March 7, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Carolyn Jagger!

175 years ago
1841

Born on this date
William Rockhill Nelson. U.S. journalist and magnate. Mr. Nelson, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1880 and founded the Kansas City Star, which he ran until his death on April 13, 1915 at the age of 74.

150 years ago
1866

Defense
Canadian Minister of Militia George-Étienne Cartier put 10,000 militia on alert after Fenians held a meeting in New York and threatened invasion; the alert was a precaution against anticipated attacks on St. Patrick's Day.

140 years ago
1876

Technology
The U.S. Patent Office issued patent 174,465 to Alexander Graham Bell for "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound." The invention was known as the telephone.

120 years ago
1896

Politics and government
U.S. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill dissolving the northern half of the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state.

90 years ago
1926

Communications
The first successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation took place, between New York City and London.

80 years ago
1936

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Louis Hector and Harry West, on MBS
Tonight’s episode: The Sussex Vampire

World events
German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact when he ordered troops to march into the Rhineland.

75 years ago
1941

War
The United Kingdom announced the final conquest of Italian Somaliland. The first contingent of a British force of 50,000 landed in Greece, while the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force also arrived in Greece. The German submarine U-47, one of the most successful U-boats of World War II under the command of Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien, disappeared without a trace in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Defense
Mexican Foreign Minister Ezequiel Padilla said that Mexico would not hesitate to sign a military pact with the United States in an emergency.

The United States Senate defeated the O'Mahoney amendment to the Lend-Lease bill to bar convoying and other restrictive amendments by a wide margin.

Society
The Delaware General Assembly repealed 200-year-old Sunday blue laws.

70 years ago
1946

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1945 were presented at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. The awards included: Best Picture--The Lost Weekend; Best Director--Billy Wilder (The Lost Weekend); Best Actor--Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend); Best Actress--Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce); Best Supporting Actor--James Dunn (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn); and Best Supporting Actress--Anne Revere (National Velvet).



War
The government of Iran reported that rebels in Azerbaijan had incorporated a 60-mile stretch of the northern provionce of Gilan extending from the Soviet border to Shafarud into their autonomous region.

Defense
The U.S.A., U.S.S.R., and U.K. announced a three-way division of 500 German merchant ships, leaving Germany with 100 vessels.

Politics and government
Socialist Paul-Henri Spaak was charged by the Regent to form a new Belgian government.

Music
German orchestra conductor Wilhelm Furtwaengler, barred from performing under a denazification statute, protested to the mayor of Berlin that he had not been given an opportunity to defend himself.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman ordered the reopening of homesteading on all public lands in the United States and Alaska except those containing deposits of fissionable materials.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Aline--Christophe

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Come Back to Stay--Dickie Rock (2nd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 These Boots are Made for Walkin'--Nancy Sinatra
2 At the Scene--Dave Clark Five
3 Little Boy (In Grown Up Clothes)--The 4 Seasons
4 Breakin' Up is Breakin' My Heart--Roy Orbison
5 While I'm Away--Bobby Curtola
6 Batman Theme--The Marketts
7 When Liking Turns to Loving--Ronnie Dove
8 Call Me--Chris Montez
9 Long Live Our Love--The Shangri-Las
10 Bad Reputation--The James Boys

Singles entering the chart were Inside - Looking Out by the Animals (#34); Daydream by the Lovin' Spoonful (#35); You Laugh Too Much by Little Caesar and the Consuls (#36); Another Man by the Shondells (#37); It's a Long Way Home by the Staccatos (#38); Tears by Bobby Vinton (#39); and 19th Nervous Breakdown by the Rolling Stones (#40).

40 years ago
1976

Died on this date
Wright Patman, 82. U.S. politician. Mr. Patman, a Democrat, represented Texas' 1st District in the United States House of Representatives from 1929 until his death from pneumonia. He was chairman of the United States House Committee on Banking and Currency from 1965-1975, and attacked the banking system and the Federal Reserve. He sponsored the Robinson-Patman Act of 1935, designed to protect small retail shops against competition from chain stores by fixing a minimum price for retail products.

