January 1, 2009

300 years ago
1709

War
French troops commanded by Philippe Pasteur de Costebelle took St. John's, Newfoundland.

270 years ago
1739

Exploration
Bouvet Island, the world's remotest island, was discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.

160 years ago
1849

Academia
King's College in Toronto was secularized, becoming the nondenominational University of Toronto.

Communications
New Brunswick Electric Telegraph began service.

Journalism
The comic journal Punch in Canada began publication.

125 years ago
1884

Born on this date
Tom Downey. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Downey was an infielder with the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911); Philadelphia Phillies (1912); Chicago Cubs (1912); and Buffalo Blues (1914-1915), batting .240 with 7 home runs and 188 runs batted in in 651 games. He played 10 seasons in the minor leagues (1902-1919), and died on August 3, 1961 at the age of 77.

110 years ago
1899

Caribbeana
Spanish rule ended in Cuba.

Communications
Canada agreed on Imperial Penny Postage; a letter could be delivered anywhere within British Empire for 2 cents. The stamp was designed by Postmaster General Sir William Mulock.

Business
Kootenay Railway & Navigation acquired the International Navigation & Trading Company and the Kaslo and Slocan Railway.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Stepan Bandera. Ukrainian nationalist leader. Mr. Bandera was a leader in the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) who served time in prison in Poland (which then ruled eastern Ukraine) in the 1930s before being freed after the German invasion in 1939. Mr. Bandera, who believed that a German invasion was the best hope for an independent Ukraine, collaborated with the Nazis. Shortly after declaring Ukrainian independence in June 1941, Mr. Bandera's faction of the OUN participated in pogroms in 1941 which resulted in the murder of 4,000 Jews. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler was less than enthusiastic about Ukrainian independence, and had Mr. Bandera thrown into prison for the next three years. Mr. Bandera moved to Munich after World War II and organized the OUN abroad. On October 15, 1959 he was assassinated on the orders of the KGB at the entrance to his apartment building by Bohdan Stashynsky.

Dana Andrews. U.S. actor. Mr. Andrews was one of the most prominent, if underrated, actors of the 1940s, appearing in such movies as The Ox-Bow Incident (1943); Laura (1944); State Fair (1945); A Walk in the Sun (1945); The Best Years of Our Lives (1946); Boomerang! (1947); The Iron Curtain (1948); Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950); While the City Sleeps (1956); Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956); Night of the Demon (1957); The Fearmakers (1958); and Hot Rods to Hell (1967). He also starred as Matt Cvetic in the radio series I Was a Communist for the FBI (1952-1953). Mr. Andrews died on December 17, 1992, 15 days before his 84th birthday.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
Mikhail Drozdovsky, 37. Russian military officer. General Drozdovsky served with the Imperial Russian Army in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. He was a monarchist and opposed the Bolshevik regime, and was one of the leaders of White Russian forces during the Russian Civil War. Gen. Drozdovsky died of wounds suffered several months earlier in a battle near Stavropol.

Disasters
270 people were killed when the British yacht Iolaire sank off Scotland.

Football
Tournament East-West Football Game (Rose Bowl) @ Tournament Park, Pasadena
Great Lakes Navy 17 Mare Island 0

George Halas caught a 32-yard touchdown pass and returned an interception 77 yards to lead the Bluejackets over the Marines before 25,000 fans in the second consecutive and last Tournament East-West Football Game (Rose Bowl) to be played between armed services teams.

80 years ago
1929

Vancouverana
The former municipalities of Point Grey and South Vancouver were amalgamated into Vancouver.

Football
NCAA
Rose Bowl
Georgia Tech 8 California 7

The difference in the game, played before 70,000 fans, was a safety touch scored by Georgia Tech on a blocked punt through the California end zone in the 2nd quarter, coming after California's Roy Riegels had recovered a Georgia Tech fumble and returned it almost 60 yards the wrong way, finally being thrown down by a teammate at his own 1-yard line.



