February 18, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Paul Jelley and Ezra Levant!

325 years ago
1695

Died on this date
William Phips, 44. American politician. Sir William, a native of Maine, moved to Boston in 1673, and was a treasure hunter in the 1680s, recovering a large treasure from a sunken Spanish galleon off the island of Hispaniola in 1686. He led successful naval campaigns against New France in 1690, and was appointed Governor of Massachusetts Bay in 1692. Sir William signed the order creating the court that heard the Salem witch trials in 1692, but became dissatisfied, and disbanded the court after five months. He was recalled to London in 1694 to face charges of conspiring to withhold customs monies, but fell ill with a fever and died 16 days after his 44th birthday, before the charges could be heard.

220 years ago
1800

Law
The Supreme Court of New Brunswick announced a split decision on the legality of slavery. A Negro woman, Nancy Morton, had challenged her enslavement to Caleb Jones, a York County Loyalist.

160 years ago
1860

Born on this date
Anders Zorn. Swedish artist. Mr. Zorn was a painter, sculptor, and etcher who was best known for his portraits. His subjects included King Oscar II of Sweden and U.S. Presidents Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. Mr. Zorn died from abdominal blood poisoning on August 22, 1920 at the age of 60.

130 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Edward Arnold. U.S. actor. Mr. Arnold, born Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, was a beefy character actor who was known for playing authority figures, especially villainous ones. His movies included Come and Get It (1936); The Toast of New York (1937); You Can't Take it with You (1938); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); Meet John Doe (1941); and The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941). Mr. Arnold died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 66 on April 26, 1956.

Adolphe Menjou. U.S. actor. Mr. Menjou was known for his moustache and natty attire in such movies as The Sheik (1921); A Woman of Paris (1923); The Front Page (1931); A Star is Born (1937); The Hucksters (1947); and State of the Union (1948). His opposition to Communism in the late 1940s and 1950s led to a decline in acting opportunities. Mr. Menjou died of hepatitis on October 29, 1963 at the age of 73.

125 years ago
1895

Born on this date
George Gipp. U.S. football player. Mr. Gipp, popularly known as "the Gipper," was a quarterback, halfback, and punter with the University of Notre Dame (1917-1920), earning All-American honours in 1920 and setting team records that still stand. He died from a streptococcal throat infection and pneumonia at the age of 25 on December 14, 1920, three weeks after his last game. When Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne visited him on his deathbed, Mr. Gipp reportedly told him that if the team was ever in a desperate situation that he should tell the team to "win just one for the Gipper." Ronald Reagan played Mr. Gipp in the movie Knute Rockne, All American (1940). Mr. Gipp was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1951.

Pete Henderson. Canadian auto racing driver. Mr. Henderson, a native of Arran, Ontario, began racing in 1915, and participated in the Indianapolis 500 in 1916 and 1920, finishing 6th and 10th, respectively. He died in Los Angeles on June 19, 1940 at the age of 45.

Semyon Timoshenko. U.S.S.R. military officer. Marshal of the Soviet Union Timoshenko joined the Red Army in 1918 and the Bolshevik Party in 1919. He achieved success in the Winter War against Finland (1939-1940), which led to his appointment as People's Commissar for Defense of the Soviet Union, holding the office from May 7, 1940-July 19, 1941. Marshal Timoshenko held various commands for the remainder of World War II, and various offices through the 1960s. He died on March 31, 1970 at the age of 75.

120 years ago
1900

War
British and Canadian forces suffered their worst single-day loss of life on Bloody Sunday, the first day of the Battle of Paardeberg in South Africa. The Imperial forces suffered 1,100 casualties, with 280 dead; Canadian casualties were 18 dead and 60 wounded. The Boer forces suffered 100 dead.

110 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr. U.K. aviator. Mr. de Havilland, the son of the founder of de Havilland Aircraft Company, was the company's chief test pilot. He was killed on September 27, 1946 at the age of 36 while carrying out high speed tests in the de Havilland DH.108 TG306, which broke up over the Thames River estuary.

Died on this date
Lucy Stanton, 78. U.S. social activist. Miss Stanton, born free in Ohio, completed a Ladies Literary Course from Oberlin College in 1850, becoming the first Negro woman in the United States to complete a four-year course of a study at a college or university. She worked for the abolition of slavery, and aided free slaves.

100 years ago
1920

Born on this date
Bill Cullen. U.S. radio and television host and panelist. Mr. Cullen was known as the "Dean of Game Show Hosts," hosting 23 shows from 1945-1986. He was perhaps best known as host of The Price is Right (1956-1966), and as a panelist on To Tell the Truth (1952-1967) and panelist and occasional host on I've Got a Secret. Mr. Cullen was a smoker for most of his life, and died of lung cancer on July 7, 1990 at the age of 70.

