March 15, 2018

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Walker Morrow!

1,525 years ago
493

Died on this date
Odoacer, 60 (?). King of Italy, 476-493. Flavius Odoacer was a Germanic soldier who became the first King of Italy at the end of the Western Roman Empire. He fled to Ravenna in 490 as a result of military pressure being exerted on the eastern peninsula by the Ostrogoth Theoderic. Theoderic invited King Odoacer to a banquet of reconciliation in Ravenna and then killed him.

525 years ago
1493

Exploration
Christopher Columbus arrived back in Spain after his first trip to the Americas.

240 years ago
1778

Exploration
British Royal Navy Captain James Cook reached the west coast of Vancouver Island with the ships HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, on the way to search for a Northwest Passage from the Pacific Ocean. He named the site Friendly Cove after a warm reception from local Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people, who traded sea otter pelts with the sailors.

180 years ago
1838

Born on this date
Karl Davydov. Russian musician and composer. Mr. Davydov was nicknamed the "czar of cellists" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and composed several dozen works, mainly for cello. He died on February 26, 1889, 17 days before his 51st birthday.

170 years ago
1848

World events
A revolution broke out in Hungary; the Habsburg rulers were compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party.

140 years ago
1878

Religion
The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, broken off in 1603, was re-established on the instructions of Pope Leo XIII.

130 years ago
1888

War
The Anglo-Tibetan War began when Tibet refused to withdraw its troops from Sikkim according to the ultimatum imposed by Great Britain.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
Richard Ellmann. U.S. author. Dr. Ellmann was a literary critic and biographer who won the 1959 National Book Award for Nonfiction for his biography James Joyce, and won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography Oscar Wilde (1987). Dr. Ellmann died on May 13, 1987 at the age of 69.

Punch Imlach. Canadian hockey coach and executive. George Imlach played junior and senior hockey in the 1930s and '40s before moving into coaching and management, first with the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Senior Hockey League and then with the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League. In July 1958, he was named assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs; he was named general manager in November, and fired coach Billy Reay a week later, taking the position himself. Mr. Imlach coached and managed the Maple Leafs from 1958-69, leading them to four Stanley Cup championships. He was fired after the 1968-69 season, but returned to the National Hockey League as coach anc general manager of the expansion Buffalo Sabres in 1970. He retired as coach midway through the 1971-72 season because of a heart attack, but remained as general manager until he was fired in December 1978. Under Mr. Imlach's leadership, the Sabres played entertaining hockey and reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1975, but made early playoff exits after that. Mr. Imlach returned to the Maple Leafs as general manager for the 1979-80 season, and replaced Floyd Smith briefly as coach after Mr. Smith was injured in a car accident late in the season. The Maple Leafs were in decline during Mr. Imlach's second stint as general manager, and he frequently clashed with the new generation of players, whom he regarded as overpaid underachievers. Mr. Imlach suffered another heart attack in August 1980, but returned to work the following year; he was eased out as general manager after a third heart attack in September 1981. Mr. Imlach died on December 1, 1987 at the age of 69 after his fifth heart attack. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a coach in 1984; the Maple Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since Mr. Imlach's first stint as coach and general manager.

William McIntyre. Canadian judge. Mr. McIntyre, a native of Lachine, Quebec, grew up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and practiced law in Victoria before being appointed to the British Columbia Supreme Court in 1967, the B.C. Appeal Court in 1973, and the Supreme Court of Canada, where he served as a Puisne Justice until 1989. He died of throat cancer on June 14, 2009 at the age of 91.

Died on this date
Lili Boulanger, 24. French composer. Miss Boulanger, the younger sister of composer Nadia Boulanger, wrote symphonic poems and choral works, but was dogged by illness throughout her life, and died of "intestinal tuberculosis" (perhaps Crohn's disease).

90 years ago
1928

World events
General Macario Gaxiola, Secretary of the "Obregon for President" organization in the Mexican state of Sinaloa and himself a candidate for governor of that state, escaped assassination at the Obregon headquarters in Culiacan.

Politics and government
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, in a letter (made public) to Puerto Rico Governor Horace Towner, responded to the demand by the Puerto Rican legislature that Puerto Rico be constituted a "Free State" by declaring that the island now had greater liberty than ever befoe in its history, and its residents enjoyed all the rights and privileges of citizens of the United States.

Europeana
In Oslo, King Haakon VII opened Norway's Ibsen Exposition and centenary of the birth of playwright Henrik Ibsen.

80 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Nikolai Bukharin, 49. U.S.S.R. revolutionary and politician. Mr. Bukharin was a leading figure in the Bolshevik revolution and the Soviet government who eventually opposed dictator Josef Stalin's economic policies and was executed after one of the "Show Trials" of Mr. Stalin's opponents within the Communist Party.

