February 8, 2018

780 years ago
1238

World events
Mongol invaders burned the Russian city of Vladimir.

325 years ago
1693

Academia
The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia received its charter and became the second institution of higher learning in America.

125 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Ba Maw. Chief Minister of Burma, 1937-1939; Naingandaw Adipadi (Head of State) of Burma, 1943-1945. Ba Maw led the Burmese government under British colonial rule in the late 1930s, and headed a civilian government under Japanese occupation during World War II. He died on May 29, 1977 at the age of 84.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
Freddie Blassie. U.S. wrestler. "Classy" Freddie Blassie was a popular villain in Geogia and Florida before moving to Los Angeles in 1960, where his notoriety led to guest appearances on television programs. In his later years Mr. Blassie was known as a manager of various famous professional wrestlers, including Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan. He died on June 2, 2003 at the age of 85.

90 years ago
1928

World events
Mme. Anastasia Tschaikovsky, who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, a daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia who escaped the massacre of the royal family at Ekaterinburg, arrived in New York City from Europe.

Diplomacy
King Amanullah I of Afghanistan and his party continued their European tour, arriving in Brussels and meeting King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium.

Aviation
French aviators Dieudonne Costes and Joseph Lebrix, continuing their transatlantic flight, took off from Montgomery, Alabama for Washington, D.C. Going through heavy clouds, rain, and fog all the way, they made a perfect landing at Bowling Field after a 7-hour flight.

75 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Dan Casey, 80. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Casey played with the Wilmington Quicksteps (1884); Detroit Wolverines (1885); Philadelphia Quakers (1886-1889); and Syracuse Stars (1890), compiling a record of 96-90 with an earned run average of 3.18 in 201 games, and batted .162 with 1 home run and 51 runs batted in in 202 games. His best season was 1887, when he was 28-13, leading the National League in earned run average (2.86) and shutouts (4). Mr. Casey played in the minor leagues as late as 1899. In later years he claimed to be the inspiration for Ernest Lawrence Thayer's poem Casey at the Bat, a claim which Mr. Thayer denied.

War
The Royal Canadian Navy ship HMCS Regina sank the Italian submarine Avorio in the Mediterranean Sea. Russian forces regained Kursk, the German stronghold 275 miles north of Moscow. American forces secured Guadalcanal Island, the day after Japanese forces had completed their evacuation of the island. Britain's 77th Indian Brigade began guerrilla operations against Japanese forces in Burma.

Law
The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Wiley B. Rutledge as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Labour
U.S. Federal Judge Martin Welsh denied a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to block the deportation of labour leader Harry Bridges, who had lied about his Communist background before immigrating from Australia.

Agriculture
Ollie W. Reed of the U.S. Agriculture Department said that the process of extracting riboflavin (vitamin B) from milk was being perfected so that it could be used in bread and other foods.

Health
About 5,000 people were reported to have died of malaria in the Uribia area of northern Colombia.

70 years ago
1948

On the Radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on MBS, starring John Stanley and Alfred Shirley.
Tonight's episode: The Sanguinary Spectre

Died on this date
Joseph Frelinghuysen, 78. U.S. politician. Mr. Frelinghuysen, a Republican, held various state offices in New Jersey before representing the state in the United States Senate from 1917-1923 as New Jersey's first directly-elected Senator. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1922 and returned to his insurance business.

Burton Livingston, 72. U.S. plant physiologist . Dr. Livingston was a professor at Johns Hopkins University. He died the day before his 73rd birthday.

Julian Messner, 62. U.S. publisher. Mr. Messner and his wife Kathryn founded Julian Messner, Inc. in 1933, publishing children's books. They divorced in 1944, but she took over as president of the company after his death.

Politics and government
National Union candidate Otilio Ulate Blanco defeated government-endorsed National Republican candidate Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia in the Costa Rican presidential election, taking 55.3% of the vote to 44.7% for Mr. Calderón. The election was declared fraudulent and annulled by Congress, leading to civil war later in the year.

The Southern Governors Conference named a committee headed by South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond to formulate plans for maintaining "white supremacy" in the southern United States. The conference also approved a plan to establish a regional system of segregated colleges and universities.

Harvard University astronomer Harlow Shapley was named by the Progressive Citizens of America's Boston chapter as its candidate for Governor of Massachusetts.

Olympics
The RCAF Flyers, representing Canada, defeated the host Swiss team 3-0 on the last day of the Winter Olympics at St. Moritz to win the gold medal in hockey; to win gold, Canada had to win by at least two goals. Goaltender Murray Dowey recorded his fifth shutout in eight games. The coach of the Flyers was Hall-of-Famer Frank Boucher. Sweden led the point total with 82 points, followed by Switzerland with 77.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Diana--Paul Anka (8th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Der lachende Vagabund--Fred Bertelmann (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Only You (And You Alone)--The Platters (13th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Jailhouse Rock--Elvis Presley (3rd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Stroll--The Diamonds
2 At the Hop--Danny and the Juniors
3 Get a Job--The Silhouettes
4 Sail Along Silvery Moon--Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra
5 Don't--Elvis Presley
6 La Dee Dah--Billy and Lillie
7 Sugartime--The McGuire Sisters
8 Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como
9 Stood Up--Ricky Nelson
6 Peggy Sue--Buddy Holly
10 I Beg of You--Elvis Presley

Singles entering the chart were Are You Sincere by Andy Williams (#42); Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again (#45)/The Long Hot Summer (#49) by Jimmie Rodgers; Who's Sorry Now by Connie Francis (#56); Sing Boy Sing by Tommy Sands (#58); Big Guitar, with versions by the Owen Bradley Quintet, and Sam (The Man) Taylor and his Orchestra (#59); and 7-11 by the Gone All Stars (#60). The Long Hot Summer was the title song of the movie. Sing Boy Sing was the title song of the movie.

