March 30, 2017

175 years ago
1842

Medicine
Ether anesthesia was used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.

150 years ago
1867

Americana
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. Critics referred to the purchase as "Seward's folly."

75 years ago
1942

War
British and Indian troops trapped below Shwedaung in southern Burma cut their way throug Japanese lines and rejoined the main British force south of Prome. China claimed that Japanese forces were using poison gas in the battle around Toungoo, Burma. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the creation of the Pacific War Council, composed of representatives of the U.S.A.; U.K.; Canada; Australia; New Zealand; and the Netherlands, to meet in Washington.

Diplomacy
U.K. Lord Privy Seal Sir Stafford Cripps, in a radio broadcast, appealed to the people of India, saying that if the British offer of independence was refused by India's leaders, "there will be neither the time nor the opportunity to reconsider this matter till after the war." Sir Stafford had been sent to India by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Secretary of State for India Leo Amery to secure India's full cooperation in the war effort.

70 years ago
1947

War
Paraguayan rebel planes attacked Campo Grande barracks outside Asuncion.

Politics and government
After winning elections for trade union representatives in Berlin, the Socialist Unity Party gained a majority of 37 seats on the city's Free Trade Union Organization managing board.

Americans for Democratic Action concluded its Washington conference with an endorsement of the "Truman Doctrine" and U.S. aid to Greece and Turkey.

Basketball
BAA
The Washington Capitols and Chicago Bruins won, respectively, the Eastern and Western Division titles in the first season of the Basketball Association of America.

60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Singing the Blues--Guy Mitchell (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Cindy, Oh Cindy--Margot Eskens

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Young Love--Tab Hunter (6th week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Party Doll--Buddy Knox with the Rhythm Orchids (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Butterfly--Andy Williams (Disc Jockey--1st week at #1; Top 100--1st week at #1); Young Love--Tab Hunter (Jukebox--4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Young Love--Tab Hunter (4th week at #1)
--Sonny James
2 Party Doll--Buddy Knox with the Rhythm Orchids
--Steve Lawrence
3 Round and Round--Perry Como
4 Butterfly--Charlie Gracie
--Andy Williams
5 Teen-Age Crush--Tommy Sands
6 I'm Walkin'--Fats Domino
7 Marianne--Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders
--The Hilltoppers
8 Little Darlin'--The Diamonds
9 Banana Boat (Day-O)--Harry Belafonte
10 Too Much--Elvis Presley

Singles entering the chart were Empty Arms, with versions by Teresa Brewer, and Ivory Joe Hunter (#37); First Date, First Kiss, First Love by Sonny James (#40); Mangos by Rosemary Clooney (#44); Forty Cups of Coffee by Bill Haley and his Comets (#47); and Wind in the Willow by Jo Stafford (#49).

Diplomacy
Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba and Moroccan officials signed a treaty of friendship in Rabat, pledging their countries to economic cooperation and foreign policy coordination.

Defense
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Supreme Commander General Lauris Norstad urged in Bonn that "the bare minimum" of NATO forces currently available be equipped with tactical atomic weapons.

Disasters
Mount Bezymianny, a Kamchatka Peninsula volcano, erupted in a gigantic explosion recorded by Soviet barographs 625 miles away.

Horse racing
General Duke, with Bill Hartack up, won the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, equaling the world record time of 1:46 4/5 for 1 1/8 miles.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
St. Louis 125 @ Boston 123 (2 OT) (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 1-0)

Bob Pettit scored 37 points and Ed Macauley and Slater Martin each scored 23 to help the Hawks edge the Celtics at Boston Garden. Bill Sharman of the Celtics led all scorers with 36 points, while teammates Tom Heinsohn and Bob Cousy each added 26.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)--Engelbert Humperdinck (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
Dragnet 1967, starring Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Shooting



Communications
SEACOM--Southeast Asia Commonwealth Cable--a 25,000-mile link among Britain, Canada and Australia--opened.

