March 1, 2013

1,720 years ago
293

Politics and government
Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appointed Constantius Chlorus as Caesar to Maximian.

420 years ago
1593

Religion
The Uppsala Synod was summoned to confirm the exact forms of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.

380 years ago
1633

Died on this date
George Herbert, 39. Welsh-born English clergyman and poet. Mr. Herbert was an Anglican priest, a number of whose poems became hymns, including King of Glory, King of Peace (Praise): Let All the World in Every Corner Sing (Antiphon) and Teach Me, My God and King (The Elixir). He died of tuberculosis.

Canadiana
Samuel de Champlain reclaimed his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.

210 years ago
1803

Americana
Ohio entered the Union as the 17th state.

140 years ago
1873

Technology
E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, New York began production of the first practical typewriter.

120 years ago
1893

Literature
The March 1893 issue of The Strand Magazine contained the short story The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk, fourth in a series that was published in book form in 1894 as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

Radio
Nikola Tesla gave the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis.

90 years ago
1923

Literature
The March 1923 issue of The Strand Magazine contained the short story The Adventure of the Creeping Man, third in a series that was published in book form in 1927 as The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.

80 years ago
1933

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Missing Dancer

At the movies
Murders in the Zoo, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and starring Charlie Ruggles, Lionel Atwill, Kathleen Burke, and Randolph Scott, received its premiere screening (see film).

75 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Gabriele d'Annunzio, 74. Italian writer. Mr. d'Annunzio was influenced by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and was associated with the Decadent movement. A national hero as an aviator during World War I, he led a group of 2,000 Italian nationalists in the seizure of the city of Fiume, which Italy was supposed to lose under terms agreed upon at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The rebels held the city for more than a year before surrendering. Mr. d'Annunzio resumed his writing career, and is sometimes referred to as the "John the Baptist" of Fascism because of his influence on the ideology of Benito Mussolini. He never took part in Fascist politics, and retreated from public life after he was seriously injured in an assassination attempt in 1922. Mr. d'Annunzio reportedly boasted about drinking wine from the skull of a virgin who had committed suicide for his sake.

60 years ago
1953

World events
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin collapsed with a stroke, which proved fatal four days later.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Little Town Flirt--Del Shannon

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Rhythm of the Rain--The Cascades (3rd week at #1)
2 One Broken Heart for Sale--Elvis Presley
3 Hey Paula--Paul and Paula
4 Wild Weekend--The Rebels
5 He's So Fine--The Chiffons
6 Walk Like a Man--The 4 Seasons
7 Not in Your Dreams--Vik Armen
8 Molly--Bobby Goldsboro
9 Alice in Wonderland--Neil Sedaka
10 Tears of Misery--Pat Hervey

On television tonight
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Diagnosis: Danger, starring Michael Parks and Charles McGraw

Died on this date
Irish Meusel, 69. U.S. baseball player. Born Emil Frederick Meusel, "Irish" was an outfielder (playing mostly in left field) who played 1 game for the Washington Nationals in 1914, and then was a starter with the Philadlephia Phillies (1918-1921) and New York Giants (1921-1926), before finishing his major league career with the Brooklyn Robins in 1927. He batted .310 with 106 home runs and 819 runs batted in in 1,289 regular season games, and led the National League in RBIs in 1925 with 125. The Giants won the National League pennant in each of his first 4 seasons with the club, and the World Series in 1921 and 1922. Mr. Meusel batted .345 in the 1921 Series, and was a major factor in the Giants' win. His younger brother Bob was the right fielder for the Yankees in those World Series. After the end of his major league career, Irish Meusel played 2 seasons in the Pacific Coast League and ended his career with the Omaha Packers of the Western League in 1931.

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I Love You Still--Big Tom

Terrorism
Eight gunmen from the Palestinian group Black September invaded the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum and took several diplomats hostage.

Economics and finance
Over $3 billion was absorbed by nine European countries in order to maintain the present value of their currencies, less than two weeks after the U.S.A. had devalued its currency by 10%.

