March 10, 2018

1,720 years ago
298

War
Roman Emperor Maximian concluded his campaign in North Africa against the Berbers, and made a triumphal entry into Carthage.

170 years ago
1848

War
The United States Senate voted 38-14 to ratify the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo, intended to end hostilities in the Mexican-American War, which had begun in 1846. The treaty still awaited ratification by the Mexican legislature and Senate.

Politics and government
A week after the Canadian government of Premier Henry Sherwood and Deputy Premier Denis-Benjamin Papineau had been defeated on a vote of non-confidence, Governor Lord Elgin asked Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine to form a government. Robert Baldwin and the other ministers were sworn in on March 11; they held their first cabinet meeting on March 14.

130 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Baldwin Cooke. U.S. actor. Mr. Cooke toured in vaudeville with Stan Laurel and appeared in many Laurel and Hardy movies. He died on December 31, 1953 at the age of 65.

Barry Fitzgerald. Irish-born U.S. actor. Mr. Fitzgerald, born William Joseph Shields, appeared in many plays, films, and television programs, and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Going My Way (1944). He died on January 14, 1961 at the age of 72.

110 years ago
1908

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Winnipeg Maple Leafs 5 @ Montreal Wanderers 11 (First game of 2-game total goals challenge series)

Cecil Blachford scored 3 goals and Walter Small, Bruce Stuart, and Moose Johnson each scored 2 for the defending champion Wanderers as they beat the Maple Leafs at Montreal Arena. Harry Lake led the Maple Leafs with 4 goals.

100 years ago
1918

At the movies
My Four Years in Germany, starring Halbert Brown as James W. Gerard and based on Mr. Gerard's memoir of his time as U.S. Ambassador to Germany, received its premiere screening in New York City. It was the first film to be produced by the four Warner Brothers.

Born on this date
Günther Rall. German military aviator and officer. Generalleutnant Rall recorded 275 combat victories during World War II, the third-highest total in history. He was Inspector of the West German Air Force from 1971-1974 and West German Military Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Military Committee from 1974-1975. Generalleutnant Rall died on October 4, 2009 at the age of 91.

Died on this date
Jim McCormick, 61. U.K.-born U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. McCormick, the first native of Scotland to appear in a major league game, played with 6 teams in 10 years from 1878-1887, compiling a record of 265-214 with an earned run average of 2.43 in 492 games, and batting .236 with 4 home runs and at last 178 runs batted in in 534 games. He led the National League in wins in 1880 (45) and 1882 (36) with the Cleveland Blues, and led the NL in earned run average (1.84) in 1883 with the Blues and the Union Association in ERA (1.54) in 1884 with the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds.

90 years ago
1928

Politics and government
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed the alien property bill, which called for an expenditure of about $50 million by the U.S. Treasury to cover the value of alien property seized when war was declared on Germany in 1917. Included in this property were many ocean liners (among them the Leviathan), and wireless stations and patents held by German nationals in the United States.

Disasters
A landslide on Brazil's Mount Serrat destroyed part of the city of Santos and killed nearly 100 people.

80 years ago
1938

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1937 were presented at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The winners included: Picture--The Life of Emile Zola; Director--Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth); Actor--Spencer Tracy (Captains Courageous); Actress--Luise Rainer (The Good Earth); Supporting Actor--Joseph Schildkraut (The Life of Emile Zola); Supporting Actress--Alice Brady (In Old Chicago).

World events
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler announced that he would not accept the results of the referendum on Austrian independence scheduled for March 13, declaring that the vote would be subject to major fraud. The referendum had been announced the day before by Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg in a desperate attempt to maintain his country's independence. The German Ministry of Propaganda issued press releases stating that riots had broken out in Austria and that large parts of the Austrian population were calling for German troops to restore order. Mr. Schuschnigg immediately responded publicly that reports of riots were false.

75 years ago
1943

War
Soviet forces repulsed German counterattacks south and west of Kharkov. Chinese troops recaptured Chiakungfang, Kiangchuchieh, and other points on the west bank of the Salween River in Yunnan Province. The 14th U.S. Air Force was created in China under Brigadier General Claire Chennault, replacing the China Air Task Force.

Oil
Socony-Vacuum Oil Company announced a new "bead catalyst" refining method to break down crude oil molecules to produce high octane aviation fuel.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent to Congress two National Resource Planning Board reports outlining a national social security program and proposing postwar economic adjustments and reforms. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the extension of Lend-Lease through June 1944.

Labour
Mexican President Manuel Avila Camacho accepted a plan of Mexican railroad workers whereby they agreed to let the government manage the roads and discipline workers for the war's duration.

United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis demanded a $2-a-day wage increase and a minimum wage of $8 for 200,000 northern Appalachian coal miners.

Boxing
Manuel Ortiz (45-11-2) retained his world bantamweight title with a technical knockout of Lou Salica (58-16-12) at 1:52 of the 11th round at Oakland Auditorium. The fight ended when Mr. Salica's trainer, Willie Ketchum, entered the ring. Mr. Ortiz had defeated Mr. Salica in a unanimous decision seven months earlier to win the title.

