January 30, 2009

360 years ago
1649

Died on this date
Charles I, 48. King of England and Ireland; King of Scotland, 1625-1649. Charles I succeeded his father James I on the thrones, but spent much of his reign quarreling with Parliament over his royal prerogative. King Charles believed in the divine right of kings, levied taxes without parliamentary consent, and fought against the parliamentary armies of England and Scotland in a civil war from 1642-1645. He was captured, escaped in 1647, and was quickly recaptured. King Charles I was convicted of treason and publicly beheaded in London. While his son Charles II inherited the throne, the monarchy was overthrown in favour of a republic, and Charles II wasn't restored to the throne until 1660.

220 years ago
1789

War
Tây Sơn forces emerged victorious against Qing armies and liberated the capital Thăng Long in the Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa in Vietnam.

120 years ago
1889

Died on this date
Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, 30; Baroness Mary Vetsera, 17. Prince Rudolf, eldest son of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary and heir apparent to the throne, was separated from his wife, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, when he met and began an affair with Baroness Vetsera. The emperor demanded that the couple end their relationship, but in a suicide pact, Prince Rudolf shot Baroness Vetsera and then himself in the Imperial hunting lodge at Mayerling in the Vienna Woods.

Energy
Work began on the Capilano River Dam in British Columbia, to bring fresh water to Vancouver; the pipeline was to cross Burrard Inlet underwater.

90 years ago
1919

War
Estonian partisans captured Paju Manor from invading Soviet forces, but were soon pushed out.

75 years ago
1934

Died on this date
Frank Nelson Doubleday, 72. U.S. publisher. Mr. Doubleday founded the publishing firm Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897.

60 years ago
1949

Literature
The New York Herald Tribune listed The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas as the best-selling fiction book, and Crusade in Europe by Dwight D. Eisenhower as the best-selling non-fiction book.

Politics and government
A dissident faction of Paraguay's Colorado Party, led by Raimondo Rolon, forced the government of President Juan Natalicio Gonzales to resign after five months in office. The National Assembly elected Mr. Rolon as President and scheduled new elections for April.

Labour
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers suspended a strike scheduled to begin the next day against 15 western U.S. railroads, following the creation of an emergency board by U.S. President Harry Truman to investigate union demands for a second engineer on diesel locomotives.

Sport
Sverre Kongsgaard of Norway set a North American competitive ski jump record of 290 feet at Olympian Hill near Hyak, Washington.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Got Stung/One Night--Elvis Presley

Died on this date
Boyce Brown, 48. U.S. musician. Mr. Brown was a jazz saxophonist who helped to create Chicago jazz in the late 1920s; he worked with Wingy Manone, Paul Mares, and Danny Alvin.

Defense
The U.S.S.R. news agency Tass announced a 300,000-man reduction in the Soviet armed forces.

U.S. Senators John F. Kennedy (Democrat--Massachusetts) and Joseph Clark (Democrat--Pennsylvania) introduced bills to repeal the loyalty oath requirement of the National Defense Education Act of 1958.

Abominations
The Cuban cabinet suspended four articles of the Constitution for 90 days in order to speed war crimes trials.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator William Fulbright (Democrat--Arkansas) resigned his position as chairman of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee to replace Sen. Theodore Green (Democrat--Rhode Island) as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, following Sen. Green's resignation because of ill health. Sen. A. Willis Robertson (Democrat--Virginia) then replaced Sen. Fulbright as Banking and Currency Committee chairman.

Protest
Belgian authorities in the Belgian Congo arrested 100 Africans in the Leopoldville suburb of Dendale in connection with recent anti-European rioting.

Economics and finance
Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba called for the dissolution of his country's economic and financial ties with France as a step toward free Tunisian economic association with other European Common Market states.

Disasters
The Danish passenger-freighter MS Hans Hedtoft, returning from its maiden voyage to Greenland, hit an iceberg off Cape Farewell, Greenland, and sank, killing all 55 passengers and 40 crewmen.

40 years ago
1969

On television tonight
Dragnet 1969, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Narcotics: DR-21



Died on this date
Dominique Pire, 58. Belgian clergyman. Father Pire was a Roman Catholic Dominican friar who was awarded the 1958 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as "...Leader of the relief organization for refugees "L'Europe du Coeur au Service du Monde."" He died 11 days before his 59th birthday, of complications following surgery.

Music
The Beatles performed live in "public" for the last time, putting on an impromptu performance on a cold day in London on the roof of the Abbey Road recording studio. Puzzled passersby looked up to see the sight, before police ordered the group to bring the concert to an end after 45 minutes. The Beatles were in the midst of recording the album that would eventually be released in 1970 under the title Let it Be.

