March 22, 2016

150 years ago
1866

Born on this date
Jack Boyle. U.S. baseball player. "Honest Jack" was a catcher, first baseman, and outfielder with the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1886); St. Louis Browns (1887–1889); Chicago Pirates (1890); St. Louis Browns (1891); New York Giants (1892); and Philadelphia Phillies (1893–1898), batting .253 with 23 home runs and 563 runs batted in in 1,087 games. He was a member of the Browns' American Association championship teams in 1887 and 1888. Mr. Boyle died of Bright's disease on January 7, 1913 at the age of 46.

110 years ago
1906

Sport
The first England vs. France rugby union match was played at Parc des Princes in Paris

100 years ago
1916

Politics and government
The last Emperor of China, Yuan Shikai, abdicated the throne, and the Republic of China was restored, with Yuan Shikai as President.

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Finals @ Montreal Arena
Portland Rosebuds (PCHA) 1 @ Montreal Canadiens (NHA) 2 (Best-of-five series tied 1-1)

90 years ago
1926

Hockey
Stanley Cup
WHL
Finals
Victoria 2 Edmonton 2 @ Vancouver (Victoria won 2-game total goals series 5-3)

There was no ice available in Edmonton, so the Eskimos' "home game" was played in Vancouver. The tie between the defending Stanley Cup champion Cougars and the Eskimos was the last Western Hockey League game ever played; the league, originally the Western Canada Hockey League, folded after five seasons of operation. It was the last time a team from Edmonton played in Stanley Cup playoffs until 1980, the Oilers' first season in the National Hockey League.

75 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Frenesi--Artie Shaw and his Orchestra (13th week at #1)

War
The German warships Scharnhorst and Gniesenau docked at Brest, France after successful raids on Allied ships. Japanese Army Lieutenant General Korechika Anami told a Diet committee that Japan would proceed with a "settlement of the China affair under the firm conviction that we are not an aggressor nation."

Defense
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the $7-billion Lend-Lease bill.

Society
The United States Census Bureau announced that the number of family units in the United States had increased by about one-sixth from 1930-1940, but the average number of persons in a family had declined from 4.1 to 3.8.

Science
The American Chemical Society awarded the $1,000 Eli Lilly Prize in biological chemistry to Dr. David Rittenberg of Columbia University for his work on isotopes as tracers in chemical reactions.

Energy
Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River, 100 miles northwest of Spokane, began producing electiricity two years ahead of schedule.

Economics and finance
The Vichy French regime revealed that the Bank of France's non-interest loan to the government covering the German occupation cost had been raised to $2 billion.

Labour
Following a plea from U.S. Office of Production Management Director General Sidney Hillman, 3,000 Congress of Industrial Orgznizations aluminum workers voted to end their 10-day strike at the Edgewater, New Jersey plant of Alcoa, and return to work on March 24.

Track and field
Greg Rice set a world indoor record of 8 minutes 51.1 seconds in winning the two-mile race at the Chicago relays.

70 years ago
1946

At the movies
The Spider Woman Strikes Back, starring Gale Sondergaard, Brenda Joyce, Milburn Stone, and Rondo Hatton, opened in theatres.



War
At the trial in Nuremberg of accused Nazi war criminals, Rudolf Hess began his defense by challenging the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, and accepting full responsibility for his official acts as German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler's deputy. In Budapest, pro-Nazi Hungarian Prime Minister Marshal Doeme Sztojay and three of his ministers were sentenced to death.

Diplomacy
In an interview with Associated Press correspondent Eddy Gilmore, U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin called the United Nations "a serious instrument for the preservation of peace," based on "the principle of equality of states." With Soviet support, the French Foreign Office again urged the United States and United Kingdom to take a joint stand before the United Nations against the Spanish regime of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. The U.S. and U.K. took the lead in blocking a Soviet move to have Albania admitted to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, while Turkey was admitted without dissent.

Politics and government
The British mandate in Transjordan ended.

World events
33 workers in Hamburg tool plants collapsed from hunger as mobs tried to loot food shops for the fourth day after British authorities cut the ration to 1,000 calories per day.

Defense
The Soviet Council of Ministers issued a decree unifying the Army, Navy, and Air Force, with dictator Josef Stalin as Minister of the Armed Forces and supreme commander.

U.S. President Harry Truman postponed the atomic bomb tests originally scheduled for May 15, 1946 for about six weeks, enabling congressmen to witness the event during a legislative recess.

Oil
The United States sent the Soviet commander in Hungary a note requesting removal of U.S.S.R. personnel from American-owned oil fields and return of the wells to American management.

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Chanson pour l'Auvergnat--Georges Brassens (4th week at #1)

At the movies
Alexander the Great, written and directed by Robert Rossen and starring Richard Burton, Fredric March, and Claire Bloom, received its world premiere screening in London.



Protest
U.S. civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was convicted of organizing an illegal boycott by black passengers of buses in Alabama.

50 years ago
1966

On television tonight
The Fugitive, starring David Janssen, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The White Knight, with guest stars Steven Hill and Jessica Walter

Politics and government
In Congo (Leopoldville), President Joseph Mobutu stripped parliament of its legislative powers because of political intrigue and lack of cooperation, and began governing by decree.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Bohemian Rhapsody--Queen

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Beautiful Sunday--Daniel Boone

Beautiful Sunday had been a hit in the United Kingdom and North America in 1972.

