March 1, 2011

1,020 years ago
991

Died on this date
En'yū, 31. Emperor of Japan, 969-984. En'yū, born Morihira-shinnō, succeeded his uncle Reizei on the Chrysanthemum Throne. He abdicated at the age of 26, and became a Buddhist priest.

230 years ago
1781

Politics and government
The U.S. Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.

200 years ago
1811

World events
Muhammad Ali Pasha, Wali of the Ottoman province of Egypt, killed the leaders of the Mamluk Sultanate to seize power, founding a dynasty that would last until 1952.

130 years ago
1881

Politics and government
Hayter Reed appointed Canadian Indian Agent at Battleford, Northwest Territories.

Business
Henry Birks opened a larger jewellery store on St. James Street in Montreal.

110 years ago
1901

Defense
The Australian Army was formed.

100 years ago
1911

Died on this date
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Jr., 58. Dutch-born chemist. Dr. van 't Hoff taught at the University of Amsterdam for 18 years, and eventually moved to Germany. He was regarded as one of the founders of physical chemistry, and was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901 "[for his] discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions." Dr. van 't Hoff died of tuberculosis.

90 years ago
1921

Died on this date
Nikola I, 79. Prince of Montenegro, 1860-1910; King of Montenegro, 1910-1918. Nikola I succeeded his uncle Danilo I as Prince of Montenegro. He carried out various reforms, and Montenegro's independence was recognized by the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Nikola took the title King of Monenegro in 1910 and sided with the Allies in World War I, but was deposed at the end of World War I, and Montenegro was merged into the country that became known as Yugoslavia. King Nikola I went into exile in France, where he died.

Protest
Following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in the Russia, the Kronstadt rebellion began, with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.

80 years ago
1931

At the movies
Dracula, directed by George Melford, and starring Carlos Villarías and Lupita Tovar, opened in theatres in Havana.

75 years ago
1936

Energy
The Hoover Dam was completed.

Labour
A three-day sitdown strike began aboard the American ocean liner S.S. California as it was docked in San Pedro, California, leading to the demise of the International Seamen's Union and the creation of the National Maritime Union.

70 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Frenesi--Artie Shaw and his Orchestra (11th week at #1)

Radio
W47NV began operations in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the first FM radio station in the United States.

War
German troops occupied Varna and Sofia. German military authorities fined the city of Amsterdam $8 million as a penalty for disorders against the Nazi occupation. The Soviet Navy newspaper Red Fleet reported that Japan had been secretly building a fleet to be used in the event of a war against the United States.

Defense
Bulgarian Prime Minister Bogdan Philov signed the Tripartite Pact in Vienna, allying Hungary with the Axis powers.

The United States Senate approved a $15,000 appropriation for a seven-man committee, to be led by Sen. Harry Truman (Democrat--Missouri), to probe the defense spending program.

Communications
Overseas and transcontinental shortwave circuits and telephone communications were disrupted by sunspot activity in the worst magnetic storm since April 1940.

Horse racing
Bay View, a 58-1 longshot, won the $100,000 Santa Anita Handicap, earning $89,360.

60 years ago
1951

At the movies
Fourteen Hours, directed by Henry Hathaway, and starring Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Barbara Bel Geddes, Debra Paget, and Agnes Moorehead, opened in theatres in London.





Diplomacy
The United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission set up a Jerusalem office under Holgar Andersen of Denmark to handle questions affecting the rights and property of Palestinian refugees.

India opposed United Nations plans for appointing a new Kashmir mediator, saying that peace plans already adopted would work if Pakistan stopped menacing Kashmir with threats of an Islamic holy war.

Protest
The Brazilian Army put down rioting in Sao Luis, where political opponents attempted to prevent the inauguration of Eugenio de Barros was Governor of Marannao State.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Commerce Department barred all shipments to Soviet bloc nations without a license.

Labour
Representatives of the U.S.A.'s railroads and 15 unions agreed on a 12½c hourly pay raise plus cost-of-living adjustments after workers ended their wildcat strike.

50 years ago
1961

Politics and government
Uganda became self-governing; the first direct elections to the Legislative Council were held on March 23.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy addressed various issues at a news conference in Washington.



Americana
U.S. President Kennedy signed an executive order establishing, on a temporary pilot basis, the Peace Corps, which he described as "a pool of trained men and women sent overseas by the United States Government or through private institutions and organizations to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower." On the same day, Mr. Kennedy sent a message to Congress urging the establishment of a permanent Peace Corps. He said at a press conference, "It is our hope to have between 500 and 1,000 people in the field by the end of this year, " and noted that the cost of the program for fiscal 1961 would be paid from funds already appropriated for foreign aid.

Education
At the same press conference where he spoke about the Peace Corps, U.S. President John F. Kennedy addressed the denial of federal government aid to parochial and other sectarian schools, saying, "There isn’t any room for debate on that subject. It is prohibited by the Constitution, and the Supreme Court has made that very clear." Members of the U.S. Roman Catholic hierarchy, meeting in Washington, decided to oppose the school aid program unless it included aid to parochial schools. They pressed for an amendment to provide long-term low-interest federal loans to private schools, which they held would be "strictly within the framework of the Constitution."



