February 9, 2018

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Heather Blacklock!

230 years ago
1788

War
The Habsburg Empire of Austria allied itself with Russia in the Russo-Turkish War.

130 years ago
1888

Literature
Walt Whitman wrote to the publishers of The Riverside Literature Series No. 32 to call attention to errors in their printing of his poem O Captain! My Captain!.

125 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas. Prime Minister of Greece, 1965. Mr. Athanasiadis-Novas, a conservative who eventually joined the Centre Union (EK), first entered parliament in 1926, and held various cabinet posts before being appointed Prime Minister by King Constantine II on July 15, 1965 after the dismissal of Georgios Papandreou, Sr. Mr. Athanasiadis-Novas' government fell in a non-confidence vote on August 20, and he was replaced as Prime Minister by Ilias Tsirimokos. Mr. Athanasiadis-Novas died on August 10, 1987 at the age of 94.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
George Goldner. U.S. music executive. Mr. Goldner founded or co-founded several record labels in the 1950s and '60s, and was responsible for discovering and promoting rock and roll artists such as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers; Little Anthony and the Imperials; and the Crows. He died of a heart attack on April 15, 1970 at the age of 52.

90 years ago
1928

Died on this date
William Gillies, 59. Australian politician. Mr. Gillies, a member of the Labour Party, represented Eacham in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1912-1925. He held several posts before serving as Premier and Treasurer of Queensland from February-October 1925. Mr. Gillies resigned from politics in October 1925 to become a member of the newly-established board of trade and arbitration, serving there until his sudden death.

Television
John Logie Baird transmitted television pictures across the Atlantic Ocean, from Motograph House, London by telephone cable to Ben Clapp's station GK2Z at 40 Warwick Road, Coulsdon, Surrey, and then by radio to Hartsdale, New York.

75 years ago
1943

War
Allied authorities declared Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuated its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal. Japan put her troop losses at 16,734 for the entire battle, while the U.S. Navy put Japanese troop losses from 30,000-50,000.

Diplomacy
Colombia and the U.S.S.R. reached an agreement to exchange diplomatic envoys.

Labour
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a 48-hour minimum workweek for all full-time workers in labour shortage areas.

Business
Major league baseball's National League completed the purchase of stock in the Philadelphia Phillies from Gerald Nugent so that the team could be resold to a businessmen's syndicate.

70 years ago
1948

Diplomacy
Karl Burkhardt resigned as president of the International Red Cross, to be succeeded by Paul Ruegger.

Politics and government
Western sources reported the dismissal of geneticist Anton Zhebrak as president of the White Russian Academy of Science for challenging the genetic theories of Trofim Denisovich Lysenko.

U.S. Senator James Eastland (Democrat--Mississippi), in a Senate speech, called for Southern secession from the Democratic Party, attacking President Harry Truman's civil rights program as an effort of "mongrel Northern minority groups" to eliminate "the pure blood of the South."

Economics and finance
The French government froze wholesale meat prices and increased food imports in an effort to check a sharp rise in food prices.

Labour
16 European states participating in the Marshall Plan ended a conference in Rome after approving the creation of a permanent agency to train professional workers and promote the exchange of skilled workers within Europe.

Oil
The U.S. Commerce Department suspended oil exports from Atlantic ports until the end of March in order to ease a fuel oil shortage on the East Coast.

60 years ago
1958

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Equalizer, starring Leif Erickson, Martin Balsam, and Norma Crane

Politics and government
Alfredo Stroessner was, without opposition, re-elected President of Paraguay in a plebiscite.

The Soviet Communist Party Presidium announced that Premier Nikolai Bulganin would switch his Supreme Soviet seat from Moscow to Malkop in the Adyghe Autonomous Region.

Skiing
Toni Sailer of Austria, who had earlier won the men's giant slalom and downhill events, won the Alpine combined title at the world championships in Bad Gastein, Austria.

50 years ago
1968

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

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Love is Blue--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra
2 Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)--John Fred and his Playboy Band
3 Itchycoo Park--Small Faces
4 I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite--Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
5 Green Tambourine--The Lemon Pipers
6 Zabadak!--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
7 Spooky--The Classics IV
8 Skip a Rope--Henson Cargill
9 I Can Take or Leave Your Loving--Herman's Hermits
10 Words--The Bee Gees
Pick of the Week: Guitar Man--Elvis Presley
New this week: Electrically Heated Child--Waterproof Candle
Mr. Soul Satisfaction--Timmy Willis
Brown-Eyed Handsome Man--Jerry Jaye
Me, Myself and I--The Bonniwell Mean Machine
Night Fo' Last--Shorty Long

Diplomacy
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson concluded his official visit with U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in Washington. The two discussed the balance of payments deficit, Britain's withdrawal of all its forces from the Far East by 1971, and Mr. Wilson's visit to the Soviet Union on January 22-24, where Mr. Wilson and the Soviet leaders had issued a joint statement backing a "political settlement" to the Vietnam War.

40 years ago
1978

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

With this episode, the title of the series changed from James at 15 to James at 16. The first episode of James at 16 had James Hunter turning 16, falling in love with a new Swedish girl in school, and throwing away his virginity. A number of stations refused to show this episode, but those of us living in Calgary were able to see it on CFAC or KHQ (the Spokane NBC affiliate).

Class of '65, starring Tony Bill, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Most Likely to Succeed

Diplomacy
The government of Canada ordered 11 Soviet embassy officials deported for allegedly trying to infiltrate the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service.

The day after leaving Washington, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat met in Hamburg with West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan arrived in Washington to meet with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Alfred Atherton in an attempt to offset Mr. Sadat's visit.

Politics and government
The United States Senate Select Subcommittee on Intelligence proposed legislation to curb U.S. intelligence agents (otherwise known as "spies") and protect American civil liberties. The bill prohibited political assassinations, covert operations "likely to result in...the overthrow of democratic governments, or the support of actions by foreign police, intelligence or internal security forces of countries which violate human rights."

Transportation
The Budd Company unveiled its first SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar in Philadelphia.

Hockey
CHL
Salt Lake City 2 @ Fort Worth 1

30 years ago
1988

Scandal
A panel of international historians issued a report that found that Austrian President (and former United Nations Secretary General) Kurt Waldheim had known of war crimes committed by his units during World War II, but that he had not committed any crimes. The report found that Mr. Waldheim had concealed and misrepresented his service during the war.

Hockey
NHL
All-Star Game @ St. Louis Arena, St. Louis
Prince of Wales Conference 6 Clarence S. Campbell Conference 5 (OT)

Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored 3 goals and 3 assists, including the winning goal at 1:08 of overtime, to lead the Prince of Wales Conference to victory before 17,878 fans in the last good All-Star game for many years. Mats Naslund of the Montreal Canadiens set an All-Star Game record with 5 assists, including one on the winning goal.



20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Maurice Schumann, 86. French politician. Mr. Schumann, a member of the Popular Republican Movement, held several cabinet posts, most notably as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of President Georges Pompidou (1969-1973).

Dean Griffing, 82. U.S.-born football player, coach, and executive. Mr. Griffing played center and linebacker at Kansas State University (1933-1934) before going to Canada and playing with the Regina Roughriders (1936-1943); Toronto Balmy Beach (1944); and Calgary Stampeders (1945-1947). He coached the Stampeders while playing for them, and served as general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1954-1957) and Denver Broncos (1960-1961). Mr. Griffing was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1965 as a player.