Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Snejka!
220 years ago
1799
Canadiana
Royal Assent was given to change the name of Île St- Jean to Prince Edward Island.
170 years ago
1849
Law
The Amnesty Act came into effect, granting full immunity to participants in the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions of 1837-1838 who had fled the Canadas. Upper Canada Rebellion leader William Lyon Mackenzie returned to Toronto from the United States that day, and told a Toronto newspaper that he was a reformed man, that "American democracy as it presented itself in the form of political corruption, crass materialism and human slavery, filled his soul with righteous indignation. He was convinced that the vaunted liberty of the United States was merely a sham; that neither the grandiloquent principles of the Declaration of Independence, nor the unctuous guarantees of the American Constitution assured to the private citizen the same measure of civil and political freedom as was enjoyed by the humblest Canadian subject under the British Constitution." In 1851, Mr. Mackenzie was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Canada.
160 years ago
1859
Born on this date
Victor Herbert. U.K.-born U.S. composer. Mr. Herbert, born Victor Muspratt in Guernsey, moved to the United States in 1886. He was a cellist who turned to composing and conducting. Mr. Herbert wrote various works for cello, piano, and orchestra, but was best known for operettas such as Babes in Toyland (1903) and Naughty Marietta (1910). He died of a heart attack on May 26, 1924 at the age of 65, shortly after his last show, The Dream Girl, began its pre-Broadway run in Connecticut.
125 years ago
1894
Born on this date
James P. Johnson. U.S. musician and composer. Mr. Johnson was a pioneering stride jazz pianist in New York who bridged the ragtime and jazz eras. He composed in various genres, but was best known for writing songs such as Charleston and I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight). Mr. Johnson died on November 17, 1955 at the age of 61, four years after suffering a paralyzing stroke; he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, and the Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1973.
John Ford. U.S. film director. Mr. Ford, born John Feeney, was primarily known for directing westerns. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Informer (1935); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); How Green was My Valley (1941); and The Quiet Man (1952). Mr. Ford died on August 31,1973 at the age of 79 after years of declining health.
100 years ago
1919
Born on this date
Roger Birkman. U.S. psychologist. Dr. Birkman was an organizational psychologist who created the Birkman Method, a personality assessment aimed at enhancing performance. He died in his sleep on March 26, 2014 at the age of 95.
75 years ago
1944
Died on this date
Piet Mondrian, 71. Dutch artist. Mr. Mondrian was known for a style of painting that he termed neoplasticism--a white ground, upon which was painted a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the three primary colors. He eventually settled in New York City, where he died of pneumonia.
Raymond Clapper, 51. U.S. journalist. Mr. Clapper was a political reporter with several newspapers, as well as with United Press, and eventually Scripps-Howard Newspapers. He also appeared on radio, first with the National Broadcasting Company and then with the Mutual Broadcasting System. Mr. Clapper was covering the U.S. invasion of the Marshall Islands when the plane in which he was an observer collided with another plane; both planes crashed into a lagoon, leaving no survivors.
War
Soviet units took the communications centre of Kingisepp, eight miles east of the Estonian frontier. Allied troops in Italy north and west of Cassino breached the German Gustav line over several miles, while American forces pushed to within a mile of Cassino from the rear. Chinese troops captured the village of Taihpa Ga in the Hukawng Valley of northern Burma.
Business
The New York Times announced that it had made an arrangement to buy, subsequent to Federal Communications Commission approval, the Interstate Broadcasting Company in New York, which operated radio station WQXR.
Disasters
An earthquake destroyed most of Gerede, Turkey and caused heavy damage elsewhere in the Ankara area.
70 years ago
1949
Died on this date
Herbert Stothart, 63. U.S. conductor and composer. Mr. Stothart was a composer of film scores who was nominated for Academy Awards 12 times from 1935-1945, winning the Oscar for The Wizard of Oz (1939). He died of cancer.
War
King Abdullah of Transjordan agreed to join the Israeli-Egyptian armistice conference on Rhodes.
Acting Nationalist Chinese President Li Tsung-jen named an eight-man civilian delegation to arrange for an official peace conference in Peking.
Philippine security forces reported the capture of the Sierra Madre headquarters of the Hukbalahap guerrillas in central Luzon.
Defense
In a diplomatic note to the U.S.S.R., Norway announced that she must seek the protection of the projected North Atlantic security alliance, following the breakdown of Scandinavian regional defense negotiations.
World events
The Israeli cabinet announced plans to incorporate the new city of Jerusalem into Israel despite United Nations efforts to make Jerusalem an international city.
Crime
A British military court in Dusseldorf sentenced Communist leader Max Reimann to three months in prison for encouraging Germans to ostracize those cooperating with the Western Allies.
Society
The U.S. Displaced Persons Commission issued its first semi-annual report, complaining that restrictive provisions of the 1948 immigration law had severely hampered its ability to bring refugees into the United States. The report urged the elimination of provisions of the law discriminating against Jews and Catholics.
Economics and finance
New York Governor Thomas Dewey submitted a record state budget of $936.2 million for fiscal 1949-50, to be financed in part by a two-thirds increase in the state income tax.
