Monday 31 January 2011

February 1, 2011

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Snejka!

600 years ago
1411


War
The First Peace of Thorn, ending the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, was signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).

320 years ago
1691


Died on this date
Alexander VIII, 80
. Roman Catholic Pope, 1689-1691. Alexander VIII, born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, succeeded Pope Innocent XI. He served for just 16 months, and was succeeded by Innocent XII.

310 years ago
1701


Born on this date
Johan Agrell
. Swedish-born German composer. Mr. Agrell was a violinist and baroque composer who wrote at least 22 symphonies, vocal works, and harpsichord concertos and sonatas. He died on January 19, 1765, 13 days before his 64th birthday.

150 years ago
1861


Americana
Texas voted to secede from the Union, becoming the seventh state to do so.

140 years ago
1871


Died on this date
Alexander Serov, 51
. Russian composer and critic. Mr. Serov, a lawyer by trade, was one of Russia's most important music critics of the 1850s and '60s. He was known for composing operas, particularly ,i>Judith (1863). Mr. Serov died of a heart attack, nine days after his 51st birthday.

Economics and finance
The Dominion Bank opened its first branch in temporary premises above a paint store at 40 King Street East in Toronto.

110 years ago
1901


Born on this date
Clark Gable
. U.S. actor. The "King of Hollywood," most famous for his starring roles in Gone With the Wind (1939), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and It Happened One Night (1934)--for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor--died of a heart attack on November 16, 1960 at the age of 59, shortly after finishing work on The Misfits, which was released to theatres three months later.

100 years ago
1911


Defense
Post offices across Canada displayed the first recruiting posters for the Royal Canadian Navy.

75 years ago
1936


On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Louis Hector and Harry West, on MBS
Tonight’s episode: The Speckled Band

This was the first episode of the season, and the first for Mr. West, who was replacing the departed Leigh Lovell.

Died on this date
Georgios Kondylis, 57
. Prime Minister of Greece, 1926, 1935. Major General Kondylis, nicknamed "Thunder," founded the National Republican Party, and served as Minister of War for three months in 1924 before leading a coup in 1926 that overthrew the dictatorship of Theodoros Pangalos. He served as Prime Minister for three months, but his party didn't participate in the ensuing elections. Major General Kondylis and several other officers forced the resignation of Prime Minister Panagis Tsaldaris on October 10, 1935, declared himself regent, and engineered the return of the monarchy under King George II on November 25. He quarrelled with the king and resigned just five days later. Major General Kondylis died of a heart attack, six days after the parliementary election.

70 years ago
1941


Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Frenesi--Artie Shaw and his Orchestra (7th week at #1)

At the movies
Freedom Radio, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard, and Raymond Huntley, opened in theatres in the United Kingdom. It opened in the United States three days later under the title A Voice in the Night.

Died on this date
William Gibbs McAdoo, 77
. U.S. politician. Mr. McAdoo, a Democrat, was Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson from 1913-1918, after serving as his campaign manager in 1912. Mr. Gibbs was largely responsible for the creation of the Federal Reserve and financing the American war effort in World War I. He represented California in the United States Senate from 1933-1938.

Mohammed Mahmoud Pasha, 58. Egyptian politician. Mr. Mahmoud was Egypt's defense minister and leader of the nationalist movement.

War
French General Maxime Weygand rejected Free French General Charles de Gaulle's appeal to liberate Libya from Italian control. U.S. Navy Secretary Frank Knox told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he was worried that the United Kingdom may be defeated by the Axis powers, and he was positive that the Axis would then invade the Western Hemisphere.

Defense
The U.S. Conference of Mayors urged development of a civil defense program for cities that may be exposed to attack. Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza invited the United States to establish air and naval bases in Nicaragua.

Politics and government
The German government reported the creation of the National Popular Assembly in Paris for the reconstruction of France in collaboration with Germany.

Economics and finance
The Japanese government announced that rice would be rationed.

60 years ago
1951


War
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jack McFall, in a letter to Representative Horace Seely-Brown (Republican--Connecticut), said that the United States had not backed Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces in an invasion of the Chinese mainland because they would be greatly outnumbered and were needed to defend Taiwan.

Defense
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, in Operation Ranger, set off the third in a series of atomic explosions at an Air Force testing range in Nevada. It was the first atomic blast to be televised.

Supreme Commander of NATO--Europe General Dwight D. Eisenhower, reporting on his European tour, urged the U.S. Congress not to limit the number of troops or the amount of equipment the U.S. could send to Europe.



Politics and government
The Yugoslavian government abolished the State Control Commission, a supervisory organ with powers to regulate political and economic affairs.

Medicine
Dr. Russell Morgan of Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore demonstrated an X-ray motion picture process by which pictures of body organs could be taken over an extended period of time without danger of overexposure to radiation.

Economics and finance
A United Nations General Assembly committee reported that it had obtained pledges totalling $882,000 from 12 countries (excluding the U.S.A. and U.K.) toward a $55-million fund sought for relief of Palestinian Arab refugees.

