March 16, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Tatiana!

325 years ago
1689

Defense
The 23rd Regiment of Foot, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, was founded by Henry Herbert, 4th Baron Herbert of Chirbury at Ludlow, England, to oppose King James II and to take part in the imminent war with France.

225 years ago
1789

Born on this date
Georg Ohm. German physicist. Dr. Ohm discovered a direct proportionality between the potential difference (voltage) applied across a conductor and the resultant electric current, a relationship known as Ohm's Law. The unit of resistance was named the ohm in his honour. Dr. Ohm died on July 6, 1854 at the age of 65.

175 years ago
1839

Born on this date
Sully Prudhomme. French poet. Mr. Prudhomme was awarded thr first Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect." He died on September 6, 1907 at the age of 68.

150 years ago
1864

War
During the Red River Campaign of the American Civil War, Union troops reached Alexandria, Louisiana.

125 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Reggie Walker. S.A. runner. Mr. Walker won the gold medal in the men's 100-metre competition at the 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London. He remains, at 19, the youngest winner of the event. Mr. Walker died on November 5, 1951 at the age of 62.

120 years ago
1894

Opera
Jules Massenet's opera Thaïs received its first performance, at the Opéra Garnier in Paris.

100 years ago
1914

Died on this date
John Murray, 73. Canadian-born U.K. oceanographer and naturalist. Sir John, a native of Coburg, Canada West, completed his education in Edinburgh, and remained in Scotland for the rest of his life. He participated in the Challenger Expedition (1872-1876) and a four-month expedition in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1910. Sir John was the first person to note the existence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and of oceanic trenches. He was killed in a car accident, 13 days after his 73rd birthday.

Charles Albert Gobat, 70. Swiss lawyer and politician. Mr. Gobat, a member of the Council of States of Switzerland from 1884-1890 and the National Council from 1890-1914, shared the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize with Élie Ducommun for their leadership of the Permanent International Peace Bureau. He was attending a meeting of the peace conference at Bern, Switzerland when he collapsed and died.

90 years ago
1924

World events
In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, the Croatian seaport of Rijeka (Fiume in Italian) became annexed as part of Italy.

75 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Sam Dungan, 72. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Dungan was an outfielder with the Chicago Colts/Orphans (1892-1894, 1900); Louisville Colonels (1894); and Washington Senators (1901), batting .301 with 3 home runs and 197 runs batted in in 382 games. He played at least 900 games in at least 9 seasons in the minor leagues from 1890-1905; early in the 1900 season he was sold by the Colts to the Kansas City Blues of the American League, playing first base and batting .337 with 1 homer in 117 games, winning the batting title in the AL's only season as a minor league. Mr. Dungan died of a heart attack, following uremic poisoning.

World events
The day after declaring itself an independent republic, Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary.

From Prague Castle, German dictator Adolf Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

70 years ago
1944

War
Allied infantrymen occupied three-quarters of the Italian town of Cassino, but Nazis continued to hold a corner of the town. Soviet troops severed the Odessa-Zhmerinka railroad at Vapnyarka, 28 miles north of Bessarabia, splitting the German front in Ukraine. U.S. troops took the airfield near Lorengau on Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands. U.S. bombers made the deepest penetration yet of Japan's Kurlie Islands, bombing Matsuwa, less than 500 miles from the Japanese mainland at Hokkaido. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced the renewal of mutual aid pacts with Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.S.R. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed hope that Finland would "withdraw from her hateful partnership with Germany." The U.S. War and Navy Departments announced that 23 Army transport planes had been shot down over Sicily in July 1943 by "friendly naval and ground gunfire" as well as enemy fire, with a loss fo 410 American lives.

Politics and government
The North Carolina Republican party state convention unanimously adopted a resolution favouring the drafting of New York Governor Thomas Dewey as the party's presidential candidate in the November 1944 election.

Economics and finance
U.S. War Production Board Chairman Nelson and Selective Service Director Lewis Hershey told steel inductry representatives that they must reconcile themselves to the losses of workers under 26 years of age to the armed services.

Representatives of 21 penicillin producers met with the U.S. War Production Board and other government agencies, and organized a committee to work out agreements for exchange of technical information and other measures to increase the output of the drug.

