March 25, 2015

270 years ago
1745

Born on this date
John Barry. U.S. military officer. Commodore Barry, known as the "Father of the American Navy," was appointed a captain in the Continental Navy in 1775, and served in the Revolutionary War. In 1797, he became the first commissioned U.S. Navy officer, receiving Commission No. 1 and the rank of commodore, backdated to June 4, 1794, from President George Washington. Commodore Barry died on September 13, 1803 at the age of 58.

170 years ago
1845

Defense
The New Zealand Legislative Council passed the first Militia Act, constituting the New Zealand Army.

150 years ago
1865

War
In the U.S. Civil War, Confederate forces temporarily captured Fort Stedman, Virginia from the Union.

75 years ago
1940

War
The United Kingdom announced that she would use all legal means to harass German ships carrying iron ore from Narvik, Norway to Germany.

Politics and government
The New Zealand Labour Party ousted left-wing leader John Lee.

U.S. Vice President John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner instructed Oregon Secretary of State Earl Snell to place Mr. Garner's name on that state's ballot for the May 17 Democratic Party primary for the 1940 nomination for President of the United States.

Journalism
O'Estado de Sao Paulo, the leading morning newspaper in Brazil, was ordered closed by the Brazilian government because of its alleged opposition to President Getúlio Vargas.

Radio
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission need not consider the impact on competition when it issued a new radio license.

Economics and finance
Mexico expropriated 1.5 million acres of American-owned land in the state of Chiapas.

Business
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 1939 ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals awarding 20% of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's profits from the movie Letty Lynton (1932) to Edward Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes. The Second Circuit Court had upheld a 1936 federal District Court ruling that the movie's script had followed too closely Mr. Sheldon and Miss Margaret Ayer Barnes' play Dishonored Lady (1930), without acquiring the rights to the play or giving credit. According to MGM records, the film earned $754,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $418,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $390,000. The movie has been unavailable except for bootleg copies since the 1936 District Court ruling.

The U.S. Supreme Court found Ethyl Gasoline Corporation guilty of violating antitrust laws through its system of licensing jobbers.

70 years ago
1945

War
A U.S. Army armoured division swept ahead 27 miles east of the Rhine River and crossed the Main River, while bridgeheads on the east bank of the Rhine were expanded by the Allied troops. New Soviet forces joined the Vienna offensive, gaining 28 miles along the Danube River, while further south, other Soviet troops reached to within 72 miles of Vienna. U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur reported that the shores of Batangas Bay on the Philippine island of Luzon had been completely cleared of Japanese forces.

Golf
Byron Nelson won the Greensboro Open, finishing 8 strokes ahead of Sam Byrd.

60 years ago
1955

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Give Me Your Word--Tennessee Ernie Ford (3rd week at #1)

At the movies
Strategic Air Command, starring James Stewart, June Allyson, and Frank Lovejoy, opened in theatres.

Diplomacy
Italian Prime Minister Mario Scelba visited Ottawa.

Football
ORFU
Ontario Rugby Football Union President Don Downey announced that the ORFU would not challenge for the Grey Cup in 1955, but would "definitely challenge for the cup in 1956." The announcement marked the end of a 45-year tradition of a Grey Cup semi-final; through 1952, the ORFU champion had played the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union champions for the right to play in the Grey Cup, and then had played the Western Interprovincial Football Union champions in 1953 and 1954.

50 years ago
1965

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): The Last Time--The Rolling Stones (2nd week at #1)

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the satellite Cosmos 64.

Protest
25,000 U.S. civil rights activists led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully completed their four-day 54-mile march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama (see also here).

Politics and government
Dudley Senanayake took office as Prime Minister of Ceylon, succeeding Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

Crime
Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Montreal seized $25 million worth of pure heroin.