Labour
The strike of railroad switchmen in the United States spread to 30 cities and 42 lines, causing a serious nationwide rail tie-up.

50 years ago
1961


At the movies
The Misfits, starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift, opened in theatres. Mr. Gable had died three months earlier, shortly after the completion of filming; the film was released on what would have been his 60th birthday.



Defense
The solid-fuelled three-stage Minuteman missile, intended to become the number one weapon of the United States Air Force, was fired in a successful test at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This was the first time that a major missile had been tested as a complete unit on its first launching, with all stages firing and a full guidance system in operation. The first stage was the largest solid fuel rocket ever fired in the Western world. The 60-foot missile, weighing 70,000 pounds before launching, reached a top speed of more than 15,000 miles per hour and travelled 4,600 miles to its target area in the South Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, the missile’s range was to be 6,300 miles.

Politics and government
U.S. President John F. Kennedy held his second weekly news conference.



Environment
Representatives of the governments of the U.S.A. and the states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania signed in Philadelphia a pact "to create a regional administrative agency which shall act for and be responsible to the signatory parties in the planning, development and control of the water resources of the Delaware River Basin." The pact, subject to ratification by the U.S. Congress and the four state legislatures, would end a lengthy dispute among the states as to rights of the Delaware River water.

40 years ago
1971


Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Bōkyō--Shinichi Mori (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Te Quiero, Te Quiero--Nino Bravo (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Bob Hilliard, 53
. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Hilliard, born Hilliard Goldsmith, wrote lyrics for songs such as In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning; Any Day Now; and Our Day Will Come. The composers he worked with included Burt Bacharach, Jule Styne, and Mort Garson. Mr. Hilliard died of a heart attack, four days after his 53rd birthday.

Abominations
Canada and the People's Republic of China opened diplomatic relations. Hsu Chung-fu and a 10-man delegation arrived in Ottawa to set up the Communist Chinese embassy in Canada.

Protest
More than 600 people gathered in front of a Montreal courthouse to protest the "preventive arrest" and one-year prison sentence of Michel Chartrand, president of the Conseil central de la Confédération des syndicats nationaux (Central Council of the Confederation of National Trade Unions) (CSN).

Communications
The Canadian Post Office started the "assured mail program" of next-day delivery in most major Canadian cities of letters posted before 11 A.M.

Journalism
The Québec Press Council was founded in Montreal out of four news organizations representing more than 700 reporters; it was the first of its kind in Canada or the United States.

30 years ago
1981


Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Shaddap You Face--Joe Dolce Music Theatre (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon (3rd week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Angel of Mine--Frank Duval & Orchestra
2 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
3 Some Broken Hearts Never Mend--Telly Savalas
4 Super Trouper--ABBA
5 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
6 What You're Proposing--Status Quo
7 The Tide is High--Blondie
8 More than I Can Say--Leo Sayer
9 Santa Maria--Oliver Onions
10 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen

Singles entering the chart were More than I Can Say; Felicidad (Margherita) by Boney M. (#11); and Pas pleurer (Please No More Crying) by Saragossa Band (#19).

Died on this date
Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., 88
. U.S. engineer and aviation executive. Mr. Douglas founded the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1921, which became one of the major firms in the aircraft industry, achieving tremendous success with the Douglas Sleeper Transport (DST) and the DC-3 in the mid-late 1930s. He was president of the company until he retired in favour of his son Douglas, Jr. in 1957, but remained as Chairman of the Board, approving a merger with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in 1967 to become McDonnell Douglas. Mr. Douglas was honourary chairman of the board with McDonnell Douglas until his death.

Geirr Tveitt, 72. Norwegian composer. Mr. Tveitt was a pianist who wrote at least five piano concertos and other orchestral, instrumental, and choral works. He incorporated Norwegian folk music into his works, and was an apparent believer in Norse paganism. Four-fifths of Mr. Tveitt's scores were destroyed in a house fire in 1970, although a few have been reconstructed in recent years. The disaster contributed to his depression and inability to compose, and Mr. Tveitt eventually drank himself to death.

Football
NFL
Pro Bowl @ Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
NFC 21 AFC 7

25 years ago
1986


Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Take on Me--A-Ha (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Nikita--Elton John (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): A Good Heart--Feargal Sharkey

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Borderline--Madonna

#1 single in the U.K.: The Sun Always Shines on T.V.--A-Ha (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): That’s What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder) (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 That’s What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder) (2nd week at #1)
2 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
3 Burning Heart--Survivor
4 Talk to Me--Stevie Nicks
5 I’m Your Man--Wham!
6 Party All the Time--Eddie Murphy
7 My Hometown--Bruce Springsteen
8 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean
9 Alive and Kicking--Simple Minds
10 Walk of Life--Dire Straits

