December 14, 2010

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Wendy Welt!

Married on this date
Happy Anniversary, Eileen and Leo Sasakamoose!

370 years ago
1640

Born on this date
Aphra Behn. English playwright and authoress. Mrs. Behn wrote 19 plays, novels, and poetry, and was one of the first English women to earn a living from writing. She worked as a spy in Antwerp on behalf of King Charles II. Mrs. Behn died on April 16, 1689 at the age of 48 after years of illness and poverty.

360 years ago
1650

Crime
English domestic servant Anne Greene was hanged at Oxford Castle for infanticide, having concealed an illegitimate stillbirth. The following day she revived in the dissection room and, being pardoned, lived until 1659.

280 years ago
1730

Born on this date
Capel Bond. U.K. musician and composer. Mr. Bond was a church organist whose most notable compositions were Six Concertos in Seven Parts (1766) and Six Anthems in Score (1769). He died on February 14, 1790 at the age of 59.

230 years ago
1780

Married on this date U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York.

150 years ago 1860

Died on this date
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, 76. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1852-1855. Lord Aberdeen was a diplomat whose posts included Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Austria (1813-1814), where he organized and financed the sixth coalition that defeated Napoleon. He was in succession a Tory, Conservative, and Peelite, whose cabinet posts included Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1828-1830, 1841-1846). Lord Aberdeen led a coalition government of Whigs and Peelites, filled with talented men whom he had difficulty controlling. The Crimean War began in 1854, and a vote in the House of Commons on the conduct of the war prompted Lord Aberdeen's resignation on January 30, 1855, ending his political career.

140 years ago
1870

Born on this date
Karl Renner. Chancellor of Austria, 1918-1920, 1945; President of Austria, 1945-1950. Mr. Renner, a member of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, sat in the Reichsrat from 1896 until its dissolution in November 1918. He became known as the "Father of the Republic" for leading the first government of German-Austria and the First Austrian Republic after World War I. Mr. Renner was President of the National Council from 1931-1933, but his party was outlawed under the Fascist regime of Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934. Mr. Renner welcomed the Anschsluss by Nazi Germany in 1938, but his offer to help the regime was declined, and he stayed out of politics during World War II. He served as Chancellor of a Soviet-installed provisional government from April 27-December 20, 1945, but Western Allies regarded it as a Soviet puppet government. Mr. Renner took office as President on December 20, 1945, and was in office when he died on December 31, 1950, 17 days after his 80th birthday.

110 years ago
1900

Science
Max Planck presented a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.

90 years ago
1920

Died on this date
George Gipp, 25. U.S. football player. Mr. Gipp, popularly known as "the Gipper," was a quarterback, halfback, and punter with the University of Notre Dame (1917-1920), earning All-American honours in 1920 and setting team records that still stand. He died from a streptococcal throat infection and pneumonia, three weeks after his last game. When Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne visited him on his deathbed, Mr. Gipp reportedly told him that if the team was ever in a desperate situation that he should tell the team to "win just one for the Gipper." Ronald Reagan played Mr. Gipp in the movie Knute Rockne, All American (1940). Mr. Gipp was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1951.

Boxing
World heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey (56-4-9) retained his title by knocking out Bill Brennan (38-6-3) at 1:57 of the 12th round at Madison Square Garden in New York. Mr. Brennan protested, claiming he had beaten the count. It was Mr. Dempsey's first fight at Madison Square Garden.



80 years ago
1930

Music
The Vancouver Bach Choir, British Columbia's oldest community choir, gave its first concert at the British Columbia Music Festival in the Orpheum Theatre, singing J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio.

NFL
Green Bay (10-3-1) 6 @ Portsmouth (5-6-3) 6

The tie at Universal Stadium was the league's last game of the season, and the Packers clinched their second straight National Football League championship with a winning percentage of .769. The second-place New York Giants had a record of 13-4 (.765).

70 years ago
1940

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Only Forever--Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra (9th week at #1)

On the radio



Died on this date
Anton Korošec, 68. Mr. Korošec, a member of the Slovene People's Party, was President of the National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs from October 29-December 1, 1918 and Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from July 28, 1928-January 7, 1929.

Defense
Argentina and Uruguay reached an agreement for joint defense of the River Plate zone against any non-American aggression.

The $31-million U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Hornet was launched at the navy yard in Newport News, Virginia.

