February 22, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Laura Pereverzoff Ong!

270 years ago
1744

War
A combined Franco-Spanish fleet fought off Britain's Mediterranean fleet and ended the British blockade off the Mediterranean coast of Toulon, France in the Battle of Toulon.

140 years ago
1874

Born on this date
Bill Klem. U.S. baseball umpire. Mr. Klem, "The Old Arbitrator," worked in three minor leagues before joining the National League in 1905. He remained in the NL until 1941, umpiring 5,375 games, a record at the time. Mr. Klem worked in 103 games in 18 World Series, which remains a record. He died of a heart attack on September 16, 1951 at the age of 77, after suffering from heart problems for several years. Mr. Klem and Tom Connolly became the first umpires inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
R.G. Collingwood. U.K. philosopher, historian, and archaeologist. Robin George Collingwood was best known for his books The Principles of Art (1938) and The Idea of History (1946). He was known as an authority on Roman Britain, conducting numerous excavations. Professor Collingwood died after a series of strokes on January 9, 1943 at the age of 53.

Olave Baden-Powell. U.K. scouting leader. Lady Baden-Powell, the wife of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell, became Chief Guide in 1918, and was elected World Chief Guide in 1930, leading the Girl Guide movement for 40 years, and visiting 111 countries. She died of diabetes on June 25, 1977 at the age of 88.

Americana
President Grover Cleveland signed the Enabling Act of 1889, admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington to the Union as states.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Enid Markey. U.S. actress. Miss Markey appeared on stage, screen, and television in a career spanning more than 50 years. She originated the role of Jane in films, playing the role in Tarzan of the Apes (1918) and The Romance of Tarzan (1918). Miss Markey played Aunt Violet Flower in the television comedy series Bringing Up Buddy (1960-1961). She died on November 15, 1981 at the age of 87.

90 years ago
1924

On the radio
Calvin Coolidge became the first U.S. President to make a radio broadcast from the White House.

70 years ago
1944

War
Chile announced the arrest of 14 alleged Axis spies operating under the direction of German air attache Ludwig von Bohlen. In the first such coordinated attack, U.S. planes leaving from Britain and Italy simultaneously bombed targets in central and southern Germany. American aircraft mistakenly bombed the the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone. The Soviet Red Army recaptured Krivoi Rog. Several hundred carrier-based planes attackd Japanese bases on Saipan and Tinian Islands of the lower Marianas group.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt vetoed the tax bill and criticized Congress for passing a "wholly ineffective revenue measure."

Labour
Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowson said that Army troops would take over the municipal power system the next day to end a nine-day strike that had halted production in 150 war plants.

Female workers at McKenzie Seeds in Brandon, Manitoba went on strike for increased pay and improved working conditions.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Saw Her Standing There/Love Me Do--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Et Pourtant--Charles Aznavour

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Quando vedrai la mia ragazza--Gene Pitney

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Das kannst du mir nicht verbieten--Bernd Spier (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Anyone Who Had a Heart--Cilla Black

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (4th week at #1)

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

Singles entering the chart were Kissin' Cousins by Elvis Presley (#52); Hello, Dolly! by Louis Armstrong (#68) (with a version by the Pete King Chorale listed with Mr. Armstrong's version but not charted); Stardust by Nino Tempo & April Stevens (#70); Baby, Don't You Cry (The New Swingova Rhythm) (#74)/My Heart Cries for You (#80) by Ray Charles; He's a Good Guy (Yes He Is) by the Marvelettes (#78); I'll Make You Mine by Bobby Vee and the Eligibles (#90); Tell Me Baby by Garnet Mimms (#91); Why Do Fools Fall in Love by the Beach Boys (#94); I Can't Stand It by the Soul Sisters (#95); The Way You Do the Things You Do by the Temptations (#96); Going Back to Louisiana by Bruce Channel (#98); Tell Him by the Drew-Vels (#99); and Saginaw, Michigan by Lefty Frizzell (#100). Why Do Fools Fall in Love was the B-side of Fun, Fun, Fun, which charted at #39.

Hockey
NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs traded a veteran and three young prospects for two veterans in an effort to win the Stanley Cup for the third straight season. The Maple Leafs traded veteran forward Dick Duff and young defencemen Arnie Brown and Rod Seiling and forward Bill Collins to the New York Rangers for veteran forwards Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney. Toronto general manager and coach Punch Imlach didn't think his third-place team was good enough to repeat as Stanley Cup champions as it stood before the trade, and believed that Mr. Bathgate could make the difference in enabling the Maple Leafs to retain their championship.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: You're Sixteen--Ringo Starr

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Teenage Rampage--Sweet (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Samuel Byck, 44. U.S. criminal. Mr. Byck attempted to hijack a Delta Air Lines DC-9 jet at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and fatally shot Maryland Aviation Administration Police Officer George Neal Ramsburg and the plane's co-pilot, Fred Jones, before being wounded by police and then shooting himself. Mr. Byck intended to assassinate U.S. President Richard Nixon by crashing the plane into the White House. It was the first hijacking attempt in the United States in 13 months, following the government-ordered installation of electronic metal detectors in airports.