Singles entering the chart were R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. by John Cougar Mellencamp (#48); Goodbye is Forever by Arcadia (#60); Needles and Pins by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Stevie Nicks (#76); Bop by Dan Seals (#81); I’m Not the One by the Cars (#83); Calling America by Electric Light Orchestra (#85); I'd Do it All Again by Sam Harris (#86); Superbowl Shuffle by the Chicago Bears' Shufflin' Crew (#87); Do Me Baby by Meli’sa Morgan (#88); and Live is Life by Opus (#90).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Rock Me Amadeus--Falco
2 That’s What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder)
3 I Miss You--Klymaxx
4 Party All the Time--Eddie Murphy
5 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
6 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean
7 I’m Your Man--Wham!
8 Everything in My Heart--Corey Hart
9 Tarzan Boy--Baltimora
10 Talk to Me--Stevie Nicks

Singles entering the chart were Flippin' to the 'A' Side by Cats Can Fly (#72); Goodbye is Forever by Arcadia (#77); Day by Day by the Hooters (#83); Somewhere by Barbra Streisand (#89); The Whole of the Moon by the Waterboys (#92); and Land of 1,000 Dances by the Wrestlers (#95).

Died on this date
Alva Myrdal, 84
. Swedish sociologist and politician. Mrs. Myrdal, the wife of economist Gunnar Myrdal, was one of the leading figures in the creation of Sweden's welfare state. She held several diplomatic posts and sat in parliament as a member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. Mrs. Myrdal and Alfonso García Robles of Mexico shared the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize "[for] their magnificent work in the disarmament negotiations of the United Nations, where they have both played crucial roles and won international recognition." Mrs. Myrdal died the day after her 84th birthday.

20 years ago
1991


Society
In an address to parliament in Cape Town, South African President F.W. de Klerk said he would seek the repeal of the laws on which the country’s apartheid system was based, citing the Land Acts of 1913 and 1936 that reserved 87% of the nation’s land for the white minority, the Group Areas Act of 1966 and the Black Communities Act of 1984 that segregated residential areas, and the Population Registration of 1950 that separated South Africans into four races--whites, blacks, Indians, and mixed race. Mr. de Klerk also proposed a multiparty conference to consider a new constitution, but rejected African National Congress demands for an elected constituent assembly. ANC deputy president Nelson Mandela welcomed the proposals, but pointed out that blacks were still not allowed to vote and that Mr. de Klerk had made no mention of the freeing of political prisoners or the repeal of security laws. Mr. Mandela urged the maintenance of international sanctions against South Africa until "there is fundamental change in the living conditions of the majority."

War
U.S. soldier Melissa Rathbun-Nealy’s vehicle got stuck in sand during a supply mission, and she became the Gulf War’s first female prisoner of war.

Labour
Striking nurses in Manitoba began returning to their jobs after voting to accept a two-year contract calling for a pay hike of up to 14%. Canada’s longest nurses’ strike had begun on January 1.

Disasters
1,200 were reported killed after an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The collision of two planes on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport killed 34 people and injured 24. A USAir jet that was landing struck a SkyWest plane that was taxiing for takeoff. Two days later, federal investigators reported that the crash may have been caused by an air traffic controller giving both planes clearance to be on the runway at the same time.

10 years ago
2001


Diplomacy
President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo met in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Mr. Kabila said he wanted to reinstitute the Lusaka accords, the cease-fire agreement that would permit foreign troops to leave Congolese soil. Mr. Kabila met the same day with Rwandan President Paul Kagale, who had troops in Congo that had opposed the government of Mr. Kabila’s father and predecessor, Laurent Kabila.

Defense
The Timor Leste Defence Force was established from the erstwhile anti-Indonesian independence movement Falintil.

Scandal
The parliament of Indonesia voted 393-4 to accept a commission report concluding that President Abdurrahman Wahid had probably been involved in embezzling US$3.7 million from a food distribution agency and had testified falsely about his personal misuse of a $2 million gift from the Sultan of Brunei.

Politics and government
The United States Senate voted 58-42 to approve John Ashcroft as Attorney General to complete the cabinet of President George W. Bush. All the opposing votes came from Democratic Senators.

Energy
California Governor Gray Davis signed a bill passed in the state legislature that day permitting the state to issue bonds to fuel the purchase of power through long-term contracts. The plan would cost $10 billion. Mr. Davis also proposed to increase funding for energy conservation programs.

January 31, 2011

250 years ago
1761


Born on this date
W.C. Nicholas
. U.S. politician. Wilson Cary Nicholas, a Democratic-Republican, represented Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Delegates (1784-1786, 1788-1789, 1794-1799); represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate (1799-1804); represented Virginia's 21st District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1807-1809); and was Governor of Virginia (1814-1816). He died on October 10, 1820 at the age of 59, leaving an estate that was insolvent.

160 years ago
1851


Technology
Inventor Thomas Turnbull demonstrated his "Audromonon Carriage" to the public in Saint John. New Brunswick's first horseless carriage consisted of three wheels drawn by a crank, with an operational lever on each side of the driver's seat.

Energy
The Hamilton Gas Light Company installed Hamilton, Canada West's first street lamps.

130 years ago
1881


Born on this date
Irving Langmuir
. U.S. chemist and physicist. Dr. Langmuir was awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry." He invented the gas-filled incandescent lamp and the hydrogen welding technique, and popularized the "concentric theory of atomic structure." Dr. Langmuir died on August 16, 1957 at the age of 76.

