February 15, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Arlene Carlstrom!

450 years ago
1564

Born on this date
Galileo Galilei. Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician. Mr. Galilei, one of the few people generally known to later generations by his first name, popularized the use of the telescope to observe the heavens, and discovered the four largest satellites of Jupiter. His support of the view of Nicolaus Copernicus that Earth was not the sentre of the universe, but revolved around the sun, ran afoul of official Roman Catholic Church dogma. Galileo was tried by the Roman Inquisition and officially recanted his views, and spent the last eight years of his life under house arrest at his villa near Florence. He died on January 8, 1642 at the age of 77.

250 years ago
1764

Americana
The city of St. Louis, Missouri was founded by Pierre Laclède as a French fur-trading post.

210 years ago
1804

World events
The Serbian revolution began.

175 years ago
1839

Died on this date
François Chevalier de Lorimier, 35; Pierre-Remi Narbonne; François Nicolas; Amable Daunais; Charles Hindenlang, 28. Canadian rebels. The five men were the last of the 12 leaders of the Frères Chasseurs (Hunters Lodges) to be hanged for their roles in the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837-1838. The men were hanged at Prison du Pied-du-courant in Montréal. Previous hangings of rebels had taken place on December 21, 1838 and January 18, 1839.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Hale Boggs. U.S. politician. Mr. Boggs, a Democrat, represented Louisiana's 2nd District in the United States House of Representatives from 1947-1973, serving as majority whip from 1962-1971 and Majority Leader from 1971-1973. Mr. Boggs and fellow Congressman Nick Begich (Democrat--Alaska) were among those aboard a small plane when it disappeared en route from Anchorage to Juneau, Alaska on October 16, 1972. The wreckage and bodies were never found, but Messrs. Boggs and Begich were re-elected and not declared dead by the U.S. Congress until January 3, 1973. Mr. Boggs was 58 at the time of his disappearance.

Kevin McCarthy. U.S. actor. Mr. McCarthy was a character actor in cinema, television, and radio who was best known for his starring role in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and his supporting role in Death of a Salesman (1951), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He played Sherlock Holmes in several episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater from 1977-1981. Mr. McCarthy died on September 11, 2010 at the age of 96.

90 years ago
1924

Died on this date
Lionel Monckton, 62. U.K. composer. Mr. Monckton was Britain's leading composer for musical theatre during the Edwardian era, composing music for shows such as A Country Girl (1902); The Arcadians (1909); and The Boy (1917).

70 years ago
1944

War
The Allied assault on Monte Cassino, Italy began with 228 heavy and medium American bombers destroying the 6th-century Benedictine monastery and its abbey which German forces were using as a fortress. U.S.S.R. forces began the Narva Offensive against German forces in Estonia. The British Admiralty reported that the 150,000-square-mile sea area of the Bay of Biscay bordering France and northern Spain was blockaded, and that ships entering it did so at their own peril.

World events
A group of junior Army officers led by Colonel Juan Peron forcibly occupied the Argentine Foreign Ministry and ousted Foreign Minister Alberto Gilbert.

Politics and government
The U.S.A. completed agreements with the Belgian and Dutch governments covering civilian administration following Allied occupation after invasion.

60 years ago
1954

Music
Joe Turner and his Blues Kings recorded Shake, Rattle and Roll in New York.

Defense
Canada and the United States agreed to construct the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Saw Her Standing There/Love Me Do--The Beatles

#1 single in France: La Mamma--Charles Aznavour

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Una lacrima sul viso--Bobby Solo

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Das kannst du mir nicht verbieten--Bernd Spier (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Needles and Pins--The Searchers (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (4th week at #1)
2 You Don't Own Me--Lesley Gore
3 She Loves You--The Beatles
4 Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um--Major Lance
5 Hey Little Cobra--The Rip Chords
6 Java--Al Hirt
7 Out of Limits--The Marketts
8 For You--Rick Nelson
9 What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)--The Tams
10 Dawn (Go Away)--The 4 Seasons

Singles entering the chart were Glad All Over by the Dave Clark Five (#71); Fun, Fun, Fun by the Beach Boys (#72); Blue Winter by Connie Francis (#76); Leaving Here by Eddie Holland (#77); Worried Guy by Johnny Tillotson (#80); My True Carrie, Love by Nat King Cole (#81); He'll Have to Go by Solomon Burke (#82); (The Story Of) Woman, Love and a Man (Part 1) by Tony Clarke (#85); Bird Dance Beat by the Trashmen (#86); Young and in Love by Chris Crosby (#89); Pink Dominos by the Crescents (#91); I'll Be There (To Bring You Love) by the Majors (#93); Girl from Spanish Town by Marty Robbins (#97); Stay by the 4 Seasons (#98); Understand Your Man by Johnny Cash (#99); and High on a Hill by Scott English (#100). Young and in Love was from the episode of the television series Dr. Kildare titled Four Feet in the Morning, originally broadcast on NBC, November 21, 1963.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road--Elton John

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Teenage Rampage--Sweet

Oil
By this date, seven U.S. states and the District of Columbia had implemented a form of gasoline rationing based on odd- and even-numbered license plates.

