March 16, 2019

620 years ago
1399

Born on this date
Xuande. Emperor of China, 1425-1435. Xuande, born Zhu Zhanji, was the fifth Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He succeeded his father Hongxi, and achieved some military and economic reforms before his death from an illness on January 31, 1435 at the age of 35. Xuande was succeeded on the throne by his son Yingzong.

370 years ago
1649

Died on this date
Jean de Brébeuf, 55. French missionary. Father Brébeuf was a Roman Catholic Jesuit missionary who worked among the Huron Indians in New France for most of the time from 1625 to the end of his life, which came nine days before his 56th birthday, when he was captured by Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) invaders at St-Louis with fellow Jesuit missionary Gabriel Lalement and taken to St-Ignace (near present-day Midland, Ontario). Fr. Brébeuf's flesh was stripped to the bone, and he was burned with pitch and boiling water. The same treatment was meted out to Fr. Lalement, who died the next day. Fr. Brébeuf was canonized in 1930 by Pope Pius XI.

War
A war party of more than 1,000 Iroquois invaded Huronia, New France (in present-day Ontario), capturing St-Ignace before sunrise. They destroyed all the villages and Jesuit missions in the area, and only 8 soldiers, 22 donnés, and 7 servants escaped; the Jesuits abandoned Ste-Marie on June 14, 1649.

340 years ago
1679

Died on this date
John Leverett, 62. English military officer and politician. Major-General Leverett was military governor of Acadia/Nova Scotia (1654-1657) and Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1673-1679), expanding the latter's territory to include part of what is now Maine. He died in office, reputedly from complications of kidney stones, and was succeeded as Governor by Simon Bradstreet.

330 years ago
1689

Defense
The 23rd Regiment of Foot, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, was founded by Henry Herbert, 4th Baron Herbert of Chirbury at Ludlow, England, to oppose King James II and to take part in the imminent war with France.

230 years ago
1789

Born on this date
Georg Ohm. German physicist. Dr. Ohm discovered a direct proportionality between the potential difference (voltage) applied across a conductor and the resultant electric current, a relationship known as Ohm's Law. The unit of resistance was named the ohm in his honour. Dr. Ohm died on July 6, 1854 at the age of 65.

220 years ago
1799

Born on this date
Anna Atkins. U.K. botanist and photographer. Mrs. Atkins' self-published book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843) is regarded as the first book to contain photographic images. She may have been the first woman to take a photograph, but that remains uncertain. Mrs. Atkins died of "paralysis, rheumatism, and exhaustion" on June 9, 1871 at the age of 72.

200 years ago
1819

Born on this date
José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco. President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of Brazil, 1871-1875. Viscount Rio Branco was a journalist who was a member of the Liberal Party (1847-1849), and then the Conservative Party (1853-1880). He held various cabinet posts and conducted diplomatic missions to Paraguay and Uruguay before serving as President of the Council of Ministers. He died on November 1, 1880 at the age of 61 after a long battle with oral cancer.

180 years ago
1839

Born on this date
Sully Prudhomme. French poet. Mr. Prudhomme was awarded thr first Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect." He died on September 6, 1907 at the age of 68.

130 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Reggie Walker. S.A. runner. Mr. Walker won the gold medal in the men's 100-metre competition at the 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London. He remains, at 19, the youngest winner of the event. Mr. Walker died on November 5, 1951 at the age of 62.

125 years ago
1894

Opera
Jules Massenet's opera Thaïs received its first performance, at the Opéra Garnier in Paris.

120 years ago
1899

Died on this date
Joseph Medill, 75. Canadian-born U.S. journalist and politician. Mr. Medill, a native of Saint John, New Brunswick, founded the Cleveland Leader before buying the Chicago Tribune in 1855, serving as managing editor until 1864, turning it into the city's leading Republican Party paper. Mr. Medill served as Mayor of Chicago from 1871-1873, taking office shortly after the great fire of 1871. He gained for power for the mayor's office and achieved police and fire department reforms, but the job took a toll on his health, and he spent the last 3 1/2 months of his term in Europe on a convalescent vacation. Mr. Madill died three weeks before his 76th birthday.

