February 11, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Maria Nastas!

370 years ago
1650

Died on this date
René Descartes, 53. French mathematician and philosopher. Mr. Descartes was a rationalist who was famous for his principle "cogito er sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). He emphasized the idea that mind and body are distinct but closely joined. Mr. Descartes is credited as the father of analytical geometry, used in the discovery of infinitesimal calculus and analysis. He died of either pneumonia or pleurisy in Stockholm, where he had gone to give lessons to Queen Christina.

230 years ago
1790

Society
The Religious Society of Friends, better known as Quakers, petitioned the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery.

225 years ago
1795

Died on this date
Carl Michael Bellman, 55. Swedish songwriter. Mr. Bellman was best known for two collections of poems set to music: Fredmans epistlar (Fredman's Epistles) (1790) and Fredmans sånger (Fredman's Songs) (1791). Mr. Bellman was a heavy drinker who suffered from gout and tuberculosis; he died in his sleep, a week after his 55th birthday.

220 years ago
1800

Born on this date
Henry Fox Talbot. U.K. inventor and scientist. Mr. Talbot was a polymath whose interests included integral calculus, optics, history, chemistry, and etymology. He was best known as a pioneer in photography; he invented the salted paper and calotype processes, and his work in the 1840s on photomechanical reproduction led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to photogravure. Mr. Talbot died on September 17, 1877 at the age of 77.

190 years ago
1830

Born on this date
Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff. German musician, composer, and conductor. Mr. Bronsart von Schellendorff was a classical pianist who studied under Franz Liszt. He conducted in Leipzig and Berlin before serving as general manager of the Royal Theatre in Hanover (1867-1887). Mr. Bronsart von Schellendorf's compositions included two symphonies and a piano concerto. He died on November 3, 1913 at the age of 83.

180 years ago
1840

Opera
La fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment) received its premiere performance by the Paris Opéra-Comique at the Salle de la Bourse in Paris.

160 years ago
1860

Born on this date
Rachilde. French authoress and playwright. Rachilde, whose real name was a symbolist novelist, playwright, and essayist who was the most prominent woman associated with the Decadent Movement in late 19th-century France. Her works included the novels Monsieur Vénus (1884); La Marquise de Sade (1887); and La Jongleuse (1900). Rachilde died on April 4, 1953 at the age of 93.

140 years ago
1880

Politics and government
The Honourable Robert Duncan Wilmot, of Lincoln, was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick.

125 years ago
1895

Born on this date
Clutha Mackenzie. N.Z. politician. Sir Clutha, the son of Prime Minister Thomas Mackenzie, fought in World War I, and was blinded at Gallipoli in 1915. As a member of the Reform Party, he represented Auckland East in the New Zealand Parliament (1921-1922), and spent the rest of his life in activities and organizations for the blind. Sir Clutha died on March 30, 1966 at the age of 71.

110 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Andy O'Brien. Canadian journalist. Mr. O'Brien, a native of Renfrew, Ontario, and the son of a trainer of hockey and baseball teams, was a sportswriter with the Montreal Standard, Montreal Star, and Weekend magazine, and wrote several books, in a career spanning more than 40 years. He covered 12 Olympic Games, 6 Commonwealth Games, 45 Stanley Cups, and 31 Grey Cups. Mr. O'Brien was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985. He died in Montreal, after a long illness, on April 19, 1987 at the age of 77.

100 years ago
1920

Born on this date
Farouk. King of Egypt and Sudan, 1936-1952. Farouk succeeded his father Fuad I in the Muhammad Ali dynasty. King Farouk became known for his ostentatious lifestyle, which eventually made him unpopular. He was deposed in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and lived the rest of his life in exile in Monaco and Italy. Farouk was succeeded as king by his infant son Fuad II, but the monarchy was abolished in 1953. Farouk, who grew to a weight of about 300 pounds, died of a heart attack at the Ile de France restaurant in Rome on March 18, 1965 at the age of 45, collapsing at his dinner table after a typically heavy meal.