Genrikh Yagoda, 46. U.S.S.R. bureaucrat. Mr. Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda, was a Bolshevik official who moved up through the ranks of the Soviet secret police organization Cheka, and was director of the NKVD (1934-1936). He supervised arrests, show trials, and executions of the Old Bolsheviks Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev, and also supervised construction of the White Sea–Baltic Canal with Naftaly Frenkel, using slave labor from the GULAG system, during which 12,000–25,000 laborers died. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin became disenchanted with Mr. Yagoda, and in September 1936 demoted him to People's Commissar for Posts and Telegraphs. In April 1937, Mr. Yagoda was removed from that post, and ultimately fell victim to the very system he used against others. He was a defendant in the Trial of the Twenty-One, the last of the major Soviet show trials of the 1930s. Mr. Yagoda confessed under torture, and after his conviction, was summarily shot. He was the only defendant not to be posthumously rehabilitated.

75 years ago
1943

War
German forces recaptured the Ukrainian city of Kharkov after four days of house-to-house fighting in the Third Battle of Kharkov. Chinese forces claimed to have stopped the eight-pronged Japanese assault upon the Hupeh-Hunan border south of the Yangtze River.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Import-Export Bank granted Brazil $150 million in credits for mining developments and railroad electrification.

70 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Paul Goedrich, 61. Austro-Hungarian-born U.S. chemist. Mr. Goedrich developed sulfa drugs.

War
Nationalist Chinese forces reported losing Kinn and Szepingkai in Manchuria and the former Communist capital of Yenan in Shensi Province.

Defense
U.S. State Secretary George Marshall testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging an additional $275 million in military aid to Greece and Turkey.

Politics and government
The British government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee barred Communists and suspected sympathizers from civil service positions affecting national security.

Japanese rightist groups merged into a single conservative party--the Democratic Liberal Party--with 251 members in Parliament. Former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was named party president.

Crime
A U.S. federal court in Washington sentenced General Bennett Meyers, second-ranking Air Force procurement officer during World War II, to 20 months-5 years in prison for persuading an employee to lie in testimony before the Senate War Investigating Committee.

Labour
A U.S. federal court in Washington ruled the Taft-Hartley Act's ban on union political activity unconstitutional, dismissing charges against Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray for violating the ban.

206,000 coal miners in 11 U.S. states struck in a dispute with operators over the miners' welfare fund.

Hockey
The University of Toronto defeated Dartmouth College 5-0 to win the Alexis Thompson international collegiate trophy.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): April Love--Pat Boone (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Der lachende Vagabund--Fred Bertelmann (8th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Hello, le soleil brille--Annie Cordy

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Magic Moments/Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como (3rd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Tequila--The Champs
2 Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como
3 Sweet Little Sixteen--Chuck Berry
4 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)--The Four Preps
5 Get a Job--The Silhouettes
6 Sail Along Silvery Moon--Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra
7 Oh Julie--The Crescendos
8 Who's Sorry Now--Connie Francis
9 Don't--Elvis Presley
10 Sugartime--The McGuire Sisters

Singles entering the chart were Dinner with Drac (Part 1) by John Zacherle (#42); Wishing for Your Love by the Voxpoppers (#46); Now and for Always by George Hamilton IV (#47); Lonely Island by Sam Cooke (#50); He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands) by Laurie London (#51); Don't You Just Know It by Huey (Piano) Smith and the Clowns (#55); I'm Gonna Love You Too by Buddy Holly (#56); Corrido Rock (Part 1) by "Handsome" Jim Balcom (#59); Uh-Huh, Oh Yeah by Steve Lawrence (#60); and Wiggle-Tail (Parts 1 and 2) by Googie Rene (also #60).

Died on this date
Wang Ch'ung-hui, 76. Prime Minister of China, 1922. Mr. Wang, a member of the Kuomintang party, was China's first Foreign Minister (1912, 1937-1941); acting Prime Minister (September-November 1922); and President of the Judicial Yuan (1928-1958), relocating to Taipei after the Nationalist government fell to the Communists in 1949. He was a deputy judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague from 1923–1925.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department rejected as "wholly unacceptable" U.S.S.R. proposals linking international control of outer space with elimination of U.S. overseas bases.

Politics and government
Egyptians and Palestinian refugees inaugurated a 30-member Gaza Legislative Council to advise the Egyptian Governor General of the Gaza Strip.

French Communist Party Secretary Maurice Thorez proposed a Socialist-Communist alliance to seek a truce in Algeria and fight "fascism" in France.

A Gallup Poll reported that 65% of Republicans surveyed wanted U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon to head the party ticket in the U.S. presidential election in 1960.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Division Semi-Finals
Philadelphia 82 @ Syracuse 86 (Syracuse led best-of-three series 1-0)

Western Division Semi-Finals
Cincinnati 83 @ Detroit 100 (Detroit led best-of-three series 1-0)

George Yardley scored 29 points to lead the Pistons over the Royals at Olympia Stadium. Clyde Lovellette led the Royals with 15 points. Cincinnati forward Maurice Stokes scored 12 points with 15 rebounds and 2 assists, making just 3 of 12 field goal attempts in 39 minutes in what turned out to be the last game of his 3-year NBA career. Three days earlier, Mr. Stokes had been knocked unconscious when he hit his head on the floor in Minneapolis during the last regular season game. He was revived and returned to the game, flew back to Cincinnati with the team that night, wasn't treated for the injury, flew to Detroit for the first playoff game, and collapsed on the flight back to Cincinnati. Mr. Stokes was suffering from encephalopathy, which paralyzed him, and he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair until his death on April 6, 1970 at the age of 36.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Bend Me, Shape Me--The American Breed

