March 18, 2020

275 years ago
1745

Died on this date
Robert Walpole, 78. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1721-1742. Sir Robert, a Whig, is regarded as the first de facto Prime Minister of Britain, and still holds the record, with almost 21 years in office. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1701, and held various offices, including Chancellor of the Exchequer (1715-1717), an office he also held during his entire time as Prime Minister. Sir Robert was able to handle the increasing influence of the House of Commons with the declining powers of the Crown, thus enabling him to stay in office for so long. With his ability to uphold the principles of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and his good working relationship with Kings George I and George II, Sir Robert is regarded as one of Britain's greatest Prime Ministers. His influence declined in later years, and he resigned after losing a non-confidence vote. Sir Robert was then elevated to the House of Lords as the 1st Earl of Orford. He died after a period of declining health.

180 years ago
1840

Born on this date
William Cosmo Monkhouse. U.K. poet and critic. Mr. Monkhouse was a civil servant who published several collections of poetry and a novel, but devoted himself almost exclusively to art criticism from 1879 until his death on July 20, 1901 at the age of 61.

175 years ago
1845

Died on this date
John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, 70. U.S. gardener and missionary. Mr. Chapman was a nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as the northern counties of present-day West Virginia, and was perhaps America's first prominent conservationist. While travelling, he also served as a missionary for the New Church, promoting the New Age doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg.



170 years ago
1850

Business
American Express was founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York.

130 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Henri Decoin. French film director. Mr. Decoin was a national champion swimmer and a sportswriter before directing films in various genres, from His Highness Love (1931) through Nick Carter va tout casser (1964). He died on July 4, 1969 at the age of 79.

Politics and government
Otto von Bismarck, who had served as Germany's only Chancellor since the unification of the German states in 1871, resigned under pressure from Kaiser Wilhelm II. Mr. Bismarck preferred a more cautious foreign policy than that of the Kaiser, who had succeeded his father Friedrich III on the throne in 1888. Mr. Bismarck was succeeded as Chancellor by Leo von Caprivi.

120 years ago
1900

Soccer
AFC Ajax Amsterdam, the biggest and most successful football club in the Netherlands, was founded.

110 years ago
1910

At the movies
Frankenstein, directed by J. Searle Dawley, and starring Augustus Philips, Charles Ogle, and Mary Fuller, opened in theatres. It's believed to be the first cinematic adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel.



90 years ago
1930

Died on this date
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 66. U.S. artist. Mr. Ferris was best known for his series of 78 paintings of American historical scenes titled The Pageant of a Nation.

80 years ago
1940

Diplomacy
German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini met on the Italian side of the Brenner Pass in the Alps, and agreed to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom. German sources reported optimism that the U.S.S.R., Italy, and Germany would form a new alliance.

Wang Ching-wei, leader of the Japanese-sponsored government in central China, assailed the United States for assisting the Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek against Japan.

Politics and government
The United States Senate approved the Hatch bill restricting political activities of state jobholders paid in whole or in part by federal funds.

Economics and finance
The Investment Bankers Association of America passed a resolution calling for the United States Congress to remove from the Securities Exchange Commission unnecessary powers to restrict public investment.

Labour
U.S. Wage-Hour Administrator Philip Fleming permitted an increase in the minimum wage to 33 1/2c per hour for 24,500 workers in the knitwear industry.

Academia
The New York Board of Education voted 11-1 against the appointment of British philosopher Bertrand Russell as a professor of philosophy at City College of New York because of his controversial views on sex and marriage.

75 years ago
1945

War
More than 1,300 American bombers dropped 12,400 high explosives and 650,000 fire bombs on Berlin in the heaviest assault on the city to date, leaving huge fires burning. Soviet forces captured the Pomeranian port of Kolberg, clearing the northern flank along a 175-mile stretch of the Baltic coast from the Polish Corridor to Stettin Bay. U.S. units landed on Basilan, the northernmost island in the Sulu archipelago. Radio reports from Tokyo said that all schools had been ordered closed for one year beginning April 1 to mobilize students for food and munitions production, air raid defense, and other war support activities.

Law
In his annual report to Congress, U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle asked for new legislation classifying conscientious objectors, for new sabotage laws to include conspiracy, and to make aid to escaped prisoners of war a treasonable offense.

The U.S. National Lawyers' Guild petitioned President Franklin D. Roosevelt to cancel the deportation proceedings against labour leader Harry Bridges--an Australian national--saying it would "jeopardize" the "unified functioning of democratic world forces."

