February 6, 2010

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Bob Powless and Brian Poluk!

1,950 years ago
60

World events
This is the earliest date for which the day of the week is known; a graffito in Pompeii identified this day as a dies Solis (Sunday). In modern reckoning, this date would have been a Wednesday.

270 years ago
1740

Died on this date
Clement XII, 87. Roman Catholic Pope, 1730-1740. Clement XII, born Lorenzo Corsini, was a lawyer before entering the clergy. He was Archbishop of Nicomedia, nuncio to Vienna, and papal treasurer before succeeding Benedict XIII as pope. Pope Clement XII presided over a surplus in papal finances, oversaw building projects, and issued the first public papal condemnation of Freemasonry. He died of complications from gout, and was succeeded by Benedict XIV.

190 years ago
1820

Born on this date
Thomas C. Durant. U.S. railroad tycoon. Dr. Durant was a physician in the 1840s before becoming a railroad executive. He was successful at raising money for the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad (M&M) in the 1850s, and was vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1869 when it met with the Central Pacific railroad at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory. Dr. Durant created the financial structure which led to the Crédit Mobilier scandal, which hurt the careers of several politicians and nearly bankrupted Union Pacific. Dr. Durant died on October 5, 1885 at the age of 65.

Africana
The first 86 Negro immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society departed New York to start a settlement in what is now Liberia.

170 years ago
1840

Diplomacy
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand, establishing a British Governor of New Zealand, recognizing Māori ownership of their lands and other properties, and giving the Māori the rights of British subjects.

130 years ago
1880

Died on this date
Edward Barron Chandler, 79. Canadian politician. Mr. Chandler, a native of Amherst, Nova Scotia, moved to Dorchester, New Brunswick to study law, and entered politics when he was elected to the N.B. legislature as an opponent of responsible government. He became a member of the New Brunswick Legislative Council in 1836, and was a cabinet minister from 1848-1854. Mr. Chandler was a delegate from New Brunswick to the conferences that led to Canadian confederation, and was a Father of Confederation. He was a cautious supporter of the federal Conservative government of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, and refused a Senate appointment, but accepted the appointment as Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick in 1878. Mr. Chandler died in office, and was succeeded by Robert Duncan Wilmot.

120 years ago
1890

Born on this date
James McGirr. Australian politician. Mr. McGirr, a member of the Labour Party, was Premier of New South Wales from 1947-1952. He died of a heart attack on October 27, 1957 at the age of 67.

110 years ago
1900

Law
The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international arbitration court at The Hague, was created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratified an 1899 peace conference decree.

100 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Carlos Marcello. Tunisian-born U.S. gangster. Mr. Marcello, born Calogero Minacori, emigrated with his family to Louisiana when he was an infant. He turned to crime at an early age, and ended up as boss of the New Orleans crime family from 1947 until the early 1980s. He served six months in prison in the mid-1960s for assaulting a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, and served 6 1/2 years after being convicted in a bribery scandal in the '80s. Mr. Marcello has been accused of involvement in the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1963, but this blogger is skeptical of those accusations. Mr. Marcello died on March 3, 1993, 25 days after his 83rd birthday.

80 years ago
1930

Track and field
A six-stage snowshoe race between Québec City and Montreal ended at the Montreal Forum, as Édouard Fabre took the victory after 34 hours and 18 minutes. The race followed the marathon between Montreal and Lewsiton, Maine that promoter Armand Vincent had organized in 1929. Mr. Fabre was a previous winner of the Boston Marathon and San Francisco Marathon.

75 years ago
1935

Popular culture
The board game Monopoly® went on sale for the first time.

70 years ago
1940

War
The Allied War Council met in Paris to discuss a French offer to aid Finland in her war against the U.S.S.R. Japanese spokesmen claimed penetration of the province of Ningsia in northwestern China.

Diplomacy
Delegates from 10 League of Nations members met in The Hague to establish a committee for the study of economic and social problems.

British envoy Sir Stafford Cripps left Chungking for Sinkiang on his inspection tour of the Chinese war zone.