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 The Unicorn--The Irish Rovers
2 Playboy--Gene and Debbe
3 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra
4 Too Much Talk--Paul Revere and the Raiders
5 Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition was In)--The First Edition
6 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding
7 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Company
8 Words--The Bee Gees
9 Itchycoo Park--Small Faces
10 Everything that Touches You--The Association
Pick hit of the week: Valleri--The Monkees
New this week: One Hundred Years--Nancy Sinatra
One--Nilsson
The Impossible Dream--The Hesitations
Hey Joe--The Nomads
The Legend of Xanadu--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

Died on this date
Allie Watt, 68. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Watt played 1 game in the major leagues, relieving Bucky Harris at second base for the Washington Nationals in an 8-6 win over the Philadelphia Athletics on October 3, 1920, the last game of the season. Mr. Watt doubled in a run in his only plate appearance, leaving the major leagues with a career batting average of 1.000 and a slugging average of 2.000. He made 1 assist in the field.

Politics and government
U.K. Foreign Minister Michael Stewart resigned in a dispute over the gold market; he was replaced by George Brown.

Economics & finance
Speculation drove the price of gold on the Paris market to an all-time high of $44.36 U.S. per ounce. The government of Canada suspended gold trading by Canadian banks and dealers in order to dampen speculation.

Disasters
26 people were killed and 80 injured when a trolley and train collided in Santa Maria De La Alameda, Spain.

Boxing
World welterweight champion Curtis Cokes (49-9-3) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Jimmy Lester (31-8-1) in a middleweight bout at Oakland Auditorium.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Wuthering Heights--Kate Bush (2nd week at #1)

War
Representatives of Somalia and Ethiopia signed a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.

World events
The Soviet Union announced that it had revoked the citizenship of cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife, former Bolshoi Opera soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. The couple had been living abroad since 1974, not intending to return to the U.S.S.R. until full artistic freedom was achieved there.

Hockey
NHL
Pittsburgh 4 @ Vancouver 6

30 years ago
1988

War
Iran claimed to have taken the Iraqi town of Halabja, a stronghold of Kurdish separatists.

World events
Soviet deputy prosecutor general Alexander Katusev was quoted in an Azerbaijani newspaper as saying that the mistreatment of Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait constituted a pogrom. As many as 300 had been killed during disturbances on February 28.

Panamanian troops stormed the country's largest hospital, firing tear gas and bird shot, after doctors and nurses demonstrated against the regime of Gen. Manuel Noriega.

Diplomacy
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir met with U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz in Washington.

Politics and government
United States Vice-President George Bush defeated U.S. Senator Bob Dole 55%-36% in the Illinois Republican primary for his party's 1988 presidential nomination. In the Democratic primary, Illinois Senator Paul Simon won his home state with 43% of the vote; Jesse Jackson took 31%, and Michael Dukakis 17%.

Environment
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that the ozone layer in the northern hemisphere had been declining significantly over the previous two decades.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 2 @ Quebec 3

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): All that She Wants--Ace of Base (2nd week at #1)

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Benjamin Spock, 94. U.S. pediatrician. Dr. Spock's book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946 just as the post-World War II baby boom was beginning, became one of the best-selling books ever. The permissive approach to parenting favoured by Dr. Spock has been blamed for creating a generation of spoiled brats. In his later years, Dr. Spock admitted that he'd been wrong in a lot of his advice; it's unfortunate that he'd ever given such advice in the first place.

Scandal
Former White House Assistant Kathleen Willey, 51, stated in a television interview that she had been the victim four years earlier of an unwanted sexual advance by President Bill Clinton.

Curling
The Ontario rink, skipped by Wayne Middaugh, defeated Guy Hemmings of Quebec 7-4 in the final of the Brier at Winnipeg Arena. The game was interrupted by a power blackout; when power was restored, the Winnipeg crowd was amused to see that Mr. Hemmings had changed the scoreboard. I think this may have been the last major sporting event to take place at the Winnipeg Arena, which closed in November 2004, and was torn down in March 2006.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this date
G. David Low, 52. U.S. astronaut and engineer. Mr. Low, the son of Apollo Spacecraft Program Office Manager George Low, worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of technology until joining the astronaut corps in 1984. He was a mission specialist on space shuttle flights STS-32 (1990) and STS-43 (1991) and payload commander on STS-57 (1993), logging over 700 hours in space, including a space walk of almost six hours on his last mission. Mr. Low died of colon cancer.

Disasters
Stockpiles of obsolete ammunition exploded at an ex-military ammunition depot in the village of Gërdec, Albania, killing 26 people. To date, no other tragedy has caused more deaths in post-World War II Albania.

A construction crane toppled in New York City, killing seven people.