March 21, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Nadia Marchuk!

300 years ago
1713

Born on this date
Francis Lewis. U.S. founding father. Mr. Lewis, a delegate from New York to the Continental Congress in 1775, signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Articles of Confederation in 1778. He died on December 30, 1803 at the age of 90.

225 years ago
1788

Disasters
The Great New Orleans Fire, that began at the home of Army Treasurer Don Vincente Jose Nunez at 1:30 P.M. on Good Friday, destroyed 856 of the city's 1,100 structures within five hours.

170 years ago
1843

Died on this date
Guadalupe Victoria, 56. 1st President of Mexico, 1824-1829. Born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, Mr. Victoria was a military officer who fought in the Mexican War of Independence from the Spanish Empire. When Mexico became a federal republic in 1824, he served as interim President from October 10, 1824-March 31, 1825. His constitutional term as President began on April 1, 1825 and ran through March 31, 1829. Mr. Victoria was the only President in the first 30 years of the Mexican republic to serve a full term. He died of epilepsy.

150 years ago
1863

Died on this date
Edwin Vose Sumner, 66. U.S. military officer. Mr. Sumner joined the United States Army in 1819, and served long enough to be a general in the Union Army in the U.S. Civil War, the oldest general on either side. He died of a heart attack at his daughter's home in Syracuse, New York between command assignments.

100 years ago
1913

Disasters
Torrential rains began falling in Dayton, Ohio; within two days, Great Dayton Flood had begun. Within five days, waters were 20 feet high in the downtown area. The flood resulted in the deaths of more than 360 people and the destruction of 20,000 homes, as well as most of downtown.

80 years ago
1933

Abominations
Construction of the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau was completed.

70 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Cornelia Fort, 24. U.S. military pilot. Miss Fort was a civilian instructor pilot at Pearl Harbor, and witnessed the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. She returned to the mainland U.S. and joined the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Miss Fort was killed when another plane being ferried by a male pilot struck the left wing of the B-13 that she was ferrying 10 miles south of Merkel, Texas. Miss Fort was the first U.S. female military pilot to die in active duty.

World events
German Wehrmacht General Rudolf von Gersdorff planned to assassinate Adolf Hitler by using a suicide bomb, but the plan fell through. General Von Gersdorff was able to defuse the bomb in time and avoid suspicion.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Montreal 4 @ Boston 5 (OT) (Boston led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Don Gallinger scored 12:30 into overtime to give the Bruins the win over the Canadiens at Boston Garden.

60 years ago
1953

Hit Parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Lady of Spain--Eddie Fisher; Winifred Atwell (2nd week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): The Doggie in the Window--Patti Page (Best seller--1st week at #1); Till I Waltz Again with You--Teresa Brewer (Jukebox--6th week at #1; Disc Jockey--6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Doggie in the Window--Patti Page
2 Till I Waltz Again with You--Teresa Brewer
3 Tell Me You're Mine--The Gaylords
4 Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes--Perry Como
5 I Believe--Frankie Laine
6 Have You Heard--Joni James
7 Pretend--Nat "King" Cole
--Ralph Marterie and his Orchestra
--[Eileen Barton]
8 Wild Horses--Perry Como
9 Anywhere I Wander--Julius LaRosa
10 Side by Side--Kay Starr

Singles entering the chart were April in Portugal (The Whisp'ring Serenade) by Les Baxter and his Orchestra (#23, charting with the version by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra); Caravan by Ralph Marterie and his "Down Beat" Orchestra (#28); Hush-A-Bye by Bing Crosby with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians (#29); and I'm Sitting on Top of the World by Les Paul and Mary Ford (#34).

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Summer Holiday--Cliff Richard and the Shadows (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
Twilight Zone, hosted by Rod Serling, on CBS
Tonight's episode: I Dream of Genie, starring Howard Morris, Patricia Barry, and Jack Albertson

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the satellite Cosmos 13.

Scandal
In the British House of Commons, Labour MPs George Wigg (Dudley), Richard Crossman (Coventry East), and Barbara Castle (Blackburn) began asking questions about a possible relationship between U.K. Secretary of State for War John Profumo and model Christine Keeler, who was understood to have been having an affair with Captain Evgeny Ivanov, a naval attache at the Soviet embassy in London in 1961, when she and Mr. Profumo had first met. There was concern that secret information on nuclear weapons could have been passed on to Capt. Ivanov through Miss Keeler.