120 years ago
1891


Protest
The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution broke out in the northern city of Porto.

110 years ago
1901


Hockey
Stanley Cup challenge
Winnipeg Victoria 2 @ Montreal Shamrocks 1 (OT) (Winnipeg won best-of-three series 2-0)

The winning goal was scored 4 minutes into overtime as the Victorias took the Cup from the defending champion Shamrocks.

90 years ago
1921


Communications
New Zealand's first regular airmail service began as Captain Euan Dickson flew several hundred letters from Christchurch to Ashburton and Timaru.

80 years ago
1931


Torontonia
The Bank of Commerce building--today's Commerce Court North--opened as the tallest building in the British Commonwealth.

70 years ago
1941


Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Woodpecker Song--Kate Smith; Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (3rd month at #1)

At the movies
Buck Privates, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, opened in theatres.

War
Free French commander General Charles de Gaulle appealed to General Maxim Weygand's African army to help complete the conquest of Italian Libya.

Thai and French officials signed a Japanese-mediated armistice terminating Indochinese border disputes.

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that the federal government was prepared to take over any plant in the country considered necessary in the national defense.

Eight of ten Republican Party members of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee issued a dissenting report on Lend-Lease, urging a $2-billion loan to Britain instead.

Philippines President Manuel Quezon states that the defense of his country rested primarily with the United States.

Crime
Nine leaders of the German-American Bund were sentenced from 12-14 months in prison for violating New Jersey "race hatred" law.

Literature
Richard Wright, author of the novel Native Son (1940), was awarded the U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples' Joel Springarn Medal for the highest achievement "in any honorable field of endeavor."

Economics and finance
Four major New York banks disclosed a cooperative plan to speed up financing of defense contracts.

Boxing
Joe Louis (45-1) retained his world heavyweight title with a knockout of Red Burman (73-17-1) at 2:49 of the 5th round at Madison Square Garden in New York.

60 years ago
1951


War
U.S. High Commissioner for Occupied Germany John J. McCloy commuted the death sentences of 21 German war criminals to life imprisonment and less, and ordered the release of 33 war criminal prisoners, including Krupp director Alfred Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. All other German industrialists in jail in the U.S. zone were also freed for time served.

Diplomacy
United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 was adopted 11-0, resolved to remove the item "Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea" from the list of matters of which the council was seized.

Defense
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission was secretly authorized to begin production of the hydrogen bomb.

A new United Services Organizations came into existence in New York, following the merger of the old USO with the Associated Services for the Armed Forces.

Politics and government
Getulio Vargas was inaugurated into a five-year term as President of Brazil. He promised to reduce living costs and improce living standards, while maintaining Brazil's "traditional and permanent relations of friendship and cooperation" with the United States.

Crime
A U.S. federal grand jury in New York indicted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, David Greenglass, Morton Sobell, and Anatoli Yakovlev on charges of transmitting atomic secrets to the U.S.S.R. Mr. Yakovlev, a Soviet deputy consul who had left the country, was charged in absentia.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman told members of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee that he would ask for a $9 billion-$10 billion tax increase in his forthcoming tax message and an additional $6.5 billion rise later.

Disasters
Much of the Duplessis Bridge in Trois-Rivières, Quebec collapsed into the Saint-Maurice River, killing eight people.

50 years ago
1961


Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Seemann--Lolita (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, hosted by John Newland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Gift, starring Scott Marlowe, Betty Garde, and Mary Sinclair



Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Last Escape, starring Keenan Wynn, Jan Sterling, and Dennis Patrick

Died on this date
Eugene Dennis, 55
. U.S. politician. Mr. Dennis, born Francis Xavier Waldron, joined the Communist Party USA in 1926; he fled to the Soviet Union in 1929 in order to avoid criminal charges for his political activities under the California Criminal Syndicalism Act, but returned to the United States in 1935, assuming the name by which he was best known. Mr. Dennis was General Secretary of the National Committee of the Communist Party USA (1945-1959), and Chairman of the National Committee of the party from 1957 until his death from cancer. He was one of 11 Communists convicted in 1949 under the Alien Registration Act, and was in prison from 1951-1955. Mr. Dennis was identified in the Venona project as a source of information for Soviet intelligence in the U.S.A. during World War II.

Music
Fats Domino and his band began a tour of Jamaica. Mr. Domino had a tremendous influence on popular music in Jamaica; his 1959 hit Be My Guest was particularly popular and influential.

Space
The United States launched Mercury-Redstone 2, with a chimpanzee named Ham aboard, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Ham performed well, but there were some technical problems with the mission.



The U.S. Air Force launched Samos 2, an experimental version of a reconnaissance satellite, into a near-circular polar orbit from Point Arguello, California. The satellite carried photographic, telemetry, tracking, and command equipment, and was said to be the forerunner of a system of satellites that could perform photographic missions comparable to those of U-2 planes. Details of its performance were not immediately made public.