Crime
Atlanta Constitution editorial page editor Reg Murphy was released unharmed, two days after being kidnapped by the "American Revolutionary Army." The newspaper paid a ransom of $700,000.

The Hearst Foundation offered $4 million for the release of heiress Patty Hearst, who had been kidnapped from her Berkeley, California apartment by the Symbionese Liberation Army on February 4. In Los Angeles and Oakland, near-rioting accompanied the first deliveries to the poor of $2 million worth of food from Miss Hearst's father Randolph, who was attempting to comply with the SLA's demands.

Diplomacy
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit began in Lahore, Pakistan, with 37 countries attending and 22 heads of state and government participating. The summit recognized the existence of Bangladesh.

Labour
The U.K. Pay Board disclosed that due to an error in official calculations of wages, coal miners were actually earning 8%-10% less thanaverage industrial labourers, rather than 2%-3% less, as the government of Prime Minister Edward Heath had suggested. Miners had been on strike since February 10.

30 years ago
1984

Died on this date
David Vetter, 12. U.S, medical patient. David, whose last name was withheld until 10 years after his death to protect his family's privacy, was born with severe combined immune deficiency syndrome (SCID) and had been placed in an enclosed sterile crib within seconds of his birth. He spent almost his entire life in a plastic bubble, never experiencing the touch of another person; even a common cold could have proved fatal. After he developed fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and severe intestinal bleeding early in 1984, Dr. William Shearer, head of the Baylor University College of Medicine's pediatrics department in Houston, Texas, took David out of the bubble on February 7. David was able to kiss his mother for the first time and appeared to be responding well, but he developed fluid in his lungs and around his heart, and died from Burkitt's lymphoma.

Diplomacy
Jordan severed diplomatic relations with Libya, four days after the Jordanian embassy in Tripoli had been burned by protesters. The official Libyan news agency said that the protesters objected to the meeting in Washington on February 13-14 of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, King Hussein of Jordan, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak because it might lead to the undermining of the Paelstinian cause.

War
Iraq claimed that it had crushed another Iranian offensive launched the previous day, and that Iran had sent many young boys into the battle.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Congressional Budget Office made higher deficit projections than those of the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Although the estimates for 1985 were close, the CBO said that by fiscal 1989, the deficit could be $248 billion, twice the estimate of the administration.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Bring Me Edelweiss--Edelweiss

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Did I Tell You--Jerry Williams

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices had risen 0.6% in January, the largest monthly increase since January 1987.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 4 Calgary 3 (OT)

20 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Papa John Creach, 76. U.S. musician. Mr. Creach was a blues violinist who played on recording sessions with the rock groups Jefferson Airplane and its successor, Jefferson Starship in the 1970s, while also being a member of the band Hot Tuna.

Scandal
Aldrich Ames, a longtime counterintelligence officer with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and his wife Maria del Rosario Casas Ames were arraigned on charges of selling information to the U.S.S.R. and Russia. Mr. Ames' field of specialty had been counterintelligence against the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, and U.S. authorities believed that at least 10 Soviet citizens working for U.S. intelligence had been executed by the U.S.S.R. after Mr. Ames had identified them.

Health
A Health Canada project found traces of cigarette smoke compounds in fetal hair; it was the first biochemical proof that even offspring of non-smoking mothers are affected by passive smoke.

Economics and finance
Paul Martin tabled his first budget as Canada's Finance Minister. He wanted to cut the deficit from $45 billion to 39 billion, cutting tobacco taxes to curb smuggling, and announcing that four military bases were to close, as well as Royal Roads Military College in British Columbia and Collège militaire royal Saint-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu in Quebec. In Quebec, the possibility of the closure of Collège militaire royal Saint-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu, the only francophone college of its kind in the country, raised strong protests. Defense Minister David Collenette tried to appease them by announcing that Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario would be transformed into a bilingual institution.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Andy Seminick, 83. Mr. Seminick was a catcher with the Philadelphia Blue Jays/Phillies (1943-1951, 1955-1957) and Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs (1952-1955), batting .243 with 164 home runs and 556 runs batted in in 1,304 games. His best season was probably 1950, when he hit .288 with 24 homers and 68 RBIs in 130 RBIs, playing a key role with the "Whiz Kids" team that won the National League pennant.

War
Rebels in Haiti took control of Cap Haitien, the country's second-largest city.

The Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, which had been attempting for 18 years to overthrow the government of Uganda, killed at least 200 unarmed civilians in northern Uganda.

Politics and government
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader announced that he would run as an independent candidate for President of the United States in the November 2004 election.