March 20, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Cliff Lander!

1,175 years ago
842

Died on this date
Alfonso II, 62 (?). King of Asturia, 783, 791-842. Alfonso II, nicknamed Alfonso the Chaste, was the son of King Fruela I, and was elected to the throne of Asturia--located in the Iberian peninsula--in 783, but was forced to flee when his uncle Mauregatus was elevated to power. Alfonso II returned and was elected King in 791, reigning for over 50 years; he was succeeded by Nepotian.

150 years ago
1867

Born on this date
Emil Geiss. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Geiss was a pitcher and infielder with the Chicago White Sox (1887), batting .083 (1 for 12) with no home runs or runs batted in in 3 games, and posting a 0-1 record with an earned run average of 8.00 in 1 game. He played 5 seasons in the minor leagues (1885, 1888-1889, 1894-1895), and was a police officer after his baseball career. Mr. Geiss died on October 4, 1911 at the age of 46.

130 years ago
1887

Music
Vincent D'Indy's Symphony on a Mountain Air received its premiere performance in Paris.

125 years ago
1892

Died on this date
Arthur Goring Thomas, 41. U.K. composer. Mr. Thomas wrote over 100 songs and duets, severl operas, and a ballet suite for orchestra. He began to show signs of mental distress in 1891, and committed suicide.

100 years ago
1917

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Vera Lynn! The U.K. singer, born Vera Margaret Welch, was nicknamed "The Forces' Singer," and remains best known for her performances for British and Allied troops during World War II, singing such songs as We'll Meet Again; The White Cliffs of Dover; and There'll Always Be an England.

Died on this date
Malcolm MacLennan, 44. Canadian police officer. Mr. MacLennan, Vancouver's Chief of Police, was killed in a shootout with a drug addict.

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Finals @ Seattle Ice Arena
Montreal Canadiens (NHA) 1 @ Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) 6 (Best-of-five series tied 1-1)

Frank Foyston scored 3 goals and Bernie Morris added 2 as the Metropolitans easily beat the Canadiens in the first Stanley Cup final game to be won by an American team. The game was played under National Hockey Association rules, where teams used six players per side.

75 years ago
1942

War
Three days after arriving in Australia following his departure from the Philippines, U.S. Major General Douglas MacArthur, spoke in the small town of Terowie, saying, "I came out of Bataan and I shall return."

70 years ago
1947

Died on this date
Sigurd Wallén, 62. Swedish actor. Mr. Wallén was a singer, actor, and movie director in a career that spanned more than 30 years.

60 years ago
1957

At the movies
The biographical film Fear Strikes Out, starring Anthony Perkins as baseball player Jimmy Piersall and Karl Malden as his father, opened in theatres.



Labour
A seven-month miners' strike began at Murdochville, Quebec.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Reach Out I'll Be There--Four Tops (6th week at #1)

Diplomacy
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and South Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Cao Ky met in Guam for the beginning of a two-day conference, where they discussed the Vietnam War and non-military matters.

Boxing
Billy McGrandle (5-0) retained his Canadian featherweight title with a 12-round knockout of Les Gillis (17-4-1) at the Sales Pavilion in Edmonton. On the undercard, Raul Carreon (8-8-1) won a 10-round split decision over Tony Porter (1-7-1) in a super featherweight bout, and Nate Williams (2-3) won a 6-round unanimous decision over Harry Tarpin (1-2) in a super welterweight bout.

Former world welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez (77-6) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Bennie Briscoe (19-4) in their middleweight bout at Philadelphia Arena.

George Chuvalo (44-13-2) knocked out Buddy Moore (5-8) in the 2nd round of their heavyweight bout at Four Seasons Arena in Walpole, Massachusetts.

Eduardo Corletti (18-4-5) won a 10-round decision over Joe Bygraves (47-28-2) in a heavyweight bout at the Hilton Hotel, Mayfair, London.

Curling
Scotch Cup @ Perth Ice Rink, Perth, Scotland

In the first draw, the Alf Phillips, Jr. rink, representing Canada, defeated the Bob Woods rink of Sweden 7-5. Erling Brusletto's Norwegian rink edged Franz Marti's Swiss rink 10-9; Bruce Roberts led his United States rink to a 17-5 rout of Jean Albert Sulpice's French rink; and in the most lopsided game in the history of the men's world championships, Chuck Hay's Scottish rink embarrassed the German rink of David Lampl 34-0.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Don't Give Up on Us--David Soul

Died on this date
Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, 68. Governor-General of New Zealand, 1957-1962. Mr. Lyttelton was an English cricket star who succeeded his father as Viscount Cobham in 1949, sitting in the House of Lords. He was a popular Governor-General of New Zealand, and was known for promoting sports.

Politics and government
The Janata Party, led by Morarji Desai, won 298 seats in the Indian parliamentary election; Janata formed an alliance with seven other parties and two independent MPs for a total of 398 seats, unseating the Indian National Congress Party led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which had ruled the country since India had gained her independence from British rule in 1947. The Janata Party gained 233 seats from the most recent election in 1971, while the INC was reduced to 189 seats, a loss of 217. Mrs. Gandhi announced her resignation as Prime Minister two days later.

