January 22, 2008

220 years ago
1788

Born on this date
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron. U.K. poet. Lord Byron, a leading figure in the Romantic movement, was born in London. He died of the effects of a brief illness and resulting medical treatment on April 19, 1824 at the age of 36, while aiding Greek naval forces in attempting to win Greece's independence from the Ottoman Empire.

200 years ago
1808

World events
The Portuguese royal family arrived in Brazil, after fleeing the French Army's invasion of Portugal two months earlier.

90 years ago
1918

Abominations
Mary Ellen Smith, an Independent Liberal, became the first woman elected to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, winning a by-election in the Vancouver riding that had been held by her husband Ralph Smith.

80 years ago
1928

Diplomacy
King Amanullah I of Afghanistan and his party continued their European tour, arriving in Nice to begin a visit to France.

70 years ago
1938

Theatre
Our Town by Thornton Wilder was first performed in public, at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.

60 years ago
1948

Radio
Hooperatings listed the most popular programs in the United States as: Bob Hope; Radio Theater; Jack Benny; Fibber McGee and Molly; and Fred Allen.

Diplomacy
U.K. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, in a major address before the House of Commons, announced a shift from Britain's traditional balance of power politics to support for a "western union" of European states working in close cooperation with the United States.

Defense
U.S. Navy Admiral Louis Denfeld announced that improvements in V-2 rocket weapons allowed them to be installed on ships for use against trans-oceanic targets.

Protest
Iraqi students protesting their country's recently-concluded treaty with the United Kingdom ended three days of riots in Baghdad, with 11 demonstrators dead.

Environment
State and federal officials participating in the Missouri Basin Inter-Agency Commission agreed to a six-yer program committing $2.4 billion to the development of land and water resources in the 10 Missouri basin states.

Labour
The Congress of Industrial Organizations Executive Council voted 33-11 against supporting the third-party U.S. presidential campaign of former U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace.

The New York State Labor Relations Board barred R.H. Macy Company from fulfilling its promise of triple pay for employees who crossed picket lines during a 1946 delivery drivers' strike.

50 years ago
1958

At the movies
The Female Animal, directed by Harry Keller, and starring Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell, Jan Sterling, and George Nader, opened in theatres in New York City.





Flood Tide, starring George Nader, Cornell Borchers, Michel Ray, Judson Pratt, and Joanna Moore, opened in theatres in Los Angeles.



Died on this date
Lawrence Smith, 65. U.S. politician. Mr. Smith, a Republican, represented Wisconsin's 1st District in the House of Representatives from 1941 until his death from a heart attack in the House restaurant. He was known for his opposition to foreign aid and liberalized foreign trade.

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council approved a U.S.-U.K. resolution calling for tightened UN control of the narrow demilitarized zone between Israeli and Jordanian lines in Jerusalem.

U.S. State Secretary John Foster Dulles rejected as "totally false" Soviet contentions that the United States had sought to force Baghdad Pact states to accept U.S. missile sites and nuclear weapons.

Politics and government
Italian typewriter manufacturer Adriano Olivetti announced that his Community of Culture of the Workers and Peasants would enter national politics in 1959.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Cállate Niña--Pic-Nic (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, on NBC

This was the first regular episode of the comedy program, which had aired on NBC as a special in September 1967. One unintentionally prophetic skit had Rowan and Martin delivering a newscast of the future, set in January 1988: "Dateline: Washington. President Ronald Reagan..." The audience burst into laughter at this point. The cancelled series that NBC replaced in its time slot was The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

Died on this date
Duke Kahanamoku, 77. U.S. swimmer and surfer. Mr. Kahanamoku, who was born in Honolulu when Hawaii was still an independent kingdom, represented the United States in the Summer Olympic Games in 1912, 1920, and 1924, winning a total of three gold and two silver medals in swimming. He did more than anyone else to introduce and popularize surfing on the U.S. mainland and in Australia. Mr. Kahanamoku served as sheriff of Honolulu from 1932-1961, and was the first person inducted into both the Swimming Hall of Fame and the Surfing Hall of Fame. He died of a heart attack.

Music
The single Born to Be Loved by You b/w Shy Away by Roy Orbison was released on MGM Records. It failed to chart in either the U.S.A. or U.K.

Space
The United States launched Apollo 5, an unmanned mission that served as the first test for the Lunar Module, from Cape Kennedy, Florida. There were a few minor glitches, but the mission was successful enough for a second such test to be cancelled. The Saturn 1B rocket that carried the Apollo spacecraft was the same one that would have taken the Apollo 1 crew into space, if they hadn't been killed in the fire on January 27, 1967.





War
Operation Igloo White, a U.S. electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation.

Diplomacy
U.K. Prime Minister Harold Wilson arrived in Moscow to begin three days of talks with U.S.S.R. Premier Alesksei Kosygin on a "political settlement" of the Vietnam War.

Weather
29 people were reported dead as a result of a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro.

Disasters
40 people drowned when a boat capsized in the Ganges River near Benares, India.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Always on My Mind--Pet Shop Boys (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Parker Fennelly, 96. U.S. actor. Mr. Fennelly played crusty New England characters in numerous radio and television programs and in several movies, including The Trouble with Harry (1955).

10 years ago
1998

Crime
Ted Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Sacramento, California to being the Unabomber in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Scandal
The Law Society of Upper Canada stripped lawyer and hockey agent Alan Eagleson of his right to practice law, for unbecoming conduct; he had pleaded guilty to fraud on January 7, 1998.