March 3, 2018

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Sherry and Irishka!

180 years ago
1838

War
John Maitland and regulars of the 32nd and 83rd Regiments and the Essex Militia crossed the ice of Lake Erie with cavalry from St. Thomas under Captain James Ermatinger; they routed Stephen Van Rensselaer and his 1,000 American supporters of the Upper Canadian rebels, who had captured Pelee Island on February 26; 11 Americans were killed, and several captured.

170 years ago
1848

Politics and government
The Canadian government of Premier Henry Sherwood and Deputy Premier Denis-Benjamin Papineau was defeated 54-20 in a vote of non-confidence; Governor Lord Elgin called on Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine to form a government on March 10.

150 years ago
1868

Born on this date
Émile-Auguste Chartier. French philosopher and journalist. Mr. Chartier, who wrote under the name Alain and was the author of more than 50 books, was a leading theorist of radicalism who stressed the rights of individuals against the state, and warned against all forms of power. Privately, Mr. Chartier expressed right-wing views in his diary during World War II. He died on June 3, 1951 at the age of 83.

140 years ago
1878

War
The Russo-Turkish War ended with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano. A few months later, the Congress of Berlin stripped its status to a vassal principality of the Ottoman Empire.

120 years ago
1898

Born on this date
La Argentinita. Argentine-born dancer and singer. La Argentinita, whose real name was Encarnación López Júlvez, moved with her family to Spain at the age of 3. She and her sister Pilar learned flamenco dancing; Encarnación became internationally popular on her own and as a team with Pilar, performing on stage and making recordings in a career of more than 30 years. Encarnación López died of an abdominal tumour at the age of 47 on September 24, 1945.

110 years ago
1908

Politics and government
The Conservative Party, led by Douglas Hazen, ended 25 years of Liberal Party rule, winning the New Brunswick provincial election. The Conservatives won 31 of 45 seats in the Legislative Assembly, while the Liberals, led by Premier Clifford Robinson, were reduced to 12 seats. Two neutral members were elected in the first New Brunswick election in which party labels were used.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
Arthur Kornberg. U.S. biochemist. Dr. Kornberg was awarded the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Severo Ochoa "for their discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid." He died on October 26, 2007 at the age of 89.

War
The Russian Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The Russians conceded German control of the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine and also conceded Turkish control of Ardahan, Kars and Batumi.

80 years ago
1938

Oil
Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

75 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Edward FitzRoy, 73. U.K. politician. Mr. FitzRoy, a Conservative, represented Northamtponshire South (1900-1906, 1910-1918) and Daventry (1918-1943) in the House of Commons, and was Speaker of the House from 1928 until his death.

War
Soviet forces recaptured Rzhev, the German stronghold 130 miles northwest of Moscow. Allied planes attacked a Japanese convoy and sank seven of eight transports and two of eight destroyers in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department announced that it would intern Axis diplomats captured in North Africa, to be exchanged for American diplomats held by Germany in Vichy.

Politics and government
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved the McKellar bill to require Senate confirmation of 25,000-30,000 federal employees earning $4,500 or more per year.

Protest
Indian Hindu nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi ended his 21-day fast with a religious ceremony and a glass of orange juice in the Aga Khan's palace in Poona, India.

Art
The Museum of Modern Art in New York purchased the anti-Fascist paintng The Eternal City by Peter Blume, which had been banned in 1939 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington.

Economics and finance
U.S. War Production Board Chairman William Nelson named Julius Krug as vice chairman in charge of materials and Donald Davis as vice chairman for operations.

The U.S. Office of Price Administration ended police enforcement of the ban on pleasure driving in 17 eastern U.S. states, asking drivers to obey the ban on a voluntary basis.

Labour
The U.S. National War Labor Board granted a general wage increase of 4 1/2c per hour plus a wage adjustment bonus to 30,000 Boeing Aircraft Corporation workers.

Disasters
173 people were killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station in London. It was the largest single civilian loss of life experienced by Britain during World War II.

70 years ago
1948

Literature
The memoirs of former U.S. Postmaster General James Farley, Jim Farley's Story: The Roosevelt Years, were published in New York by Whittlesey.

War
Vietnamese guerrillas attacked two French convoys moving between Saigon and Dalat in southern Vietnam, killing 175 colonial troops.

Diplomacy
Juraj Slavik and Fratisek Nemec, Czech envoys to the U.S.A. and Canada, respectively, resigned with several staff members in protest against the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia.

Leaders of 11 Christian communities in Palestine urged, in order to preserve peace, the suspension of plans to partition Palestine.

World events
The Chinese Nationalist government filed treason charges against Henry Pu-Yi, former Japanese puppet Emperor of Manchukuo (Manchuria), who was now in Soviet custody.

Defense
U.S. State Secretary George Marshall and Defense Secrretary James Forrestal appeared before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to urge the authorization of an additional $275 million in military aid to Greece and Turkey.

