December 18, 2009

510 years ago
1499

War
Muslims in the city of Granada began a rebellion against their Castilian rulers in response to forced conversions to Catholicism.

180 years ago
1829

Died on this date
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, 85. French naturalist. Mr. Lamarck wrote the three-volume botanical work Flore françoise (1778), and was an authority on invertebrate zoology, but was primarily remembered for his belief in evolution through the inheritance of acquired characteristics, an evolutionary model that was preferred by some who rejected Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

140 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Edward Willis Redfield. U.S. artist. Mr. Redfield was an Impressionist landscape painter who was best known for his scenes of the New Hope, Pennsylvania area, where he was part of the art colony. He died on October 19, 1965 at the age of 95.

Died on this date
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, 40. U.S. musician and composer. Mr. Gottschalk, one of this blogger's favourite composers, was born in New Orleans, and was influenced by music from various cultural traditions. He was a child piano prodigy who has been called America's "first rock star," touring widely throughout North, Central, and South America, performing his own works, which included The Dying Poet and Symphony No. 1: A Night in the Tropics. Mr. Gottschalk was on tour in Rio de Janeiro when he died, possibly from an overdose of quinine.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Paul Klee. Swiss painter. Mr. Klee's paintings reflected expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He died of scleroderma on June 29, 1940 at the age of 60.

120 years ago
1889

Communications
The Canadian Pacific Railway telegraph was linked up with the Atlantic Cable at Canso, Nova Scotia.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
John Alcock, 27. U.K. military aviator. Captain Alcock served in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force in World War I, winning the Distinguished Service Cross in 1917. He and navigator Arthur Brown completed the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, flying from St. John's, Newfoundland to Ireland on June 14-15, 1919. Captain Alcock was flying to an aeronautical exhibition in Paris when his plane crashed in fog on December 18, 1919, and he died shortly thereafter from a fractured skull.

70 years ago
1939

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: Wisteria Lodge

Died on this date
Ernest Lawson, 66. Canadian-born U.S. artist. Mr. Lawson, a native of Halifax, moved to the United States in 1888, settling in Kansas. He was a landscape painter who was a member of The Eight, a group of artist who united to protest the restrictive policies of the National Academy of Design. Mr. Lawson drowned while apparently swimming at Miami Beach, Florida; he was suffering from declining health and depression, and some suspected that he committed suicide.

War
The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of World War II, took place. Three British Royal Air Force bomber squadrons attempted to sink or damage German ships in the Heligoland Bight in the North Sea, but suffered enough damage to persuade them to abandon daylight missions thereafter.

60 years ago
1949

Politics and government
Parliamentary elections in Bulgaria resulted in the Fatherland Front, led by Vasil Kolarov and dominated by the Communist Party, taking all 100 seats in the Grand National Assembly and almost 100% of the vote. All meaningful opposition had been eliminated before the election.

Ukrainian Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev was appointed to the Central Committee of the all-Union Communist Party in Moscow.

Indonesian President Sukarno named former Indonesian Republic leader Mohammed Hatta as the first Prime Minister of the United States of Indonesia.

Law
Iraq abolished martial law, which had been in force since the start of the Palestine war.

Golf
The Women’s Professional Golf Association named Marlene Bauer, 15, as female golfer of the year for 1949. She won the U.S. Girls' Junior and the WWGA Junior titles.

Football
NFL
Championship
Philadelphia 14 @ Los Angeles 0

Steve Van Buren rushed 31 times for 196 yards to lead the Eagles to their second straight title (see video). A steady downpour turned the field into a quagmire, and the conditions were more favourable to the Eagles’ offense, which relied primarily on the ground game, than to the Rams’, which was primarily a passing offense. Philadelphia quarterback Tommy Thompson threw just 9 passes, completing 5 for 68 yards. One of his completions went for a 31-yard touchdown to Pete Pihos in the second quarter, converted by Cliff Patton. The other touchdown was scored in the third quarter on a 2-yard return of a blocked punt by Leo Skladany, converted by Mr. Patton. Los Angeles quarterbacks Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield combined to complete 10 of 27 passes for just 98 yards, while the team rushed for just 21 yards. The Rams recorded just 7 first downs. Only 27,980 fans braved the elements at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): What Do You Want?--Adam Faith (3rd week at #1); What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates (1st week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates

On the radio
Bruce-Partington-planerne, starring Bendt Rothe as Sherlock Holmes and Hass Christensen as Dr. Watson

This was broadcast in Denmark and was a Danish translation of Felix Felton’s adaptation of The Bruce-Partington Plans, which had been broadcast on BBC Home Service on November 4, 1954, with Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson.

Diplomacy
United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold protested to U.A.R. President Gamal Nasser against the previous day’s halting of the Greek freighter Astypalea at the Port Said entrance to the Suez Canal.

Politics and government
The Sicilian regional parliament re-elected Silvio Milazzo as regional president.

Crime
A U.S. federal jury in New York convicted 20 of 21 defendants in the Apalachin, New York conspiracy case after an eight-week trial.

