March 22, 2012

125 years ago
1887

Born on this date
Chico Marx. U.S. comedian and actor. Leonard Marx, the oldest of the Marx brothers, actually was nicknamed "Chicko" because of his success with the ladies, but it was misspelled, and the misspelling stuck. On stage and screen he played a con man of Italian origin, who was also a skilled pianist. Mr. Marx served as the brothers' unofficial manager after the death of their mother Minnie in 1929, and led a big band in the 1930s and '40s. His private life was marked by womanizing and gambling, and he died of arteriosclerosis on October 11, 1961 at the age of 74.

100 years ago
1912

World events
German author Karl May addressed the Academic Society for Literature and Music in Vienna, presenting a lecture titled Empor ins Reich der Edelmenschen ("Upward to the Realm of Noble Men"), in which he advocated international peace. Adolf Hitler, an admirer of Mr. May, was said to have been in attendance, although this was not confirmed.

60 years ago
1952

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Wheel of Fortune--Kay Starr (Best Seller--2nd week at #1; Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1); Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads (Juke Box--9th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads (8th week at #1)
2 Wheel of Fortune--Kay Starr
--Bobby Wayne
--Eddie Wilcox Orchestra with Sunny Gale
3 Tell Me Why--The Four Aces
--Eddie Fisher
4 Any Time--Eddie Fisher
5 Blue Tango--Leroy Anderson and his "Pops" Concert Orchestra
--Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra
6 Slow Poke--Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys
--Arthur Godfrey
--Helen O'Connell
7 Please, Mr. Sun--Johnnie Ray
8 The Little White Cloud that Cried--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads
9 Bermuda--The Bell Sisters
10 Here am I - Broken Hearted--Johnnie Ray

Singles entering the chart were The Gandy Dancers' Ball by Frankie Laine (#38); Dancing with Tears in My Eyes by Mantovani and his Orchestra (#39); Jump Through the Ring by Vic Damone (#42); and I Hear a Rhapsody by Frank Sinatra (#44).

50 years ago
1962

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Wonderful Land--The Shadows

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Element of Danger

40 years ago
1972

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC

Tonight's episode: A Death in the Family, starring E.G. Marshall and Desi Arnaz, Jr,; The Merciful, starring Imogene Coca and King Donovan; The Class of '99, starring Vincent Price, Brandon de Wilde, and Randolph Mantooth; Satisfaction Guaranteed, starring Victor Buono

This episode was a rerun of the episode originally broadcast on September 22, 1971, except that Satisfaction Guaranteed, not previously broadcast, was shown in place of Witches' Feast.

Law
The United States Senate voted 84-8 in favour of the Equal Rights Amendment--a constitutional amendment banning legal discrimination against women because of their sex--and sent the amendment to the states for ratification. Within hours, Hawaii became the first state to approve the amendment, with the approval of 37 more states needed for the amendment to be ratified. The amendment, which had been approved in 1971 by the U.S. House of Representatives by an even wider margin, would require state and federal governments to treat each person, male and female, as an individual under the law, marking the first time that guarantees for women had been embodied in an amendment, even though it did not specifically mention them. It read: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Society
The 13-member U.S. National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended that all criminal penalties for the private use and possession of marijuana be abolished, saying that from what was known about marijuana’s effects, its use did not present a major threat to public health.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): What About Me--Moving Pictures

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Columbia lifted off for the beginning of its third mission. Astronauts Jack Lousma and Gordon Fullerton were to spend seven days in Earth orbit conducting scientific and engineering studies and putting the shuttle through performance tests.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in France: On se retrouvera--Francis Lalanne (4th week at #1)

War
Chadian forces, armed with French and American antiaircraft and antitank missiles, captured Wadi Doum in northern Chad, site of a Libyan air base. 1,269 Libyans were reported killed in the action.

20 years ago
1992

Basketball
CIAU men’s championship
Final
Brock 77 St. Mary’s 71

10 years ago
2002

Society
A British woman paralyzed from the neck down won the legal right to die by having her treatment withdrawn.

World events
A report released in Switzerland stated that the Swiss government had worked secretly with Nazi Germany and that Switzerland had refused refuge to thousands of Jews during World War II though it was aware of the existence of Nazi concentration camps.

Economics and finance
The United States imposed tariffs averaging 29% on softwood lumber imported from Canada, maintaining that Canada illegally subsidized its lumber industry.