February 23, 2015

330 years ago
1685

Born on this date
Georg Frideric Handel. German-born U.K. composer. Mr. Handel moved to England permanently in 1712. His compositions include Water Music (1713); Messiah (1742); and Royal Fireworks Music (1749). He died on April 14, 1759 at the age of 74.

130 years ago
1885

War
In the Sino-French War, the French Army gained an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam.

110 years ago
1905

Society
Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen met for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.

100 years ago
1915

Born on this date
Jon Hall. U.S. actor. Mr. Hall, born Charles Felix Locher, was best known for his starring role in the movie The Hurricane (1937). He was also an inventor and aviator, and held patents on an underwater camera, optivision lenses and the design of the hulls of PT boats for the United States Navy. Mr. Hall was suffering from bladder cancer when he committed suicide on December 13, 1979 at the age of 64.

Paul Tibbets. U.S. military aviator. Brigadier General Tibbets was a United States Army aviator who was best known as the pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. He died on November 5, 2007 at the age of 92.

75 years ago
1940

War
Allied forces established a blockade in the Arctic in an effort to halt shipment of high-grade ore to Germany from Scandinavia.

Economics and finance
Chinese officials rejected a British offer to settle their dispute over $3.2 million in silver by storing it in a neutral bank.

70 years ago
1945

Died on this date
Aleksey Tolstoy, 62. Russian author. Mr. Tolstoy, the son of Count Nikolai Tolstoy and a distant relative of author Leo Tolstoy, was known for science fiction and historical novels. His novels included Aelita (1923) and The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin (1927).

War
The Turkish National Assembly voted a declaration of war against Germany and Japan. U.S. Undersecretary of War Robert Patterson said that the Army would need 900,000 more men, and that war industries would need 700,000 in the first six months of 1945. The German town of Pforzheim was annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers. U.S. forces in Germany crossed the Roer River, and fought their way to Juelich and Dueren. The German garrison in Poznań capitulated to Soviet and Polish forces, with a reported loss of 84,000 German troops in the month-long siege. Manila was liberated by combined Filipino and American forces. The U.S. 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, freed the captives of the Los Baños internment camp. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman reached the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and were photographed raising the American flag.

Politics and government
Netherlands Prime Minister Pieter Gerbrandy completed formation of a new cabinet except for two positions to be filled shortly.

Diplomacy
Alberto Tarchiani, the new Italian Ambassador to the U.S.A., arrived in Washington to assume his duties.

60 years ago
1955

On television tonight
Disneyland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Davy Crockett at the Alamo, starring Fess Parker

This was the third of five episodes starring Mr. Parker as Davy Crockett, sparking a national Davy Crockett craze in the United States.

Defense
The first meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) took place.

50 years ago
1965

Died on this date
Stan Laurel, 74. U.K.-born U.S. actor. Mr. Laurel, born Arthur Stanley Jefferson, became famous as half of the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy, teaming with Oliver Hardy to star in dozens of silent and sound films from 1927-1950. The pair comprised this blogger's favourite comedy team.

Law
Jacques Hébert was sentenced in Quebec to 30 days in jail and a $3,000 fine for contempt of court for statements in J'Accuse les assassins de Coffin (1963), his book about the 1956 execution of Wilbert Coffin, a prospector who had been convicted of the 1953 murders of three men.

Health
The Ontario Medical Services Insurance Committee recommended a health insurance plan similar to Alberta's.

40 years ago
1975

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 1 @ Buffalo 4

Rick Martin scored 2 goals, including the winner with 1:23 remaining in the 2nd period, to lead the Sabres over the Maple Leafs before 15,863 fans at War Memorial Auditorium in the weekly CBC radio broadcast. Jocelyn Guevremont opened the scoring for Buffalo in the 1st period; after Blaine Stoughton scored for Toronto in the 2nd period to tie the game, Mr. Martin scored his 37th goal of the season, and Rick Dudley scored just 14 seconds later to make the score 3-1. Mr. Martin scored his 38th of the season with 6:27 remaining in the game. Gary Bromley won the goaltending duel over Gord McRae.

30 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Noi Ragazzi Di Oggi--Luis Miguel

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Do What You Do--Jermaine Jackson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Shout--Tears for Fears

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I Know Him So Well--Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: I Know Him So Well--Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Careless Whisper--Wham! featuring George Michael (2nd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Careless Whisper--Wham! (2nd week at #1)
2 Easy Lover--Philip Bailey (with Phil Collins)
3 I Want to Know What Love Is--Foreigner
4 Loverboy--Billy Ocean
5 California Girls--David Lee Roth
6 The Boys of Summer--Don Henley
7 Sugar Walls--Sheena Easton
8 Can't Fight This Feeling--REO Speedwagon
9 Method of Modern Love--Daryl Hall John Oates
10 The Old Man Down the Road--John Fogerty

Singles entering the chart were Along Comes a Woman by Chicago (#59); All She Wants to Do is Dance by Don Henley (#68); Let's Talk About Me by Alan Parsons Project (#81); Say it Again by Santana (#82); The Bird by the Time (#84); New Attitude by Patti LaBelle (#85); Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds (#87); One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head (#88); and Look My Way by the Vels (#90). New Attitude was from the movie Beverly Hills Cop (1984).

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

Singles entering the chart included Act of an Innocent by Parachute Club (#88); Day by Day by Doug and the Slugs (#93); and Radioactive by the Firm (#96).

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 6 Winnipeg 4
Washington 3 Edmonton 3

Basketball
NCAA
Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight, angered by a foul call against one of his players and a technical against himself for yelling an obscenity, was ejected from a game against Purdue for hurling a chair from the bench area across the court during a game in Bloomington.

25 years ago
1990

Died on this date
José Napoleón Duarte, 64. President of El Salvador, 1984-1989. Mr. Duarte was a founding member of the centrist Christian Democratic Party before serving as Mayor of San Salvador from 1964-1970. He lost a close and disputed presidential election in 1972, but when a junta took power in 1979, served as El Salvador's head of state from 1980-1982, during a civil war against the rebel organization Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). Mr. Duarte was elected President in 1984; he was supported by the United States, and succeeded in ending the civil war. Mr. Duarte served out his term in 1989, despite suffering from terminal stomach cancer.

Politics and government
Kim Campbell, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre, became Canada's first female Justice Minister, replacing Doug Lewis, as Prime Minister Brian Mulroney shuffled his Progressive Conservative cabinet. Benoît Bouchard became Minister of Industry, Science and Technology in the shuffle.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 6 @ Edmonton 5

This was the Maple Leafs’ first win in Edmonton since 1979.

20 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Club Bizarre--U96

Died on this date
James Herriot, 78. U.K. veterinarian and author. Dr. Herriot, born James Alfred Wight, was a veterinary surgeon in rural England whose experiences served as the basis for a number of books, published separately in Britain but collected into several omnibus volumes in North America under the titles All Creatures Great and Small (1972); All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974); and All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977).

Melvin Franklin, 52. U.S. singer. Mr. Franklin, born David Melvin English, was a member of the Temptations from 1960-1994, contributing bass vocals. He suffered from arthritis and diabetes, and died after a series of seizures.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (Republican--Texas) held a dinner in Dallas to raise funds for his campaign for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in the 1996 election, and raised $4.1 million, believed to be a record for such an event.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 4,000 for the first time, at 4,003.33.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 3 Anaheim 1

10 years ago
2005

Education
The French law on colonialism was passed, requiring teachers to teach the "positive values of colonialism." After public outcry, it was repealed at the beginning of 2006.