60 years ago
1950

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Dead Pigeon, starring Joel Ashley, John Boruff, Philip Coolidge, and Florida Friebus

Diplomacy
U.S. High Commissioner John McCloy warned West Germany that the United States would use all its power and influence to head off a revival of Nazism. He told the Germans not to expect a revived Army or Air Force.

Defense
London Intelligence Digest editor Kenneth de Courcy claimed that the U.S.S.R. had already built three hydrogen bombs and exploded one.

The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff ended a six-day visit to Japan and Okinawa after conferring with General Douglas MacArthur on defense needs in the Pacific region.

The U.S. Defense Department announced the test-firing of the Navy's "Mighty Mouse," the first successful air-to-air rocket.

Politics and government
The Republican Party issued its policy statement for the 1950 U.S. congressional elections under the slogan "Liberty Against Socialism."

Academia
U.S. Army Secretary Gordon Gray accepted the appointment as President of the University of North Carolina.

Labour
The coal mine strike in the United States widened to included 400,000 miners as U.S. President Harry Truman invoked the Taft-Hartley Act and appointed a three-man fact-finding commission to investigate the dispute.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Boom Boom Baby--Crash Craddock

#1 single in Italy: Romantica--Tony Dallara

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Marina--Rocco Granata and the International Quintet (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Why--Anthony Newley (3rd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Running Bear--Johnny Preston (3rd week at #1)
2 Teen Angel--Mark Dinning
3 El Paso--Marty Robbins
4 Where or When--Dion and the Belmonts
5 You Got What it Takes--Marv Johnson
6 Why--Frankie Avalon
7 Go, Jimmy, Go--Jimmy Clanton
8 Handy Man--Jimmy Jones
9 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence
10 Lonely Blue Boy--Conway Twitty

Singles entering the chart were Lady Luck by Lloyd Price and his Orchestra (#70); Outside My Window by the Fleetwoods (#79); Beatnik Fly by Johnny and the Hurricanes (#81); Too Pooped to Pop "Casey" by Chuck Berry (#87); Bad Boy by Marty Wilde (#89); (Baby) Hully Gully by the Olympics (#92); I Know What God Is by Perry Como (#93); You're My Baby by Sarah Vaughan (#95); I was Such a Fool (To Fall in Love with You) by the Flamingos (#97); How Much by the Skyliners (#98); I'll Take Care of You by Bobby Bland (#100); Angela Jones by Johnny Ferguson (also #100); and On the Beach by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra (also #100). I Know What God Is was the other side of Delaware, charting at #57.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Lucky Devil--Carl Dobkins, Jr.
2 Teen Angel--Mark Dinning
3 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
4 Little Bitty Girl--Bobby Rydell
5 Terry--Leigh Bell
6 Handy Man--Jimmy Jones
7 Lonely Blue Boy--Conway Twitty
8 What in the World's Come Over You--Jack Scott
9 Go, Jimmy, Go--Jimmy Clanton
10 Down by the Station--The Four Preps

Singles entering the chart were Outside My Window by the Fleetwoods (#23); What a Night by the Chippendales (#28); (There was a) Tall Oak Tree by Dorsey Burnette (#29); Werewolf by the Frantics (#31); Wild Cat by Gene Vincent (#34); Was There Once by Mike Minor (#36); and Lady Luck by Lloyd Price and his Orchestra (#38).

Died on this date
Jesse Belvin, 27. U.S. musician. Mr. Belvin was a singer, songwriter, and pianist who co-wrote Earth Angel a major rhythm and blues hit for the Penguins in 1954. As was the common practice in those days, the song was covered by a white artist, in this case the Crew Cuts, whose version hit #3 on the Billboard U.S. pop chart. Mr. Belvin sang with the Shields, whose great doo-wop ballad You Cheated hit #20 on the pop chart in 1958. He then embarked on a career as a solo artist, reaching #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1959 with Guess Who. His promising career was shortened when he and his wife were killed in a car accident near Hope, Arkansas, just after he had appeared in Little Rock on a bill with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Marv Johnson. It was the first concert in Little Rock to take place before an integrated audience, and the show was interrupted by white yutes shouting racial slurs. Mr. Belvin’s records are among the most sought among aficionados of 1950s-1960s male rhythm and blues singers.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Nature--The Fourmyula

