February 29 (2018)

1,550 years ago
468

Died on this date
Hilarius. Roman Catholic Pope, 461-468. Hilarius, a native of Sardinia, succeeded Leo I, and continued his predecessor's policy of increasing the power of the Holy See. Pope Hilarius was succeeded by Simplicius.

550 years ago
1468

Born on this date
Paul III. Roman Catholic Pope, 1534-1549. Paul III, born Alessandro Farnese, was appointed a cardinal in 1493, and acceded to the papacy following the death of Clement VII. Pope Paul apparently had difficulty living up to his vow of celibacy, as he had a mistress by whom he had five children. Pope Paul III initiated the Counter-Reformation with the Council of Trent in 1545, recognized new religious orders such as the Jesuits and Barnabites, and patronized the arts and sciences, while using nepotism to advance his family interests. He died on November 10, 1549 at the age of 81, and was succeeded by Julius III.

250 years ago
1768

Politics and government
Polish nobles formed Bar Confederation.

150 years ago
1868

Died on this date
Ludwig I. King of Bavaria, 1825-1848. Ludwig I succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father Maximilian I. Ludwig I initially had a liberal regime, but became more repressive with the passage of time, and during the revolutions of 1848 was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Maximilian II. Ludwig I remained influential, and was known for his support of the arts.

110 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Dee Brown. U.S. author. Mr. Brown was a librarian, novelist, and historian. His best-known book was Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1970), which told the history of Native Americans from the perspective of the Indians. He died on December 12, 2002 at the age of 94.

Died on this date
Pat Garrett, 57. U.S. lawman. Mr. Garrett was the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, who was credited with fatally shooting Billy the Kid in 1881. Mr. Garrett was killed near Las Cruces, New Mexico while was travelling with another man to a meeting to discuss a land dispute. Mr. Garrett was fatally shot when he stopped in the desert for a few minutes to urinate.

90 years ago
1928

Music
Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra were at Liederkranz Hall in New York, where they recorded Sea Burial.

70 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Anniversary Song--Al Jolson; Bing Crosby (4th month at #1)

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and Alfred Shirley, on MBS
Tonight's episode: King Philip's Golden Salver

Died on this date
Rebel Oakes, 64. U.S. baseball player. Ennis Telfair Oakes was a center fielder with the Cincinnati Reds (1909); St. Louis Cardnals (1910-1913); and Pittsburgh Rebels (1914-1915), batting .279 with 15 home runs and 397 runs batted in in 986 games.

Terrorism
Stern Gang members blew up a Haifa-bound British train near Rehoveth, killing 28 British soldiers and wounding 35.

Defense
Colonel Kenneth Nichols was appointed head of the U.S. Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, following the retirement of General Leslie Groves.

Religion
Richard Wurmbrand, pastor of an underground church in Romania, was arrested by secret police as he walked to church, was taken to their headquarters and later put in a solitary cell where he was designated as Prisoner Number 1. He remained imprisoned for his faith for the next 8 1/2 years. His wife Sabrina, who served 3 years in prison herself during this period, was told a number of times that her husband had died. She was suspicious of these reports, and rightly so. The two were reunited when Richard was released in 1956. Upon Richard's release, he and Sabrina resumed their activities; Richard was returned to prison, and wasn't released until 1964. He survived brutality that many did not, and told his story in a best-selling memoir titled Tortured for Christ. In 1965, western churches ransomed Richard for $10,000. He and Sabrina (and son Mihai) came to America, where Richard testified about his experiences before the U.S. Senate. The Wurmbrands devoted themselves to speaking out on behalf of Christians being persecuted behind the Iron Curtain. In 1969 Pastor Wurmbrand founded Jesus to the Communist World, an organization which is known today as Voice of the Martyrs. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, VOM has broadened its ministry to aiding the cause of persecuted Christians around the world, not just those in Communist countries. URLs for international VOM sites can be found at http://www.persecution.com/internationalOffice/index.cfm. Sabrina Wurmbrand died in 2000; Richard died in Whittier, California on February 17, 2001 at the age of 91. He was undoubtedly met by the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Economics and finance
Czechoslovakian Prime Minister Klement Gottwald announced plans to break up estates of more than 125 acres, but denied that a collective farm system on the Soviet model would be established.

50 years ago
1968

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



At the movies
The Secret War of Harry Frigg, directed by Jack Smight and starring Paul Newman, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Lena Blackburne, 81. U.S. baseball player, coach and manager. Russell Aubrey Blackburne was an infielder with the Chicago White Sox (1910, 1912, 1914-1915, 1927, 1929); Cincinnati Reds (1918); Boston Braves (1919); and Philadelphia Phillies (1919), batting .214 with 4 home runs and 139 runs batted in in 550 games. He coached with the White Sox (1927); St. Louis Browns (1930); and Philadelphia Athletics (1933-1938, 1940, 1942-1943), and managed the White Sox from 1928-1929, posting a record of 99-133. Mr. Blackburne was best known for marketing his Baseball Rubbing Mud, which he discovered in the 1930s, and is still used today to rub baseballs with before each game.