Terrorism
U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Allen Smith, commander of the Navy’s Caribbean Frontier, went aboard the Portuguese cruise ship Santa Maria, which had been held hostage in the Atlantic Ocean by pirates since January 22, for a conference with the pirates’ leader, former Portuguese army captain Hector Galvao. Adm. Smith said that the pirates had agreed to bring the ship--currently 30 miles off Recife, Brazil--into Recife the next day if Brazil gave "the necessary clearance."

Politics and government
Janio Quadros took office as President of Brazil.

40 years ago
1971


Space
The Apollo 14 crew of Alan Shepard (Commander), Stuart Roosa (Command Module Pilot), and Edgar Mitchell (Lunar Module Pilot) lifted off for the moon from Cape Kennedy, Florida. It was Mr. Shepard’s first space mission since his suborbital Mercury-Redstone 3 flight almost 10 years earlier. It took two hours for the lunar module Antares to dock with the command module Kitty Hawk, but Mr. Roosa completed the linkup on the sixth attempt.







Protest
The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, began in Detroit.

30 years ago
1981


Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Anna Dai Capelli Rossi--I Ragazzi Dai Capelli Rossi (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Santa Maria--Roland Kaiser (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: (Just Like) Imagine--John Lennon

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Imagine--John Lennon (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Imagine--John Lennon (4th week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Lola (Live)--The Kinks (4th week at #1)
2 Celebration--Kool & The Gang
3 Runaway Boys--Stray Cats
4 Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)--Tom Browne
5 Shine Up--Doris D and the Pins
6 Mama He's a Soldier Now--Saskia & Serge
7 If You Could Read My Mind - Special U.S. Disco-Mix--Viola Wills
8 My Feet Won't Move--Fruitcake
9 Een barg die hé un krul in de steert--De Aal
10 Amoureux Solitaires/Dis Moi que Tu M'aimes--Lio

Singles entering the chart were Embarrassment by Madness (#30); I Hope I Never by Split Enz (#31); Shake it Up (Do the Boogaloo) by Rod (#32); Fade to Grey by Visage (#35); and Zonder Jou (Dream Away) by Rob de Nijs (#36).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 The Tide is High--Blondie
2 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
3 Celebration--Kool & The Gang
4 I Love a Rainy Night--Eddie Rabbitt
5 Every Woman in the World--Air Supply
6 Passion--Rod Stewart
7 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond
8 9 to 5--Dolly Parton
9 It's My Turn--Diana Ross
10 I Made it Through the Rain--Barry Manilow

Singles entering the chart were Hello Again by Neil Diamond (#32); Rapture by Blondie (#61); What Kind of Fool by Barbra Streisand (Duet with Barry Gibb) (#72); Ain't Even Done with the Night by John Cougar (#81); Dreamer by the Association (#83); Fantastic Voyage by Lakeside (#85); Turn Me Loose by Loverboy (#87); and Don't You Know What Love Is by Touch (#92). Hello Again was from the movie The Jazz Singer (1980).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Tide is High--Blondie
2 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
3 Celebration--Kool & The Gang
4 Passion--Rod Stewart
5 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond
6 Lady--Kenny Rogers
7 9 to 5--Dolly Parton
8 I Love a Rainy Night--Eddie Rabbitt
9 Every Woman in the World--Air Supply
10 Same Old Lang Syne--Dan Fogelberg

Singles entering the chart were Hello Again by Neil Diamond (#36); Rapture by Blondie (#65); What Kind of Fool by Barbra Streisand (Duet with Barry Gibb) (#73); Ain’t Even Done With the Night by John Cougar (#83); Lipstick by Suzi Quatro (#87); Dreamer by the Association (#88); Fantastic Voyage by Lakeside (#89); Don't Stop the Music by Yarbrough & Peoples (#90); Long Time Lovin' You by McGuffey Lane (#92); Cafe Amore by Spyro Gyra (#97); and Don't You Know What Love Is by Touch (#98).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Record World)
1 The Tide is High--Blondie
2 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
3 Every Woman in the World--Air Supply
4 Celebration--Kool & The Gang
5 Hit Me with Your Best Shot--Pat Benatar
6 Passion--Rod Stewart
7 I Love a Rainy Night--Eddie Rabbitt
8 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
9 Keep on Loving You--REO Speedwagon
10 9 to 5--Dolly Parton

Singles entering the chart were Hello Again by Neil Diamond (#31); Rapture by Blondie (#52); What Kind of Fool by Barbra Streisand (Duet with Barry Gibb) (#72); Guitar Man by Elvis Presley (#84); Ain't Even Done with the Night by John Cougar (#88); Precious to Me by Phil Seymour (#89); and Somebody's Knockin' by Terri Gibbs (#94).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon (4th week at #1)
2 The Tide is High--Blondie
3 Lady--Kenny Rogers
4 Wasn't That a Party--The Rovers
5 De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da--The Police
6 Hungry Heart--Bruce Springsteen
7 More Than I Can Say--Leo Sayer
8 Passion--Rod Stewart
9 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
10 Tell it Like it Is--Heart