30 years ago
1984

Died on this date
Ethel Merman, 76. U.S. actress and singer. Born Ethel Zimmerman, Miss Merman was known for her booming voice, which made her a star in musical comedy plays on Broadway. Her signature song was There's No Business Like Show Business, which was also the title song of a movie in which she starred. Miss Merman was married four times; her fourth marriage, to actor Ernest Borgnine, was one of the strangest couplings in Hollywood history, and lasted just a few weeks, fortunately producing no children.

War
U.S. President Ronald Reagan formally notified Congress of his plan to remove most U.S. Marines from Beirut "within 30 days." Advancing Muslim forces had virtually surrounded the Marines. Many defeated Lebanese soldiers fled south to the Israeli lines in southern Lebanon. Lebanese President Amin Gemayel had reportedly decided to abandon the May 17, 1983 treaty with Israel providing for the withdrawal of Israeli and Syrian forces from Lebanon. Syria had said that the cancellation of the treaty was essential if Mr. Gemayel was to survive in office. Mr. Gemayel had reportedly accepted this and other provisions of a Saudi Arabian peace plan, which also included a simultaneous phased withdrawal of Israelis and Syrians; power-sharing talks between the Lebanese government and its Muslim opponents; and the replacement of Western peacekeepers with neutral United Nations troops.

Business
The U.S. Justice Department announced that it would sue to block the proposed merger of LTV and Republic Steel Corporation--the nation's third- and fourth-largest steel companies--on antitrust grounds. The announcement also cast doubt on plans announced on February 1 by America's largest steel maker, United States Steel, to buy National Steel Corporation, the nation's seventh-largest steel company.

Olympics
Czechoslovakia defeated Canada 4-0 in men's hockey at the Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Like a Yo-Yo--Sabrina (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Buffalo Stance--Neneh Cherry (2nd week at #1)

Austria's top 10 (Ö3)
1 First Time--Robin Beck (3rd week at #1)
2 Twist in My Sobriety--Tanita Tikaram
3 Das Phantom der Oper--Alexander Goebel & Luzia Nistler
4 Put a Little Love in Your Heart--Annie Lennox and Al Green
5 Tango Korrupti--Rainhard Fendrich
6 Stop!--Sam Brown
7 Patrona Bavariae--Original Naabtal Duo
8 Orinoco Flow--Enya
9 Kiss--The Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones
10 Listen to the Voices--Labi Siffre

Singles entering the chart were Des Phantom der Oper; Listen to the Voices; In The Air Tonight ('88 Remix) by Phil Collins (#15); Silent Water by Blue System (#16); Skin to Skin by Harry Belafonte (#22); When a Girl Cries by Bilgeri (#28); and Buffalo Station by Neneh Cherry (#29).

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Hiroshima, Mon Frere

War
The U.S.S.R. officially announced that all of its troops had left Afghanistan, crossing a bridge from Heiratan to Termez, in the Soviet Union. The last Soviet soldier to cross the bridge was Lieutenant General Boris Gromov, the Soviet commander. Soviet figures indicated that 15,000 of their soldiers had been killed and 37,000 wounded in fighting against Muslim rebels. It was estimated that 250 Soviet diplomats, spies, and military advisers remained in Afghanistan. The Soviet-backed Afghan army numbered about 140,000 soldiers. The Afghan government held the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad, outside of which, respectively, 30,000 and 15,000 mujahadeen rebels were massed.

World events
The day after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa--a legal judgment--encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of the novel The Satanic Verses (1988), for being disrespectful to the prophet Muhammad, one of the Ayatollah's aides offered $1 million for the death of Mr. Rushdie, prompting the author to go into hiding.

Hockey
NHL
Calgary 6 Winnipeg 1

20 years ago
1994

World events
After a year-long standoff, North Korea allowed International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to check seven nuclear plants.

Scandal
U.S. Navy Admiral Frank Kelso, Chief of Naval Operations, announced his early retirement, saying that he had become a "lightning rod" for accusations of sexual assault and misconduct at the Tailhook convention in Las Vegas in 1991. U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry said that he found no credible evidence that Adm. Kelso had known of misconduct at the convention and no evidence that he had sought to thwart the subsequent investigation.

Business
Viacom Inc., whose holdings already included the cable television channels MTV and Nickelodeon and the video rental store chain Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation, said that nearly 75% of the stock of Paramount Communications Inc. had been tendered to it. Paramount's assets included Paramount Pictures, the book publisher Simon & Schuster, Madison Square Garden, the New York Knickerbockers basketball team, and the New York Rangers hockey team. Among entertainment conglomerates, only Time-Warner would be bigger.

Olympics
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov of Russia won the figure skating pairs competition at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Diann Roffe-Steintrotter of the United States scored an upset victory in the women's super giant slalom skiing event.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Jan Miner, 86. U.S. actress. Miss Miner was an actress in various radio series in the 1940s and 1950s, but was best known for her portrayal of the character Madge in television commercials for Palmolive dishwashing liquid from 1966-1992.