January 1, 2010

410 years ago
1600

Britannica
Scotland adopted January 1 as New Year's Day.

260 years ago
1750

Born on this date
Frederick Muhlenberg. U.S. clergyman and politician. Rev. Muhlenberg was a Lutheran minister who was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress (1779-1780), and sat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1780-1783). He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives (1789-1797), and was the first Speaker of the House (1789-1791, 1793-1795). Rev. Muhlenberg was the first signer of the Bill of Rights, and in 1789 cast the deciding vote for the nation's new capital. He died on June 4, 1801 at the age of 51.

230 years ago
1780

Died on this date
Johann Ludwig Krebs, 66. German musician and composer. Mr. Krebs played various instruments, but specialized in the organ, studying with Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote works for organ as well as chamber and choral works, but his Baroque compositions were unfashionable in his time.

200 years ago
1810

Politics and government
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie took office as Governor of New South Wales.

150 years ago
1860

Europeana
The first Polish stamp was issued, replacing the Russian stamps previously in use.

120 years ago
1890

Africana
Eritrea was consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.

100 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Chiune Sugihara. Japanese diplomat. Mr. Sugihara held various posts, but was known for his time as Japanese vice-consul in Kaunas, Lithuania (1939-1941), when he arranged transit visas for 6,000 Jews, enabling them to flee Europe through Japanese territory. He was forced to resign from the Japanese foreign service in 1947, and died on July 31, 1986 at the age of 86.

Xavier Cugat. Spanish-born U.S. bandleader. Mr. Cugat, born Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu, moved to Cuba with his family at the age of 5 and to the United States at the age of 15. He led the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel's orchestra in New York City for 16 years, covering the time before and after World War II. Mr. Cugat died on October 27, 1990 at the age of 90.

100 years ago
1910

Defense
Captain David Beatty was promoted to Rear Admiral, and became the youngest admiral in the British Royal Navy (except for royal family members) since Horatio Nelson.

Hockey
CHA
Quebec 7 @ Montreal Shamrocks 6

This was the first game for both teams in the new Canadian Hockey Association.

80 years ago
1930

At the movies
Party Girl, co-written, produced, and directed by Victor Halperin (directing under the pseudonym Rex Hale), and starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Jeanette Loff, and Marie Prevost, received its premiere screening in New York City shortly after midnight as 1929 passed into 1930.



Football
NCAA
Rose Bowl
Southern California 47 Pittsburgh 14

75 years ago
1935

Football
NCAA
Orange Bowl
Bucknell 26 U of Miami 0

Sugar Bowl
Tulane 20 Temple 14

Sun Bowl
El Paso All-Stars 25 Ranger (Texas) 21

These were the first Sugar Bowl and Sun Bowl games ever played.

Rose Bowl
Alabama 29 Stanford 13

70 years ago
1940

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: The Blue Carbuncle

Died on this date
William A. Ashbrook, 72. U.S. politician. Mr. Ashbrook founded the newspaper The Johnstown (Ohio) Independent in 1884. A Democrat, he represented Licking County in the Ohio House of Representatives (1906-1907), and represented Ohio's 17th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1907-1921, 1935-1940). Mr. Ashbrook's son John, a Republican, held the same seat from 1961-1982, and also died in office.

War
Canada's National Defence Department announced that the Canadian Army's 1st Division had arrived in Britain, as King George VI signed a proclamation providing for the military conscription of all British males aged 19-28. Soviet planes bombed Jyvaskyla, Finland. Japanese troops advanced in the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung.

Diplomacy
Vladimir Sokolina was dismissed as under-secretary general of the League of Nations after he refused to resign as instructed by the Soviet government.

Politics and government
Yellowknife enacted the first municipal government in the Northwest Territories.

Economics and finance
Dutch fiscal authorities forecast an increase in the world's gold flow to the United States because of World War II.

In his annual report, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Henry Wallace said that World War II would hinder rather than help American farmers.

Disasters
Nearly 60 towns and villages were washed away as floods spread across Turkey from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea.

Football
NCAA
Orange Bowl
Georgia Tech 21 Missouri 7

Cotton Bowl
Clemson 6 Boston College 3

Sun Bowl
Arizona State 0 Catholic 0

Sugar Bowl
Texas A&M 14 Tulane 13

Rose Bowl
Ohio State 17 California 14

60 years ago
1950

Diplomacy
Yugoslavia, Ecuador, and India replaced Argentina, Canada, and Ukraine as temporary members of the United Nations Security Council.

Politics and government
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover expressed "emphatic" opposition to the creation of a national police system with the task of controlling domestic Communists.

Economics and finance
The United States announced plans to supply Yugoslavia with aircraft equipment for civilian use.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: The Four of Us are Dying, starring Harry Townes, Ross Martin, Philip Pine, and Don Gordon

Died on this date
Margaret Sullavan, 50. U.S. actress. Miss Sullavan was mainly a stage actress, but was nominated for an Academy Award for her starring performance in Three Comrades (1938), and was known for starring with James Stewart in four films, including The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and The Mortal Storm (1940). She suffered from depression and hearing loss in later years, and died of what was ruled to be an accidental overdose of barbiturates in a hotel room in New Haven, Connecticut, where she was starring in a tryout of the play Sweet Love Remembered.

Africana
Cameroon achieved her independence from France and the United Kingdom.

Journalism
The Toronto-based weekly Canadian Jewish News published its first edition.

Football
NCAA
Orange Bowl
Georgia 14 Missouri 0

Cotton Bowl
Syracuse 23 Texas 14

Sugar Bowl
Mississippi 21 Louisiana State 0

Rose Bowl
U of Washington 44 Wisconsin 8

40 years ago
1970

Yellowknifiana
As the centennial year of the Northwest Territories began, Yellowknife officially became a city, and her first traffic lights began operating.

Canadiana
The cities of Fort William and Port Arthur, Ontario officially amalgamated to become Thunder Bay.

Abominations
The price of a chocolate bar in Canada increased from 10c to 15c, prompting this blogger to stop buying them.

War
U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew interrupted a 10-nation, 23-day tour of Asia by making a side trip from Manila, his first stop, to South Vietnam for a 24-hour stay. He visited American troops, including the wounded at an evacuation hospital, and said that his day "confirms to me the wisdom of our policies" and that he is leaving "with the feeling that the new year will bring us closer to our common goal."

Israeli jets knocked out the East Ghor Canal in Jordan for the third time.

World events
The government of France suspended two French officials involved in the December 25 theft of five French gunboats from Cherbourg by an Israeli crew, and expelled an Israeli diplomat said to have negotiated the boats’ sale through a non-existent Norwegian concern.

Politics and government
Pakistani President Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan lifted restrictions on political activity that had been in effect since March 1969.

Religion
Pope Paul VI denounced powerful nations basing their stability on "trading arms to poor nations lacking plows, schools, and hospitals" and "giant industries" prospering on their "capacity to produce arms" in the most spontaneous and fervent peace plea of his papacy.

Society
The age of majority in Great Britain dropped from 21 to 18 as legislation passed in 1969 went into effect. An estimated 2.25-3 million young people were now eligible to vote, marry without their parents’ consent, and enjoy other rights. The Labour government also announced the abolition of the money limit for travel outside Britain.

Environment
U.S. President Richard Nixon signed a bill creating a Council on Environmental Quality, pledging a fight against pollution so that "the decade of the seventies will be known as the time when this country regained a productive harmony between man and nature." Without such a fight, he said, areas such as the one around his California home "will be unfit to live in" by 1980.