Singles entering the chart were Games People Play by Alan Parsons Project (#39); The Best of Times by Styx (#41); Ah! Leah! by Donnie Iris (#45); Ghost Riders in the Sky by the Outlaws (#46); Miss Sun by Boz Scaggs (#47); and Treat Me Right by Pat Benatar (#50).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 The Tide is High--Blondie
2 De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da--The Police
3 Looking for Clues--Robert Palmer
4 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
5 Tell it Like it Is--Heart
6 Passion--Rod Stewart
7 Guilty--Barbra Streisand (Duet with Barry Gibb)
8 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond
9 Switchin' to Glide--The Kings
10 Teacher Teacher--Rockpile

Singles entering the chart were 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton (#28); and The Best of Times by Styx (#29).

Died on this date
William Gopallawa, 84
. Governor-General of Ceylon, 1962-1972; President of Sri Lanka, 1972-1978. Sir William was a municipal politician in Matale before serving as Ceylonese Ambassador to the People's Republic of China (1960-1961) and to the United States (1961-1962). He served as Governor-General until Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972, and then served as the country's only non-executive President.

Labour
The Polish government and the trade union movement Solidarity announced that they had reached an agreement. The government would make three of every four Saturdays non-working days, turn over a weekly hour-long television program to the union leadership, and hold talks with the farmers’ union. In return, workers ended the recent wave of wildcat strikes and protests.

Sport
Canadian speed skater Gaëtan Boucher skated the 1,000 metres in a world record time of 1:13.39 at Davos, Switzerland.

Hockey
NHL
Winnipeg 2 @ Toronto 0

The national Hockey Night in Canada telecast from Maple Leaf Gardens marked the Jets’ second and last road win of the season--both in Toronto in January--and was one of just 9 wins for the team in the entire 1980-81 season. Winnipeg goalie Markus Mattsson earned the Jets’ only shutout of the season.

25 years ago
1986


World events
Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier imposed a state of siege after demonstrating and looting had spread to several cities. The violence had begun in reaction to the killing of three students in November 1985. U.S. White House spokesman Larry Speakes announced that Mr. Duvalier had fled Haiti, but he later admitted that the report was inaccurate, and blamed "bum information" from the U.S. State Department. Mr. Duvalier claimed that he was in power "firm as a monkey's tail."

Economics and finance
The Canadian dollar closed at a record low of 70.20c U.S. The drop came despite increased Canadian interest rates and attempts by the Bank of Canada to bolster the dollar’s value.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished at a new high of 1570.99.

20 years ago
1991


Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Do the Bartman--The Simpsons (2nd week at #1)

On the radio
Eddie Keen delivered his last editorial and departed as news director of CHED after nearly 20 years with the Edmonton station.

War
Allied forces recaptured the Saudi town of Al Khafji; 500 Iraqis were taken prisoner and 200 killed or wounded.

Israeli forces completed three days of strikes at a Palestinian refugee camp and other Palestinian targets.

Law
Canada’s proposed abortion law, which would have permitted an abortion if a physician felt a woman’s physical or psychological health was in danger, was defeated on a 43-43 tie vote in the Senate (in contrast to the American Senate, the Canadian Senate has no mechanism for breaking a tie, and a tie vote defeats a bill). The bill had narrowly passed the House of Commons in 1990. Politicians of both parties in the Senate were free to vote their consciences--if they had any--but most Progressive Conservatives voted for the bill while most Liberals voted against it. The bill had been opposed by pro-abortion advocates--who didn’t believe abortion should be covered under the Criminal Code--and by pro-life advocates, who didn’t think the bill was restrictive enough.

10 years ago
2001


Died on this date
Gordon R. Dickson, 77
. Canadian-born U.S. author. Mr. Dickson, a native of Edmonton, moved to Minneapolis at the age of 13. He wrote about 80 science fiction novels, including several series, and dozens of short stories in a career spanning 50 years. Mr. Dickson won several awards, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. He died from complications of severe asthma.

Terrorism
A Scottish court sitting in Camp Zeist, Netherlands convicted Abdel Baset Ali Mohammed al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, of murder and sentenced him to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. A second Libyan, former airline manager Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted.

Business
George Gillett, Jr. bought 80% of the Montreal Canadiens and 100% of Molson Centre in Montreal for S$275 million; the name of the building was changed to Bell Centre.

Saturday 29 January 2011

January 30, 2011

830 years ago
1181


Died on this date
Takakura, 19
. Emperor of Japan, 1168-1180. Takakura, born Norihito-shinnō, was the fourth son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and acceded to the throne upon the deposal of his nephew Rokujū. He abdicated under pressure in March 1180 in favour of his infant son Antoku.

350 years ago
1661


World events
Two years after his death, English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell's remains were exhumed for a posthumous execution, and his head was placed on a spike above Westminster Hall in London, where it remained until 1685.

