January 15, 2009

1,940 years ago
69

Politics and government
Otho seized power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome. He ruled for only three months before committing suicide.

450 years ago
1559

Britannica
Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England at Westminster.

250 years ago
1759

Britannica
The British Museum opened in London.

175 years ago
1834

Born on this date
Samuel Arza Davenport. U.S. politician and journalist. Mr. Davenport, a lawyer by profession, was owner and publisher of the Erie Gazette (1865-1890). A Republican, he represented Pennsylvania's at-large district in the U.S. House of Representatives (1897-1901). Mr. Davenport died on August 1, 1911 at the age of 77.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Ruby Laffoon. U.S. politician. Mr. Laffoon, a Democrat and a nephew of U.S. Representative Polk Laffoon, was Governor of Kentucky from 1931-1935. He won a long battle to impose a sales tax to raise revenue during the Depression, but eventually lost an intra-party power struggle with Lieutenant Governor Happy Chandler. Mr. Laffoon died of a stroke on March 1, 1941 at the age of 72.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Mazo de la Roche. Canadian author and playwright. Miss de la Roche, a native of Newmarket, Ontario, was best known for the novel Jalna (1927) and 15 sequels and prequels through 1960. She died on July 12, 1961 at the age of 82.

120 years ago
1889

Business
The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Jean Bugatti. German-born French automotive engineer. Mr. Bugatti, the son of Automobiles E. Bugatti founder Ettore Bugatti, designed and tested cars for his father's company.
He was killed at the age of 30 on August 11, 1939; while taking a race car for a test drive, he crashed into a tree after striking a cyclist who had come onto the track through a hole in a fence.

Yefim Fomin. U.S.S.R. politician. Mr. Fomin was a Communist commissar who participated in the defense of Brest Fortress against the invasion of German forces from June 22-30, 1941. When the Germans finally overcame the resistance, Mr. Fomin was identified as a Jew and a Communist, and was immediately shot on June 30, 1941 at the age of 32..

Gene Krupa. U.S. musician. Mr. Krupa was a jazz drummer who performed with various bands and led his own band in a career spanning more than 40 years. He became famous in the 1930s while with Benny Goodman's band; his solo on Sing, Sing, Sing (1937) influenced the use of the drummer as a soloist. Mr. Krupa also pioneered the definition of the standard drum set. He had a couple of well-publicized convictions for marijuana possession in the 1940s--one of which resulted in exoneration after it was proved that he had been framed--and died after a long illness on October 16, 1973 at the age of 64.

Died on this date
Nick Mathewson, 22. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Mathewson, the younger brother of New York Giants' ace Christy Mathewson and former Giants' pitcher Hank Mathewson, was tutored by his brother in pitching, and was to have played with the Nashville Volunteers of the Southern Association in 1909. He was a student at Lafayette College, and had been ill at home in Scranton, Pennsylvania for about two weeks when he fatally shot himself in a neighbour's barn. It was thought that overstudy had caused his physical and then mental breakdown.

Agriculture
The Society of Equity and the Alberta Farmers' Association merged, becoming the United Farmers of Alberta.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
Rosa Luxemburg, 47; Karl Liebknecht, 47. German political activists. Miss Luxemburg and Mr. Liebknecht were members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), but split from the SPD and co-founded the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. They were executed by the Freikorps wen the Spartacist uprising was crushed.

World events
Six days after the Spartacist uprising of Communist shock troops had occupied various German government buildings in Berlin, the uprising was crushed by government and Freikorps forces.

Disasters
A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank swept through Boston, killing 21 people and injuring 150.



80 years ago
1929

At the movies
The Canary Murder Case, directed by Malcolm St. Clair, and starring William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Hall, and Louise Brooks, opened in theatres in London.



