March 11, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Tim Sproule and Aurora B.G.!

230 years ago
1784

War
The English East India Company and Nabob Tippoo Sultan Bahadur signed the Treaty of Mangalore, ending the Second Anglo-Mysore War, which had begun in southern India in July 1780.

190 years ago
1824

Politics and government
The United States Department of War created the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

150 years ago
1864

Disasters
The Great Sheffield Flood killed 238 people and damaged over 600 houses in Sheffield, England, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time.

110 years ago
1904

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Brandon 3 @ Ottawa Silver Seven 9 (Ottawa won 2-game, total goals challenge series 15-6)

The Silver Seven were the defending champions.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Bésame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra with Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen (Best Seller--2nd week at #1); Shoo-Shoo Baby--The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra (Jukebox--9th week at #1)

Died on this date
Hendrik Willem van Loon, 62. Dutch-born U.S. historian. Mr. van Loon, a native of Rotterdam, moved to the United States at the age of 20. He wrote many history books aimed at young readers; his best-known work was The Story of Mankind (1921).

War
Sources in Ankara reported that Romania was regrouping its army for a desperate defense against the Soviets; that the evacuation of Bucharest was under way; and that efforts to reach Soviet diplomats in Ankara to arrange a peace settlement had been fruitless. The Soviet Red Army established a new bridgehead in Ukraine on the west bank of the lower Dnieper River by capturing Berislav, 40 miles northeast of the river seaport of Kherson. American troops turned back an assault by 3,000 Japanese troops on Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville. British and Indian troops took Buthedaung in western Burma and gained control of both ends of the east-west Maungdaw-Buthedaung road.

Politics and government
The Minnesota state legislature adopted a bill permitting absentee voting by members of the U.S. armed services.

Economics and finance
U.S. Senator Patrick McCarren (Democrat--Nevada), chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating the alcoholic beverage industry, said that he would ask the War Production Board to permit manufacture of beverage alcohol for a limited time "to prevent a return to bootleg conditions."

Labour
A U.S. National War Labour Board panel directed members of the American Federation of Musicians to resume recording for subsidiaries of RCA and CBS, rejecting the AFM charge that phonograph records and radio broadcasts had caused unemployment among musicians.

Track and field
Gil Dodds set a world indoor record in the mile at the Knights of Columbus Games in New York City, covering the distance in 4:07.3.

The University of Michigan won the Big Ten university indoor championships in Chicago with 75 1/4 points. The University of Illinois finished second and Purdue University third.

50 years ago
1964

Space
The United States launched an Atlas-Agena D rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.



40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): My Coo Ca Choo--Alvin Stardust

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): La Estrella de David--Juan Bau (3rd week at #1)

Crime
Brothers Keith and Kenneth Littlejohn, who described themselves as British government spies, escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, where they were serving sentences for armed robbery.

Economics and finance
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson ended a four-month state of emergency that had been imposed by the previous government of Prime Minister Edward Heath, signifying that the government no longer needed extraordinary powers to deal with the U.K.'s economic situation.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Street Dance--Break Machine (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Relax--Frankie Goes to Hollywood (2nd week at #1)

Protest
Seal hunters in Quebec's Magdalen Islands damaged a helicopter chartered by International Fund for Animal Welfare protesters.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Esatto--Francesco Salvi (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): You Got It--Roy Orbison (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Belfast Child--Simple Minds

#1 single in France (SNEP): Pour toi Arménie--Charles Aznavour and various artists (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Too Many Broken Hearts--Jason Donovan

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Lost in Your Eyes--Debbie Gibson (2nd week at #1)
2 The Living Years--Mike + the Mechanics
3 You Got It (The Right Stuff)--New Kids on the Block
4 Roni--Bobby Brown
5 Paradise City--Guns 'N' Roses
6 Surrender to Me--Ann Wilson and Robin Zander
7 Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli
8 The Lover in Me--Sheena Easton
9 My Heart Can't Tell You No--Rod Stewart
10 Straight Up--Paula Abdul

Singles entering the chart were After All by Cher and Peter Cetera (#59); Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul (#68); Cult of Personality by Living Colour (#77); Run to Paradise by the Choirboys (#89); and Dear God by Midge Ure (#95). After All was from the movie Chances Are (1989).

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Lost in Your Eyes--Debbie Gibson (3rd week at #1)
2 The Living Years--Mike + the Mechanics
3 Roni--Bobby Brown
4 You Got It (The Right Stuff)--New Kids on the Block
5 Paradise City--Guns 'N' Roses
6 The Lover in Me--Sheena Easton
7 Eternal Flame--Bangles
8 Straight Up--Paula Abdul
9 My Heart Can't Tell You No--Rod Stewart
10 Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli

Singles entering the chart were I'll Be There for You by Bon Jovi (#52); After All by Cher and Peter Cetera (#57); Cult of Personality by Living Colour (#63); Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul (#70); Where are You Now? by Jimmy Harnen with Synch (#75); Iko Iko by the Belle Stars (#78); Let the River Run by Carly Simon (#84); and Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler (#86).

Died on this date
John J. McCloy, 93. U.S. lawyer, banker, and political adviser. Mr. McCloy, a Wall Street lawyer in New York City, served as Assistant U.S. Secretary of War during World War II, and was largely responsible for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision to intern Japanese-Americans. He created the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. McCloy's postwar activities included serving as president of the World Bank from 1947-1949; serving as chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1954-1970; and serving on the Warren Commission in 1963-1964, investigating the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, with Special Distinction, by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson on December 6, 1963.

James Kee, 71. U.S. politician. Mr. Kee, a Democrat, represented West Virginia's 5th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1965-1973, becoming the third member of his family in succession to hold the seat. His father John Kee had represented the district from 1933-1951; he died in office, and his wife Elizabeth, the mother of John, then held the seat from 1951-1965, when she retired.

Politics and government
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad restructured his government, apparently, in part, as a result of disagreements with his brother, whom he had made a vice president.

Oil
Mobil Corporation, the U.S.A.'s second-largest oil company, announced that it had agreed to buy Superior Oil Company for $5.7 billion.

Skiing
Vreni Schneider of Switzerland ended the season by winning the women's slalom at Shigakogen, Japan, giving her 14 World Cup victories for the season, a record that still stands. Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden won 13 Cup races in 1977-78, the most ever by a man.

Hockey
CIAU
Canada West Finals
Calgary 4 @ Alberta 2 (Best-of-three series tied 1-1)

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Return to Innocence--Enigma

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Without You--Mariah Carey (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
Christian Democratic party leader Eduardo Frei was sworn in as President of Chile, pledging to help the poor.

Lucas Mangope, President of the South African "homeland" of Bophuthatswana, agreed to participate in South Africa's first universal-suffrage election, scheduled for late April. On March 7, Mr. Mangope had said that Bophuthatswana would refuse to participate in the election, and his government had collapsed on March 10.

10 years ago
2004

Terrorism
Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid killed 191 people and injured 1,800.

Society
The California Supreme Court ordered the city of San Francisco to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Health
British Columbia officials warned that pork from the Port Coquitlam pig farm of accused serial murderer Robert Pickton may have been contaminated with human remains.