February 20, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mandy Sellars!

470 years ago
1547

Britannica
Edward VI of was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey in London.

225 years ago
1792

Politics and government
U.S. President George Washington signed the Postal Service Act, establishing a permanent Post Office Department.

150 years ago
1867

Born on this date
Louise. U.K. Princess Royal. Princess Louise was the third child and the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and a younger sister of King George V. She was married to Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, from 1889 until his death in 1912. Princess Louise died on January 4, 1931 at the age of 63.

140 years ago
1877

Ballet
Swan Lake, by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, received its premiere performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

110 years ago
1907

Died on this date
Henri Moissan, 54. French chemist. Dr. Moissan was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "[for his] investigation and isolation of the element fluorine, and for [the] electric furnace called after him." He died of acute appendicitis, shortly after returning to Paris from accepting his Nobel Prize in Stockholm.

75 years ago
1942

War
U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Edward “Butch” O’Hare became the Navy's first flying ace when he single-handedly attacked a formation of nine heavy Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers approaching his aircraft carrier Lexington. Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition, he managed to shoot down or damage several enemy bombers. The flight earned Lt. Cmdr. O'Hare the Medal of Honor.

Boxing
Sugar Ray Robinson (28-0) scored a technical knockout of Maxie Berger (74-14-8) at 1:43 of the 2nd round of their welterweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.

70 years ago
1947

At the movies
Mr. District Attorney, directed by Robert B. Sinclair, and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Adolphe Menjou, and Marguerite Chapman, opened in theatres.



50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Reach Out I'll Be There--Four Tops (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The House with the Whitewashed Gable--Joe Dolan

Economics and finance
The Intergovernmental Group on Indonesia convened its first meeting in Amsterdam.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: You Make Me Feel Like Dancing--Leo Sayer (2nd week at #1)

Basketball
NCAA
Purdue 86 Indiana 78

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Reality--Richard Sanderson (3rd week at #1)

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Goodnight Girl--Wet Wet Wet (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
A.J. Casson, 93. Canadian artist. Mr. Casson was a member of the Group of Seven from 1926 until its dissolution in 1932.

John Kneubuhl, 71. Samoan-born U.S. playwright and screenwriter. Mr. Kneubuhl was born in American Samoa to a Samoan mother and American father, and wrote plays about his native land. He worked in Hawaii and then in Los Angeles, where he wrote scripts for television series such as The Wild Wild West; The Invaders; and Hawaii Five-O. Mr. Kneubuhl returned to American Samoa in the 1980s.

Dick York, 63. U.S. actor. Mr. York co-starred in the television comedy series Bewitched as Darrin Stephens from 1964-1969, but left the series because of severe back pain from an injury suffered when he appeared in the movie They Came to Cordura (1959). His last years were painful, as pain-killing drugs rotted his teeth, and cigarettes damaged his lungs; he died of emphysema.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Ring-A-Ling--Tiggy (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Discothèque--U2 (2nd week at #1)

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Bob Malloy, 88. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Malloy played with the Cincinnati Reds (1943-1944, 1946-1947) and St. Louis Browns (1949), compiling a record of 4-7 with an earned run average of 3.26 and 2 saves in 48 games. He was 80-67 in 11 seasons in the minor leagues from 1941-1953, with his best season being 1948, when he was 21-7 with the Indianapolis Indians of the AA American Association.