March 9, 2013

125 years ago
1888

Died on this date
Wilhelm I, 90. Kaiser of Germany, 1871-1888; King of Prussia, 1861-1888. Kaiser Wilhelm was the first emperor after the unification of Germany in 1871. He was succeeded by his son Friedrich III, who died of cancer after just 99 days on the throne and was succeeded by his son Wilhelm II.

80 years ago
1933

Politics and government
A special session of the United States Congress opened. It became known as the "Hundred Days," and was used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to launch his "New Deal" economic and social reforms. The first piece of legislation that Mr. Roosevelt submitted to Congress was the Emergency Banking Act.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): From a Jack to a King--Ned Miller (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Tous les Garçons et les Filles--Françoise Hardy (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Giovane, Giovane--Pino Donaggio (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Junge, komm bald wieder--Freddy Quinn (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Summer Holiday--Cliff Richard and the Shadows

This was the title song from the movie, which starred Mr. Richard and the Shadows.

Italy's Top 10 (Hit Parade Italia)
1 Uno per tutte--Tony Renis (3rd week at #1)
2 Giovane, Giovane--Pino Donaggio
3 Come te non c'è nessuno--Rita Pavone
4 La terza luna--Neil Sedaka
5 La partita di pallone--Rita Pavone
6 Amor mon amour my love--Claudio Villa
7 Chariot--Betty Curtis
8 Addio mondo crudele--Peppino Di Capri
9 Baci--Remo Germani
10 Alla mia età--Rita Pavone

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Walk Like a Man--The 4 Seasons (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Walk Like a Man--The 4 Seasons
2 Hey Paula--Paul and Paula
3 Ruby Baby--Dion
4 Rhythm of the Rain--The Cascades
5 You're the Reason I'm Living--Bobby Darin
6 Blame it on the Bossa Nova--Eydie Gorme
7 Our Day Will Come--Ruby and the Romantics
8 Wild Weekend--The Rebels
9 The End of the World--Skeeter Davis
10 What Will Mary Say--Johnny Mathis

Singles entering the chart were I Got What I Wanted (#72)/Dearer than Life (#90) by Brook Benton; I Got a Woman by Rick Nelson (#75); Don't Be Afraid, Little Darlin' by Steve Lawrence (#76); All Over the World by Nat King Cole (#78); Pepino's Friend Pasqual (The Italian Pussy-Cat) by Lou Monte (#80); Young and in Love by Dick and Dee Dee (#87); Sun Arise by Rolf Harris (#91); Globetrottin' by the Tornados (#93); Sandy by Dion (#95); Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby) by the Cookies (#96); How Can I Forget, with versions by Jimmy Holiday and Ben E. King (#97); Killer Joe by the Rocky Fellers (#99); I'm Just a Country Boy by George McCurn (#100); and Watermelon Man by the Mongo Santamaria Band (also #100).

Died on this date
Mary Brown, 69. U.S. murder victim. Ms. Brown was found beaten, stabbed, and strangled in Lawrence, Massachusetts, becoming the ninth victim of the Boston Strangler.

Boxing
Cleveland Williams (59-4-2) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Billy Daniels (18-2) in a heavyweight bout at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida.





40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: You're So Vain--Carly Simon (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Block Buster--The Sweet (3rd week at #1)

World events
A heavy Protestant voter turnout and a Roman Catholic boycott resulted in a "yes" vote in a referendum in Northern Ireland on whether Ulster should remain in the United Kingdom.

30 years ago
1983

Died on this date
Faye Emerson, 65. U.S. actress. Miss Emerson appeared in a number of movies in the 1940s, including The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) and Nobody Lives Forever (1946). She went on to greater success in television, hosting her own show (The Faye Emerson Show (1950-1951) and appearing as a panelist on the game shows Masquerade Party (1957-1960) and I've Got a Secret (1952-1963). During this period, Miss Emerson was known as "the best-dressed woman on TV." She acted in a number of stage productions during the 1950s, including Back to Methuselah on Broadway in 1958, where she was paired with Tyrone Power. From the 1960s on, Miss Emerson spent most of her time living and travelling in Europe.

Diplomacy
The Soviet press agency TASS, reacting against U.S. President Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech of the night before, rebuked Mr. Reagan for his "bellicose, lunatic anticommunism." The Soviet position was the same as that of pseudo-Christian Ron Sider.

Pope John Paul II concluded his tour of Central America with a visit to Haiti, where he deplored the misery of the people and called on the Roman Catholic Church to help improve social conditions.

Defense
U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, in releasing a new edition of a Pentagon booklet titled Soviet Military Power, said that the United States was closing the military gap with the Soviet Union.

Scandal
Anne McGill Burford resigned as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying that "controversy and confusion" were preventing the EPA from achieving its objectives. On March 1, U.S. Congressman John Dingell (Democrat--Michigan) had written a letter to President Ronald Reagan saying that his subcommittee had information relating to "criminal conduct and other wrongdoing" at the EPA, and said that documents withheld from the subcommittee by the administration contained evidence of misconduct.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Allt som jag känner--Tone Norum and Tommy Nilsson (3rd week at #1)

World events
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and other Politburo members reportedly agreed to form a commission to consider uniting the Armenian Republic of the U.S.S.R. with a region of the Azerbaijan Republic of the U.S.S.R. that contained an Armenian majority.

War
The Soviet foreign ministry acknowledged that it had supplied short-range missiles to Iraq in that country's war against Iran.

20 years ago
1993

Died on this date
Bob Crosby, 79. U.S. bandleader and singer. Mr. Crosby, the younger brother of singer and actor Bing Crosby, sang with the Delta Rhythm Boys in the early 1930s before becoming a bandleader. His band, the Bob-Cats, was a popular Dixieland swing band in the 1940s and '50s.

Politics and government
The Inuit of Labrador presented a proposal to Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells that would settle a 15-year-old land claim and protect their cultural survival. The claim covered a huge part of northern Labrador and part of the Labrador Sea and would allow the residents to trap, fish, and hunt in their traditional area. The Inuit had also asked for a role in ocean management and land conservation and a share of royalties from economic development. The second stage of the proposal would cover self-government, education, housing, and health care issues.

Scandal
Investigators in Japan found hundreds of pounds of gold bars and $50 million in cash and securities in the home and office of Shin Kanemaru, 78, a political power broker who was under arrest on tax evasion charges.