Music
Up, Up and Away won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. It had been a hit for The 5th Dimension. Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the Beatles, won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

The Beach Boys recorded the song Little Bird at Brian Wilson's home studio in Los Angeles.

Space
The discovery of the first pulsar--a neutron star or white dwarf which emits regular radio waves--was announced by Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell in Cambridge, England. Dr. Burnell actually made the discovery on November 28, 1967.

Politics and government
Archbishop Makarios was inaugurated into his second five-year term as President of Cyprus, four days after being re-elected.

Leopold Sedar Senghor was inaugurated into his third term as President of Senegal, four days after being re-elected.

Romania walked out of a Communist Party conference in Budapest, in a dispute over the People's Republic of China.

Society
The President’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, an 11-member body headed by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, released a 426-page summary of its 1,400-page report on the summer riots of 1967. The commission was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson on July 27, 1967 to investigate the nature of the riots, discover the causes, and determine how future riots could be avoided. In the summer of 1967, 164 "civil disorders" were reported in 128 American cities. The most notorious took place in Newark, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan. In Newark, 23 people were killed and $10 million in property damage occurred from July 14-17. The Detroit riots resulted in 43 deaths, 7,231 arrests, 2,500 businesses burned or looted, and $22 million in property damage from July 23-28. Other cities affected by violence that summer included Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Buffalo and Syracuse, New York. This blogger passed through downtown Syracuse with his family in August, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. It seems the Summer of Love was restricted to San Francisco. The commission’s major findings were:
--The U.S. "is moving toward 2 societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal," but it is still possible to head off the division.
--White racism is the chief cause of the Negro violence and riots.
--To reverse the situation calls for unprecedented levels of "funding and performance" but "there can be no higher priority for national action and no higher claim on the nation’s conscience." The commission found that the riots were not organized or part of any conspiracy, but happened because of an accumulation of social ills such as unemployment, inadequate housing, discriminatory police practices, and various complex social processes. The underlying factor in the cause of the riots was found to be "...the racial attitude and behavior of white Americans toward black Americans." The commission made more than 150 specific recommendations for removing the causes of racial unrest, including:
--Creation of 2 million new jobs in the next 3 years.
--Decentralization of city governments to make them more responsive to the needs of their people.
--A national system of income supplements based on need.
--New low- and moderate-income housing.
The commission report received the backing of most of the civil rights leaders in the United States, but there was much adverse reaction, especially to the central finding of the commission that white racism was the root cause of the riots. In short, the report reflected typical liberal American views of the 1960s, still believed by some today: Whitey is the cause of all evil; black people are basically just children who shouldn’t be held morally accountable for their behaviour, and need the help of white liberals in order to improve their lot in life; and social problems can best be solved by throwing money at them.

Boxing
Roberto Davila (18-10) scored a technical knockout of Brian London (37-16) in the 6th round of their heavyweight bout at the Stadium in Liverpool.

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 (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Sidney Harmon, 80. U.S. screenwriter and producer. Mr. Harmon was nominated for an Academy Award for his story for The Talk of the Town (1942).

War
Iran and Iraq began firing missiles at each other's capital.

Protest
A strike against the regime of President General Manuel Noriega began in Panama. It was widely supported, at least in Panama City.

South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu was among 100 clergymen who were arrested during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.

Society
New Democratic Member of Parliament Svend Robinson (Burnaby) became the first member of Canada's House of Commons to come out of the closet and admit his homosexuality.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 2071.62, its highest level since prices had plunged on October 19, 1987.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this date
Buddy Dial, 71. Gilbert Leroy Dial was a wide receiver who was an All-American at Rice University (1956-1958), and was drafted in the second round of the 1959 NFL draft by the New York Giants. He was put on waivers just before the start of the regular season, and was claimed by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mr. Dial played with the Steelers from 1959-1963, catching 229 passes for 4,723 yards and 42 touchdowns. He was named an All-Pro in 1963, but was traded to the Dallas Cowboys on January 1, 1964. Mr. Dial played with the Cowboys from 1964-1966, but his career was shortened by injuries, and he caught just 32 passes for 713 yards and 2 touchdowns in 3 seasons with Dallas. He had a good singing voice and released several singles and an album; the single Baby was a local hit in Dallas in 1966-67. Mr. Dial became addicted to painkillers as a result of his football injuries, and had a kidney removed, but received treatment in the 1980s. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993, and died of cancer and pneumonia.

Canadiana
A woman from Surrey, British Columbia gave birth to rare identical triplets; the chance of having naturally conceived identical triplets is estimated at one in 200 million.

Scandal
Misha Defonseca admitted to fabricating her memoir Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years, in which she claimed to have lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during World War II.