetta Johnson (#94); Satin Red and Black Velvet Woman by Dave Mason (#97); I'm So Proud by the Main Ingredient (#98); After the Feeling is Gone by Five Flights Up (#99); and Everything is Going to Be Alright by Teegarden & Van Winkle (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Tears of a Clown--Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
2 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
3 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
4 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
5 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
6 Share the Land--The Guess Who
7 5-10-15-20 (25-30 Years of Love)--The Presidents
8 No Matter What--Badfinger
9 Heaven Help Us All--Stevie Wonder
10 I'll Be There--The Jackson 5

Singles entering the chart were Stop the War Now by Edwin Starr (#58); Born to Wander by Rare Earth (#60); Your Time to Cry by Joe Simon (#74); Merry Christmas Darling by the Carpenters (#75); Somebody's Watching You by Little Sister (#78); (Do the) Push and Pull (Part 1) by Rufus Thomas (#79); Keep on Loving Me (You’ll See the Change) by Bobby Bland (#81); Lady Love by the Klowns (#84); Gypsy Queen (Part 1) by Gypsy (#86); God Bless Whoever Sent You by the Originals (#88); Maggie by Redbone (#89); Stealing Moments from Another Woman's Life by Glass House (#92); Sing High, Sing Low by Anne Murray (#93); Battle of New Orleans by Bert Sommer (#96); Burning Bridges by the Mike Curb Congregation (#99); and We Got to Live Together - Part I by Buddy Miles (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Record World)
1 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family (4th week at #1)
2 The Tears of a Clown--Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
3 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
4 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
5 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
6 5-10-15-20 (25-30 Years of Love)--The Presidents
7 No Matter What--Badfinger
8 Heaven Help Us All--Stevie Wonder
9 Share the Land--The Guess Who
10 Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?--Chicago

Singles entering the chart included Love the One You're With by Stephen Stills (#65); Born to Wander by Rare Earth (#75); Whiter Shade of Pale by R.B. Greaves (#79); Heartbreak Hotel by Frijid Pink (#81); Gypsy Queen (Part 1) by Gypsy (#82); Mean Mistreater by Grand Funk Railroad (#86); Black Night by Deep Purple (#87); Sing High, Sing Low by Anne Murray (#91); After the Feeling is Gone by Five Flights Up (#93); Lady Love by the Klowns (#95); Beautiful People/Where There's No Love Left by the New Seekers (#98); and Hippie from Olema by the Youngbloods (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family (4th week at #1)
2 Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
3 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
4 Share the Land--The Guess Who
5 He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother--Neil Diamond
6 Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?--Chicago
7 Black Magic Woman--Santana
8 Beautiful Second Hand Man--Ginette Reno
9 Fly Little White Dove, Fly--The Bells
10 You Don't Have to Say You Love Me--Elvis Presley

Singles entering the chart were Lonely Days by the Bee Gees (#43); Love the One You're With by Stephen Stills (#45); Ruby Tuesday by Melanie (#46); Heartbreak Hotel by Frijid Pink (#61); Stop the War Now by Edwin Starr (#69); The Green Grass Starts to Grow by Dionne Warwick (#71); Church Street Soul Revival by Tommy James (#73); Tomorrow, Tomorrow by Joey Gregorash (#86); Stealer by Free (#97); I Hear You Knocking by Dave Edmunds (#98); Whiter Shade of Pale by R.B. Greaves (#99); and My Home Town by the Seeds of Time (#100).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family (4th week at #1)
2 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
3 Burning Bridges--The Mike Curb Congregation
4 Fly Little White Dove, Fly--The Bells
5 No Matter What--Badfinger
6 Share the Land--The Guess Who
7 Be My Baby--Andy Kim
8 So Close--Jake Holmes
9
10 Sacroiliac Boop--The Happy Feeling
Pick hit of the week: My Sweet Lord--George Harrison

Died on this date
Doris Blackburn, 81. Australian politician. Mrs. Blackburn was a socialist activist and the wife of Maurice Blackburn, who represented Bourke in the Australian House of Representatives from 1934-1943, and who was twice expelled from the Labour Party for his anti-war and pro-Soviet views. Mr. Blackburn died of a brain tumour in 1944, and Mrs. Blackburn won his seat as an Independent Labour candidate in 1946, representing Bourke until the riding was abolished in 1949. She ran in the new riding of Willis, but was defeated in the federal elections of 1949 and 1951. Mrs. Blackburn supported the same causes as her husband, before, during, and after her political career.

