February 7, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sherri Pierce and Meisy!

160 years ago
1856

Politics and government
The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passed the Electoral Act of 1856--the second piece of legislation anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot.

125 years ago
1891

Died on this date
Marie Louise Andrews, 41. U.S. writer. Mrs. Andrews, a native and resident of Indiana, wrote poems, essays, and sketches for various periodicals. She was an editor at the Indianapolis Herald in the 1880s, and was one of the founders of the Western Association of Writers, serving as its first secretary from 1886-1888.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald declared "A British subject I was born, a British subject I will die" during his final speech in the House of Commons, before entering his last federal election campaign.

90 years ago
1926

Americana
Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week, which later evolved into Black History Month.

Economics and finance
A gold rush began at Red Bank, Ontario.

75 years ago
1941

War
French Army General Maxime Weygand announced that he would not allow German troops to land in Bizerte, Tunisia.

A peace conference between Thailand and French Indochina opened in Tokyo.

Defense
Chile and Peru signed a pact in Lima providing for joint defense of their Pacific coastline.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted down six amendments to the Lend-Lease bill that would preclude the U.S.S.R. from receiving any aid from the United States.

Society
Helen Keller announced her resignation as honourary national chairman of the American Rescue Ship Mission for Spanish refugees, which had been denounced as Communist-dominated.

Journalism
Brazilian President Getulio Vargas suppressed all foreign-language publications, granting them six months to change to the Portuguese language.

70 years ago
1946

War
At the trial of accused Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, the British prosecution declared that Rudolf Hess had organized German fifth columns throughout the world. The U.S. War Department ordered a stay of execution for convicted Japanese war criminal General Tomoyuki Yamashita, pending U.S. President Harry Truman's action on his clemency appeal. U.S. Secretary of War Philip Mason revealed that about 6,000 pro-Japanese members of the Indian National Army were imprisoned in India, and 2,000 more elsewhere in Asia.

Diplomacy
At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Ukrainian delegate Dmitri Manuilsky charged that British troops in the Netherlands East Indies were suppressing legitimate nationalist aspirations, in violation of the UN charter.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry opened negotiations with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to settle payments for oil lands expropriated in 1938.

World events
After an eight-year exile, Jamal el Husseini, leader of the Palestine Arab Party, returned to Jerusalem.

Radio
Claude Bourdet was dismissed as French National Radio Director for permitting a broadcast on February 4 that had caused widespread panic through a realistic description of the world's atomic destruction.

Economics and finance
William McChesney Martin succeeded Wayne C. Taylor as president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Labour
The U.S. House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate the Case strike-control bill, calling for arbitration, cooling-off periods, penalties for boycotts and jurisdictional strikes, and court action for breach of contract and violent picketing.

A U.S. government fact-finding board investigating the meat industry dispute recommended a 16c hourly wage increase for workers, to be met largely through price increases or government subsidies.

50 years ago
1966

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

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

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 As Tears Go By--The Rolling Stones
2 Barbara Ann--The Beach Boys
3 Under Your Spell Again--Johnny Rivers
4 My Love--Petula Clark
5 Crying Time--Ray Charles
6 Attack--The Toys
7 Tell Me Why--Elvis Presley
8 Walk on By--Bobby Kris
9 My Generation--The Who
10 Lightnin' Strikes--Lou Christie

Singles entering the chart were Long Live Our Love by the Shangri-Las (#35); What Now My Love by Sonny & Cher (#36); At the Scene by the Dave Clark Five (#37); Bad Reputation by the James Boys (#38); I Fought the Law by the Bobby Fuller Four (#39); and You Baby by the Turtles (#40).

Journalism
Crawdaddy!, perhaps the first magazine to specialize in serious criticism of rock music, published its first issue.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky began a two-day conference in Honolulu, outlining American and South Vietnamese political and military policies, as well as social and economic programs.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): La tartaruga-- Bruno Lauzi (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): Willempie--André van Duin (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Mamma Mia--ABBA (2nd week at #1)

Rhodesia's Top 10 (Lyons Maid)
1 Hold Me Close--David Essex (5th week at #1)
2 The Warrior--4 Jacks and a Jill
3 Tears on My Pillow--Johnny Nash
4 Milky Ways--Columbus
5 Kiss Me, Kiss Your Baby--Geoff St. John
6 SOS--ABBA
7 Calypso--John Denver
8 Moonlighting--Leo Sayer
9 Up in a Puff of Smoke--Polly Brown
10 Sailing--Rod Stewart

Singles entering the chart were Fattie Bum-Bum by Carl Malcolm (#15); Love Hurts by Jim Capaldi (#18); and Feelings by Morris Albert (#20).

