January 11, 2009

800 years ago
1209

Born on this date
Möngke Khan. Khagan of the Mongol Empire, 1251-1259. Möngke Khan was the son of Tolui and the grandson of Genghis Khan, and succeeded Güyük Khan on the throne. Möngke Khan made administrative reforms, and his troops conquered Iraq, Syria, and the Kingdom of Dali in what is now China. He died of dysentery or cholera on August 10, 1259 at the age of 50 while waging war against China, and was succeeded on the throne by his younger brother Kublai Khan.

440 years ago
1569

Economics and finance
The first recorded lottery in England took place.

250 years ago
1759

Business
The first American life insurance company, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers, was incorporated in Philadelphia by the Presbyterian Synod.

230 years ago
1779

Indianica
Ching-Thang Khomba was crowned King of Manipur.

130 years ago
1879

War
The Anglo-Zulu War began in South Africa.

100 years ago
1909

Diplomacy
U.K. Ambassador to the United States James Bryce and U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root signed the Boundary Waters Treaty in Washington, D.C. to regulate the diversion and impounding of cross-boundary streams. The International Joint Commission was set up to review all projects; immediately affected were the St. Mary River and Milk River irrigation schemes in southern Alberta.

80 years ago
1929

Died on this date
Elfrida Andrée, 87. Swedish musician and composer. Miss Andrée became the organist at Gothenburg Cathedral in 1867, and was appointed cantor in 1908, holding the positions until her death. She wrote orchestral, chamber, and vocal works, and many works for organ and piano.

60 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Nelson Doubleday, 59. U.S. publisher. Mr. Doubleday, the son of publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday, founded his own publishing company, but joined his father's firm after World War I, and became chairman of the board after the death of his father in 1934. Mr. Doubleday's son Nelson, Jr. succeeded him, and served as president of Doubleday and Company from 1978-1986.

Television
The first "networked" television broadcasts took place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh went on the air, connecting East Coast and Midwest programming in the United States.

Diplomacy
The United States refused a Hungarian request to return the 950-year-old Crown of St. Stephen, held by American authorities in Germany after being recovered from the Nazis.

Defense
The U.S. Air Force announced the cancellation of $300 million in orders for jet fighters and other light planes in favour of long-range B-29 bombers.

Politics and government
The Argentine government issued the draft of a revised constitution favoured by President Juan Peron, allowing Mr. Peron to succeed himself at the end of his term.

Crime
An all-white jury in Lyons, Georgia acquitted William Howell, a white man, of murder in the death of Robert Mallard, a local Negro.

Transportation
The Cunard liner RMS Caronia, the largest passenger ship built since World War II, completed her maiden voyage, a week after departing Southampton for New York.

Weather
San Diego was blanketed with the first snowfall in its recorded history as a two-week cold wave gripped the west coast of the United States, causing extensive damage to citrus crops.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): When--The Kalin Twins (18th week at #1)

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Morning After, starring Robert Alda, Jeanette Nolan, Dorothy Provine, and Fay Wray

Died on this date
Edward Bibring, 64. Austro-Hungarian-born U.S. psychiatrist. Dr. Bibring joined the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1925, and was closely associated with Sigmund Freud. He and his wife, fellow psychoanalyst Grete Bibring, emigrated to the United States in 1941. Dr. Bibring wrote articles about instincts and the repetition compulsion, but suffered from writer's block in later years.

Space
Moscow radio reported that Professor Aleksandre Khabarov, a Soviet astronomer, was working on a map of the Moon to be used for the first landing of a manned rocket. The report said the Prof. Khabarov had put several years of study into the project and that it contained all current knowledge of the Moon's relief. The report didn't say anything about when an attempt might be made to put a manned rocket on the Moon.

World events
77 aides of former Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, who had fled the country 12 days earlier before the advance of Fidel Castro's guerrilla revolution, were reported to have taken refuge in 12 Latin American embassies in Havana.

Politics and government
Maltese nationalist leader Borg Olivier called for a campaign to force the United Kingdom to grant Malta full independence.

Society
South Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem put into effect a family-rights law abolishing polygamy.

Americana
It was reported by Associated Press that Japan's flag manufacturers were busy making the new 49-star flag for export to the United States and for American troops stationed in Japan. They hoped to salvage about half their stock of old 48-star flags, which had become outdated with Alaska's admission to the Union as the 49th state on January 3, by re-dyeing and other methods.

Football
Pro Bowl @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
East 28 West 21

72,250 fans saw the East score 12 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to defeat the West.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): White Room--Cream/Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Little Arrows--Leapy Lee (9th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Casatchok--Dimitri Dourakine and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Zum zum zum--Sylvie Vartan (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heidschi Bumbeidschi--Heintje (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Quick Joey Small--Real McCoy

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Lily the Pink--The Scaffold (5th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Hair--Zen (2nd week at #1)
2 Lily the Pink--The Scaffold
3 Eloise--Barry Ryan
4 Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da--The Marmalade
5 Ain't Got No--I Got Life--Nina Simone
6 Battle Hymn of the Republic--Andy Williams with the St. Charles Borromeo Choir
7 Lea--The Cats
8 Jerushala'im Shel Zahav--Rika Zarai
9 In the Beginning--Boots
10 Son-of-a Preacher Man--Dusty Springfield

