February 18, 2018

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Paul Jelley and Ezra Levant!

750 years ago
1268

War
The Livonian Order was defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakvere in Estonia.

200 years ago
1818

Born on this date
Perucho Figueredo y Cisneros. Cuban poet and revolutionist. Mr. Figueredo wrote the Cuban national anthem, El Himno de Bayamo, in 1867, and was one of the planners of the Ten Years' War against Spanish rule. He was executed at the age of 52 on August 17, 1870, five days after being captured by Spanish authorities.

180 years ago
1838

Born on this date
Ernst Mach. Austrian physicist. Dr. Mach was known for his study of shock waves and the creation of the Mach number (a quantity representing the ratio of speed of an object moving through a fluid and the local speed of sound). He died on February 19, 1916, the day after his 78th birthday.

130 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Matilda Allison. U.S. teacher and civil servant. Miss Allison was permanently blinded by an injury at the age of 7. She became a teacher of newly-blind war veterans in California, and in 1919 became the first blind person in California, and possibly the United States, to pass a civil service examination. Miss Allison taught braille transcription and office skills. She died on November 21, 1973 at the age of 85.

110 years ago
1908

Diplomacy
The United States and Japan reached a "Gentleman's Agreement" restricting Japanese emigration to America.

90 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Nebraska Man. Alleged hominid. Nebraska Man (Hesperopithecus haroldcookii) was alleged to be an ancestor of modern man. His status as such was based solely on the "million-dollar tooth," which was found in an ancient river bed in Nebraska in 1917 by rancher and geologist Harold Cook and put forward by scientists such as American Museum of Natural History President Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn as proof that a forerunner of modern man lived in America millions of years ago. The tooth, however, was revealed to be the tooth of an extinct peccary. At the Scopes trial in 1925, Nebraska Man was cited as proof of evolution, and William Jennings Bryan was ridiculed when he protested the scanty evidence. Unfortunately, Mr. Bryan didn't live to see his views vindicated. Nebraska Man is just one of a number of man's alleged ancestors that hasn't stood the test of time, or close examination of the evidence. Other examples include Java Man, Peking Man, and Piltdown Man. "Science" marches on.

Music
Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra were at Liednenkranz Hall in New York, where they recorded Caprice Futuristic.

Oddities
At Eastland, Texas, a horned toad, sealed alive in the cornerstone of the court house 31 years earlier, was found alive when the stone was removed, according to County Judge Edward S. Pritchard. Could this have inspired the classic Warner Brothers cartoon One Froggy Evening (1955)?

Olympics
Sonja Henie of Norway won her first gold medal in women's figure skating at St. Moritz.

75 years ago
1943

War
German Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels, speaking at the Berlin Sportspalast, called for total war by the German people against the Allies. German mechanized forces in Tunisia seized Sbeitla, Kasserine, and Feriana, and came within 15 miles of the Algerian border. British forces occupied Foum Tatahouine, near the southern end of the Mareth line. For the first time since August 1942, U.S. warships attacked Japanese positions at Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor on Attu Island in the Aleutians. The U.S. War Department activated the 6th Army in Australia and New Guinea under the command of Lieutenant General Walter Krueger. Japanese troops in China opened offensive drives on seven fronts: along the Grand Canal in Kiangsu Province; east of Suchow; west of Nanchang; the Yochow area in Hunan Province; the Shasi-Ichang area of Hupeh Province; the Luchow Peninsula; and northeast of Lungling along the Burma Road.

Protest
Hans and Sophie Scholl, leaders of the Weisse Rose (White Rose) youth resistance movement in Germany, were arrested by the Gestapo for opposing the Nazi regime.

Politics and government
Argentine President Ramon Castillo said he would support Senator Robustiano Patron Costas as his successor.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted $75,000 to the Committee on Un-American Activities; $100,000 to the Smith Committee to investigate charges of subversion among government employees; and $60,000 to the Cox Committee to investigate the Federal Communications Commission.

U.S. Lend-Lease Administrator Edward Stettinius created the China Division in the Lend-Lease Administration under J. Franklin Ray, Jr.

70 years ago
1948

Theatre
Mister Roberts, co-written and directed by Joshua Logan, and starring Henry Fonda, William Harrigan, Robert Keith, and David Wayne, opened at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway.

