February 27, 2018

180 years ago
1838

War
In the Lower Canada Rebellion, a body of Frères Chasseurs raided Potton in the Eastern Townships, while a group of 600 patriotes gathered at Plattsburg, New York and crossed frozen Lake Champlain to Alburg, Vermont.

120 years ago
1898

World events
King George I of Greece survived an assassination attempt. Returning from a trip to the beach at Phaleron in an open carriage, King George and his daughter Princess Maria were shot at by two riflemen. The King tried to shield his daughter; both were unhurt, although the coachman and a horse were wounded. The gunmen (an Athens clerk named Mr. Karditzis and his assistant) fled into the Hymettus hills, but they were spotted and arrested. Both were beheaded at Nauplia.

90 years ago
1928

War
In Nicaragua, U.S. Marines were ambushed by Sandanista rebels; five Marines were killed, and eight wounded.

Crime
A report made to the National Crime Commission stated that the vastness of the crime problem in the United States was due largely to the inefficiency of the police, and that their inefficiency was due largely to "the lack of average intelligence in the police force, particularly in the supervisory branches."

Oil
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill transferring to the Secretary of the Navy jurisdiction over oil and gas leases issued by the Secretary of the Interior on lands in naval petroleum reserves. This was a result of the Teapot Dome scandal of 1923, the trials from which were still taking place in 1928. Albert B. Fall had been the Secretary of the Interior in 1923, and had become the first member of a U.S. cabinet to go to prison.

Disasters
Commander Theodore G. Ellyson, executive officer of the new aircraft carrier Lexington, and two other naval airmen, Lieutenant Commander Hugo Schmidt and Lt. Rogers S. Ransehouse, disappeared while making a flight from Hampton Roads to Annapolis, where Cdr. Ellison's daughter was ill.

75 years ago
1943

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): There are Such Things--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra

War
In heavy fighting, Soviet troops made advances west of Rostov; southwest of Voroshilovgrad; southwest of Kramatorsk; and west of Kharkov. German troops opened several attacks against British positions in northern Tunisia, while continuing to retreat in the central sector.

Protest
Gentile wives and relatives of 1,800 Jewish men who had been arrested by the Nazis and scheduled for deportation marched in Rosenstrasse (Rose Street) in Berlin.

Politics and government
A Gallup Poll reported that 51% of American voters questioned said that they would vote for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt if World War II was still going on, but that 50% said they would oppose him if the war was over.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Treasury issued a zinc-coated steel penny in order to save 4,600 tons of copper.

Labour
The U.S. War Manpower Commission released regulations for enforcing the 48-hour work week in 32 local labour shortage areas, and extended their provisions to the lumber and nonferrous metal mining industries.

Crime
Novelist Ursula Parrott, 42, was acquitted in Miami by an all-male jury of charges of aiding jazz guitarist Private Mike Bryan, 26, to escape from the Miami Beach Army stockade in December 1942.

Disasters
74 coal miners were killed in an explosion at Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana.

70 years ago
1948

War
Chinese Communist forces reported capturing the Manchurian port of Yingkow, frustrating Nationalist plans to land relief units in Manchuria.

Politics and government
Czechoslovakian President Eduard Benes swore in Prime Minister Klement Gottwald's new cabinet, with 8 Communists and 2 Social Democrats among 17 ministers. Commenting on the Communist seizure of power in Czechoslovakia, former U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace, currently running for President as the candidate of the Progressive Party, said that "the men in Moscow, from their viewpoint, would be utter morons if they failed to respond [to U.S. foreign policy] with actos of pro-Russian consolidation."

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Senate-approved $2.5-billion cut in President Harry Truman's budget request.

60 years ago
1958

Theatre
Blue Denim, written by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble, directed by Joshua Logan, and starring Warren Berlinger, Carol Lynley, Burt Brinckerhoff, and Chester Morris, opened at the Playhouse Theatre on Broadway in New York.

Died on this date
Harry Cohn, 66. U.S. motion picture executive. Mr. Cohn was the co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation from 1919 until his death from a heart attack. Columbia was known for making low-budget movies, but also produced such films as It Happened One Night (1934) and All the King's Men (1949), both of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, among other Oscars. Mr. Cohn was known as perhaps the most dictatorial of the Hollywood moguls, and often sought to have sex with various actresses in return for employment.

War
The Indonesian Army announced that government troops had landed in northern Celebes, 125 miles from insurgent headquarters in Menado.

Condemning French plans to create a no-man's land between Algeria and Tunisia as an "insult to humanity," Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba renewed appeals for U.S. pressure on France to end the war in Algeria.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles named Deputy U.S. Representative to the United Nations James Wadsworth to replace Harold Stassen as chief U.S. disarmament negotiator and presidential disarmament adviser.

Politics and government
U.S. Representatives A.L. Miller (Republican--Nebraska) and Whit Weaver (Republican--Nebraska) warned President Dwight D. Eisenhower that Agriculture Secretary Ezra Taft Benson and his policies were so repugnant to farmers that his retention in the cabinet could cost the Republican Party 25 seats in the House of Representatives and five state governorships in the November 1958 elections.

