December 9, 2010

140 years ago
1870

Born on this date
Francisco S. Carvajal y Gual. President of Mexico, 1914. Mr. Carvajal was named as President Porfirio Díaz's representative at the peace conference with constitutionalist rebel Francisco I. Madero in 1911. After Victoriano Huerta seized power from Mr. Madero in 1913, he appointed Mr. Carvajal as President of the Supreme Court. Mr. Huerta appointed Mr. Carvajal as Foreign Minister on July 10, 1914, and resigned as President five days later. Mr. Carvajal acceded to the presidency, serving until August 13, 1914 during the transfer of power to Venustiano Carranza. Mr. Carvajal spent several years in the United States, returning to Mexico in 1922. He died on September 30, 1932 at the age of 51.

100 years ago
1910

Disasters
An explosion rocked West Canadian Collieries' coal mine in Bellevue, Alberta at 7 P.M., killing 30 miners.

80 years ago
1930

Died on this date
Rube Foster, 51. U.S. baseball pitcher and manager. Andrew Foster played with the Chicago Union Giants (1902); Cuban X-Giants (1903); Philadelphia Giants (1904-1906); Leland Giants (1907-1910); and Chicago American Giants (1911-1917), and was regarded as the Negro Leagues' best pitcher in the early 20th century. He was a pioneering owner and manager in the Negro National League in 1920, leading the Chicago American Giants to the NNL's first three pennants from 1920-1922. Mr. Foster was nearly asphyxiated by a gas leak in Indianapolis, and began behaving erratically. He was confined to an asylum in 1926, and never recovered his health before his death. Mr. Foster was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

70 years ago
1940

War
Operation Compass began when British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attacked Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.

Diplomacy
Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka said in Tokyo that if Japan and the United States "keep their heads cool," there would be no serious clash between them. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Antigua and conferred with Sir Gordon Lethem, Governor of the British Leeward Islands. General Henri-Fernand Dentz was appointed French High Commissioner to Syria and Lebanon, succeeding the late Jean Chiappe.

Politics and government
Adhémar Raynault was elected Mayor of Montreal, receiving 16,565 votes to 15,591 for Léon Trépanier, a margin of 974 votes. Raoul Trépanier, with 9,565 votes, and Dave Rochon, with 8,862 votes, finished third and fourth respectively in this ballot in which eight candidates took part. Only about 28% of eligible voters participated in the election, which was necessitated by the internment of former Mayor Camillien Houde, imprisoned for his anti-conscriptionist positions.

Economics and finance
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull said that the United States would not make a $100-million loan to Spain, but that the U.S. may send food shipments, which would stop if Spain entered the European war.

Labour
American Federation of Labor carpenters went on strike at the $4.5-million U.S. War Department building in Washington. Wright Aeronautical Corporation and the Independent Wright Aeronautical Employes Association signed a contract providing for a 7% wage increase and a ban on strikes.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced that it had signed 10-year agreements with 135 music publishers who controlled more than 200,000 songs.

Business
Alexis Thompson of New York purchased the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League from Art Rooney, who purchased a half-interest in the Philadelphia Eagles.

Football
NCAA
The Downtown Athletic Club of New York awarded the 1940 Heisman Trophy to University of Michigan halfback Tom Harmon as the outstanding player in U.S. college football.

60 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Mona Lisa--Dennis Day; Nat "King" Cole (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): The Thing--Phil Harris (Best Seller--2nd week at #1; Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1); Harbor Lights--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Tony Alamo and the Kaydets (Jukebox--4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Harbor Lights--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Tony Alamo and the Kaydets (5th week at #1)
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby
2 Thinking of You--Don Cherry
--Eddie Fisher
3 All My Love (Bolero)--Patti Page
--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Bing Crosby
4 The Tennessee Waltz--Patti Page
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Jo Stafford
5 The Thing--Phil Harris
6 Nevertheless (I’m in Love with You)--Paul Weston and his Orchestra
--The Mills Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
7 Patricia--Perry Como
8 A Bushel and a Peck--Perry Como and Betty Hutton
--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
9 Our Lady of Fatima--Richard Hayes and Kitty Kallen
--Red Foley
10 I’ll Never Be Free--Kay Starr and Tennessee Ernie

The only single entering the chart was You’re Just in Love by Perry Como (#28).

War
The South Korean government began the evacuation of 150,000 civilians from Seoul.

Diplomacy
Dr. Ralph Bunche of the United States became the first Negro to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his successful negotiation the previous year of a truce between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East.

Crime
Harry Gold was sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project atomic bomb program to the U.S.S.R. His testimony was later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Economics and finance
Canada suspended export permits for Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Macao.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): It's Now or Never--Elvis Presley (6th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: The Trouble with Templeton, starring Brian Aherne and Pippa Scott

The long-running serial Coronation Street broadcast its first episode on Granada Television in the U.K.



Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mary-Ann Murphy and Natalia!