Born on this date
Martin Luther King, Jr.. U.S. clergyman and civil rights activist. "Dr." King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. I'm not going to talk about the facts that his real name was Michael King; that he plagiarized on a grand scale in "earning" his doctorate; that his "non-violent" approach often seemed to produce violence; that he deliberately surrounded himself with Communist aides; and that he liked to have sex with prostitutes and beat up women. Alan Stang does a very good job of talking about these facts here and here.

75 years ago
1934

Music
Arnold Bax's Symphony No. 5 received its premiere performance.



70 years ago
1939

Football
NFL
All-Star Game @ Wrigley Field, Los Angeles
New York 13 All-Stars 10

15,000 fans saw the 1938 champion Giants defeat the All-Stars in the first annual NFL All-Star Game. The All-Stars were coached by Ray Flaherty of the Washington Redskins and Gus Henderson of the Detroit Lions.

60 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys; Gene Autry (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys (10th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys (10th 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 A Little Bird Told Me--Evelyn Knight and the Stardusters
--Blue Lu Barker
--Paula Watson
4 My Darling, My Darling--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae with the Starlighters
--Doris Day and Buddy Clark
5 Maybe You'll Be There--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
6 Until--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
7 Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Dinah Shore
8 Twelfth Street Rag--Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra
9 Far Away Places--Margaret Whiting and the Crew Chiefs
--Bing Crosby
--Perry Como
10 You were Only Fooling (While I was Falling in Love)--Blue Barron and his Orchestra
--The Ink Spots
--Kay Starr

No new singles entered the chart.

On the radio
Tales of Fatima, starring Basil Rathbone, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Mystery at Mirador

Theatre
Harvey closed at the 48th Street Theatre on Broadway in New York after 1,775 performances since November 1, 1944.

War
Chinese Communist forces completed their conquest of the northern industrial city of Tientsin, leaving Peking and Taiyuan as the only cities north of the Yangtze River still in Nationalist hands.

Greek government forces drove guerrillas from the Macedonian town of Maoussa after a two-day battle.

The U.S. Army 24th Corps, the occupation force in South Korea since the Japanese surrender in 1945, was deactivated in Seoul.

Politics and government
Greek Prime Minister Themistocles Sophoulis resigned as a result of cabinet disputes over social reforms, military appointments, and composition of the governing coalition.

Aviation
Flight Officer J. A. F. Jolicouer piloted a North Star in the first non-stop trans-Canada flight, going from Vancouver to Halifax in 8 hours 32 minutes.

Hockey
NHL
Maurice "Rocket" Richard of the Montreal Canadiens scored his 200th career National Hockey League goal, in his 308th game.

50 years ago
1959

At the movies
Señoritas, directed by Fernando Méndez, and starring Christiane Martel, Ana Bertha Lepe, Sonia Furió, and others, opened in theatres in Mexico.



War
In a message to the French National Assembly and Senate, President Charles de Gaulle offered Algerian nationalist leaders assurances of safe conduct to Paris for negotiation of a cease-fire.

Diplomacy
Yugoslavian President Marshal Josip Broz Tito and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru issued a joint communique reaffirming their countries' neutralist policies and appealing for an East-West agreement to end nuclear weapons tests "at an early date."

France formally recognized Guinea.

Politics and government
French Prime Minister Michel Debre officially presented his cabinet and policies to the opening session of the National Assembly and Senate.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da--The Marmalade (2nd week at #1)

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 White Room--Cream (3rd week at #1)
2 Going Up the Country--Canned Heat
3 Hey Jude/Revolution--The Beatles
4 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee
5 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
6 Chewy Chewy--Ohio Express
7 Eloise--Barry Ryan
8 Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin
9 Elenore/Surfer Dan--The Turtles
10 All Along the Watchtower--The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Singles entering the chart were Son-of-a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield (#14); Lily the Pink by the Scaffold (#15); I Started a Joke/Kilburn Towers by the Bee Gees (#17); Try to Remember by New World (#19); The Girl Most Likely by Jeannie C. Riley (#27); I'm a Tiger by Lulu (#34); Only One Woman by the Marbles (#35); and I Want to Sing with Your Band by Petula Clark (#39).