Economics and finance
In line with an agreement signed between the government of Chile and Anaconda Co. in June 1969, the first of two stages of "negotiated nationalization" of the firm’s subsidiaries in the country went into effect.

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
Texas 21 Notre Dame 17

Sugar Bowl
Mississippi 27 Arkansas 22

Orange Bowl
Pennsylvania State 10 Missouri 3

Rose Bowl
Southern California 10 Michigan 3



30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles
2 Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)--ABBA
3 We Don't Talk Anymore--Cliff Richard
4 Don't Bring Me Down--Electric Light Orchestra
5 Babe it's Up to You--Smokie
6 She's in Love with You--Suzi Quatro
7 Boy Oh Boy--Racey
8 Maybe--Thom Pace
9 Crazy Little Thing Called Love--Queen
10 Tusk--Fleetwood Mac

Singles entering the chart were Crazy Little Thing Called Love; Bang Bang by B.A. Robertson (#13); Todesengel by Frank Duval & Orchestra (#15); I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick (#16); Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson (#17); Bobby Brown by Frank Zappa (#18); and Lucifer by the Alan Parsons Project (#19).

Died on this date
Pietro Nenni, 88. Italian politician. Mr. Nenni, a Republican from 1908-1921 and a Socialist thereafter, held various cabinet posts, including Minister of Foreign Affairs (1946-1947, 1968-1969) and Deputy Prime Minister (1963-1968). He favoured close ties with the Communist Party, and received the Stalin Peace Prize in 1951, but broke with the Communists after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, and returned the prize money.

Adolph Deutsch, 82. U.K.-born U.S. composer. Mr. Deutsch, a native of London, moved to the United States in 1910. He composed music for Broadway plays before moving to Hollywood in the late 1930s, where he began composing film scores for Warner Brothers Pictures. He was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning for his scoring of Annie Get Your Gun (1950); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Oklahoma! (1955). Mr. Deutsch's other scores included those for High Sierra (1941); The Maltese Falcon (1941); and The Apartment (1960). He was a founder and president of the Screen Composers Association.

War
There was heavy fighting between Soviet forces and Afghan army units at the town of Bala Zhar in Afghanistan. Soviet forces killed or interned 700 soldiers of the Afghan Army’s 26th Parachute Regiment when they refused a Soviet request to disarm. The U.S.S.R. said it had sent troops to Afghanistan to help repel "reactionary bands" armed, trained, and directed by the U.S.A. and China. The Soviets also accused Pakistan of training officers to command Afghan Muslim groups to fight in Afghanistan.

Europeana
A constitutional provision went into effect in Sweden providing for royal succession by absolute, or equal, primogeniture. It meant that King Carl XVI's infant son Carl Philip was now displaced as heir by the king's daughter Victoria, who was two years older than the prince.

Disasters
44 were reported killed when fire swept through a crowded social club in Chapais, Quebec at a New Year’s Eve party.

An earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale hit Portugal’s Azore Islands, crumbling building, killing at least 52 people, and injuring more than 300.

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
Houston 17 Nebraska 14

Rose Bowl
Southern California 17 Ohio State 16

Orange Bowl
Oklahoma 24 Florida State 7

Sugar Bowl
Alabama 24 Arkansas 9

Hockey
International exhibition
Czechoslovakia 1 @ Canadian Olympic Team 5

25 years ago
1985

Football
NCAA
Fiesta Bowl
U of California at Los Angeles 39 U of Miami 37

Cotton Bowl
Boston College 45 Houston 28

Rose Bowl
Southern California 20 Ohio State 17

Orange Bowl
U of Washington 28 Oklahoma 17

Sugar Bowl
Nebraska 28 Louisiana State 10

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Love Shack--The B-52's (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Christmas Eve--Tatsuro Yamashita

Abominations
Salary raises for Canadian Members of Parliament went into effect, with MPs to get a minimum $82,700 per year, plus a $20,000 tax free allowance. The Prime Minister's salary increased to $153,700 per year.

Politics and government
David Dinkins was sworn in as New York City's first Negro mayor.

Football
NCAA
Fiesta Bowl
Florida State 41 Nebraska 17

Cotton Bowl
Tennessee 31 Arkansas 27

Rose Bowl
Southern California 17 Michigan 10

Orange Bowl
Notre Dame 21 Colorado 6

Sugar Bowl
U of Miami 33 Alabama 25

10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Y2K. Worldwide crisis. A computer programming problem that was supposed to threaten the existence of us all, it died and was quickly forgotten when January 1, 2000 came and nothing unusual happened, even in countries that had done little or nothing to prepare for it. Governments and industry had spent $350 billion U.S. to prepare. It was reported that The Gambia had experienced some problems, but I have it on good authority that even that report was bogus. U.S. authorities did lose contact with a spy satellite for two or three hours.

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
Arkansas 27 Texas 6

Rose Bowl
Wisconsin 17 Stanford 9

Orange Bowl
Michigan 35 Alabama 34 (OT)

December 31, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mike Matson!

780 years ago
1229

War
James I "the Conqueror," King of Aragon, entered Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain), thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca.

250 years ago
1759

Business
Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum, and started brewing Guinness beer.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Henri Matisse. French artist. Mr. Matisse was a painter and sculptor who was one of the major figures in 20th century modern art, and was often compared with Pablo Picasso. He was known for the use of colour in his paintings. Mr. Matisse died on November 3, 1954 at the age of 84.

130 years ago
1879

Technology
Thomas Edison gave his first public demonstration of the incandescent light bulb, at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

120 years ago
1889

Died on this date
George Kerferd, 58. U.K.-born Australian politician. Mr. Kerferd, a native of Liverpool, emigrated to Victoria in 1853, and became a beer and wine merchant. He represented Ovens in the Victoria Legislative Assembly from 1864-1886, and held several cabinet posts, including several terms, totalling eight years, as Attorney General. Mr. Kerferd was Premier of Victoria from 1874-1875. He was a judge on the Supreme Court of Victoria from January 1, 1886 until his death.

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez. Mexican composer and conductor. Mr. Revueltas was a violinist who served as assistant conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (1929-1935), composing film scores, chamber music, and orchestral works. He had difficulty earning money in the late 1930s, and drank himself to death on October 5, 1940 at the age of 40.

80 years ago
1929

Music
Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The performance was carried on a coast-to-coast radio broadcast, and the band's rendition of Auld Lang Syne helped to popularize the song as a New Year's Eve anthem.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)--Burl Ives; Dinah Shore (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Mule Train--Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners (6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Mule Train--Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners (5th week at #1)
--Bing Crosby
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Tennessee Ernie
2 I Can Dream, Can't I?--The Andrews Sisters
3 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer--Gene Autry and the Pinafores
4 Don't Cry, Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go, Let Her Go)--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
5 Slipping Around--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
6 A Dreamer's Holiday--Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters
--Buddy Clark with the Girl Friends
7 Dear Hearts and Gentle People--Dinah Shore
--Bing Crosby
8 Jealous Heart--Al Morgan
9 The Old Master Painter--Dick Haymes
--Richard Hayes
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
10 That Lucky Old Sun--Frankie Laine
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were the version of The Old Master Painter by Phil Harris and his Orchestra; Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song) by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae (#31); Careless Kisses by Russ Morgan and his Orchestra (#33); Dill Pickles by Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra (#36); and The Meadows of Heaven by Perry Como (#40). Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song) was the other side of Echoes, charting at #18. The Meadows of Heaven was the B-side of A Dreamer's Holiday.

Theatre
Born Yesterday closed at Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in New York after 1,642 performances since February 4, 1946.