90 years ago
1930

Space
Clyde Tombaugh, a 23-year-old astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, discovered a possible moving object on photographic plates taken on January 23 and 29. A lesser-quality photograph from January 21 helped to confirm the movement. What Mr. Tombaugh had discovered was a body that came to be known as Pluto. Pluto was regarded as the ninth planet in the solar system, but was demoted to the status of dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006. It is now officially designated as 134340 Pluto.

Aviation
Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft, and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft, as part of the International Air Exposition in St. Louis.

80 years ago
1940

Died on this date
Rudy Widoeft, 47. U.S. musician. Mr. Widoeft was a jazz saxophonist who was popular in the 1910s and '20s, and made over 300 recordings. His ragtime-influenced style waned in popularity in the 1930s, and he almost completely stopped performing in the mid-1930s. Mr. Widoeft was a heavy drinker, and died from cirrhosis of the liver.

War
Shanghai authorities reported the landing of Japanese forces at Haiteng and on the Luchow Peninsula in southern China.

Politics and government
A Gallup Poll reported that Democratic Party voters favoured President Franklin D. Roosevelt over Vice President John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner by a 7-1 margin as the party's nominee for President of the United States in the November 1940 election.

Economics and finance
The British Treasury took control of 60 American stocks held by British subjects.

75 years ago
1945

Died on this date
Ivan Chernyakhovsky, 37. U.S.S.R. military officer. General of the Army Chernyakhovsky was the youngest Soviet general ever to reach that rank. He led the 3rd Belorussian Front against Nazi forces in 1944 in Belarus and on the border of East Prussia. Gen. Chernyakhovsky launched the Soviet East Prussian Offensive in 1945 as part of the drive on Berlin, but was killed by shell fragments from artillery fire while inspecting preparations for an offensive.

War
U.S. forces in Germany expanded their bridgehead over the Our and Sauer Rivers north of Echternach to 5 miles. Soviet forces moved to within 16 miles east of Dresden and completed mop-up operations in Pomerania and Brandenburg. Japanese forces recaptured the Chinese town of Pingshek, regaining control of the Canton-Hankow railway. The Soviet newspaper Pravda accused China of not giving its full effort to the war.

70 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): "A" You're Adorable--Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters; Tony Pastor (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy--Red Foley (Best Seller--1st week at #1; Jukebox--2nd week at #1); Rag Mop--The Ames Brothers (Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Dear Hearts and Gentle People--Bing Crosby
--Dinah Shore
2 I Can Dream, Can't I--The Andrews Sisters
3 Johnson Rag--Jack Teter Trio
--Jimmy Dorsey and his Original "Dorseyland" Jazz band
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
4 Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy--Red Foley
5 Rag Mop--The Ames Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra
--Johnnie Lee Wills and his Boys
6 There's No Tomorrow--Tony Martin
7 The Old Master Painter--Dick Haymes
--Richard Hayes
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
8 A Dreamer's Holiday--Perry Como
--Buddy Clark and the Girl Friends
9 I Said My Pajamas ( And Put on My Pray'rs)--Tony Martin and Fran Warren
10 Music! Music! Music!--Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars

Singles entering the chart were The Cry of the Wild Goose by Frankie Laine (#23) and Broken Down Merry-Go-Round by Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely (#37).

Energy
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced the completion of an "atomic apothecary" at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, stocking radioisitopes for medical research.

Economics and finance
Yugoslavian Premier Marshal Josip Broz Tito charged in a speech that the United States was blocking new international loans to Yugoslavia with the aim of forcing him into the Western bloc. He said that his country would not "beg" the U.S.A. for loans more than it would 'bow to the Soviets."

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Er du glad i meg ennå, Karl Johan?--Nora Brockstedt (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Big Squeeze, with guest stars John Hoyt, Dodie Heath, and Dan O'Herlihy

Olympics
U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon officially declared the Winter Olympic Games open in Squaw Valley, California.





50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)--Edison Lighthouse (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
Then Came Bronson, starring Michael Parks, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Mountain

Crime
After five days of deliberation, a U.S. federal grand jury found the defendants in the "Chicago Seven" trial not guilty of conspiring to incite riots during the Democratic National Convention in 1968, but convicted five of the seven of crossing state lines with intent to incite riots. University professors John Froines and Lee Weiner, both 30, were acquitted of both counts against them, but guilty verdicts on the intent-to-incite-riots charge were returned against David Dellinger, 53, and Rennie Davis, 29, leaders of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam; Abbie Hoffman, 32, and Jerry Rubin, 31, Youth International Party leaders; and Tom Hayden, 29, a co-organizer of Students for a Democratic Society. U.S. District Court Judge Julius Hoffman denied bail to the defendants and returned them to Cook County jail to await appeal on the contempt charges that he had convicted them of several days earlier.

