March 23, 2018

450 years ago
1568

War
The Peace of Longjumeau was signed by King Charles IX of France and Catherine de' Medici, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.

180 years ago
1838

Politics and government
George Arthur arrived in Toronto to succeed Sir Francis Bond Head as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.

170 years ago
1848

New Zealandiana
Scottish settlers on the John Wickliffe, captained by William Cargill, arrived at what is now Port Chalmers in the Otago Region of New Zealand.

150 years ago
1868

Academia
The University of California aas founded in Oakland.

130 years ago
1888

Soccer
In England, 10 clubs gathered to found the Football League, the world's oldest professional Association Football league.

125 years ago
1893

Canadiana
The Canadian Club met for the first time, in Hamilton.

120 years ago
1898

Born on this date
Louis Adamic. Slovenian-born U.S. author. Mr. Adamic, a native of what was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, emigrated to the United States at the and of 1913, and became an American citizen in 1918. He wrote articles and books promoting socialism in the United States and the Yugoslav National liberation struggle led by Marshal Josip Broz Tito. Mr. Adamic was plagued by failing health when he reportedly shot himself to death on September 4, 1951 at the age of 53; some people suspected that he had been assassinated by a Balkan faction, but no definitive proof of that has surfaced.

100 years ago
1918

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Finals
Vancouver 6 @ Toronto 4 (Best-of-five series tied 1-1)

90 years ago
1928

Died on this date
George McDonald. Canadian criminal. The first private execution in the province of Quebec took place at 5:37 A.M. when Mr. McDonald, killer of Lachine taxi driver Adelaird Bouchard, was hanged at the Valleyfield Jail. Mr. McDonald’s wife had also been sentenced to death for the crime, but her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

75 years ago
1943

Literature
The Year of Decision: 1846, the first book of historian Bernard DeVoto's trilogy on the American West, was published in Boston by Houghton Mifflin.

War
The U.S.S.R. claimed that 7,000 Germans had been slain and 140 tanks destroyed in an abortive four-day counter-offensive against the Moscow-Bryansk railroad north of Zhizdra. British forces in Tunisia took German strongholds between Zarat and Arram on the northern end of the Mareth Line. Three formations of U.S. planes bombed 250 Japanese planes at airfields at Lakunai, Vunakanau, and Rapopo in New Britain.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted Patrick Hurley's resignation as minister to New Zealand, and named him as his personal representative to the Near East and Middle East war theatres. President Roosevelt asked Congress to raise the rank of U.S. envoys in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica from ministers to ambassadors.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate passed a revised version of the Disney House of Represenatives bill, raising the national debt to $210 billion and repealing President Roosevelt's salary limitation order.

Scandal
Employees at the Irvin, Pennsylvania plant of the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, U.S. Steel Corp. subsidiary, admitted at a hearing of the U.S. Senate committee on wasteful government war spending that analyses of about 5% of the steel plate manufactured by the plant for naval and other shipyards were faked to circumvent specifications.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Toronto 3 @ Detroit 2 (4 OT)

Jack McLean scored at 10:18 of the 4th overtime period to give the Maple Leafs the win over the Red Wings at Olympia Stadium.

70 years ago
1948

On the radio
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis, on MBS

Aviation
U.K. test pilot John Cunningham set a world altitude record of 59,492 feet in a De Havilland Vampire jet fighter.

Diplomacy
The United Nations Balkan Commission unanimously condemned Yugoslavia for permitting Greek guerrillas to operate across its borders.

Defense
The U.S. Senate approved a $275-million supplementary military aid grant for Greece and Turkey.

Politics and government
The Jewish Agency and the Jewish Council in Palestine agreed to establish a Jewish provisional government on May 16, the day after the termination of the British mandate.

U.S. President Harry Truman annulled plans to give the State Department authority over occupation matters in Germany, allowing the Army to keep control.

Richard Morford of the National Council for American-Soviet Friendship was convicted in a U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C. of contempt of Congress for refusing the organization's records to the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities.

Journalism
The International Conference on Freedom of Information and of the Press opened in Geneva, attended by 57 United Nations members and 13 non-member states.

Education
The Boston school board barred the Daughters of the American Revolution from sponsoring contests in the city's public schools because of the DAR's stance against civil rights for Negroes.

