December 18, 2013

220 years ago
1793

Defense
The French frigate La Lutine was one of 16 ships surrendered by French Royalists to a British fleet commanded by Lord Samuel Hood at the end of the Siege of Toulon, to prevent her being captured by the French Republicans. Renamed HMS Lutine, she later became a famous treasure wreck after sinking among the West Frisian Islands during a storm in 1799.

200 years ago
1813

War
In the War of 1812, Captain John Murray led 500 British and Canadians in the capture of Old Fort Niagara from the Americans at Lewiston, New York. Mr. Murray's forces captured 300 prisoners in the action, which began late at night and concluded early on the morning of December 19.

125 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Gladys Cooper. U.K. actress and singer. Dame Gladys had a career on stage and screen spanning 65 years in the U.K. and U.S.A. She was nominated for Academy Awards for her supporting performances in Now, Voyager (1942); The Song of Bernadette (1943); and My Fair Lady (1964). Dame Gladys appeared in three episodes of The Twilight Zone (1962-1964), and co-starred in the television series The Rogues (1964-1965). She died of pneumonia on November 17, 1971, 31 days before her 83rd birthday.

Robert Moses. U.S. urban planner. Mr. Moses became known as the "master builder" of New York City and its surrounding area in the mid-20th century. He died on July 29, 1981 at the age of 92.

120 years ago
1893

Religion
Robert Machray, Archbishop of Rupertsland, was elected the first Anglican Primate of all Canada.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Lynn Bari. U.S. actress. Miss Bari, born Margaret Fisher, appeared in more than 150 movies, mainly in the 1930s and '40s, and was known for playing villainesses in films such as Shock (1946) and Nocturne (1946). She also appeared in three Charlie Chan movies. Miss Bari died of an apparent heart attack on November 20, 1989, four weeks before her 76th birthday.

Baseball
The New York Giants and Chicago White Sox continued their post-season exhibition tour, with the White Sox winning 7-4 in Manila in a game called after 7 innings. The teams then sailed for Australia aboard the SS St. Albans.

70 years ago
1943

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Paper Doll--The Mills Brothers (7th week at #1)

War
U.S. forces in Italy took San Pietro Infine, key to the Cassino road. Soviet units made new gains in the Kirovograd area of Ukraine, capturing several key points.

Politics and government
Democrats in Alaska voted to instruct territorial delegates to the 1944 Democratic National Convention to favour a fourth term for U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Academia
The U.S. National Institute of Arts and Letters announced the election of authors W.E.B. DuBois, Upton Sinclair, and Carl Van Doren as members. Dr. DuBois was the first Negro elected to the Institute.

Sport
Swedish runner Gunder Haegg was named the athlete of the year for 1943 in an Associated Press poll.

60 years ago
1953

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Answer Me--Frankie Laine (6th week at #1)

50 years ago
1963

At the movies
The Pink Panther, co-written and directed by Blake Edwards, and starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, and Capucine, opened in theatres in Italy.



The Ceremony, directed by Laurence Harvey, and starring Mr. Harvey, Sarah Miles, Robert Walker, Jr., John Ireland, and Ross Martin, opened in theatres.



40 years ago
1973

Terrorism
A Lufthansa jetliner that had been hijacked the previous day from Rome's international airport by five armed Palestinian guerrillas continued to Kuwait, where the hijackers released 12 hostages and surrendered in return for "free passage" to an unknown destination.

Scandal
The U.S. General Accounting Office's private report on federal spending at President Richard Nixon's private residences called for Congressional action toward closer control and public disclosure of such expenditures in the future. The report placed total spending at the residences in San Clemente, California and Key Biscayne, Florida at $1.4 million, which did not include spending at both sites for office complexes and military communications and other support systems that brought the total to $10 million. Although most of the expenses actually did involve presidential protection, the GAO reported that some governmental expenditures were questionable and perhaps should have been paid for by the president.