Sport
World and Olympic figure skating champion Barbara Ann Scott was named the winner of the Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy as Canada's outstanding athlete of 1948.
60 years ago
1959
Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Come Prima--Dalida (3rd week at #1)
On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Total Loss, starring Nancy Olson and Ralph Meeker
Died on this date
Madame Sul-Te-Wan, 85. U.S. actress. Madame Sul-Te-Wan, born Nellie Crawford, was the first Negro actress to sign a film contract and be a featured performer. She was a character actress who appeared, often uncredited, in movies from the silent era into the 1950s; her films included The Birth of a Nation (1915); King Kong (1933); Maid of Salem (1937); and Carmen Jones (1954). Madame Sul-Te-Wan died of a stroke.
Willie Hoppe, 71. U.S. billiards player. Mr. Hoppe won 51 world titles in carom billiards from 1906-1952. He was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1966.
Music
The Winter Dance Party tour, featuring Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, continued with performances in Appleton, Wisconsin, and at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
World events
The Moroccan High Court in Rabat sentenced to death former Governor Addi ou Bihi and three other leaders of an abortive 1957 plot against the government.
Agriculture
The Hungarian government ordered a speedup in agricultural collectivization.
50 years ago
1969
Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Eloise--Barry Ryan (3rd week at #1)
#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Biplane Evermore--The Royal Guardsmen (3rd week at #1)
#1 single in France: Casatchok--Dimitri Dourakine and his Orchestra (5th week at #1)
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Scende la pioggia--Gianni Morandi (3rd week at #1)
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Eloise--Barry Ryan (3rd week at #1)
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Lonely Woods of Upton--Sean Dunphy
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Albatross--Fleetwood Mac
Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Ain't Got No--I Got Life--Nina Simone (2nd week at #1)
2 Hair--Zen
3 I Started a Joke--The Bee Gees
4 Albatross--Fleetwood Mac
5 Lily the Pink--The Scaffold
6 Kiele, Kiele, Kiele...--Toon Hermans en De Driedonken Blaaskapel
7 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da--The Beatles
8 Antoinette--Leo Den Hop
9 Lea--The Cats
10 Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da--The Marmalade
Singles entering the chart were Atlantis by Donovan (#22); Hey Jude by Wilson Pickett (#26); 't Saunabad by Tony Bass (#34); Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells (#35); and Maybe Tomorrow by the Iveys (#37).
U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells
2 Everyday People--Sly & the Family Stone
3 Worst that Could Happen--Brooklyn Bridge
4 Touch Me--The Doors
5 I Heard it Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye
6 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me--Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations
7 I Started a Joke--The Bee Gees
8 Hooked on a Feeling--B.J. Thomas
9 Soulful Strut--Young-Holt Unlimited
10 Build Me Up Buttercup--The Foundations
Singles entering the chart were Soul Shake by Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson (#46); Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (#69); 30-60-90 by Willie Mitchell (#74); Dizzy by Tommy Roe (#86); Grits Ain't Groceries (All Around the World) by Little Milton (#89); Woman Helping Man by the Vogues (#90); This Girl's in Love with You by Dionne Warwick (#92); Do Your Thing by the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (#95); My Special Prayer by Percy Sledge (#96); Someday Soon by Judy Collins (#97); Saturday Night at the World by Mason Williams (#99); and Cloud Nine by Mongo Santamaria (#100).
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells
2 Touch Me--The Doors
3 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me--Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations
4 I Heard it Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye
5 Everyday People--Sly & the Family Stone
6 Worst that Could Happen--Brooklyn Bridge
7 I Started a Joke--The Bee Gees
8 Hooked on a Feeling--B.J. Thomas
9 If I Can Dream--Elvis Presley
10 You Showed Me--The Turtles
Singles entering the chart were This Girl's in Love with You by Dionne Warwick (#70); To Susan on the West Coast Waiting by Donovan (#71); Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (#72); Great Balls of Fire by Tiny Tim (#85); Purple Haze by Dion (#88); Traces by Classics IV (#89); She's Not There by the Road (#93); Johnny One Time by Brenda Lee (#96); The Carroll County Accident by Porter Wagoner (#99); and Sophisticated Cissy by the Meters (#100). To Susan on the West Coast Waiting was the other side of Atlantis.
Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells (3rd week at #1)
2 Build Me Up Buttercup--The Foundations
3 Twilight Woman--The 49th Parallel
4 Sweet Cream Ladies--The Box Tops
5 This Magic Moment--Jay and the Americans
6 Baby Let's Wait--The Royal Guardsmen
7 Touch Me--The Doors
8 Beyond the Clouds--The Poppy Family
9 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me--Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations
10 Son-of-a Preacher Man--Dusty Springfield
Pick hit of the week: Cruel War--Sugar n' Spice
World events
The International Committee of the Red Cross resumed relief flights to Biafra's starving refugees from Cotonou, Dahomey, following negotiations which had begun several weeks earlier when Equatorial Guinea banned all flights from the island of Fernando Po.
Protest
Northern Ireland Protestant leader Rev. Ian Paisley led a protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Terence O'Neill.