Hockey
Exhibition
Montreal Shamrocks 5 @ All-New York 2

80 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Sam Dungan, 72. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Dungan was an outfielder with the Chicago Colts/Orphans (1892-1894, 1900); Louisville Colonels (1894); and Washington Senators (1901), batting .301 with 3 home runs and 197 runs batted in in 382 games. He played at least 900 games in at least 9 seasons in the minor leagues from 1890-1905; early in the 1900 season he was sold by the Colts to the Kansas City Blues of the American League, playing first base and batting .337 with 1 homer in 117 games, winning the batting title in the AL's only season as a minor league. Mr. Dungan died of a heart attack, following uremic poisoning.

World events
The day after declaring itself an independent republic, Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary.

From Prague Castle, German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

75 years ago
1944

War
Allied infantrymen occupied three-quarters of the Italian town of Cassino, but Nazis continued to hold a corner of the town. Soviet troops severed the Odessa-Zhmerinka railroad at Vapnyarka, 28 miles north of Bessarabia, splitting the German front in Ukraine. U.S. troops took the airfield near Lorengau on Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands. U.S. bombers made the deepest penetration yet of Japan's Kurlie Islands, bombing Matsuwa, less than 500 miles from the Japanese mainland at Hokkaido. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced the renewal of mutual aid pacts with Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.S.R. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed hope that Finland would "withdraw from her hateful partnership with Germany." The U.S. War and Navy Departments announced that 23 Army transport planes had been shot down over Sicily in July 1943 by "friendly naval and ground gunfire" as well as enemy fire, with a loss fo 410 American lives.

Politics and government
The North Carolina Republican Party state convention unanimously adopted a resolution favouring the drafting of New York Governor Thomas Dewey as the party's presidential candidate in the November 1944 election.

Economics and finance
U.S. War Production Board Chairman Nelson and Selective Service Director Lewis Hershey told steel inductry representatives that they must reconcile themselves to the losses of workers under 26 years of age to the armed services.

Representatives of 21 penicillin producers met with the U.S. War Production Board and other government agencies, and organized a committee to work out agreements for exchange of technical information and other measures to increase the output of the drug.

Scandal
The U.S. Justice Department filed a suit charging Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., two U.S. export associations, and other concerns with conspiracy to operate a cartel in alkalis.

70 years ago
1949

War
Israel and Transjordan agreed on Jerusalem's armistice lines based on the city's existing truce, giving Israel control over modern Jerusalem and Arabs control over the old city.

Defense
The U.S.S.R. officially returned the U.S. Navy cruiser USS Milwaukee, lent to the Soviet Navy during World War II.

Politics and government
Argentine President Juan Peron took an oath of allegiance to Argentina's new constitution.

The Maryland House of Delegates approved a bill outlawing all organizations judged to be subversive, and providing for loyalty checks on all public employees.

Jury selection was completed in the New York trial of 11 accused Communist leaders.

Law
The New Jersey state legislature strengthened a law against racial discrimination in education, recreation, and places of public accommodation.

Economics and finance
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a Senate-approved bill allotting $16 million to aid Arab and Jewish refugees uprooted in recent Palestine fighting.

The New York state legislature passed a record $937-million budget, raising income taxes 50%.