Labour
The U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations Office and Professional Workers, meeting in New York, defied CIO policy by voting against requiring its officials to sign affidavits requied by the Taft-Hartley Act, that they were not Communists.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Don't/I Beg of You--Elvis Presley (Best Seller--4th week at #1); Sugartime--The McGuire Sisters (Disc Jockey--3rd week at #1); Get a Job--The Silhouettes (Top 100--2nd week at #1)

At the movies
The True Story of Lynn Stuart, directed by Lewis Seiler, and starring Betsy Palmer, Jack Lord, and Barry Atwater, opened in theatres.



War
Celebes insurgent leader Colonel Ventje Sumual announced that his forces had retaken Gerontalo, the centre for 250,000 Gerontalese Muslims, from Indonesian government troops.

United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold named General Carl Carlsson von Horn of Sweden to succeed Gen. E.L.M. Burns of Canada as UN Truce Supervisory Organization chief in Palestine.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles met at the White House with U.S.S.R. Ambassador to the U.S.A. Mikhail Menshikov, reportedly telling Mr. Menshikov that the U.S. would not agree to new Soviet terms for a summit conference unless preparatory meetings were permitted to discuss in detail the questions to be placed on the summit agenda.

World events
1,700 Muslim refugees crossed into the Kasserine area of Tunisia in the wake of a French military sweep of Algeria's Bekkaria region.

Defense
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Army must reverse its actions in giving less than honorable discharges to soldiers because they had allegedly engaged in subversive activities prior to induction.

Politics and government
King Paul of Greece named Constantine Georgakopoulos to head a caretaker cabinet charged with the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies and preparation of new general elections.

Nuri al-Said took office as Prime Minister of Iraq for the eighth time.

The White House made public the terms of an agreement between U.S. President Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon under which Mr. Nixon was to take over the President's duties temporarily as acting President should Mr. Eisenhower become disabled. The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, covering such a situtation, wasn't ratified until 1967.

Scandal
Richard Mack resigned as a member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission after admitting to the House of Representatives Special Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight that he had received loans and gifts of stock from a friend who was interested in the FCC award of a valuable television channel in Miami.

Boxing
Former middleweight champion Gene Fullmer (44-4) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Milo Savage (42-40-9) at Fairgrounds Coliseum in Salt Lake City.



50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann (2nd week at #1

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 2 @ Detroit 5

Montreal centre and captain Jean Beliveau scored his 25th goal of the season in the first period, becoming the second player in NHL history to score 1,000 career points, as the Canadiens lost to the Red Wings at Olympia Stadium. Gordie Howe of the Red Wings, who played that night, was the first player to accomplish the feat, in 1960. Norm Ullman, playing his last game in a Detroit uniform, led the Red Wings with 2 goals (his 29th and 30th of the season) and an assist. Paul Henderson scored his 13th of the season, and Nick Libett scored his first NHL goal to aid the Red Wing cause. Floyd Smith, in his Red Wing finale, added 2 assists. After the game, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings effected a 7-player trade. The Maple Leafs traded left wing Frank Mahovlich, centre Pete Stemkowski, center Garry Unger, and the rights to defenceman Carl Brewer to the Red Wings for centre Norm Ullman, left wing Paul Henderson, and right wing Floyd Smith. Mr. Mahovlich, in his 12th season with the Maple Leafs, had 19 goals and 17 assists in 50 games in Toronto in 1967-68, but the pressure of playing in Toronto had led to him requiring psychiatric treatment, causing him to miss some games. Mr. Stemkowski had 7 goals and 15 assists in 60 games with Toronto in 1967-68, while Mr. Unger had 1 goal and 1 assist in 15 games with Toronto, 1 goal and 3 assists in 5 games with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, and 3 goals and 5 assists in 9 games with the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Professional Hockey League. Mr. Brewer had retired after the 1964-65 season, and had played with the Canadian National Team before joining the Muskegon Mohawks of the International Hockey League for 1967-68. Mr. Ullman, in his 13th season with the Red Wings, had 30 goals and 25 assists in 58 games with Detroit in 1967-68. Mr. Henderson had 13 goals and 20 assists in 50 games with Detroit, while Mr. Smith had 18 goals and 21 assists in 57 games with Detroit in 1967-68. The trade turned out to be a good trade for both teams, at least for the individual players involved. The scoring productivity of all six of the current players improved over the final weeks of the season. The defending Stanley Cup champion Maple Leafs made the trade in a desperate effort to avoid missing the playoffs in the first season of NHL expansion. The player who benefited most from the change of scenery was probably Mr. Mahovlich. The presence in the Detroit organization of his brother Pete was probably another factor helping the Big M's peace of mind; in 13 games as a Red Wing that year, he scored 7 goals and 9 assists. As it turned out, the trade came too late to save the season for the Maple Leafs; they finished 4 points out of the last playoff spot. The Red Wings finished sixth and last in the Eastern Division, 10 points behind the Maple Leafs.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Ti amo--Umberto Tozzi (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Mull of Kintyre--Wings (8th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Ça plane pour moi--Plastic Bertrand (2nd week at #1)

Politics and government
Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and three Negro nationalist leaders signed an agreement to transfer power to Rhodesia's Negro majority by the end of the year. A transitional government would supervise the election of a new parliament and the management of a new constitution for the nation, to be renamed Zimbabwe.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate confirmed G.William Miller to succeed Arthur Burns as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The only dissenting vote was cast by Sen. William Proxmire (Democrat--Wisconsin), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Always on My Mind--Pet Shop Boys (4th week at #1)