Singles entering the chart were Antoinette by Leo Den Hop (#28); Drinke Totteme Zinke (Lily the Pink) by Thijs Van Der Molen (#32); Get Yourself a Ticket by Roek's Family (#35); I'm Gonna Make You Love Me by Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations (#36); A Minute of Your Time by Tom Jones (#38); and Toy by the Casuals (#40).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 I Heard it Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye (5th week at #1)
2 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me--Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations
3 Wichita Lineman--Glen Campbell
4 Soulful Strut--Young-Holt Unlimited
5 Hooked on a Feeling--B.J. Thomas
6 Cloud Nine--The Temptations
7 For Once in My Life--Stevie Wonder
8 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells
9 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
10 I Love How You Love Me--Bobby Vinton

Singles entering the chart were Games People Play by Joe South (#91); If I Only Had Time by Nick DeCaro (#95); Riot by Hugh Masakela (#97); and Tragedy by Brian Hyland (#98).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Heard it Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye (4th week at #1)
2 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me--Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations
3 Wichita Lineman--Glen Campbell
4 Soulful Strut--Young-Holt Unlimited
5 Stormy--Classics IV
6 I Love How You Love Me--Bobby Vinton
7 For Once in My Life--Stevie Wonder
8 Cloud Nine--The Temptations
9 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
10 Hooked on a Feeling--B.J. Thomas

Singles entering the chart were I Forgot to Be Your Lover by William Bell (#83); Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by Arthur Conley (#88); Take Care of Your Homework by Johnnie Taylor (#89); But You Know I Love You by the First Edition (#97); This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) by Tammi Terrell (#98); and Kum Ba Yah by Tommy Leonetti (#99).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 Beyond the Clouds--The Poppy Family
2 Twilight Woman--The 49th Parallel
3 Abraham, Martin and John--Dion
4 Elephant Candy--The Fun and Games
5 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee
6 Son-of-a Preacher Man--Dusty Springfield
7 Bella Linda--The Grass Roots
8 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me--Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations
9 Recipe for Love--The Dew Line
10 Of a Dropping Pin--The Guess Who?
Pick hit of the week: Crosstown Traffic--The Jimi Hendrix Experience

War
Viet Cong forces launched mortar attacks on towns and military bases, mostly in the Mekong Delta.

Protest
5,000 Roman Catholics demanding civil rights for themselves marched through Newly, Northern Ireland, defying a ban on the march, and clashing with police.

Under the leadership of Michel Blanchard, approximately 100 students at the Université de Moncton initiated a “sit-in” of the Science building, demanding 32 million dollars in increased federal funding for the university.

30 years ago
1979

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Exits and Entrances

Business
The Hudson's Bay Company acquired the Robert Simpson Company.

25 years ago
1984

War
A U.S. helicopter pilot was killed along the Honduran-Nicaraguan border by fire from Nicaraguan military units that downed his helicopter.

Diplomacy
Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang continued his visit to Washington by meeting with cabinet members and Congressional leaders, asking the latter to permit Communist Third World countries to receive most favourable trade and economic aid conditions.

The National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, head by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, submitted its report, endorsing most of the elements of the Central American policy of the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The report called for a comprehensive approach to economic development of the region involving both the Central American republics and the United States. The commission favoured both an outlay of $8 billion in economic aid over five years and a big increase in military aid to El Salvador. The report saw a serious threat to U.S. security from the involvement of Cuba and the U.S.S.R. in the region. Dr. Kissinger was among three members of the commission who dissented from the majority view that aid to El Salvador should be contingent on improvement in the nation's human rights record. The commission favoured military aid to Honduras, and possibly for Guatemala, and called for "the development of an open political system in Nicaragua." Mr. Reagan praised the report, bu some Democrats in Congress questioned the outlay of $8 billion at a time of high budget deficits.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Vingar--Mikael Rickfors (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Steady as She Goes

Politics and government
U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivered his farewell address to the nation, saying that he saw his administration as a time of "rediscovery of our values and our common sense." He described the country as "more prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago."



Defense
At a conference in Paris, representatives of 149 nations adopted a statement saying that they "solemnly affirm their commitments not to use chemical weapons and condemn such use." The statement reaffirmd the 1925 Geneva Protocol renouncing the use of chemical weapons in war.

Health
On the 25th anniversary of U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry's report on smoking and health, the current Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, issued his own report on the subject. He called the original report "the most significant health statement ever made by the government." The new report showed that lung cancer, not breast cancer, was the leading cause of cancer death among women, and that smoking was more common among blue-collar workers and less-educated people. The new report included a study from the American Cancer Society stating that cigarette smoking had claimed 390,000 lives in 1985, a figure higher than previous annual estimated totals.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Brian Moore, 77. Irish-born author. Mr. Moore, who moved to Canada in 1948 and eventually moved to the United States, was best known for his novels about life in Northern Ireland after World War II. His novels included Judith Hearne (1955); The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1960); and Black Robe (1985). Mr. Moore was also credited with the screenplay of Torn Curtain (1966), although he said it would have been more accurate to have credited director Alfred Hitchcock with writing the movie, "assisted by Brian Moore." Mr. Moore died of pulmonary fibrosis.

Toni Fisher, 74. U.S. singer. Miss Fisher was known for her single The Big Hurt, a major hit in late 1959-early 1960. She had a minor hit with West of the Wall (1962), a topical song about the Berlin Wall. Miss Fisher died of a heart attack.