Science
Plutonium was first produced and isolated by Glenn Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, Edwin McMillan, and Arthur Wahl through deuteron bombardment of uranium-238 in the 60-inch cyclotron at the University of California, Berkeley.

Transportation
The 6th Avenue Subway in New York City, was officially opened just before midnight by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. The link cost between $700 million and $800 million.

Economics and finance
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau reported that the Treasury's $500-million five-year taxable defense notes had been oversubscribed by more than eight times.

Labour
American Federation of Musicians President James Petrillo announced that U.S. Army bands would not be permitted to broadcast from Army posts until he had an opportunity to confer with the War Department.

60 years ago
1950

War
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution asking the People's Republic of China to negotiate a Korean cease-fire with the UN, although Soviet bloc opposition appeared to kil its chances for success. A three-man UN committee of Lester Pearson (Canada), Sir Benegal Rau (India), and General Assembly President Nasrollah Entezam (Iran) was created to try to arrange a truce. Manchurian-based Chinese jets were reported in increasing numbers over Korea, flying in groups of up to 24. Lieutenant-Colonel J. R. Stone and the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) arrived in Yokohama en route to Korea; begin intensive training at Miryang, near Taegu, after Communist China had intervened on the side of the North Koreans.

Defense
Joining the demand for total mobilization, New York Governor Thomas Dewey urged that the National Guard be called up and every citizen over 17 be required for national service. The U.S. Civil Defense Administration issued a uniform nation-wide code of air-raid warning signals.

Politics and government
The Swiss government elected Eduard von Steiger President of the Swiss Confederation.

Energy
The U.S.A. contracted to buy low-grade uranium ore from South Africa to increase its stockpile of atomic raw materials.

Labour
A day-old strike of railroad switchmen in the United States spread to St. Louis and Washington as federal judges issued back-to-work injunctions.

50 years ago
1960

World events
Antoine Gizenga, who had been Vice-Premier in the cabinet of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba, proclaimed in Stanleyville that he had assumed the premiership. Mr. Gizenga, who was alleged to be a Communist sympathizer, sent a cablegram to Valerian Zorian, chief Soviet delegate to the United Nations and President of the UN Security Council, stating that the Congo’s "lawful government" had been moved from Leopoldville to Stanleyville, pro-Lumumba stronghold and capital of the province of Oriental. A Soviet resolution in the Security Council to seek the release of Mr. Lumumba, who had been captured on December 1 by troops of Colonel Joseph Mobutu, was defeated 8-2, with the U.S.S.R. and Poland supporting the resolution, and Ceylon abstaining. The Soviets vetoed a western resolution that would have given UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold increased powers to deal with the Congo situation.

Abominations
The United Nations General Assembly voted 89-0 (9 countries, including the United States, abstained) in favour of an Asian-African resolution proclaiming "the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its form and manifestations." The resolution called for "immediate steps" toward complete independence for colonial territories. Mrs. Zelma Watson George, a Negro member of the U.S. delegation, stood and applauded approval of the measure. U.S. Ambassador James J. Wadsworth expressed regret to the Assembly that the U.S.A. "had to abstain" because of fears that the resolution conflicted with the UN Charter. Previously, the Assembly had defeated a Soviet move for a one-year deadline for complete independence for colonial territories.

Diplomacy
Representatives of the United States, Canada, and 18 Europeans signed in Paris the charter of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a new international economic organization intended to replace the 18-nation Organization for European Economic Cooperation. Other signatories were the U.K.; France; West Germany; Italy; the Netherlands; Belgium; Luxembourg; Sweden; Norway; Denmark; Switzerland; Austria; Spain; Portugal; Ireland; Iceland; Greece; and Turkey. The charter was to come into effect after ratification by 15 members.

Education
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention against Discrimination in Education was adopted in Paris; it went into effect on May 22, 1962.

Law
The government of Canada set a retirement age of Supreme Court of Canada and Superior Court judges at 75, effective March, 1961.

Disasters
53 people were killed when the Yugoslav tanker Peter Zoranic and Greek tanker World Harmony collided in the Bosporus, exploded, and burned.