Politics and government
After 15 years as Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller resigned his office in order to pursue a new national role. He was succeeded as Governor by Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson. Denying that he would make a fourth try for the Republican party presidential nomination for the 1976 election, Mr. Rockefeller said he felt he could perform a greater public service as head of two national commissions--the National Commission on Water Quality and the new National Commission on Critical Choices for Americans.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: Come Back and Stay--Paul Young (3rd week at #1)

On the radio
Stories of Sherlock Holmes, on Springbok Radio
Tonight's episode: The Crouch End Mystery

Politics and government
In the Japanese general election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority in the lower house of the Diet. The LDP captured 250 of 511 seats, a loss of 36 seats. The Socialist Party, with 112 seats, remained the principal opposition. Former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, who had refused to resign his seat after being convicted of accepting a bribe from Lockheed Corporation, easily retained his seat.

Diplomacy
A round of national reconciliation talks among Lebanese factions was postponed after the foreign ministers of Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia failed to resolve their differences over the May 17 agreement between Lebanon and Israel on troop withdrawal.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 3 @ Pittsburgh 3

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: Orinoco Flow--Enya (2nd week at #1)

Abominations
The Quebec government of Premier Robert Bourassa passed Bill 178, mandating the use only of French on outside signs, while permitting bilingual signs inside. Mr. Bourassa exercised Quebec's constitutional right, Clause 33--the "notwithstanding clause" of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms--to override the December 15 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that struck down sections of Quebec's Bill 101 requiring that commercial signs be in French only.

20 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Penso Positivo--Jovanotti

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Boom! Shake the Room--DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Living on My Own (1993)--Freddie Mercury (11th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Het pizzalied (Effe wachte...)--André van Duin

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): Babe--Take That

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Again--Janet Jackson (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box):
1 Again--Janet Jackson
2 I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf
3 Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams
4 All That She Wants--Ace of Base
5 Hero--Mariah Carey
6 Breathe Again--Toni Braxton
7 Shoop--Salt-N-Pepa
8 All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting
9 Can We Talk--Tevin Campbell
10 Gangsta Lean--D.R.S.

Singles entering the chart were All for Love; What's My Name? by Snoop Doggy Dogg (#33); Really Doe by Ice Cube (#44); Amazing by Aerosmith (#52); Let it Snow by Boyz II Men (#61); I'll Be Loving You by Collage (#70); Sentimental by Kenny G (#81); Miss You in a Heartbeat by Def Leppard (#82); Yours by Shai (#85); and Fast as You by Dwight Yoakam (#87).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (3rd week at #1)
2 Both Sides of the Story--Phil Collins
3 Hero--Mariah Carey
4 Again--Janet Jackson
5 I'll Always Be There--Roch Voisine
6 Said I Loved You...But I Lied--Michael Bolton
7 All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting
8 All That She Wants--Ace of Base
9 5 Days in May--Blue Rodeo
10 I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf

Singles entering the chart were Distant Sun by Crowded House (#77); Miss You in a Heartbeat by Def Leppard (#81); When Jesus Left Birmingham by John Mellencamp (#86); Dancing on My Own Ground by Lawrence Gowan (#88); Time by INXS (#91); Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You by Daryl Hall (#94); and Can We Talk by Tevin Campbell (#95).

Died on this date
Grace Hartman, 75. Canadian labour leader. Ms. Hartman was elected president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in 1975, becoming the first woman in North America to lead a major labour union.

Sam Wanamaker, 74. U.S. actor, director, and producer. Mr. Wanamaker, born Samuel Wattenmacker, was a theatre actor and director who became a Communist sympathizer during World War II. While appearing in a play in London in 1950, he heard that his Communist sympathies might get him blacklisted in the United States, so he remained in England, and became a popular actor and director, returning to the U.S.A. from time to time for film and television roles. Mr. Wanamaker wanted to build a restored Globe Theatre at its original location in London, and the project was finally completed several years after his death from prostate cancer.

10 years ago
2003

Crime
In Seattle, King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones sentenced confessed Green River killer Gary Ridgway to 48 consecutive life terms, one for each of the murders of women he had been convicted of that took place in Washington state in the 1980s and 1990s. Mr. Ridgway was also sentenced to an additional 10 years for tampering with evidence for each of the 48 victims, adding 480 years to his 48 life sentences.

A jury in Chesapeake, Virginia convicted Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, of two counts of murder in the sniper shootings of 10 people in the Washington, D.C. area in October 2002. Five days later, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. John Allen Muhammad had been sentenced to death a month earlier for his role in the killings.