Scandal
The U.S. Justice Department filed a suit charging Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., two U.S. export associations, and other concerns with conspiracy to operate a cartel in alkalis.

60 years ago
1954

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Fourth Degree, starring Joseph Wiseman

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): If I Had a Hammer--Trini Lopez (7th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Outer Limits, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Mutant, starring Larry Pennell, Warren Oates, Betsy Jones-Moreland, and Walter Burke

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): Dynamite--Mud (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Billy - Don't Be a Hero--Paper Lace

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Farewell Aunty Jack--Grahame Bond
2 My Coo Ca Choo--Alvin Stardust
3 Sorrow--David Bowie
4 The Lord's Prayer--Sister Janet Mead
5 I Love You Love Me Love--Gary Glitter
6 Heartbeat - It's a Lovebeat--DeFranco Family
7 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road--Elton John
8 48 Crash--Suzi Quatro
9 Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)--Helen Reddy
10 The Ballroom Blitz--The Sweet

Singles entering the chart were I Remember When I was Young by Matt Taylor (#33); Remember by Des O'Connor (#35); Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh (#36); Daytona Demon by Suzi Quatro (#37); and Gonna Get Married by Marcie Jones (#39).

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Boogie Down--Eddie Kendricks
2 Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks
3 Rock On--David Essex
4 Dark Lady--Cher
5 Sunshine on My Shoulders--John Denver
6 Jet--Paul McCartney & Wings
7 Mockingbird--Carly Simon and James Taylor
8 Hooked on a Feeling--Blue Swede
9 Bennie and the Jets--Elton John
10 Eres Tu (Touch the Wind)--Mocedades

Singles entering the chart were The Show Must Go On by Three Dog Night (#75); Let's Get Married by Al Green (#76); Who is He and What is He to You by Creative Source (#78); The Entertainer by Marvin Hamlisch (#81); Oh Very Young by Cat Stevens (#83); Mighty Mighty by Earth, Wind & Fire (#91); You Make Me Feel Brand New by the Stylistics (#93); Chameleon by Herbie Hancock (#96); Music Eyes by Heartsfield (#97); Put a Little Love Away by the Emotions (#98); This Heart by Gene Redding (#99); and Madelaine by Stu Nunnery (#100). The Entertainer was from the movie The Sting (1973).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Love Song--Anne Murray
2 Spiders & Snakes--Jim Stafford
3 Seasons in the Sun--Terry Jacks
4 Dark Lady--Cher
5 Jet--Paul McCartney & Wings
6 Mockingbird--Carly Simon and James Taylor
7 Rock On--David Essex
8 Last Time I Saw Him--Diana Ross
9 Eres Tu (Touch the Wind)--Mocedades
10 Sunshine on My Shoulders--John Denver

Singles entering the chart were TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) by MFSB featuring the Three Degrees (#76); Lucy Lucy Lucy by Alan Schick (#83); Keep on Singing by Helen Reddy (#89); Lookin' for a Love by Bobby Womack (#91); Happiness is Me and You by Gilbert O'Sullivan (#92); Teen Angel by Wednesday (#94); Loving You by Johnny Nash (#95); Dancing Machine by the Jackson 5 (#96); The Loco-Motion by Grand Funk (#98); Skybird by Neil Diamond (#99); and Quick, Fast, In a Hurry by New York City (#100).

#1 single in Calgary: The Way We Were--Barbra Streisand (5th week at #1)

World events
A state of alert was imposed in Portugal and 33 military officers were arrested after a brief military rebellion in support of two dismissed generals failed because of lack of support. Two days earlier, Chief of Defense Staff General Francisco de Costa Gomes and his deputy, General Antonio de Sinola, had been dismissed for advocating a change in Portuguese policy toward her African territories. Gen. Spinola had proposed ending the wars against African guerrillas in favour of offering Mozambique, Angola, and Portuguese Guine equal status with Portugal in a proposed federation.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Poi E--Patea Maori Club

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Relax--Frankie Goes to Hollywood (4th week at #1)

Music
The album Talk Show by the Go-Go's, featuring the single Head Over Heels, was released on I.R.S. Records. It was their third album, and their last consisting entirely of new material until God Bless the Go-Go's was released in 2001.