Boxing
Gabe LaMarca (13-1) won an 8-round unanimous decision over Henry Wickham (13-9-4) and Pedro Agosto (13-0) scored a technical knockout of Al Brown (0-1) in the 2nd round of heavyweight bouts at City Hall Auditorium in Portland, Maine.

Former world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson (46-5) knocked out Bill McMurray (24-17-2) at 2:37 of the 1st round at Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

Former world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston (38-3) knocked out Dave Bailey (14-17-3) at 2:22 of the 1st round at Masshallen in Gothenburg, Sweden.



40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Knowing Me, Knowing You--ABBA (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The latest Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) ended after three days without progress.

Politics and government
French Prime Minister Raymond Barre shuffled his cabinet in response to his government's poor showing in recent elections.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): I Knew You were Waiting for Me--Aretha Franklin and George Michael (3rd week at #1)

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1986 presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, and Platoon was named Best Picture, with its director, Oliver Stone, also winning. Paul Newman, a regular, but unsuccessful nominee for Best Actor, finally won for The Color of Money, while Marlee Matlin was named Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God. Michael Caine and Diane Wiest won Oscars for their supporting performances in Hannah and her Sisters, while Woody Allen won for his original screenplay for that picture. Take My Breath Away, from Top Gun, won in the category of original song, and The Assault, from the Netherlands, was named the year’s best foreign language film.

Died on this date
Clint Murchison, Jr., 63. U.S. businessman and football magnate. Mr. Murchison was the founder and owner of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League from 1960-1984. He filed for personal bankruptcy in 1985, suffered from a nerve disease, and died from pneumonia.

Art
Vincent Van Gogh’s painting Sunflowers (1889) sold for the equivalent of U.S. $39.9 million, the highest amount yet paid at auction for a work of art. It sold in just 4 minutes and 20 seconds at Christie’s in London, and was won by an anonymous telephone bidder.

Diplomacy
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was guest of honour at a banquet in Moscow, used the opportunity to call on the U.S.S.R. to withdraw their armed forces from Afghanistan and to make progress on human rights. She made public a plan to break the U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. deadlock over the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, in effect supporting U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s broad interpretation of the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty, which, in turn, would facilitate SDI research. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev rejected Mrs. Thatcher’s ABM proposal as “unrealistic” and suggested that the debate over human rights be broadened to include millions of unemployed and homeless people in the west.

Basketball
NCAA
Men's championship
Final @ Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans
Indiana 74 Syracuse 73

Keith Smart popped in a 17-foot jump shot from the corner with 4 seconds left in regulation time to give the Hoosiers their third NCAA title under coach Bobby Knight.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): En rakkauttas saa--Kurre

Died on this date
Theresa Ann Campo Pearson, 9 days. U.S. infant. The girl was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida without a complete brain or skull. Although her parents knew of her condition while she was a fetus, they had decided that she should be born so that her organs could be donated to other babies. The parents sought to have Theresa declared brain-dead, but on March 26, Florida Circuit Court Judge Estella Moriarty ruled that the baby had a functioning brain stem and could not be declared brain-dead. Two other courts also rejected the parents’ appeals. By the time Theresa died, her organs had deteriorated too much to still be viable for transplant.

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1991 were presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The Silence of the Lambs became the third film, after It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), to sweep the "Big Five": Picture; Director (Jonathan Demme); Actor (Anthony Hopkins); Actress (Jodie Foster); and Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally). Other winners were: Supporting Actor--Jack Palance (City Slickers); Supporting Actress--Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King); and Foreign Language Film--Mediterraneo.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Don't Speak--No Doubt (8th week at #1)

#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Break My Stride--Unique II (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): When I Die--No Mercy (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Warum?--Tic Tac Toe

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
John Roberts, 73. Canadian politician. Mr. Roberts, a Liberal, represented the Toronto-area ridings of York-Simcoe (1968-1972) and St. Paul's (1974-1979, 1980-1984), and held several cabinet posts under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He died of a heart attack.