Roy Spencer, 59. Canadian hockey father. Mr. Spencer was a resident of Fort St. James, British Columbia. His son Brian, who had been drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1969, had been called up from the minors and was to play for the Maple Leafs against the Chicago Black Hawks that night on the national telecast of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, and was to be interviewed during one of the between-periods intermissions. Brian called his father to give him the news and told him to watch the game. Roy Spencer was infuriated to find that the game on his television set was the regional telecast of a game in Vancouver between the Vancouver Canucks and California Golden Seals. He then drove 84 miles to Prince George, where the closest television, CKPG, was located. He ordered the staff at the station--at gunpoint--to broadcast the game from Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto instead. The station complied, but Mr. Spencer was confronted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as he left the station. Mr. Spencer was shot and killed in a brief shootout. According to two of the police officers involved, it took an exceptional length of time for Mr. Spencer to fall. The incident was included in the made-for-television movie Gross Misconduct (1993).

Personal
This blogger attended Robb Findlay’s birthday party, much of which took place outdoors in Yellowknife. A splendid time was had by all.

Disasters
More than 100 were believed dead after Colombia’s flood-swelled Cauca River caused a landslide.

Football
NFL
Dallas (9-4) 6 @ Cleveland (6-7) 2
Kansas City (7-4-2) 6 @ Oakland (8-3-2) 20

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): När vi två blir en--Gyllene Tider

#1 single in France (IFOP): Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand (3rd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand (4th week at #1)
2 Man on the Moon--Ballyhoo
3 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
4 Don't Stand So Close to Me--The Police
5 Upside Down--Diana Ross
6 Rock Hard--Suzi Quatro
7 The Wanderer--Donna Summer
8 Shouldn't Fall in Love--City Limits
9 The Winner Takes it All--ABBA
10 The Drunken Sailor--Babe

The only single entering the chart was Love on the Rocks by Neil Diamond (#20).

Died on this date
Jean Lesage, 68. Canadian politician. Mr. Lesage, a native of Montreal, was a Liberal, representing the Quebec riding of Montmagny—L'Islet in the Canadian House of Commons (1945-1958), and holding two cabinet posts. He resigned his seat shortly after winning the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec in 1958, and led the party to victory in the 1960 provincial election, ending 16 years of Union Nationale govenment. Mr. Lesage represented the ridings of Québec-Ouest (1960-1966) and Louis-Hébert (1966-1970) in the Quebec Legislative/National Assembly, serving as Premier (1960-1966). Mr. Lesage presided over the period of modernization in Quebec known as the Quiet Revolution, which included the effective secularization of the government, the creation of a welfare state, and the realignment of Quebec politics into federalist and separatist factions, with Mr. Lesage on the federalist side. The Liberals narrowly lost the 1966 provincial election to the Union Nationale, and Mr. Lesage remained as Liberal Party leader until 1969, when he resigned and was succeeded by Robert Bourassa.

World events
Jiang Qing, the widow of Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong and one of China’s "Gang of Four" who were on trial on various charges, was expelled from the courtroom after she repeatedly yelled at a witness who was testifying against her.

Diplomacy
The Yugoslav delegation to the 35-nation European security conference in Madrid proposed a disarmament plan that covered both nuclear and conventional weapons. Because of deteriorating East-West relations, they suggested that a multinational disarmament conference be held.

The U.S. State Department announced that as a result of the report of a special mission to El Salvador led by former assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs William Rogers, the United States would resume aid to El Salvador only when the military-civilian government was reorganized.

Literature
U.S. industrialist Armand Hammer paid $5,126,000 at auction for Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook Of the Nature, Weight, and Movement of Water. This was the highest price ever paid at auction for a manuscript. The 36-page notebook, also known as the Codex of Leicester, was sold in London, and Mr. Hammer planned to exhibit it around the world, beginning with a show at London’s Royal Academy.

Business
Chrysler Corporation asked for freezes on employee wages and supplier parts in order to save $1.5 billion and thus persuade the U.S. government to guarantee $350 million in loans in addition to $800 million previously guaranteed.

