December 29, 2009

990 years ago
1019

Born on this date
Munjong. King of Korea, 1046-1083. Munjong, the third son of King Hyeonjong, succeeded his half-brother Jeongjong as a ruler of the Goryeo dynasty. He presided over a northward expansion of Korea's borders, and emphasized the importance of civilian leadership over the military. Munjong died on September 2, 1083 at the age of 63, and was succeeded by his son Sunjong.

320 years ago
1689

Died on this date
Thomas Sydenham, 65. English physician. Dr. Sydenham, nicknamed "The English Hippocrates," wrote Observationes Medicae (Observations of Medicine) (1676), which was a standard textbook for 200 years. His achievements included the discovery of Sydenham's Chorea, also known as St. Vitus' Dance.

300 years ago
1709

Born on this date
Elizabeth. Empress of Russia, 1741-1762. Elizabeth, the daughter of Emperor Peter I "The Great" and Empress Catherine I, seized the throne from her infant cousin Ivan VI in a coup. She led her country during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. Empress Elizabeth allowed the nobility to gain dominance in local government, and spent large amounts of money on architectural works such as the Winter Palace and Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Shortly after suffering a stroke, she died on January 5, 1762, a week after her 52nd birthday.

240 years ago
1779

War
Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell led a contingent of British soldiers to capture Savannah, Georgia.

200 years ago
1809

Born on this date
Albert Pike. U.S. military officer and Freemason. Mr. Pike was a captain in a cavalry unit during the U.S.-Mexican War in the 1840s, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). He was best known for his involvement with and influence within Freemasonry; his book Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (first published in 1872) remains an influential textbook of Scottish Rite Freemasonic philosophy. Mr. Pike died on April 2, 1891 at the age of 81.

William Gladstone. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1868-1874; 1880-1885; 1886; 1892-1894. Mr. Gladstone was a Tory (1828-1834); Conservative (1934-1846); Peelite (1846-1859); and Liberal (1859-1898). He represented various ridings in the House of Commons from 1833-1895, and had a long and memorable rivalry with Benjamin Disraeli. Mr. Gladstone regarded foreign affairs as a sphere for moral exercises, while Mr. Disraeli took a more practical political view. Perhaps the low point of Mr. Gladstone’s career as Prime Minister occurred in January 1885, when he delayed sending a party to relieve General Charles Gordon at Khartoum, and the British forces were massacred. Mr. Gladstone was popularly regarded as Gen. Gordon’s murderer, and Queen Victoria agreed with that view. In addition to his political activities, Mr. Gladstone wrote a couple of best-selling pamphlets: one was a polemic against papal infallibility; his other notable pamphlet was a denunciation of Turkish massacres in Bulgaria. Mr. Gladstone’s moralism led him to conduct missionary activity among London prostitutes, while he literally scourged himself in an attempt to tame his sexual desires. He died on May 19, 1898 at the age of 88.

150 years ago
1859

Born on this date
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza. 37th President of Mexico, 1917-1920. Mr. Carranza was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution, and was Governor of Coahuila from 1911-1913. His Constitutionalist Army was victorious over the forces of President Victoriano Huerta in 1914, but had to defeat forces of fellow revolutionaries in order for Mr. Carranza to take power. He was head of state from 1914 until a new constitution went into effect in 1917, under which Mr. Carranza became President. He was constitutionally ineligible to succeed himself, and attempted to impose a virtual unknown, Ignacio Bonillas, as his successor. Northern generals conspired against Mr. Carranza, and he was assassinated in Mexico City on May 21, 1920 at the age of 60.

130 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Billy Mitchell. U.S. military officer. Major General Mitchell was known as the father of the United States Air Force. His advocacy of the importance of air power and his criticism of U.S. defense policy led to a famous court martial in 1925. Gen. Mitchell was convicted of violating the 96th Article of War and was suspended for five years without pay, but he chose to resign from the United States Army. He continued to advocate air power until his death from natural causes on February 19, 1936 at the age of 56.

75 years ago
1934

Basketball
NCAA
The first college basketball doubleheader was held at Madison Square Garden in New York by promoter Ned Irish, who popularized the game. He rented the Garden for $4,000 and watched 16,000 fans show up. NYU defeated Notre Dame 25-18 in the opener, and Westminster (Pennsylvania) upended St. John's 37-33 in the nightcap.

70 years ago
1939

Defense
The U.S. heavy bomber Consolidated B-24 Liberator made its first flight.

60 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Henry McMahon, 87. U.K. military office and diplomat. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry was born and served in India from the 1880s to the 1910s, and was appointed secretary of the British government in India in 1911. He succeeded Lord Kitchener as British High Commissioner in Egypt at the beginning of 1915, and engaged in correspondence with Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca in an attempt to spark an Arab rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for a British promise of Arab independence after World War I. Sir Henry resigned after the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which negated the British promises to the Arabs, was publicized in November 1917.