Died on this date
Raimond Valgre, 36. Estonian songwriter. Mr. Valgre, born Raimond Tiisel, played piano and other instruments, and wrote some of Estonia's best-known songs. He served with the orchestra of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps of the Soviet Red Army during World War II, and became a drunkard as a result of his war experiences. Mr. Valgre's music was banned by Soviet authorities in 1948; he was killed in an accident.

World events
A Soviet military court in Khabarovsk sentenced 12 Japanese officers to prison terms of 2-25 years for planning to wage germ warfare against the U.S.S.R.

Diplomacy
Israel rejected a United Nations Trusteeship Council request to remove her capital from the new city of Jerusalem.

Communist authorities ordered the staff of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to leave China within a month.

Crime
Former U.S. Justice Department employee Judith Coplon asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order a retrial of government espionage charges against her on grounds that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had illegally tapped her telephone.

Business
American Telephone & Telegraph Board Chairmen Walter Gifford retired, and was succeeded by President Leroy Wilson.

Labour
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board issued its fourth anti-closed shop ruling against the International Typographical Union, ordering the union to stop attempting to impose such conditions on commercial printing shops in Chicago, Detroit, and other cities.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Underground Railway, with guest stars Virginia Vincent, Jo De Santis, and Cliff Robertson

Married on this date
U.S. actor Ernest Borgnine and Mexican actress Katy Jurado were married in Cuernavaca.

War
French-led Cameroonian troops killed at least 30 guerrillas in repulsing an attack on the Douala airport and police headquarters.

The South Korean Navy denied responsibility for the attack on a Soviet hydrographic ship.

Defense
General Randolph Pate retired as Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Politics and government
The day after Prime Minister Phoui Sananikone submitted his resignation, King Savang Vathana of Laos placed the country under Army control pending formation of a new cabinet.

Labour
A New York City transit strike was averted when the Transport Workers Union and New York Transit Authority agreed on a two-year contract providing $35 million in raises and other benefits for 38,000 workers.

Football
NCAA
Sun Bowl
New Mexico State 28 North Texas State 8

40 years ago
1969

On television tonight
Then Came Bronson, starring Michael Parks, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Sibyl

Died on this date
Jock Yablonski, 59. U.S. labour leader. Mr. Yablonski, his wife, and their 25-year-old daughter were shot to death in their Clarksville, Pennsylvania home. The bodies weren't discovered until January 5, 1970. Mr. Yablonski had lost a bitterly-fought election on December 9 to Tony Boyle for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America. The election was widely believed to be corrupt, and on December 18, Mr. Yablonski had asked the United States Department of Labor to investigate.

World events
An Israeli crew that had defied a French arms embargo and spirited five gunboats out of the port of Cherbourg on December 25 reached the Israeli port of Haifa.

Yellowknifiana
A pyrotechnics display in Petitot Park on Yellowknife’s last night as a town fizzled when most of the fireworks didn’t work, as a large number of people (including this blogger and his father) stood there freezing.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ihōjin--Sayuri Kume (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Sin Amor (Dghingis Khan)--Iván (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
John "Shorty" Powers, 57. U.S. military officer. Air Force Colonel Powers served in World War II and the Korean War, and helped to establish the U.S. Air Force's first Community Relations Program in 1955. He acquired experience in public relations over the next few years, which led to his appointment in April 1959 as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Task Group's public affairs officer. Col. Powers became famous from 1961-1963 as the "voice of Project Mercury," describing the first U.S. manned space flights. He was best known for coining the phrase "A-OK." Col. Powers enjoyed the limelight, but a dispute with NASA headquarters over publicity for the Mercury 9 flight in 1963 led to his resignation from the Air Force in 1964. He became part owner of the radio station KMSC-FM in Clear Lake, Texas, from which he distributed coverage of the Gemini and Apollo manned space missions. Col. Powers did commercials for various products, lectured on the space program, and had a newspaper column titled Space Talk in 1967, but eventually drank himself to death in Phoenix, where he had moved in 1978.

Music
Andre Kostelanetz conducted the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in A Night in Old Vienna at War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. It turned out to be Mr. Kostelanetz's last concert; he went on vacation in Haiti, and died there of pneumonia on January 13, 1980.

War
A brief gun battle broke out in Kabul between dissident elements of the Afghan army and the Soviets, but the Afghan capital stayed firmly under Soviet control. Islamic rebels, who had been fighting the Afghan government for two years and were thought to control perhaps 2/3 of the countryside, fought skirmishes with Soviet troops at scattered points throughout the country. They were aided and often armed by Afghan army deserters. U.S. President Jimmy Carter accused Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev of "not telling facts accurately" in a December 28 cable in which Mr. Brezhnev claimed that Afghanistan had invited the U.S.S.R. to intervene. According to Mr. Carter, Mr. Brezhnev’s explanation was "obviously false, because the person he claimed invited him in, President Amin, was murdered or assassinated after the Soviets pulled their coup."

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council voted 11-0 to give Iran one week to release the hostages being held at the United States embassy in Tehran before deciding on economic sanctions. UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim left for Tehran in an effort to negotiate the release of the hostages.

Hockey
NHL-U.S.S.R. (exhibition)
Super Series ‘80
Central Red Army 2 @ Montreal 4



20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Escaping--Margaret Urlich (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Girl I'm Gonna Miss You--Milli Vanilli (5th week at #1)

Hockey
Winnipeg 3 Edmonton 2

NHL-U.S.S.R. (exhibition)
Super Series ‘90
Moscow Dynamo 7 @ Toronto 4 (exhibition)

See video.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Los Angeles Rams 21 @ Philadelphia 7



AFC Wild Card Playoff
Pittsburgh 26 @ Houston 23 (OT)



10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Elliot Richardson, 79. U.S. politician. Mr. Richardson, a Republican, held various state offices in Massachusetts, and four different cabinet posts in the administrations of U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon (1970-1973) and Gerald Ford (1975-1977). He was best known for his time as U.S. Attorney General under President Richard Nixon (May-October 1973), and he resigned rather than carry out Mr. Nixon's order to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox on October 20, 1973, in what became known as the "Saturday Night Massacre." Mr. Richardson served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1975-1976. He died from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Abominations
The U.S. government handed control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama, in compliance with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.

Terrorism
The Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ended after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.

Politics and government
Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia and appointed his Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin as his successor. In a televised New Year’s Eve address, Mr. Yeltsin said it was time for "new politicians...new personalities...and new smart, strong, and energetic people."

Crime
A painting by Paul Cezanne titled Auvers-sur-Oise was stolen from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.

Hockey
NHL
Anaheim 4 @ Dallas 5

Brett Hull of the Stars became the 12th player in NHL history to score 600 career goals when he scored twice in their victory over the Mighty Ducks at Reunion Arena. He reached the milestone in his 900th game; only Wayne Gretzky (718th game) and Mario Lemieux (719th) got there faster.

Football
NCAA
Sun Bowl
Oregon 24 Minnesota 20

December 30, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michael Nesmith and Davy Jones!

1,970 years ago
39

Born on this date
Titus. Emperor of the Roman Empire, 79-81. Titus, the son of Vespasian, served as a military commander under his father. When Vespasian became Emperor in 69, Titus completed the suppression of the rebellion in Judea, sacking Jerusalem and destroying the Second Temple in 70. Titus served as prefect of the Praetorian Guard and acceded to the throne upon the death of his father, becoming the first Roman Emperor to succeed his biological father. He oversaw the completion of the Colosseum and eased the suffering caused by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 and a fire in Rome in 80, but died from a fever on September 13, 81 at the age of 41, and was succeeded as Emperor by Domitian.

