March 28, 2015

220 years ago
1795

Canadiana
Spanish authorities evacuated the trading post at Friendly Cove in what is now Nootka Sound, British Columbia to British officials.

Europeana
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceased to exist, and became part of Imperial Russia.

130 years ago
1885

War
A.G. Irvine withdrew his North West Mounted Police force from Fort Carlton, Northwest Territories, to Prince Albert; he had arrived with reinforcements to fight the North West Rebellion. Meanwhile, General Frederick Dobson Middleton left for the west in command of 5,000 troops to fight the North West Rebellion.

125 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Paul Whiteman. U.S. bandleader. Mr. Whiteman, nicknamed the "King of Jazz," was one of the most popular bandleaders of the 1920s, recruiting into his orchestra too many talented people to name here. Mr. Whiteman's orchestra recorded 32 singles that reached #1 in the United States, but Mr. Whteman was perhaps best known for commissioning George Gershwin's composition Rhapsody in Blue, first performed and recorded in 1924. Mr. Whiteman was musical director of the ABC radio network in the 1940s and '50s; he died on December 29, 1967 at the age of 77.

120 years ago
1895

Born on this date
Donald Grey Barnhouse. U.S. clergyman. Dr. Barnhouse was ordained by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1918, and served as pastor at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1927 until his death on November 5, 1960 at the age of 65. He published the magazine Revelation from 1931-1950, and then replaced it with Eternity. Dr. Barnhouse had a long-running radio program titled The Bible Study Hour; he recorded the programs, which can be found today under the title Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

Christian Herter. U.S. politician. Mr. Herter, a Republican, sat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1930-1942); represented Massachusetts' 10th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1943-1953); and served as Governor of Massachusetts (1953-1957). He was U.S. Undersecretary of State (1957-1959), and succeeded John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State on April 22, 1959, when Mr. Dulles resigned after falling fatally ill with cancer. As Secretary of State, Mr. Herter had to deal with Cold War issues such as the status of Berlin and the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro. He took a cautious approach in dealing with the U.S.S.R., while taking a hard line on Cuba. Mr. Herter served as U.S. Trade Representative from 1962 until his death on December 30, 1966 at the age of 71.

Ángela Ruiz Robles. Spanish inventor. Miss Robles was a teacher who was a awarded a patent in 1949 for the "mechanical encyclopedia," a precursor to the electronic book. She died on October 27, 1975 at the age of 80.

Spencer W. Kimball. U.S. religious leader. Mr. Kimball was the 12th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1973 until his death. During his time as President (in 1978), the ban on Negroes entering the Mormon priesthood or receiving temple ordinances was lifted. Mr. Kimball died on November 5, 1985 at the age of 90, and was succeeded as President by former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ezra Taft Benson.

110 years ago
1905

Born on this date
Pandro S. Berman. U.S. movie producer. Mr. Berman was with RKO Radio Pictures in the 1930s before moving to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He was nominated for, but never won, the Academy Award for Best Picture for The Gay Divorcee (1934); Top Hat (1935); Alice Adams (1935); Stage Door (1937); Father of the Bride (1950); and Ivanhoe (1952). Mr. Berman died on July 13, 1996 at the age of 91.

100 years ago
1915

Born on this date
Jay Livingston. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Livingston--born Jacob Levison--and songwriting partner Jay Evans were known for writing songs for movies, and three Academy Awards for Best Original Song: Buttons and Bows (The Paleface, 1948); Mona Lisa (Captain Carey, U.S.A., 1950); and Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) (The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956). Mr. Livingston died on October 17, 2001 at the age of 86.

80 years ago
1935

Radio
The Canadian Radio Commission prohibited "sales talks or spot advertising" on Sundays.

75 years ago
1940

War
The Allied War Council in London issued a communique indicating that France and Britain would not conclude a peace treaty without mutual consent. Secret plans to cut the supply of Swedish iron ore to Germany through Norwegian waters were adopted.

Diplomacy
U.S. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles returned to Washington and reported to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on his European fact-finding trip.

Politics and government
Alexander Augustus Frederick, Earl of Athlone was approved by the cabinet as the next Governor General of Canada, replacing John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, who had died in office on February 11, 1940.

The Standing Committee of the National Party in Chungking gave the title of "Father of the Chinese Republic" to Sun Yat-sen.

Crime
Three men pled guilty in New York to smuggling aliens into the United States from the liner Uruguay.

Education
The New York State Senate passed and sent to Governor Herbert Lehman the McCaffrey bill providing for a Bill of Rights Week in public schools.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a 24.4% decrease in total sales on all security exchanges for the month of February 1940.

70 years ago
1945

Literature
The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced that W.H. Auden was the winner of the Academy's annual poetry prize.

War
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his fourth appeal for enactment of a manpower bill, urging the Senate to adopt the conference report. U.K. troops in northern Germany reached the city of Borken and pushed on to Muenster, while further south, American troops took Kirchellen, Sterkrade, and Ruhrort. Soviet forces captured Gdynia on the Baltic and Gyoer and Komarno at the Czech-Hungarian border. The Japanese drive on the U.S. air base at the Chinese city of Laohokow reached a point 25 miles northeast of the city.

Diplomacy
The government of Argentina said that staff members of the Japanese embassy had been confined to their homes under police guard.

The U.S. State Department announced an invitation to Syria and Lebanon to attend the San Francisco Conference to found the United Nations.

Politics and government
It was reported from Reykjavik that President Svejnn Bjoernsson would have no opposition in Iceland's first presidential election in June 1945.

Technology
International Telephone & Telegraph announced the formation of International Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. to coordinate the parent firm's worldwide electronic research on radio, television, and aerial navigation.