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mariquilla--José Luís y su Guitarra (5th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Venus--Frankie Avalon (2nd week at #1)
2 Charlie Brown--The Coasters
3 Alvin's Harmonica--David Seville and the Chipmunks
4 It's Just a Matter of Time--Brook Benton
5 Stagger Lee--Lloyd Price
6 I've Had It--The Bell Notes
7 Donna--Ritchie Valens
8 Tragedy--Thomas Wayne with the DeLons
9 Never Be Anyone Else But You--Ricky Nelson
10 Peter Gunn--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were The Happy Organ by Dave "Baby" Cortez (#68); Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) by the Impalas (#84); As Time Goes By by Johnny Nash (#87); Heavenly Lover by Teresa Brewer (#96); Come to Me by Marv Johnson (#98); Teenage Heaven by Eddie Cochran (#99); and Yea-Yea (Class Cutter) by Dale Hawkins (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Peter Gunn--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
2 The All American Boy--Bill Parsons
3 Charlie Brown--The Coasters
4 I've Had It--The Bell Notes
5 Stagger Lee--Lloyd Price
6 The Lonely One--Duane Eddy and the Rebels
7 Venus--Frankie Avalon
8 It's Late/Never Be Anyone Else But You--Ricky Nelson
9 Alvin's Harmonica--David Seville and the Chipmunks
10 Goodbye Baby--Jack Scott

Singles entering the chart were The Happy Organ by Dave "Baby" Cortez (#46); The Tijuana Jail by the Kingston Trio (#55); I Kneel at Your Throne by Joe Medlin (#56); Come to Me by Marv Johnson (#57); and 77 Sunset Strip by Don Ralke (#60).

Africana
The Bugandan Parliament banned Prince Harry Harold Kimera, brother of King Mutesa II, from any rights to the throne of Buganda because he had married a white Englishwoman.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. reported an agreement on the restoration of Soviet-Australian diplomatic relations.

In a nationwide address broadcast on radio and television, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that he was willing to meet Soviet leaders in a summit meeting on the German problem if such talks showed promise of success.

Defense
University of California at Los Angeles engineers announced the development of a new heat-resistant material for missile nose cones and thrust chambers.

Politics and government
Italy's Christian Democratic Party National Council elected Aldo Moro to replace Amintore Fanfani as party secretary.

Labour
A 13-day strike of 23,000 Bolivian tin miners ended after the government promised the miners a 20% raise and maintenance of subsidized mine commissary prices.

50 years ago
1969

Died on this date
Néstor Chávez Silva, 21. Venezuelan baseball pitcher. Mr. Chávez compiled a record of 51-34 in 135 games in the minor leagues from 1964-1968, batting .253 with no home runs and 20 runs batted in in 173 games. He played 2 games with the San Francisco Giants in 1967, with a 0-0 record and no earned runs allowed. Mr. Chávez was preparing to begin minor league rehabilitation of a shoulder injury when he was one of the people killed aboard Viasa Flight 742.

War
A dramatic reversal of conditions in Biafra in almost every aspect of life in the last six months was reported. Most of the more than one million uprooted had been relocated, and the civilian death toll from starvation was estimated at 700 per day, down from the estimate of 6,000 per day the previous September.

32,063 Americans had died in the Vietnam War, a figure fast approaching the Korean War total of 33,629.

No casualties resulted from a skirmish between North Korean and American soldiers in the DMZ.

Disasters
Viasa Flight 742, a DC-9 airliner with 83 on board en route from Caracas to Miami, crashed in a populous suburb of Maracaibo, killing all on board and at least 67 on the ground in what was the worst air disaster in history to that time.

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Y.M.C.A.--Village People (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heart of Glass--Blondie (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Born to Be Alive--Patrick Hernandez (3rd week at #1)

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Tatiana!

Died on this date
Jean Monnet, 90. French economist and diplomat. Mr. Monnet was Deputy Secretary-General of the League of Nations, but was better known as the President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (1952-1955), paving the way for he European Union. He has been called the "Founder of Europe," working behind the scenes rather than holding elective office.

Carmen de Icaza, 79. Spanish authoress. Miss de Icaza wrote novels from the 1930s to the 1960s, and was best known for Cristina Guzmán (1936).

