March 26, 2014

670 years ago
1344

War
The Siege of Algeciras by the Castillian forces of King Alfonso XI of Spain, assisted by the fleets of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Republic of Genoa, came to an end. It was one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used.

530 years ago
1484

Literature
William Caxton printed his translation of Aesop's Fables.

175 years ago
1839

Sport
The Henley Regatta was established by a proposal from Captain Edmund Gardiner at a public meeting in the town hall of Henley, England.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
William Westmoreland. U.S. military officer. General Westmoreland commanded U.S. military operations in the Vietnam War from 1964-1968, and served as U.S. Army Chief of Staff from 1968-1972. He was commander of military operations in Vietnam when North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet offensive early in 1968, and caught U.S. and South Vietnamese forces by surprise. The attack was eventually repelled, but Gen. Westmoreland bore the brunt of much of the criticism for being caught off guard, and his appointment as Chief of Staff in June 1968 was seen by many as punishment. He died on July 18, 2005 at the age of 91.

Edmontonia
300 members of the Edmonton Industrial Association adopted the slogan "City Beautiful," and EIA president William Magrath announced a prize of $50 in gold to anyone writing a song about the city, to be sung at the association's gatherings.

80 years ago
1934

Britannica
The driving test was introduced in the United Kingdom.

75 years ago
1939

War
Nationalist forces began their final offensive of the Spanish Civil War.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Quarter-Finals
Montreal 0 @ Detroit 1 (OT) (Detroit won best-of-three series 2-1)

Marty Barry scored at 7:47 of the 1st overtime period to give the Red Wings their win over the Canadiens at Olympia Stadium.

Semi-Finals
New York Rangers 1 @ Boston 4 (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-0)

70 years ago
1944

War
Soviet forces drove German forces back to the Romanian border along a 53-mile front. British commandos reached a point 147 miles from Myitkyina, the main Japanese base above the Burma Road.

Politics and government
The Greek government-in-exile rejected suggestions of the guerrilla group National Liberation Front to broaden the government to include the NLF.

U.S. Representative Martin Dies (Democrat--Texas), chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, assailed newspaper columnist and radio broadcaster Walter Winchell as the "tool" of an organized movement to undermine the prestige of Congress. In response, Mr. Winchell challenged Rep. Dies to take his case to court.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Detroit 0 @ Chicago 2 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 2-1)

Basketball
NCAA
The St. John's University Redmen, coached by Joe Lapchick, defeated DePaul 47-39 at Madison Square Garden in New York to become the first back-to-back winner of the National Invitation Tournament.

60 years ago
1954

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I See the Moon--The Stargazers (3rd week at #1)

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Needles and Pins--The Searchers

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Little Children--Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas (2nd week at #1)

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 All My Loving--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)
2 Twist and Shout--The Beatles
3 Can't Buy Me Love--The Beatles
4 Kissin' Cousins--Elvis Presley
5 She Loves You--The Beatles
6 This Boy--The Beatles
7 I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles
8 One Minute to One--Rick Nelson
9 Please Please Me--The Beatles
10 White on White--Danny Williams
Pick hit of the week: Can't Buy Me Love--The Beatles
New this week: The Brotherhood of Man--The Chumingbirds
Bits and Pieces--The Dave Clark Five
The Closest Thing to Heaven--Neil Sedaka
Today--The New Christy Minstrels
Barbara Allen--Dave Dudley
(The Best Part Of) Breakin' Up--The Ronettes

This Boy was the B-side of All My Loving. The Chumingbirds were sponsored by Toronto radio station CHUM. Today was from the movie Advance to the Rear (1964).

Theatre
The musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand, Sydney Chaplin, Roger De Koven, and Jean Stapleton, opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in New York City.

Defense
Canadian Defence Minister Paul Hellyer announced plans to integrate the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force into one service.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Toronto 0 @ Montreal 2 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 1-0)
Detroit 1 @ Chicago 4 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion and Ralph Backstrom scored for the Canadiens and Charlie Hodge provided shoutout goaltending as the Canadiens blanked the Maple Leafs at the Montreal Forum. Mr. Geoffrion's goal came while the Maple Leafs were shorthanded, but shouldn't have been. Penalty box timekeeper George Ogg detained Dave Keon 33 seconds longer than he should have, erroneously believing that the time on Mr. Keon's penalty should have begun later. NHL President Clarence Campbell disallowed the Toronto protest on the grounds that there was no rule to cover such a situation and that Mr. Ogg had made an honest mistake.