Daniel F. Galouye. U.S. author. Mr. Galouye was a science fiction writer who often used the pseudonym Louis G. Daniels. He wrote five novels and numerous novelettes and short stories from the 1950s through the 1970s. He served in the U.S. Navy as a test pilot during World War II, and suffered injuries that eventually led to declining health and his death at the age of 56 on September 7, 1976.

Billy Halop. U.S. actor. Mr. Halop played Tommy in the Dead End Kids series of movies in the late 1930s and early '40s. Drinking and marital problems hurt his career, but he made something of a comeback in the 1970s, playing Bert Munson in 10 episodes of the television comedy series All in the Family (1971-1976). Mr. Halop died of a heart attack on November 9, 1976 at the age of 56.

80 years ago
1940

Died on this date
John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, 63. U.K. author and Governor General of Canada, 1935-1940. Mr. Buchan was known for novels such as Prester John (1910); The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915); and Greenmantle (1916). A Scottish nationalist, he represented the Unionist party in the House of Commons before being named to the House of Lords Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield prior to his appointment as Governor General of Canada. Lord Tweedsmuir became the first Governor General to visit the Arctic, and promoted the Canadian tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He died five days after falling while suffering a stroke and suffering a severe head injury.

War
The Haiphong-Yunan railroad in China was closed for several months because of damage by Japanese bombing.

Politics and government
Dr. Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, candidate of the Partido Republicano Nacional (National Republican Party) (PRN) was elected President of Costa Rica, receiving 84.5% of the vote against two opponents. In legislative elections, PRN candidates received 85% of the votes for 45 seats in the Constitutional Congress.

U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt upheld the right of the Communist-dominated American Youth Congress not to condemn the U.S.S.R. for its invasion of Finland.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Temporary National Economic Committee opened hearings on supposed monopolies in the insurance industry.

The United States Commerce Department reported that nine states maintained restrictive trade barriers against each other.

75 years ago
1945

Died on this date
Al Dubin, 53. Swiss-born U.S. songwriter. Mr. Dubin, with Joe Burke, co-wrote Tiptoe Through the Tulips with Me, one of the most popular songs of 1929. He then teamed up with Harry Warren, and the two wrote such songs as Shuffle Off to Buffalo; We're in the Money; I Only Have Eyes for You; and Lullaby of Broadway. Mr. Dubin was a heavy drinker, and died in hospital three days after collapsing on the street after overdosing on a prescription of barbiturates.

Diplomacy
The Yalta Conference of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin concluded with a secret agreement on the future of Germany and Poland, and an agreement concerning the Soviet Union's entry into the war in the Pacific.

War
British troops entered Cleve, Germany on the northern end of the Siegfried Line. After a four-say offensive, Soviet troops in Germany moved 37 miles west of the Oder River along a 100-mile front, resulting in the virtual encirclement of Breslau.

Politics and government
A new government was formed in Belgium, with Socialist Achille van Acker as Prime Minister, and with participation by all four political parties.

Society
Publication of the newspaper The Flat Hat at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia was suspended because of an editorial by Marily Kaemmerle which suggested that the time would come for interracial education, social contacts, and marriage.

Economics and finance
The American Federation of Labor made public a housing program designed to provide 19 million post-war jobs through construction of 15 million homes in the 10 years after the end of World War II.

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 (2nd week at #1)

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

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Can Dream, Can't I?--The Andrews Sisters (6th week at #1)
2 Dear Hearts and Gentle People--Bing Crosby
--Dinah Shore
3 The Old Master Painter--Dick Haymes
--Richard Hayes
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
4 Johnson Rag--Jack Teter Trio
--Jimmy Dorsey and his Original "Dorseyland" Jazz Band
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
5 There's No Tomorrow--Tony Martin
6 A Dreamer's Holiday--Perry Como
--Buddy Clark with the Girl Friends
7 Rag Mop--The Ames Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra
--Johnnie Lee Wills and his Boys
8 Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy--Red Foley
--Bing Crosby
9 The Wedding Samba--Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra
--Carmen Miranda and the Andrews Sisters
10 Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae
--Perry Como

Singles entering the chart were I Said My Pajamas (And Put on My Pray’rs) by Tony Martin and Fran Warren (#22); Music! Music! Music! by Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars (#28); A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes by Perry Como (#35); Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later than You Think) by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (#37); Half a Heart is All You Left Me (When You Broke My Heart in Two), with versions by Al Morgan; and Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (#38); and It Isn't Fair by Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra (#40). A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes was the other side of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song).

