March 10, 2020

350 years ago
1670

Died on this date
Johann Rudolf Glauber, 66. German-born Dutch alchemist and chemist. Mr. Glauber, who lived in several cities before settling in Amsterdam in 1640, has been described as one of the first chemical engineers; he was the first person to produce concentrated hydrochloric acid in 1625 by combining sulfuric acid and table salt. The same year, he discovered sodium sulfate, which became known as "Glauber's salt." Mr. Glauber wrote about 40 books, but became seriously ill in 1660, probably the result of poisoning from heavy metals used in his work. He was crippled by a fall from a wagon in 1666, and died six days after his 66th birthday.

260 years ago
1760

Diplomacy
Chief Michael Augustine of Richibucto in what is now New Brunswick signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship at Halifax as a renewal of the agreements of 1725 and 1749, re-affirming Mi’kmaq hunting and fishing rights.

190 years ago
1830

Defense
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was created.

175 years ago
1845

Born on this date
Aleksandr III. Czar of Russia, 1881-1894. Aleksandr III acceded to the throne upon the assassination of his father Aleksandr II. He reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father, and governed in an autocratic manner until his death from nephritis on November 1, 1894 at the age of 49.

170 years ago
1850

Born on this date
Spencer Gore. U.K. tennis and cricket player. Mr. Gore played for Surrey County Cricket Club (1874-1875), but was best known for winning the first Gentleman's Singles tennis title at Wimbledon in 1877. He was credited with being the first player to use the technique of volleying. Mr. Gore retired from competitive tennis after losing the Gentleman's Singles final at Wimbledon in 1878, and died on April 19, 1906 at the age of 56.

130 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Albert Ogilvie. Australian politician. Mr. Ogilvie, a member of the Labour Party, represented the Division of Franklin in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1919 until his death. He became Leader of the Opposition in 1929, and Premier of Tasmania from 1934. Mr. Ogilvie's government modernized Tasmania's health care system and embarked on other economic reforms. He was in office at the time of his death on June 10, 1939 at the age of 49, which took place a few hours after he took ill while playing golf.

120 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Pandelis Pouliopoulos. Greek Communist. Mr. Pouliopoulos was the founder of the Trotskyist movement in Greece. Imprisoned by the Greek regime of Ioannis Metaxas in 1938, he was executed on June 6, 1943 at the age of 43, and was one of 100 militants executed by Italian occupation forces in Nezero, near the Greek city of Larissa, in retaliation for the destruction by partisans of the Gorgopotamos bridge. The executions were carried out by the Carabinieri--the Italian military police--after soldiers refused to perform the task.

Violet Brown. Jamaican supercentenarian. Mrs. Brown was born when Jamaica was a British colony, and was the last surviving subject of Queen Victoria. She reported being in perfect health on the occasion of her 117th birthday, but died six months later, on September 15, 2017, after being diagnosed with dehydration and irregular heartbeat a week prior. Her health may have been negatively affected by the death of her son and first child Harland on April 19, 2017 at the age of 97.

110 years ago
1910

Died on this date
Carl Reinecke, 75. German composer and conductor. Mr. Reinecke was a successful concert pianist before conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig from 1860 until the 1890s. He wrote over 300 works, including three symphonies, four piano concertos, and numerous other instrumental works, including the flute Sonata Undine (1882).

Karl Lueger, 65. Austrian politician. Mr. Lueger was first elected to the Abgeordnetenhaus (lower house of the Reichsrat (Imperial Parliament) in 1885, representing the Fifth District of Vienna, and was re-elected in 1891, two years before he founded the Austrian Christian Social Party, which promoted Roman Catholic social values and opposed Jews. Some critics said that Mr. Lueger's anti-Semitism was just a populist attempt to get votes, and that he was tolerant toward Jews, personally, and in office. Mr. Lueger was also elected to the Lower Austria Landtag (Parliament) in 1890, and served as Mayor of Vienna from 1897 until his death from diabetes. He was succeeded as Mayor by Josef Neumayer.

Canadiana
The city of Prince Rupert, British Columbia was incorporated.

100 years ago
1920

Born on this date
Boris Vian. French polymath. Mr. Vian was a musician, writer, painter, and inventor. He was a jazz trumpeter, and influential jazz critic. He wrote and performed his own songs, and in the mid-late 1950s, wrote some of France's first rock and roll songs. Mr. Vian is primarily known today for his novels, in which he used surrealistic plots and invented his own words. He had a public exhibition of his paintings in 1946, and invented several devices, including an elastic wheel, for which he received a patent in 1955. Mr. Vian was afflicted with rheumatic fever at the age of 12, which weakened his heart, possibly leading to his death from a heart attack at the age of 39 on June 23, 1959, while attending a screening of a movie based on his novel J'irai cracher sur vos tombes (I Shall Spit on Your Graves).

