January 24, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Diana Ganske!

330 years ago
1679

Politics and government
King Charles II of England dissolved the Cavalier Parliament.

270 years ago
1739

War
Peshva warrior Chimnaji Appa defeated Portuguese forces and captured Tarapur Fort, India.

150 years ago
1859

Europeana
The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later named Romania) was formed as a personal union under the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

110 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Hoyt Vandenberg. U.S. military officer. General Vandenberg, the nephew of U.S. Senator Arthur Vandenberg, saw action in World War II before serving as Director of Central Intelligence (1946-1947) and Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1948-1953). Gen. Vandenberg died of prostate cancer on April 2, 1954 at the age of 55. Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was named in his honour in 1958.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
Ismail Qemali, 75. Prime Minister of Albania, 1912-1914. Mr. Qemali was a founding father of modern Albania; he wrote the country's Declaration of Independence in 1912, and served as Albania's first Prime Minister, while also serving as Foreign Minister (1912-1913). Mr. Qemali died eight days after his 75th birthday.

70 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Maximilian Bircher-Benner, 71. Swiss physician. Dr. Bircher-Benner ran a sanatorium in Zurich, where he encouraged people to eat raw foods. He was credited with popularizing muesli, a dish based on raw oats, fruits, and nuts.

Disasters
Approximately 28,000 people were killed when the deadliest earthquake in Chilean history struck Chillán, in the south-central part of the country.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and George Spelvin (Wendell Holmes), on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Bloomsbury Ballad

The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis, on MBS

Died on this date
Orlando Miller, 89. U.S. businessman. Mr. Miller was a leading paper merchant; he co-founded the National Association of Manufacturers.

War
The trial of Mildred Gillars, accused of treason for making radio propaganda broadcasts from Germany as "Axis Sally" during World War II, opened in Washington, D.C.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Tom Dooley--The Kingston Trio (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Julia--Johnny Dorelli

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): La Paloma--Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): One Night/I Got Stung--Elvis Presley

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes--The Platters (2nd week at #1)
2 My Happiness--Connie Francis
3 16 Candles--The Crests
4 Donna--Ritchie Valens
5 Stagger Lee--Lloyd Price
6 Gotta Travel On--Billy Grammer
7 The Chipmunk Song--The Chipmunks with David Seville
8 Lonely Teardrops--Jackie Wilson
9 Whole Lotta Loving--Fats Domino
10 To Know Him, is to Love Him--The Teddy Bears

Singles entering the chart were There Must Be a Way by Joni James (#60); I Got a Wife by the Mark IV (#70); Evening Rain by Earl Grant (#73); She Say (Oom Dooby Doom) by the Diamonds (#75); It's Only the Beginning by the Kalin Twins (#79); Who Cares by Don Gibson (#82); It's Just a Matter of Time by Brook Benton (#86); Miss You by the Keymen (#93); The Lonely One by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#94); Bye Bye Blackbird by Art Mooney and his Orchestra (#95); The Shag (Is Totally Cool) by Billy Graves (#96); Rummy Polka by the Matys Brothers (#97); The Tipsy Piano by Helmut Zacharias and his Magic Violins (#98); You Can't Get to Heaven on Roller Skates by Betty Johnson (#99); and Eso es el Amor (This is Love) by Morty Palitz and his Orchestra (#100). It's Just a Matter of Time was the B-side of Hurtin' Inside.

Defense
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission recommended to President Dwight D. Eisenhower that any nuclear test ban agreement be limited to atmospheric tests, with underground tests excluded.

Agriculture
Pakistani President Mohammed Ayub Khan proclaimed land reform measures limiting West Pakistan holdings to 500 acres of irrigated land or 1,000 acres of unirrigated land.

Disasters
32 people were killed when a movie theatre collapsed in Kucuk Yali, Turkey.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes (2nd week at #1)

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells
2 Going Up the Country--Canned Heat
3 I Heard it Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye
4 Stand by Your Man--Tammy Wynette
5 If I Can Dream--Elvis Presley
6 Everyday People--Sly & the Family Stone
7 Son-of-a Preacher Man--Dusty Springfield
8 I Started a Joke--The Bee Gees
9 Touch Me--The Doors
10 Bella Linda--The Grass Roots

Singles entering the chart were But You Know I Love You by the First Edition (#27); Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#28); Crossroads by Cream (#29); and Baby, Baby Don't Cry by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (#30).