Americana
Alcatraz Prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay was closed. The prison was said to be escape-proof; although a few prisoners attempted to escape, none were believed to have survived very long in the rough waters.

Transportation
The British government revealed that the first automatic trains on the London underground could be ready to operate several weeks hence. The London Transport Board gave a public demonstration of the self-driving trains in South Ealing in west London.

Boxing
Sugar Ramos (39-1-3) scored a 10-round technical knockout of Davey Moore (59-7-1-1) to win the world featherweight title at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mr. Moore hit the back of his neck on the bottom rope when he was knocked down in the 10th round, suffering damage to his brain stem. He was able to get to his feet and take a standing eight-count, but referee George Latka stopped the fight after the round. Mr. Moore gave an interview for television immediately after the fight, and joked with reporters, but lapsed into a coma in the dressing room, and died two days later. On the same card, Luis Rodriguez (51-2) won the world welterweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over defending champion Emile Griffith (35-4), and Roberto Cruz (25-8-2) knocked down Battling Torres (47-5) twice and out just 1:15 into the 1st round to win the vacant World Boxing Association world super lightweight title.





40 years ago
1973

Protest
The uprising of prisoners at West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville that had begun the previous day with the killing of an inmate, the wounding of two others, and five guards being held hostage, ended with the release of the hostages and promises from West Virginia Governor Arch Moore that the greater part of the prisoners' demands would be met. The demands included an investigation into the October 1972 slaying of a prison guard and more sharply defined prison rules and regulations.

Hockey
NHL
Vancouver 2 @ Montreal 3

Frank Mahovlich of the Canadiens became the fifth player to score 500 career NHL goals, scoring the winning goal against Ed Dyck as they edged the Canucks at the Montreal Forum on the Wednesday night CTV Hockey Night in Canada telecast.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Gloria--Laura Branigan (7th week at #1)

Environment
U.S. President Ronald Reagan named William Ruckelshaus, who had served as the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 1970-1973, to return to that position. Mr. Ruckelshaus replaced Anne McGill Burford, who had resigned on March 9 amid criticism of the agency in Congress.

Scandal
A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee heard testimony indicating that the Environmental Protection Agency's toxic waste cleanup program may have been manipulated to benefit Republican candidates in the 1982 Congressional elections. The subcommittee voted to cite Rita Lavelle, former head of the program, for contempt for her refusal to testify that day.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Edd Roush, 94. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Roush played 18 years in the major leagues from 1913-1931, most of them (1916-1926, 1931) with the Cincinnati Reds. He led the National League in batting in 1917 (.341) and 1919 (.321), in doubles in 1923 (41) and triples in 1924 (21). Mr. Roush retired with a lifetime batting average of .323. After breaking into the major leagues with a brief stint with the Chicago White Sox in 1913, he spent two years in the Federal League with the Indianapolis Hoosiers (1914) and Newark Peppers (1915). Mr. Roush joined the New York Giants in 1916, joining the Reds later that season. He rejoined the Giants for three seasons from 1927-1929. Mr. Roush played all 8 games for the Reds in the 1919 World Series vs. the White Sox, batting just .214 as the Reds won 5 games to 3. Former teammate Heinie Groh described Mr. Roush as "far and away the best center fielder I ever saw." On June 8, 1920, Mr. Roush was ejected from a game for falling asleep in the outfield. Cincinnati manager Pat Moran got into an argument with the umpire, and the argument dragged on so long that Mr. Roush decided to have a nap. He was so difficult to wake up that he was ejected for delaying the game. Mr. Roush was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

Protest
A general strike began in Panama, but it failed to bring down the presidency of General Manuel Noriega.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (14th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): No Limit--2 Unlimited (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: No Limit--2 Unlimited

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): No Limit--2 Unlimited (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
In the first round of parliamentary elections in France, the Socialists share of the vote declined from 34.7% to 17.6%; the shift was expected to translate into a solid majority for a conservative alliance in the National Assembly. The second round of elections was scheduled for Mrch 28.

Hockey
CIAU Championship
Men's Final
Acadia 12 Toronto 1

10 years ago
2003

Died on this date
Umar Wirahadikusumah, 78. Indonesian politician. Mr. Wirahadikusumah was the 4th Vice President of Indonesia, serving from 1983-1988.

War
In an aerial "shock and awe" bombardment, U.S. forces dropped 1,300 missiles and bombs on military targets in Baghdad after dark. U.S. forces also seized major oil fields near Basra.

Eight U.K. soldiers and four U.S. marines were killed in a helicopter crash in Kuwait.