February 3, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Louise Taylor!

1,000 years ago
1014

Died on this date
Sweyn I "Forkbeard," 53 or 54 (?). King of Denmark, 986-1014; King of Norway, 986-995, 999-1014; King of England, 1013-1014. Sweyn, the son of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark, seized the throne in a revolt against his father. He led a number of raids against England, and finally succeeded in driving King Ethelred the Unready into exile in Wessex. Sweyn I was declared King of England on Christmas Day 1013, becoming the first of England's Danish kings. A legend says that he died from being pierced by the spear of St. Edmund the Martyr, whom he had derided. Sweyn was succeeded as King of Denmark by his son Harald II. Olaf II eventually succeeded Sweyn as King of Norway, while Ethelred the Unready was brought back from exile to reclaim the throne of England.

180 years ago
1834

Academia
Wake Forest University was established in North Carolina.

140 years ago
1874

Born on this date
Gertrude Stein. U.S. writer. Miss Stein was a Jewish lesbian who spent the last 43 years of her life in France. Her best known work was The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933); Miss Toklas was her lover. Miss Stein died on July 27, 1946 at the age of 72.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Carl Theodor Dreyer. Danish film director. Mr. Dreyer was best known for his films The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928); Vampyr (1932); and Day of Wrath (1943). He died on March 20, 1968 at the age of 79.

Died on this date
Belle Starr, 40. U.S. outlaw. Mrs. Starr, a veteran horse thief who had been associated with the James Gang and the Younger brothers, was killed two days before her 41st birthday in a shotgun ambush near King Creek, Indian Territory by person or persons unknown.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Norman Rockwell. U.S. artist. Mr. Rockwell was one of the U.S.A.'s most popular artists, known for his paintings depicting American culture and everyday life. He was best known for providing cover paintings for The Saturday Evening Post for almost 50 years. Mr. Rockwell died on November 8, 1978 at the age of 84.

90 years ago
1924

Died on this date
Woodrow Wilson, 67. 28th President of the United States of America, 1913-1921. Mr. Wilson, a Democrat, was president of Princeton University from 1902-1910 and Governor of New Jersey from 1911-1913. He won U.S. presidential elections in 1912 and 1916, but failed to gain a majority of the popular vote in either election. Mr. Wilson signed into law the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, handing control of U.S. finances to a consortium of 12 private banks. Five months after winning re-election on the slogan "He kept us out of war," Mr. Wilson obtained a declaration of war by the U.S. Congress against Germany, and the United States entered World War I. At the post-war peace conference in Paris in 1919, Mr. Wilson provided a list of 14 points that served as the basis for the Treaty of Versailles. One of the points was the creation of the League of Nations in an effort to prevent future wars. Mr. Wilson needed the support of Congress in order for the U.S. to join the league, and he embarked on an ambitious speaking tour in the early fall of 1919 in order to drum up support for his position. Mr. Wilson collapsed in Pueblo, Colorado on September 25, 1919, and suffered a serious stroke a week later. His wife Edith took over many of the functions of the president and restricted access to Mr. Wilson by high government officials.

70 years ago
1944

War
Soviet forces, in a five-day, 100-mile advance, trapped 10 German divisions in the region of Zvenigorodka and Shpola in Ukraine. During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seized Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison. U.S. troops on Bougainville Island extended their perimeter east of the Torokina River. A 14-man British expedition aboard HMS Fitzroy and the minesweeper HMS William Scoresby reached Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands, where they set up Base B, with 5 men, as part of Operation Tabarin.

Diplomacy
The Spanish cabinet ratified a policy of "strict neutrality" and announced that it would enforce conformity by foreign subjects as well as its own nationals.

Czechoslovakian President Eduard Benes told the Czechoslovakian state council in London that the Czech-Soviet friendship treaty guaranteed his country's future security.

Lebanese President Bechera el Khoury said that Lebanon would not join a "Greater Syria" movement to restore the Arab empire of the pre-1918 era.

Defense
The U.S. Army announced the discontinuance of 7 of the 26 officers' training schools in the United States and a general reduction in the program.

Oil
U.S.-owned Arabian-American Oil Company announced plans to begin immediately the construction of a refinery in Saudi Arabia to supply petroleum products to United Nations countries.

Labour
The Quebec Legislative Assembly passed a labour relations act; it required the employer to negotiate in good faith with a union made up of 60% or more of the workers in a production unit. The law also provided that a recognized union would be authorized to represent all employees of the said production unit. The law was passed in order to prevent federal intervention in an area of provincial jurisdiction.

Hockey
NHL
New York 2 @ Detroit 12

Syd Howe scored 6 goals to lead the Red Wings over the Rangers at Olympia Stadium, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat since the introduction of the red line the previous season.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): If I Had a Hammer--Trini Lopez

On television tonight
The Outer Limits, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Invisibles, starring Don Gordon, Tony Mordente, George Macready, Dee Hartford, Neil Hamilton, Walter Burke, and Richard Dawson

Music
The album Twist and Shout by the Beatles was released on Capitol Records in Canada.