75 years ago
1934

Law
Alcatraz Island became a United States federal prison.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Teresa--Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys (9th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys (8th week at #1)
--The Dinning Sisters
--Betty Rhodes
2 On a Slow Boat to China--Kay Kyser Orchestra
--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
--Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Art Lund
3 My Darling, My Darling--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae with the Starlighters
--Doris Day and Buddy Clark
4 All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)--Spike Jones and his City Slickers
5 Until--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
6 You were Only Fooling (While I was Falling in Love)--Blue Barron and his Orchestra
--The Ink Spots
--Kay Starr
7 Twelfth Street Rag--Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra
8 Cuanto la Gusta--Carmen Miranda and the Andrews Sisters
9 Maybe You'll Be There--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
10 A Little Bird Told Me--Evelyn Knight and the Stardusters
--Paula Watson
--Blue Lu Barker

Singles entering the chart were the version of A Little Bird Told Me by Blue Lu Barker and So Tired by Russ Morgan and his Orchestra (#32).

War
A United Nations cease-fire took effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight; war between India and Pakistan stopped accordingly.

Egyptian ships bombarded Tel Aviv in an unsuccessful attempt to impose a blockade on Israel.

New Zealandiana
New Zealand took possession of the formerly British Tokelau (Union) Islands, 300 miles north of Samoa.

Economics and finance
Poland eliminated all rationing.

Disasters
Heavy snowfall in Iran caused 60 deaths, as earthen houses collapsed in Tehran and other cities.

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
Southern Methodist 21 Oregon 13

Rose Bowl
Northwestern 20 California 14

Orange Bowl
Texas 41 Georgia 28

Sugar Bowl
Oklahoma 14 North Carolina 6

Gator Bowl
Clemson 24 Missouri 23

50 years ago
1959

Abominations
Cuban President Fulgencio Batista fled the country as Fidel Castro and his followers arrived in Havana and began a dictatorship over Cuba that continues to this day.

Diplomacy
U.S.S.R. leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Klementi Voroshilov, in a New Year's message to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, expressed hope for an end to the Cold War and the arms race "with the aim of reducing nuclear tensions."

Tibet's Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, in a New year's message to Communist Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong, pledged renewed efforts "to build the new Tibet and great Socialist [Chinese] motherland."

Politics and government
The French Cameroons, a United Nations trusteeship territory, was granted full internal autonomy as a preliminary to full independence.

U.A.R. President Gamal Nasser ordered the arrest of 200 Egyptian Communist leaders and the closing of two Cairo printing firms funded by the U.S.S.R. and the People's Republic of China.

Energy
The Euratom treaty went into effect for West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Economics and finance
The European Common Market treaty went into effect for West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

The National Hospital Insurance Plan went into effect in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
Texas Christian 0 Air Force 0

Rose Bowl
Iowa 38 California 12

Orange Bowl
Oklahoma 21 Syracuse 6

Sugar Bowl
Louisiana State 7 Clemson 0

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da--The Marmalade

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 White Room--Cream
2 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee
3 Hey Jude/Revolution--The Beatles
4 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
5 Hold Me Tight--Johnny Nash
6 Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin
7 Chewy Chewy--Ohio Express
8 (The Lament of the Cherokee) Indian Reservation--Don Fardon
9 Elenore/Surfer Dan--The Turtles
10 All Along the Watchtower--The Jimi Hendrix Experience

The only single entering the chart was For Once in My Life by Stevie Wonder (#39).

Died on this date
Barton MacLane, 66. U.S. actor. Mr. MacLane was a character actor in movies from the 1930s through the 1950s, often as a "heavy." He played Marshal Frank Caine in the Western television series Outlaws (1960-1961), and played General Martin Peterson in the comedy series I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1969). Mr. MacLane died of double pneumonia, a week after his 66th birthday.

War
Israeli forces began two days of exchanges of fire with Lebanese troops and Arab guerrillas in the wake of Israel's commando raid on Beirut's airport a few days earlier.

The Viet Cong released three U.S. Army prisoners of war 51 miles northwest of Saigon.

Politics and government
President Ludvig Svoboda inaugurated the new Czech and Slovak federal government, in which Oldrich Cernik was again named Premier and Alexander Dubcek kept his post as First Secretary of the Communist Party.

Protest
Roman Catholic students in Northern Ireland began a four-day march from Belfast to Londonderry to protest discrimination in housing, voting, and employment.