War
Algerian-based French aircraft bombed and strafed the Tunisian village of Sakiet-Sidi-Youssef, killing 68 inhabitants and wounding 100 others. The Tunisian government protested the attack, ordering the recall of Tunisian Ambassador to France Mohammed Masmoudi.

Politics and government
The East German Communist Party disclosed the dismissals of Karl Schirdewan and Ernst Wollweber from the Central Committee and Fred Oelssner from the Politburo for "fractional activities" in opposition to Communist Party First Secretary Walter Ulbricht.

U.S. Representative Thomas Gordon (Democrat--Illinois) resigned as chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee because of ill health, and was succeeded by Rep. Thomas Morgan (Democrat--Pennsylvania).

Energy
Osaka University scientists reported that they had achieved a temeprature of 1 million degrees Celsius in Japan's first controlled fusion reaction.

Skiing
Lucile Wheeler of St-Jovite, Québec won the women's downhill and giant slalom titles at the world championships in Bad Gastein, Austria.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kaette Kita Yopparai--The Folk Crusaders (3rd week at #1)

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



At the movies
Planet of the Apes, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, and Kim Hunter, received its premiere screening, at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.

Blackbeard's Ghost, directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, and Suzanne Pleshette, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Maurice Maillot, 91. French actor. Mr. Maillot's films included The Indictment (1931); Odette (1934) and Camp Thirteen (1940).

Henry Smith, 19; Samuel Hammond, 18; Delano Middleton, 17. U.S. students. Messrs. Smith and Hammond were South Carolina State University students and Mr. Middleton was a high school student. They were killed and 27 were wounded in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, South Carolina during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley. The protesters were unarmed, and most of those hit were reportedly shot in the back as they were running away; Mr. Middleton was sitting on the steps of a dormitory waiting for his mother to come out at the end of her work shift.

War
U.S. commanders in Vietnam reported record American casualties for any single week of the war to date, with 416 killed and 2,757 wounded from January 28 to February 3. South Vietnamese casualties for the same period were 784 killed and 2,230 wounded, with the Communists losing 15,515 men.

Politics and government
Former Democratic Governor of Alabama George Wallace announced his candidacy for President of the United States on a third-party ticket. Mr. Wallace said that if he were elected he would keep peace in the streets if it took "30,000 troops...with 2-foot-long bayonets." He also said that he would change the "so-called civil rights laws" which were in reality "an attack on property rights...free enterprise...and local government."

Football
CFL
The Canadian Football League governors approved Hamilton Tiger-Cats' general manager as the league's new Commissioner, effective April 1, 1968.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Uptown Top Ranking--Althea & Donna (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat left Washington after five days there, and went to London, where he conferred with U.K. Prime Minister James Callaghan.

Venezuela asked the Organization of American States to investigate charges of human rights violations in Nicaragua.

Politics and government
Proceedings of the United States Senate were broadcast on radio for the first time.

Scandal
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Standards of Official Conduct opened investigations into charges against Rep. Daniel Flood (Democrat--Pennsylvania) and Rep. Joshua Eilberg (Democrat--Pennsylvania). Rep. Flood had been charged with unethical activities in U.S. aid to Haiti and the Bahamas, and both men were already under investigation by the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia in connection with the financing of a hospital building project there.

Academia
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano presented to Congress a $1.2-billion aid program for college students from middle-income families.

Hockey
CHL
Salt Lake City @ Dallas (postponed)

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 (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Allan Cuthbertson, 67. Australian-born U.K. actor. Mr. Cuthbertson served with the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II, and moved to Britain in 1947. He frequently played military officers in movies such as Tunes of Glory (1960) and The Guns of Navarone (1961). Mr. Cuthbertson's best-known performance was a guest role as Colonel Hall in the Gourmet Night episode of the television comedy series Fawlty Towers (1975).

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): I Will Always Love You--Whitney Houston (3rd week at #1)

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Halldór Laxness, 91. Icelandic author. Mr. Laxness was awarded the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his vivid epic power, which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland." He remains the only Icelandic Nobel Laureate.

Enoch Powell, 85. U.K. politician. Mr. Powell, a classical scholar and intelligence officer before entering politcs, was a Conservative when he represented the English riding of Wolverhampton South West in the House of Commons from 1950-1974, and a member of the Ulster Unionist Party when he represented the Northern Irish riding of South Down from 1974-1987. He was Minister for Health in the cabinet of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan from 1960-1963. Mr. Powell was one of the most prominent British politicians of the last half of the 20th century, and is best remembered for his "Rivers of Blood" speech on April 20, 1968, in which he warned of the dangers to British society of mass immigration of non-whites. He was fired by Conservative Party leader Edward Heath from his position as shadow Secretary of Defense for his views, but Mr. Powell was supported by the vast majority of the British public, and history proved him right.

Julian Simon, 65. U.S. economist. Professor Simon was known for his cornucopian and contrarian views on subjects such as pollution and population, taking a far more optimistic view of such subjects than better-known pessimists such as ecologist Paul Ehrlich. In his book The Ultimate Resource (1981), Professor Simon offered to pay $10,000 to readers who took him up on the wager, if the price of a particular resource not under government control hadn't dropped by a specified date. Dr. Ehrlich took him up on the wager in 1980, and had to pay Professor Simon in 1990. Professor Simon died of a heart attack.

Olympics
Ross Reblagliati of Canada won the gold medal at Nagano, Japan in the first-ever snowboarding event held at a Winter Games.