Dr. Katherine Blodgett of General Electric was chosen by the American Association of University Women for its annual achievement award for inventing "invisible gas" and developing a method of preventing wasteful loss of light by depositing a non-reflecting film on glass.

Labour
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Eric Johnson, American Federation of Labor President William Green, and Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray signed a charter for postwar industrial relations, calling for mutual recognition, social security measures, increased foreign tradem and the establishment of a national business-labour committee.

Soft coal miners authorized United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis to call a strike.

50 years ago
1965

Died on this date
Jack Hoxie, 80. U.S actor. Mr. Hoxie was a popular star of Western movies from 1913-1929.

Clemence Dane, 77. U.K. author. Miss Dane, whose real name was Winifred Ashton, was known for plays such as A Bill of Divorcement (1921) and novels such as Enter Sir John (1928). She and Anthony Pelissier won an Academy Award for their screenplay for Perfect Strangers (1945).

Charles Train, 74. U.K. soldier. Corporal Train served with the London Regiment (London Scottish) in Jerusalem during World War I. His actions in killing enemy soldiers near Jerusalem on December 8, 1917 earned him the Victoria Cross. Corporal Train was later promoted to Sergeant; he eventually moved to Canada, and died in Vancouver.

40 years ago
1975

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Please Mr. Postman--Carpenters (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Griechischer Wein--Udo Jürgens (7th week at #1)

Hockey
NHL
Los Angeles 2 @ Vancouver 4
Washington 5 @ California 3

Don Lever scored a goal and 2 assists as the Canucks outshot the Kings 41-16 in defeating them before a sellout crowd of 15,570 at Pacific Coliseum. The win moved Vancouver a point ahead of the Chicago Black Hawks and 3 points ahead of the St. Louis Blues in the battle for first place in the Smythe Division.

Nelson Pyatt scored the winning goal with 13:29 remaining in the game and scored another into an empty net with 16 seconds remaining as the Capitals defeated the Golden Seals before 3,933 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena for their first road win ever. The first-year expansion Washington team improved its record to 7-64-5.

WHA
Edmonton 4 @ Toronto 5

Wayne Dillon scored his 27th and 28th goals of the season and assisted on Frank Mahovlich's 35th and Tom Simpson's 51st as the Toros held on to edge the Oilers before 12,103 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Basketball
NBA
Portland 105 @ Milwaukee 128
Cleveland 105 @ Houston 112
Kansas City-Omaha 103 @ Los Angeles 114

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38 points as the Bucks defeated the Trail Blazers before 10,938 fans at Milwaukee Arena.

Calvin Murphy scored 28 points as the Rockets beat the Cavaliers before 10,518 fans at Hofheinz Pavilion, the largest home crowd in Rockets' history to date.

Gail Goodrich scored a career-high 53 points--36 in the 2nd half--to lead the Lakers over the Kings before 11,243 fans at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Nate Archibald led Kansas City-Omaha with 40 points.

ABA
Kentucky 110 @ Virginia 88
Indiana 96 @ St. Louis 125

Artis Gilmore scored 28 points and Dan Issel added 23 as the Colonels beat the Squires before 5,703 fans at Norfolk Scope. The loss was Virginia's 64th of the season, an ABA record.

Maurice Lucas scored 28 points and grabbed 24 rebounds as the Spirits beat the Pacers before 4,311 fans at St. Louis Arena.

Baseball
The Oakland Athletics purchased outfielder Don Hopkins from the Montreal Expos. Mr. Hopkins had begun the 1974 season with the Kinston Expos of the Class A Carolina League, batting .301 in 82 games, with 49 stolen bases, before moving up to the Quebec Carnavals of the AA Eastern League, batting .261 in 12 games, with 8 stolen bases, and finally the Memphis Blues of the AAA International League, where he batted .091 in 8 games, with 2 stolen bases.

30 years ago
1985

Died on this date
Marc Chagall, 97. Russian-born French artist. Mr. Chagall worked in several media, but was best known as one of the most prominent European modernist painters.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 3 @ Boston 6

25 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (6th week at #1)

Americana
U.S. President George H. W. Bush posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to Jesse Owens. Mr. Owens, a Negro, had won four gold medals in track and field in the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, thus damaging German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler's ideas of German racial superiority. The award came 10 years almost to the day after Mr. Owens' death; he died on March 31, 1980 at the age of 66.

Diplomacy
Vytautas Landsbergis, President of the breakaway republic of Lithuania, called for talks with the Soviet government.

Protest
Two days of fighting among Negro factions in South Africa concluded with 25 fatalities.

20 years ago
1995

Died on this date
Mireille Durocher Bertin. Haitian lawyer. Mrs. Bertin was an opponent of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and was planning to run for President against him when she was shot to death in Port-au-Prince while being driven by a client, Eugene "Junior" Baillergeau, away from the U.S. military’s Camp Democracy headquarters. Mr. Baillergeau, who was killed along with Mrs. Bertin, was in litigation with the U.S. military over damages a U.S. helicopter had allegedly done to his private plane.

Hugh O'Connor, 32. U.S. actor. Mr. O'Connor, the son of actor Carroll O'Connor, appeared with his father in the television series In the Heat of the Night (1988-1995). He had long had a problem with drug addiction, and fatally shot himself 10 days before his 33rd birthday.

Basketball
NBA
Chicago 113 @ New York 111

Michael Jordan scored 55 points and assisted on the winning field goal by Bill Wennington as the Bulls edged the Knickerbockers at Madison Square Garden.

10 years ago
2005

Disasters
The 2005 Sumatra earthquake rocked Indonesia, and at magnitude 8.7, was the fourth strongest earthquake since 1965.