Terrorism
William Buckley, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by the terrist organization Hezbollah while leaving for work. He later died in captivity.

War
The cease-fire among various factions in Lebanon broke down after three days.

Diplomacy
The 35-nation conference of Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and Disarmament on Europe ended its first round of meetings with no reports of progress.

Talks on reducing conventional armed forces in Europe resumed in Vienna, three months after the Warsaw pact nations had broken off discussions in protest against U.S. missile deployment.

For the first time in its history, the white regime in South Africa signed a non-aggression pact with one of its neighbours. The "Accord of Nkomati," with Mozambique, provided that neither nation would permit armed groups, including mercenaries, to use its territory to mount attacks across the border. South African Prime Minister P.W. Botha said that the agreement was based on economic and geographic realities. The agreement was a setback to the African National Congress, which used bases inside Mozambique to attack South Africa, and to the Mozambique National Resistance, a guerrilla movement operating in Mozambique with South African support.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the index of prices paid by producers for finished goods had risen 0.4% in February.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): You Got It--Roy Orbison

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Like a Prayer--Madonna

Archaeology
A 4,400-year-old mummy was found near the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt.

Health
Chilean President General Augusto Pinochet said that the impact of the recent U.S. quarantine on fruit from Chile had been "catastrophic" for the Chilean economy, and that the United States had overreacted. The quarantine had been imposed on March 13 after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration search of crates full of grapes had found traces of cyanide in two grapes.

Three U.S. federal agencies asserted that eating apples was safe for adults and children. The public had been worried by reports that some apples had been treated with daminozide, sold under the name Alar, which was suspected of causing cancer. The chemical was used to improve apples' freshness, appearance, and texture. The agencies said that a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council had greatly exaggerated the threat posed by daminozide.

Figure skating
Kurt Browning of Caroline, Alberta won the world men's championship in Paris, becoming the first Canadian to win a world championship since Karen Magnussen had won the women's championship in 1973, and the first Canadian male to win the title since Don McPherson in 1963. It was the last world championship to include compulsory figures as part of the competition.

Hockey
NHL
Vancouver 3 Edmonton 0

20 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Eric Show, 37. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Show played with the San Diego Padres (1981-1990) and Oakland Athletics (1991), compiling a record of 101-89 with a 3.66 earned run average and 7 saves in 332 games. He helped the Padres win their first National League pennant in 1984, and gave up Pete Rose's career record 4,192nd major league hit in 1985. Mr. Show had a variety of off-field interests, including physics, music, and politics, and was a member of the John Birch Society. He claimed to be a born-again Christian, but it was hard to tell from his behaviour in his later years, which were characterized by drug abuse. Mr. Show was found dead in his room at a drug treatment centre, the night after checking back in for further treatment following a relapse after a month-long stay.

Scandal
U.S. women's figure skating champion Tonya Harding, who had won the national championship after defending champion and chief rival Nancy Kerrigan had been injured in an attack after a practice, pled guilty in Portland, Oregon to helping to cover up the plot to assault Miss Kerrigan. Ms. Harding acknowledged having conspired with her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and her former bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, to conceal from investigators what she knew. She continued to assert that she had no foreknowledge of the attack. Ms. Harding was fined $100,000 and court costs, and she agreed to establish a $50,000 fund for the Special Olympics and contribute 500 hours of community service. She also agreed to resign from the United States Figure Skating Association, thus ending her amateur career. Mr. Gillooly had already pled guilty to racketeering. Miss Kerrigan, who had been clubbed on the leg, had been able to skate in the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway and had won the silver medal in the women's competition, while Ms. Harding had finished eighth.

Defense
The International Atomic Energy Agency announced that its inspectors who had visited North Korea during the previous two weeks had been prevented from conducting a full inspection at one of that nation's seven targeted sites.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the consumer price index had risen 0.3% in February.

10 years ago
2004

War
Amid rumours that al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was hiding in South Waziristan, bordering on Afghanistan, Pakistani troops launched an assault on foreign terrorists.