The single Fun, Fun, Fun/Why Do Fools Fall in Love by the Beach Boys was released on Capitol Records.

Boxing
Doug Jones (23-4-1) scored a technical knockout of Tom McNeeley (30-7) at the end of the 5th round of a heavyweight bout at New York Coliseum; referee Zach Clayton stopped the fight because of a badly broken nose and facial cut suffered by Mr. McNeeley.



30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Waterfront--Simple Minds

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Challenger mission STS-41-B launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a five-man crew commanded by Vance Brand. Trouble began eight hours after launch when Western Union Corporation's Westar 6 communications satellite was released, but apparently exploded, trailing debris in its wake and failing to reach its intended orbit.



Medicine
John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another resulting in a live birth. The baby had been born in Los Angeles in January. Sperm used in the artificial insemination had come from the husband of the infertile woman. The transfer of the embryo, which had begun to develop, involved no surgery and could be performed in a doctor's office.

Religion
Campus Crusade for Christ speaker Michael Horner delivered the last of three noon hour lectures at SUB Theatre, as Christian Awareness Week at the University of Alberta wound down. The title of his talk was Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead?

Environment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prohibited the use of ethylene dibromide (EDB) on grain products. The pesticide, identified as a cause of cancer in animals, had been detected in many products, especially in cake, muffin, and pancake mixes. The EPA also set guidelines for maximum safe levels on EDB in grain and foods already contaminated. Several states had also begun to move independently against products linked to EDB.

Economics and finance
Testifying before the United States Senate Budget Committee, U.S. Treasury Secretary Donald Regan said that the senators could throw away the report by Martin Feldstein, chairman of President Ronald Reagan's council of economic advisers, who had expressed concern about budget deficits in recent years. Messrs. Reagan and Regan held that the U.S. economic recovery would generate enough tax revenues to cut the annual deficits to manageable levels.

The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate in January had fallen to 7.9%.

Hockey
NHL
Calgary 5 @ Edmonton 10

The Oilers were playing the first of six straight games without centre Wayne Gretzky, who was out with an injury, but Pat Hughes had the biggest game of his career, scoring 5 goals to lead the Oilers over the Flames at Northlands Coliseum.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): First Time--Robin Beck (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Lionel Newman, 73. U.S. composer, conductor, and pianist. Mr. Newman, the brother of composers Alfred and Emil Newman and uncle of composer and performer Randy Newman, spent 46 years with 20th Century Fox, eventually becoming the studio's musical director for films and television. He was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, finally sharing the award with Lennie Hayton for the score of Hello Dolly! (1969). He wrote themes for television series such as Adventures in Paradise (1959-1962) and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963).

John Cassavetes, 59. U.S. actor and director. Mr. Cassavetes acted in movies such as Edge of the City (1957), The Killers (1964), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Rosemary's Baby (1968), and became one of Hollywood's most respected independent directors with such films as Shadows (1959); Faces (1968); and A Woman Under the Influence (1974). Heavy drinking eventually led to his death from cirrhosis of the liver.

World events
Two days of violence in Asuncion concluded with the overthrow of Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner in a military coup led by his longtime associate, General Andres Rodriguez, who assumed the presidency. A nine-member cabinet was also sworn in. Western diplomats estimated that as many as 300 people died in the fighting. Gen. Stroessner had taken power in a military coup in 1954.

Diplomacy
U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle visited El Salvador and warned that U.S. aid to El Salvador might be lost if that nation's human rights record did not improve.

Politics and government
Two weeks after suffering a stroke, South African President P. W. Botha resigned as leader of the National Party; he stayed on as President for six more months.

Baseball
Former major league first baseman and broadcaster Bill White was named president of the National League, becoming the highest-ranking Negro in professional sports history.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Right in the Night--Jam & Spoon

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Discovery mission STS-60 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The six-person crew was commanded by Charles Bolden, and included Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to travel on a U.S. spacecraft. The mission was the first in the Shuttle-Mir Program, in which the U.S. space shuttle docked with the Russian space station Mir.

Diplomacy
Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze signed a military treaty and other agreements that promised to ease tensions between the countries. The treaty permitted Russia to keep three existing military bases in Georgia, and Russia agreed to train and equip the Georgian army. Russia also agreed to a large ruble loan for Georgia. The treaty encountered opposition in both countries.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Bill Clinton announced that the United States was lifting its trade embargo against Vietnam after 19 years. The embargo had been in place as a means of pressing Vietnam to aid in the search for the remains of 2,238 U.S. soldiers still missing from the Vietnam War of 1965-1973.

Labour
The Federal Court of Canada upheld a human rights tribunal ruling on mandatory retirement in the Canadian Armed Forces, the court recommended developing a fitness standard instead of relying on an arbitrary age rule.

10 years ago
2004

Terrorism
Three U.S. Senate buildings were closed when the toxin ricin was found in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Republican--Tennessee).

Politics and government
In the contest for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States in the November 2004 election, U.S. Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts) won in Missouri, Delaware, Arizona, New Mexico, and North Dakota.