Labour
Authorities in Ontario arrested U.S.-born Reid Robinson, vice president of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, as a Communist alien.

Basketball
BAA
West Division Tiebreaker
Washington 70 @ Chicago 74

The Baltimore Bullets, Chicago Stags, and Washington Capitols had finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Western Division, all with records of 28-20.

Semi-Finals
Philadelphia 58 @ St. Louis 60 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 1-0)

NCAA
Men's Championship
Final @ Madison Square Garden, New York
Kentucky 58 Baylor 42

The Wildcats defeated the Bears to win their first championship under coach Adolph Rupp. Kentucky's Alex Groza was named the tournament's most valuable player.

60 years ago
1958

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Flight to the East, starring Gary Merrill and Patricia Cutts

Died on this date
Rafe Chester Chaffin, 76. U.S. physician. Dr. Chaffin founded the American College of Surgeons in 1913.

War
Indonesian government forces claimed complete occupation of U.S. oil fields in central Sumatra with the seizure of Liril, production centre of Standard Vacuum Oil Company.

Politics and government
The governing Progressive Citizens' Party won 9 of 15 seats in the Landtag in the Liechtensteinian general election. The PCP remained in a coalition with the Patriotic Union, who won the remaining 6 seats.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Division Finals
Philadelphia 92 @ Boston 106 (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-0)

Western Division Finals
Detroit 109 @ St. Louis 89 (St. Louis led best-of-seven series 2-1)

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Il est cinq heures, Paris s'éveille--Jacques Dutronc

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): La tramontana--Antoine (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Bleib bei mir--Roy Black (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Cinderella Rockefella--Esther and Abi Ofarim (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Kom Uit De Bedstee Mijn Liefste--Egbert Douwe
2 De Kat Van Ome Willem--Wim Sonneveld with Hetty Blok, Leen Jongewaard, De Jonkies, and the Orchestra of Harry Bannink
3 Cinderella Rockefella--Esther and Abi Ofarim
4 Words--The Bee Gees
5 The Legend of Xanadu--Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich
6 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding
7 Lady Madonna--The Beatles
8 The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann
9 Pictures of Matchstick Men--The Status Quo
10 It's the End--The Buffoons

Singles entering the chart were Lady Madonna; In Een Rijtuigje by Wim Sonneveld & Leen Jongewaard (#33); If I were a Carpenter by the Four Tops (#34); Rosie by Don Partridge (#37); Fire Brigade by the Move (#39); and Simon Says by the 1910 Fruitgum Company (#40).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra (7th week at #1)
2 Valleri--The Monkees
3 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Company
4 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding
5 Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition was In)--The First Edition
6 (Theme From) Valley of the Dolls--Dionne Warwick
7 (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone--Aretha Franklin
8 La-La - Means I Love You--The Delfonics
9 The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann
10 Young Girl--The Union Gap

Singles entering the chart were Lady Madonna by the Beatles (#21); Sherry Don't Go by the Lettermen (#67); 100 Years by Nancy Sinatra (#68); You've Still Got a Place in My Heart by Dean Martin (#74); Cowboys to Girls by the Intruders (#78); Call Me Lightning by the Who (#80); Honey by Bobby Goldsboro (#83); The Unknown Soldier by the Doors (#87); Red Red Wine by Neil Diamond (#93); She'll Be There by Vikki Carr (#95); I Found You by Frankie Laine (#96); In Some Time by Ronnie Dove (#97); I Love You by People (#99); and Baby Please Don't Go by the Amboy Dukes (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde--Georgie Fame
2 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Company
3 Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition was In)--The First Edition
4 Walk Away Renee--Four Tops
5 (Theme From) Valley of the Dolls--Dionne Warwick
6 Everything that Touches You--The Association
7 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding
8 Too Much Talk--Paul Revere and the Raiders
9 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra
10 Kiss Me Goodbye--Petula Clark