New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia announced an immediate extension of the city's curfew from midnight to 1 A.M.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal Canadiens' right wing Maurice "Rocket" Richard became the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season, reaching the milestone in 50 games in a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

70 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Forever And Ever--Perry Como; Russ Morgan and his Orchestra (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Music! Music! Music!--Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy--Red Foley (Jukebox--6th week at #1); The Cry of the Wild Goose--Frankie Laine (Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy--Red Foley (4th week at #1)
--Bing Crosby
2 Music! Music! Music!--Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars
3 Rag Mop--The Ames Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra
--Johnnie Lee Wills and his Boys
4 I Said My Pajamas (And Put on My Pray’rs)--Tony Martin and Fran Warren
5 There’s No Tomorrow--Tony Martin
6 Daddy’s Little Girl--Dick Todd
--The Mills Brothers
7 The Cry of the Wild Goose--Frankie Laine
8 Dear Hearts and Gentle People--Bing Crosby
--Dinah Shore
9 It Isn’t Fair--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
10 Bamboo--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were Copper Canyon by Teresa Brewer and Bobby Wayne (#32); Did Anyone Ever Tell You, Mrs. Murphy? by Perry Como (#33); Farewell Amanda, with versions by Robert Lenn; and Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra (#37); and Beyond the Sunset by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae (#39).

World events
British Governor Sir Charles Arden-Clarke Oday ended a two-month state of emergency in Gold Coast after jailing nationalist leader Kwame Nkrumah and four of his aides for fomenting strikes and riots.

Politics and government
The Belgian government of Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens collapsed over a referendum on the return from exile of King Leopold III. A narrow majority of 57.7% voted in favour of the king being allowed back from Switzerland, but the result highlighted sharp divisions within the country and cabinet. There was no majority for the king in Brussels or Walloon areas, but 72% of Flanders voters supported King Leopold III, who had been in exile since the end of World War II. He had surrendered his country to the Nazis in 1940, and had been accused of cooperating with the Nazis.

Society
U.S. President Harry Truman proclaimed the 17th decennial census beginning April 1, and promised that the data would not be used for tax investigation or for any other government or private purpose.

Energy
Columbia University demonstrated the world's most powerful atom-smasher, a 365-million-volt synchro cyclotron, in Irvington, New York.

Economics and finance
The U.S.S.R. and Egypt concluded a wheat-for-cotton barter agreement.

Labour
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation began an investigation of charges that United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis had used "secret signals" to continue the recent coal strike, in violation of court injunctions.

Basketball
NCAA
NIT @ Madison Square Garden, New York
Final
City College of New York 69 Bradley 61

National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball
Championship
Kansas City 61 East Central Oklahoma 57

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Running Bear--Johnny Preston

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: Long Live Walter Jameson, starring Kevin McCarthy, Edgar Stehli, and Estelle Winwood

Agriculture
The Quebec Legislative Assembly passed a law to provide loans to farmers for the purchase of animals and agricultural implements, as well as for the clearing, drainage and construction of buildings. The law was passed just a few minutes before the end of the legislative session, and was one of the last laws enacted by the Union Nationale government of Premier Antonio Barrette before the provincial election of June 22, 1960.

Boxing
Argentine middleweight champion Eduardo Lausse (74-9-2) scored a technical knockout of Canadian middleweight champion Wilf Greaves (31-13-1) at 1:33 of the 4th round at Madison Square Garden in New York.



50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Wand'rin' Star--Lee Marvin (3rd week at #1)

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Betty Onyuta!

World events
Prince Norodom Sihanouk was deposed as Cambodia's head of state while he was visiting Moscow. The coup d'etat was led by his premier and defense minister, General Lon Nol, who had nearly succeeded in a similar attempt two years earlier. The coup followed a week of anti-Communist protests in which the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese embassies in Pnompenh were sacked.

Labour
More than 6,000 letter carriers in New York City, angry over Congressional sluggishness in granting pay raises, walked off the job and began an eight-day strike, the first large-scale strike in the 195-year history of the United States Postal Service. The postal workers were angry that Congress had raised the postal workers' wages by only 4%, while voting themselves pay raises of 41%. Federal courts issued immediate back-to-work injunctions against the illegal strike--government workers were forbidden to strike by federal law--but the injunctions were defied as the walkout spread across the nation.

40 years ago
1980

Died on this date
Erich Fromm, 79. German-born psychologist and philosopher. Dr. Fromm was a psychoanalytic and social psychologist and humanistic philosopher who was associated with Frankfurt University's Institute of Social Research--popularly known as the "Frankfurt School." He received his doctorate in sociology before training in psychoanalysis in Heidelberg in the 1920s. Dr. Fromm joined the Frankfurt School in 1930, but, as a Jew, was forced to flee Germany after the Nazis took power in 1933, and settled in the United States. In 1946, he became one of the founders of The William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology in New York City. Dr. Fromm was influenced by the Talmud and Hasidic Judaism, but described his belief as "nontheistic mysticism," and believed that the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was a fall in the direction of evolution into conscious human beings, thus turning the message of the Bible on its head. He believed that embracing freedom of will was healthy, whereas escaping freedom was the source of psychological conflicts. Dr. Fromm postulated eight basic needs: transcendence; rootedness; sense of identity; frame of orientation; excitation and stimulation; unity; and effectiveness. He promoted democratic socialism and the early theories of Karl Marx. Dr. Fromm's books included Escape from Freedom (1941) and Man for Himself (1947). He died in Switzerland, five days before his 80th birthday.

