March 4, 2019

500 years ago
1519

Born on this date
Hindal Mirza. Mughal prince. Hindal Mirza, born Abu'l-Nasir Muhammad, was the son of Mughal Empire founder Emperor Babur and the younger half-brother of Emperor Humayun, whom he served until his death in battle on November 20, 1551 at the age of 32.

Exploration
Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.

250 years ago
1769

Born on this date
Muhammad Ali. Ottoman Wāli (viceroy). Muhammad Ali Pasha seized power in Egypt in 1805 and turned it into a regional power within the Ottoman Empire, thus becoming known as the "Father of Modern Egypt." He conducted successful military campaigns, most notably conquering Sudan. Muhammad Ali Pasha died on August 2, 1849 at the age of 80, and was succeeded as Wāli by his grandson Abbas Pasha.

Space
French astronomer Charles Messier first noted the Orion Nebula.

230 years ago
1789

Politics and government
The Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Congress met in New York City. The United States Bill of Rights was written and proposed to Congress.

225 years ago
1794

Law
The United States Congress passed the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution. It reads:

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

210 years ago
1809

Politics and government
James Madison was inaugurated into his first term as the 4th President of the United States. According to Washington Irving, Mr. Madison looked like "a withered little apple-John." George Clinton was inaugurated as Vice President.

190 years ago
1829

Politics and government
Andrew Jackson was inaugurated into his first term as the 7th President of the United States. He used his inaugural address to advocate an ambitious program of domestic improvements. John C. Calhoun was inaugurated as Vice President. Mr. Jackson's inauguration was like that of no U.S. President before or since, as a celebratory mob not only crowded around the U.S. Capitol, but another crowd invaded the White House, trashing the residence in an attempt to meet the new President, who, according to one witness, was "literally nearly pressed to death and almost suffocated and torn to pieces" by the mob. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story said, "I never saw such a mixture. The reign of KING MOB seemed triumphant. I was glad to escape from the scene as soon as possible."

180 years ago
1839

Technology
In Saint John, New Brunswick, James Elliott and Alexander McAvity patented the “Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus” – known today as the Scuba tank.

150 years ago
1869

Politics and government
U.S. Grant was inaugurated into his first term as the 18th President of the United States. Mr. Grant declined to ride in the inaugural with outgoing President Andrew Johnson, owing to an estrangement resulting from political disagreements when Mr. Grant had briefly served as Mr. Johnson's Secretary of War in 1867. Schuyler Colfax was inaugurated as Vice President.

130 years ago
1889

Born on this date
Pearl White. U.S. actress. Miss White appeared in plays and silent films, and was best known as the star of the 20-chapter movie serial The Perils of Pauline (1914). She died of liver disease, perhaps the result of years of heavy drinking, on August 4, 1938 at the age of 49.

Oren Long. U.S. politician. Mr. Long, a Democrat, was the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii from 1951-1953, and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1959-1963. He died on May 6, 1965 at the age of 76, after an attack of asthmatic bronchitis.

Politics and government
Benjamin Harrison was inaugurated as the 23rd President of the United States of America; Levi P. Morton was inaugurated as Vice President. In his inaugural address, Mr. Harrison credited the nation's growth to the influences of education and religion, urged the cotton states and mining territories to attain the industrial proportions of the eastern states, and promised a protective tariff. He said, "If our great corporations would more scrupulously observe their legal obligations and duties, they would have less call to complain of the limitations of their rights or of interference with their operations." Mr. Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, the 9th President (1841).

120 years ago
1899

Disasters
Cyclone Mahina swept in north of Cooktown, Queensland, Australia with a 39-foot wave that reached up to 3.1 miles inland, killing over 400.

Hockey
CAHL
Ottawa (3-4) 3 @ Montreal Shamrocks (7-1) 7

The Shamrocks' win over Ottawa clinched first place for them, with the Montreal Victorias finishing second at 6-2. As a result, the Stanley Cup was passed from the defending champion Victorias to the Shamrocks.

110 years ago
1909

Politics and government
William Howard Taft was inaugurated as the 27th President of the United States. James S. Sherman was inaugurated as Vice President. President Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix--a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause--to appoint Philander C. Knox as Secretary of State.

Hockey
ECHA
Montreal Wanderers (9-3) 3 @ Ottawa (10-1) 8

Ottawa Hockey Club clinched first place in the Eastern Canadian Hockey Association with their win over the Wanderers, and the Stanley Cup thus passed to Ottawa from the defending champion Wanderers.