An alliance of Communists and Socialists gained control of more than 150 of France's 221 major cities as a week of elections concluded.

Boxing
Ron Lyle (33-5-1) won a 12-round split decision over Joe Bugner (52-8-1) in a heavyweight bout at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. On the undercard, Armando Muniz (41-11-1) scored a technical knockout of Antonio Leyva (9-7) just 40 seconds into the first round of their super welterweight bout.



At the Exposition Center in Louisville, Leon Spinks (3-0), winner of the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, knocked out Jerry McIntyre (1-7) just 35 seconds into their heavyweight bout, which was scheduled for a maximum of 6 rounds. Howard Davis, Jr. (2-0), who had won the gold medal in the lightweight division in Montreal, knocked out Rick Craney (14-6-1) at 1:35 of their lightweight bout. In other heavyweight bouts, Roy "Tiger" Williams (24-6) won a unanimous 4-round decision over Harold Carter (22-39-3); Gerry Cooney (3-0) knocked out Jose Rosario (0-2) at 2:10 of the 2nd round; and Lee "Rocky" Canalito (2-0) knocked out Bill Jackson (1-10) at 2:05 of the 1st round. For Mr. Jackson, it was his third fight in eight days: on March 12 he had knocked out Chuck Edmonds (0-1) in the 1st round in Lincoln Heights, Ohio for his only professional victory; the next night, Mr. Jackson was knocked out b Lou Rogan (14-8) in the 2nd round in Fairmont, West Virginia. Needless to say, Mr. Jackson should not have been allowed to fight on March 20.

Basketball
NBA
Phoenix 126 Portland 106

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Stay--Pierre Cosso & Bonnie Bianco (2nd week at #1)

Medicine
The United States government approved the use of azidothymidine (AZT), a drug that had proved successful in clinical tests in inhibiting the ability of the AIDS virus to duplicate inside body cells. The drug, manufactured by Burroughs Wellcome Company, would be marketed under the brand name Retrovir.

Hockey
NHL
Calgary 6 Edmonton 3

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Das Boot--U96 (9th week at #1)

Died on this date
Georges Delerue, 67. French composer. Mr. Delerue wrote 351 film and television scores, winning an Academy Award for A Little Romance (1979). He was nominated for four other Academy Awards, as well as seven César Awards (winning three times) and two Genie Awards (winning for the made-for-television film Sword of Gideon (1986)). Mr. Delerue had just finished recording the music for the movie Rich in Love (1992) when he died of a heart attack, eight days after his 67th birthday.

Society
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department issued guidelines to federally-funded family planning clinics on what advice could be offered on abortion. Under the new, more relaxed rules, doctors could discuss the subject of abortion, but nurses and other medical professionals would not be permitted to discuss abortion, and doctors could not refer patients to a facility whose primary business was performing abortions.

Auto racing
Kenny Bernstein, the National Hod Rod Association champion in the top fuel division, became the first dragster to exceed 300 miles per hour, reaching 301.70 mph in a qualifying heat at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Ring-A-Ling--Tiggy (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): C'mon baby yeah--Tehosekoitin (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
V.S. Pritchett, 96. U.K. author. Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett wrote fiction and non-fiction, but was mainly known for his short stories.

Space
This blogger caught his first glimpse of Comet Hale-Bopp.

Health
The tobacco manufacturing firm Liggett Group settled 22 state lawsuits by admitting that the industry marketed cigarettes to teenagers, and agreeing to warn on every pack that smoking was addictive.

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Raynald Fréchette, 73. Canadian politician. Mr. Fréchette was a member of the Union Nationale when he represented Sherbrooke in the Quebec National Assembly from 1966-1970, serving as President (Speaker) of the National Assembly from February-June 1970. He was defeated in the 1970 provincial election, but returned to provincial politics with the Parti Québécois, serving in the cabinet of Premier René Lévesque as Finance Minister from 1981-1982 and Minister of Labour from 1982-1985, and also serving as Minister of Justice under Premier Pierre-Marc Johnson in 1985. Mr. Fréchette was defeated in the 1985 provincial election, but returned to public life as a judge on the Quebec Superior Court in 1988.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, 69. Vice President of Iraq, 1991-2003. Mr. Ramadan joined the Ba'ath Party in 1956, and led the Popular (paramilitary) Army from 1974-1991 before taking office as Vice President under President Saddam Hussein. He was captured on August 19, 2003 by fighters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and handed over to U.S. forces. Mr. Ramadan was convicted by the Iraq Special Tribunal of crimes against humanity and was hanged in Baghdad.

Hawa Yakubu, 58. Ghanaian politician. Ms. Yakubu represented Bawku Central in the Ghanaian Parliament from 1993-1997 and 2001-2005, and was Minister of Tourism in the cabinet of President John Kufuor from 2002-2005. She died five days before her 59th birthday, after a long battle with cancer.