Diplomacy
In a talk launching what the United Nations General Assembly had resolved should be a "disarmament decade," UN Secretary-General U Thant, at a special session of the Geneva disarmament conference, urged the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. to discuss a moratorium on further testing and deployment of nuclear weapons during their resumption of strategic arms limitation talks in Vienna on April 16.

Politics and government
In a document transmitted to Congress, U.S. President Richard Nixon outlined the fundamentals of his administration’s foreign policy. The document, which was expected to become an annual State of the World message, committed the United States to continue its major role in world affairs, but with America’s allies carrying more of the burden.

Protest
The United States embassy in Manila was attacked by rampaging youths hurling stones and flaming objects, and shouting "Imperialist pigs!" Most of the windows and furniture on the embassy’s first floor were broken before the U.S. Marine security force, lobbing tear-gas bombs, turned back the demonstrators. Then the Manila Hilton Hotel, other buildings, cars, and passersby were attacked.

Negro protesters from five colleges in the area left after a 14-hour occupation of four Amherst College buildings to spotlight their dissatisfaction with the black studies program, admissions, and financial aid policies.

Education
The United States Senate voted 56-36 to approve an amendment sponsored by John Stennis (Democrat--Mississippi) calling for a cutoff of federal funds to all school districts that failed to integrate, even if the racial imbalance was a product of residential patterns. The real intention of the move, which the administration of President Richard Nixon indicated that it favoured, was seen as a lessening of desegregation pressures on the South rather than their intensification elsewhere.

Economics and finance
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced that his government would adhere to a price restriction policy in order to combat inflation. In addition, he asked Crown corporations to join the voluntary restriction program.

40 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Please Don't Go--KC & the Sunshine Band (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Daitokai--Crystal King (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Man Gave Names to All the Animals--Bob Dylan (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

Abominations
The Liberal Party, under Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was restored to power with a majority government in the Canadian federal election. The Liberals took 147 of 282 seats in the House of Commons; the Progressive Conservatives, who had held power under Prime Minister Joe Clark for just nine months after forming a minority government after the 1979 election, dropped from 136 seats to 103. The New Democratic Party increased from 27 seats to 32, while Social Credit lost all 5 of its seats. Voter turnout topped 70%. The election was called after Finance Minister John Crosbie’s budget, which included an 18c per gallon excise tax on gasoline, was defeated in the House of Commons on December 13, 1979. The results didn’t bode well for national unity, since the Liberals took just one seat west of Manitoba (Art Phillips in Vancouver). For Social Credit, whose MPs had abstained from voting instead of voting against a budget that didn’t satisfy them, the result meant oblivion--never again did they come close to electing anyone to the House of Commons. This was also the first election in which this blogger voted. I voted for incumbent MP Doug Roche because I didn’t want to vote Liberal or NDP. Mr. Roche was, and is, about as left-wing and unconservative as you can get, but in those days I was willing to settle for voting for the lesser of evils. I’ve since changed my mind; if I don’t like any of the parties or candidates (and that’s been the case in the last couple of federal elections), I won’t vote for any of them.

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Welcome to Our World--John Grenell (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Bakerman--Laid Back
2 Sit and Wait--Sydney Youngblood
3 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins
4 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield
5 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
6 Got to Get--Rob 'n' Raz featuring Leila K.
7 Leave a Light On--Belinda Carlisle
8 Get a Life--Soul II Soul
9 Ride on Time--Black Box
10 Rich in Paradise "Going Back to My Roots"--F.P.I. Project

Singles entering the chart were Got to Get; Scandalous! by Prince (#27); Get Up! (Before the Night is Over) by Technotronic (#28); and La Luna by Belinda Carlisle (#29).

Died on this date
Joe Erskine, 56. U.K. boxer. Mr. Erskine, a native of Wales, was a heavyweight who compiled a record of 45-8-1 in a professional career from 1954-1964. He was British (1956-1958) and British Empire (1957-1958) heavyweight champion, recording two wins each against Henry Cooper and Dick Richardson, and also beating Joe Bygraves, Willie Pastrano, George Chuvalo, and Jack Bodell. Mr. Erskine died 23 days after his 56th birthday.

Richard de Zoysa, 31. Sri Lankan journalist. Mr. de Zoysa was fluent in English and was a Sri Lanka correspondent for Interpre News Service. He had signed a contract to run the Interpre News Service in Lisbon when he as abducted from his home and murdered by an armed squad, apparently in reaction to his reporting on Sri Lankan government death squads. The government was later blamed for Mr. de Zoysa's murder.