70 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Jan Masaryk, 61. Czech diplomat and politician. Mr. Masaryk was Czechoslovakian Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1925-1940. He was Foreign Minister of the Czechoslovakian Government-in-Exile in Britain from 1940 until the country's liberation from German occupation in 1945, after which Mr. Masaryk continued in the position in the new government until his death. When non-Communist members of the cabinet of Prime Minister Klement Gottwald resigned in February 1948 in an attempt to force new elections, the Communists formed a Communist coup. Mr. Masaryk remained in office as the only non-Communist minister. He was found dead, clad only in pajamas, in the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry, beneath his bathroom window. The official verdict was suicide, but it's always been widely suspected that Mr. Masaryk was murdered.

Zelda Fitzgerald, 47. U.S. socialite and authoress. Mrs. Fitzgerald, born Zelda Sayre, was married to author F. Scott Fitzgerald from 1920 until his death in 1940. They were celebrated in the early 1920s for their high living, and were seen as emblematic of the "Jazz Age." The couple eventually separated as a result of Scott's excessive drinking and Zelda's descent into schizophrenia, which resulted in her being in and out of mental institutions from 1930 on. She published the autobiographical novel Save Me the Waltz (1932), which sold poorly. The Fitzgeralds seldom saw each other in the last decade of Scott's life, but never divorced. Zelda was one of nine women in the Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina who died in a fire that started in the kitchen.

War
Testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, General Claire Chennault urged a $1.5-billion military aid program for China over the next three years.

Defense
Two FJ-1 North American Fury fighters became the first jet planes to land on an aircraft carrier, setting down on the USS Boxer off the coast of California.

Labour
Labour organizations from countries participating in the Marshall Plan, including the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, set up a committee in London to advise on labour participation in the aid program.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Don't/I Beg of You--Elvis Presley (Best Seller--5th week at #1); Sugartime--The McGuire Sisters (Disc Jockey--4th week at #1); Don't--Elvis Presley (Top 100--1st week at #1)

Literature
Masters of Deceit: The Story of Communism in America and How to Fight It, with J. Edgar Hoover credited as the author, was published in New York by Henry Holt.

War
Dutch sources reported that 8,500 Indonesian government troops had begun an air and sea invasion of central Sumatra. California Texas Oil Company closed down its oil fields at Pakenbaru and Duri in Sumatra.

Oil
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Gholi Ardalan protested a Saudi Arabian-Bahrainian agreement giving Saudi Arabia offshore exploration and development rights near Bahrain.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann (3rd week at #1

War
North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces overwhelmed the American, Laotian, Thai, and Hmong defenders in the Battle of Lima Site 85, concluding the following day with the largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force members (12) during the Vietnam War.

Economics and finance
A two-day meeting in Basel Switzerland of representatives of the United States and its six European partners in the London Gold Pool concluded with the countries stressing their determination to continue to sell gold to all comers at $35 per ounce.

Golf
Gardner Dickinson won the Doral Open with a score of 275. First prize money was $20,000.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): It's a Heartache--Bonnie Tyler

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Mull of Kintyre--Wings (9th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Ti amo--Umberto Tozzi

Labour
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate in February had fallen to 6.1%, the lowes since October 1974.Negro unemployment fell from 12.2% to 11.8%; the rate for women fell from 6.1% to 5.7%; and the rate for adult men fell from 4.7% to 4.5%.

Hockey
CHL
Kansas City 1 @ Tulsa 4
Fort Worth 1 @ Salt Lake City 2

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Together Forever--Rick Astley

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Sleepy Sleepers--Nykäsen Matti (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Glenn Cunningham, 78. U.S. runner. A native of Elkhart, Kansas, Mr. Cunningham suffered severe burns to his legs (and had the toes of his left foot amputated) at the age of 8 in a schoolhouse fire which killed his brother Floyd. Doctors recommended amputating his legs, but Glenn's mother wouldn't allow it. Doctors predicted he would never walk normally again; it was two years until he took his first steps, but he eventually proved the doctors wrong. Mr. Cunningham graduated from the University of Kansas, where he won two national collegiate titles and eight Amateur Athletic Union crowns, five of them in the outdoor one mile and 1,500 metres. He acquired the nicknames Kansas Flyer, Elkhart Express, and Iron Horse of Kansas. Mr. Cunningham was national collegiate and AAU champion in 1932, and placed fourth in the 1,500 metres at the Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1933 he received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Also that year, his hometown of Elkhart honoured him with Glenn Cunningham Day after he returned from Europe, having won 11 straight races. On June 16, 1934, Mr. Cunningham ran the mile in 4:06.8, a world record that stood for three years. He won three straight Big Six indoor titles from 1932-1934. Mr. Cunningham made his second Olympic appearance at Berlin in 1936. He beat the world record in the final of the 1,500 metres, but Jack Lovelock of New Zealand was even faster, and Mr. Cunningham had to settle for the silver medal. Two weeks later, on August 20, Mr. Cunningham ran the 800 metres in 1:49.7, a world record that stood for 11 months. In 1938, on an oversized indoor track at Dartmouth College, he set a world record time of 4:04.4. Mr. Cunningham retired from running in 1940 after the Olympics were cancelled. In World War II he entered the Navy and established physical training programs at the Great Lakes and San Diego training stations. He later became a rancher and devoted his time to youth. Glenn Cunningham was elected to the United States Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974. Many consider him the greatest U.S. miler ever.