40 years ago
1975

Died on this date
Faisal, 68. King of Saudi Arabia, 1964-1975. King Faisal succeeded to the throne upon the forced abdication of his elder brother Saud. Faisal was credited with rescuing Saudi Arabia's finances and modernizing the country. Three months after appearing on the cover of Time magazine as Man of the Year for 1974, King Faisal was shot to death in his residence by his nephew Prince Faisal bin Musaid. King Faisal was succeeded as king by his younger half-brother Khalid.

Politics and government
Portuguese Prime Minister Vasco dos Santos Goncalves formed a provisional cabinet, the fourth since the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) had seized power on April 25, 1974.

Protest
Members of the National Front, flanked by 2,000 police officers, marched through north London in a demonstration against British integration with Europe.

Hockey
WHA
Vancouver 4 @ Toronto 8
Winnipeg 4 @ Indianaplis 3 (OT)

Tom Simpson scored 4 goals--his 47th, 48th, 49th, and 50th of the season--and added 2 assists to lead the Toros over the Blazers before 13,213 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Norm Beaudin scored his 15th goal of the season at 1:32 of overtime to give the Jets their win over the Racers before 11,288 fans at Market Square Arena. Bobby Hull opened the scoring for Winnipeg in the 1st period with his 71st and 72nd goals of the season.

Basketball
NBA
Philadelphia 103 @ Buffalo 118
Kansas City-Omaha 110 @ New Orleans 112
Boston 89 @ Cleveland 84
Los Angeles 122 @ Golden State 139

Bob McAdoo scored 48 points to lead the Braves over the 76ers before 12,404 fans at War Memorial Arena.

Nate Archibald scored 40 points for the Kings, but missed a layup in the final second of the game, allowing the Jazz to escape with a narrow victory before 3,388 fans at Loyola Field House. Pete Maravich led New Orleans with 36 points.

Dave Cowens scored 25 points and added 17 rebounds as the Celtics defeated the Cavaliers before 18,911 fans at Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, the largest crowd yet to witness a basketball game in that state.

Rick Barry made 17 of 26 field goal attempts and finished with 40 points and 8 steals as the Warriors beat the Lakers before 7,806 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena.

Baseball
Gary Carter's solo home run in the top of the 9th inning broke a 1-1 tie, and the Montreal Expos added an insurance run to defeat the Texas Rangers 3-1 in a spring training game before 1,628 fans in Pompano Beach, Florida.

The Houston Astros scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and 3 more in the 3rd as they routed the Atlanta Braves 11-0 in a spring training game in West Palm Beach, Florida. Winning pitcher Larry Dierker allowed just 2 hits in 7 innings, tripled in a run, and scored a run, while losing pitcher Roric Harrison allowed 10 hits, 4 bases on balls, and 9 runs--all earned--in just 2+ innings.

Frank White doubled home pinch runner Jim Wohlford with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th with the winning run as the Kansas City Royals rallied for 2 runs to edge the Boston Red Sox 5-4 in a spring training game before 2,834 fans in Fort Myers, Florida. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run for Kansas City, while Bernie Carbo homered for Boston.

The New York Mets scored 3 runs on 4 hits in the top of the 1st inning and went on to blank the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 in a spring training game in Bradenton, Florida. Losing pitcher Ken Brett, recovering from off-season elbow surgery, lasted just 1/3 inning before asking to be removed. Randy Tate started on the mound for New York and pitched 4 innings to get the win. He also singled and scored a run in 2 at bats; his hit was one more hit than he ended up getting in the regular season.

The California Angels scored 2 runs in the 6th inning and 6 in the 7th as they beat the Chicago Cubs 8-5 in a spring training game before 2,887 fans in Scottsdale, Arizona.

30 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Shout--Tears for Fears

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Mi Amore (Meu amor é...)--Akina Nakamori (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Woodpeckers from Space--VideoKids (3rd week at #1)

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1984 were presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The awards for Amadeus included Best Picture; Best Director (Milos Forman); and Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham). Other winners included: Best Actress--Sally Field (Places in the Heart); Best Supporting Actor--Haing S. Ngor (The Killing Fields); Best Supporting Actress--Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India); and Foreign Language Film--Dangerous Moves.