Murray Balfour scored the winning goal at 8:21 of the 3rd period as the Black Hawks beat the Red Wings at Chicago Stadium.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Titi à la neige--Tweety & Sylvester (8th week at #1)

Education
Henry Grant, a grade 8 "student" who had never put in more than 2 1/2 days in any week at Yellowknife Public School since arriving from elsewhere several months earlier, was expelled. The last straw came in that afternoon's Grade 8 French class when he threw a Life Saver (the candy, that is) at the teacher, Mr. Pilkington. This blogger was in attendance.

Law
Abortionist Henry Morgentaler's acquittal was overturned by the Quebec Appeal Court in spite of the jury's verdict that he was not guilty of violating the Criminal Code of Canada's restrictions on abortion; the decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Protest
Gaura Devi led a group of 27 women of Laata village, Henwalghati, Garhwal Himalayas, India to form circles around trees to stop them being felled, giving rise to the Chipko Movement in India.

Crime
The program of distribution of food to the poor in California enacted by San Francisco Examiner publisher Randolph Hearst in order to win the freedom of his daughter Patty, who had been kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army terrorists on February 4, ran out of money. Mr. Hearst said that the program would be resumed with an additional $4 million if Miss Hearst were released unharmed.

Police in St. Paul, Minnesota reported that all but $80 of a $200,000 ransom paid for the release of the wife of St. Paul bank president Gunnar Kronholm had been recovered. Mrs. Kronholm had been kidnapped from her home on March 15, and released unharmed three days later. James William Johnson, a local contractor, had been charged with the kidnapping.

Boxing
George Foreman (40-0) retained his world heavyweight title with a technical knockout of Ken Norton (30-3) at 2 minutes of the 2nd round at El Poliedro in Caracas. Mr. Norton was knocked down 3 times.

Baseball
The Los Angeles Dodgers released outfielder Tommie Agee, ending the outfielder's 12-year major league career. After brief trials with the Cleveland Indians from 1962-1965, Mr. Agee was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1966, and was named the American League Rookie of the Year, batting .273 with 22 home runs, 86 runs batted in, and 44 stolen bases. He was traded to the New York Mets in 1968, and was a key player with their World Series championship team in 1969, batting .271 with 26 homers and 76 RBIs, and making several great catches in center field in the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. Mr. Agee was traded to the Houston Astros in 1973, and hit .235 with 8 home runs and 15 runs batted in in 83 games before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on August 18. He hit just .177 with 3 homers and 7 RBIs in 26 games, and was traded to the Dodgers for relief pitcher Pete Richert on December 5. Mr. Agee saw little action in spring training games with Los Angeles in 1974. In 12 seasons in the major leagues, Mr. Agee batted .255 with 999 hits, 130 home runs, 433 runs batted in, and 167 stolen bases in 1,129 games.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Girls Just Want to Have Fun--Cyndi Lauper (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Thriller--Michael Jackson (6th week at #1)

Died on this date
Bora Laskin, 71. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, 1974-1984. Mr. Laskin, a professor from Toronto, was a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1970-1973 and Chief Justice from 1973 until his death. Despite being the junior member of the Supreme Court, he was appointed Chief Justice by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, violating the tradition of the Chief Justice being the senior member of the Court. The senior Justice at the time was an Albertan, Ronald Martland. Indicative of Mr. Trudeau's meanness was the fact that he forced Justice Martland to swear Mr. Laskin into the position that he should have held. Perhaps the Supreme Court's most notable decision under Chief Justice Laskin came in 1981, when the Court ruled that Mr. Trudeau's attempt to unilaterally patriate the Constitution without the input of the provinces was technically legal, but would violate a tradition that had developed. Mr. Trudeau then began a new round of negotiations with provincial governments, which proved successful in realizing his aims.

Ahmed Sékou Touré, 62. 1st President of Guinea, 1958-1984. Mr. Touré, who became leader of the Democratic Party of Guinea in 1952, was one of the leaders of Guinea's move from French colony to independent nation. As President, he pursued an economic policy based on Marxism, and was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1961. Mr. Touré's administration was an example of Winston Churchill's description of black African politics as "One man, one vote, one time." He died in Cleveland, Ohio where he had been rushed after being struck by a heart problem the previous day while in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Touré was succeeded as acting President by Prime Minister Louis Lansana Béavogui, pending elections that were to be held within 45 days.