Music
The British punk rock group 999, with local opening act P.J. Burton and the Smarties, performed at SUB Theatre on the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Mr. Burton's behaviour elicited a very negative response from the audience, leading to a temporary ban on punk rock acts in the Student Union Building.

Disasters
A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 in northern Russia exploded during a fuelling operation, killing 48 people.

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Don't Make Me Over--Sybil (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (4th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Nothing Compares 2 U--Sinéad O'Connor (3rd week at #1)
2 Get Up! (Before the Night is Over)--Technotronic
3 Bakerman--Laid Back
4 Got to Get--Rob 'n' Raz featuring Leila K.
5 Sit and Wait--Sydney Youngblood
6 Rich in Paradise "Going Back to My Roots"--F.P.I. Project
7 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins
8 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt featuring Aaron Neville
9 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield
10 Touch Me--49ers

Singles entering the chart were Pump ab das Bier by Werner (#16); Dangerous by Roxette (#20); and Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode (#23).

Music
The Juno Awards were presented in Toronto by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the best achievements in recorded music in 1989. The winners included:
Rita McNeil--Best Female Vocalist
Kim Mitchell--Best Male Vocalist
The Family Brown--Best Country Group
George Fox--Best Male Country Vocalist
k.d. lang--Best Female Country Vocalist
Alannah Myles--Best Album and Best Single
Blue Rodeo--Best Canadian Group

Defense
Soviet forces began military maneuvers in Lithuania, which had declared its independence from the U.S.S.R. a week earlier.

Politics and government
In the first democratic East German general election, three conservative parties which had united as the Alliance for Germany, led by Lothar de Maizière, and who favoured rapid reunification of East and West Germany earned 40.8% of the vote and an equivalent percentage of the seats in the Volkshammer (163 of 400). The Social Democratic Party, led by Ibrahim Böhme, was a distant second with 21.9% of the vote (48 seats), while the Party of Democratic Socialism, the successor to the Communist Party, led by Hans Modrow, received 16.4% (66 seats).

Crime
13 works of art valued at $100 million or more were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. In terms of monetary value, the robbery was the largest in the history of art. Three Rembrandt paintings, including his only seascape, were taken. Five works by Degas and one painting each by Vermeer and Manet were also seized. 20 years later, the paintings still haven't been recovered.

Labour
Ending a 32-day lockout of players from spring training camps, major league baseball owners and players agreed to a new labour agreement to extend through the 1993 season.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 8 Quebec 3
Hartford 3 Edmonton 1

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Another Night--Real McCoy (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Think Twice--Celine Dion

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): A Girl Like You--Edwyn Collins (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Zombie--The Cranberries (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Alice, Who the X is Alice--Gompie (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Think Twice--Celine Dion (7th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Take a Bow--Madonna (4th week at #1)
2 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
3 Creep--TLC
4 Baby--Brandy
5 Red Light Special--TLC
6 Big Poppa/Warning--The Notorious B.I.G.
7 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
8 If You Love Me--Brownstone
9 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
10 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men

Singles entering the chart were Until the End of Time by Foreigner (#89); Close to You by Fun Factory (#93); Keep Their Heads Ringin' by Dr. Dre (#96); and Release Yo' Delf by Method Man (#98). Keep Their Heads Ringin' was from the movie Friday (1995).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Take a Bow--Madonna (5th week at #1)
2 Creep--TLC
3 If You Love Me--Brownstone
4 Baby--Brandy
5 Strong Enough--Sheryl Crow
6 Hold My Hand--Hootie & the Blowfish
7 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
8 Candy Rain--Soul for Real
9 I Know--Dionne Farris
10 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men

Singles entering the chart were Run Away by Real McCoy (#44); No More "I Love You's" by Annie Lennox (#62); Keep Their Heads Ringin' by Dr. Dre (#82); Think of You by Usher (#86); and Shy Guy by Diana King (#89).

Swimming
Janet Evans won her 45th and final U.S. national title, the 1,500-metre freestyle in the indoor championships at Minneapolis. Ms. Evans won three gold medals in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and one in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Hockey
NHL
Los Angeles 3 @ Toronto 5

20 years ago
2000

Politics and government
Taiwan's presidential election was won by former Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian, who took 39.3% of the vote. Chen's Democratic Progressive Party had long supported independence for Taiwan, but Mr. Chen said that he would not declare independence from mainland China or conduct a referendum on independence unless China attacked Taiwan. The Nationalist Party, which had ruled Taiwan since Chiang Kai-shek's forces had landed on the island after fleeing Communist forces on the mainland in 1949, fared poorly, as Vice President Lien Chan, the Nationalist Presidential candidate, polled just 23% of the vote. Independent presidential candidate James Soong, a former Nationalist, received 37% of the vote.

10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Fess Parker, 85. U.S. actor. Mr. Parker appeared in several movies, but was best known for playing Davy Crockett in a five-episode miniseries that was part of the television series Disneyland (1954-1955), and for playing the title character in the series Daniel Boone (1964-1970). He operated Fess Parker Winery in California after his acting career, and died of natural causes.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law a $38-billion jobs bill containing a modest mix of tax breaks and spending designed to encourage the private sector to start hiring again.