90 years ago
1929

Politics and government
Herbert Hoover was inaugurated as the 31st President of the United States. Charles Curtis was inaugurated as Vice President. At 69, Mr. Curtis he was the oldest Vice President to that point to be inaugurated.

75 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Bésame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)--Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra with Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Shoo-Shoo Baby--The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra (Jukebox--8th week at #1)

Bésame Mucho (Kiss Me Much), featuring vocals by Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen, was the B-side of My Ideal, which featured vocals by Mr. Eberly.

Died on this date
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter; 47; Louis Capone, 47 or 48; Emanuel "Mendy" Weiss, 37. Messrs. Buchalter, Capone, and Weiss were leading figures in the Mafia hit squad known as Murder, Inc. They had been convicted of the 1936 murder of candy store owner Joseph Rosen in Brooklyn, New York, and were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York after receiving six reprieves.

War
Soviet troops forced the Ingulets River south of Krivoi Rog in Ukraine to capture seven places and broke the last natural German defense line before the Black Sea port of Nikolayev. A group of Flying Fortresses launched the first American bomber attack on Berlin. Allied troops repulsed a German assault at Cisterno, Italy. The Japanese government decreed the mobilization of high school students and the use of school buildings as military storehouses and their yards for vegetable gardens.

Diplomacy
Iraq told U.S. Vice-President Henry Wallace that a U.S. resolution favouring a Jewish Palestine "would be tantamount in the United States declaring war on the Arabs."

U.S. Senator Gerald Nye reported that General George Marshall had told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he favoured a postponement of Jewish immigration into Palestine.

Acting U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius said that the U.S.A. would note recognize the new Argentine regime of acting President Edelmiro Farrell until it took steps to bring Argentina "fully and completely into the realm of hemispheric solidarity."

Politics and government
Oregon Governor Earl Snell appointed Guy Gorden to fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly occupied by Charles McNary, who had died on February 25.

The beginning of the 12th year of the U.S. presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt was marked by special religious services at the White House attended by more than 200 officials.

Movies
U.S. Federal Judge George More ruled that 20th Century Fox Film Corporation's picture Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) was based on the unpublished novel Love Girl, and that he would appoint a commission to set damage awards for the authoress, Mrs. Marie Dieckhaus.

70 years ago
1949

On television tonight
Your Show Time, hosted and narrated by Arthur Shields, on NBC
Tonight's episode: A Capture, starring Jeanne Cagney and Sterling Holloway

Literature
The God-Seeker by Sinclair Lewis was published in New York by Random House.

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council approved Israel's application for UN membership and passed it on to the General Assembly for final action.

Defense
Danish Foreign Minister Gustav Rasmussen announced plans to visit Washington and "investigate" the proposed North Atlantic security pact, while the Italian Socialist Party directorate passed a resolution opposing Italian membership in the proposed pact.

U.S. President Harry Truman assigned civil defense planning tasks to the National Security Resources Board, rejecting proposals for the creation of a separate civil defense office.

Politics and government
The Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. announced the replacement of Vyacheslav Molotov as Foreign Minister by Andrei Vishinsky. Former Soviet delegate to the United Nations Andrei Gromyko was promoted to first deputy Foreign Minister, while Mr. Molotov remained Deputy Premier and a member of the Communist Party Politburo.

Crime
Testimony ended in the six-week trial in Washington of Mildred Gillars, popularly known as "Axis Sally," charged with treason for her radio broadcasts from Germany during World War II.

U.S. Federal Judge Harold Medina rejected defense demands for proportional representation of ethnic and political minorities on the jury which would try 11 Communist Party leaders in New York on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government.

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in New York arrested U.S. Justice Department employee Judith Coplon and Valentin Gubitchev, a Soviet engineer employed by the United Nations, on charges of conspiring to steal U.S. government documents.

Labour
The U.S. Senate Labor Committee approved the Truman administration-sponsored bill intended to replace the Taft-Hartley Act.

60 years ago
1959

Space
The U.S. lunar probe Pioneer 4, launched the previous day, passed within 36,650 miles of the Moon, but not close enough to trigger the probe's photoelectric sensor.





Politics and government
Sudanese Prime Minister General Ibrahim Abboud assumed full power after forcing the resignation of his 12 associates on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Cyprus Governor Hugh Foot and Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders announced agreement on the establishment of a 10-member transitional committee to plan the transfer of authority from the United Kingdom to a Cypriot government.

Business
Cuba's Council of Ministers placed the Cuban Telephone Company, a wholly-owned International Telephone & Telegraph affiliate, under government management.