1,010 years ago
999

War
The combined forces of Munster and Meath under king Brian Boru inflicted a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin in the Battle of Glenmama near Lyons Hill in Ireland.

590 years ago
1419

War
Castilian forces led by King John II captured 40 ships of an allied Flemish-Hanseatic fleet in the naval Battle of La Rochelle in the Bay of Biscay.

190 years ago
1819

Born on this date
John W. Geary. U.S. military officer and politician. Colonel Geary served with the 2nd Pennsylvania infantry in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and was the first Mayor of San Francisco (1850-1851). He was Territorial Governor of Kansas (1856-1857), but resigned after failing to bring peace between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in the territory. Brigadier General Geary commanded Pennsylvania infantry forces with the Union Army in the American Civil War, and he rose to the rank of Brevet Major General. As a Republican, he served two terms as Governor of Pennsylvania (1867-1873), but died of a heart attack on February 8, 1873 at the age of 53, just 18 days after leaving office.

150 years ago
1859

Born on this date
J.B. Foerster. Bohemian composer. Josef Bohuslav Foerster was a drama critic and music teacher before becoming known as a composer. He wrote five symphonies, six operas, and chamber, orchestral, and instrumental works. Mr. Foerster died on May 29, 1951 at the age of 91.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Stephen Leacock. U.K.-born Canadian humourist. Mr. Leacock was born in England but moved to Ontario with his family at the age of 6. He was a professor of political economy at McGill University and wrote the standard textbook Elements of Political Science (1936), but was better known for his humourous works, which were collected into books such as Literary Lapses (1910); Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912); and Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914). Groucho Marx and Jack Benny were both influenced by Mr. Leacock's writing. Mr. Leacock died on March 28, 1944 at the age of 74. The Stephen Leacock Award was created in 1947 to recognize the best of Canadian humour writing.

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Helge Ingstad. Norwegian explorer and politician. Mr. Ingstad, a lawyer by training, explored the Scandinavian and North American Arctic from the 1920s through the 1960s. He and his wife Anne found remnants of a Viking settlement in Newfoundland in 1960, proving that Norsemen had landed in North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. Mr. Ingstad was Governor of Erik the Red's land (1932-1933) and acting Governor of Svalbard (1933-1935). He died on March 29, 2001 at the age of 101.

100 years ago
1909

Canadiana
Gold was discovered at Porcupine, Ontario.

Hockey
CHA
All-Montreal 7 @ Montreal Le National 2

This was the first game played in the new professional league known as the Canadian Hockey Association.

75 years ago
1934

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Louis Hector and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Today’s episode: The Case with Two Solutions

Born on this date
Del Shannon. U.S. musician and singer. Mr. Shannon was best known for his first and biggest hit single, Runaway, which spent 4 weeks as the #1 single in the U.S.A. in the spring of 1961. Other hits included Hats Off to Larry (#5, 1961); Little Town Flirt (#12, 1963); Handy Man (#22, 1964); Keep Searchin' (#9, 1964-1965); and Sea of Love (#33, 1982). He shot himself to death while under the influence of Prozac on February 8, 1990.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
Billboard listed Mule Train as the year's most popular song of 1949.

Radio
Radio Daily selected Mind the Shadows (CBS); Living (NBC); and The Berlin Story (ABC) as the outstanding network broadcasts of 1949. Hooperatings named The Jack Benny Program (CBS); Radio Theater; Fibber McGee and Molly (NBC); and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (CBS) as the most popular network shows.

War
U.S. President Harry Truman and his military advisers decided against using American forces to defend Taiwan against a possible Communist attack, but agreed to consider the possibility of sending fresh equipment and advisers to the Nationalist government on the island.

Diplomacy
India recognized the People's Republic of China and ended diplomatic relations with the Nationalist government.

The Shah of Iran concluded a six-week visit to the United States.

Politics and government
Vietnamese Chief of State Bao Dai and French High Commissioner Leon Pignon signed an agreement in Saigon giving the French-sponsored Vietnamese state greater control over its internal affairs, including education and local administration. Foreign and military affairs remained in French hands.

French Prime Minister Georges Bidault won a vote of confidence in the National Assembly during debate over the 1950 budget.

The British government gave Hong Kong Governor Sir Alexander Grantham emergency powers to deal with disorders arising from Communist efforts to organize a general strike.

The U.S. War Assets Administration was liquidated, and the remaining property was turned over to the General Services Administration.

Economics and finance
The British government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee introduced several measures to attract more foreign capital into the country, giving investors permission to withdraw their capital at any time, and allowing foreign workers to send home all of their savings.

Business
The court-ordered dissolution of Paramount Pictures, Inc. was completed with the formation of Paramount Pictures Corporation and United Paramount Theaters, Inc.

Boxing
Rocky Marciano (25-0) knocked out Carmine Vingo (16-2) at 1:46 of the 6th round of a heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York. Mr. Vingo was taken from the ring on a stretcher, slipped into a coma, and was given only a 50% chance of survival. He did survive, and recovered, with slight paralysis on his left side, but never boxed again.

50 years ago
1959

Defense
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told interviewers that the U.S.S.R. "has already suspended all tests of atomic and hydrogen weapons" and would conduct no more tests unless Western powers did so.

The U.S. Navy commissioned its first active atomic submarine equipped to fire the Polaris missile--the 5,400-ton USS George Washington--in Groton, Connecticut.

Politics and government
Laotian Prime Minister Phoui Sananikone submitted his resignation to King Savang Vathana.

Four Syrians resigned from the U.A.R.'s central cabinet and the Syrian Regional cabinet in opposition to the appointment of Vice President Abdel Hakim Amer as administrator of the Syrian Regional Government.

U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey (Minnesota) announced his candidacy for the 1960 Democratic Party U.S. presidential nomination.

Anthropology
Margaret Mead was named President of the American Anthropological Association at its convention in Mexico City, succeeding Sol Tax.

Business
Cuba's National Agrarian Reform Institute announced the seizure of Unitd Fruit Company property in Oriente Province.

Basketball
NCAA
The top-ranked University of Cincinnati Tigers defeated the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 96-83 in the final of the Holiday Festival tournament in New York City.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Grüezi wohl, Frau Stirnimaa--Die Minstrels (10th week at #1)

War
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong delegates at the Paris peace talks criticized as perfidious a U.S. appeal bidding the Communists, as a humanitarian gesture, to indicate whether the 1,046 men on a list of missing in action in Vietnam were prisoners of war or dead. Chief North Vietnamese negotiator Xuan Thuy boycotted the final sessions.

Diplomacy
U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew, as part of his tour of Asia, was in Manila, and attended the inauguration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos for his second term.

Crime
A three-judge Israeli court ruled that Dennis Michael Rohan was mentally ill when he set fire to the El Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on August 21, and ordered him confined to a hospital for treatment. The court held that the 28-year-old Australian had acted on an "irresistible impulse" in setting the blaze and was not punishable under Israeli law.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Jezebel--Jon Stevens (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Todesengel--Frank Duval (2nd week at #1)

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Gladys Lucy Pomazongo!

Died on this date
Richard Rodgers, 77. U.S. composer. Mr. Rodgers was best known for his work in musical theatre, writing music for 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs. He became one of the most popular songwriters of the 20th century, writing with lyricists Lorenz Hart (1919-1942) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1942-1960). Mr. Rodgers was the first person to complete the "EGOT"--winning an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, Academy Award (Oscar), and Tony Award--in addition to winning a Pulitzer Prize. He died after years of declining health.

