March 4, 2015

350 years ago
1665

War
King Charles II of England declared war on the Netherlands, marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

225 years ago
1790

Franciana
France was divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.

210 years ago
1805

Politics and government
Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated into his second term as the 3rd President of the United States of America.

190 years ago
1825

Politics and government
John Quincy Adams was inaugurated as the 6th President of the United States of America.

170 years ago
1845

Politics and government
James K. Polk was inaugurated as the 11th President of the United States of America.

150 years ago
1865

Americana
The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America was adopted by the Confederate Congress.

Politics and government
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated into his second term as the 16th President of the United States of America.

Samuel Leonard Tilley was defeated in New Brunswick elections in what was seen as a vote against Confederation with Canada.

130 years ago
1885

Politics and government
Grover Cleveland was inaugurated as the 22nd President of the United States of America.

125 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Norman Bethune. Canadian physician. Dr. Bethune, a native of Gravenhurst, Ontario, was a thoracic surgeon who joined the Communist Party of Canada after visiting the U.S.S.R. in 1935. He aided the Loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War in 1936-1937, where he pioneered a mobile blood transfusion service. Dr. Bethune went to China in 1938, where he aided the forces of Communist leader Mao Zedong. He died of blood poisoning at the age of 49 on November 12, 1939, after cutting his finger while operating on a soldier.

Transportation
The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, a railway bridge measuring 1,710 feet (520 metres) long and connecting Edinburgh to Fife over the Firth of Forth, was opened by the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII.

110 years ago
1905

Politics and government
Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated into a term in his own right as the 26th President of the United States of America. Mr. Roosevelt had succeeded William McKinley as President upon Mr. McKinley's death on September 14, 1901.

100 years ago
1915

Died on this date
William Willett, 58. U.K. builder. Mr. Willett was a house builder who was better known for his advocacy of daylight saving time. He died of influenza a year before British Summer Time went into effect during World War I.

90 years ago
1925

Died on this date
John Montgomery Ward, 65. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Ward was a pitcher, outfielder, and shortstop with the Providence Grays (1878-1882); New York Gothams and Giants (1883-1889, 1893-1894); Brooklyn Wonders (1890); and Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1891-1892), batting .275 with 26 home runs and 869 runs batted in in 1,827 games. He pitched from 1878-1884, posting a record of 164-103 with an earned run average of 2.10. Mr. Ward's best season was 1879, when he was 47-19 with an ERA of 2.15, while batting .286 with 2 homers and 41 RBIs. On June 17, 1880 he pitched the second perfect game in major league history as the Grays blanked the Buffalo Bisons 5-0; the game occurred just five days after Lee Richmond had pitched the first perfect game in major league history. Mr. Ward died of pneumonia the day after his 65th birthday; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.

Politics and government
Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated into a term in his own right as the 30th President of the United States of America. His inaugural address, the first to be broadcast on radio, was carried by 21 stations. Mr. Coolidge had succeeded Warren G. Harding as President upon Mr. Harding's death on August 2, 1923.

75 years ago
1940

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: The Beryl Coronet

War
Soviet troops crossed Viborg Bay on the ice to the Finnish mainland west of Viborg, virtually completing the capture of the city.

Diplomacy
Italy protested British orders to seize coal-laden ships leaving German ports.

The Romanian government rejected the Italian offer to join the Anti-Comintern Pact.

Protest
Meeting in Jerusalem, the National Council of Palestinian Jews adopted a resolution stating that it could not accept the new British regulations limiting Jewish land purchases in agricultural areas of Palestine.

Economics and finance
A Gallup Poll reported that 55% of Americans favoured lending the U.K. and France money for arms an supplies should it appear that Germany was going to win the European war.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill extending provisions of the Bankruptcy Act for farmers until March 4, 1944.

New Zealand acting Prime Minister Peter Fraser announced that a $5-million loan by the Bank of New Zealand to the government for war purposes would be interest-free for the war's duration.

Agriculture
H.L. Mitchell of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union declared that nearly one million families had been displaced from southern cotton farms in the United States since 1930 because of mechanization.

Disasters
An ice storm from eastern Pennsylvania to Boston caused greater damage than the 1938 hurricane.

Basketball
NCAA
Purdue University defeated the University of Illinois to win the Big Ten championship.

70 years ago
1945

Died on this date
Lucille La Verne, 72. U.S. actress. Miss La Verne was a noted stage and film actress who is best remembered for providing the voice of the evil stepmother in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

Mark Sandrich, 44. U.S. film director. Mr. Sandrich, born Mark Goldstein, directed such movies as The Gay Divorcee (1934); Top Hat (1935); Shall We Dance (1937); and Holiday Inn (1942). He died suddenly of heart failure.