Kenneth "Jethro" Burns. U.S. comedian and musician. Mr. Burns, a country and jazz mandolinist, performed with Henry "Homer" Haynes as the country music comedy duo Homer and Jethro from 1936 until Mr. Haynes' death from a heart attack on August 8, 1971, 11 days after his 51st birthday. The duo recorded more than 50 albums, and won a Grammy Award in 1959 for Best Comedy Performance – Musical for The Battle of Kookamonga, a spoof of Johnny Horton's hit The Battle of New Orleans. They were inducted as a duo into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Mr. Burns performed with guitarist Ken Eidson as Homer for some time after Mr. Haynes' death, and also toured and performed with folk musician Steve Goodman. Mr. Burns died of prostate cancer on February 4, 1989 at the age of 68.

80 years ago
1940

On television tonight
In the first televised opera, W2XBS-TV in New York City broadcast members of the Metropolitan Opera Company in scenes from I Pagliacci.

Died on this date
Mikhail Bulgakov, 48. Russian author and playwright. Dr. Bulgakov was a surgeon who abandoned his medical career after a near-fatal attack of typhus in 1919. He then began another career, writing journalism, novels, short stories and plays. Dr. Bulgakov had difficulty getting his writing published or his plays produced, but Soviet dictator Josef Stalin saved him from arrest and execution. Dr. Bulgakov died after a long battle with the inherited kidney disorder nephrosclerosis. His best-known work, the novel The Master and Margarita, which satirized the atheism of the Soviet Union, was written between 1928-1940, but wasn't published until the late 1960s.

War
Diplomatic sources in Washington reported the scuttling of the German steamer Hanover near Puerto Rico, near the American safety zone.

World events
A Hindu-Muslim riot in Calcutta claimed the lives of six people.

Economics and finance
A United States Commerce Department survey indicated that trade with the Netherlands East Indies would increase because of the European war.

Labour
The International Labor Organization announced the postponement of its annual meeting for one year.

75 years ago
1945

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Rum and Coca-Cola--The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra (Best Seller--5th week at #1; Juke Box--5th week at #1); Don't Fence Me In--Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra (Airplay--7th week at #1)

War
The First Canadian Army forced German troops across the Rhine River opposite Wesel, the last Nazi bridgehead west of the Rhine, ending a month-long campaign. Soviet troops captured Lauenburg and Kartuzy on the road to Danzig, and split the enemy lines on the city's outskirts. More than 300 Marianas-based U.S. Army Air Forces Superfortresses dropped 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo in the heaviest raid on the city to date. Casualties were estimated at 125,000, with 40% of Tokyo destroyed and one million residents left homeless. U.S. troops in the Philippines entered Antipolo, the southern anchor of the Japanese defense line east of Manila. Lord Louis Mountbatten completed three days of talks in Chungking, where complete agreement on cooperation of the various commands was reportedly reached.

World events
A coup d'état by Japanese forces in French Indochina removed the French from power, placing Governor General Hean Decoux and other French leaders in "protective custody."

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius returned from Mexico City and said that Americans must share in the responsibility of establishing and maintaining world peace.

Economics and finance
Because of low civilian supplies of meats, sugar, butter, and canned fruits and vegetables, the U.S. Office of Price Administration announced reduced allotments of rationed foods for industrial users.

70 years ago
1950

Died on this date
Robert Anderson Jardine, 72. U.K. clergyman. Rev. Jardine was a Church of England vicar of a parish in Darlington in the north of England who defied Church authorities by performing the wedding between the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII, and twice-divorced Wallis Warfield Simpson in France. Rev. Jardine performed the ceremony "without episcopal licence," and was forced to resign soon after returning to England.

War
The Burmese Army charged that Karen nationalists had massacred hundreds of civilians before retreating in the face of a government drive to regain the Toungoo area near Rangoon.

The Colombian government said that it had "normalized" conditions in Barrancabermeja, an oil field centre where rebellious troops had recently seized control.

Defense
Ho Chi Minh's Vietnamese government announced that all citizens aged 18-45 were subject to conscription into the Viet Minh.

Radio
Radio Daily published a poll of radio editors naming Jack Benny as the "greatest radio personality of the last 25 years."