40 years ago
1979
On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Sleeping Over
Died on this date
Abdi İpekçi, 49. Turkish journalist. Mr. İpekçi joined the newspaper Milliyet in 1954, becoming editor-in-chief in 1959. He supported the separation of religon and state; human rights for various minorities in Turkey; and dialogue and conciliation with Greece. Mr. İpekçi was driving home from his office in Istanbul when he was murdered by Oral Çelik and Mehmet Ali Ağca, members of the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves organization. Two years later, Mr. Ağca attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
Ottawana
The National Capital Commission opened the first Winterlude, developed by NCC head Douglas Fullerton, and featuring a skateway along the Rideau Canal.
World events
Shi'ite Muslim leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran after 15 years in exile, saying that he wanted to establish an Islamic republic, replacing the monarchy and the three-week-old civilian government of Prime Minister Shahpur Bakhtiar, and threatening to arrest Mr. Bakhtiar if he didn't resign. While the army put on a show of force in Tehran in Mr. Bakhtiar's support, he said that he would not let Iran "be governed by any force other than the legitimate authority."
Defense
Officials with the U.S. administration of President Jimmy Carter reported that the U.S.S.R. had begun to test their own version of the long-range cruise missile, with a range of 1,500 miles, but not as accurate as the American version.
Diplomacy
Chinese Deputy Premier Deng Xiaoping continued his visit to the United States, beginning five days of visits to Atlanta, Houston, and Seattle.
Religion
Pope John Paul II concluded his Latin American visit with a visit to the Bahamas before returning to Rome.
Crime
Almost five years after being kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California, U.S. newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was released from a federal prison under an executive clemency order from President Jimmy Carter after serving 22 months of a 7-year sentence for bank robbery. The clemency order imposed parole conditions on Miss Hearst.
30 years ago
1989
Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Good Life--Inner City (2nd week at #1)
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Bring Me Edelweiss--Edelweiss (2nd week at #1)
Austria's top 10 (Ö3)
1 First Time--Robin Beck
2 Twist in My Sobriety--Tanita Tikaram
3 Stop!--Sam Brown
4 Kiss--The Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones
5 Bring Me Edelweiss--Edelweiss
6 Don't Worry Be Happy--Bobby McFerrin
7 Tango Korrupti--Rainhard Fendrich
8 Never Trust a Stranger--Kim Wilde
9 Put a Little Love in Your Heart--Annie Lennox and Al Green
10 Orinoco Flow--Enya
Singles entering the chart were Twist in My Sobriety; Put a Little Love in Your Heart; Big Fun by Inner City (#17); Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson (#23); and Y tu by Peter Kent and Luisa Fernandez (#27).
On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Pottery Will Get You Nowhere
Died on this date
Elaine de Kooning, 70. U.S. artist. Mrs. de Kooning was married to artist Willem de Kooning, and became an abstract expressionist and figurative expressionist painter herself, but was perhaps better known for writing and teaching about art in the post-World War II period.
Politics and government
Former U.S. Senator John Tower, President George Bush's nominee to be Secretary of Defense, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he did not have a drinking problem.
Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had risen 0.6% in December 1988.
25 years ago
1994
Crime
Jeff Gillooly, ex-husband of U.S. women's figure skating champion Tonya Harding, pled guilty in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Oregon to a charge of racketeering in the January 6 assault on Nancy Kerrigan, the defending champion, who was forced to withdraw from the 1994 championships after being clubbed on the leg after a practice. Mr. Gillooly testified that Ms. Harding had helped to plan the assault.
Business
There were angry clashes in the British House of Commons over the sale of Rover, the U.K.'s last major auto manufacturer, to the German firm BMW.
20 years ago
1999
Scandal
Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky gave a vidotaped deposition for U.S. Senators weighing impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton.
10 years ago
2009
Politics and government
The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country's first female Prime Minister and the world's first openly lesbian or sodomite head of government.
Football
NFL
Super Bowl XLIII @ Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23
Ben Roethlisberger's 6-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds remaining in regulation time, converted by Jeff Reed, gave the Steelers their then-record sixth Super Bowl championship, defeating the Cardinals before 70,774 fans. The Steelers led 20-7 after 3 quarters, aided by James Harrison's Super Bowl-record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the 1st half. With 7:33 remaining in the 4th quarter, Kurt Warner completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald, and Neil Rackers' convert reduced the Cardinals' deficit to 20-14. Arizona was awarded a safety touch with 2:58 remaining when Pittsburgh offensive tackle Justin Hartwig was penalized for holding in his own end zone. The Cardinals took possession on the subsequent Pittsburgh free kick, and two plays later, Mr. Warner completed a 64-yard TD pass to Mr. Fitzgerald, and Mr. Rackers. convert gave Arizona a 23-20 lead with 2:37 remaining. In the game's final seconds, Mr. Warner marched the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh 44-yard line, but fumbled when sacked by defensive end Brett Keisel, and the Steelers recovered with 5 seconds left.
The O’Connell Centennial
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6 August 1875 We often divide Canada into two parts—French Canada and
English Canada. One hundred and fifty years ago, it would have been equally
valid, if...
2 days ago