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

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover--Paul Simon
2 Convoy--C.W. McCall
3 I Write the Songs--Barry Manilow
4 You Sexy Thing--Hot Chocolate
5 Love to Love You Baby--Donna Summer
6 Love Rollercoaster--Ohio Players
7 Sing a Song--Earth, Wind & Fire
8 Breaking Up is Hard to Do--Neil Sedaka
9 Love Machine (Part 1)--The Miracles
10 Evil Woman--Electric Light Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Money Honey by the Bay City Rollers (#58); Banapple Gas by Cat Stevens (#70); Cupid by Tony Orlando and Dawn (#77); You'll Lose a Good Thing by Freddy Fender (#79); In France They Kiss on Main Street by Joni Mitchell (#82); Keep Holding On by the Temptations (#89); The Jam by Graham Central Station (#91); Love Fire by Jigsaw (#93); Scotch on the Rocks by Band of the Black Watch (#95); Let Your Love Flow by the Bellamy Brothers (#96); January by Pilot (#97); and Highfly by John Miles (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Convoy--C.W. McCall (3rd week at #1)
2 Fox on the Run--Sweet
3 Love Rollercoaster--Ohio Players
4 Do You Know Where You're Going To--Diana Ross
5 Breaking Up is Hard to Do--Neil Sedaka
6 Saturday Night--Bay City Rollers
7 I Write the Songs--Barry Manilow
8 Evil Woman--Electric Light Orchestra
9 Squeeze Box--The Who
10 Love Hurts--Nazareth

Singles entering the chart were Take it Like a Man by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (#89); Y' Don't Fight the Sea by Terry Jacks (#92); The Call by Anne Murray (#95); Lady Lay by Sonora (#96); Feelin' Better by Hammersmith (#97); How High the Moon by Gloria Gaynor (#98); Close to You by B.T. Express (#99); and Can the Can by Suzi Quatro (#100).

Died on this date
Edward Flynn, 66. U.S. boxer. Mr. Flynn won the gold medal in the welterweight competition at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932.

Politics and government
Hua Kuo-feng, China's sixth-ranked deputy Premier, was named acting Premier to replace the recently-deceased Chou En-lai.

Hockey
NHL
Boston 4 @ Toronto 11
Washington 1 @ Kansas City 5

Darryl Sittler set a National Hockey League record for points in a game that still stands, scoring 10 points on 6 goals and 4 assists, to lead the Maple Leafs over the Bruins before 16,485 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens in the national Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada telecast on CBC. Dave Reece played the entire game in goal for Boston; it was his 14th and last game in the NHL. The backup goalie for the Bruins that night was Gerry Cheevers, who had played for their Stanley Cup championship teams in 1969-70 and 1971-72, but had then jumped to the Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Association. He left the Crusaders after a dispute with general manager Jack Vivian, and promptly rejoined the Bruins; this was his first game back with them. Gilles Gilbert was the regular starting goalie for the Bruins, and to make room for Mr. Cheevers, Mr. Reece was sent down to the minors, and he never returned to the NHL.



The Scouts' win over the Capitals at Kemper Arena turned out to be the team's last; they went 0-21-6 over the last 27 games of the season, establishing a league record for the longest winless streak. The franchise then moved to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies to begin the 1976-77 season.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Jeanny--Falco (5th week at #1)

World events
Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier fled the country for exile in France aboard a U.S. transport plane. He was accompanied by his wife, children, and 20 other relatives. Haiti’s armed forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Henri Namphy, then formed a six-man National Council of Government, five of whose members had been associated with the Duvaliers. Opponents of the old regime tracked down and killed many members of Mr. Duvalier’s personal security force, the Volunteers for National Security, better known as the Tontons Macoute ("Bogeymen"), who were known for their human rights abuses.

Presidential election day in the Philippines was marred by at least 30 violent deaths and by reports of widespread vote fraud on the part of supporters of incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos. U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (Republican--Indiana) and Representative John Murtha (Democrat--Pennsylvania) led a delegation of 20 Americans who observed the election; many were critical of the conduct of the Marcos campaign.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate had fallen to 6.6% in January, the lowest level since March 1980.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Do the Bartman--The Simpsons (3rd week at #1)

Terrorism
The provisional Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility for an apparent assassination attempt on British Prime Minister John Major and senior cabinet ministers. Three mortar shells were fired at Mr. Major’s official residence at 10 Downing Street in London as he was meeting with several cabinet members. The shells, fired from a van parked 200 metres from the building, all missed their target, with two overshooting without exploding, and the third exploding about 15 metres behind the residence. Though the glass in the bulletproof windows of the Cabinet Room was broken, no one was hurt. The meeting adjourned to an underground room.

War
In a televised speech, King Hussein of Jordan backed Iraq in the Gulf War, saying that the war was directed against all Arabs and Muslims.

Politics and government
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti’s first democratically-elected President.

20 years ago
1996

Died on this date
Boris Tchaikovsky, 70. U.S.S.R. composer. Mr. Tchaikovsky, who was unrelated to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, wrote three symphonies and numerous orchestral, chamber, and vocal works, as well as film scores.

Politics and government
Rene Preval was sworn in as President of Haiti.

Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae announced that he was quitting politics and giving up his seat in the Provincial Parliament, saying it was time to focus on his family.