Singles entering the chart were Forever Came Today by Diana Ross and the Supremes (#67); Delilah by Tom Jones (#74); Sit with the Guru by Strawberry Alarm Clock (#76); Up on the Roof by the Cryan' Shames (#78); Call Me Lightning by the Who (#82); I Will Always Think About You by the New Colony Six (#83); I Got the Feelin' by James Brown and the Famous Flames (#86); Do What You Gotta Do by Al Wilson (#87); Funky Street by Arthur Conley (#88); Soul Coaxing (Ame Caline) by Raymond Lefevre and his Orchestra (#90); Our Corner of the Night by Barbra Streisand (#92); I'll Say Forever My Love by Jimmy Ruffin (#93); Sweet Inspiration by the Sweet Inspirations (#94); The Impossible Dream by the Hesitations (#95); I Need You by the Rationals (#96); Master Jack by Four Jacks and a Jill (#97); The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus (#98); (You Can’t Let the Boy Overpower) The Man in You by Chuck Jackson (#99); and Turn on Your Love Light by the Human Beinz (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Company (2nd week at #1)
2 Bottle of Wine--The Fireballs
3 Too Much Talk--Paul Revere and the Raiders
4 The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp--O.C. Smith
5 Kiss Me Goodbye--Petula Clark
6 Skip a Rope--Henson Cargill
7 Springfield Plane--Kenny O'Dell
8 Lady Madonna/The Inner Light--The Beatles
9 The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde--Georgie Fame
10 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding

Singles entering the chart were The Unicorn by the Irish Rovers (#24); Jennifer Juniper by Donovan (#26); Tapioca Tundra by the Monkees (#27); You've Got to Be Loved by the Montanas (#29); and Playboy by Gene and Debbe (#30).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann
2 Summertime Blues--Blue Cheer
3 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly--Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus
4 Itchycoo Park--Small Faces
5 Lady Madonna--The Beatles
6 Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition was In)--The First Edition
7 Valleri--The Monkees
8 The Unicorn--The Irish Rovers
9 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra
10 Too Much Talk--Paul Revere and the Raiders
Pick hit of the week: Young Girl--The Union Gap

Died on this date
Edwin O’Connor, 49. U.S. writer. Mr. O’Connor was a television critic for Boston newspapers, but is best remembered for his 1956 novel The Last Hurrah, whose title became part of the American vernacular. The novel, about an aging machine politician (reminiscent of former Boston mayor James Curley) was made into a successful movie in 1958. Mr. O’Connor’s next novel, The Edge of Sadness (1961), was about a middle-aged priest, and earned Mr. O’Connor the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1962. Other novels included The Oracle (1951); I Was Dancing (1964); and All in the Family (1966). Mr. O’Connor died from a cerebral hemmorhage.

Basketball
NBA
Eastern Division Semi-Finals
Philadelphia 117 @ New York 128 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Western Division Semi-Finals
San Francisco 103 @ St. Louis 111 (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

ABA
Western Division Semi-Finals
Houston 110 @ Dallas 111 (Dallas led best-of-five series 1-0)

40 years ago
1978

Died on this date
Bill Kenny, 63. U.S.-born singer. Mr. Kenny joined the vocal group the Ink Spots in 1936, and his high tenor helped to give the group a distinctive sound. On November 6, 1936, they became the first black performers to appear on television, in an NBC/RCA demonstration. Their first major hit was If I Didn’t Care in 1939. Many hits followed, including Address Unknown (1939); My Prayer (1939); When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano (1940); Whispering Grass (1940); Do I Worry (1940); Java Jive (1940); Shout, Brother, Shout (1942); Don't Get Around Much Anymore (1942); I Can't Stand Losing You (1943); Cow-Cow Boogie (1944 - with Ella Fitzgerald); Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall/I'm Making Believe (1944 - both with Ella Fitzgerald); and The Gypsy (1946). Many of these records made # 1 on early versions of the US pop charts--The Gypsy was their biggest chart success, staying at the # 1 position for 13 weeks. Bill Kenny’s brother Herb joined the group for a period in the 1940s. Bill Kenny also made recordings without the Ink Spots; many of these were spirituals. From June 24-30 1954 the Ink Spots performed at the Gatineau Club in Hull, Quebec, followed by a week at the Bolero Bar in Wildwood, New Jersey from July 8-14. At the end of the gig, Mr. Kenny told the rest of the group that the Ink Spots were finished, and everybody went home. Mr. Kenny then pursued a solo career. Mr. Kenny moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1961, and made occasional concert appearances in B.C. and elsewhere. From May 22-July 10, 1966 he hosted a Sunday afternoon show of easy listening music on CBC television called The Bill Kenny Show. His health gradually declined, and he died of a respiratory disease. The Ink Spots were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 (as an influence), and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

War
200 French paratroopers were among a force of United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops which had been moved into Lebanon in order to enforce a cease-fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists along the Blue Line.