War
The Soviet newspaper Pravda said that the U.S.S.R. had sent a "limited" military contingent to Afghanistan due to "imperialist interference" in Afghan affairs that was "taking form and acquiring a scale that placed the very existence of the republic in danger." The U.S.S.R. justified the invasion on the basis of its defense treaty with Afghanistan and article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which grants any country the right to provide military aid to a member that appeals for such help.

Religion
Pope John Paul II and five West German prelates who had been summoned to Rome upheld the censure of Rev. Hans Kung, a Swiss theologian teaching at the University of Tubingen in West Germany, for teaching views contrary to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.

Football
NFL
AFC Divisional Playoff
Miami 14 @ Pittsburgh 34



NFC Divisional Playoff
Los Angeles 21 @ Dallas 19

See videos here and here.

25 years ago
1984

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
Chicago 23 @ Washington 19

AFC Divisional Playoff
Pittsburgh 24 @ Denver 17

20 years ago
1989

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Lambada--Kaoma (14th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Hélène--Roch Voisine (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Do They Know it's Christmas?--Band Aid II (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (3rd week at #1)
2 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
3 Rhythm Nation--Janet Jackson
4 Just Like Jesse James--Cher
5 With Every Beat of My Heart--Taylor Dayne
6 Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic featuring Felly
6 This One's for the Children--New Kids on the Block
8 Just Between You and Me--Lou Gramm
9 Living in Sin--Bon Jovi
10 How am I Supposed to Live Without You--Michael Bolton

Singles entering the chart were All or Nothing by Milli Vanilli (#64); C'Mon and Get My Love by D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis (#80); Black Velvet by Alannah Myles (#85); and Timeless Love by Saraya (#92).

#1 single in Canada (RPM): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (3rd week at #1)

Football
U.S. university
Sun Bowl
Pittsburgh 31 Texas A&M 28

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Sarah Knauss, 119. U.S. supercentenarian. Mrs. Knauss, a native of Hollywood, Pennsylvania, was married to Lehigh County official Abraham Knauss from 1901 until his death in 1965 at the age of 86. Mrs. Knauss became the oldest American ever, and the second-oldest whose lifespan can be fully documented. She and her husband had a daughter, Kathryn, who died in 2005 at the age of 101.

Des Renford, 77. Australian swimmer. Mr. Renford took up distance swimming in 1939, and made 19 crossings of the English Channel in as many attempts. He died the day after suffering a heart attack while swimming.

December 29, 2009

990 years ago
1019

Born on this date
Munjong. King of Korea, 1046-1083. Munjong, the third son of King Hyeonjong, succeeded his half-brother Jeongjong as a ruler of the Goryeo dynasty. He presided over a northward expansion of Korea's borders, and emphasized the importance of civilian leadership over the military. Munjong died on September 2, 1083 at the age of 63, and was succeeded by his son Sunjong.

320 years ago
1689

Died on this date
Thomas Sydenham, 65. English physician. Dr. Sydenham, nicknamed "The English Hippocrates," wrote Observationes Medicae (Observations of Medicine) (1676), which was a standard textbook for 200 years. His achievements included the discovery of Sydenham's Chorea, also known as St. Vitus' Dance.

300 years ago
1709

Born on this date
Elizabeth. Empress of Russia, 1741-1762. Elizabeth, the daughter of Emperor Peter I "The Great" and Empress Catherine I, seized the throne from her infant cousin Ivan VI in a coup. She led her country during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. Empress Elizabeth allowed the nobility to gain dominance in local government, and spent large amounts of money on architectural works such as the Winter Palace and Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Shortly after suffering a stroke, she died on January 5, 1762, a week after her 52nd birthday.

240 years ago
1779

War
Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell led a contingent of British soldiers to capture Savannah, Georgia.

200 years ago
1809

Born on this date
Albert Pike. U.S. military officer and Freemason. Mr. Pike was a captain in a cavalry unit during the U.S.-Mexican War in the 1840s, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). He was best known for his involvement with and influence within Freemasonry; his book Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (first published in 1872) remains an influential textbook of Scottish Rite Freemasonic philosophy. Mr. Pike died on April 2, 1891 at the age of 81.

William Gladstone. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1868-1874; 1880-1885; 1886; 1892-1894. Mr. Gladstone was a Tory (1828-1834); Conservative (1934-1846); Peelite (1846-1859); and Liberal (1859-1898). He represented various ridings in the House of Commons from 1833-1895, and had a long and memorable rivalry with Benjamin Disraeli. Mr. Gladstone regarded foreign affairs as a sphere for moral exercises, while Mr. Disraeli took a more practical political view. Perhaps the low point of Mr. Gladstone’s career as Prime Minister occurred in January 1885, when he delayed sending a party to relieve General Charles Gordon at Khartoum, and the British forces were massacred. Mr. Gladstone was popularly regarded as Gen. Gordon’s murderer, and Queen Victoria agreed with that view. In addition to his political activities, Mr. Gladstone wrote a couple of best-selling pamphlets: one was a polemic against papal infallibility; his other notable pamphlet was a denunciation of Turkish massacres in Bulgaria. Mr. Gladstone’s moralism led him to conduct missionary activity among London prostitutes, while he literally scourged himself in an attempt to tame his sexual desires. He died on May 19, 1898 at the age of 88.

150 years ago
1859

Born on this date
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza. 37th President of Mexico, 1917-1920. Mr. Carranza was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution, and was Governor of Coahuila from 1911-1913. His Constitutionalist Army was victorious over the forces of President Victoriano Huerta in 1914, but had to defeat forces of fellow revolutionaries in order for Mr. Carranza to take power. He was head of state from 1914 until a new constitution went into effect in 1917, under which Mr. Carranza became President. He was constitutionally ineligible to succeed himself, and attempted to impose a virtual unknown, Ignacio Bonillas, as his successor. Northern generals conspired against Mr. Carranza, and he was assassinated in Mexico City on May 21, 1920 at the age of 60.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Billy Mitchell. U.S. military officer. Major General Mitchell was known as the father of the United States Air Force. His advocacy of the importance of air power and his criticism of U.S. defense policy led to a famous court martial in 1925. Gen. Mitchell was convicted of violating the 96th Article of War and was suspended for five years without pay, but he chose to resign from the United States Army. He continued to advocate air power until his death from natural causes on February 19, 1936 at the age of 56.

75 years ago
1934

Basketball
NCAA
The first college basketball doubleheader was held at Madison Square Garden in New York by promoter Ned Irish, who popularized the game. He rented the Garden for $4,000 and watched 16,000 fans show up. NYU defeated Notre Dame 25-18 in the opener, and Westminster (Pennsylvania) upended St. John's 37-33 in the nightcap.

70 years ago
1939

Defense
The U.S. heavy bomber Consolidated B-24 Liberator made its first flight.

60 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Henry McMahon, 87. U.K. military office and diplomat. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry was born and served in India from the 1880s to the 1910s, and was appointed secretary of the British government in India in 1911. He succeeded Lord Kitchener as British High Commissioner in Egypt at the beginning of 1915, and engaged in correspondence with Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca in an attempt to spark an Arab rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for a British promise of Arab independence after World War I. Sir Henry resigned after the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which negated the British promises to the Arabs, was publicized in November 1917.

Tyler Dennett, 66. U.S. historian. Dr. Dennett was a Congregationalist minister before becoming a historian, teaching at Johns Hopkins (1923-1924); Columbia (1927-1928); and Princeton (1931-1934) Universities, and serving as President of Williams College (1934-1937). He was initially known for his work in U.S.-Japanese relations, but was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for John Hay: From Poetry to Politics (1933).