Economics and finance
The Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee approved First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's plans to break up the state-owned machinery and tractor station system.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)--John Fred and his Playboy Band (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Invaders, starring Roy Thinnes, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Miracle

Wojeck, starring John Vernon, on CBC
Tonight's episode: The Names of the Games People Play

This episode, about an injured football player, was written by former Toronto Argonaut Gerry O'Flanagan, and featured footage of the Continental Football League's Toronto Rifles, who folded in September 1967, five months before the episode was broadcast.



Died on this date
Frankie Lymon, 25. U.S. singer. Mr. Lymon, lead singer of the Teenagers, was the first teenage rock and roll star, and one of that lifestyle's first casualties. At the age of 13, his soprano lead vocal propelled Why Do Fools Fall in Love to #1 on the U.S. rhythm and blues chart and #6 on the pop chart in the first half of 1956. The follow-up single, I Want You to Be My Girl, hit #13 on the pop chart. The group hit the R&B chart a few more times before splitting up in 1957. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000. Mr. Lymon had a sporadic and commercially unsuccessful recording career, which wasn't helped when his voice changed with puberty. He became a heroin addict at the age of 15; he eventually kicked the habit, but had a relapse and died of an overdose just as he was resuming his recording career. His final single, I'm Sorry/Seabreeze, recorded shortly before his death, was released later in 1968.

War
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, speaking in Dallas, declared that the North Vietnamese Tet offensive had failed, and told his audience: "There must be no weakening of will that would encourage the enemy and prolong the bloody conflict." The President said that U.S. and South Vietnamese forces had "answered aggression's onslaught with one strong voice," declaring "'No retreat.'" "That must be our answer, too, here at home. No retreat from the responsibility of the hour and the day."

Boxing
Lionel Rose (28-2), an Australian aborigine, won a 15-round unanimous decision over Fighting Harada (50-4) at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo to win the world bantamweight title.



40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Canada Kara no Tegami--Masaaki Hirao & Yōko Hatanaka

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Te Amo--Umberto Tozzi

Died on this date
Robert Sobukwe, 53. South African political activist. An opponent of Apartheid, Mr. Sobukwe formed the Pan Africanist Congress, and was elected its first president in 1959. On March 21, 1960, Mr. Sobukwe led a march to the local police station at Orlando, Soweto in protest against the Pass Law, which required blacks to carry a pass book at all times. Mr. Sobukwe deliberately made himself guilty under the law by being in a place that wasn't allowed for in his papers. The same day in Sharpeville, 69 PAC supporters were killed in what became known as the Sharpeville Massacre. Mr. Sobukwe was convicted of incitement and sentenced to three years in prison. After serving his sentence, he was kept in prison, without trial, on Robben Island. The new General Law Amendment Act, popularly known as the "Sobukwe clause," was passed, allowing the Minister of Justice to renew Mr. Sobukwe's imprisonment annually at his discretion. Mr. Sobukwe was the only person ever imprisoned under this clause. Mr. Sobukwe was released to house arrest (and banned from political activity) in 1969, but was able to complete a law degree in 1975 and begin practicing. He died of lung cancer.

Hockey
CHL
Tulsa 2 @ Salt Lake City 5

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: Sì, la vita è tutta un quiz--Renzo Arbore (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): (I've Had) The Time of My Life--Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): (I've Had) The Time of My Life--Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (6th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Boys (Summertime Love)--Sabrina (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): I Should Be So Lucky--Kylie Minogue (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Father Figure--George Michael

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Father Figure--George Michael
2 What Have I Done to Deserve This?--Pet Shop Boys (with Dusty Springfield)
3 Could've Been--Tiffany
4 She's Like the Wind--Patrick Swayze (featuring Wendy Fraser)
5 Seasons Change--Exposé
6 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
7 Hungry Eyes--Eric Carmen
8 I Get Weak--Belinda Carlisle
9 Need You Tonight--INXS
10 Don't Shed a Tear--Paul Carrack

Singles entering the chart were Where Do Broken Hearts Go by Whitney Houston (#49); I Saw Him Standing There by Tiffany (#61); One Step Up by Bruce Springsteen (#67); Are You Sure by So (#82); Wait by White Lion (#86); Kiss and Tell by Bryan Ferry (#87); Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) by Samantha Fox (#89); and Don't Make a Fool of Yourself by Stacey Q (#90).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Pump Up the Volume--M/A/R/R/S
2 Crying--Roy Orbison and k.d. lang
3 Could've Been--Tiffany
4 Need You Tonight--INXS
5 Hazy Shade of Winter--Bangles
6 When a Man Loves a Woman--Luba
7 Candle in the Wind--Elton John
8 The Way You Make Me Feel--Michael Jackson
9 Tell it to My Heart--Taylor Dayne
10 She's Like the Wind--Patrick Swayze (featuring Wendy Fraser)

Singles entering the chart were Out of the Blue by Debbie Gibson (#90); Heaven Knows by Robert Plant (#93); Breakfast at the Circus by David Wilcox (#97); and Big Big World by Parachute Club (#98).