Pham Hung, 75. Prime Minister of Vietnam, 1987-1988. Pham joined the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930, was sentenced to death by French authorities, had his sentence commuted, and was freed in 1945 when Communist forces took power in Hanoi. He loyally served the Communist cause in the war for independence against the French, and as an apparatchik with the government of North Vietnam and the united Vietnam until becoming Prime Minister in June 1987. He died of a heart attack.

Andy Gibb, 30. U.K.-born Australian singer. Andy Gibb was the younger brother of Barry, Robin and Maurice of the Bee Gees, and duelled with them for supremacy of the singles charts from 1977-1979, before a cocaine addiction derailed his career. Mr. Gibb's first hit, Words and Music, hit Sydney's top 5 in 1976. This success led to a contract with RSO, the same label his brothers recorded for. His first single, I Just Want to Be Your Everything, topped the U.S. chart for 4 weeks in the summer of 1977. The follow-up, (Love Is) Thicker Than Water, spent 2 weeks at #1 in March 1978. The next single, Shadow Dancing, was #1 for 7 weeks, making Mr. Gibb the first male solo performer to have three straight singles hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Mr. Gibb had three subsequent U.S. top 10 hit singles: An Everlasting Love (#5, 1978); (Our Love) Don't Throw it All Away (#9, 1978-79); and Desire (#4, 1980). His first five RSO singles each sold over one million copies, with Shadow Dancing earning a platinum record award for sales of over two million. His albums Flowing Rivers and Shadow Dancing were also million-sellers. Mr. Gibb's duet with Olivia Newton-John, I Can't Help It, hit #12 on the U.S. chart in 1980. Time is Time (1980-81) hit #15, while Me (Without You) stopped at #40 in April 1981. A romantic relationship with actress Victoria Principal produced a duet, All I Have to Do is Dream, which stalled at #51 on the U.S. chart. It was Mr. Gibb's last single release. By this time he was using cocaine heavily, and was considered unreliable, although he did co-host the syndicated television show Solid Gold in 1981-82. Mr. Gibb went to the Betty Ford Center for treatment of his addiction. The treatment was apparently successful, but Mr. Gibb was never able to recapture his success; he performed in small clubs and made a few television appearances. He made a few demo recordings with his brothers, at least one of which was posthumously released on an album in 1991. Five days after celebrating his 30th birthday in London, where he was recording, Mr. Gibb checked into hospital complaining of chest pains. He succumbed to myocarditis (heart inflammation); the years of cocaine abuse had seriously weakened his heart.

War
Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozal said that he had arranged a truce between Iran and Iraq, to take effect on March 11.

World events
Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, narrowly escaped death while skiing in Switzerland when an avalanche struck, killing one of his closest friends, Major Hugh Lindsay.

Politics and government
Rev. Jesse Jackson won the Alaska primary in the 1988 Democratic Party contest for the nomination to be President of the United States. U.S. Representative Jack Kemp (New York), who was doing poorly in the contest for the Republican Party nomination, withdrew from the campaign.

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): No Limit--2 Unlimited (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
David Gunn, 47. U.S. abortionist. Dr. Gunn was shot to death outside his clinic in Pensacola, Florida by anti-abortion activist Michael Griffin in the first recorded such murder in the United States.

War
Egyptian forces conducted nine raids on militants in Cairo and Aswan, killing 21 and wounding two dozen.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Lloyd Bridges, 85. U.S. actor. Mr. Bridges appeared in many movies and television shows, but is probably best remembered as the star of the syndicated series Sea Hunt (1958-1961). Among his many movies were supporting roles in The Sound of Fury (aka Try and Get Me (1948)) and High Noon (1952). Later generations enjoyed Mr. Bridges' performances in Airplane! (1980) and the Hot Shots! movies in the 1990s. Seinfeld viewers will remember him as the personal trainer Izzy Mandelbaum in two episodes from 1997. Mr. Bridges' sons Beau and Jeff have also had successful acting careers.

Politics and government
Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet resigned as commander-in-chief of the armed forces in order to be sworn in as senator for life.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this day
Chuck Day, 65. U.S. musician. Mr. Day was a rhythm and blues guitarist and bass guitarist with the band of Johnny Rivers in the mid-1960s, and as a backup musician with the Mamas and the Papas and other artists. He's perhaps best known for writing the opening guitar riff of Mr. Rivers' hit single Secret Agent Man (1966). Mr. Day died after a year-long illness.

Scandal
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer apologized after allegations surfaced that he had paid thousands of dollars for a high-end call girl, a scandal which eventually led to his resignation.