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Magic Carpet Ride--Steppenwolf
2 I Started a Joke--The Bee Gees
3 Abraham, Martin and John--Dion
4 Crimson and Clover--Tommy James and the Shondells
5 Cinnamon--Derek
6 Going Up the Country--Canned Heat
7 Bella Linda--The Grass Roots
8 Chewy Chewy--Ohio Express
9 If I Can Dream--Elvis Presley
10 Electric Stories--The 4 Seasons

Politics and government
The Spanish government of Generalissimo Francisco Franco declared a "state of exception," suspending five articles of the Constitution, in the face of continuing civil unrest.

Northern Ireland Deputy Prime Minister Brian Faulkner resigned in protest against the government's decision to set up an independent commission to investigate the brawls that had interrupted marches by Roman Catholics demanding civil rights earlier in the month. Mr. Faulkner charged that the probe was "a political maneuver."

Terrorism
FLQ terrorists set off a bomb in a branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia in Montréal.

Protest
Students protesting the installation of steel security gates at the London School of Economics went on a rampage with crowbars, pickaxes and sledgehammers. 25 students were arrested, and the school was closed for three weeks.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick--Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Politics and government
Former Texas Governor, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, and former Democrat John Connally announced his candidacy for the 1980 Republican Party U.S. presidential nomination.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that consumer prices had risen again in December to give the nation a 9% average rate of inflation for 1978.

Weather
Another storm hit the midwestern United States, dropping 8 inches of snow.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 2 @ Minnesota 2
Chicago 5 @ Vancouver 0

Tony Esposito made 34 saves to earn the shutout in goal for the Black Hawks, who scored 5 goals on just 15 shots to blank the Canucks at Pacific Coliseum. Stan Mikita scored his 10th goal of the season with 5:21 remaining in the 2nd period to close the scoring. Glen Hanlon took the loss in goal for Vancouver.

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): My Oh My--Slade

Television
ABC agreed to pay $386 million for U.S. rights to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, a record sum to that date.

Technology
The first Apple Macintosh computer went on sale.

Defense
U.S. President Ronald Reagan went to Capitol Hill in Washington to lobby for keeping U.S. troops in Lebanon. After the meeting, Senator Howard Baker (Republican--Tennessee), the Minority Leader, said that Republican Senators would support the October 1983 resolution allowing Mr. Reagan to keep troops in Beirut for 18 months. House Speaker Tip O'Neill (Democrat--Massachusetts) said that Mr. Reagan had misled Congress about the likelihood of a political solution in Lebanon, and that he now favoured the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Lebanon.

Politics and government
Edmonton's city council gave final approval to replacing the commission board with an aldermanic executive committee. The result was to replace commissioners who knew their departments with politicians who didn't.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that the consumer price index had increased 3.8% in 1983, the smallest annual increase since 1972.

20 years ago
1989

Died on this date
George Knudson, 51. Canadian golfer. Mr. Knudson, a native of Winnipeg, was regarded by many as having the best natural swing in golf during the 1960s and 1970s. He won 8 PGA tournaments and at least 19 other tournaments in a career that lasted from 1958-1980, and tied for second place in the 1969 Masters. Mr. Knudson died of lung cancer.

Ted Bundy, 42. U.S. criminal. Mr. Bundy had been convicted of killing a 12-year-old girl from Lake City Florida and two female students from Florida State University, but had actually killed dozens of others. He had fought his death sentence for 10 years, insisting on his innocence. In the last days of his life, Mr. Bundy had confessed to at least 16 other murders, but Florida Governor Bob Martinez had refused to stay his execution in order to learn further details. The day before his death, Mr. Bundy granted an interview to Christian psychologist James Dobson, claiming that his life of crime had begun with an early attraction to pornography. Some questioned the sincerity of Mr. Bundy's statements in the interview. Mr. Bundy was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Starke.

Religion
As part of the University of Alberta's Christian Awareness Week, Campus Crusade for Christ speaker Michael Horner debated U of A professor David Wangler on the subject of humanism. The part I remember is where Mr. Horner argued that such values as love and compassion are Christian values, and that humanists took the values from Christianity, but didn't say "Thank you."

10 years ago
1999

Religion
Pope John Paul II continued his visit to Mexico, holding mass at a racetrack and visiting a hospital.

Golf
David Duval shot the third single-round score of 59 in the history of PGA Tour competition, at the Bobe Hope Chrysler Classic in La Quinta, California. The others were by Al Geiberger (1977, Colonial Country Club, Memphis) and Chip Beck (1991, Sunrise Country Club, Las Vegas).

Hockey
NHL
All-Star Game @ Ice Palace, Tampa
North America 8 World 6

Rob Blake's goal with 5:37 remaining in the 2nd period proved to be the winner as the North Americans defeated the World before 19,758 fans. Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers, playing in his last All-Star Game, had 3 assists, and was named the game's most valuable player.