February 27, 2016

325 years ago
1691

Born on this date
Edward Cave. English publisher and editor. Mr. Cave founded The Gentleman's Magazine, the first general interest magazine, which was published in London from 1731-1922. He died on January 10, 1754 at the age of 62.

240 years ago
1776

War
Revolutionary forces defeated Loyalist forces in the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina.

130 years ago
1886

Born on this date
Hugo Black. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1937-1971. Justice Black, a Democrat, represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate (1927-1937), serving as Secretary of rhe Senate Democratic Conference (1927-1937) and Chairman of the Senate Education Committee from January 1937 until he was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in August. He had a reputation as a reformer in the Senate, and supported Mr. Roosevelt's New Deal economic program. On the Supreme Court, Justice Black was known as a strict constructionist, believing in the "plain meaning" of the Constitution. He wrote the majority opinion in Korematsu v. United States (1944), which upheld the internment of Japanese Americans. Justice Black generally sided with the liberal wing of the Court, but occasionally differed. He died on September 25, 1971 at the age of 85, eight days after retiring from the Supreme Court and six days after suffering a stroke.

125 years ago
1891

Born on this date
David Sarnoff. Belarusian-born U.S. broadcasting executive. Mr. Sarnoff founded Radio Corporation of America in 1919, and led RCA until his retirement in 1970. He was a major figure in the development of radio and television. Mr. Sarnoff died on December 12, 1971 at the age of 80.

110 years ago
1906

Died on this date
John Peltz, 44. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Peltz was an outfielder with the Indianapolis Hoosiers (1884); Baltimore Orioles (1888); Brooklyn Gladiators (1890); Syracuse Stars (1890); and Toledo Maumees (1890), batting .224 with 4 home runs in 230 games. He played more than 550 games in 9 seasons in the minor leagues (1885-1893).

Hockey
Stanley Cup challenge
Queen's University 7 @ Ottawa Silver Seven 16 (1st game of 2-game, total goals series)

The Silver Seven were the defending champions.

80 years ago
1936

Died on this date
Ivan Pavlov, 86. Russian physiologist. Dr. Pavlov became the first Russian Nobel laureate, winning the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on the physiology of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the subject has been transformed and enlarged." Dr. Pavlov was best known for his pioneering work in classical conditioning.

Joshua W. Alexander, 84. U.S. politician. Mr. Alexander, a Democrat, represented Missouri's 3rd District in the United States House of Representatives from 1907-1919, resigning to take the position of Secretary of Commerce in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson from 1919-1921.

75 years ago
1941

Died on this date
William D. Byron, 45. U.S. politician. Mr. Byron, a Democrat, served in local and state politics in Maryland before representing Maryland's 6th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 until his death as one of the passengers of Eastern Air Lines Flight 21 when the Douglas DC-3 crashed while preparing to land in Atlanta.

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1940 were presented at the Biltmore Bowl at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The winners included: Best Picture--Rebecca; Best Director--John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath); Best Actor--James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story); Best Actress--Ginger Rogers (Kitty Foyle); Best Supporting Actor--Walter Brennan (The Westerner); Best Supporting Actress--Jane Darwell (The Grapes of Wrath).



Politics and government
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill challenged his opponents in the House of Commons, demanding a vote of confidence and receiving unanimous support.

Thomas Miller was installed as Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan.

Defense
U.S. Senator Robert Taft (Republican--Ohio) accused President Franklin D. Roosevelt of "deliberately holding back aid to England in order to put pressure on Congress" to pass Lend-Lease. William Bullitt, former U.S. Ambassador to France and the U.S.S.R., told the Overseas Press Club in New York that a national emergency should be proclaimed, if necessary, to speed up defense preparations.

Diplomacy
A German businessman in Bulgaria filed legal charges against U.S. Minister to Bulgaria George Earle, claiming that Mr. Earle had hit him with a bottle.

World events
Venezuelan police raided a secret Communist radio station near Caracas.