Abominations
In the seaside town of Sumgait in the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, ethnic Azeris attacked and killed Armenians in what became known as the Sumgait Massacre or Sumgait Pogrom.

War
Iraqi jets bombed Iranian oil refineries.

Olympics
Elizabeth Manley of Ottawa, representing Canada, became the latest woman to become "Canada's Sweetheart" when she surprised everyone with the performance of her life in the long program in the women's figure skating event at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary. Miss Manley won the long program, and almost won the overall title. The favourite, Katarina Witt of East Germany, held on to win the gold medal; Miss Manley won the silver, and American Debi Thomas won the bronze, becoming the first Negro athlete ever to win a medal in the Winter Olympics. Miss Thomas was leading going into the long program, but fell on her first combination jump and skated a flat, flawed program.







25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): You Don't Treat Me No Good--Sonia Dada

#1 single in Italy: If I Ever Lose My Faith in You--Sting

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): I Feel You--Depeche Mode

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Mockin' Bird Hill--Roots Syndicate (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): No Limit--2 Unlimited (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (14th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (13th week at #1)
2 A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)--Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle
3 Ordinary World--Duran Duran
4 Saving Forever for You--Shanice
5 Mr. Wendal--Arrested Development
6 I'm Every Woman--Whitney Houston
7 7--Prince and the New Power Generation
8 Hip Hop Hooray--Naughty By Nature
9 If I Ever Fall in Love--Shai
10 Here We Go Again--Portrait

Singles entering the chart were Freak Me by Silk (#49); I See Your Smile by Gloria Estefan (#73); Bad Girl by Madonna (#75); If I Ever Lose My Faith in You by Sting (#76); Come in Out of the Rain by Wendy Moten (#80); Knock-N-Boots by Wreckx-N-Effect (#82); Stop the World by Extreme (#83); So Alone by Men at Large (#90); Hope of Deliverance by Paul McCartney (#91); and Beautiful Girl by INXS (#92).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Steam--Peter Gabriel
2 Ordinary World--Duran Duran
3 No Mistakes--Patty Smyth
4 I'm Every Woman--Whitney Houston
5 Bed of Roses--Bon Jovi
6 A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)--Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle
7 I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston
8 Deeper and Deeper--Madonna
9 Little Bird--Annie Lennox
10 Man on the Moon--R.E.M.

Singles entering the chart were Don't Tear Me Up by Mick Jagger (#57); Kiss That Frog by Peter Gabriel (#66); Informer by Snow (#70); That's What Love Can Do by Boy Krazy (#72); Bad Girl by Madonna (#74); Who Do You Think You Are by Sass Jordan (#77); The Right Kind of Love by Jeremy Jordan (#81); Colder than You by the Waltons (#84); Won't Get Fooled Again by Van Halen (#87); and Pride & Joy by Coverdale (#88).

Died on this date
Lillian Gish, 99. U.S. actress. Miss Gish began appearing in motion pictures in 1912, and was one of the biggest stars of the silent movie era. Her films included The Birth of a Nation (1915); Intolerance (1916); Hearts of the World (1918); Broken Blossoms (1919); Way Down East (1920); Orphans of the Storm (1921); The Scarlet Letter (1926); The Wind (1928); Duel in the Sun (1946); The Night of the Hunter (1955); and The Whales of August (1987).

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
George Hitchings, 92. U.S. pharmacologist. Dr. Hitchings shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Sir James Black and Gertrude Elion "for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment," Dr. Hitchings specifically for his work on chemotherapy.

J.T. Walsh, 54. U.S. actor. Mr. Walsh was a versatile character actor who appeared in nearly 60 movies, often playing white-collar villains. He played John Ehrlichman in Oliver Stone's film Nixon (1995). Mr. Walsh died of a heart attack.

Canadiana
J.J. Harper Day was observed throughout Manitoba for the first time.

Scandal
Canadian Governor General Roméo LeBlanc announced that former National Hockey League Players Association President Alan Eagleson had been expelled from the Order of Canada because of his conviction for fraud.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this date
William F. Buckley, Jr., 82. U.S. author and journalist. Mr. Buckley was probably the most prominent voice of American conservatism in the latter half of the 20th century, expressing his opinions in the magazine National Review---which he founded in 1955--and on the television talk show Firing Line, which he hosted from 1966-1999. His books included God and Man at Yale (1951); McCarthy and his Enemies (with L. Brent Bozell, Jr.) (1954, 1961); and numerous spy novels. Mr. Buckley's speech and mannerisms were widely imitated. He died of a heart attack after years of declining health.

Myron Cope, 79. U.S. sportswriter and sportscaster. Mr. Cope, born Myron Kopelman, was a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh. He wrote for various newspapers and magazines, but was best known as the radio voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League from 1970-2004. In 1975, Mr. Cope conceived the promotional gimmick "The Terrible Towel," in which fans were encouraged to wave gold towels at Steelers' home games; it remains a tradition to this day.