Television
KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut became the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.

Journalism
Time magazine named Winston Churchill as its Man of the Half-Century.

War
Nationalist Chinese forces on Hainan Island off the South China coast reported defeating a Communist invasion attempt.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. objected to Chinese Nationalist representation on the UN Security Council, but refrained from demanding replacement of the Nationalists by a Communist delegation.

Defense
U.S. Navy Captain Arleigh Burke, head of the office charged with planning strategy against the Army and Air Force in the debate over U.S. military strategy, was promoted to rear admiral. The U.S. Navy announced plans to assign the new aircraft carrier USS Boxer to the Seventh Fleet, operating in the western Pacific Ocean.

Environment
Israel began a 10-year drive to plant forests in the northern half of the country.

Economics and finance
The Hungarian government issued decree nationalizing all industrial firms, including foreign-owned companies, with more than 10 employees.

The Romanian Parliament approved a plan for 1950 calling for a 37% increase in industrial production.

The U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers issued its fourth annual report, predicting continued economic growth and urging closer cooperation between business and government.

50 years ago
1959

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, hosted by John Newland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Hand, starring Robert Loggia, Anna Lee Carroll, and Miriam Colon



Theatre
The Andersonville Trial by Saul Levitt, directed by José Ferrer, and starring Herbert Berghof, Albert Dekker, and George C. Scott, opened at Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in New York.

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Christine Gotaas!

Died on this date
Robin Milford, 56. U.K. composer. Mr. Milford was strongly influenced by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi, and composed instrumental and vocal works. He suffered frequent bouts of depression resulting from family tragedies, and committed suicide with an overdose of aspirin.

Katāy Dōn Sasōrit, 55. Prime Minister of Laos, 1954-1956. Mr. Sasōrit was a Laotian nationalist who founded the anti-Thai "Movement for National Renovation" during World War II. The provisional Laotian government, formed in October 1945, was forced into exile in Bangkok, and Mr. Sasōrit was Minister of Finance. When Laos gained her independence within the French community in 1949, the provisional government was dissolved, and its members returned to Laos. Mr. Sasōrit was Minister of Finance and Economics (1951-1954), became chairman of the Progress Party (Phak Kaonā) in 1954, and succeeded Prince Suvanna Phūmā as Prime Minister. Mr. Sasōrit was overthrown by a coup in March 1956 after failing to achieve national reconciliation, and Prince Suvanna Phūmā returned to power. Mr. Sasōrit returned as Deputy Prime Minister and Defense and Home Affairs Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Phoui Sananikone in 1958, and died of natural causes.

World events
45 political suspects were arrested throughout Cuba and charged with conspiring against the government.

Defense
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that the United States no longer considered herself bound by the unilateral nuclear test suspension and was "free to resume...testing."

West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt reported that stockpiles of food and essential goods in the city were adequate to ensure a full year of Soviet blockade.

Science
U.S. physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech titled There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom at California Institute of Technology, anticipating the field of nanotechnology.

Environment
A scientific panel of experts told a meeting of the American Physical Society that the explosion of nuclear devices in large underground caverns could muffle their seismic effects almost completely.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kuroneko no Tango--Osamu Minagawa (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Sugar, Sugar--The Archies (7th week at #1)

On the radio
The Challenge of Space, on Springbok Radio
Tonight’s episode: Ergot

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Southern Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Is She Really Going Out with Him?--Joe Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Remi, Le Sue Avventure--Ragazzi Di Remi (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Weekend--Earth and Fire (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes (2nd week at #1)
2 Rock with You--Michael Jackson
3 Do That to Me One More Time--Captain & Tennille
4 Ladies Night--Kool & The Gang
5 Send One Your Love--Stevie Wonder
6 Jane--Jefferson Starship
7 We Don't Talk Anymore--Cliff Richard
8 Please Don't Go--KC and the Sunshine Band
9 Coward of the County--Kenny Rogers
10 Cruisin'--Smokey Robinson

Singles entering the chart were Star by Earth, Wind & Fire (#84); Let Me Go, Love by Nicolette Larson (#85); Don't Make Me Over by Jennifer Warnes (#86); Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney (#87); Wonderland by the Commodores (#89); Flirtin' with Disaster by Molly Hatchet (#90); Too Late by Journey (#94); Remember (Walking in the Sand) by Aerosmith (#97); Trust Me by Cindy Bullens (#98); and With You I'm Born Again by Billy Preston & Syreeta (#99).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Babe--Styx (5th week at #1)
2 No More Tears/Enough is Enough--Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer
3 Still--Commodores
4 Take the Long Way Home--Supertramp
5 Heartache Tonight--Eagles
6 Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes
7 I Don't Like Mondays--The Boomtown Rats
8 Send One Your Love--Stevie Wonder
9 Dream Police--Cheap Trick
10 Please Don't Go--KC and the Sunshine Band

Singles entering the chart were Baby and the Blues by Quarrington Worthy (#88); Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin (#91); Why Me by Styx (#97); Money by the Flying Lizards (#98); Paradise Skies by Max Webster (#99); and Yes, I'm Ready by Teri DeSario with K.C. (#100).

Died on this date
Bill Plummer, 78. U.S. baseball pitcher. William Lawrence Plummer played in the Pacific Coast League with the Portland Beavers (1921) and Seattle Indians (1923-1925, 1927), compiling a record of 17-29 in 79 games, and hitting at least 1 home run in 80 games, helping the Indians win the PCL championship in 1924. He missed the 1922 and 1926 seasons because of injury, and played in just one game in his final season. Mr. Plummer's brother-in-law Red Baldwin was his teammate and catcher in 1924-1925. Mr. Plummer later served as a police officer in Oakland, and was a farmer and school bus driver in California. His son William Francis Plummer was a catcher with the Chicago Cubs (1968), Cincinnati Reds (1970-1977) and Seattle Mariners (1978).

Basketball
This blogger was in attendance at a wheelchair basketball tournament at the University of Alberta main gym, which included men’s teams from major cities in the United States and Canada. The Vancouver Cable Cars were one of the teams, and one of their players was Terry Fox (several months before he began his cross-Canada run).

Hockey
NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs, in a deal that shocked their fans, traded popular right wing Lanny McDonald and defenceman Joel Quenneville to the Colorado Rockies for right wing Wilf Paiement and left wing Pat Hickey. In 35 games with the Maple Leafs that season, Mr. McDonald had 15 goals and 15 assists; Mr. Quenneville had 1 goal and 4 assists in 32 games with Toronto that season. Mr. Paiement had 10 goals and 16 assists in 34 games with Colorado, while Mr. Hickey, who had started the season with the New York Rangers, scored 7 goals and 9 assists in 24 games with the Rockies. The trade prompted Toronto captain Darryl Sittler to rip the "C" off his uniform prior to that night’s game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Winnipeg Jets.

Winnipeg 1 @ Toronto 6

Bob Stephenson, acquired five days earlier from the Hartford Whalers in a trade for Pat Boutette, scored a goal and was named the third star in his fifth NHL game and first game as a Maple Leaf, on the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast. He wore jersey #15, formerly worn by Mr. Boutette.

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
Philadelphia 17 @ Tampa Bay 24

See video.

AFC Divisional Playoff
Houston 17 @ San Diego 14

See video.