Tyler Dennett, 66. U.S. historian. Dr. Dennett was a Congregationalist minister before becoming a historian, teaching at Johns Hopkins (1923-1924); Columbia (1927-1928); and Princeton (1931-1934) Universities, and serving as President of Williams College (1934-1937). He was initially known for his work in U.S.-Japanese relations, but was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for John Hay: From Poetry to Politics (1933).

Television
KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut became the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.

Journalism
Time magazine named Winston Churchill as its Man of the Half-Century.

War
Nationalist Chinese forces on Hainan Island off the South China coast reported defeating a Communist invasion attempt.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. objected to Chinese Nationalist representation on the UN Security Council, but refrained from demanding replacement of the Nationalists by a Communist delegation.

Defense
U.S. Navy Captain Arleigh Burke, head of the office charged with planning strategy against the Army and Air Force in the debate over U.S. military strategy, was promoted to rear admiral. The U.S. Navy announced plans to assign the new aircraft carrier USS Boxer to the Seventh Fleet, operating in the western Pacific Ocean.

Environment
Israel began a 10-year drive to plant forests in the northern half of the country.

Economics and finance
The Hungarian government issued decree nationalizing all industrial firms, including foreign-owned companies, with more than 10 employees.

The Romanian Parliament approved a plan for 1950 calling for a 37% increase in industrial production.

The U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers issued its fourth annual report, predicting continued economic growth and urging closer cooperation between business and government.

50 years ago
1959

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, hosted by John Newland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Hand, starring Robert Loggia, Anna Lee Carroll, and Miriam Colon



Theatre
The Andersonville Trial by Saul Levitt, directed by José Ferrer, and starring Herbert Berghof, Albert Dekker, and George C. Scott, opened at Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in New York.

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Christine Gotaas!

Died on this date
Robin Milford, 56. U.K. composer. Mr. Milford was strongly influenced by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi, and composed instrumental and vocal works. He suffered frequent bouts of depression resulting from family tragedies, and committed suicide with an overdose of aspirin.

Katāy Dōn Sasōrit, 55. Prime Minister of Laos, 1954-1956. Mr. Sasōrit was a Laotian nationalist who founded the anti-Thai "Movement for National Renovation" during World War II. The provisional Laotian government, formed in October 1945, was forced into exile in Bangkok, and Mr. Sasōrit was Minister of Finance. When Laos gained her independence within the French community in 1949, the provisional government was dissolved, and its members returned to Laos. Mr. Sasōrit was Minister of Finance and Economics (1951-1954), became chairman of the Progress Party (Phak Kaonā) in 1954, and succeeded Prince Suvanna Phūmā as Prime Minister. Mr. Sasōrit was overthrown by a coup in March 1956 after failing to achieve national reconciliation, and Prince Suvanna Phūmā returned to power. Mr. Sasōrit returned as Deputy Prime Minister and Defense and Home Affairs Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Phoui Sananikone in 1958, and died of natural causes.

World events
45 political suspects were arrested throughout Cuba and charged with conspiring against the government.

Defense
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that the United States no longer considered herself bound by the unilateral nuclear test suspension and was "free to resume...testing."

West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt reported that stockpiles of food and essential goods in the city were adequate to ensure a full year of Soviet blockade.

Science
U.S. physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech titled There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom at California Institute of Technology, anticipating the field of nanotechnology.

Environment
A scientific panel of experts told a meeting of the American Physical Society that the explosion of nuclear devices in large underground caverns could muffle their seismic effects almost completely.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kuroneko no Tango--Osamu Minagawa (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Sugar, Sugar--The Archies (7th week at #1)

On the radio
The Challenge of Space, on Springbok Radio
Tonight’s episode: Ergot

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Southern Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Is She Really Going Out with Him?--Joe Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Remi, Le Sue Avventure--Ragazzi Di Remi (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Weekend--Earth and Fire (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes (2nd week at #1)
2 Rock with You--Michael Jackson
3 Do That to Me One More Time--Captain & Tennille
4 Ladies Night--Kool & The Gang
5 Send One Your Love--Stevie Wonder
6 Jane--Jefferson Starship
7 We Don't Talk Anymore--Cliff Richard
8 Please Don't Go--KC and the Sunshine Band
9 Coward of the County--Kenny Rogers
10 Cruisin'--Smokey Robinson

