Saturday 1 March 2014

March 1, 2014

150 years ago
1864


Academia
Rebecca Lee became the first Negro woman to be awarded a medical degree.

100 years ago
1914


Born on this date
Ralph Ellison
. U.S. author. Mr. Ellison was a Negro scholar and Communist who eventually became disillusioned with Communism. He was best known for his novel Invisible Man (1952). Mr. Ellison died on April 16, 1994 at the age of 80.

Harry Caray. U.S. sportscaster. Born Harry Christopher Carabina, Mr. Caray was the radio voice of the St. Louis Cardinals (1945-1969); Oakland Athletics (1970); Chicago White Sox (1971-1981); and Chicago Cubs (1982-1997). He also broadcast games of the St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey League, the St. Louis Hawks of the National Basketball Association, and the University of Missouri Tigers football team. Mr. Caray was known for his trademark phrase, "Holy cow!," as well as for singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 7th-inning stretch at Cubs' home games at Wrigley Field. He died on February 18, 1998 at the age of 83.

Died on this date
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, 68
. Governor General of Canada, 1898-1904; Viceroy and Governor-General of India, 1905-1910. The Earl of Minto, a native of London, was a career soldier before assuming the post of Governor General of Canada. He encouraged the teaching of Canadian history in schools and the founding of the National Archives of Canada, and continued the Canadian tradition of vice-regal patronage of sports by donating the Minto Cup in 1901 for the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada.

90 years ago
1924


Died on this date
Louis Perrée, 52
. French fencer. Mr. Perrée won a silver medal in the épée event at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. He died 24 days before his 53rd birthday.

80 years ago
1934


Boxing
Primo Carnera (78-6) retained his world heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Tommy Loughran (78-17-5-2) before 12,000 fans at Madison Square Garden Stadium in Miami.



75 years ago
1939


Transportation
In Montreal, Canadian Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce C. D. Howe opened the first Trans-Canada Air Lines transcontinental passenger service from Montreal to Vancouver.

Disasters
A Japanese Imperial Army ammunition dump exploded at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.

70 years ago
1944


War
U.S. troops repulsed an effort by Japanese troops to recapture Momote airfield on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands. Allied troops in Italy drove German forces back between Aprilia and Cisterna. As the result of a newly announced offensive, Soviet troops swung south of the Narva River in Estonia and were now blocking the Nazis' only railway escape route to Tallinn.

Diplomacy
Cairo reported that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Lebanon had made protests to American ministers against the creation of a national Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Politics and government
An attempted coup by Argentine army and navy elements against the new regime of acting President General Edelmiro Farrell failed.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's name was entered in the Nebraska and Wisconsin primaries for the Democratic party nomination for President of the United States in the November 1944 election.

Economics and finance
The government of Canada ended meat rationing.

U.S. Foreign Economic Administrator Administrator Leo Crowley urged the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to extend Lend-Lease, which was due to expire June 30, 1944.

60 years ago
1954


Terrorism
Four Puerto Rican nationalists started shooting semi-automatic pistols from the Ladies' Gallery in the House of Representatives chamber in United States Capitol building in Washington, wounding five Representatives.

Defense
The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, was detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.

50 years ago
1964


Music
The Beatles were at Abbey Road studios in London, where they recorded the songs I Call Your Name and Long Tall Sally.

Disasters
Villarrica Volcano began a strombolian eruption, causing lahars (mud and debris flows) that destroyed half of the town of Coñaripe, Chile.

40 years ago
1974


Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: You're Sixteen--Ringo Starr (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Teenage Rampage--Sweet (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Bobby Timmons, 38
. U.S. musician. Mr. Timmons was a jazz pianist who played with the bands of Art Blakey and Cannonball Adderley before forming his own trios in the 1960s. Drug and alcohol addiction led to his death from cirrhosis of the liver.

Scandal
In a 15-minute session in the Washington, D.C. courtroom of U.S. District Judge John Sirica, seven former White House and presidential campaign aides were charged with a total of 24 counts in connection with the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. and the subsequent cover-up. The chief charge in the conspiracy, which had continued "up to and including" that day, was that all seven "and other persons to the grand jury known and unknown did combine, conspire, and confederate and agree" to make false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency and to prevent them from transacting their official business "honestly and impartially." The grand jury also handed over to Judge Sirica a sealed envelope and a bulky briefcase of data reportedly dealing with President Richard Nixon's role in the Watergate case. The list of those indicted was:

H.R. Haldeman, former White House Chief of Staff: conspiracy; obstruction of justice; three counts of perjury;
John Mitchell, former U.S. Attorney General: conspiracy, obstruction of justice; false statements to the FBI; false statements to a grand jury;
John Ehrlichman, former Presidential Assistant for Domestic Affairs: conspiracy; obstruction of justice; false statements to the FBI; false statements to a grand jury;
Charles Colson, former special Presidential counsel: conspiracy; obstruction of justice;
Robert Mardian, former presidential election campaign aide: conspiracy;
Kenneth Parkinson, former attorney for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP): conspiracy, obstruction of justice;
Gordon Strachan, former aide to Mr. Haldeman: conspiracy; obstruction of justice; false statements to a grand jury.
Politics and government
The day after the opposition Labour Party had taken 301 seats in the British general election to 297 for the governing Conservatives, Prime Minister Edward Heath refused to resign after neither the Conservatives nor Labour had been able to obtain a majority of the 635 seats in the House of Commons.

The day after a military mutiny in Asmara, Ethiopia's second-largest city, had forced the resignation of Emperor Haile Selassie's cabinet, the emperor appointed a new prime minister.

Law
The British Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that an Indian child could be adopted by non-Indian parents without losing status.