Literature
The novel The Ides of March by Thornton Wilder was published in New York by Harper.

Diplomacy
Argentina added its claims in Antarctica to those of the United Kingdom and Chile, disputing possession of the Palmer Peninsula an nearby islands. Chilean President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla ordered the construction of a second Chilean base in Antarctica on the Palmer Peninsula.

Defense
Representatives of the Soviet Union and Hungary signed a 20-year mutual defense agreement, completing a series of military treaties linking the U.S.S.R. with her western neighbours.

Labour
Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak ended a strike of coal miners and other workers by threatening to draft strikers.

The U.K. Trades Union Congress agreed to accept the government's request for a wage freeze, provided that industries reduced prices and profits.

9,000 New York bakery workers ended a 13-day strike when employers agreed to contribute to the welfare funds of the American Federation of Labor Bakers and Confectionery Workers union and the Retail Clerks Protective Association.

60 years ago
1958

Asiatica
The Jordanian Parliament ratified the February 14 Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan agreement.

Politics and government
Announcing the formation of a Japanese Socialist Democratic Party, left-wing Socialist Kansei Miyara said that the new party would join with the Okinawa People's Party to campaign for the reversion of Okinawa to Japan.

Scandal
A U.S. grand jury in Indianapolis indicted United Brotherhood of Carpenters President Maurice Hutcheson, Vice President O. William Blaer, and Treasurer Frank Chapman on charges of paying bribes to the Indiana State Highway Department as part of a land-resale scheme.

50 years ago
1968

War
Communist forces shelled military posts and cities throughout South Vietnam in a coordinated attack. The Communists also continued to tighten the siege of the U.S. Marine outpost of Khe Sanh.

Politics and government
In a meeting at a desert highland on the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai shook hands on the principle of founding a Federation and attempting to invite other Trucial States rulers to join in order that a viable nation be formed in the wake of the impending British withdrawal.

Britannica
The United Kingdom went off Greenwich Mean Time; clocks were turned one hour ahead to conform with West European time.

Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games closed in Grenoble, France.

Golf
George Knudson won the Phoenix Open with a score of 272; first prize money was $20,000.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Solo Tu--Matia Bazar (11th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Mull of Kintyre--Wings (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Figaro--The Brotherhood of Man

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Take a Chance on Me--ABBA

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 If I Had Words--Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley with the St. Thomas More School Choir (4th week at #1)
2 Take a Chance on Me--ABBA
3 It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler
4 Mull of Kintyre--Wings
5 She's Not There--Santana
6 Black Betty--Ram Jam
7 Lailola - No Ablas Mas--José e Los Reyes
8 Singin' in the Rain--Sheila B. Devotion
9 Smurfenbier--Vader Abraham
10 I Can't Stand the Rain--Eruption featuring Precious Wilson

Singles entering the chart were Hot Legs by Rod Stewart (#28); Baby Come Back by Player (#29); Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra (#30); Love's Unkind by Donna Summer (#33); and Up Town Top Ranking by Althia & Donna (#38).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (3rd week at #1)
2 Just the Way You Are--Billy Joel
3 Emotion--Samantha Sang
4 Sometimes When We Touch--Dan Hill
5 (Love Is) Thicker than Water--Andy Gibb
6 Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)--Chic
7 Short People--Randy Newman
8 We are the Champions--Queen
9 Baby Come Back--Player
10 You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)--Rod Stewart

Singles entering the chart were Sweet Talkin' Woman by Electric Light Orchestra (#81); I'm Gonna Take Care of Everything by Rubicon (#92); More than a Woman by Tavares (#93); Little One by Chicago (#94); Playing Your Game, Baby by Barry White (#95); Let's Have Some Fun by the Bar-Kays (#98); and Ready for the Times to Get Better by Crystal Gayle (#99).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees
2 Short People--Randy Newman
3 We are the Champions--Queen
4 Sometimes When We Touch--Dan Hill
5 Baby Come Back--Player
6 You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)--Rod Stewart
7 Just the Way You Are--Billy Joel
8 Desiree--Neil Diamond
9 (Love Is) Thicker than Water--Andy Gibb
10 Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)--Chic

Singles entering the chart were Night Fever by the Bee Gees (#84); Boogie Shoes by K.C. and the Sunshine Band (#86); Dust in the Wind by Kansas (#87); Sweet Sweet Smile by the Carpenters (#88); Hollywood by Boz Scaggs (#93); Can't Smile Without You by Barry Manilow (#94); Walk Right Back by Anne Murray (#95); If I Can't Have You by Yvonne Elliman (#96); Silver Dreams by the Babys (#98); I Can't Hold On by Karla Bonoff (#99); and Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione (#100).