Baseball
Choosing first in the first expansion draft in major league history, the Los Angeles Angels of the American League selected right-handed pitcher Eli Grba from the New York Yankees. Mr. Grba had posted a 6-4 record with the Yankees in 1960 after going 2-5 as a rookie in 1959.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): A Song of Joy--Miguel Rios (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kyōto no Koi--Yūko Nagisa (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): N'A Veiriña Do Mar--María Ostiz (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Franz Schlegelberger, 94. German judge and politician. Mr. Schlegelberger was a judge and legal bureaucrat who joined the Nazi Party, on Adolf Hitler's orders, in 1938. He was interim Reich Minister of Justice (1941-1942), and oversaw an increase in death sentences. Mr. Schlegelberger was one of the main figures in the post-World War II Judges' Trial, and was sentenced to life in prison in 1947; he was released in 1950 on grounds of incapacity.

William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, 79. U.K. military officer. Governor-General of Australia, 1953-1960. Field Marshal Slim saw action in both World Wars, serving with the Anzacs and the Indian Army in World War I, and commanding the Burma Corps in World War II.

World events
Spanish dictator Francisco Franco decreed a nationwide state of emergency, giving police unlimited power of arrest for six months. The decree came as a reaction to strikes and riots over the court-martial of 16 Basque separatists on charges of banditry and the 1968 murder of a secret police inspector in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa.

Politics and government
Elections took place for the Territorial Council of the Northwest Territories. Dave Searle was elected as the member for Yellowknife, defeating James Washie.

U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that former Texas Governor John Connally would replace David Kennedy as Secretary of the Treasury, and that Mr. Kennedy would keep his cabinet rank as an ambassador-at-large in international fiscal and monetary matters. The appointments would take effect on February 1, 1971, pending approval by the United States Senate.

Abominations
In an attempt to discredit one prosecution witness in the court-martial of U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley for his role in the murder of civilians in the My Lai massacre in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, the defense called five young Vietnam veterans who testified that when the Charlie Company infantrymen landed, some of the soldiers were high on marijuana, but that their orders had been clear--to kill everything because it was "a search and destroy mission."

Football
NFL
Detroit (9-4) 28 @ Los Angeles (8-4-1) 23

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): He's So Shy--The Pointer Sisters (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Angel of Mine--Frank Duval and his Orchestra

Died on this date
Elston Howard, 51. U.S. baseball player and coach. Mr. Howard was a catcher and outfielder with the Kansas City Monarchs (1948-1950); New York Yankees (1955-1967); and Boston Red Sox (1967-1968), batting .274 with 167 home runs and 762 runs batted in in 1,605 major league games. He played in 10 World Series, batting .246 with 5 homers and 19 RBIs in 54 World Series games, helping the Yankees win in 1956, 1958, 1961, and 1962. After beginning his professional career with the Monarchs of the Negro American League, he was signed by the Yankees in 1950 and played in the minor leagues, but missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons while serving with the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Mr. Howard played with the Kansas City Blues of the American Association (1953) and Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League (1954) before finally becoming the first Negro to play with the Yankees. He was the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1963, batting .287 with 28 homers and 85 RBIs in 135 games, winning a Gold Glove at catcher as he helped the Yankees win the pennant. Mr. Howard became the first Negro coach in the American League, with the Yankees (1969-1979). He was an administrative assistant with the Yankees in 1980, but his health declined because of myocarditis, a rare heart disease that causes rapid heart failure, and killed Mr. Howard. He was credited with inventing the batting "doughnut," a lead weight used by batters swinging in the on-deck circle.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 5 @ Quebec 6

Football
NFL
Miami (8-7) 24 @ Baltimore (7-8) 14
Buffalo (10-5) 2 @ New England (9-6) 24
New Orleans (1-14) @ New York Jets (3-12) 20
St. Louis (5-10) 3 @ Philadelphia (12-3) 17
Kansas City 16 @ Pittsburgh (9-6) 21
New York Giants (4-11) 13 @ Washington (5-10) 16
San Francisco (6-9) 10 @ Atlanta (12-3) 35
Tampa Bay (5-9-1) 14 @ Detroit (8-7) 27
Cincinnati (6-9) 17 @ Chicago (6-9) 14 (OT)
Houston (10-5) 22 @ Green Bay (5-9-1) 3
Cleveland (10-5) 23 @ Minnesota (9-6) 28
Oakland (10-5) 24 @ Denver (7-8) 21
Seattle (4-11) 14 @ San Diego (10-5) 21

Tommy Kramer's pass from the Cleveland 46-yard line on the last play of the game, with the Browns leading 23-22, was deflected by a Cleveland defensive back, and Minnesota receiver Ahmad Rashad caught the ball with his left hand and stepped backwards into the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Vikings the victory to clinch the National Football Conference Central Division title.