50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da--The Beatles (6th week at #1)

Died on this date
Nicholas Schenck, 88. Russian-born U.S. film studio executive. Mr. Schenk moved to New York at the age of 12. He and his brother Joseph worked in the theatre business, with Nicholas working for Loew's, Inc., which he merged with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924, and inherited upon the death of Marcus Loew in 1927. Mr. Schenk had a long-running feud with MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, which ended with Mr. Mayer being forced out of the studio in 1951. Mr. Schenk retired in 1956.

Space
Apollo 9 Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart was ill with space sickness on the second day of the Earth-orbiting mission.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Richard Nixon, in a televised news conference, called his just-concluded European tour "a condition precedent to an East-West summit," and stressed the need for a U.S.S.R.-U.S. accommodation on major world problems.

Defense
The Pentagon admitted to spending $350 million annually on development and production of weapons for chemical and biological warfare, and that the army regularly shipped lethal nerve gas by rail in 300-gallon canisters. These were among facts kept secret by the army that were disclosed in a private briefing for Congress.

Law
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced plans to replace their remaining dog teams with snowmobiles.

Crime
U.K. twins Ronald and Reginald Kray, two of Britain's most notorious criminals in the 1960s, faced life sentences after being convicted at the Central Criminal Court of the November 1967 murder of Jack "The Hat" McVitie. Among other convictions resulting from the 39-day trial--the longest and most expensive trial in England to date--the twins' older brother Charles and two others were convicted as accessories.

Academia
Scientists on as many as 30 U.S. campuses paused to ponder the uses and misuses of the knowledge they were gathering. The discussions centred on scientists' responsibility for research done at the request of the federal government, which financed 3/4 of university research.

Journalism
A scathing editorial in the Peking press denounced Soviet leaders as imperialists "more gluttonous than the Czars" and further stated that the recent border clash was part of a scheme to recreate the old Czarist empire.

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Y.M.C.A.--Village People (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Y.M.C.A.--Village People (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Freddy Owens. U.S. musician. Mr. Owens was a saxophonist and singer with the rock group Bill Deal & the Rhondels, joining the group in 1971. The group was performing at the Holiday Inn in Richmond, Virginia, when Mr. Owens was murdered by Jeremiah Carr. Mr. Owens was attempting to prevent the escape of Mr. Carr, who had just raped Mrs. Owens.

War
Tanzanian troops invaded Uganda, penetrating to within 50 miles of Kampala, the capital.

Labour
New Orleans police officers ended a two-week strike by returning to work despite rejection of the city's latest contract offer. Mayor Ernest N. Morial said that the city would no longer recognize the police union as a bargaining agent.

Disasters
Torrential rain caused flash floods in southeastern and Gulf Coast states in the U.S.A., claiming several lives.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 4 @ New York Rangers 2

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Esatto--Francesco Salvi

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): You Got It--Roy Orbison (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Pour toi Arménie--Charles Aznavour and various artists (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Belfast Child--Simple Minds (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Buffalo Stance--Neneh Cherry (2nd week at #1)
2 Belfast Child (EP track)--Simple Minds
3 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals
4 We Cheer You Up (Join the Pin-Up Club)--Barbarella
5 You Got It--Roy Orbison
6 Baby Don't Forget My Number--Milli Vanilli
7 Tonight - Live--Tina Turner (Duet with David Bowie)
8 Anything for You--Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine
9 Four Letter Word--Kim Wilde
10 It's Only Love--Simply Red

Singles entering the chart were Leave Me Alone by Michael Jackson (#21); Why Not Me by the Judds (#25); Cuddly Toy by Roachford (#27); Everybody Needs Somebody to Love by the Blues Brothers (#28); and Blow the House Down by Living in a Box (#29).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Lost in Your Eyes--Debbie Gibson
2 The Lover in Me--Sheena Easton
3 Straight Up--Paula Abdul
4 The Living Years--Mike + the Mechanics
5 You Got It (The Right Stuff)--New Kids on the Block
6 Wild Thing--Tone Loc
7 What I Am--Edie Brickell and New Bohemians
8 Roni--Bobby Brown
9 Surrender to Me--Ann Wilson and Robin Zander
10 Paradise City--Guns 'N' Roses

