March 17, 2017

340 years ago
1677

War
The Siege of Valenciennes ended after four months when French forces took the city in the Spanish Netherlands which was being defended by a small force of the Holy Roman Empire.

160 years ago
1857

Born on this date
Larry Murphy. Canadian-born U.S. baseball player. Mr. Murphy, a native of Toronto, was an outfielder with the Washington Statesmen (1891), batting .265 with 1 home run and 35 runs batted in in 101 games. He played 5 seasons in the minor leagues (1888-1892), and died on October 6, 1911 at the age of 54.

125 years ago
1892

Theatre
The Foresters by Alfred, Lord Tennyson was produced for the first time at Daly’s Theatre in New York City.

120 years ago
1897

Boxing
Bob Fitzsimmons (50-3-4), who, at 167 pounds, was actually a light heavyweight, knocked out James J. Corbett (10-1-3) with a legendary punch to the solar plexus to win the world heavyweight title at the Race Track Arena in Carson City, Nevada.





100 years ago
1917

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Finals @ Seattle Ice Arena
Montreal Canadiens (NHA) 8 @ Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) 4 (Montreal led best-of-five series 1-0)

Didier Pitre scored 4 goals to lead the defending champion Canadiens over the Metropolitans in the first Stanley Cup final game to be played in the United States. The game was played under Pacific Coast Hockey Association rules, where teams used seven players per side.

80 years ago
1937

Died on this date
Austen Chamberlain, 73. U.K. politician. Sir Austen, a Liberal-Unionist and then a Conservative, sat in the House of Commons from 1892 until his death. He held various cabinet posts, including Chancellor of the Exchequer (1903-1905, 1919-1921) and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1924-1929). Sir Austen was awarded a share of the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for work on the Locarno Treaties. He died 10 weeks before his younger half-brother Neville Chamberlain took office as Prime Minister.

Philip Primrose, 72. Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, 1936-1937. Mr. Primrose, a native of Halifax, spent 30 years with the North-West Mounted Police, and was police magistrate of Edmonton for 20 years. He was installed as Lieutenant-Governor on October 1, 1936, but was beset by illness for almost his entire time in office, and died of a heart attack, becoming the first Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta to die in office. Mr. Primrose was given Alberta's first state funeral on March 19; John Bowen was installed as Lieutenant-Governor on March 23.

75 years ago
1942

War
Five days after departing Corregidor in four PT boats, U.S. Major General Douglas MacArthur and a select party that included his wife and son arrived at Batchelor Airfield in Australia's Northern Territory. General MacArthur took over as supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theatre.

Abominations
The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto were gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Anniversary Song--Al Jolson
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Dinah Shore
--Tex Beneke with the Glenn Miller Orchestra
--Andy Russell
2 Managua, Nicaragua--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
3 Open the Door, Richard!--Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five
--Count Basie and his Orchestra
--The Three Flames
--"Dusty Fletcher
--Jack McVea and the All-Stars
4 Guilty--Margaret Whiting
--Johnny Desmond
5 (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons--King Cole Trio
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
--Dinah Shore
6 Heartaches--Ted Weems and his Orchestra
7 How are Things in Glocca Morra--Dick Haymes
--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
--Buddy Clark
--Martha Tilton
8 Sonata--Perry Como
--Jo Stafford
9 Huggin' and Chalkin'--Hoagy Carmichael
--Johnny Mercer
--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
10 I'll Close My Eyes--Andy Russell
--Johnny Desmond

Singles entering the chart were the version of Guilty by Johnny Desmond, which was the other side of I'll Close My Eyes; Santa Catalina (Island of Romance), with versions by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra, and Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (#18); Song of Songs by Perry Como (#22); and That's How Much I Love You by Frank Sinatra (#23).

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Creeping Man

The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis and Howard McNear, on MBS
Tonight`s episode: The Brazen Killer

Defense
The B-45 Tornado strategic bomber made its first flight from Muroc Army Air Field in California.

