February 14, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Liliya!

170 years ago
1846

Born on this date
Julian Scott. U.S. artist and musician. Mr. Scott was a Union Army drummer in the American Civil War, and received the Medal of Honor in 1865 for rescuing wounded soldiers while under enemy fire in the Battle of Lee's Mills in 1862. He became a painter of Civil War scenes after the war; his best-known work was Battle of Cedar Creek (1872), which hangs in the Vermont State House. Mr. Scott died on July 4, 1901 at the age of 55.

140 years ago
1876

Technology
Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray both applied for a patent for the telephone.

125 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Katherine Stinson. U.S. aviatrix. Miss Stinson was the fourth woman in the United States to be certified to fly, earning her license in 1912 and setting records for aerobatic maneuvers, distance, and endurance. She became an air mail pilot, becoming the first woman to fly the mail in China, Japan, and Canada (Calgary to Edmonton in 1918). Miss Stinson drove an ambulance for the Red Cross in France in World War I, but she contracted tuberculosis, and spent several years in a sanitarium. She married fellow aviator and district judge Miguel Otero in 1927; the couple settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and she became an architect. Miss Stinson died on July 8, 1977 at the age of 86.

Died on this date
William Tecumseh Sherman, 71. U.S. military officer. General Sherman served in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865), where he was praised for his military strategy--most notably leaading Union troops on a march through Georgia and the Carolinas--and criticized for his "scorched earth" policy of total war against the Confederate States of America. He succeeded U.S. Grant as Commanding General of the Army, serving from 1869-1893. Gen. Sherman died six days after his 71st birthday.

Transportation
Two two special excursion trains met at Blaine, Washington at the Canada-U.S. border to celebrate the driving of the silver last spikes opening both the New Westminster amd Southern Railway (NWSR), 23.51 miles from the boundary to the ferry at Liverpool (Brownsville) on the Fraser River's south shore opposite New Westminster, British Columbia and the Fairhaven and Southern Railway from the boundary to Bellingham, Washington. Both lines were branches of J.J. Hill's Great Northern Railway (GNR); regular service with Seattle began December 2, 1891.

120 years ago
1896

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Winnipeg Victorias 2 @ Montreal Victorias 0 (Winnipeg won 1-game challenge)

Jack Armytage scored 10 minutes into the game and Tote Campbell scored in the 1st half at Victoria Skating Rink as the Winnipeg Victorias, champions of the Manitoba Hockey Association, defeated the defending champion Montreal Victorias to become the first team outside the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada to win the cup. George Merritt won the goaltending duel over Robert Jones.

100 years ago
1916

Born on this date
Edward Platt. U.S. actor. Mr. Platt trained as an opera singer and was scheduled to make his professional debut in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado in Baltimore, but in a classic example of bad timing, the show opened--and closed--on December 8, 1941. The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7 probably had something to do with the show's cancellation. Mr. Platt hosted the children's television program Uncle Eddie's Birthday Party in Midland, Texas in the early 1950s before appearing as a character actor in movies such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and North by Northwest (1959), and in numerous television programs. He became famous for playing the Chief of Control in the television comedy series Get Smart (1965-1970). Mr. Platt died on March 19, 1974 at the age of 58; his death was reported as a heart attack, but more recently, his son said that the cause of death was suicide, resulting from depression exacerbated by financial reversals and an inability to find steady work in recent years.

Sally Gray. U.K. actress. Miss Gray, born Constance Vera Stevens, appeared in movies in the 1930s and '40s, including Dangerous Moonlight (1941); Green for Danger (1946); and They Made Me a Fugitive (1947). She died on September 24, 2006 at the age of 90.

Communications
The first long-distance telephone call in Canada was placed from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal to the Globe Theatre in Vancouver.

75 years ago
1941

War
Greece claimed that its troops had broken through the Italian lines along the entire front in Albania.

Diplomacy
German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler had a three-hour conference at Berchtesgaden with the Yugoslav Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković and his Foreign Minister, after which the visitors left for Belgrade.

Kichisaburō Nomura, the new Japanese Ambassador to the United States, presented his credentials to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The United States Senate ratified a revision of the 1924 treaty with the Dominican Republic under which the President would cease to appoint the collector of customs there.

Defense
U.S. defense authorities estimated that 1,002 military planed had been manufactured in January 1941, compared with 799 in December 1940 and about 500 a year earlier.

Economics and finance
The British Board of Trade applied the Trading with the Enemy Act to Romania, effective February 15, 1941.

The U.S. Senate passed and sent back to the House of Representatives a slightly amended version of the Public Debt Act of 1941, raising the debt limit from $49 billion to $65 billion.

Labour
International Longshoremen's Association leader Harry Bridges was arrested in San Francisco on charges of having been a member of an organization advocating the violent overthrow of the U.S. government.

Sport
Willie Hoppe won the world three-cushion billiards title for the second consecutive year.

Football
NCAA
Frank Leahy was named head football coach and director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame; he replaced Elmer Layden, who had resigned on February 3 to become Commissioner of the National Football League.

70 years ago
1946

At the movies
Gilda, starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, and George Macready, opened in theatres.



Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council took up the Syrian and Lebanese appeal for withdrawal of British and French troops from the Levant; U.K. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin urged that all countries involved in the dispute begin negotiations in Paris the following week.

Averell Harriman resigned as U.S. Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. and President Harry Truman named Army General Walter Bedell Smith as his replacement.

Argentine presidential candidate Juan Peron accused U.S. Undersecretary of State Spruille Braden of heading a spy ring covering all of Latin America, and of financing a political campaign of him.

Politics and government
In a new treaty, Cambodia gained autonomy within French Indochina.