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee (5th week at #1)
2 Hey Jude--The Beatles
3 Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin
4 Es geht eine Träne auf Reisen--Adamo
5 Heidschi Bumbeidschi--Heintje
6 My Little Lady--The Tremeloes
7 Sometimes--Mireille Mathieu
8 Help Yourself--Tom Jones
9 Azzurro--Adriano Celentano
10 Eloise--Barry Ryan

Singles entering the chart were Sometimes; Eloise; A Minute of Your Time by Tom Jones (#12); Hip Hip Hooray by the Troggs (#14); Geh' Alte schau' mi net so teppert an by 3 Mecky's (#17); and Chewy Chewy by Ohio Express (#19).

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched Soyuz 5, with Boris Volyanov, Alexei Yeliseyev, and Yevgeni Khrunov aboard. Soyuz 4, with Vladimir Shatalov aboard, had been launched the previous day. The two spacecraft were scheduled to dock with each other and exchange crews.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson submitted to Congress a budget to Congress for fiscal 1970 that included a $3.5-billion cut in Vietnam war spending. Calling for a record outlay of $195.272 billion for the year, he estimated that record fiscal receipts of $198.686 billion would give a surplus of $3.414 billion, needed to relieve "the inflationary pressures in the economy and to reduce the strains that federal borrowing would place on financial markets and interest rates."

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Y.M.C.A.--Village People (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Chameleon Army--Pink Lady (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Tú--Umberto Tozzi (7th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Ballade pour Adelins--Richard Clayderman
2 Mexican Girl--Smokie
3 Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord--Boney M.
4 Was wir--Vader Abraham
5 Mama Leone--Bino
6 You're the Greatest Lover--Luv'
7 Lucky--Bernie Paul
8 Stumblin' In--Chris Norman & Suzi Quatro
9 Kiss You All Over--Exile
10 Summer Nights--John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

Singles entering the chart were Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord; The Devil Sent You to Lorado by Baccara (#11); Y.M.C.A. by Village People (#14); Down by the Water by Claudja Barry (#19); Bicycle Race by Queen (#21); Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? by Rod Stewart (#22); and Sandy by John Travolta (#25).

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Flashdance...What a Feeling--Irene Cara (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: ? (Fragezeichen)--Nena (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang arrived in Ottawa to begin a seven-day state visit to Canada.

Politics and government
The eight candidates for the Democratic party nomination for President of the United States in the November election participated in a televised debate in New Hampshire.

Veteran politician Tony Benn, who epitomized England's "loony left," won the Labour Party nomination for a by-election in the riding of Chesterfield. Mr. Benn had lost his seat in the 1983 British general election after his riding in Bristol had been gerrymandered.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)--The Proclaimers

#1 single in Switzerland: Bring Me Edelweiss--Edelweiss

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Don't Worry Be Happy--Bobby McFerrin
2 Bring Me Edelweiss--Edelweiss
3 Patrona Bavariae--Original Naabtal Duo
4 Stop!--Sam Brown
5 One Moment in Time--Whitney Houston
6 Tango Korrupti--Rainhard Fendrich
7 Hand in Hand--Koreana
8 A Groovy Kind of Love--Phil Collins
9 The Boxer--Rockip
10 Macho Macho--Rainhard Fendrich

Singles entering the chart were Never Trust a Stranger by Kim Wilde (#14); Two Hearts by Phil Collins (#18); Wee Rule by Wee Papa Girl Rappers (#20); First Time by Robin Beck (#23); and Christkind is in the House by XXX (#28).

Disasters
170 people were killed and 1,000 injured when a mail train and an express train carrying religious pilgrims collided head-on in Bangladesh.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Betty Box, 83. U.K. movie producer. Miss Box began her career working with her brother Sidney and sister-in-law Muriel in 1942, and eventually became a producer in her own right. Most of her early films were mysteries, but her most popular movies were the seven comedies in the Doctor series from 1954-1970.