War
The People's Liberation Army crossed the border back into China, ending the Sino-Vietnamese War.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): You Got It--Roy Orbison

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Like a Prayer--Madonna

Archaeology
A 4,400-year-old mummy was found near the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt.

Health
Chilean President General Augusto Pinochet said that the impact of the recent U.S. quarantine on fruit from Chile had been "catastrophic" for the Chilean economy, and that the United States had overreacted. The quarantine had been imposed on March 13 after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration search of crates full of grapes had found traces of cyanide in two grapes.

Three U.S. federal agencies asserted that eating apples was safe for adults and children. The public had been worried by reports that some apples had been treated with daminozide, sold under the name Alar, which was suspected of causing cancer. The chemical was used to improve apples' freshness, appearance, and texture. The agencies said that a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council had greatly exaggerated the threat posed by daminozide.

Figure skating
Kurt Browning of Caroline, Alberta won the world men's championship in Paris, becoming the first Canadian to win a world championship since Karen Magnussen had won the women's championship in 1973, and the first Canadian male to win the title since Don McPherson in 1963. It was the last world championship to include compulsory figures as part of the competition.

Hockey
NHL
Vancouver 3 Edmonton 0

25 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Eric Show, 37. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Show played with the San Diego Padres (1981-1990) and Oakland Athletics (1991), compiling a record of 101-89 with a 3.66 earned run average and 7 saves in 332 games. He helped the Padres win their first National League pennant in 1984, and gave up Pete Rose's career record 4,192nd major league hit in 1985. Mr. Show had a variety of off-field interests, including physics, music, and politics, and was a member of the John Birch Society. He claimed to be a born-again Christian, but it was hard to tell from his behaviour in his later years, which were characterized by drug abuse. Mr. Show was found dead in his room at a drug treatment centre, the night after checking back in for further treatment following a relapse after a month-long stay.

Scandal
U.S. women's figure skating champion Tonya Harding, who had won the national championship after defending champion and chief rival Nancy Kerrigan had been injured in an attack after a practice, pled guilty in Portland, Oregon to helping to cover up the plot to assault Miss Kerrigan. Ms. Harding acknowledged having conspired with her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and her former bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, to conceal from investigators what she knew. She continued to assert that she had no foreknowledge of the attack. Ms. Harding was fined $100,000 and court costs, and she agreed to establish a $50,000 fund for the Special Olympics and contribute 500 hours of community service. She also agreed to resign from the United States Figure Skating Association, thus ending her amateur career. Mr. Gillooly had already pled guilty to racketeering. Miss Kerrigan, who had been clubbed on the leg, had been able to skate in the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway and had won the silver medal in the women's competition, while Ms. Harding had finished eighth.

Defense
The International Atomic Energy Agency announced that its inspectors who had visited North Korea during the previous two weeks had been prevented from conducting a full inspection at one of that nation's seven targeted sites.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the consumer price index had risen 0.3% in February.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Gratien Gélinas, 89. Canadian actor, director, and playwright. Mr. Gélinas, a native of Saint-Tite, Quebec, was regarded as one of the founders of modern Canadian theatre. His works included Tit-Coq (1948); Hier, les enfants dansaient (1968); and a series of satirical revues known as the Fridolinades.

World events
The 20 members of the European Commission, executive wing of the European Union, resigned the day after a report issued by investigators appointed by the European Parliament revealed the commission's corruption.

Politics and government
Magazine publisher Steve Forbes announced his candidacy for the 2000 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. Mr. Forbes endorsed the flat tax, opposed abortion, and advocated giving parents vouchers to put their children in private schools.

Canadiana
French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard opened the "Printemps du Québec en France" in Paris. It was the largest Quebec cultural event ever held abroad, lasting until June 21. For its designers, this event was a privileged opportunity to "raise awareness in France of the most striking dimensions of Quebec culture while highlighting its cutting edge technologies, the originality of its products and its know-how as well as its historical ties with France."