Singles entering the chart were Star by Earth, Wind & Fire (#84); Let Me Go, Love by Nicolette Larson (#85); Don't Make Me Over by Jennifer Warnes (#86); Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney (#87); Wonderland by the Commodores (#89); Flirtin' with Disaster by Molly Hatchet (#90); Too Late by Journey (#94); Remember (Walking in the Sand) by Aerosmith (#97); Trust Me by Cindy Bullens (#98); and With You I'm Born Again by Billy Preston & Syreeta (#99).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Babe--Styx (5th week at #1)
2 No More Tears/Enough is Enough--Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer
3 Still--Commodores
4 Take the Long Way Home--Supertramp
5 Heartache Tonight--Eagles
6 Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes
7 I Don't Like Mondays--The Boomtown Rats
8 Send One Your Love--Stevie Wonder
9 Dream Police--Cheap Trick
10 Please Don't Go--KC and the Sunshine Band

Singles entering the chart were Baby and the Blues by Quarrington Worthy (#88); Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin (#91); Why Me by Styx (#97); Money by the Flying Lizards (#98); Paradise Skies by Max Webster (#99); and Yes, I'm Ready by Teri DeSario with K.C. (#100).

Died on this date
Bill Plummer, 78. U.S. baseball pitcher. William Lawrence Plummer played in the Pacific Coast League with the Portland Beavers (1921) and Seattle Indians (1923-1925, 1927), compiling a record of 17-29 in 79 games, and hitting at least 1 home run in 80 games, helping the Indians win the PCL championship in 1924. He missed the 1922 and 1926 seasons because of injury, and played in just one game in his final season. Mr. Plummer's brother-in-law Red Baldwin was his teammate and catcher in 1924-1925. Mr. Plummer later served as a police officer in Oakland, and was a farmer and school bus driver in California. His son William Francis Plummer was a catcher with the Chicago Cubs (1968), Cincinnati Reds (1970-1977) and Seattle Mariners (1978).

Basketball
This blogger was in attendance at a wheelchair basketball tournament at the University of Alberta main gym, which included men’s teams from major cities in the United States and Canada. The Vancouver Cable Cars were one of the teams, and one of their players was Terry Fox (several months before he began his cross-Canada run).

Hockey
NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs, in a deal that shocked their fans, traded popular right wing Lanny McDonald and defenceman Joel Quenneville to the Colorado Rockies for right wing Wilf Paiement and left wing Pat Hickey. In 35 games with the Maple Leafs that season, Mr. McDonald had 15 goals and 15 assists; Mr. Quenneville had 1 goal and 4 assists in 32 games with Toronto that season. Mr. Paiement had 10 goals and 16 assists in 34 games with Colorado, while Mr. Hickey, who had started the season with the New York Rangers, scored 7 goals and 9 assists in 24 games with the Rockies. The trade prompted Toronto captain Darryl Sittler to rip the "C" off his uniform prior to that night’s game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Winnipeg Jets.

Winnipeg 1 @ Toronto 6

Bob Stephenson, acquired five days earlier from the Hartford Whalers in a trade for Pat Boutette, scored a goal and was named the third star in his fifth NHL game and first game as a Maple Leaf, on the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast. He wore jersey #15, formerly worn by Mr. Boutette.

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
Philadelphia 17 @ Tampa Bay 24

See video.

AFC Divisional Playoff
Houston 17 @ San Diego 14

See video.

25 years ago
1984

Died on this date
Leo Robin, 84. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Robin worked in Tin Pan Alley in New York and later, in Hollywood, from the 1920s through the 1950s. He was best known for his collaborations with Ralph Rainger, most notably Thanks for the Memory, which was from the movie The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938), and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Mr. Robin died of heart failure.

Indus Arthur, 43. U.S. actress. Miss Arthur had guest roles in numerous television programs in the 1960s and 1970s, and small roles in movies such as The Slender Thread (1965) and MASH (1970). She died of skin cancer.

Politics and government
The Congress Party, led by Rajiv Gandhi, won 401 of 508 seats in the Indian general election. The election occurred two months after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rajiv’s mother.

Football
NFL
AFC Divisional Playoff
Seattle 10 @ Miami 31

NFC Divisional Playoff
New York Giants 10 @ San Francisco 21

20 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (5th week at #1)

War
The United Nations Security Council voted 75-20, with 39 abstentions, to "strongly deplore" the U.S. invasion of Panama.

Politics and government
The Czechoslovakian Parliament elected Vaclav Havel, leader of the opposition group Civic Forum, President, without opposition.

Protest
Riots broke-out after Hong Kong decided to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.

Health
Canada became the first country in the world to ban smoking on domestic airlines.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the leading economic indicators had edged upward 0.1% in November. The stock exchanges closed on the last day of trading for the year, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 2753.20, up 27% for the year. Standard & Poor’s index of 500 stocks was also up 27% for the year. The American Stock Exchange index was up 23%, and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market composite index posted a 19% gain for 1989.

The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hit its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.

Sport
NHL star centre Wayne Gretzky was named Male Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press, with tennis star Martina Navratilova being named Woman Athlete of the Decade.

10 years ago
1999

Economics and finance
The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.