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)--Edison Lighthouse

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Pretty Belinda--Chris Andrews (3rd week at #1)
2 Theresa--Dave Mills
3 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
4 Jam Up Jelly Tight--Tommy Roe
5 (Call Me) Number One--The Tremeloes
6 Without Love (There is Nothing)--Tom Jones
7 Don't Cry Daddy--Elvis Presley
8 All I Have to Do is Dream--Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell
9 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother--The Hollies
10 The Liquidator--The Harry J. All Stars

Singles entering the chart were Good Old Rock 'n Roll by the Dave Clark Five (#18); Someday We'll Be Together by Diana Ross and the Supremes (#19); and Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday by Stevie Wonder (#20).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Venus--The Shocking Blue (2nd week at #1)
2 Arizona--Mark Lindsay
3 Fancy--Bobbie Gentry
4 Walkin' in the Rain--Jay and the Americans
5 No Time--The Guess Who
6 Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin--Sly & the Family Stone
7 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother--Hollies
8 I'm Tired--Savoy Brown
9 Walk a Mile in My Shoes--Joe South and the Believers
10 I Want You Back--The Jackson 5

Singles entering the chart were Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel (#21); Down in the Alley by Ronnie Hawkins (#25); I Must Have Been Blind by the Collectors (#27); Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum (#28); Ma Belle Amie by the Tee Set (#29); and Rainy Night in Georgia by Brook Benton (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Fancy--Bobbie Gentry (2nd week at #1)
2 Arizona--Mark Lindsay
3 Jennifer Tomkins--Street People
4 Venus--The Shocking Blue
5 Groovy Grubworm--Harlow Wilcox and the Oakies
6 No Time--The Guess Who
7 Walk a Mile in My Shoes--Joe South and the Believers
8 When Julie Comes Around--The Cuff Links
9 Ma Belle Amie--The Tee Set
10 Honey Come Back--Glen Campbell

On television tonight
Hallmark Hall of Fame, on NBC
Tonight's episode: A Storm in Summer, starring Peter Ustinov and N'gai Dixon

This drama was directed by Buzz Kulik and written by Rod Serling.

War
In a television interview, former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson said that enemy exhaustion after the Tet offensive of early 1968, and not domestic political considerations, led him to offer a partial halt to the bombing of North Vietnam. He added that the 206,000 additional American troops that U.S. military leaders had requested at that time reflected not a sense of weakness but rather a fear of Communist-inspired trouble elsewhere. Meanwhile, both sides observed a cease-fire for Tet in 1970: the U.S. and South Vietnamese for 24 hours, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong for four days. U.S. and S.V. troops stayed on guard against any repetition of the 1968 offensive. Each side accused the other of cease-fire violations, and the U.S. command posted 113 "enemy initiated" incidents, with a death toll of 3 Americans, 5 South Vietnamese, and 137 Communists.

Egyptian frogmen sank an Israeli naval vessel at Elath. 15 hours later, Israeli jets retaliated by bombing and sinking an Egyptian minelayer in the Red Sea. Both sides unleashed air strikes the same day.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Fred Harris of Oklahoma, explaining that he wanted to free himself from the "restraints" of the job, resigned as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Sen. Harris, who had held the job for about a year, told aides that he was weary of factional sniping from both right and left.

Economics and finance
The European Economic Community’s first commercial treaty with an eastern European country was concluded with Yugoslavia. The three-year trade agreement could help Yugoslavia expand exports to the west, but the significance of the accord was seen as at least partly political.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that unemployment had risen in January by 0.5% to 3.9%, which was still below the rates from 1957-1966.

30 years ago
1980

World events
Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr denounced the student militants holding hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran as "self-centred children" who were behaving like a "government within a government." The Revolutionary Council ordered the state broadcasting system to stop granting the militants automatic air time to publicize their views.

Science
Elwyn Simmons of Duke University announced the discovery of the oldest primate fossils in the chain of alleged human hereditary lineage found to date. In the previous three years, more than two dozen skeletal fossils of monkey-like primates the size of a house cat had been found at the edge of the Sahara Desert in Egypt. The primate, alleged to be an ancestor of both apes and humans, was named Aegyptopithecus. It was thought to have roamed Africa 30 million years ago and to have had a complex social structure defended by males.

