February 23, 2018

180 years ago
1838

War
American republican sympathizers occupied Fighting Island in the Detroit River to back Upper Canadian rebels.

170 years ago
1848

Died on this date
John Quincy Adams, 80. 6th President of the United States, 1825-1829. Mr. Adams, a son of U.S. President John Adams, was a member of several political parties and held various positions in a diplomatic and political career that spanned more than 50 years. In the 1824 presidential election, Andrew Jackson had a plurality of the electoral vote but fell short of a majority, sending the election to the House of Representatives. The House elected Mr. Adams, much to the chagrin of Mr. Jackson, who denounced the deal as a "corrupt bargain." Mr. Jackson defeated Mr. Adams in a bitter campaign in 1828. Mr. Adams, however, continued in politics, representing Massachusetts in the House of Representatives from 1831 until his death.

150 years ago
1868

Born on this date
W.E.B. Du Bois. U.S. scholar and civil rights activist. Dr. Du Bois was the first Negro American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, and taught sociology, history, and economics at Atlanta University. He became one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples in 1909 and supported Pan-Africanism, the movement to free African colonies from European rule. Dr. Du Bois opposed U.S. entry into World War II, was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1959, and joined the Communist Party in 1961. He died in Accra, Ghana, on August 27, 1963 at the age of 95, shortly after becoming a Ghanaian citizen.

125 years ago
1893

Hockey
Former Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley donated the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup - later known as the Stanley Cup - to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association Champions.

120 years ago
1898

World events
Writer Émile Zola was imprisoned in France, 41 days after J'Accuse...!, a defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a French Jew falsely convicted of treason, had been published in the Paris newspaper L'Aurore.

100 years ago
1918

Died on this date
Sophie Menter, 71. German musician and composer. Miss Menter was Franz Liszt's favourite female student, and had a successful career as a concert pianist from the 1860s to the 1880s. She wrote several works for piano.

90 years ago
1928

Aviation
Miss Margaret Bartlett, a Columbia University student and daughter of Judge George A. Bartlett of Reno, Nevada, stepped from the cabin of a transcontinental mail plane at the Oakland municipal airport after 41 hours in the air, becoming the first girl to fly from New York to San Francisco on the regular air mail schedule.

Labour
In Germany, it was announced that all female employees of the German postal system (including telegraph, telephone, and post office services) were required to wear service skirts reaching at least 8 inches below the knees.

80 years ago
1938

Boxing
Joe Louis (34-1) successfully defended his world heavyweight title, knocking Nathan Mann (40-5-3) down 3 times before knocking him out at 1:56 of the 3rd round at Madison Square Garden in New York.



75 years ago
1943

War
The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth was founded in Greece as the result of the merger of 10 earlier political and resistance youth organizations. British tanks and American artillery repulsed a German armoured attack upon Thala in central Tunisia.

Defense
The U.S. House of Representatives approved and sent to the Senate a Navy bill for $1.256 billion for construction of shore bases.

Disasters
36 children and an adult died in a fire at St. Joseph's Orphanage in County Cavan, Ireland.

70 years ago
1948

World events
Czechoslovakian Interior Minister Vaclav Nosek, a Communist, announced that police had uncovered a coup plot by the conservative National Socialist Party, and forbade any Czech citizen from leaving the country without special permission. Police raided the National Socialists' Prague headquarters, while members of the majority Democratic Party of Slovakia were ousted from the Slovak provincial cabinet.

Politics and government
Five governors of southern U.S. states met with Senator J. Howard McGrath (Democrat--Rhode Island) to protest President Harry Truman's civil rights program. The governors warned after the meeting that "the South is no longer 'in the bag'" for the Democratic Party. U.S. Senator Glen Taylor (Democrat--Idaho) announced his withdrawal from the Democratic Party to campaign as a candidate for Vice President of the United States on the third-party presidential ticket of former Vice President Henry Wallace. Americans for Democratic Action, meeting in Philadelphia, refused to endorse the re-election of President Truman, but voted to support liberal congressional candidates "regardless of party."