Scandal
The Australian Labour Party's national executive censured former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam for "a grave error of judgment" in connection with Iraqi campaign-fund solicitation.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Brother Louie--Modern Talking

Died on this date
Jacob Javits, 81. U.S. politician. Mr. Javits, a Republican, represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1947-1954 and in the Senate from 1957-1981. He was known for his liberal views, and was an ally of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Mr. Javits died after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

World events
The state of emergency that had existed in many black areas of South Africa since July 1985 was ended, and the last of nearly 8,000 people detained under the decree were freed.

Diplomacy
The U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan issued an order to the U.S.S.R. to reduce by 105 the number of staff members at the Soviet, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian missions to the United Nations. Personnel at the three missions totalled 275, compared with 126 people assigned to the U.S. mission. The Reagan administration charged that the size of the staff was excessive and that "Soviet U.N. missions personnel have engaged in inappropriate activities...including espionage."

U.S. President Ronald Reagan named Philip Habib as his special envoy to Latin America.

Scandal
The New York Times reported that most of the $80-million payment made by Westinghouse in 1976 for the construction of the Philippines’ first nuclear power station had gone to then-President Ferdinand Marcos.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the nation’s unemployment rate had risen 0.6% to 7.2% in February, with the rise being attributed in part to bad weather.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board, following the lead of central banks in West Germany, France, and Japan, cut its discount rate from 7.5% to 7%, dropping the U.S. rate to its lowest figure since 1978.

Disasters
Divers from the USS Preserver located the crew cabin of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger on the ocean floor; the craft had exploded 73 seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 28, 1986, with the loss of all seven crew members.

Hockey
NHL
Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers broke his own regular season record with 136th assist; he finishes the 1985-86 season with 163 assists, a record that still stands.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Do the Bartman--The Simpsons (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Cool Papa Bell, 87. U.S. baseball player. James Bell was a center fielder in the Negro Leagues with various teams from 1922-1936 and 1942-1946; he also played in teh Dominican Republic in 1937 and in the Mexican League from 1938-1941. He was an eight-time All-Star in the Negro Leagues, with a career batting average of .337. Mr. Bell may have been the fastest player in history; it was said that he could turn the light switch on the wall off and be in bed before the room got dark. Mr. Bell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. He died of a heart attack, several weeks after the death of his wife Clara.

Space
Canadian Industry Minister Benoît Bouchard awarded Spar Aerospace $195 million to design the Mobile Servicing System for the Freedom space station. It would cost $1.2 billion over the next ten years, with 11 companies involved.

War
U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said that 540,000 U.S. troops could be brought home by mid-summer. Troops began leaving Saudi Arabia.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Born in Africa--Dr. Alban

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Spaceman-- Babylon Zoo (6th week at #1)

Politics and government
The inaugural session of the Palestinian National Authority's 88-member legislative council convened.

Abominations
Three U.S. servicemen were convicted in the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl, and were sentenced by a Japanese court to up to seven years in prison.

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Gordon Parks, 93. U.S. photographer, film director, and composer. Mr. Parks, a man of many talents, was a photographer with the U.S. Farm Security Administration in the 1940s before joining Life magazine, where he worked from 1948-1972. He was a pioneering director in the "blaxploitation" genre with such films as Shaft (1971); Shaft's Big Score (1972); and Leadbelly (1976). Mr. Parks was also a skilled jazz pianist, and his works included Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1953); Tree Symphony (1967); and the ballet Martin (1989), a tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

John Junkin, 76. U.K. actor. Mr. Junkin was known for his comedic roles as officious authority figures in such movies as A Hard Day's Night (1964) and How I Won the War (1967).

Ali Farka Touré, 66. Malian musician. Mr. Touré was a singer who played several instruments, but was best known as a guitarist. His music is regarded as an intersection of traditional Malian music with American blues. He died of bone cancer at a time when he was beginning to achieve international acclaim.

Terrorism
The terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba coordinated a series of bombings in Varanasi, India.