Yellowknifiana
The Old Stope Hotel, an Old Town landmark, burned down; the huge cloud of black and gray smoke darkened an otherwise sunny sky in spectacular fashion. It was in the lobby of The Old Stope that Joseph Drybones was found drunk one night in 1967 and charged with a violation of the Indian Act. The subsequent court case resulted in a ruling that the Canadian Bill of Rights took precedence over the Indian Act--the only such ruling regarding the Bill of Rights in history.

Canadiana
Halifax annexed five western suburbs, increasing the city's population to 123,000.

Disasters
14 people were killed and 35 injured in a collision between a bus and a truck on the Cairo-Suez Canal highway.

11 farm workers were killed and 12 injured when a freight train hit a truck at Afyon, Turkey.

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
Texas 36 Tennessee 13

Rose Bowl
Ohio State 27 Southern California 16

Orange Bowl
Pennsylvania State 15 Kansas 14



Sugar Bowl
Arkansas 16 Georgia 2

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Y.M.C.A.--Village People (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Chameleon Army--Pink Lady (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Tú--Umberto Tozzi (5th week at #1)

Abominations
The United States established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, while severing relations with Taiwan. Republic of China President Chiang Ching-kuo called for the reconquest of China by his country, and rejected the People's Republic's offer of a resumption of trade and other ties with the Communist Chinese.

Albertana
The towns of Coleman and Blairmore, Villages of Bellevue and Frank, and Improvement District No.5 were amalgamated into new Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.

Labour
Québec's maternity leave policy went into effect; new mothers were entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, with the guarantee that their jobs would be held for them.

Disasters
The Greek supertanker Andros Patria cracked its hull off northeastern Spain, and the 30 crewmen who abandoned ship were reported missing.

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
Notre Dame 35 Houston 34

With Notre Dame down by 22 points in the fourth quarter of the frigid Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Joe Montana staged his greatest collegiate comeback, coming off the bench and leading the Fighting Irish to victory over the Cougars with a touchdown pass to Kris Haines with no time left on the clock.



Rose Bowl
Southern California 17 Michigan 10



Orange Bowl
Oklahoma 31 Nebraska 24

Sugar Bowl
Alabama 14 Pennsylvania State 7

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: Come Back and Stay--Paul Young (5th week at #1)

World events
Brunei became independent of the United Kingdom.

War
Leftist guerrillas blew up the largest bridge in El Salvador and routed several national guardsmen in the process, as rebel-operated radio said that the attack marked the beginning of a new offensive.

Business
American Telephone & Telegraph was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.

Football
NFL
AFC Divisional Playoff
Pittsburgh 10 @ Los Angeles Raiders 38

NFC Divisional Playoff
Los Angeles Rams 7 @ Washington 51

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Teardrops--Womack & Womack (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Orinoco Flow--Enya (4th week at #1)

Environment
The Montreal Protocol came into force, stopping the use of chemicals contributing to ozone depletion.

Economics and finance
The Canada-U.S. free trade agreement went into effect, cutting or eliminating tariffs on trade over a 10-year period, and setting up a dispute settlement mechanism.

Disasters
A ferry ran out of fuel and sank off the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, resulting in the deaths of 79 of the 120 people aboard.

Football
NFL
AFC Divisional Playoff
Houston 10 @ Buffalo 17

Quarterback Jim Kelly led drives that resulted in touchdowns for Robb Riddick and Thurman Thomas as the Bills defeated the Oilers before 79,532 fans at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, New York in a game that featured several missed field goals and turnovers.

NFC Divisional Playoff
Minnesota 9 @ San Francisco 34

Joe Montana passed for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns to Jerry Rice, while Roger Craig rushed for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns as the 49ers easily beat the Vikings before 61,848 fans at Candlestick Park.

10 years ago
1999

Economics and finance
The euro currency was introduced in 11 member nations of the European Union (with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Sweden; Greece later adopted the euro).

Disasters
An avalanche destroyed a school gymnasium and community centre during New Year's celebrations in the Inuit village of Kangiqsualujjuaq, Quebec, killing 9 of the 500 celebrants.