February 5, 2010

1,040 years ago
970

Died on this date
Polyeuctus. Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, 956-970. Polyeuctus succeeded Theophylact on the patriarchal throne, and was known for his great mind and zeal for the Orthodox faith. He excommunicated Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II because of his marriage, but also excommunicated Nikephoros II's assassins. Polyeuctus was succeeded as Ecumenical Patriarch by Basil I.

200 years ago
1810

Born on this date
Ole Bull. Norwegian musician and composer. Mr. Bull was a violin virtuoso who achieved popularity throughout Europe and the United States in a performing career spanning more than 50 years, being compared favourably by Robert Schumann to Niccolò Paganini. Mr. Bull composed more than 70 works, only about 10 of which survive. He died of cancer on August 17, 1880 at the age of 70.

War
The French Army began the Siege of Cádiz in the Peninsular War.

170 years ago
1840

Born on this date
Hiram Maxim. U.S.-born U.K. engineer. Sir Hiram was beast known for inventing the Maxim gun--the first portable, fully automatic machine gun. He died on November 24, 1916 at the age of 76.

John Boyd Dunlop. U.K. veterinarian and inventor. Dr. Dunlop, a native of Scotland, practiced veterinary medicine for 10 years before pursuing inventions using rubber. He developed pneumatic tires, and lent his name to Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company, founded in 1889. Dr. Dunlop died on October 23, 1921 at the age of 81, after catching a chill.

120 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Adlai Stevenson II. U.S. politician and diplomat. Mr. Stevenson, a Democrat, was Governor of Illinois from 1949-1953. His namesake Adlai Stevenson was Vice President of the United States under President Grover Cleveland from 1893-1897. Adlai Stevenson II was the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States in 1952 and 1956, but lost to Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower in both elections. After failing to obtain the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960, Mr. Stevenson was appointed United States Ambassador to the United Nations in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, a position which he held until his death. He had just completed a radio interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation in London when he collapsed on the sidewalk with a fatal heart attack on July 14, 1965 at the age of 65.

70 years ago
1940

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

War
The Allied Supreme War Council secretly agreed to prepare to occupy the Norwegian city of Narvik and to recruit an expeditionary force of "volunteers" to assist Finland in her war against the U.S.S.R. The Japanese Foreign Office said that Japanese planes would continue to bomb the Haiphong-Hunan railroad in China because of military necessity.

Diplomacy
The U.S.A. and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations.

Politics and government
At a press conference in Hyde Park, New York, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt refused to answer questions regarding whether he would seek a third term in office in the November 1940 election.

The American Youth Congress refused to oust alleged Communists from its organization.

Economics and finance
Financial experts of the Western Hemisphere, meeting in Washington, agreed upon the establishment of an Inter-American Bank to stimulate trade within the Americas.

Labour
The International Labour Organization declared the U.S.S.R.'s permanent seat vacant and nominated the Netherlands as the successor.

60 years ago
1950

On the radio
Christopher London, starring Glenn Ford, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Missing Heiress

This series was created for radio by Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason.

Defense
The Polish Parliament passed a universal military service law reorganizing the country's armed forces along Soviet lines.

Politics and government
Italy withdrew General Guglielmo Nasi's appointment as Governor of Italian Somaliland, replacing him with Gen. Arturo Ferrara as commander of Italian troops in the trust territory and Pompeo Gorini as civil administrator.

Society
The U.S. National Safety Council reported that 32,500 of the 91,000 Americans who had died in accidents in 1949 had been killed in traffic mishaps.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Why--Anthony Newley

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Why--Anthony Newley

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: The Last Flight, starring Kenneth Haigh, Simon Scott, and Alexander Scourby

This was the first episode written by Richard Matheson to be produced and broadcast.

Basketball
NBA
Syracuse 100 @ Boston 124

Bill Russell of the Celtics grabbed a record 51 rebounds to lead his team over the Nationals at Boston Garden. Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors broke the mark with 55 rebounds, the current record, nine months later against the Celtics.

40 years ago
1970

On television tonight
Dragnet 1970, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Burglary: The Son



Health
In the first experiment in which large animals developed malignant tumours after exposure to cigarette smoke, two scientists reported that of dogs they trained to smoke, 12 were later found to have lung cancer. The scientists claimed that their study "effectively" refuted the tobacco industry’s contention that there was no link between cigarettes and cancer.

Education
A dozen southern U.S. Senators, led by John Stennis (Democrat--Mississippi) and Strom Thurmond (Republican--South Carolina), took the Senate floor to demand that the new federal school desegregation guidelines be applied to northern as well as southern schools, or be abandoned altogether. Their protest opened Sen. Stennis’s campaign to restore "freedom of choice" and bar compulsory busing for school integration via an amendment for the $35-billion education bill that had been passed by the House of Representatives.

30 years ago
1980

Diplomacy
The foreign ministers of France and West Germany called for the U.S.S.R. to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

Scandal
U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti was objecting that Congressional investigations into the recently-revealed Federal Bureau of Investigation Operation Abscam, in which FBI agents disguised as businessmen and Arab sheikhs had offered bribes to selected U.S. public officials, could jeopardize criminal charges that the government might want to pursue.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Aku no hana (悪の華)--Buck-Tick

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (10th week at #1)

Scandal
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan refused Judge Harold Greene’s direction to provide excerpts from his diaries to the attorneys of former national security adviser Admiral John Poindexter, on trial for his role in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages deal. Mr. Reagan, through his attorneys, asserted a claim "to the constitutionally protected privacy of his diaries." Judge Greene agreed with Adm. Poindexter that Mr. Reagan possessed information that was unavailable from any other source, and ordered Mr. Reagan to give videotaped testimony.

10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Claude Autant-Lara, 98. French film director and politician. Mr. Autant-Lara directed about 50 movies from 1923-1977. His films included Sylvie et le fantôme (Sylvie and the Phantom) (1946); Le Diable au corps (Devil in the Flesh) (1947); and Occupe-toi d'Amélie (Keep an Eye on Amelia) (1949). In June 1989, Mr. Autant-Lara was elected to the European Parliament as a candidate for the National Front. In his maiden speech, he warned about the American cultural threat, and promptly resigned his seat.

Barbara Pentland, 88. Canadian composer. Miss Pentland, a native of Winnipeg, was a concert pianist before embarking on a career as an avant-garde composer, writing four symphonies and numerous choral, chamber, and instrumental works, including the piano composition Studies in Line (1941). Ill health prevented her from composing for at least a decade before her death in Vancouver.

Ward Cornell, 75. Canadian sportscaster. Mr. Cornell, a native of London, Ontario and a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, was intermission host of Hockey Night in Canada’s Toronto broadcasts from 1959-1972. He also was the play-by-play broadcaster for the football games of the University of Western Ontario Mustangs and the London Lords in the late 1950s, and general manager of London radio station CFPL from 1954-1967. After leaving Hockey Night in Canada Mr. Cornell was appointed agent-general in England for the government of Ontario, and was later a deputy minister in the provincial government. He died of emphysema in Uxbridge, Ontario.

Abominations
Russian forces massacred at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.