25 years ago
1985

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CITV
Tonight’s episode: Her Pilgrim Soul, starring Kristoffer Tabori, Gary Cole, and Anne Twomey; I of Newton, starring Sherman Hemsley and Ron Glass

Disasters
All 256 people aboard a chartered DC-8 jetliner died when it crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland, where it had made a refuelling stop before resuming its flight to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. All 248 passengers were American soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who were returning from Egypt, where they had served with the Multinational Force and Observers monitoring compliance with the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. The operator of the charter, Arrow Air, had been fined in 1984 by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for poor performance. The toll was the highest in any plane crash in Canada or for any crash involving the U.S. military. The accident brought the death toll for air crashes in 1985 to 1,948 the highest ever for a single year.

Politics and government
Robert Bourassa was sworn in as Premier of Quebec for the second time, 10 days after leading his Liberal Party to victory in the provincial election.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): No Coke--Dr. Alban (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight’s episode: A Very Cutlip Christmas

Diplomacy
U.S. President George Bush announced that the United States would join Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia and other countries in providing help to the U.S.S.R. to ease the Soviet food crisis. The U.S. would provide up to $1 billion in loan guarantees to allow the Soviets to buy U.S. food. Mr. Bush also promised emergency shipments of food and medical supplies. In acting, Mr. Bush waived a legal requirement barring normal trade with countries not having market economies or unrestricted emigration. He also announced that he would hold a summit with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in February 1991.

Politics and government
Polish President-elect Lech Walesa resigned as chairman of the Solidarity trade union movement. The man he defeated in the runoff presidential election, Polish-Canadian businessman Stanislaw Tyminski, returned to Canada after posting a bond of $100,000 to assure his return to face a government charge that he had slandered Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki during the campaign. Mr. Tyminski vowed to continue his political fight "even from a jail cell," and pledged to appeal the runoff results in court, contending that Mr. Walesa’s supporters had intimidated voters. Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland’s outgoing President, apologized for "each harm, pain and injustice" suffered by Poles during his nine years in office.

Education
U.S. Education Secretary Laura Cavazos resigned. News reports said that President George Bush had felt that Ms. Cavazos, the first Hispanic-American cabinet member, had not been active enough in developing a national education agenda.

Society
The U.S. Education Department announced that it would prohibit institutions receiving federal funds from awarding scholarships on the basis of race. Grants given on the basis of financial need would not be affected.

10 years ago
2000

War
Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace treaty that formally ended their border war. Fighting had broken out in June 1998, and Ethiopian troops had invaded western Eritrea in May 1990. A cease-fire had been declared on June 18. Both countries agreed to accept a border determined by a neutral commission in Geneva, Switzerland. 4,200 United Nations peackeepers would be deployed along the border.

Politics and government
The United States Supreme Court, in Bush v. Gore, voted 5-4 to overturn the Florida Supreme Court’s order to proceed with a recount of ballots in the presidential election, with seven justices agreeing that it violated the equal protection guarantee. The U.S. Supreme Court technically remanded the decision to the Florida Supreme Court for review, while noting that there was no time for a recount. Florida’s House of Representatives voted to appoint the electors pledged to Republican party presidential candidate George W. Bush.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Bill Clinton began a visit to the United Kingdom.

Environment
The Species at Risk Act received Royal Assent in Canada. It was aimed at protecting Canada's endangered wildlife, listing 233 species in four risk categories — extirpated, endangered, threatened and species of special concern.

Disasters
Four U.S. Marines were killed in the crash of a V-22 Osprey aircraft during a training mission near Jacksonville, North Carolina. The Osprey, considered an engineering marvel when first unveiled in 1991, was built with tilt-rotor engines that allow it to take off like a helicopter and fly like an airplane. However, the crash was the Osprey’s fourth and the second in 2000. The U.S. Marine Corps, which had planned to buy 360 Ospreys to form the backbone of its aviation operations, asked the Defense Department to postpone production of its order, which had been scheduled to begin the following week.

Business
General Motors announced that it would phase out Oldsmobile, the oldest U.S. auto brand, over several years, but that current Oldsmobile models would continue to be built as long as they were economically viable. Oldsmobile sales had declined 18.5% from 1999. GM also announced that it would close a plant in Lansing, Michigan and another in Luton England. 15,000 workers would be laid off as part of a worldwide restructuring plan.