World events
The neutralist Laotian government of Premier Souvanna Phouma collapsed following Mr. Souvanna’s efforts to form a coalition government representing neutralist, pro-western, and pro-Communist factions in Laos. As Communist-led Pathet Lao guerrilla forces from northern Laos and pro-western insurgents led by General Phoumi Nosavan in southern Laos threatened to converge on the capital city of Vientiane, Mr. Souvanna and his family fled by plane to Cambodia. After a struggle against rightist elements of the Laotian army, leftist troops commanded by Captain Kong Le took control of Vientiane.

Following a United Nations report that deposed Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba had been mistreated by his captors--troops of Congo’s military regime led by Colonel Joseph Mobutu--Mr. Lumumba’s followers in the province of Oriental threatened to arrest all Belgians and "start cutting off the heads of some of them" unless Mr. Lumumba was released in 48 hours. UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold took immediate action to protect the white population of Oriental.

Diplomacy
French President Charles de Gaulle began a four-day visit to Algeria, which provoked bloody riots by European and Muslim mobs in Algeria’s largest cities.

The United Nations General Assembly elected Chile and the United Arab Republic to the non-permanent seats on the Security Council that would become vacant on January 1, 1961 with the expiration of the two-yer terms of Argentina and Tunisia. Turkey was elected to a one-year term in the seat from which Poland agreed to retire on January 1, 1961.

40 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Feroz Khan Noon, 77. Prime Minister of Pakistan, 1957-1958. Sir Feroz, a member of the Muslim League for the better part of a career that spanned half a century, held various diplomatic and political offices, including Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1937-1941); Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations (1945-1946); Governor of East Bengal (1950-1953); Chief Minister of Punjab (1953-1955). He left the Muslim League in 1955 to found the Republican Party, and in 1956 was appointed Minister of Defence in a coalition government. Sir Feroz became Prime Minister of the coalition government on December 16, 1957, keeping his previous portfolio while adding Minister of Foreign Affairs to his portfolio. He negotiated the cession of Gwadar from Muscat and Oman to Pakistan in September 1958, but his government was deposed a month later by President Iskander Mirza, who sought to accumulate all power for himself. Sir Feroz withdrew from politics after the coup d'état, and wrote five books on Pakistani law and politics.

World events
The court-martial of 16 members of the Basque separatist organization ETA adjourned in Spain.

Diplomacy
King Hussein of Jordan and U.S. President Richard Nixon concluded two days of talks in Washington.

Disasters
28 Peruvians were killed when an earthquake struck northern Peru and southern Ecuador.

30 years ago
1980

Labour
Leaders of Rural Solidarity, a Polish farmers’ organization, called for a national meeting to plan a method to force the country’s ruling authorities to recognize the group of 500,000 members as an independent union.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Ice Ice Baby--Vanilla Ice (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: I've Been Thinking About You--Londonbeat (6th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Sadeness Part I--Enigma
2 I've Been Thinking About You--Londonbeat
3 Keep on Running--Milli Vanilli
4 Ice Ice Baby--Vanilla Ice
5 The Joker--Steve Miller Band
6 Unchained Melody--The Righteous Brothers
7 I'm Your Baby Tonight--Whitney Houston
8 Crazy for You--David Hasselhoff
9 Ich hab' geträumt von dir--Matthias Reim
10 The Invisible Man--Dance with a Stranger

Singles entering the chart were Unchained Melody; and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight by Robert Palmer and UB40 (#26).

Politics and government
Solidarity trade union movement leader Lech Walesa won a landslide victory in the runoff election to become President of Poland over Polish-Canadian businessman Stanislaw Tyminski. Mr. Walesa captured more than 74% of the vote in the two-man contest and attributed his win to the support of Solidarity members. The movement, which had been divided in recent months, had united behind Mr. Walesa after Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki had urged Solidarity to end its feuding and back Mr. Walesa in the runoff.

Religion
Pope John Paul II canonized Marguerite d'Youville, who founded in 1755 the Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général (Soeurs grises or Grey Nuns). The Quebec native became the first Canadian-born person to be canonized.

Transportation
The last train left Midway, British Columbia.

10 years ago
2000

World events
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was released from prison and allowed to go into exile. He had been sentenced to life in prison principally for his effort to prevent General Pervez Musharraf, the country’s present military ruler, from taking power.

Politics and government
The United States Supreme Court voted 5-4 to stop the vote counting in Florida, ending Vice President and Democratic Party candidate Al Gore's hopes of defeating Republican Party candidate George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election.

Ehud Barak resigned as Prime Minister of Israel, opening the way for a new election. However, the election would be only for the office of prime minister; membership in the Knesset would not be contested. Only current members of the Knesset would be eligible for the office; former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had resigned from the Knesset in 1999 after losing the election for prime minister, and was not eligible to run in the current election.

Football
NCAA
Florida State University quarterback Chris Weinke, 28, was awarded the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s outstanding player, becoming the oldest winner in the 66-year history of the award. He passed for 4,167 yards and 33 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. Mr. Weinke received 369 first-place votes and 1,628 votes overall, while his closest competitor, Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel received 286 first-place votes and 1,552 votes overall, making it one of the closest contests ever.