Politics and government
The Liberal Democratic Party won a decisive victory in elections to the House of Representatives, lower house of the Diet in Japan. The LDs’ long rule had appeared threatened by the Recruit Company scandal, in which the conglomerate had given millions of dollars (actually yen, I suppose) in cash and stocks to leading politicians. However, the LDP won 275 of 512 seats, losing 25 seats and holding its majority in the House. The Socialist Party, the principal opposition, gained 51 seats for a total of 136, but mostly at the expense of smaller parties. The results appeared to strengthen the position of Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu.

Diplomacy
Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel began a trip to North American with a visit to Ottawa, where he met with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Another Night--Real McCoy (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Stay Another Day--East 17 (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): A Girl Like You--Edwyn Collins

#1 single in France (SNEP): Short Dick Man--Fingers featuring Gillette (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): No Limit--Irene Moors & de Smurfen (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Think Twice--Celine Dion (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Creep--TLC (4th week at #1)
2 Take a Bow--Madonna
3 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
4 Another Night--Real McCoy
5 Baby--Brandy
6 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
7 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
8 Always--Bon Jovi
9 Sukiyaki--4 P.M.
10 Hold My Hand--Hootie & the Blowfish

Singles entering the chart were Like the Way I Do/If I Wanted To by Melissa Etheridge (#25); If You Think You're Lonely Now by K-Ci Hailey (#52); She's a River by Simple Minds (#67); You Got It by Bonnie Raitt (#74); Can I Stay with You by Karyn White (#81); I Believe by Blessid Union of Souls (#85); How Did I Get by Without You? by John Waite (#93); and Think of You by Usher (#94). You Got It was from the movie Boys on the Side (1995).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Take a Bow--Madonna
2 Creep--TLC
3 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
4 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
5 Hold My Hand--Hootie & the Blowfish
6 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
7 Every Day of the Week--Jade
8 Sukiyaki--4 P.M.
9 I Know--Dionne Farris
10 Another Night--Real McCoy

Singles entering the chart were This Lil' Game We Play by Subway featuring 702 (#61); Sour Times (Nobody Loves Me) by Portishead (#65); Tour by Capleton (#69); Mad Izm by Channel Live (#72); I Believe by Blessid Union of Souls (#79); Keep Givin' Me Your Love by Ce Ce Peniston (#81); and She's a River by Simple Minds (#88).

Politics and government
The executive board of the U.S. civil rights organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) voted 30-29 to elect Myrlie Evers, widow of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, to replace Benjamin Chavis as chairman. Mrs. Evers, whose husband had been gunned down outside the couple's Jackson, Mississippi home in 1963 by white racist Byron De La Beckwith, had been commissioner of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works and an executive at Atlantic Richfield and an advertising firm. Mr. Chavis had been fired in 1994 amidst allegations of mismanagement, as the NAACP faced a debt of $4 million.

20 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Sheldon Turcott, 63 or 64. Canadian newscaster. Mr. Turcott, a native of Toronto, anchored CBC-TV’s Midday from 1985-1995, and also produced The National.

Politics and government
In first-round elections in Iran, moderate reformers won control of the Majlis (parliament) from the religious conservatives who had dominated the body. The results were a victory for Iran’s reform-minded President, Mohammad Khatami. Conservatives had previously held 120 seats, the reformers 80, and independents 70. Returns showed that in the new body the moderates would have 141 seats, the conservatives 44, and independents 10. Runoff elections were to be held in April in districts where no candidate had received 25% of the vote.

10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Jack Babcock, 109. Canadian-born soldier. Mr. Babcock, a native of Frontenac County, Ontario, attempted to join the Canadian Army during World War I at the age of 15, but was turned down and sent to work in Halifax until he was placed in the Young Soldiers Battalion in August 1917. He was then transferred to the United Kingdom, where he continued his training until the end of the war. Although he never saw combat, Acting Lance Corporal Babcock was regarded as a veteran of the war. He returned to Canada in 1919, but moved to the United States in 1921 and became an electrician before joining the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of sergeant. Sgt. Babcock spent World War II in the United States, and became an American citizen in 1946. He settled in Spokane, Washington, where he died. Mr. Babcock was the last surviving Canadian veteran of World War I, and regained his Canadian citizenship in 2008.

World events
In a coup d'état in Niger, military rebels attacked the presidential palace in Niamey and replaced President Mamadou Tandja with a ruling junta, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy.

Scandal
WikiLeaks published the first of hundreds of thousands of classified documents disclosed by the soldier now known as Chelsea Manning.