170 years ago
1841


Born on this date
Félix Faure
. 7th President of France, 1895-1899. Mr. Faure, a moderate republican, was first elected to the National Assembly in 1881, and held various cabinet posts before being elected President following the resignation of Jean Casimir-Perier. He granted amnesty to anarchist movements, but refused to intervene in the treason conviction of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, thus attracting criticism from French intellectuals and others. President Faure died in office on February 16, 1899, 17 days after his 58th birthday, of a fit of apoplexy while having sex with his mistress, sparking much ribald humour.

Disasters
A fire destroyed two-thirds of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

150 years ago
1861


Born on this date
Charles Martin Loeffler
. German-born U.S. musician and composer. Mr. Loeffler was a classical violinist who lived in several countries before moving to the United States in 1881 and becoming an American citizen in 1887. He was assistant concertmaster with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1882-1903), and the BSO performed his compositions, which included symphonic poems, chamber works, and other instrumental pieces. Mr. Loeffler died on May 19, 1935 at the age of 74.

110 years ago
1901


Born on this date
Rudolf Caracciola
. German auto racing driver. Mr. Caracciola was one of the greatest drivers in Europe before World War II, winning the European Drivers' Championship in 1935, 1937, and 1938. He died of liver failure on September 28, 1959 at the age of 58.

100 years ago
1911


Born on this date
Roy Eldridge
. U.S. musician. Mr. Eldridge was a jazz trumpeter and occasional singer with a number of bands, including those led by Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa, and Artie Shaw. Dizzy Gillespie was one of the musicians who cited Mr. Eldridge as a musical influence. He died on February 26, 1989, 27 days after his 78th birthday.

Aviation
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Terry made the first airplane rescue at sea, saving the life of Canadian aviation pioneer Douglas McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba. During the Havana air show from January 28-31, Mr. McCurdy had taken off from Key West, Florida to Havana in an attempt to win an $8,000 prize as the first person to accomplish the feat, covering a distance of more than 90 miles. After a two-hour flight, he was in sight of the Havana harbour when the cylinders of his engine exploded, and he made a crash landing in the water. The Terry was one of six U.S. Navy ships covering the course in case of such an emergency. The City of Havana and the Havana Post recognized Mr. McCurdy as having accomplished the flight.

Society
A 1910 amendment to New Zealand's Gaming Act went into effect, banning bookmakers from racecourses, other public places, and hotels.

80 years ago
1931


At the movies City Lights, produced, directed, written by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, received its premiere screening at the Los Angeles Theater.



Protest
2,000 Communists in New York City threatened City Hall, but were beaten back by 300 police officers, some with horses and nightsticks. Several officers were isolated by the mob and beaten.

Popular culture
The world’s first Boy Scout Apple Day was organized by Eli Boyaner in Saint John, New Brunswick.

70 years ago
1941


War
British troops captured Derna, Libya. German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler warned that American ships carrying aid to the United Kingdom would be sunk.

Defense
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 17-8 in favour of an amended Lend-Lease bill.

Technology
Radio Corporation of America officials described a new and simplified electron microscope that magnified objects up to 100,000 times.

Economics and finance
Brazilian President Getulio Vargas signed a decree creating the National Steel Corporation.

Business
The U.S. War Department awarded a $10-million truck contract to a Chrysler affiliate despite a lower bid from Ford Motor Company, because Ford refused to comply with federal, state, and local labour laws.

A U.S. federal grand jury indicted six companies and nine officials for operating an international magnesium trust since 1927. Two German firms were included.

60 years ago
1951


On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Rose Garden, starring Mildred Natwick and Estelle Winwood

Died on this date
Ferdinand Porsche, 75
. Austro-Hungarian-born German engineer. Mr. Porsche was born in northern Bohemia--today part of the Czech Republic--and chose Czechoslovakian citizenship after World War I. Mr. Porsche created the Lohner-Porsche (the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle), the Volswagen Beetle, and other cars. He founded Porsche AG in Stuttgart in 1931, was granted German citizenship in 1934, and joined the Nazi Party in 1937. Mr. Porsche significantly contributed to the German effort in World War II, designing advanced tanks and various weapons. He and his son Ferry served time in prison after the war as war criminals, but were able to revive the Porsche company in 1949. Ferdinand Porsche died several weeks after suffering a stroke.

Diplomacy
The U.S.A. won a two-week fight for United Nations action against the People's Republic of China when the General Assembly's Political and Security Committee voted 44-7 in favour of a resolution branding the Communist Chinese as aggressors in Korea.

U.S. President Harry Truman and French Prime Minister Rene Pleven concluded two days of talks in Washington, concentrating on European defense problems and Indochina.

Politics and government
The East German People's Chamber unanimously endorsed a rnewed unification bid by Premier Otto Grotewohl, who offered to reduce the size of the People's Police if satisifed about police arrangements in the West.

Society
Georgia Governor Herman Talmadge (Democrat) signed a law banning the public wearing of Ku Klux Klan masks or hoods and outlawing cross-burning and other KKK intimidation practices.