Singles entering the chart were Funky Cold Medina by Tone Loc (#60); Rocket by Def Leppard (#61); Close My Eyes Forever by Lita Ford (Duet with Ozzy Osbourne) (#81); I'll Be There for You by Bon Jovi (#82); Iko Iko by the Belle Stars (#86); Good Life by Inner City (#90); Let the River Run by Carly Simon (#95); and Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler (#97). Iko Iko was from the movie Rain Man (1988). Let the River Run was from the movie Working Girl (1988), and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Wind Beneath My Wings was from the movie Beaches (1988).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Lost in Your Eyes--Debbie Gibson (2nd week at #1)
2 The Lover in Me--Sheena Easton
3 Straight Up--Paula Abdul
4 You Got It (The Right Stuff)--New Kids on the Block
5 Born to Be My Baby--Bon Jovi
6 What I Am--Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
7 The Living Years--Mike + the Mechanics
8 She Wants to Dance with Me--Rick Astley
9 Paradise City--Guns 'N' Roses
10 Roni--Bobby Brown

Singles entering the chart were Rocket by Def Leppard (#62); Funky Cold Medina by Tone Loc (#68); Good Life by Inner City (#75); I Wanna Be the One by Stevie B (#76); Close My Eyes Forever by Lita Ford (with Ozzy Osbourne) (#80); I Can't Face the Fact by Gina Go-Go (#83); This Time by Kiara (with Shanice Wilson) (#85); and Falling Out of Love by Ivan Neville (#87).

Died on this date
Edward Makuka Nkoloso, 69-70. Zambian revolutionist and bureaucrat. Mr. Nkoloso was a schoolteacher who became a leading figure in the resistance against British colonial rule in what was then known as Northern Rhodesia, serving time in prison in 1956 and 1957. In 1960, he founded the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy. Mr. Nkoloso was best known outside Zambia for creating the country's space program in 1960, with the ostensible goal of placing an "Afronaut" on Mars. The program was ridiculed in Western nations, and Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda later claimed that the Zambian space program had been meant for fun. Mr. Nkoloso retired from his position in 1972, and obtained a law degree in 1983.

Politics and government
Ed Broadbent announced his resignation as New Democratic Party leader after 14 years; his resignation was to take effect when a new leader was chosen at a convention later in the year.

Business
Time, Inc. and Warner Communications, Inc. agreed to merge. With annual revenues of more than $10 billion, it would be the world's largest media and entertainment company. The companies decided to merge to compete more effectively with international media companies.

Labour
Machinists with Eastern Airlines went on strike, supported by pilots and flight attendants.

Disasters
6 people were killed and 80 injured, some seriously, when a train travelling from Littlehampton to London crashed into a train further ahead that was travelling from Horsham to London, and careened down an embankment into gardens below at Purley in Surrey.

Hockey
NHL
Chicago 3 @ Toronto 3

25 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Without You--Mariah Carey (3rd week at #1)

At the movies
China Moon, directed by John Bailey, and starring Ed Harris and Madeleine Stowe, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
John Candy, 43. Canadian comedian and actor. Mr. Candy, a native of Toronto, was a member of Toronto's Second City sketch comedy troupe who became famous in Canada and the United States as one of the cast of the television comedy programs SCTV (1976-1979) and SCTV Network (1981-1983) before starring in movies such as Stripes (1981); Splash (1984); Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987); Uncle Buck (1989); and Only the Lonely (1991). This blogger first saw him and other Second City members in a CBC television children's program called Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins (1974-1975), which was as bad as its title, and was so bad that it's almost impossible to find any mention of the show in any biographical sketch or obituary of Mr. Candy. Mr. Candy was known for making many cameo appearances and small roles in movies. In The Silent Partner (1978), Mr. Candy was romantically paired with Gail Dahms, a singer best known as the "Turtles girl" for her television commercials for the Canadian confection. His portrayal of eccentric lawyer Dean Andrews in JFK (1991) drew attention to his ability to play roles in "serious" movies, and opened potential opportunities for him. Unfortunately, that potential was never fulfilled, as he died in his sleep in Mexico while filming the comedy Wagons East (1994). Mr. Candy was a lifelong football fan; when Los Angeles conman Bruce McNall bought the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 1991, he brought in Mr. Candy and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as co-owners. Mr. Candy travelled with the team on road trips that season, and did a tremendous amount in helping to promote the team and the CFL as the Argonauts won the Grey Cup that year. Edmonton Eskimos' general manager Hugh Campbell praised Mr. Candy's contribution to the league as an executive. Unfortunately, his role with the team gradually diminished over the next two years as Mr. McNall's interest in the team seemed to decline as he developed financial and legal problems.