Diplomacy
Greece recognized the pro-French governments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Defense
Physicist Albert Einstein, speaking on a television forum conducted by former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, warned against production of the hydrogen bomb, which he said could bring about "radioactive poisoning of the atmosphere and hence destruction of any life on Earth."

Politics and government
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida's Democratic Liberal Party joined with the Democratic Party to form a single conservative group with a strong majority in the House of Representatives.

Science
Scientists at a New York Academy of Sciences meeting agreed that bald men could not grow new hair by any known method.

Labour
U.S. Federal Judge Richmond Keech signed two injunctions sought by the government to force striking coal miners to return to work. United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis, bowing to the injunctions, ordered the walkout to end on February 13.

60 years ago
1960

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

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Little Egypt, with guest stars Susan Cummings, Anthony George, and Fred Clark

At the movies
Sink the Bismarck!, directed by Lewis Gilbert, and starring Kenneth More, Carl Möhner, and Dana Wynter, received its premiere screening at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, with the Duke of Edinburgh among those present.





50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)--Edison Lighthouse (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
Then Came Bronson, starring Michael Parks, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Mating Dance for Tender Grass

Space
Japan became the fourth country to put a satellite into orbit.

Britannica
Prince Charles assumed his seat in the House of Lords in a ceremony marking the completion of his presentation as heir to the throne.

Diplomacy
U.S. and U.S.S.R. atomic experts gathered in Moscow to resume technical discussions on peaceful uses of nuclear explosions.

Spanish Foreign Minister Gregorio Lopez Bravo concluded three days of meetings with French officials in the first official visit to France of a Spanish foreign minister since World War II.

Defense
The withdrawal of 4,200 U.S. troops from Thailand was disclosed by the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, leaving a total of 43,800 agreed upon by U.S. President Richard Nixon and Thai Prime Minister Thanon Kittikachorn during Mr. Nixon’s 1969 tour.

Al Fatah, largest of the 10 Palestinian commando groups operating in Jordan, announced a Unified Command of the commandos in order to strengthen their dealings with Jordan’s King Hussein.

40 years ago
1980

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

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Daitokai--Crystal King (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Man Gave Names to All the Animals--Bob Dylan (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
R. C. Majumdar, 95. Indian historian. Dr. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar was best known as the general editor of and contributor to The History and Culture of the Indian People (1951-1977), an 11-volume work which took 26 years to complete.

Scandal
U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti appointed Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, to investigate how news organizations obtained confidential information about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Operation Abscam.

Crime
Eight days after the end of a riot and hostage-taking at New Mexico state penitentiary in Santa Fe, 482 prisoners had been sent out of state and 538 remained. New Mexico Governor Bruce King estimated that $60 million might be needed to replace the ruined prison, which had undergone extensive physical damage.

30 years ago
1990

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

#1 single in Switzerland: Girl I'm Gonna Miss You--Milli Vanilli

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield (6th week at #1)
2 Bakerman--Laid Back
3 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins
4 Sit and Wait--Sydney Youngblood
5 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
6 Leave a Light On--Belinda Carlisle
7 I Feel the Earth Move--Martika
8 Girl I'm Gonna Miss You--Milli Vanilli
9 Listen to Your Heart--Roxette
10 The Road to Hell (Part 2)--Chris Rea

The only single entering the chart was All or Nothing by Milli Vanilli (#14).

World events
South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, 71, was released from prison. In his first speech, in Cape Town, he urged that pressure be kept on the white government until the apartheid system of racial segregation was destroyed.

