February 10, 2011

170 years ago
1841

Politics and government
The Act of Union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, passed at Westminster on July 23, 1840, came into effect, uniting Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, a legislative union with 84 members divided equally between Canada East and Canada West. Kingston was to be the capital, and Charles Poulett Thomson, Lord Sydenham was appointed the first Governor-General of the United Province of Canada.

130 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Pauline Brunius. Swedish actress and director. Mrs. Brunius, the wife of actor John W. Brunius, worked mainly in theatre, appearing in plays for more than 30 years, and directing plays at the Oscar Theatre (1926-1932). She was managing director of the Dramaten (Royal Dramatic Theatre) (1938-1948), and became known as the "Queen of Swedish Theatre." Mrs. Brunius appeared in 11 movies, directed 7, and wrote 4 (1920-1934). She died on March 30, 1954 at the age of 73.

120 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Adolphus Busch III. U.S. brewer. Mr. Busch succeeded his father Augustus A. Busch as president of Anheuser-Busch Company upon Augustus Busch's death in 1934. Adolphus Busch III ran the company until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage on August 29, 1946 at the age of 55, and was succeeded in turn by his brother August A. "Gussie" Busch, Jr.

110 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Stella Adler. U.S. actress and teacher. Miss Adler, the sister of actors Luther and Jay Adler, performed in Yiddish theatre and with the Group Theatre in New York before going to Hollywood, appearing in movies such as Shadow of the Thin Man (1941). She returned to New York, where she became one of America's best known teachers of acting. Miss Adler died on December 21, 1992 at the age of 91.

70 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Walter Krivitsky, 41. U.S.S.R. spy. General Krivitsky, born Samuel Ginsburg, spied for the Soviet Union for about 20 years before defecting to the West in 1937 after Soviet dictator Josef Stalin began a purge of the General Staff of the Red Army. Gen. Krivitsky revealed information about Soviet espionage to the British and American governments, and became convinced that he was being targeted for assassination by the Soviet secret police force NKVD. Gen. Krivitsky was found dead in his room at the Bellevue Hotel in Washington, with a bullet in his head, and three suicide notes next to his body. The official verdict was suicide.

Movies
Paramount Pictures purchased the screen rights to the Broadway play Lady in the Dark for the record price of $283,000.

War
British colonial forces crossed the Kenyan border into Italian Somaliland, while Royal Air Force bombers left Singapore for bases in northern Malaya.

The United Kingdom announced that it had broken diplomatic relations with Romania because Romania's territory was being used by Germany as a military base.

Diplomacy
The United States Senate confirmed John G. Winant as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Scandal
U.S. Senator Harry Truman (Democrat--Missouri) demanded a Senate probe of irregularities in the awarding of defense contracts.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives passed by voice vote and sent to the Senate the Public Debt Act of 1941, raising the national debt to $65 billion.

The U.S. Treasury Department revealed that about $4.369 billion worth of foreign assets had been frozen in the United States since April 1940.

60 years ago
1951

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Bewitched--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra; Doris Day (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): The Tennessee Waltz--Patti Page (Best Seller--7th week at #1; Disc Jockey--6th week at #1; Jukebox--6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 My Heart Cries for You--Guy Mitchell
--Dinah Shore
--Vic Damone
--Jimmy Wakely
2 The Tennessee Waltz--Patti Page
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Les Paul and Mary Ford
--Jo Stafford
3 Be My Love--Mario Lanza
4 If--Perry Como
5 The Thing--Phil Harris
6 Harbor Lights--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby
7 You’re Just in Love--Perry Como
8 Nevertheless (I’m in Love with You)--Paul Weston and his Orchestra
--The Mills Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
9 A Bushel and a Peck--Perry Como and Betty Hutton
--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
10 So Long (It’s Been Good to Know You)--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra and the Weavers

Singles entering the chart were Little Rock Getaway by Les Paul (#23); One Finger Melody by Frank Sinatra (#24); Tell Me You Love Me by Vic Damone (#27); Bring Back the Thrill by Eddie Fisher (#30); May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You, with versions by Frankie Laine; Bing Crosby; and Jan Peerce (#33); The Night is Young and You're So Beautiful by Ray Anthony and his Orchestra (#34); Wait for Me by Dinah Shore (#36); The Chicken Song (I Ain’t Gonna Take it Settin’ Down) by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (#37); and Aba Daba Honeymoon by Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter (#38). Aba Daba Honeymoon was from the movie Two Weeks With Love (1950).

War
U.S. and U.K. forces, advancing behind strong tank columns, reoccupied Kimpo Airfield and the port of Inchon, while South Korean patrols crossed the Han River into Seoul.

Diplomacy
West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer declared that there could be no unity talks between the two German states until 25,000 political prisoners were released from East German concentration camps.

Economics and finance
The U.S.S.R. announced the transfer of a number of Manchurian industrial plants to Chinese ownership.

Business
Howard Hughes sued the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for $2 million, charging that it had failed to pay all the money it promised to help build the 200-ton, eight-engine flying boat Hercules. Mr. Hughes said that he had already spent more than $17 million of his own money on the plane.

50 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: , starring Barbara Nichols, Jonathan Harris, Fredd Wayne, and Arline Sax

Music
Ferde Grofe was at Niagara Falls, New York to conduct the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the first performance of his Niagara Falls Suite, which he had composed as a commission from the New York State Power Authority to commemorate the opening of the Robert Moses Generating Plant.