Scandal
Rep. Charles C. Diggs, Jr., a Democrat from Michigan, and the senior black member of the House of Representatives, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of taking kickbacks from three Congressional employees and keeping on his Congressional payroll three other employees who did no work for Congress. The indictment charged that the kickbacks and illegal payments amounted to more than $101,000 between 1973 and 1977. Rep. Diggs was also charged with 14 counts of mail fraud and 21 counts of making false statements to the government. Rep. Diggs was on a tour of Africa as chairman of the Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee when the charges were announced. He denied the charges and complained that they showed "an unfortunate insensitivity" to his mission in Africa, and could undermine a meeting in which he was to join President Jimmy Carter for talks in Nigeria.

Environment
The Olin Corporation and three of its former officials were indicted on charges of concealing the dumping of 38 tons of mercury into the Niagara River at Niagara Falls, New York from 1970 to 1977. Environmental officials said that the mercury represented a serious hazard to anyone eating the fish caught in the river.

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Allt som jag känner--Tone Norum & Tommy Nilsson (6th week at #1)

Weather
It was such a beautiful day in London, Ontario that this blogger was able to wear shorts outside for the first time in 1988.

War
Western journalists, brought to the Iraqi town of Halabja by Iran to view the bodies of those killed in an Iraqi attack on March 16, concluded their three-day visit. The U.S. State Department denounced the attack as a "particularly grave violation" of the Geneva convention on chemical warfare.

After three days of talks in the southern Nicaraguan town of Sapoa, representatives of the Sandanista government of Nicaragua and the anticommunist Contras announced a 60-day ceasefire. Defense Minister Humberto Ortega signed for the government, and Contra leader Adolfo Calero signed for his side. The Contras were to assemble in special zones but would be allowed to keep their weapons. The Sandanistas agreed to free 3,300 prisoners convicted of violating Nicaraguan security laws or of affiliating with the regime of the late dictator Gen. Anastasio Somoza. The parties agreed to resume negotiations.

World events
The Presidium (ruling council) of the Soviet Parliament rejected demands from Armenians in the Armenian Republic and Armenians in Azerbaijan for reunification, saying in a resolution that it would be intolerable for groups to pressure authorities to redraw political boundaries.

Economics and finance
The United States House of Representatives voted 319-102 in favour of a budget for 1989--to take effect on October 1, 1988--of $1.2 trillion. More spending was projected for fighting AIDS and drug abuse, for education, and for space exploration, with only slight spending increases for military and non-military spending.

The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices had risen 0.2% in February. The Commerce Department reported that the gross national product had risen a revised 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 1987 and that the growth for the entire year, as revised, was 4.0%.

25 years ago
1993

Diplomacy
Pamela Harriman, 73, widow of former diplomat Averell Harriman, was named U.S. Ambassador to France, effective June 30, 1993.

Scandal
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno demanded the resignations of all U.S. federal prosecutors. The U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia suggested that the order was linked to his investigation of Democratic Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, an ally of President Bill Clinton.

Medicine
An international team of researchers announced the discovery of the gene behind Huntington's disease, a hereditary neurodegenerative brain disease that eventually proves fatal.

20 years ago
1998

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1997 were presented at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The winners included: Picture--Titanic; Director--James Cameron (Titanic); Actor--Jack Nicholson (As Good as it Gets); Actress--Helen Hunt (As Good as it Gets); Supporting Actor--Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting); Supporting Actress--Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential). Titanic tied the record set by Ben-Hur (1959) of winning 11 Academy Awards.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Bill Clinton began a 12-day tour of Africa with a speech in Accra, Ghana, pledging more U.S. interest and aid.

Politics and government
Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed his entire cabinet, including Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

Canadian Senator Andrew Thompson (Liberal--Ontario) was forced to resign his seat in after not attending for two years.

Business
Donohue, a subsidiary of the Quebecor Group media empire, acquired two newsprint mills and three recovery centres located in Texas, valued at $ 635 million.

10 years ago
2008

War
A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000.

Transportation
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India officially opened.