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Hay Que Lavalo--La Charanga Del Tío honorio (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Moviestar--Harpo (6th week at #1)

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Adesso Tu--Eros Ramazzotti (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): The Promise You Made--Cock Robin

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Absolute Beginners--David Bowie (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Chain Reaction--Diana Ross (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): These Dreams--Heart

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 These Dreams--Heart
2 Rock Me Amadeus--Falco
3 Secret Lovers-Atlantic Starr
4 Sara--Starship
5 R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.--John Cougar Mellencamp
6 Kyrie--Mr. Mister
7 Kiss--Prince and the Revolution
8 What You Need--INXS
9 King for a Day--Thompson Twins
10 Sanctify Yourself--Simple Minds

Singles entering the chart were All I Need is a Miracle by Mike + the Mechanics (#77); Stick Around by Julian Lennon (#81); On My Own by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald (#84); Right Between the Eyes by Wax (#85); Call Me by Dennis DeYoung (#86); and Restless by Starpoint (#87).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Sara--Starship
2 Kyrie--Mr. Mister
3 How Will I Know--Whitney Houston
4 Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)--Glass Tiger
5 Nikita--Elton John
6 Conga--Miami Sound Machine
7 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean
8 These Dreams--Heart
9 Silent Running--Mike & the Mechanics
10 Living in America--James Brown

Singles entering the chart included Move Away by Culture Club (#73); Stick Around by Julian Lennon (#79); Tender Love by Force M.D.’s (#85); Is That It? by Katrina and the Waves (#89); Whisper in the Dark by Dionne Warwick (#95); and The Lion Sleeps Tonight by the Nylons (#97).

Died on this date
Charles Starrett, 82. U.S. actor. Mr. Starrett was known for playing the Durango Kid in a lengthy series of low-budget Western movies. He died six days before his 83rd birthday.

Olive Deering, 67. U.S. actress. Miss Deering, born Olive Corn, had many roles on stage, radio and television. Her movies included Samson and Delilah (1949) and The Ten Commandments (1956). Miss Deering was the younger sister of actor Alfred Ryder, and died of cancer.

Mark Dinning, 52. U.S. singer. Mr. Dinning, born Max Dinning and brother of the Dinning Sisters trio, was known for the song Teen Angel, which spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1960. He died of a heart attack.

Defense
The United States conducted an underground nuclear test.

25 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Gloria Holden, 87. U.K.-born U.S. actress. Miss Holden was best known for her starring role in the movie Dracula's Daughter (1936). Her other films included The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and The Man Without a Country (1937).

Léon Balcer, 73. Canadian politician. Mr. Balcer, a Progressive Conservative, represented Trois-Rivières in the House of Commons from 1949-1965. In the government (1957-1963) of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, Mr. Balcer was Solicitor General (1957-1960) and Minister of Transport (1960-1963). He quit the party in 1965 and sat as an independent, claiming "there is no place for a French Canadian in the party of Mr. Diefenbaker." Mr. Balcer declined to run in the 1965 federal election, but was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate in the 1966 Quebec provincial election.

Dave Guard, 56. U.S. musician. Mr. Guard was the founder of the folk group the Kingston Trio, who began their recording career in 1958, and were popular into the 1960s. Mr. Guard eventually became disenchanted with fellow members Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, and left in 1961 after John Stewart had been recruited as his replacement. Mr. Guard continued to perform as a solo artist and with other groups, but with little commercial success. He died of cancer.

Diplomacy
The United Nations effectively ended its food embargo against Iraq.

War
A U.S. fighter plane downed an Iraqi warplane. General Colin Powell, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that a U.S. military presence would be maintained in southern Iraq for some months until a United Nations security arrangement was in place.

Crime
High school teacher Pamela Smart, accused of manipulating her student and lover into killing her husband, was convicted in Exeter, New Hampshire of murder and conspiracy.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): One of Us--Joan Osborne

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Aon Focal Eile--Richie Kavanagh

Died on this date
Billy Williamson, 71. U.S. musician. Mr. Williamson played steel guitar with Bill Haley and the Saddlemen--later known as Bill Haley and his Comets--from 1949-1963.

Charley Norkus, 67. U.S. boxer. Mr. Norkus, the "Bayonne Bomber," was a heavyweight who compiled a record of 33-19 in a professional career from 1948-1959. He lost decisions to former world heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles in 1955, future world light heavyweight champion Willie Pastrano in 1956, and world light heavyweight champion Archie Moore in 1958.

Robert Overmyer, 59. U.S. astronaut. Colonel Overmyer, an officer with the United States Marine Corps, was selected by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1966 as part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program. After the program was cancelled in 1969, Col. Overmyer was selected as part of the seventh group of NASA astronauts. He served as Pilot on the space shuttle mission STS-5 in 1982 and Commander of STS-51-B in 1985. Col. Overmyer was testing the homemade aircraft Cirrus VK-30 near Duluth International Airport in Minnesota when he was killed in a crash.

Don Murray, 50. U.S. musician. Mr. Murray was the drummer with the rock group the Crossfires, who changed their name to the Turtles in 1965. Mr. Murray was with the Turtles when they had the hit singles It Ain't Me, Babe and Let Me Be in 1965, but he left the group early in 1966. Mr. Murray died of cancer.

Space
The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin mission STS-76. The six-member crew was commanded by Kevin Chilton.



Politics and government
The government of Canada and the Nisg'a Indians of British Columbia signed an agreement in principle regarding the Nisg'a land claim.

10 years ago
2006

War
Three Christian Peacemaker Team hostages were freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague, American Tom Fox.

The Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent cease-fire with Spain.

Disasters
B.C. Ferries' Queen of the North sank after going off course and hitting a reef near Gil Island, 90 kilometres south of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The bodies of two of the 101 passengers were never recovered; on March 16, 2010, officer Karl Lilgert was charged with criminal negligence causing death.