War
Finland, formerly an ally of Germany, declared war on Germany. Reaching to within 2 miles of Cologne, U.S. troops in Germany seized Koenigsdorf and entered Widdersdorf and Loevenich. Soviet troops reached the Baltic coast of Pomerania in the vicinity of Kolberg. The U.S. 6th Army completed clearing Manila of Japanese forces, a month after entering the city. The Japanese garrison, originally consisting of 20,000 naval soldiers, was eliminated.

Diplomacy
The United States invited 39 nations to attend the conference in San Francisco in April to draw up a charter for an international organization.

Economics and finance
The Inter-American Conference in Mexico City approved eight resolutions concerning economic problems of World War II.

60 years ago
1955

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Softly, Softly--Ruby Murray (3rd week at #1)

50 years ago
1965

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): I'll Never Find Another You--The Seekers (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The United States Information Agency announced that it would close its libraries in Indonesia, which had been under attack since 1958.

40 years ago
1975

On television today
Proceedings of a Canadian parliamentary committee in Ottawa were televised for the first time.

Britannica
Movie legend Charles Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

30 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Want to Know What Love Is--Foreigner (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Cinderella wa Nemurenai--The Alfee

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Amante Bandido--Miguel Bosé (2nd week at #1)

Health
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.

25 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): All or Nothing--Milli Vanilli

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

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor
2 Bakerman--Laid Back
3 Sit and Wait--Sydney Youngblood
4 Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic
5 Got to Get--Rob 'n' Raz featuring Leila K.
6 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield
7 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
8 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins
9 Rich in Paradise "Going Back to My Roots"--F.P.I. Project
10 The Message is Love--Arthur Baker and the Backbeat Disciples featuring Al Green

Singles entering the chart were Touch Me by the 49ers (#16) and I Don't Wanna Lose You by Tina Turner (#29).

Died on this date
Hank Gathers, 23. U.S. basketball player. Mr. Gathers, a center with Loyola Marymount University, had led the National Collegiate Athletic Association in scoring and rebounding the previous season as a junior, and was averaging 28.8 points in 1989-90, leading the West Coast Conference. He was projected to be a first-round choice in the 1990 National Basketball Association draft. Mr. Gathers, who had collapsed during a game because of a heart arrythmia three months earlier, collapsed again during the 1st half of his team’s game in Los Angeles against Portland. He was rushed to hospital, and died 1 hour and 41 minutes later, three weeks after his 23rd birthday.



World events
Negro nationalists believed to be sympathetic to the African National Congress overthrew the president of the South African "homeland" of Ciskei.

20 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Another Night--Real McCoy (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)--Scatman John

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): A Girl Like You--Edwyn Collins (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Zombie--The Cranberries

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): No Limit--Irene Moors & de Smurfen (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Think Twice--Celine Dion (5th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Take a Bow--Madonna (2nd week at #1)
2 Creep--TLC
3 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
4 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
5 Baby--Brandy
6 Another Night--Real McCoy
7 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
8 If You Love Me--Brownstone
9 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
10 Always--Bon Jovi

Singles entering the chart were Red Light Special by TLC (#39); For Your Love by Stevie Wonder (#71); Get Lifted by Keith Murray (#83); Mr. Personality by Gillette (#84); Never Find Someone Like You by Keith Martin (#85); and What I Need by Crystal Waters (#87).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Take a Bow--Madonna (3rd week at #1)
2 Creep--TLC
3 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
4 If You Love Me--Brownstone
5 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
6 Hold My Hand--Hootie & the Blowfish
7 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
8 Sukiyaki--4 P.M.
9 I Know--Dionne Farris
10 Every Day of the Week--Jade

Singles entering the chart were Foe Tha Love of $ by Bone Thugs N Harmony featuring Eazy-E (#67) and Where I Wanna Be Boy by Missjones (#80).

Died on this date
eden ahbez, 86. U.S. musician. Mr. ahbez, born George Alexander Aberle, was a pianist and dance band leader in Kansas City who moved to Los Angeles and adopted a "nature boy" lifestyle, growing a beard and long hair, living outdoors, studying Oriental mysticism, and observing a vegetarian diet. Mr. ahbez, who believed that God and Infinity were the only words deserving capitalization, was best known for writing the song Nature Boy, which was a major hit for Nat "King" Cole in 1948. Other songs written by Mr. ahbez included End of Desire and Lonely Island. He died from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Matt Urban, 75. U.S. military officer. Lieutenant Colonel Urban, born Matt Urbanowicz, was one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War II, performing valiantly despite being wounded several times. Among his dozen personal decorations were seven Purple Hearts, and in 1980, the Medal of Honor. The latter was awarded for action in France in 1944; the initial recommendation for the decoration had been misplaced. Lt. Col. Urban died from a collapsed lung, the result of one of his war wounds.