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

Died on this date
Henryk Szeryng, 69. Polish-born musician and diplomat. Mr. Szeryng was a concert violinist who served as liaison officer and interpreter to General Wladyslaw Sikorski, Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile during World War II. Mr. Szeryng was so impressed by Mexico's response to his plea to accept 4,000 Polish refugees in 1941 that he moved to Mexico and became a Mexican citizen in 1946. Mr. Szeryng and pianist Arthur Rubinstein collaborated in concerts and recordings from the 1950s through the 1970s. Mr. Szeryng lived in France for 20 years, and his last five years in Monaco; he died in Germany of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz met with King Hussein of Jordan for the second time in three days in an attempt to stimulate the Middle East peace process. Thirty U.S. senators wrote Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, criticizing his rejection of the idea of trading land for peace--giving up the occupied territories--as supported by United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.

Abominations
U.S. District Court Judge Walter Skinner issued a permanent injunction in Boston prohibiting enforcement of a policy by the U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan that sought to prevent family planning clinics that were receiving federal funds from helping women to obtain abortions. The American Public Health Association, National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had filed suit to block the rules, which were scheduled to become effective that day. Judge Skinner ruled that the rules would "as a whole violate both congressional intent and rights protected by the Constitution."

Economics and finance
U.S. federal district courts restrained four banks from transferring funds to the Panamanian government.

The United States House of Representatives rejected by a vote of 216-208 a plan advanced by House Speaker Jim Wright for $30.8 million in non-lethal aid to the Contras in Nicaragua.

25 years ago
1993

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

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Eclipse

Died on this date
Carlos Montoya, 89. Spanish musician. Mr. Montoya was one of the world's best-known flamenco guitarists.

Albert Sabin, 86. Polish-born U.S. physician and virologist. Dr. Sabin, born Albert Saperstein, emigrated with his family to the United States in 1921. He was best known for developing the oral polio vaccine, which was first tested in 1954, and was widely used in eastern Europe, and then in North America, with this blogger being one of its recipients.

Carlos Marcello, 83. Tunisian-born U.S. gangster. Mr. Marcello, born Calogero Minacori, emigrated with his family to Louisiana when he was an infant. He turned to crime at an early age, and ended up as boss of the New Orleans crime family from 1947 until the early 1980s. He served six months in prison in the mid-1960s for assaulting a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, and served 6 1/2 years after being convicted in a bribery scandal in the '80s. Mr. Marcello has been accused of involvement in the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1963, but this blogger is skeptical of those accusations.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Fred Friendly, 82. U.S. broadcast executive. Mr. Friendly was President of CBS News in the 1950s and 1960s, and was particularly known for his collaborative efforts with broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. A series of Columbia record albums titled I Can Hear it Now, beginning in 1948, was followed by the radio series Hear it Now in 1951, which soon moved to television as See it Now. Probably the most famous See it Now broadcast was that of March 9, 1954, a critical examination of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The broadcast has been credited by some with helping to turn public opinion against the Wisconsin anti-Communist activist (although a number of anti-McCarthy commentators criticized See it Now the broadcast as unfair and distorted. The circumstances surrounding this broadcast inspired the 2005 movie Good Night and Good Luck; George Clooney played Mr. Friendly. After See it Now ended its run in 1958, Mr. Friendly and Mr. Murrow collaborated on a number of projects for the series CBS Reports; the most famous of these, Harvest of Shame, broadcast in November 1960, concerned the plight of migrant farm workers and is still considered a high point in the history of television journalism. Mr. Friendly produced a number of other programs for CBS Reports in the 1960s, but became increasingly disenchanted with the network brass. He reached his breaking point and resigned from CBS in 1966 when the network ran a scheduled episode of The Lucy Show instead of the first United States Senate hearings investigating American involvement in Vietnam. After leaving CBS, Mr. Friendly worked at the Ford Foundation, taught journalism at Columbia University, and played a major role in the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service.

10 years ago
2008

Died on this date
Norman "Hurricane" Smith, 85. U.K. recording artist, engineer, and producer. Mr. Smith was an engineer with EMI in the 1960s, working on recordings by the Beatles before becoming a producer, working with artists such as Pink Floyd. In the early '70s, Mr. Smith became a recording artist in his own right; performing under the name Hurricane Smith, he had hits with singles such as Don't Let it Die (1971) and Oh Babe, What Would You Say (1972), the latter becoming a major international hit and this blogger's favourite single of 1973. Mr. Smith died 10 days after his 85th birthday.

Politics and government
Premier Ed Stelmach led his governing Progressive Conservative Party to victory in the Alberta provincial election, as they won 72 of 83 seats in the Legislative Assembly, an increase of 12 from before the election. The Liberals, led by Kevin Taft, dropped from 16 to 9 seats; the New Democratic Party, led by Brian Mason, dropped from 4 to 2; and Wildrose Alliance leader Paul Hinman lost his, and his party's only, seat.