30 years ago
1984


Hit parade
Edmonton's Top 30 (CHED)
1 Thriller--Michael Jackson
2 99 Red Balloons--Nena
3 Jump--Van Halen
4 Girls Just Want to Have Fun--Cyndi Lauper
5 Here Comes the Rain Again--Eurythmics
6 Nobody Told Me--John Lennon
7 Red Red Wine--UB40
8 Got a Hold on Me--Christine McVie
9 Heaven--Bryan Adams
10 Footloose--Kenny Loggins
11 I Want a New Drug--Huey Lewis and the News
12 Karma Chameleon--Culture Club
13 Somebody's Watching Me--Rockwell
14 Wrapped Around Your Finger--The Police
15 Middle of the Road--The Pretenders
16 New Moon on Monday--Duran Duran
17 Yah Mo B There--James Ingram and Michael McDonald
18 Don't Bite--Pretty Rough
19 Runner--Manfred Mann's Earth Band
20 Rebel Yell--Billy Idol
21 Joanna--Kool & the Gang
22 An Innocent Man--Billy Joel
23 This Could Be the Right One--April Wine
24 Hold Me Now--Thompson Twins
25 The Language of Love--Dan Fogelberg
26 Come Back and Stay--Paul Young
27 Scratchin' the Surface--Saga
28 So Bad--Paul McCartney
29 Radio Ga Ga--Queen
30 Adult Education--Daryl Hall and John Oates

Died on this date
Roland Culver, 83
. U.K. actor. Mr. Culver's films included Night Train to Munich (1940); The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943); and Dead of Night (1945).

Jackie Coogan, 69. U.S. actor. Mr. Coogan became a major child star when he was cast Charlie Chaplin cast him as his co-star in The Kid (1921). His mother and stepfather spent the money he earned, and he sued them, which led to the passage of the Coogan Act, to protect the earnings of child performers. Mr. Coogan appeared in such movies as Mesa of Lost Women (1953) and High School Confidential! (1958) before playing the role of Uncle Fester in the television comedy series The Addams Family (1964-1966).

Diplomacy
The Syrian press agency issued a communique on a meeting in Damascus between Lebanese President Amin Gemayel and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. It was reported that the leaders were in "complete agreement" on ways of "reinforcing Lebanon's Arab identity, unity, and independence."

King Hussein of Jordan and Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat concluded five days of discussion on how to coordinate their approach to Middle east peace negotiations. They agreed to continue talking and reaffirmed their support for the 1982 Arab summit declaration that called for Palestinian statehood.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings (South Carolina) and former Florida Governor Reuben Askew withdrew from the contest for the Democratic party nomination for President of the United States in the November 1984 election.

Skiing
Tamara McKinney of Lexington, Kentucky won the giant slalom in Vail, Colorado, becoming the first American woman to win a single season's World Cup championship.

25 years ago
1989


Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Bring Me Edelweiss--Edelweiss (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Did I Tell You--Jerry Williams (2nd week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 First Time--Robin Beck (5th week at #1)
2 Das Phantom der Oper--Alexander Goebel & Luzia Nistler
3 Twist in My Sobriety--Tanita Tikaram
4 In the Air Tonight ('88 Remix)--Phil Collins
5 Listen to the Voices--Labi Siffre
6 Put a Little Love in Your Heart--Annie Lennox and Al Green
7 Never Trust a Stranger--Kim Wilde
8 Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart--Marc Almond featuring Gene Pitney
9 Tango Korrupti--Rainhard Fendrich
10 Stop!--Sam Brown

Singles entering the chart were Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart; She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals (#11); We'll Be Together by Sandra (#16); Especially for You by Kylie & Jason (#17); and Good Life by Inner City (#27).

Died on this date
Vasantdada Patil, 71
. Indian politician. Mr. Patil, a member of the Indian National Congress Party, was Chief Minister of Maharashtra (1977-1978, 1983-1985) and Governor of Rajasthan (1985-1987).

Space
The Canadian Space Agency was created by an act of Parliament.

Scandal
In Toronto, track coach Charlie Francis told the Dubin Inquiry that his pupil Ben Johnson and other athletes knowingly took banned steroids, and testified that Mr. Johnson started using steroids in 1981.

At the Washington, D.C. trial of former National Security Council member Oliver North, who was facing various charges relating to the mid-1980s Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal, Robert Owen, who had been Mr. North's courier to the Contras, concluded six days of testimony, during which he had said that Mr. North had provided detailed military advice and intelligence data to the Contras from 1984-1986. Major General John Singlaub (retired) testified that Mr. North knew that his efforts on behalf of the Contras violated the Boland Amendment, which prohibited U.S. intelligence agencies from aiding the Contras.

Protest
New riots erupted in Venezuela despite an announcement of wage increases.

Law
The United States became a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an international agreement governing copyright.

20 years ago
1994


Politics and government
The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dominated by Muslims, and Bosnia's Croats agreed to a federation embracing portions of the country under their control.

Economics and finance
U.S. Senators supporting an amendment to the United States Constitution requiring that the federal budget be balanced by 2001 failed in their latest effort to pass the measure. The vote was 63-37 in favour, 4 short of the required two-thirds majority.

The United States Commerce Department revised upward its estimate of the growth in gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of 1993, putting it an an annual rate of 7.5%, the largest quarterly increase since 1984.

Crime
Fred West, already facing a murder charge, was charged with two more murders after the discovery of more human remains at his Gloucester, England home.

10 years ago
2004


World events
An international force composed of troops from the U.S.A., Canada, France, and Chile began to arrive in Haiti with a United Nations mandate to provide security.

Politics and government
Russian President Vladimir Putin named Mikhail Fradkov, Russia's ambassador to the European Union, as the country's new Prime Minister.

Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum became President of Iraq.

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