Figure skating
Karen Magnussen of Canada won the world women's championship at Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, becoming the first Canadian woman to do so since Petra Burka in 1965. Janet Lynn of the United States finished first in the long program, but finished second in the overall competition because of her poor performance in the short program. No Canadian woman has won the world championship since Miss Magnussen.





30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Our House--Madness (4th week at #1)

Diplomacy
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Great Britain visited U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy at their California ranch.

Officials of the U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan reported that Israel had rejected a plan worked out by U.S. envoy Philip Habib and accepted by Lebanon, in which Lebanon would share intelligence data with Israel and participate in joint patrols of southern Lebanon with Israeli troops based in Israel.

Disasters
147 passengers were missing and presumed drowned after a river ferry capsized during a storm on the Sanshui River in southern China.

13 people were killed and $200 million in damage was caused by tornadoes that struck Los Angeles and Pasadena, California.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Canada (The Record): Pump Up the Volume--M/A/R/R/S (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Joe Besser, 80. U.S. comedian and actor. Mr. Besser was best known as a member of The Three Stooges; he joined the team in the spring of 1956, shortly after the death of Shemp Howard, and left shortly after Columbia Pictures shut down its comedy shorts department on December 20, 1957. Mr. Besser's comic persona was that of a childish, whiny sissy. He played this type of character ("Stinky") in the Abbott and Costello TV show in the early 1950s. By the mid-1950s, Mr. Besser was one of the few performers still making shorts at Columbia, which is why studio executives insisted on his being added to The Three Stooges. His sissy character didn't fit in well with the Stooges' brand of humour (Mr. Besser actually had a clause in his contract that prevented him from being hit too much), and the 16 shorts that The Three Stooges made during this period aren't regarded as being among their best. The films were released between January 31, 1957 (Hoofs and Goofs) and June 4, 1959 (Sappy Bull Fighters). His last "official" appearance as a Stooge came when the team was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August 1983. Mr. Besser was a regular on The Joey Bishop Show from 1962-1965, and made occasional appearances on Mr. Bishop's late-night show from 1967-1969.

World events
The Soviet foreign ministry said that Soviet troops had been sent to the city of Sumgait in the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, where ethnic Azeris had been slaughtering Armenians over the previous two days.

Politics and government
Panama's new President, Manuel Solis Palma, named a new cabinet that was sworn in. The ousted President, Eric Arturo Delvalle, claimed from hiding that he was still head of the government, and issued a proclamation freezing all Panamanian assets outside Panama.

U.S. Vice-President George Bush won the Vermont Republican party primary in the contest for the nomination for President of the United States in the 1988 election. Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis won the Democratic primary.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz met with King Hussein of Jordan in London in an attempt to restart the Middle East peace process.

War
Iran protested to the Soviet Union for allegedly supplying Iraq with missiles.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had fallen 0.6% in January, while the index for December 1987 was revised to an increase of 0.3%, meaning that the index had not declined for three months in a row--the traditional indication of a recession.

Hockey
NHL
Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers picked up career assist number 1,050 in a game-winning goal against the Los Angeles Kings, becoming the National Hockey League's career assist leader. He broke the 26-year mark of Gordie Howe in only 681 games, vs. Mr. Howe's 1,767 games.

10 years ago
2003

Diplomacy
United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix reported that Iraq, while not proven to be in violation of its obligations to divest herself of weapons of mass destruction, had made little effort to assist inspectors.

World events
The International Criminal Court held its inaugural session in The Hague.

War
Turkey's parliament refused to permit stationing of 62,000 U.S. troops on her soil in support of an offensive against Iraq.

Politics
Iraqi troops, meeing in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, called for a transition to a parliamentary system of government.

Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service moved to the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Terrorism
Pakistani counter-terrorism officials seized Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the third-ranking member of al-Qaeda and principal planner of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The U.S.A. had indicted Mr. Mohammed in 1995 in connection with a failed plot to blow up 12 airplanes over the Pacific Ocean. Arrested with Mr. Mohammed were two others, one of whom had allegedly wired money from the United Arab Emirates to the September 11 hijackers.