25 years ago
1984

Died on this date
Leo Robin, 84. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Robin worked in Tin Pan Alley in New York and later, in Hollywood, from the 1920s through the 1950s. He was best known for his collaborations with Ralph Rainger, most notably Thanks for the Memory, which was from the movie The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938), and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Mr. Robin died of heart failure.

Indus Arthur, 43. U.S. actress. Miss Arthur had guest roles in numerous television programs in the 1960s and 1970s, and small roles in movies such as The Slender Thread (1965) and MASH (1970). She died of skin cancer.

Politics and government
The Congress Party, led by Rajiv Gandhi, won 401 of 508 seats in the Indian general election. The election occurred two months after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rajiv’s mother.

Football
NFL
AFC Divisional Playoff
Seattle 10 @ Miami 31

NFC Divisional Playoff
New York Giants 10 @ San Francisco 21

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (5th week at #1)

War
The United Nations Security Council voted 75-20, with 39 abstentions, to "strongly deplore" the U.S. invasion of Panama.

Politics and government
The Czechoslovakian Parliament elected Vaclav Havel, leader of the opposition group Civic Forum, President, without opposition.

Protest
Riots broke-out after Hong Kong decided to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.

Health
Canada became the first country in the world to ban smoking on domestic airlines.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the leading economic indicators had edged upward 0.1% in November. The stock exchanges closed on the last day of trading for the year, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 2753.20, up 27% for the year. Standard & Poor’s index of 500 stocks was also up 27% for the year. The American Stock Exchange index was up 23%, and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market composite index posted a 19% gain for 1989.

The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hit its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.

Sport
NHL star centre Wayne Gretzky was named Male Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press, with tennis star Martina Navratilova being named Woman Athlete of the Decade.

10 years ago
1999

Economics and finance
The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.

December 28, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Heather Pick!

350 years ago
1659

War
Maratha Empire forces defeated Adil Shahi forces in the Battle of Kolhapur in India.

220 years ago
1789

Born on this date
Catharine Sedgwick. U.S. authoress. Miss Sedgwick was popular from the 1820s through the 1850s, writing novels and short stories featuring heroines who combined American patriotism with rebellion against Puritan conventions. She died on July 31, 1867 at the age of 77.

150 years ago
1859

Died on this date
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, 59. U.K. historian and politician. Lord Macaulay was best known for the five-volume The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (1848-1861), which promulgated the Whig view of history as a story of progress from superstition and oppression toward greater liberty and enlightenment. He served on the Supreme Council of India (1834-1838), and issued his Minute on Indian Education (1835), urging Western education on India. Lord Macaulay's other offices included Secretary at War (1839-1841) and Paymaster General (1846-1848). He died of a heart attack.

140 years ago
1869

Technology
William F. Semple patented chewing gum.

130 years ago
1879

Disasters
Gales plunged a railway bridge and passenger train on the Tay Bridge over the Silvery Tay, near Dundee, Scotland, into icy waters, killing 75. The bridge collapsed after the central spans gave way.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
Johannes Rydberg, 65. Swedish physicist. Professor Rydberg was known for devising the Rydberg formula, in 1888, which is used to describe the wavelengths of photons (of light and other electromagnetic radiation) emitted by changes in the energy level of an electron in a hydrogen atom. He died after several years of declining health.

80 years ago
1929

Born on this date
Terry Sawchuk. Canadian hockey goaltender. Mr. Sawchuk played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings (1949-55; 1957-64; 1968-69); Boston Bruins (1955-57); Toronto Maple Leafs (1964-67); Los Angeles Kings (1967-68); and New York Rangers (1969-70). He played for 4 Stanley Cup championship teams (Detroit, 1952; 1954; 1955; Toronto, 1967), and made the first or second NHL all-star team seven times. In his first 5 full seasons (1950-55), he never had a goals against average of higher than 1.98. Probably the peak of his career was the 1951-52 season, when he played all 70 regular season games, recording 12 shutouts, and added 4 shutouts and posted a goals against average of 0.62 as the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup with an 8-game sweep of the 2 playoff rounds. Mr. Sawchuk’s total of 103 regular season shutouts seemed unbeatable until Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils passed him in December 2009. Mr. Sawchuk was still active with the New York Rangers when he died on May 31, 1970, reportedly after being injured during a bout of "horseplay" with teammate Ron Stewart shortly after the Rangers had been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round.

70 years ago
1939

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Ben Wright and Eric Snowden
Tonight’s episode: The Case of the Bandaged Bridegroom

Died on this date
Hervey Allen, 60. U.S. author. Mr. Allen was best known for his novel Anthony Adverse (1933). He had completed the first three novels in a series about colonial America titled The Disinherited when he died of a heart attack, 20 days after his 60th birthday.

Jack Lovelock, 39. N.Z. runner and physician. Dr. Lovelock set a British Empire record for the one-mile run in 1932, and set a world record of 4:07.36 in the mile in 1933. He won the gold medal in the mile at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, and won the gold medal in the men's 1,500-metre run at the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. Dr. Lovelock was thrown from a horse in 1940, and was thereafter subject to attacks of dizziness. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II, and moved to the United States after the war, practicing medicine at Manhattan Hospital in New York City. Dr. Lovelock fell onto subway tracks while waiting for a train, apparently after suffering another dizzy spell, and was killed, eight days before his 40th birthday.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Harry Truman announced American recognition of the United States of Indonesia, appointing H. Merle Cochran as the first U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia.

Hungary freed American Joint Distribution Committee official Isrel Jacobson after questioning him for several days on suspicion of espionage.

Politics and government
Syrian President Hashem al-Atassi appointed a new cabinet, excluding representation of the People's Party and other politicians accused by the Army of favouring union with Iraq.

Medicine
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced plans for a series of one-week courses for physicians on the hazards of atomic warfare.

Economics and finance
France abolished quotas on most food and manufactured items.

Business
Sears, Roebuck issued its annual catalogue, with price reductions averaging 10%. Proctor & Gamble reduced household soap prices by 4%.

Labour
The Southern Coal Producers Association filed an unfair practices suit against the United Mine Workers of America with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the union of violating the Taft-Hartley Act by refusing to bargain in good faith and seeking to impose union-shop conditions.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): La Canción de Orfeo--Gloria Lasso

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Why--Frankie Avalon
2 El Paso--Marty Robbins
3 The Big Hurt--Miss Toni Fisher
4 It's Time to Cry--Paul Anka
5 Way Down Yonder in New Orleans--Freddie Cannon
6 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
7 Among My Souvenirs--Connie Francis
8 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin
9 Hound Dog Man--Fabian
10 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence

Singles entering the chart were He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves (#58); Mary Don't You Weep by Stonewall Jackson (#61); No Love Have I by Webb Pierce (#67); Where or When by Dion and the Belmonts (#72); Down by the Station by the Four Preps (#78); Bonnie Came Back by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#83); Handy Man by Jimmy Jones (#87); Promise Me a Rose (A Slight Detail) (#88)/Do-Re-Mi (#94) by Anita Bryant; Lonely Blue Boy by Conway Twitty (#89); Honey Hush by Joe Turner (#91); Little Things Mean a Lot by Joni James (#93); Harlem Nocturne by the Viscounts (#98); The Sound of Music by Patti Page (#99); and Darling Lorraine by the Knockouts (#100). The Sound of Music was the title song of the musical.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 El Paso--Marty Robbins (2nd week at #1)
2 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
3 The Big Hurt--Miss Toni Fisher
4 Hound Dog Man/This Friendly World--Fabian
5 Marina--Willy Alberti
--Rocco Granata and the International Quintet
6 Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Drifters
--David Hill
7 In the Mood--Ernie Fields Orchestra
8 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence
9 Among My Souvenirs/God Bless America--Connie Francis
10 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin

Singles entering the chart were Clouds by the Spacemen (#30); Where or When by Dion and the Belmonts (#34); How About That? by Dee Clark (#39); Let's Try Again by Clyde McPhatter (#44); Little Coco Palm by Jerry Wallace (#45); The Golden Rule by 'Cile Turner (#49); Tracy's Theme by Spencer Ross (#50); He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves (#51); Climb Ev'ry Mountain by Tony Bennett (#52); All in Good Time by the Nelson Trio (#54); Honeymoon Song by Manuel (#55); There's Still Time Brother by Bill Courtney (#56); Christopher Sunday/China Doll by the Ames Brothers (#57); 'Til Tomorrow by the Four Aces (#58); You Deserve by Peggy Lee (#59); and Until Tomorrow by Richard Wolfe (#60). Tracy's Theme was from the made-for-television movie The Philadelphia Story (1959); Spencer Ross was a pseudonym of Robert Mersey.