Medicine
Dr. Albert Schatz of Brooklyn, New York sued Selman Wakeman for half the profits from the sale of streptomyecin, claiming to be a co-discoverer of the drug.

Economics and finance
The Cuban cabinet authorized the Havana cigar industry to produce machine-made cigars for the first time.

Labour
The American Federation of Labor National Farm Labor Union urged U.S. President Harry Truman to terminate an agreement with Mexico permitting U.S. farms to employ Mexican workers.

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Marina--Rocco Granata and the International Quintet

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Poor Me--Adam Faith (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The White Slavers, with guest stars Dick York, Mike Kellin, Nita Talbot, and Betty Field

Education
The Quebec government of Premier Antonio Barrette enacted several laws concerning schools and universities, in particular the Act concerning real estate investments of Quebec universities and the Act granting financial assistance to Quebec universities.

50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Kvällstoppen): Monia--Peter Holm (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Let it Be--The Beatles

Yellowknifiana
The day after the opening of the first Arctic Winter Games, the flags of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska, which had lined Franklin Avenue downtown, had all been stolen. The games continued.

Crime
U.S. Army Captain Ernest Medina, Captain Eugene Kuotoc, Staff Sergeant Kenneth L. Hodges, Sergeant Esquiel Torres, and Private Max Hutson were charged with various crimes in connection with the My Lai massacre in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968. The charges ranged from premeditated murder and rape to the "maiming" of a suspect during questioning. Captain Medina was commander of the unit to which most of the accused men belonged.

40 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Crazy Little Thing Called Love--Queen (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Okuru Kotoba--Kaientai

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Sun of Jamaica--Goombay Dance Band (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Daylight Serenade

Died on this date
Herman Tarnower, 69. U.S. physician and author. Dr. Tarnower, author of The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet (1978), was shot and killed at his home in Purchase, New York, eight days before his 70th birthday. He was found unconscious on the floor of his bedroom bleeding profusely from three bullet wounds, and was pronounced dead an hour later at a hospital. Jean Harris, a long-time friend of Dr. Tarnower’s and headmistress of Madeira School in Virginia, was seen driving away from Dr. Tarnower’s house as police arrived to investigate a report of a disturbance. She turned over a .32-caliber revolver and later admitted to shooting the doctor.

Diplomacy
Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini fully backed the militants holding the hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and placed stringent conditions on any visits to the captives by the 5-man United Nations commission hearing grievances against the deposed shah. As a result, the panel left the country and suspended issuing a report of its investigation.

Politics and government
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe appointed political rival Joshua Nkomo as Minister of Home Affairs.

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Get Up! (Before the Night is Over--Technotronic (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Les Valses de Vienne--François Feldman (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (CIN): Dub Be Good to Me--Beats International (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (4th week at #1)
2 Daar Gaat Ze--Clouseau
3 Sacrifice--Elton John
4 Opposites Attract--Paula Abdul
5 I Wish it Would Rain Down--Phil Collins
6 King Kong Five--Mano Negra
7 Live Together (New Version)--Lisa Stansfield
8 Fools Gold--The Stone Roses
9 Look Away--Chicago
10 Here I Am (Come and Take Me)--UB40

Singles entering the chart were Jij Daar! by Petra & Co. (#28); Touch Me--Sexual Version by the 49ers (#30); Put Your Hands Together by D Mob (#31); All My Life by Linda Ronstadt featuring Aaron Neville (#32); Dangerous by Roxette (#34); and Arabeat by Bingo! featuring: Serge Gobin (#37).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Escapade--Janet Jackson (2nd week at #1)
2 Dangerous--Roxette
3 Roam--The B-52s
4 Black Velvet--Alannah Myles
5 Price of Love--Bad English
6 Opposites Attract--Paula Abdul (Duet with the Wild Pair)
7 No More Lies--Michel'le
8 Here We Are--Gloria Estefan
9 I Go to Extremes--Billy Joel
10 Love Will Lead You Back--Taylor Dayne

Singles entering the chart were The Secret Garden by Quincy Jones (#73); Time After Time by Timmy T. (#80); Room at the Top by Adam Ant (#84); The Way it Is by Tesla (#86); Bad Love by Eric Clapton (#88); Have a Heart by Bonnie Raitt (#92); Hide and Seek by Pajama Party (#93); Expression by Salt-N-Pepa (#95); and Advice for the Young at Heart by Tears for Fears (#96).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Escapade--Janet Jackson
2 Dangerous--Roxette
3 Opposites Attract--Paula Abdul (Duet with the Wild Pair)
4 All or Nothing--Milli Vanilli
5 We Can't Go Wrong--Cover Girls
6 Roam--The B-52's
7 Price of Love--Bad English
8 Tell Me Why--Expose
9 Here We Are--Gloria Estefan
10 C'mon and Get My Love--D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis

Singles entering the chart were Have a Heart by Bonnie Raitt (#59); Room at the Top by Adam Ant (#64); I Come Off by Young M.C. (#69); Lambada by Kaoma (#73); A Face in the Crowd by Tom Petty (#76); Got to Have Your Love by Mantronix (featuring Wondress) (#82); Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin' by Inner City (#87); and Imagination by Xymox (#90).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Opposites Attract--Paula Abdul (Duet with the Wild Pair) (2nd week at #1)
2 Dangerous--Roxette
3 Escapade--Janet Jackson
4 I Wish it Would Rain Down--Phil Collins
5 I Go to Extremes--Billy Joel
6 Roam--The B-52's
7 Here We Are--Gloria Estefan
8 Too Late to Say Goodbye--Richard Marx
9 No Myth--Michael Penn
10 All or Nothing--Milli Vanilli

Singles entering the chart were Carry On by the Box (#69); Don't Wanna Fall in Love by Jane Child (#73); A Little Love by Corey Hart (#76); No More Lies by Michel'le (#80); Keep it in Line by Danny Brooks (#83); Just a Friend by Biz Markie (#85); Save this House by Spirit of the West (#87); (My My) Baby's Gonna Cry by Eurythmics (#89); We Almost Got it Together by Tanita Tikaram (#91); Everything You Touch by Smokey Robinson (#93); and I'm Your Man by Joe Cocker (#95).

Died on this date
Pat McDonald, 68. Australian actress. Miss McDonald appeared in radio, stage, screen, and television, and was best known as a longtime cast member of the television soap operas Number 96 (1972-1977) and Sons and Daughters (1981-1987). She died of pancreatic cancer.

World events
Farzad Bazoft, a reporter with the British newspaper The Observer, was sentenced to death by a court in Baghdad after being convicted of espionage on behalf of Israel while working on a story about an explosion at a weapons complex 30 miles (48 kilometres) south of the Iraqi capital. Daphne Parish, a British nurse who was said to have driven Mr. Bazoft to the site, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Politics and government
Haitian President Prosper Avril was forced into exile by street protests, 18 months after seizing power in a coup. Military leader Hérard Abraham then served as acting President for three days before relinquishing the presidency to Jean Rénald Clérismé.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 2 @ Toronto 3

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Self Esteem--The Offspring (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Think Twice--Celine Dion (8th week at #1)

Politics and government
U.S. Air Force General (retired) Michael Carns withdrew as President Bill Clinton's nominee for Director of Central Intelligence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in its background check on Mr. Carns, had turned up potential violations of labour and immigration law, involving a young family friend whom Mr. Carns had arranged to bring to America from the Philippines. Mr. Carns denounced the allegations by the man, Elbino Runas, as outrageous. Mr. Clinton nominated Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutch for the intelligence post.

Diplomacy
British Prime Minister John Major urged U.S. President Bill Clinton to insist that when he met with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, that the Irish Republican Army, of which Sinn Fein was the political wing, disarm as a step toward negotiations with the United Kingdom over the future of Northern Ireland. The U.S. administration had announced the previous day that Mr. Adams would be permitted an unlimited number of visits to the U.S. over the next three months, and would be allowed to raise money.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate in February was 5.4%, equalling the four-year low reported for December 1994.

10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Corey Haim, 38. Canadian-born actor. Mr. Haim, a native of Toronto, began acting as a child, and achieved success in Hollywood as a teenager in movies such as Lucas (1986); The Lost Boys (1987); and License to Drive (1988). He and fellow teenage actor Corey Feldman became friends, appearing together in films, while they both developed substance abuse problems, which led to a serious decline in Mr. Haim's career until the mid-2000s. He and Mr. Feldman co-starred in the reality television program The Two Coreys (2007-2008), which was cancelled when Mr. Feldman refused to work with Mr. Haim because of the latter's drug use. Mr. Haim became addicted to prescription drugs, and died of pneumonia and other conditions brought on by excessive drug use. Mr. Feldman later claimed that he and Mr. Haim had been homosexually abused in their younger days in Hollywood, and claimed that such abuse was a common practice in the industry.