Crime
A U.S. grand jury in Pittsburgh indicted 71 people under the postal law on charges of operating a lottery ring in eight eastern states with a total income of millions of dollars.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Reconstruction Finance Corporation bought $136,330,557 worth of state of Arkansas tax-exempt highway refunding bonds, because the 3½% interest rate demanded by a bank syndicate was considered too high.

Disasters
8 of 16 people aboard Eastern Air Lines Flight 21, a Douglas DC-3 flying from New York to Atlanta via Washington, were killed when the plane crashed while preparing to land at Candler Field in Atlanta. U.S. Representative William D. Byron (Democrat--Maryland) was among the dead, and Eastern Air Lines President Eddie Rickenbacker was seriously injured.

70 years ago
1946

At the movies
Road to Utopia, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, opened in theatres.



Theatre
Truckline Cafe, written by Maxwell Anderson, directed by Harold Clurman, and co-produced by Mr. Clurman and Elia Kazan, opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway in New York City. The cast included Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, and Virginia Gilmore.

War
U.S. authorities in Frankfurt announced the arrest of Friedrich Flick, 62, head of a $400-million armaments combine called the "greatest single power behind the Nazi war machine."

Diplomacy
Spain closed part of the Franco-Spanish border and sent up a contingent of Moorish troops in response to the previous day's decision by the French cabinet to close the border and virtually suspend commercial relations with Spain in protest against the execution by the regime of Generalissimo Francisco Franco of 10 Spanish veterans of the French resistance movement. The United States sent a note to the United Kingdom and France calling for cooperation in ousting Generalissimo Francisco Franco from power in Spain.

Defense
The U.S.S.R. and Mongolia signed a military alliance in Moscow.

Abominations
The University of Texas barred Negroes from its law school.

Energy
Manhattan Project Director U.S. Army General Leslie Groves told the U.S. Senate Atomic Energy Committee that he favoured a federal nuclear control commission of nine members, including several assigned by the military.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate reduced Office of Price Administration funds for the next four months to $927,000, and voted to cut Civilain Production Administration funds to $750,000.

60 years ago
1956

Died on this date
Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, 67. Indian politician. Mr. Mavalankar, popularly known as Dadasaheb, was an advocate of Indian independence and a member of the Indian National Congress party. He had a lengthy career in politics, and was president of the Central Legislative Assembly from 1946-1947, when the Assembly was dissolved upon India's independence. Mr. Mavalankar was named Speaker of the Lok Sabha--the lower house of Parliament--in 1952, and resigned the position after suffering a heart attack in January 1956. A second heart attack proved fatal.

50 years ago
1966

Space
The U.S.S.R. probe Venera 2, launched November 12, 1965, came within 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometres) of Venus. Radio contact with the spacecraft was suspended while the probes instruments were activated, and Soviet scientists were unable to re-establish contact.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Convoy--C.W. McCall (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Moviestar--Harpo (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Moviestar--Harpo (2nd week at #1)

Africana
The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front, declared independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Agriculture
The Canadian Wheat Board sold China 963,989 tonnes of wheat.

30 years ago
1986

Died on this date
Jacques Plante, 57. Canadian hockey goaltender. Mr. Plante played with the Montreal Canadiens (1953-63); New York Rangers (1963-65); St. Louis Blues (1968-70); Toronto Maple Leafs (1970-73); Boston Bruins (1973); and Edmonton Oilers (1974-75). He joined the Canadiens late in the 1952-53 season and helped them win the Stanley Cup that year, and was their regular goaltender during their record run of five straight Stanley Cup championships from 1955-60. Mr. Plante was the first goalie to regularly leave his crease to play the puck, and, starting in November 1959, was the first to regularly wear a mask. He won the Vezina Trophy--then awarded to the team allowing the fewest goals during the regular season--seven times, and won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League's Most Valuable Player in 1961-62. In 837 regular season NHL games, Mr. Plante posted a record of 434-247-146, with a 2.38 goals against average and 82 shutouts. He had a record of 71-37 in 112 playoff games, with a 2.16 GAA and a record 14 shutouts. With the Oilers in the World Hockey Association, Mr. Plante was 15-14-1 with a 3.32 GAA and 1 shutout in 31 games. He came to Edmonton from the Quebec Nordiques, whom he had coached to a 38-36-4 record in 1973-74, missing the playoffs. Mr. Plante was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. He moved to Switzerland in his later years, and died there of stomach cancer.