Crime
Four male Portuguese immigrants were handed prison sentences of 6-8 years and 9-12 years by Judge William Young in Fall River, Massachusetts after being convicted in two separate trials of aggravated rape for the 1983 gang rape of a woman in a bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart--Marc Almond featuring Gene Pitney (4th week at #1)

Politics and government
An election was held in the U.S.S.R. for 1,500 seats in the new Congress of People's Deputies, marking the first time since 1917 that voters in the Soviet Union were able to participate in a nationwide multicandiate parliamentary election. Boris Yeltsin, who had lost his position as leader of the Moscow Communist Party because of outspoken criticism of party hard-liners, captured 89% of the vote against the Communist Party favourite in winning Moscow's at-large seat. Elsewhere, radical reformers and ethnic nationalists defeated Communist Party regulars in many districts, and many other Communist stalwarts who ran unopposed failed to win election because they failed to obtain at least 50% of the vote.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): It's Alright--East 17 (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: The Rhythm of the Night--Corona (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Right in the Night--Jam & Spoon (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Look Who's Talking--Dr. Alban

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): La solitudine--Laura Pausini (8th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Je danse le Mia--IAM (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Without You--Mariah Carey

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Doop--Doop (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 The Sign--Ace of Base (3rd week at #1)
2 Bump n' Grind--R. Kelly
3 Without You/Never Forget You--Mariah Carey
4 The Power of Love--Celine Dion
5 Whatta Man--Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue
6 So Much in Love--All-4-One
7 Now and Forever--Richard Marx
8 Gin and Juice--Snoop Doggy Dogg
9 Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)--Us3
10 Breathe Again--Toni Braxton

Singles entering the chart were Pumps and a Bump by M.C. Hammer (#75); How Do You Like It? by Keith Sweat (#78); Got Me Waiting by Heavy D & the Boyz (#89); Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) by Billy Joel (#90); and Don't Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John & RuPaul (#92).

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Sign--Ace of Base (2nd week at #1)
2 Without You--Mariah Carey
3 The Power of Love--Celine Dion
4 So Much in Love--All-4-One
5 Bump N' Grind--R. Kelly
6 Now and Forever--Richard Marx
7 Gin and Juice--Snoop Doggy Dogg
8 Whatta Man--Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue
9 Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)--Us3
10 Streets of Philadelphia--Bruce Springsteen

Singles entering the chart were Because of Love by Janet Jackson (#11); March of the Pigs by Nine Inch Nails (#38); Return to Innocence by Enigma (#51); Player's Ball by Outkast (#53); A Deeper Love by Aretha Franklin (#56); Love Sneakin' Up on You by Bonnie Raitt (#57); Mass Appeal by Gang Starr (#59); You Don't Love Me (No, No, No) by Dawn Penn (#61); Since I Don't Have You by Guns N' Roses (#62); Somethin' to Ride To (Fonky Expedition) by Conscious Daughters (#64); Electric Relaxation (Relax Yourself Girl) by Tribe Called Quest (#66); and Come to My Window by Melissa Etheridge (#81).

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Jan Sterling, 82. U.S. actress. Miss Sterling was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting performance in The High and the Mighty (1954). Her other movies included Johnny Belinda (1948) and Ace in the Hole (1951). Miss Sterling died eight days before her 83rd birthday.

Jan Berry, 62. U.S. singer and record producer. Mr. Berry was half of the pop singing duo Jan & Dean, who had a string of hit singles from 1959-1966, most notably Surf City, which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1963. In addition to writing and producing Jan & Dean's records, Mr. Berry was a medical student, but these activities came to an end when he suffered serious brain damage in a car accident on April 12, 1966. He briefly returned to the recording studio a few years later, and he and Dean resumed performing as a nostalgia act from 1978 through the 1990s. Mr. Berry died eight days before his 63rd birthday.

War
Eight Pakistani soldiers taken hostage by foreign terrorists in the South Waziristan region of the country were found dead, believed to have been executed.

Crime
Quebec radio personality Robert Gillet was convicted of having sex with an underage prostitute. He said he thought the girl was of legal age, and he was the star witness in the case of an alleged teen prostitution ring that resulted in charges against 43 men.