February 1, 2018

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Snejka!

300 years ago
1718

Died on this date
Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, 57. English politician. The Duke of Shrewsbury, a Roman Catholic who converted to Anglicanism in 1679, was one of the Immortal Seven group who invited Prince William of Orange to depose King James II as monarch during the Glorious Revolution. The Duke, who entered the House of Lords in 1680, held several cabinet posts, including Lord Chamberlain from 1710-1715. He died of inflammation of the lungs.

225 years ago
1793

Died on this date
William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, 76. U.K. politician. Viscount Barrington, a Whig, held several cabinet posts, but was best known for serving as Secretary at War during the Seven Years' War and again during the American War of Independence.

War
France declared war on all the European monarchies, including the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

140 years ago
1878

Technology
Quebec City inventor Cyrille Duquet was awarded Canadian patent #8371 for an an improved version of the telephone handset.

125 years ago
1893

Died on this date
George Henry Sanderson, 68 or 69. U.S. politician. Mr. Sanderson, a Republican, was Mayor of San Francisco from 1891-1893. His term ended and he died just 29 days later, from an illness brought on by sewer gas poisoning after thieves stole pipes from under City Hall, allowing the gas to leak into his office.

Literature
The February 1893 issue of The Strand Magazine contained the short story The Adventure of the Yellow Face, third in a series that was published in book form in 1894 as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

Movies
Thomas Edison finished construction of the world's first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.

Weather
In the coldest day on record in Saskatchewan, the temperature reached -56.7 degrees Celsius (-70 Fahrenheit) in Prince Albert.

120 years ago
1898

Politics and government
Louis-Amable Jetté was installed as Lieutenant-Governor of Québec, succeeding Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau; he served until September 15, 1908.

110 years ago
1908

Died on this date
Carlos I, 44. King of Portugal and the Alagraves,1889-1908; Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal, 20. Carlos I succeeded his father Luis I on the throne, and governed as a constitutional monarch. The royal family were returning from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon, when republican anarchists Manuel Buiça, 31, and Alfredo Luís da Costa, 24, opened fire on their open carriage, killing the king instantly and mortally wounding Prince Luis, his eldest son and heir-apparent. The assassins were quickly gunned down by police and bodyguards. King Carlos I's younger brother, who was wounded in the attack, succeeded him as King Manuel II.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
Muriel Spark. U.K. authoress. Mrs. Spark wrote poetry and short stories in a career that spanned more than 50 years, but was best known for her novels, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961). She died on April 13, 2006 at the age of 88.

90 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Hughie Jennings, 58. U.S. baseball player and manager. Mr. Jennings, nicknamed "Ee-Yah!" for the shout he commonly uttered while he was coaching at third base, was a shortstop, second baseman, and first baseman with five major league teams, most notably the Baltimore Orioles (1893-1899). He batted .311 with 18 home runs and 840 runs batted in in 1,284 games. He played on five National League pennant-winning teams, and became the only shortstop to bat over .400, hitting .401 in 1896, when he also set a single-season record when he was hit by a pitch 51 times. His career total of 287 times being hit by a pitch remains the major league record. Mr. Jennings managed the Detroit Tigers from 1907-1920, leading them to three straight American League pennants from 1907-1909. He coached with the New York Giants from 1921-1925, and briefly filled in as manager when John McGraw took ill in 1924 and 1925. Mr. Jennings had a nervous breakdown after that season and never fully recovered, dying of meningitis. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 as a player.

Canadiana
Yorkton, Saskatchewan officially became a city.

75 years ago
1943

War
U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Turkish Prime Minister Ismet Inou completed talks in Adana, Turkey on the war's progress, particularly in the East. U.S. forces in Tunisia drove German forces from Senad between Gafsa and Makneassy and then retired while other American troops were thrown at the Germans in an effort to regain Faid Pass. The Soviet Red Army recaptured Mechetinsk, 45 miles southeast of Rostov, and Kshen, 65 miles east of Kursk on the Voronezh front. Japanese forces began evacuating Guadalcanal Island, one of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean, almost seven months after landing there.

World events
The Chilean government ordered the imprisonment of 168 German and 74 Japanese nationals suspected of espionage.

Politics and government
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt withdrew Edward J. Flynn's name from nomination as U.S. Minister to Australia at his own request because he was "unwilling to be made the excuse for partisan political debate."

The Tennessee State Senate voted to repeal the state's 50-year-old poll tax.