Politics and government
Jean Chretien, who had been a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in Canada since 1963 and had served in various ministries as a cabinet minister under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, resigned his seat in the House of Commons, saying that he wanted to enter private life and spend more time with his family. His resignation came less than three weeks after a feud with Liberal leader John Turner over the election of a party president in Quebec.

The United States Senate allowed its debates to be televised on a trial basis.

Disasters
The presidential commission investigating the January 28 explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger, which had killed all seven astronauts aboard, continued hearing testimony. Robert Claysher, a vice-president of Rockwell International, manufacturer of the shuttle, testified that he had notified NASA, "Rockwell can not assure that it is safe to fly." Rockwell had been concerned that ice on the launch pad and other structures would fall off during liftoff and damage the shuttle. Arnold Aldrich, director of the shuttle program at the Kennedy Space Center, testified that NASA engineers had concluded that ice would not damage the shuttle on launch. Commission chairman William Rogers said that NASA had abandoned "good judgement and common sense" in dealing with safety problems.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Crazy--Seal (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight’s episode: Buster

War
The first U.S. military convoy entered Kuwait City. Iraq agreed to a cease-fire in the Gulf War, and agreed to almost all of the allies’ terms. U.S. President George Bush announced at 9 P.M. Eastern Standard Time that, "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army defeated. Our military objectives are met," and that the allies would cease fire at midnight EST. Iraq informed the United Nations that it would accept the 12 Security Council resolutions against it, which included payment of reparations. The cease-fire took effect only 100 hours after the beginning of the ground war. Total allied combat fatalities were listed at 141. Estimates of Iraqis killed and injured numbered as high as 100,000, and the allies held 175,000 prisoners. It was the first war that Canada fought in without incurring a single fatality.

Scandal
The U.S. Senate Ethics Committee reported on its investigation of the so-called "Keating Five,"--U.S. Senators Alan Cranston (Democrat--California); Dennis DeConcini (Democrat--Arizona); Donald Riegle (Democrat--Michigan); John Glenn (Democrat--Ohio); and John McCain (Republican--Arizona)--who were suspected of improper activities on behalf of Charles Keating, chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association in California, the 1989 collapse of which had cost the U.S. government $2 billion. The report found "substantial credible evidence" of misconduct by Sen. Cranston. The committee said that Sen. Cranston or his staff members had on at least four occasions contacted regulators on Mr. Keating’s behalf in close juxtaposition to receiving or soliciting money from Mr. Keating. Sen. Cranston faced the possibility of disciplinary action by the Senate, but the committee issued only mild reprimands to the other four Senators.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 2 @ Calgary 4

20 years ago
1996

War
UNITAS rebels in Angola were accused of downing a commercial plane bringing food into the country.

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council lifted sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs.

Popular culture
The multimedia franchise Pokémon was launched with the release of the video games Pocket Monsters: Red and Green.

Hockey
NHL
The Los Angeles Kings traded centre Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues for centre Patrice Tardif; centre Roman Vopat; left wing Craig Johnson; and two draft choices (Peter Hogan and left wing Matt Zultek). Mr. Gretzky, holder of every important leaague scoring record, was in his eighth season with the Kings after 10 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. In 62 games with Los Angeles in 1995-96, Mr. Gretzky scored 81 points on 15 goals and 66 assists. Mr. Tardif scored 3 goals and no assists in 23 games with St. Louis, while Mr. Vopat had 2 goals and 3 assists in 25 games and Mr. Johnson had 8 goals and 7 assists in 49 games with the Blues in 1995-96.