Boxing
In one of the greatest upsets in history, James "Buster" Douglas (30-4-1) came back from an 8th-round knockdown to knock out Mike Tyson (37-1) at 1:22 of the 10th round of their fight at the Tokyo Dome to win the world heavyweight title. Mr. Tyson had been such a prohibitive favourite that the only betting establishment in Las Vegas willing to provide a line laid odds of 42-1.



25 years ago
1995

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

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

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Zombie--The Cranberries (5th week at #1)

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

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): No Limit--Irene Moors & de Smurfen (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Think Twice--Celine Dion (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Creep--TLC (3rd week at #1)
2 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
3 Another Night--Real McCoy
4 Take a Bow--Madonna
5 Baby--Brandy
6 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
7 Always--Bon Jovi
8 Sukiyaki--4 P.M.
9 Before I Let You Go--BLACKstreet
10 I'm the Only One--Melissa Etheridge

Singles entering the chart were Freak Like Me by Adina Howard (#54); Sour Times (Nobody Loves Me) by Portishead (#62); Dream About You/Funky Melody by Stevie B (#76); Rodeo by 95 South (#89); Where I Wanna Be Boy by Miss Jones (#90); and Move it Like This by K7 (#92).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men (11th week at #1)
2 Creep--TLC
3 Take a Bow--Madonna
4 Another Night--Real McCoy
5 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
6 Always--Bon Jovi
7 Hold My Hand--Hootie & the Blowfish
8 Sukiyaki--4 P.M.
9 Every Day of the Week--Jade
10 Here Comes the Hotstepper--Ini Kamoze

Singles entering the chart were Everlasting Love by Gloria Estefan (#62); Get Down by Craig Mack (#70); Whutcha Want? by Nine (#73); Cocktales by Too Short (#75); and Dreamer by Livin' Joy (#84).

Space
U.S. space shuttle mission STS-63 concluded as the six-member crew departed the Russian space station Mir, and the space shuttle Discovery landed at Kennedy Shuttle Landing Facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Hockey
NHL
Los Angeles 5 @ Toronto 2

20 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Lord Kitchener, 77. Trinidadian musician. Born Aldwyn Roberts, Lord Kitchener was a calypso and jazz musician whose career spanned more than 50 years until his death from bone marrow cancer. His songs included Shops Too Early and Green Fig.

Roger Vadim, 72. French film director. Mr. Vadim, born Roger Vadim Plemiannikov, was known for erotic movies, especially And God Created Woman (1956); Barbarella (1968); and Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971). He died of cancer, 16 days after his 72nd birthday.

Politics and government
Great Britain resumed direct control over Northern Ireland, stripping power from the province’s 10-week-old Protestant-Catholic administration in an effort to save the coalition. It was clear that the Irish Republican Army would not meet any of the conditions set for the February 12 decommissioning of weapons, and the British government wished to avert the resignation of First Minister David Trimble. The IRA proposed that the British government remove some of its installations in Northern Ireland while the IRA turned over its arms. British Secretary for Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson acknowledged that the proposal was a step in the right direction, but it came too late to prevent the suspension.

Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, the U.S. Reform Party’s highest-ranking public official, withdrew from the national party, saying it was "hopelessly dysfunctional," and he deplored the prospect of political columnist Pat Buchanan becoming the party’s presidential nominee for 2000.

After running an ad likening Texas Governor George W. Bush to U.S. President Bill Clinton as someone who bent the truth, U.S. Senator John McCain (Arizona), one of Mr. Bush’s rivals for the Republican Party’s 2000 presidential nomination, promised to run no more negative ads.

10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Heward Grafftey, 81. Canadian politician. Mr. Grafftey, a native of Montreal and a Progressive Conservative, represented the Quebec riding of Brome—Missisquoi in the Canadian House of Commons (1958-1968, 1972-1980). He was Minister of State for Science and Technology in the government of Prime Minister Joe Clark (1979-1980). Mr. Grafftey, one of the Progressive Conservatives' few MPs in Quebec after 1963, lost his seat in the 1968 federal election, regained it in 1972, and lost it for good in the 1980 election, failing to regain the seat in the federal elections of 2000 and 2006. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1976 and 2003. Mr. Grafftey died in Montreal of complications from Parkinson's disease.