60 years ago
1957

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: I Killed the Count: Part 1, starring John Williams and Alan Napier

Died on this date
Ramon Magsaysay, 49. 7th President of the Philippines, 1953-1957. Captain Magsaysay, a guerilla leader during World War II, was a Liberal before being elected President as the candidate of the Nacionalista Party. He was an opponent of Communism and an ally of the United States. President Magsaysay was one of 24 of the 25 people aboard the C-47 Skytrain presidential plane who were killed when it crashed while returning to Manila from Cebu City. He was succeeded as President by Vice President Carlos Garcia, who was on an official trip to Australia at the time.

Aviation
Four days after 22 people were killed when a British European Airways Viscount 701 crashed at Manchester, BEA withdrew its fleet of Viscount 701s in order for an examination to be made of the planes' flap operating system.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: I'm a Believer--The Monkees (4th week at #1)

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)
2 There's a Kind of Hush/No Milk Today--Herman's Hermits
3 The Return of the Red Baron--The Royal Guardsmen
4 The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)--Harpers Bizarre
5 Ruby Tuesday--The Rolling Stones
6 Summer Wine--Nancy Sinatra with Lee Hazlewood
7 Canada--The Young Canada Singers
8 Kind of a Drag--The Buckinghams
9 Baby I Need Your Lovin'--Johnny Rivers
10 Go Where You Wanna Go--The 5th Dimension
Pick hit of the week: Diamonds and Gold--Willie and the Walkers
New this week: Happy Jack--The Who
Walkin' in the Sunshine--Roger Miller
Half Past Midnight--The Staccatos
Rovin' Heart--The Lords

Music
The Beatles were in studio two at Abbey Road in London, where they began recording the song She's Leaving Home.

40 years ago
1977

Diplomacy
U.S. President Jimmy Carter addressed the United Nations General Assembly on human rights, arms control, peace efforts, and the world economy.

Boxing
Jimmy Young (21-5-2) won a unanimous 12-round decision over former world heavyweight champion George Foreman (45-2) at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, sending Mr. Foreman into reirement for the next 10 years. On the undercard, Alfredo Escalera (38-7-2) retained his World Boxing Council world super featherweight title with a technical knockout of Ronnie McGarvey (31-2) at 1:57 of the 6th round, and Larry Holmes (24-0) scored a technical knockout of Horace Robinson (5-2) in the 5th round of a heavyweight bout.





30 years ago
1987

Politics and government
Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis announced his candidacy for the 1988 Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.

25 years ago
1992

Died on this date
Gracie Lantz, 88. U.S. actress. Mrs. Lantz, whose husband Walter created the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker, provided Woody’s voice in over 200 cartoons for 40 years.

Terrorism
At least 32 people were killed and 250 injured when a bomb inside a car exploded next to the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. The embassy building, a Roman Catholic church, and a school were destroyed.

Politics and government
White voters in South Africa, by a 2-1 margin in a referendum, authorized President F.W. de Klerk to negotiate an end to white minority rule.

Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton captured 51% of the vote in both the Illinois and Michigan primaries for the 1992 Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. President George Bush won the Republican primaries in both states.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices had risen 0.3% in February.

Hockey
NHL
Pittsburgh 6 Edmonton 5

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Every Day is a Winding Road--Sheryl Crow (2nd week at #1)
2 Discotheque--U2
3 One Headlight--The Wallflowers
4 A Long December--Counting Crows
5 Dark Horse--Amanda Marshall
6 You were Meant for Me--Jewel
7 Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)--Aerosmith
8 Resurrection--Moist
9 Don't Speak--No Doubt
10 Lovefool--The Cardigans

Singles entering the chart were Elegantly Wasted by INXS (#73); I Want You by Savage Garden (#83); It Should Be by Change of Heart (#90); Midnight Rain by Widemouth Mason (#91); Remote Control by Age of Electric (#92); Sweet Emotion by West End Girls (#93); Here with Me by Ginger (#95); Where You Get Love by Matthew Sweet (#96); and The New Pollution by Beck (#99).

Died on this date
Jermaine Stewart, 49. U.S. singer. Mr. Stewart was best known for his hit single We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off (1986), which reached #2 in the pop charts in Canada and the United States, and #5 in the Billboard Hot 100. He died of AIDS-related liver cancer.

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
John Backus, 82. U.S. computer scientist. Mr. Backus directed the team that invented the programming language FORTRAN.