Died on this date
Ante Pavelić, 70. Croatian military officer and politician. General Pavelić founded the Croatian fascist nationalist organization Ustaše in 1929, and governed the "Independent State of Croatia"--a Nazi-Fascist puppet state--using the title of Poglavnik from 1941-1945. He was responsible for assassinations--including King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934--and genocides against Serbs, Jews, and other peoples. Gen. Pavelić was able to escape Europe after World War II and fled to Argentina, where he organized a Croatian government-in-exile. He was severely wounded in an assassination attempt in 1957 and eventually moved to Spain, where he died of the effects of his wounds.

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle announced its awards for 1959, naming Ben-Hur as Best Picture. The other winners were: Director--Fred Zinnemann (The Nun's Story); Actor--James Stewart (Anatomy of a Murder); Actress--Audrey Hepburn (The Nun's Story); Screenplay--Wendell Mayes (Anatomy of a Murder); Foreign Language Film--The 400 Blows.

War
The U.S.S.R. charged that a South Korean warship had attacked an unarmed Soviet hydrographic vessel 30 miles off the east coast of North Korea and 36 miles north of the demarcation line.

Protest
African crowds in Leopoldville protested the arrival of King Baudoin of Belgium on an inspection tour.

Economics and finance
Quebec Labour Minister Antonio Barrette announced an increase in the province's minimum wage effective January 1, 1960. The increase brought the minimum wage to 69c per hour in the Montreal region, 62c for the Quebec region, and 57c for small cities, for an overall increase of 15c per hour.

Business
The U.S. Justice Department sued in a U.S. federal court in New York to upset alleged price-fixing and exclusive representation agreements made by French automobile manufacturers Renault and Peugeot with 16 import firms in the United States.

40 years ago
1969

Football
NFL
Eastern Conference Championship
Cleveland 38 @ Dallas 14

Bill Nelsen completed 18 of 27 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown as the Century Division champion Browns easily beat the Capitol Division champion Cowboys in front of a disappointed crowd of 69,321 at the Cotton Bowl (see videos here and here). Bo Scott scored twice on 2-yard runs, and Leroy Kelly rushed 1 yard for a Cleveland touchdown. Mr. Nelsen threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Milt Morin, and Walt Sumner returned an interception 88 yards for another Cleveland touchdown. Don Cockroft converted all 5 and added a field goal. Dallas quarterback Craig Morton rushed 2 yards for a touchdown, and backup quarterback Roger Staubach completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Lance Rentzel late in the game for another touchdown, both of which were converted by Mike Clark. Mr. Morton had a terrible game, completing just 8 of 24 passes for 92 yards and 2 interceptions, while Mr. Staubach was 4 for 5 for 44 yards. Paul Warfield of the Browns led all receivers with 8 receptions for 99 yards, while Mr. Kelly rushed 19 times for 66 yards.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Oh! Susie--Secret Service (11th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Maybe--Thom Pace (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (7th week at #1)

War
15,000 more Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, two days after an initial force of 5,000 had invaded. Two overland routes were used by several mechanized Soviet divisions to cross the border. Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev sent a cable to U.S. President Jimmy Carter in which he said that Afghanistan had invited the U.S.S.R. to intervene.

Politics and government
U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced his withdrawal from a forum with his rivals for the 1980 Democratic Party U.S. presidential nomination that had been scheduled for January 7 in Des Moines prior to the Iowa caucus on January 21. Mr. Carter said that the hostage crisis in Iran made an appearance at a partisan political event inappropriate. California Governor Jerry Brown and Senator Ted Kennedy charged that President Carter had withdrawn in order to keep attention away from them and from economic issues.

Lord Soames, British Governor General of Rhodesia, who had been commissioned to guide the country to majority Negro rule, set national elections for February 1980.

Oil
Several countries, including Venezuela, Libya, Indonesia, and Iraq, announced price increases of 10-15%. Experts estimated the aggregate increases in prices for the month at about 8%, making the increase for the year of 1979 approximately 80%.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 5 Vancouver 3

25 years ago
1984

On television today
The Edge of Night, the only soap opera that this blogger ever regularly watched, was broadcast for the last time on ABC. The show had its origin with the Perry Mason radio series; when the move was made to television, it split into two shows. Perry Mason emphasized the legal and crime-solving aspects of the show, while The Edge of Night which made its television debut on April 2, 1956, remained as a soap opera, although with more of an emphasis on crime and mystery than the usual soap opera. The show moved to ABC on December 1, 1975. From 1968-1983 the head writer was Henry Slesar, who had written scripts for Alfred Hitchcock’s TV shows, as well as stories for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Mr. Slesar won an Emmy Award for his efforts in 1974. The series was carried for many years in Canada on CBC, but that network broadcast its last episode on September 10, 1982. If I’m not mistaken, The Edge of Night was the last soap opera to occupy a half-hour time slot.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Ryyd-joulu--Bat & Ryyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Do They Know It's Christmas?--Band Aid II (3rd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 singles of 1989
1 Straight Up--Paula Abdul
2 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals
3 The Look--Roxette
4 Like a Prayer--Madonna
5 Wild Thing--Tone Loc
6 Buffalo Stance--Neneh Cherry
7 On Our Own--Bobby Brown
8 Wind Beneath My Wings--Bette Midler
9 Cold Hearted--Paula Abdul
10 You Got It--Roy Orbison

Canada's Top 10 albums of 1989
1 The Raw & the Cooked--Fine Young Cannibals
2 Forever Your Girl--Paula Abdul
3 Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli
4 Like a Prayer--Madonna
5 Volume One--Traveling Wilburys
6 Don't be Cruel--Bobby Brown
7 Appetite for Destruction--Guns 'n' Roses
8 Full Moon Fever--Tom Petty
9 Alannah Myles--Alannah Myles
10 Mystery Girl--Roy Orbison

Died on this date
Hermann Oberth, 95. Austro-Hungarian born German physicist and engineer. Dr. Oberth was one of the founders of modern rocketry, with his short book Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (By Rocket into Planetary Space) (1923) one of the most influential works in the field. A young Wernher von Braun was one of his assistants in the early 1930s.

Politics and government
The Parliament of Czechoslovakia elected Alexander Dubcek as its speaker.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Clayton Moore, 85. U.S. actor. Mr. Moore, a bit player in movies for a decade, became famous playing the Lone Ranger on television (1949-1952, 1954-1957). He was fired from the series in a salary dispute in 1952, but was brought back two years later. Mr. Moore also played the character in two feature films. He died of a heart attack.