Korean nationalists under Kim Koo and Syngman Rhee formed the Korean Democratic Representative Council in Seoul.

Defense
U.S. Navy Secretary James Forrestal and Admiral Chester Nimitz told the Senate Naval Affairs Committee that a strong Navy with widespread bases was the surest dfense against atomic attack.

Technology
The creation of Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC), the first electronic digital computer, was announced at the University of Pennsylvania.

Economics and finance
The Bank of England was nationalized.

U.S. President Truman announced a new policy allowing wage increases consistent with the general wage patterns set in industry since August 1945 and permitting price adjustments without a six-month wait.

Olympics
The International Olympic Committee announced that London had been chosen as the site of the 1948 Summer Olympic Games.

60 years ago
1956

Politics and government
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union opened in Moscow.

Labour
17,000 General Motors employees in Oshawa, Ontario ended their 148-day strike.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Capri c'est fini--Hervé Vilard (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Old Man Trouble--Doc Carroll and the Royal Blues (2nd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 My Love--Petula Clark
2 Under Your Spell Again--Johnny Rivers
3 Attack--The Toys
4 Crying Time--Ray Charles
5 My Generation--The Who
6 Tell Me Why--Elvis Presley
7 Lightnin' Strikes--Lou Christie
8 Andrea--The Sunrays
9 Where the Sun Has Never Shone--Jonathan King
10 California Dreamin'--The Mamas and the Papas

Singles entering the chart were It was a Very Good Year by the Turtles (#34); These Boots are Made for Walkin' by Nancy Sinatra (#35); Working My Way Back to You by the 4 Seasons (#36); Batman Theme by the Marketts (#37); Homeward Bound by Simon & Garfunkel (#38); Batman by Jan & Dean (#39); and The Rains Came by the Sir Douglas Quintet (#40).

Music
The single One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) /Queen Jane Approximately by Bob Dylan was released on Columbia Records.

Economics and finance
Australia began decimalizing its currency, changing from pounds, shillings, and pence to dollars and cents.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Sandokan--Oliver Onions

#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): Willempie--André van Duin (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Forever and Ever--Slik

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover--Paul Simon (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover--Paul Simon (2nd week at #1)
2 You Sexy Thing--Hot Chocolate
3 Love to Love You Baby--Donna Summer
4 I Write the Songs--Barry Manilow
5 Theme from S.W.A.T.--Rhythm Heritage
6 Love Machine (Part 1)--The Miracles
7 Breaking Up is Hard to Do--Neil Sedaka
8 All by Myself--Eric Carmen
9 Evil Woman--Electric Light Orchestra
10 Take it to the Limit--The Eagles

Singles entering the chart were Disco Lady by Johnnie Taylor (#70); Only Love is Real by Carole King (#76); Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightingale (#77); Good Hearted Woman by Waylon and Willie (#83); Just You and I by Melissa Manchester (#85); Action by Sweet (#86); Hit the Road Jack by the Stampeders (#87); He's a Friend by Eddie Kendricks (#97); Lorelei by Styx (#98); Give Me an Inch Girl by Robert Palmer (#99); and Sara Smile by Daryl Hall and John Oates (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Convoy--C.W. McCall (4th week at #1)
2 Love Rollercoaster--Ohio Players
3 Love to Love You Baby--Donna Summer
4 Breaking Up is Hard to Do--Neil Sedaka
5 Fox on the Run--Sweet
6 Squeeze Box--The Who
7 Evil Woman--Electric Light Orchestra
8 Love Hurts--Nazareth
9 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover--Paul Simon
10 Paloma Blanca--George Baker Selection

Singles entering the chart were So Glad You're a Woman by Neon Philharmonic (#84); Dolannes-Melodie by Jean-Claude Borelly (#86); Money Honey by the Bay City Rollers (#88); This is What You Mean to Me by Engelbert Humperdinck (#89); High in the Rockies by Brussel Sprout (#90); That Old Black Magic by the Softones (#71); Funky Weekend by the Stylistics (#93); Extra, Extra by Ralph Carter (#94); Chicano by Black Blood (#96); Suspicious Love by Copperpenny (#97); Banapple Gas by Cat Stevens (#98); In France They Kiss on Main Street by Joni Mitchell (#99); and Hard Times by Peter Skellern (#100).

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Jeanny--Falco (6th week at #1)

Died on this date
Edmund Rubbra, 84. U.K. composer. Mr. Rubbra wrote 11 symphonies and numerous instrumental, chamber, and choral works.

World events
French President Francois Mitterand said that he could not grant permanent exile to former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier because of Mr. Duvalier’s human rights record.

Politics and government
The Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines denounced that country’s February 7 presidential election as fraudulent.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the prices paid in January by producers for finished goods had fallen by 0.7%.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Do the Bartman--The Simpsons (4th week at #1)

War
Iraq claimed that a British bombing raid west of Baghdad had destroyed an apartment block and killed 130. Total allied casualties in the war stood at about 50. The U.S. command said that the allies had destroyed 1,300 of 4,280 Iraqi tanks, 800 of 1,870 armoured personnel carriers, and 1,100 of 3,110 artillery pieces.

Hockey
NHL
Los Angeles 4 @ Edmonton 2

20 years ago
1996

Television
Ernie Coombs, CBC's Mr. Dressup, finished the last episode of children's show, after 31 years on the air.

Protest
Congolese soldiers began a mutiny over nonpayment of wages.

Disasters
Four days of torrential rains and floods in Brazil had killed 80 people.

10 years ago
2006

Energy
Iran said it had resumed uranium enrichment, prompting Russia and France to call on Iran to halt its work.

Olympics
Sara Renner and Beckie Scott of Canada won the silver medal in women's team sprint in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.