Representative Martin Dies (Democrat--Texas), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, asked Congress to purge 38 "crackpot and readical bureaucrats" by withholding funds from agencies employing them.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Dr. Wilder Tilleston's appeal against the Connecticut birth control law, and ruled that he could not question the law's allegedly illegal deprivation of life, since his own life was not involved.

70 years ago
1948

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and Alfred Shirley, on MBS
Tonight's episode:  The Avenging Blade

At the movies
Call Northside 777, directed by Henry Hathaway, and starring James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, and Helen Walker, opened in theatres.





Reaching from Heaven, directed by Frank Strayer, and starring Hugh Beaumont, Cheryl Walker, and John Qualen, opened in theatres.



Politics and government
The United Kingdom established the Federation of Malaya under a constitution giving the nine Malay states local self-government, with Britain retaining control of defense and foreign affairs. Singapore remained a crown colony.

Academia
U.S. President Harry Truman's Committee on Higher Education urged larger federal appropriations for colleges and universities, starting at $450 million annually and reaching $850 million by 1960.

Sport
George Fischer and Loraine Sabbe won the men's and women's respective U.S. speed skating championships in St. Paul, Minnesota.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Diana--Paul Anka (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Der lachende Vagabund--Fred Bertelmann (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Only You (And You Alone)--The Platters (12th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Jailhouse Rock--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 At the Hop--Danny and the Juniors (5th week at #1)
2 The Stroll--The Diamonds
3 Get a Job--The Silhouettes
4 La Dee Dah--Billy and Lillie
5 Stood Up--Ricky Nelson
6 Peggy Sue--Buddy Holly
7 Sail Along Silvery Moon--Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra
8 Don't--Elvis Presley
9 Great Balls of Fire--Jerry Lee Lewis
10 Sugartime--The McGuire Sisters

Singles entering the chart were Magic Moments by Perry Como (#41); This Little Girl of Mine by the Everly Brothers (#46); Ballad of a Teenage Queen by Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two (#52); Little Pigeon by Sal Mineo (#53); Click-Clack by Dickey Doo and the Don'ts (#56); and So Tough by the Original Casuals (#59). Magic Moments was the other side of Catch a Falling Star, charting at #22.

Died on this date
Clinton Davisson, 76. U.S. physicist. Dr. Davisson shared the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physics with George Paget Thomson "for their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals."

World events
The United Arab Republic, a union of Egypt and Syria, came into effect. The union was driven by the government of Syria, controlled by a combination of Army officers and the Ba'ath party. Government leaders were concerned about increasing Communist activity in Syria, and saw a union with Egypt a way of avoiding Communist domination. Egyptian President Gamal Nasser was respected for his ability to get what he wanted from the Soviet Union without giving in to Communism, and was viewed (and promoted himself) as the one man who could unite the Arab people.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker kept the House of Commons in suspense when he departed for a lengthy absence. He made a trip to Quebec City, where Governor General Vincent Massey was temporarily residing, in order to obtain the consent of the Queen's representative to dissolve Parliament. Mr. Diefenbaker returned to the House later in the day to announce that Parliament had been dissolved, and a federal election would be held on March 31.

Defense
General Olaf Keyster, chief United Nations delegate to the Korean Joint Military Armistice Commission, rejected Communist protests against UN introduction of atomic weapons into South Korea.

Economics and finance
Moroccan National Economy Minister Abderahim Bouabid announced in Rabat a French-Moroccan agreement giving Morocco economic autonomy within the franc zone.

Disasters
Two large U.S. military planes collided in flight over Norwalk, California, killing 48 people. 41 of the dead were on a transport plane, and 6 more were on a Navy bomber. The other person killed was Edith Hernandez, 23, a housewife who had rushed outside to find out what the noise was, when she was hit by debris and decapitated. Two crew members from the Navy bomber were rescued.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kaette Kita Yopparai--The Folk Crusaders (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Am I That Easy to Forget--Engelbert Humperdinck (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
Dragnet 1968, starring Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Starlet



At the movies
Sergeant Ryker, directed by Buzz Kulik, and starring Lee Marvin, Bradford Dillman, Vera Miles, Peter Graves, and Lloyd Nolan, opened in theatres.





Died on this date
Lawson Little, 57. U.S. golfer. Mr. Little won the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur championships in 1934 and 1935, when they were both major tournaments, and remains the only player to have won both titles in the same year more than once. He turned professional in 1936, and won nine professional tournaments, including the U.S. Open in 1940. Mr. Lawson carried as many as 26 clubs in his bag, prompting the United States Golf Association to introduce the 14-club limit in 1938. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.