Died on this date
Maggie McNamara, 49. U.S. actress. Miss McNamara played Patty O'Neill in the Chicago stage production of The Moon is Blue in 1951, and reprised the role in the film version in 1953. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination. After starring in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), she made just one picture, The Cardinal (1963). Miss McNamara appeared in several television shows, including the Twilight Zone episode Ring-a-Ding Girl (1963). Her last appearance was in a 1964 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour titled Body in the Barn. Miss McNamara reportedly worked as a typist in her later years. She died of a drug overdose in her apartment in New York; police said that she had suffered from mental illness, and that she'd left a suicide note.

Crime
In Media, Pennsylvania, former United Mine Workers president Tony Boyle's retrial on the charge of murdering his rival Jock Yablonski ended with Boyle being convicted of first-degree murder. Mr. Yablonski had challenged Mr. Boyle for the union presidency in 1969. The bodies of Mr. Yablonski and his wife and daughter were found shot to death at their home in Clarksville, Pennsylvania on January 5, 1970. Mr. Boyle was convicted of murder, but a retrial was ordered on appeal when it was ruled that evidence that may have proved helpful to the defense had been wrongly excluded.

Hockey
NHL
Minnesota 4 @ Toronto 5
Colorado 4 @ Montreal 9

On the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast, the Maple Leafs came from behind to beat the North Stars 5-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens. If you were watching in Quebec or on Radio-Canada, you saw the Canadiens beat the Rockies 9-4 at the Montreal Forum.

CHL
Fort Worth 2 @ Kansas City 5

Sport
The first Ironman Triathlon began on Waikiki Beach, in Hawaii. John Collins, a U.S. Navy commander, created and named the event--a 2.4-mile ocean swim, followed immediately by a 112-mile bike race and a full 26.2-mile marathon. There were 15 starters and 12 finishers; Gordon Haller, a Honolulu cabdriver, was the winner in 11 hours 46 minutes.

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Always on My Mind--Pet Shop Boys (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Heatseeker--AC/DC (2nd week at #1)

Law
Anthony Kennedy was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He replaced the retired Lewis Powell, but was actually President Ronald Reagan's third choice for the position, after Robert Bork was rejected by the Senate, and Douglas Ginsburg withdrew after admitting to marijuana use.

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): I Feel You--Depeche Mode

Economics and finance
The Vancouver-based Bank of British Columbia folded. Chartered in 1966, at its peak in 1986 it had assets of $2.7 billion and revenue of $324 million, with 1,410 employees, and branches in Alberta, the Cayman Islands, the United States, and Hong Kong.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Harry Caray, 83. U.S. sportscaster. Mr. Caray, born Harry Carabina, was one of the most famous baseball broadcasters in the United States, as the radio voice of the St. Louis Browns (1945-1946); St. Louis Cardinals (1945-1969); Oakland Athletics (1970); Chicago White Sox (1971-1981); and Chicago Cubs (1982-1997). He was probably best known for broadcasting Cubs' games, especially his practice of leading the singing of Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 7th-inning stretch at home games at Wrigley Field. Mr. Caray won many awards, including the Ford C. Frick Award in 1989 for "major contributions to baseball." He also broadcast games of the University of Missouri Tigers football team; the St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey League; and the St. Louis Hawks of the American Basketball Association. Mr. Caray's son Skip and grandson Chip Caray followed him into baseball broadcasting, and Harry and Chip were preparing to become the first grandfather-and-grandson major league play-by-play team when Harry Caray died of cardiac arrest, four days after collapsing at a restaurant, and 11 days before his 84th birthday.