Terrorism
Four men were convicted in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on a total of 38 charges related to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City, in which six people had been killed. Prosecutors had charged that Mohammed Salameh had rented the apartment where the chemicals used in the bombing were mixed and had rented the van in which the bomb was transported. Ahmad Ajaj had been accused of bringing bomb-making manuals into the country. Nidal Ayyad was charged with obtaining chemicals used in the bombing. Mahmud Abouhalima had been accused of being present when the chemicals were mixed. Three additional suspects in the plot had not been tried. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and Abdul Rahman Yasin were at large and were thought to have left the United States. Bilal Alkaisi was to be tried at a later date.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator George Mitchell (Democrat--Maine), the Senate Majority Leader, announced that he would not seek re-election in 1994. Mr. Mitchell, 60, had served in the Senate since 1980 and had been Majority Leader since 1989.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the Index of Leading Economic Indicators had risen 0.3% in January, the sixth straight monthly gain. The U.S. Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had fallen to 6.5% in February.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Harry Blackmun, 90. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1970-1994. Justice Blackmun was a lawyer in Minneapolis before serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from 1959-1970. He was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Richard Nixon and was expected to be a conservative voice on the Court, but ended up as the Supreme Court's most liberal voice. Justice Blackmun is best remembered as the author of the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade (1973), which struck down restrictions on abortion throughout the United States. He championed the murder of unborn babies for the rest of his life, which ended just over a year after he fell and broke his hip.

Miłosz Magin, 69. Polish-born musician and composer. Mr. Magin was a popular concert pianist who also composed works for piano, as well as orchestral and vocal works, two symphonies, and a ballet. He died of a heart attack while on tour in Tahiti.

Del Close, 64. U.S. comedian and actor. Mr. Close was a standup and improvisational comedian who performed with various troupes, such as Second City in Chicago and Toronto. He coached many comedians, and had small roles in several movies. Mr. Close died of emphysema, five days before his 65th birthday.

Music
This blogger, with enjoyable female company, attended a concert of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at Winspear Centre for Music, featuring guest piano soloist Dang Thai Son.

Literature
Andrew Morton's book Monica's Story, about the affair between U.S. President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky, was released. Proceeds from the book and television appearances outside the United States were to be used to pay her legal bills.

Crime
The U.S. Marine pilot of a plane that had snapped a ski-lift cable above a valley in Italy in 1998, causing 20 deaths, was acquitted of charges of involuntary homicide and manslaughter. Lawyers for Captain Richard Ashby had argued at his court martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina that poor communications, improper training, faulty safety equipment, and unmarked maps were factors to be considered in his defense. The Italian government and relatives of the victims denounced the verdicts.

10 years ago
2009

Died on this date
Horton Foote, 92. U.S. playwright and screenwriter. Mr. Foote, a native of Wharton, Texas, wrote about the American South. He wrote numerous television programs in the 1950s, including The Trip to Bountiful (1953), which he adapted for the movie version in 1985. Mr. Foote won the Academy Award for his adapted screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and for his original screenplay for Tender Mercies (1983). He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for The Young Man From Atlanta (1995). Mr. Foote died 10 days before his 93rd birthday.

George McAfee, 90. U.S. football player. Mr. McAfee was a halfback with Duke University (1937-1939) before being selected in the 1st round of the 1940 National Football League draft by the Chicago Bears, for whom he played from 1940-1941 and 1945-1950, losing three prime seasons to service in World War II. He helped the Bears win NFL championships in 1940, 1941, and 1946. Mr. McAfee's best season was 1941, when he scored 12 touchdowns--6 rushing, 3 receiving, 1 each by way of kickoff return, punt return, and interception return--in an 11-game season. He finished his career with 21 touchdowns, and was inducted into both the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. Mr. McAfee developed dementia in later years and ended up in an assisted living facility, where he died nine days before his 91st birthday of chemical burns after drinking from a bottle of detergent that hadn't been properly locked up.

Yvon Cormier, 70. Canadian wrestler. Mr. Cormier, a native of Dorchester, New Brunswick, wrestled professionally as "The Beast" in the 1960s and '70s, and was one of four brothers who became professional wrestlers, with another brother working as a referee. Mr. Cormier wrestled in several circuits, including western Canada in the late 1960s, where he held the National Wrestling Alliance Canadian heavyweight title. He died of a heart attack while being treated for lymphoma.

World events
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. He was the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.

Business
U.S. Steel, blaming the global economic slowdown, announced the closure of the Stelco Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, affecting at least 12,000 workers.