Roy Orbison recorded the song Southbound Jericho Parkway.

Space
The International Satellite for Ionospheric Studies (ISIS)-1 was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. A cooperative effort between the United States and Canada, ISIS-1 was the third in a series of five to continue ionospheric research from the Alouette series.

War
At the second plenary session of Vietnam War peace talks in Paris, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong rejected the American proposal for the immediate restoration of the neutralization of the demilitarized zone, charging that it was a scheme to conceal "American aggressive designs."

Academia
Yale University joined other schools such as Johns Hopkins University, Fordham University, and Boston University in withdrawing academic standing from Reserve Officers Training Corps.

Medical school freshmen at Howard University boycotted anatomy courses, following the ouster of the department chairman; the boycott ended February 19.

30 years ago
1979

World events
The Iranian government of Prime Minister Shahpur Bakhtiar authorized the return of exiled Shi'ite Muslim leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, even though the Ayatollah had made no concessions and would be arriving on his own terms. The United States government ordered the evacuation of all dependents and non-essential American officials.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping concluded two days of talks at the White House in Washington.

Politics and government
In a referendum in Rhodesia, white voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional plan that would give the country limited black rule, giving whites 28 of the 100 seats in the Assembly and a proportionate number of seats in the cabinet. The plan allowed for white control of the civil service, armed forces, and judiciary for 10 years after a black Prime Minister took over after elections in April 1979. The result of the referendum was considered a victory for Prime Minister Ian Smith and the three moderate black leaders who negotiated the plan with him.

Religion
Pope John Paul II continued his Latin American visit with an address to Catholic students in Mexico City; various activities, including a public address to workers and their families at Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara; and mass in Zapopán, Mexico.

Disasters
Varig Flight 967, a Boeing 707-323C freighter en route from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro via Los Angeles, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo. The aircraft, all six crewmen, and 53 paintings by Manabu Mabu being returned from an exhibition, and valued at $1.24 million, were never seen again.

25 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Original Sin--INXS

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Karma Chameleon--Culture Club (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Lee McCall, 33 (?). South African criminal. Mr. McCall, a member of the Stander Gang--three escaped convicts who had begun robbing banks on October 1983--was killed in a shootout with police at the gang's hangout in Houghton, Gauteng, South Africa.

Religion
University of Alberta economics professor Bruce Wilkinson spoke on the first day of Christian Awareness Week at the U of A.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Kokomo--The Beach Boys (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Smooth Criminal--Michael Jackson (4th week at #1)

Weather
At 5 A.M. in Edmonton it was raining, but the rain had changed to snow by 7 A.M., and by noon the snow was knee-high. The city ended up being hit by its biggest one-day snowfall in 104 years, as the temperature dropped from above freezing to almost -30 F. in the worst single day of weather that this blogger has experienced. People who worked downtown but lived elsewhere were offered free hotel accommodation, as they were unable to get home.

War
The U.S. government criticized increased Soviet bombing of Afghanistan as a "scorched-earth policy," while the Soviet commander insisted the attacks were necessary because rebels had not allowed safe passage for Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Diplomacy
The foreign ministers of Syria and Iran, meeting in Damascus, signed a peace pact aimed at ending fighting between rival Shiite Muslim militias in Lebanon. Syria had supported Amal, the more moderate group, while Iran had supported the more radical group Hezbollah. More than 500 people had been killed since violence between them had begun in April 1988. Under the new truce, Amal would control security in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah could also remain in the area.

The United States closed its embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, four days after being ordered to do so by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney shuffled his cabinet, appointing six new ministers and re-assigning the responsibilities of 19 others; Lucien Bouchard was sworn in as Minister of the Environment.

Crime
Former criminal lawyer Joel Steinberg was found guilty in New York City of first-degree manslaughter in the death by beating of his 6-year-old illegally-adopted daughter Lisa. Damaging testimony against Mr. Steinberg had been given by his lover, Hedda Nussbaum.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Ed Herlihy, 89. U.S. broadcaster. Mr. Herlihy had a long career as an announcer for various NBC radio and television programs and Universal newsreels, and was also known for commercials for Kraft cheese products.

Huntz Hall, 78. U.S. actor. Henry Richard Hall was best known for starring as one of the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/Bowery Boys in dozens of movies from 1937-1958. He died of congestive heart failure.

Football
NFL
New York Giants' linebacker Lawrence Taylor, considered by many to be among the greatest football players ever, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility despite objections from some voters who felt his history of drug abuse should have kept him out.