Economics and finance
U.S., U.K., and French experts met in London to discuss French demands for internationalization of the Ruhr and other German economic problems.

60 years ago
1958

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Guest for Breakfast, starring Joan Tetzel, Scott McKay, and Richard Shepard

Crime
In an attempt to embarrass the Cuban government of President Fulgencio Batista and to prevent the running of the Gran Premio auto race in Havana, Cuban guerrillas kidnapped Argentine driving ace Juan Manuel Fangio at gunpoint from the lobby of the Lincoln Hotel in Havana.

Auto racing
Paul Goldsmith won the Daytona 500 NASCAR race, driving a 1958 Pontiac.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Daydream Believer--The Monkees (3rd week at #1)

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra (3rd week at #1)
2 Green Tambourine--The Lemon Pipers
3 Itchycoo Park--Small Faces
4 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding
5 Words--The Bee Gees
6 Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)--John Fred and his Playboy Band
7 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Co.
8 Spooky--The Classics IV
9 I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite--Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
10 I Can Take or Leave Your Loving--Herman's Hermits
Pick of the Week: Walk Away Renee--The Four Tops
New this week: It's a Gas--The Hombres
Sister Marie--Nilsson
Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The 4 Seasons
Hey, Hey Bunny--John Fred and His Playboy Band
Just What I've Been Looking For--The Vogues

Another new single that week was an instrumental version of Judy in Disguise (With Glasses), credited to Offenbach. It consisted of the same instrumental track as the version by John Fred and his Playboy Band, but with a saxophone solo in place of the vocals. The B-side of the Offenbach single was an instrumental version of No Letter Today, the vocal version of which was the B-side of Hey, Hey Bunny. Both singles were released on Paula Records.

40 years ago
1978

On television tonight
James at 16, starring Lance Kerwin, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Listless Fever

Class of '65, starring Tony Bill, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Mr. Potential

Hockey
CHL
Tulsa 3 @ Kansas City 1

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
Canada's Top 10 (The Record)
1 Pump Up the Volume--M/A/R/R/S
2 Could've Been--Tiffany
3 What Have I Done to Deserve This?--Pet Shop Boys (with Dusty Springfield)
4 Tell it to My Heart--Taylor Dayne
5 Pop Goes the World--Men Without Hats
6 The Way You Make Me Feel--Michael Jackson
7 Got My Mind Set on You--George Harrison
8 Faith--George Michael
9 Hungry Eyes--Eric Carmen
10 Hazy Shade of Winter--Bangles

Politics and government
Representative Dick Gephardt (Missouri) won the South Dakota primary in the contest for the 1988 Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States, while Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis won the Minnesota caucuses. U.S. Senator Bob Dole (Kansas) won the Republican contests in both states.

Disasters
275 people were reported to have died in Rio de Janeiro State in Brazil after a week of heavy rainstorms.

25 years ago
1993

World events
Iraqis aimed guns at two helicopters carrying United Nations inspectors who were seeking Scud missiles.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that adding to the prison terms of criminals because they had given false testimony in court did not violate their constitutional rights.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Philip Abbott, 73. U.S. actor. Mr. Abbott, born Philip Abbott Alexander, made over 100 appearances on television, but was best known for co-starring as Assistant Director Arthur Ward in The F.B.I. (1965-1974). He died 25 days before his 74th birthday.

Disasters
Tornadoes in central Florida destroyed or damaged 2,600 structures and killed 42 people.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this date
Janez Drnovšek, 57. 12th President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia, 1989-1990; Prime Minister of Slovenia, 1992-2000, 2000-2002; 2nd President of Slovenia, 2002-2007. Mr. Drnovšek was a Communist who became a Liberal Democrat upon Slovenia's secession from Yugoslavia in 1990. He led coalition governments as Prime Minister; as President, Mr. Drnovšek frequently clashed with the right-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Janez Janša. Mr. Drnovšek subscribed to various New Age beliefs, and became a vegan, thinking that nature would enable him to win his long battle with cancer; he was mistaken.

Disasters
The United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber Spirit of Kansas crashed on Guam, marking the first operational loss of a B-2; both crew members successfully ejected.