February 16, 2015

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Veronica Jones and Anna!

110 years ago
1905

Died on this date
Jay Cooke, 83. U.S. financier. Mr. Cooke opened the private banking house of Jay Cooke & Company in Philadelphia on January 1, 1861; he's generally acknowledged as the first major investment banker in the United States and creator of the first wire house firm. Mr. Cooke helped finance the Union war effort during the American Civil War and the Northern Pacific Railway after the war.

75 years ago
1940

At the movies
A Chump at Oxford, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, opened in theatres.



War
A Gallup Poll reported that Americans favoured staying out of the European war by a margin of 68%-32%. The Royal Canadian Air Force's No. 110 Army Cooperation Squadron sailed for Britain, the first of 48 RCAF squadrons to go overseas. 299 British prisoners were freed from the German tanker Altmark when it was seized in Norwegian waters by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack and taken to Leith, Scotland.

World events
The German merchant chip Koenigsberg returned to Paraguay after being challenged by a Brazilian gunboat.

Sport
The Pan-American Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union met in New York to discuss the possibility of staging Pan-Am Games in the near future.

70 years ago
1945

Abominations
Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, estimated that only 1-1.5 million of 6 million Jews were still alive on the European continent.

War
The United States War Department announced that draft registrants under the age of 38 who were not physically qualified for general military service, but who had left essential war jobs, were being inducted into the Army. In a 17-mile gain on the Oder River, Soviet forces came to within 62 miles southeast of Berlin. U.S. paratroopers and sea assault units invaded Corregidor, making quick advances against little Japanese resistance.

Labour
The World Trade Union Congress in London adopted a program for participation in the peace settlement, including these points:
1. Authorities occupying Germany shall recognize the voice of labour;
2. The trade union movement should be consulted on the use of material and mapower for the restoration of Germany;
3. that Dumbarton Oaks was obligated to put an end to international cartels and monopolies;
4. that provision should be made for labour representation in the United Nations.

St. Paul, Minnesota radio station KSTP ended an 11-month fight against American Federation of Musicians President James Petrillo, and gave in to union demands to employ an additional eight musicians for 22 hours per week at $52 each.

Politics and government
The United States House of Representatives passed the George bill, divorcing lending agencies from the Commerce Department.

Journalism
The government of Argentina closed the anti-U.S. newspapers Cabildo and Pampero on the grounds that they were printed on imported newsprint and that this was protested by several foreign ministers.

Drew Pearson, author of the column Washington Merry-Go-Round, started a suit for libel against columnist Westbrook Pegler, charging Mr. Pegler with writing that Mr. Pearson was "a miscalled news broadcaster specializing in falsehoods and smearing people with political and personal motivation."

50 years ago
1965

On television tonight
The Fugitive, starring David Janssen, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Moon Child, with guest stars Murray Hamilton, June Harding, David Sheiner, and Virginia Christine

Music
The Beatles were at EMI Studios in London, where they finished recording the songs I Need You and Another Girl, and recorded the song Yes it Is.

Space
The United States launched Pegasus 1, a winged satellite whose purpose was the study of micrometeroid impacts in low Earth orbit.

Transportation
British Railways Board chairman Richard Beeching delivered a report outlining transportation needs over the next quarter-century.

40 years ago
1975

Died on this date
Morgan Taylor, 71. U.S. runner. Mr. Taylor won a gold medal in men's 400-metre hurdles at the 1924 Summer Olympic Games in Paris and won bronze medals in the same events in 1928 in Amsterdam and 1932 in Los Angeles, becoming the first American to win three Olympic medals in track.

30 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): The Wild Boys--Duran Duran

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Do What You Do--Jermaine Jackson

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Easy Lover--Philip Bailey (with Phil Collins) (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I Know Him So Well--Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: I Know Him So Well--Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Careless Whisper--Wham! featuring George Michael

U.S.A. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Careless Whisper--Wham! featuring George Michael
2 Easy Lover--Philip Bailey (with Phil Collins)
3 I Want to Know What Love Is--Foreigner
4 You're the Inspiration--Chicago
5 Loverboy--Billy Ocean
6 The Boys of Summer--Don Henley
7 California Girls--David Lee Roth
8 Sugar Walls--Sheena Easton
9 Method of Modern Love--Daryl Hall John Oates
10 The Old Man Down the Road--John Fogerty

Singles entering the chart were I'm on Fire by Bruce Springsteen (#47); When the Rain Begins to Fall by Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora (#73); Rhythm of the Night by DeBarge (#78); Lucky by Greg Kihn (#80); Second Nature by Dan Hartman (#83); Radioactive by the Firm (#85); Kiss and Tell by Isley, Jasper, Isley (#88); and Bongo Bongo by the Steve Miller Band (#90).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Easy Lover--Philip Bailey (with Phil Collins) (2nd week at #1)
2 I Want to Know What Love Is--Foreigner
3 Careless Whisper--Wham! featuring George Michael
4 All I Need--Jack Wagner
5 You're the Inspiration--Chicago
6 Neutron Dance--Pointer Sisters
7 Loverboy--Billy Ocean
8 Like a Virgin--Madonna
9 Method of Modern Love--Daryl Hall John Oates
10 California Girls--David Lee Roth

Singles entering the chart were This is Not America by David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group (#70); Material Girl by Madonna (#76); Too Late for Goodbyes by Julian Lennon (#84); Lovergirl by Teena Marie (#93); Only the Young by Journey (#94); High on You by Survivor (#95); and When the Rain Begins to Fall by Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora (#96).

Died on this date
Marian Engel, 51. Canadian author. Mrs. Engel, born Marian Passmore, was known for writing about women in late middle age. Her best-known novel was Bear (1976), which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction. Mrs. Engel died of cancer.

Terrorism
The Lebanon-based Shi'ite terrorist group Hezbollah was founded. Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin issued Hezbollah's manifesto.

Scandal
Five days after being acquitted of violating the Official Secrets Act for leaking two documents about the sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in the 1982 Falklands War, Clive Ponting, resigned his post.

25 years ago
1990

Scandal
In a closed Los Angeles courtroom, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan began two days of videotaped testimony for use in the trial of former national security adviser John Poindexter. Admiral Poindexter was on trial for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the merchandise trade deficit, which stood at $108.58 billion for all of 1989, was the lowest since 1984. Exports rose 13% in 1989, imports only 7.3%.

Hockey
NHL
Vancouver 2 Edmonton 2

20 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Don't You Know--Pandora (2nd week at #1)

10 years ago
2005

Abominations
The Kyoto Protocol, an international wealth-transfer scam masquerading as an environmental initiative, came into force following its ratification by Russia.

Labour
The National Hockey League cancelled the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs after a round of last-gasp negotiations failed to resolve differences over a salary cap. The players had been locked out since the summer of 2004.