February 19, 2013

540 years ago
1473

Born on this date
Nicolaus Copernicus. Polish mathematician and astronomer. Mr. Copernicus sparked a scientific revolution when he proposed that the sun, and not the Earth, was at the centre of the universe. He died on May 24, 1543 at the age of 70, just as his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) was being published.

270 years ago
1743

Born on this date
Luigi Boccherini. Italian composer. Mr. Boccherini wrote over 500 pieces, many of them chamber pieces for strings. He died on May 28, 1805 at the age of 62.

180 years ago
1833

Born on this date
Élie Ducommun. Swiss peace activist. Mr. Ducommun shared the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize with Charles Albert Gobat "[for his role as] the first honourary secretary of the International Peace Bureau." Mr. Ducommun died on December 7, 1906 at the age of 73.

120 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Cedric Hardwicke. U.K. actor. Sir Cedric achieved fame on the London stage before appearing in such movies as Stanley and Livingstone (1939); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939); Tom Brown's School Days (1940); The Invisible Man Returns (1940); Suspicion (1941); The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942); The Lodger (1944); Wilson (1944); The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945); and Rope (1948). He made many television appearances in the 1950s and '60s before his death on August 6, 1964 at the age of 71.

100 years ago
1913

World events
General Victoriano Huerta overthrew Mexican President Francisco Madero, Vice-President José María Pino Suárez, and Attorney General Adolfo Valles Baca in a coup. According to the 1857 Constitution of Mexico, Foreign Minister Pedro Lascuráin was next in line to the presidency. Mr. Lascuráin assumed the presidency and named General Huerta as interior minister. Mr. Lascuráin then resigned the presidency in favour of General Huerta, who as interior minister, was next in line. Mr. Lascuráin's presidency lasted from 15-56 minutes.

90 years ago
1923

Music
Pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Winnipeg Board of Trade Auditorium. It was Mr. Rachmaninoff's first performance in the Manitoba capital.

70 years ago
1943

War
The Battle of the Kasserine Pass began in Tunisia between U.S. and U.K. forces and German forces commanded by General Erwin Rommel.

60 years ago
1953

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Lee Morrow!

Society
Georgia approved the first literature censorship board in the United States.

50 years ago
1963

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: An Eye for an Eye

Society
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan was published.

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): You're So Vain--Carly Simon

#1 single in France: Crazy Horses--The Osmonds (4th week at #1)

World events
The body of Marshal Henri Petain, who had led the French defense of Verdun in World War I before collaborating with the Nazis while leading the French government in World War II, was reported stolen from its tomb on the Ile d'Yeu off the French Atlantic coast.

Scandal
Former Illinois Governor and current judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Otto Kerner was convicted on 17 counts of conspiracy, accepting a bribe, income tax evasion, mail fraud, and perjury in connection with the purchase and sale of race track stock during his term as governor. Mr. Kerner's friend Theodore Isaacs, former state revenue director, was convicted on all counts except perjury.

Disasters
All 66 passengers aboard a Soviet airliner were killed when it burst into flames as it was about to land at Prague International Airport.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Do You Really Want to Hurt Me--Culture Club

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Down Under--Men at Work (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Too Shy--Kajagoogoo

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Baby, Come to Me--Patti Austin (with James Ingram)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Down Under--Men at Work (5th week at #1)
2 Baby, Come to Me--Patti Austin (with James Ingram)
3 Africa--Toto
4 Stray Cat Strut--Stray Cats
5 Do You Really Want to Hurt Me--Culture Club
6 Shame on the Moon--Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
7 Billie Jean--Michael Jackson
8 You Are--Lionel Richie
9 Hungry Like the Wolf--Duran Duran
10 Maneater--Daryl Hall & John Oates

Singles entering the chart were Whirly Girl by Oxo (#85); She Blinded Me with Science by Thomas Dolby (#87); What Love Is by Marty Balin (#88); The Fanatic by Felony (#89); and Ya Mama by Wuf Ticket (#98).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Sexual Healing--Marvin Gaye
2 Do You Really Want to Hurt Me--Culture Club
3 Africa--Toto
4 Goody Two Shoes--Adam Ant
5 Pass the Dutchie--Musical Youth
6 Baby, Come to Me--Patti Austin (with James Ingram)
7 Come On Eileen--Dexys Midnight Runners & the Emerald Express
8 Shame on the Moon--Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
9 Stray Cat Strut--Stray Cats
10 Mirror Man--The Human League

Singles entering the chart were I've Got a Rock 'N' Roll Heart by Eric Clapton (#44); Mr. Roboto by Styx (#46); The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats (#47); and Back on the Chain Gang by the Pretenders (#48).

Crime
At a gambling hall called the Wah Mee in Seattle's Chinatown, 13 people were shot to death and another wounded by Benjamin Ng and Kwan Fal "Willie" Mak. A third man, Tony Ng, fled the country and hid out in Calgary for nearly two years. He was eventually convicted of robbery and assault.

Disasters
64 people were kiled and more than 100 injured in a collision between two trains near Guaymas, Mexico.

Hockey
NHL
In a penalty-filled game, the Edmonton Oilers prevailed 10-7 over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. The nationally-telecast Hockey Night in Canada game saw the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Calgary Flames 5-3.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): My Love is a Tango--Guillermo Marchena

Hockey
NHL
Behind the goaltending of Ken Wregget, the Toronto Maple Leafs shut out the Vancouver Canucks 5-0 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

10 years ago
2003

Terrorism
Mounir el-Motassadeq, a Moroccan, was convicted by a five-judge panel in Hamburg, Germany of assisting a Hamburg terrorist cell that included three of th hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Mr. el-Motassadeq was convicted of 3,066 counts of being an accessory to murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Defense
Turkey, seeking U.S. financial support as a basis for participation in a war against Iraq, rejected a $26 billion U.S. aid package as inadequate.

Environment
The attorneys general of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for not regulating carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act.

Disasters
An Iranian military transport plane--a Russian-made Ilyushin--crashed in mountainous terrain in southeastern Iran, killing all 289 aboard. The passengers were members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.