25 years ago
1985

Died on this date
Kevin Lapa, 24. Canadian football player. Mr. Lapa, a native of Kamloops, British Columbia, played linebacker at Weber State University and was chosen by the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League in the second round of the 1983 CFL college draft. After returning to Weber State for one more year, he reported to the Lions, where he played defensive end, wearing #70. He saw some action in pre-season games, but cancer was discovered in his mouth during the pre-season. he underwent surgery and spent the entire 1984 season on the Lions’ disabled list, although he was able to practice with the team on occasion. Mr. Lapa succumbed to the cancer in Kamloops.

20 years ago
1990

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: She, My Friend and I

Died on this date
Jimmy Van Heusen, 77. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Van Heusen, born Edward Babcock, was kwown for writing the music to Sammy Cahn's lyrics for songs in musical shows and movies. He was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, and won four times for Best Original Song: Swinging on a Star (Going My Way) (1944); All the Way (The Joker is Wild) (1957); High Hopes (A Hole in the Head) (1959); and Call Me Irresponsible (Papa's Delicate Condition) (1963). He also won an Emmy Award with Mr. Cahn for the song Love and Marriage, written for the Producers' Showcase presentation of Our Town.

Politics and government
U.S.S.R. Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov, responding to calls for a multiparty political system, said that a multiparty system, in effect, already existed. Hard-liners on the Communist Party Central Committee warned that any moves toward a multiparty system or free enterprise could lead to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Hockey
NHL
New Jersey 2 Edmonton 2

Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars became the first son of a 50-goal scorer to score 50 goals in a season himself. Brett scored his 50th goal of the season at Chicago Stadium against the Blackhawks, the team with which Mr. Hull's father Bobby had posted five 50-goal seasons.

10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Phil Walters, 83. U.S. auto racing driver. Mr. Walters was a glider pilot with the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II and lost half a lung and a kidney as the result of wounds, but was able to become a sports car and endurance race driver. He won numerous sports car races from 1950-1955, and won the Grand Prix, 12 Hours of Sebring in 1953, while finishing third in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1953. Mr. Walters was preparing to join Enzo Ferrari's Formula One team in 1955, but witness the crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in which 85 spectators were killed, and immediately quit the sport. He later became an accomplished sailboat racer.

Terrorism
Hijackers seized control of an Afghan passenger jet with more than 180 aboard, soon after takeoff from Kabul. Some hostages were released during landings in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and 9 were released when the plane landed in Moscow.

War
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian troops had captured the last rebel stronghold in the Chechen capital of Grozny. The city was little more than a pile of rubble after a six-month bombardment that left no home intact and much of the city booby-trapped or littered with unexploded Russian shells.

Politics and government
Tarja Halonen became the first woman to be elected President of Finland, taking 51.6% of the vote. Voter turnout was 80.2%.

U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton announced that she would be seeking a seat in the United States Senate in New York in 2000. Speaking in Purchase, New York, she said she was a "new Democrat" who supported a significant role for government, but with financial responsibility. She said, "I may be new to the neighbourhood, but I’m not new to your concerns." New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani went on five Sunday morning television programs to promote his candidacy.

Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard said that Quebec must solve its health care crisis before calling another sovereignty referendum.

Protest
Police raided a university in Mexico City and arrested 632 striking students, ending a nine-month occupation.

Football
NFL
Pro Bowl @ Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
NFC 51 AFC 31

Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings caught 9 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown for the National Football Conference, and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Mr. Moss’s touchdown came on a 25-yard pass from Steve Beuerlein. Mike Alstott rushed for three NFC touchdowns, while other NFC touchdowns were scored by Aeneas Williams (62-yard interception return) and Derrick Brooks (20-yard interception return). Jason Hanson converted all 6 and added 3 field goals. Jimmy Smith of the Jacksonville Jaguars caught 3 touchdown passes for the American Football Conference: 5 yards from Mark Brunell, 21 yards from Peyton Manning, and 52 yards from Mr. Manning. Tony Gonzalez scored the other AFC touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Rich Gannon. Olindo Mare converted all 3 and added a field goal. Tony Dungy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the winning head coach over Tom Coughlin of Jacksonville.