25 years ago
1985

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Election Day--Arcadia (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Take on Me--A-Ha

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Nikita--Elton John (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Separate Lives--Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin

#1 single in the U.K.: Saving All My Love for You--Whitney Houston

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Broken Wings--Mr. Mister (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Broken Wings--Mr. Mister (2nd week at #1)
2 Separate Lives--Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin
3 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
4 We Built This City--Starship
5 Alive and Kicking--Simple Minds
6 Never--Heart
7 Party All the Time--Eddie Murphy
8 Election Day--Arcadia
9 Sleeping Bag--ZZ Top
10 You Belong to the City--Glenn Frey

Singles entering the chart were Digital Display by Ready for the World (#80); He'll Never Love You (Like I Do) by Freddie Jackson (#87); Day by Day by the Hooters (#89); and The Heart is Not So Smart by El DeBarge with DeBarge (#90).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Broken Wings--Mr. Mister
2 We Built This City--Starship
3 Separate Lives--Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin
4 Alive and Kicking--Simple Minds
5 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
6 Tarzan Boy--Baltimora
7 Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire--David Foster
8 Election Day--Arcadia
9 Live is Life--Opus
10 Situation Critical--Platinum Blonde

Singles entering the chart were My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen (#71); So Far Away by Dire Straits (#76); How Will I Know by Whitney Houston (#80); Just a Motion Away by Gino Vannelli (#87); The Sun Always Shines on TV by A-Ha (#92); Everything Must Change by Paul Young (#93); One Vision by Queen (#95); Leader of the Pack by Twisted Sister (#96); and Everyday by James Taylor (#97).

Died on this date
Roger Maris, 51. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Maris, born Roger Maras, was an outfielder with the Cleveland Indians (1957-1958); Kansas City Athletics (1958-1959); New York Yankees (1960-1966); and St. Louis Cardinals (1967-1968), batting .260 with 275 home runs and 850 runs batted in in 1,463 games. He was best known for hitting 61 home runs in 1961, a major league regular season record that stood until 1998. The pursuit of the record by Mr. Maris and teammate Mickey Mantle, who finished the season with 54 homers, was the subject of controversy because the schedule had been lengthened to 162 games in 1961, 8 games more than in 1927, when Babe Ruth had set the record with 60. Mr. Maris was the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1960 and 1961, but injuries impeded his career after 1962. He died of cancer.

Politics and government
Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to lead a major American Indian tribe as she took office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

20 years ago
1990

At the movies
Havana, written and co-produced by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Lena Olin, Raúl Juliá, and Alan Arkin, opened in theatres.





Died on this date
Friedrich Dürrenmatt, 69. Swiss author and playwright. Mr. Dürrenmatt wrote novels, short stories, and essays, but was best known as a dramatist in the genre of epic theatre, political theatre that forces the audience to see the world as it is. His plays included Romulus der Große (Romulus the Great) (1950); and Die Physiker (The Physicists) (1962). Mr. Dürrenmatt died of heart failure, 22 days before his 70th birthday.

Abominations
A probate court judge in Jasper County, Missouri ruled that the parents of Nancy Cruzan, who had reportedly been in a persistent vegetative state since suffering severe brain damage in a 1983 auto accident, had a right to remove Miss Cruzan’s feeding tube because three of her co-workers had testified in November that she had once said that she would never want to live under such circumstances. Two hours after the court ruling, the feeding tube was removed.

World events
The first legal conference of the African National Congress in South Africa in 31 years began, the day after ANC President Oliver Tambo had returned to the country after three decades in exile. The conference brought together 1,600 delegates near Soweto to discuss political strategy.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that producer prices for finished goods had risen 0.5% in November.

The Canadian Wheat Board reported a $1-billion loss, bigger than the total of all losses since the CWB's founding in 1935, selling wheat for $40-50 per tonne less than it paid farmers.

10 years ago
2000

Diplomacy
Russian President Vladimir Putin began a visit to Cuba, the first time a Russian leader had visited Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Mr. Putin and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro denounced the U.S. trade embargo imposed on Cuba.

Business
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the $202-billion sale of Time Warner and America Online.