Nguyễn Văn Lém, 35 or 36. Viet Cong military officer. Captain Lém killed South Vietnamese Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Tuan, along with Lt. Col. Tuan's wife, 80-year-old mother and six of his seven children during the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War. Captain Lém was summarily executed on a Saigon street by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brigadier General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. The execution was recorded on motion picture film, as well as in a famous still photograph taken by Eddie Adams.

Echol Cole; Robert Walker. U.S. sanitation workers. Messrs. Cole and Walker were crushed to death in Memphis in a garbage compactor where they were taking shelter from the rain. Their deaths sparked the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, which began 11 days later.

Abominations
Bill C-243, The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act, passed April 25, 1967, came into effect, merging the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force into one service, the Canadian Armed Forces, with common uniform and rank designations. This was the brainchild of Defence Minister Paul Hellyer, almost 40 years before he made headlines by alleging that the United States was preparing for war against space aliens.

Politics and government
Radical Liberal Party leader Hilmar Baunsgaard took office as Prime Minister of Denmark, succeeding Jens Otto Krag, whose Social Democratic Party had lost the recent election, ending a 14-year run in power for the Social Democrats, who still had the largest number of seats in parliament. Mr. Baunsgaard led a coalition of Radical Liberals, Conservatives, and Moderate (Agrarian) Liberals.

Former U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon formally declared his candidacy for the 1968 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.

Construction executive Wallace Samuel Bird of Fredericton was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, succeeding John McNair.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson submitted to Congress his Economic Report, warning of the dangers of inflation and stressing the need for his proposed 10% tax surcharge and a tighter rein on wages and prices.

Transportation
The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad were merged to form Penn Central Transportation.

Football
NFL
After five National Football League titles and six conference championships in nine seasons, Vince Lombardi resigned as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, remaining the team's general manager. He named assistant coach Phil Bengtson as his successor.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Uptown Top Ranking--Althea & Donna

At the movies
Coma, directed by Michael Crichton and starring Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, and Elizabeth Ashley, opened in theatres.



Music
At the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Mario Bernardi conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra in the premiere of Those Silent, Awe-Filled Spaces by composer Harry Somers.

Crime
U.S. Attorney James K. Robinson announced in Detroit that the government was dropping all charges against Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez, the Filipina nurses who had been granted a new trial after having been convicted of poisoning patients at a Veterans Administration hospital in Michigan. Mr. Robinson agreed with the judge who granted a new trial that "no clear evidence of motive is available," and said it was unlikely that a conviction could be obtained in a second trial.

Labour
The U.S. Labor Department brought suit in Federal District Court in Los Angeles against International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Frank Fitzsimmons and 18 other former trustees and employees of the union's principal pension fund. The suit charged them with having made imprudent loans, and sought to force them to repay losses resulting from those loans. Loans itemized in the suit amounted to more than $130 million.

Hockey
CHL
Tulsa 4 @ Dallas 2
Kansas City 5 @ Salt Lake City 4

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): (I've Had) The Time of My Life--Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

Died on this date
Georgi Malenkov, 86. Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the Soviet Union, 1953-1955. Mr. Malenkov was one of the men who filled in the vacuum after the death of Josef Stalin, before Nikita Khruschchev centralized power in his own hands.

Heather O'Rourke, 12. U.S. actress. Miss O'Rourke appeared in all three of the Poltergeist movies. She had Crohn's Disease, and her sudden death from septic shock as a result of a bowel obstruction contributed to the legend that the Poltergeist movies were cursed. Poltergeist III was released four months after her death. More recently, it has been alleged that her septic shock was the result of being sexually abused on the set.

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (2nd week at #1)

Law
Canada’s House of Commons approved a constitutional amendment giving equal status to the French and English languages within New Brunswick.

Hockey
NHL
Little Gary Bettman was named Commissioner of the National Hockey League.

20 years ago
1998

Defense
Lillian E. Fishburne became the first American Negress to be promoted to rear admiral in the United States Navy.

Football
NFL
Pro Bowl @ Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
AFC 29 NFC 24

The American Football Conference scored 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to defeat the National Football Conference before 49,995 fans. AFC quarterback Warren Moon of the Seattle Seahawks was named the game's Most Valuable Player.