25 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Don't Make Me Over--Sybil (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (5th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (4th week at #1)
2 Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic
3 Bakerman--Laid Back
4 Sit and Wait--Sydney Youngblood
5 Got to Get--Rob 'n' Raz featuring Leila K.
6 Rich in Paradise "Going Back to My Roots"--F.P.I. Project
7 Easy--Ice MC
8 The Message is Love--Arthur Baker and the Backbeat Disciples featuring Al Green
9 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield
10 Fandango--Boris Bukowski

Singles entering the chart were Got to Have Your Love by Mantronix featuring Wondress (#17) and Put Your Hands Together by D Mob (#22).

War
Soviet paratroopers seized the headquarters and other property of the rebellious Communist Party of Lithuania. Ethnic Lithuanians who had deserted the army were rounded up.

Diplomacy
Nicaraguan Contra leaders said that those who were gathered in United Nations-supervised security zones in Nicaragua would remain there for months, and would keep their arms.

Crime
87 people died in a fire at the Happy Land social club in the Bronx borough of New York City. The fire, which police said was deliberately set, spread rapidly through the two-storey structure, and the victims died within minutes from burning or asphyxiation, with only a few escaping. The club, which had been ordered closed in 1988, had no sprinklers, fire exits, emergency lights, or exit signs at the time of the fire. The club was popular with immigrants from Central America, and the majority of those who died were from Honduras. Police arrested Julio Gonzalez and charged him with arson and murder. They said that Mr. Gonzalez had had an argument with a former girlfriend who worked at the club.

Hockey
NHL
Washington 4 Calgary 1

20 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Here's Johnny!--Hocus Pocus

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Think Twice--Celine Dion (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Love Me for a Reason--Boyzone

#1 single in France (SNEP): Zombie--The Cranberries (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Alice, Who the X is Alice--Gompie (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Love Can Build a Bridge--Cher, Chrissie Hynde & Neneh Cherry with Eric Clapton

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Take a Bow--Madonna (5th week at #1)
2 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
3 Creep--TLC
4 Red Light Special--TLC
5 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
6 Big Poppa/Warning--The Notorious B.I.G.
7 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
8 Baby--Brandy
9 If You Love Me--Brownstone
10 Run Away--Real McCoy

Singles entering the chart were Tell Me When by the Human League (#63); I'll Be Around by Rappin' 4-Tay featuring the Spinners (#68); Connection by Elastica (#70); Can't Stop Lovin' You by Van Halen (#75); Run-Around by Blues Traveler (#80); Here and Now by Letters to Cleo (#83); Ask of You by Raphael Saadiq (#90); and Lick It by Roula (#92). Ask of You was from the movie Higher Learning (1995).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Take a Bow--Madonna (6th week at #1)
2 If You Love Me--Brownstone
3 Baby--Brandy
4 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
5 Creep--TLC
6 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
7 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
8 Red Light Special--TLC
9 I Know--Dionne Farris
10 Big Poppa/Warning--The Notorious B.I.G.

Singles entering the chart were Shook Ones (Part 2) by Mobb Deep (#77); Tell Me When by the Human League (#82); Fat Boy by Max-A-Million (#89); and Run-Around by Blues Traveler (#91).

Technology
WikiWikiWeb, the world's first wiki, and part of the Portland Pattern Repository, was made public by Ward Cunningham.

Religion
Pope John Paul II issued his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, condemning abortion and euthanasia as crimes that no human laws could legitimize.

Hockey
NHL
Winnipeg 3 Toronto 3

10 years ago
2005

Died on this date
Paul Henning, 93. U.S. screenwriter and producer. Mr. Henning was best known for creating the television comedy series The Bob Cummings Show (1955-1959); The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971); and Petticoat Junction (1963-1970).