40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Shiretoko Ryojō--Tokiko Kato

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison

Terrorism
A bomb exploded in the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. that caused $300,000 in damage but injured no one. The Weather Underground terrorist movement claimed credit for the bombing. U.S. President Richard Nixon said the Capitol would remain open to the public.

Defense
In a reversal of party policy, the U.K. Conservative government of Prime Minister Edward Heath announced that it would withdraw from the Persian Gulf in 1971, in line with the preceding Labour government’s plan to leave the area as part of Britain’s east-of-Suez Canal troop withdrawal.

Politics and government
Bill Davis was sworn in as Premier of Ontario, succeeding John Robarts as head of the province's Progressive Conservative government.

Pakistani President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending national assembly session because of disagreement over a proposed new constitution, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.

10 days of voting began in India’s parliamentary elections. The New Congress Party, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was the incumbent government.

Labour
As many as 1.5 million workers in the U.K. walked off the job for the day to protest the government’s new industrial relations bill.

30 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Woman--John Lennon

#1 single in Switzerland: Life is for Living--Barclay James Harvest

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Stop the Cavalry--Jona Lewie
2 Angel of Mine--Frank Duval & Orchestra
3 Some Broken Hearts Never Mend--Telly Savalas
4 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
5 Super Trouper--ABBA
6 Felicidad (Margherita)--Boney M.
7 Imagine--John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
8 Love Will Tear Us Apart--Chuzpe
9 Lies--Status Quo
10 More than I Can Say--Leo Sayer

Singles entering the chart were Love Will Tear Us Apart; Lies; and Never Knew Love Like This Before by Stephanie Mills (#19).

Crime
Irish Republican Army member and convicted terrorist Bobby Sands began a hunger strike in Maze Prison, near Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Oil
Alberta cut oil production to protest the energy policy of the federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The federal government replied by a compensation charge as Energy Minister Marc Lalonde matched Alberta cutbacks by the so-called Lougheed Levy to subsidize imports.

Economics and finance
The government of Poland cut sugar rations by half and announced that it would institute meat rationing on April 1.

25 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Adesso Tu--Eros Ramazzotti (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Chain Reaction--Diana Ross

#1 single in the U.K.: When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Kyrie--Mr. Mister

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Kyrie--Mr. Mister
2 How Will I Know--Whitney Houston
3 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean
4 Sara--Starship
5 Living in America--James Brown
6 Life in a Northern Town--The Dream Academy
7 Silent Running--Mike + the Mechanics
8 The Sweetest Taboo--Sade
9 These Dreams--Heart
10 Burning Heart--Survivor

Singles entering the chart were So Far Away by Dire Straits (#64); West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys (#69); For America by Jackson Browne (#71); All the King's Horses by the Firm (#83); Shelter Me by Joe Cocker (#88); and In My Dreams by Dokken (#90).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 How Will I Know--Whitney Houston
2 Conga--Miami Sound Machine
3 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean
4 Kyrie--Mr. Mister
5 Living in America--James Brown
6 That’s What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder)
7 Life in a Northern Town--The Dream Academy
8 Rock Me Amadeus--Falco
9 I Miss You--Klymaxx
10 Sara--Starship

Singles entering the chart were Kiss by Prince (#73); Let's Go All the Way by Sly Fox (#87); I Touch Roses by Rock of Love (#88); Yeh Yeh by Matt Bianco (#91); Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) by Scritti Politti (#94); No Easy Way Out by Robert Tepper (#96); Le Bel Age by Pat Benatar (#97); and X-Ray Eyes by Jim Foster (#98).

Hockey
NHL
Detroit 6 @ Toronto 4
Vancouver 2 @ Calgary 3

20 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Edwin Land, 81. U.S. inventor. In 1932, Mr. Land co-founded the company that became Polaroid Corporation. He was best known for inventing a camera that processed photographs within the camera and delivered the prints within 60 seconds.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had declined 0.4% from January. With revisions in previous data, this marked the sixth straight monthly decline.

Business
Maclean-Hunter sold CHCH-TV in Hamilton to WIC Western International Communications for $46 million.

Labour
Nearly 200,000 coal miners went on strike in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Russia, demanding higher pay. The strike spread and soon included a demand by the miners that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resign.

Disasters
More than 160 Somali refugees, fleeing their war-torn country, drowned when their overcrowded dhow ran aground several hundred yards from shore off Kenya.

10 years ago
2001

Terrorism
Nearly five months after being abducted, seven foreign oil workers--four Americans, and one each from New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina--were freed in a jungle region of Ecuador. The seven men had been taken from an oilfield owned by the Spanish-Argentinian company Repsol YPF. Their employers paid a ransom of $13 million.

Economics and finance
The U.S. unemployment rate in February stood at 4.2%. Consumer prices had increased 0.3% over January, while producer prices had increased 0.1%. The index of leading economic indicators had declined 0.2% from January.