A Cuban military court in Havana sentenced U.S. engineer John V. Martino to 13 years in prison after convicting him of trying to smuggle the wife and children of Esteban Ventura, an official in the government of former President Fulgencio Batista, out of Cuba.

Football
NFL
The Maxwell Football Club named Baltimore Colts’ quarterback Johnny Unitas the winner of the Bert Bell Memorial Award as the league’s most outstanding player for 1959.

40 years ago
1969

At the movies
On Her Majesty's Secret Service, directed by Peter Hunt, and starring George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, and Telly Savalas, received its premiere screening at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. It was Mr. Lazenby's only movie appearance as James Bond.





Died on this date
Charles Dvorak, 91. U.S. pole vaulter. Mr. Dvorak, the first pole vaulter to use a bamboo ole, was scheduled to participate in the pole vault at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, but missed the competition amidst confusion over the scheduling of the final. He won a silver medal in a consolation competition. Mr. Dvorak set a world record of 11 feet 11 inches in the pole vault in 1903, and won the gold medal in the pole vault at the Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904. He was a coach in later years, while also working as a lawyer and farmer. Mr. Dvorak died 20 days after his 91st birthday.

Abominations
The British House of Lords voted to abolish capital punishment.

Diplomacy
An 11-point U.S. plan dealing with the Jordanian-Israeli aspect of Middle East conflict was submitted at the four-power Middle East meetings at the United Nations.

Economics and finance
The U.S. State Department announced a slight easing of restrictions on trading in non-strategic goods with Communist China.

Labour
Jock Yablonski, who had lost the election for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America to Tony Boyle on December 9, asked the United States Department of Labor to investigate the election for fraud. He also initiated five lawsuits against UMWA in federal court.

Hockey
NHL
The Philadelphia Flyers fired Bud Poile, who had been their general manager since the beginning of the franchise in 1966. The Flyers were in fourth place in the West Division with a record of 5-11-11. Mr. Poile was replaced by assistant general manager and former head coach Keith Allen.

St. Louis 3 Boston 3

30 years ago
1979

At the movies
This blogger attended a preview screening of Kramer vs. Kramer at the Capilano Theatre in Edmonton. It was the first movie I ever won tickets to, but not the last. I thought it was a very good film, but I haven’t seen it since.



Politics and government
The Liberal Party of Canada drafted former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who had supposedly stepped down as leader on November 21, to lead the party into the federal election scheduled for February 18, 1980.

Religion
Rev. Hans Kung, a Swiss Roman Catholic professor of theology at the University of Tubingen in West Germany, was censured by the Vatican and forbidden to teach. The edict was issued by the Vatican’s sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who said that it had issued a public document on February 15, 1975 stating that some of Prof. Kung’s views were "opposed in different degrees to the doctrine of the church," and that Prof. Kung had not changed his views in the intervening years. The Congregation declared that since Prof. Kung had departed from the "integral truth of Catholic faith" in his writings, he "can no longer be considered a Catholic theologian nor function as such in a teaching role." In addition to being charged with placing the infallibility of the church in doubt, Prof. Kung was accused of questioning the virgin birth of Jesus and of saying that Jesus never said he believed He was the Son of God. Rev. Kung, who could continue to be a priest, said he was "deeply ashamed of my church" which "has now begun to defend human rights" while it "defames and discredits its own theologians." Rev. Kung announced that he would fight the censure, and liberal theologians organized themselves on his behalf.

Disasters
An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rocked Bali, killing 19 people and injuring more than 160.

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): If I Could Turn Back Time--Cher (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic featuring Felly (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Robert E. Robinson. U.S. attorney. Mr. Robinson, a Negro who had performed legal work for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was killed by a bomb that had been mailed to his office in Savannah, Georgia. Mr. Robinson’s death occurred two days after the similar murder of Judge Robert S. Vance of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Alabama. Another bomb was discovered at the federal court building in Atlanta. Walter Moody ended up being convicted of the murders.

Diplomacy
The United States administration of President George Bush announced that national Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who had concluded a two-day visit to China on December 10, had also made a secret trip to China in July, a month after the Chinese regime had crushed the student uprising in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square.

Labour
Britain’s Labour Party, in line with European legislation, abandoned its policy in favour of closed shops. The move was seen by many as an attempt by Labour to shed the image of a party that was run by unions.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Robert Bresson, 98. French film director. Mr. Bresson was one of the most influential directors in the history of French cinema. His films included A Man Escaped (1956); Pickpocket (1959); and Au hasard Balthazar (1966).

Space
The United States launched into orbit the Terra platform, carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS, and MOPITT.

Terrorism
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga was injured in one of two bomb blasts that killed at least 18 people and injured 150 others at opposing election rallies.

Protest
Julia Butterfly Hill, 25, who had spent two years sitting in a redwood tree in California 180 feet above ground to protest logging by the Pacific Lumber Company, agreed to vacate the tree when the company agreed to preserve the tree and all trees within a 3-acre buffer zone. In addition, $50,000 that Miss Hill and others had raised to support her cause was given to the lumber company, as stipulated by the resolution.