Energy
The $720-million power project on the Niagara River was officially opened when New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller threw a switch during ceremonies at Niagara University, near Niagara Falls, New York, putting into service a 150,000-kilowatt generator at the Robert Moses Generating Plant, the largest power plant at Niagara Falls, and the first of 13 scheduled to be operating by 1963. Total capacity was expected to be 2,190,000 kilowatts.

World events
The government of the Congolese rebel province of Katanga announced that deposed Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba, former Congolese Youth Minister Maurice Mpolo, and Congolese Senate Vice-President Joseph Okito had escaped the previous day while being moved from one place of confinement to another in Katanga. Because the 11-nation United Nations Conciliation Commission had failed in several attempts to get permission to interview Mr. Lumumba, there had been recurring reports that the three had died in prison. Katanagan officials denied that the escape story had been invented as a cover-up for an assassination, insisting that the prisoners had overpowered the sentries guarding them and had escaped in a police car. The Katanga government announced a widespread search for the missing men and offered rewards for information leading to their capture.

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Larry Burrows, 44. U.K. photojournalist; Henri Huet, 43. French photojournalist; Kent Potter; Keisaburo Shimamoto. U.S. photojournalists; Tu Vu. Vietnamese photographer. Mr. Burrows (Life magazine), Mr. Huet (Associated Press), Mr. Potter (United Press International), Mr. Shimamoto (Newsweek magazine), and Mr. Vu were on a Vietnamese helicopter that crashed in Laos while they were covering Operation Lam Son 719 in the Vietnam War. There was no immediate word of their fate, but it was announced on March 2 that they were presumed dead.

Society
The United States Census Bureau reported that the Negro population of inner cities had increased sharply during the 1960s, while more whites had fled to the suburbs. The report, based on the 1970 national census, showed that three of the 50 largest cities in the U.S.A.--Washington, Atlanta, and Newark--were now more than half Negro, while only Washington had held that status in 1960.

Environment
The government of Canada limited the seal catch in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off Newfoundland and Labrador. The government also set maximum fines of up to $200,000 for air pollution.

Disasters
A Munich-to-Zurich express train derailed and crashed near Kaufbeuren, West Germany, killing 30 and injuring 34.

Two Thai buses collided head-on near Bangkok, killing 34 and injuring 80.

30 years ago
1981

War
After a visit by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to the battlefront in the hills of Ilam in Iran, Iraqi forces began a local offensive against the Iranians. The Iraqis reported that 163 Iranians had been killed, and another report numbered the Iraqi dead at 45.

Crime
The United States Justice Department announced that it was developing a package of proposals to increase the federal government’s ability to combat violent crime, and that the White House was studying a proposal to create a presidential commission on victims of crime. The Justice Department was studying five measures, including making murder for hire a federal offense, and allowing judges to consider the safety of a community when setting bail. The other measures called for Congress to establish a victim compensation fund so that victims or their survivors could get up to $50,000 for loss of earnings; for federal law to provide new protections for crime victims and witnesses; and also for federal law to provide an increased or mandatory sentence for crimes involving the use of a weapon or unusual violence.

Hockey
NHL
All-Star Game @ The Forum, Inglewood, California
Clarence S. Campbell Conference 4 Prince of Wales Conference 1

Bill Barber of the Philadelphia Flyers assisted on Calgary Flames' Kent Nilsson's opening goal 34 seconds into the game and then scored shorthanded at 8:02 of the 1st period to lead the Campbell Conference All-Stars before 15,761 fans. Wayne Babych of the St. Louis Blues scored at 16:12 of the 2nd period to make the score 3-0 for the Campbells. John Ogrodnick of the Detroit Red Wings scored at 6:13 of the 3rd period to get the Wales Conference on the scoreboard, but Behn Wilson of the Flyers scored at 10:18 to make the score 4-1. Mike Liut of the Blues and Pete Peeters of the Flyers combined to stop 42 of 43 shots.



25 years ago
1986

War
Iran launched a new offensive against Iraq.

20 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Do the Bartman--The Simpsons (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Sadeness Part I--Enigma (9th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Unchained Melody--The Righteous Brothers (2nd week at #1)
2 Sadeness Part I--Enigma
3 Keep on Running--Milli Vanilli
4 Hello Afrika--Dr. Alban featuring Leila K.
5 Fantasy--Black Box
6 Ice Ice Baby--Vanilla Ice
7 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight--Robert Palmer and UB40
8 To Love Somebody--Jimmy Somerville
9 Don't Worry--Kim Appleby
10 Kränk di net--Jazz Gitti & her Disco Killers

Singles entering the chart were Innuendo by Queen (#18); Play That Funky Music by Vanilla Ice (#25); Crazy by Seal (#27); All this Time by Sting (#28); and Megamix by Black Box (#29).

War
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein mad his first public broadcast in two weeks, calling on Iraqis to show patience and steadfastness. Iraqis faced severe water shortages, and most were without electricity.

World events
Results from the previous day’s non-binding referendum in Lithuania showed a vote of 90% in favour of independence from the Soviet Union. Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis declared the vote "a victory against lying and intimidation," referring to the Kremlin’s attempts to stop the Baltic republics’ drive for independence.

Labour
A Manitoba Nurses' Union strike ended.

10 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Abraham Beame, 94. U.K.-born U.S. politician. Mr. Beame, born Abraham Birnbaum in London, moved to New York City with his parents as an infant. He was an accountant and a Democrat, and was New York City Comptroller (1962-1965, 1970-1973) before winning the New York City mayoral election in 1973, serving as Mayor from 1974-1977. Mr. Beame was in office during the worst financial crisis in the city's history, but the situation had improved considerably by the end of his term. He sought a second term in 1977, but finished third in the Democratic Party primary. Mr. Beame died after open-heart surgery.