Labour
Railroad switchmen in Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Peoria, Illinois struck in support of wage demands of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

50 years ago
1961


Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Greenfields--The Brothers Four (6th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Non, je ne regrette rien--Édith Piaf (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles
2 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
3 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
4 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
5 Shop Around--The Miracles
6 Angel Baby--Rosie and the Originals
7 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka
8 Emotions--Brenda Lee
9 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee
10 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley

Singles entering the chart were I'm Learning About Love by Brenda Lee (#43); You Can Have Her by Roy Hamilton (#62); Ebony Eyes by the Everly Brothers (#67); Don't Worry by Marty Robbins (#72); (I Wanna) Love My Life Away by Gene Pitney (#77); Close Together by Jimmy Reed (#78); Leave My Kitten Alone by Johnny Preston (#86); Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes) by Carla Thomas (#96); Honky Tonk (Part 2) by Bill Doggett (#98); Bye Bye Baby by Mary Wells (#99); and Wait a Minute by the Coasters (#100). Honky Tonk (Part 2) was a new recording of the tune that had originally been a hit for Mr. Doggett in 1956.

Politics and government
U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivered his first State of the Union message to Congress, saying, "I speak today in an hour of national peril and national opportunity. Before my term has ended, we shall have to test anew whether a nation organized and governed such as ours can endure. The outcome is by no means certain. The answers are by no means clear. All of us together--this administration, this Congress, this nation--must forge these answers." He said that the state of the economy was disturbing "in the wake of 7 months of recession, 3½ years of slack, 7 years of diminished economic growth, and 9 years of falling income." Mr. Kennedy said he would propose within 14 days measures "aimed at insuring a prompt recovery and paving the way for increased long-term growth." He said he would propose expenditures which "will not of and by themselves unbalance the earlier [Eisenhower] budget," but "we will do what must be done." In the field of foreign aid, President Kennedy said he would ask Congress for "authority to establish a new and more effective program for assisting the economic, educational and social development of other countries and continents." He added: "We must increase our support of the United Nations as an instrument to end the cold war instead of an arena in which to fight it."



Diplomacy
Replying to a letter from Congolese President Joseph Kasavubu that he would seek foreign military aid unless the United Nations force acted to put down the revolt against his government by supporters of deposed Premier Patrice Lumumba, UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold said that he would place Mr. Kasavubu’s letter before the Security Council. However, Mr. Hammarskjold implied that the mandate given to the UN force did not permit it to intervene in the Congo’s political struggle.

40 years ago
1971


Hit parade
#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Yo Yo--Chris Andrews (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Vent'anni--Massimo Ranieri (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family (5th week at #1)
2 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
3 The Pushbike Song--The Mixtures
4 A Song of Joy--Miguel Rios
5 Fire and Rain--James Taylor
6 Look What They've Done to My Song Ma--The New Seekers
7 We've Only Just Begun--Carpenters
8 Eleanor Rigby--Zoot
9 Lola--The Kinks
10 You Don't Have To Say You Love Me/Patch it Up--Elvis Presley

Singles entering the chart were Black Night by Deep Purple (#36); Lonely Days by the Bee Gees (#52); Circle Game by Buffy Sainte-Marie (#58); Silver Moon by Michael Nesmith & the First National Band (#59); and No Matter What by Badfinger (#60).

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Nothing Rhymed--Gilbert O'Sullivan
2 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
3 Peace Planet (Badinerie from suite no. 2 - J.S.Bach)--Ekseption
4 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
5 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
6 Yesterday, When I was Young--Charles Aznavour
7 Knock Three Times--Dawn
8 Hans Brinker Symphony--Holland
9 Both Sides Now--Euson
10 She Likes Weeds--Tee-Set

Singles entering the chart were Rozen die Bloeien by Corry en de Rekels (#13); Heb Je Nog Een Bloemetje Voor M'n Knoopsgat, Schat? by Toon & Herman (#24); Bridget the Midget by Ray Stevens (#25); She's a Lady by Tom Jones (#26); Everyday's Torture by Jackie Cornell (#35); Elisa by Tony Bass (#36); Pourquoi le Monde est Sans Amour by Mireille Mathieu (#38); and Jij Bent M'n Boterbloem by De Twee Pinten (#40).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Knock Three Times--Dawn (2nd week at #1)
2 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
3 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
4 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
5 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
6 Groove Me--King Floyd
7 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
8 Your Song--Elton John
9 One Bad Apple--The Osmonds
10 Stoney End--Barbra Streisand

Singles entering the chart were Mama's Pearl by the Jackson 5 (#47); Have You Ever Seen the Rain/Hey Tonight by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#56); Theme from Love Story by Francis Lai and his Orchestra (#75); Hang on to Your Life by the Guess Who (#82); Triangle of Love (Hey Diddle Diddle) by the Presidents (#92); Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin (#94); Everything is Good About You by the Lettermen (#98); Proud Mary by Ike & Tina Turner (#99); and San Bernadino by Christie (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
4 Groove Me--King Floyd
5 If I were Your Woman--Gladys Knight & the Pips
6 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
7 Stoney End--Barbra Streisand
8 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
9 Your Song--Elton John
10 It's Impossible--Perry Como

Singles entering the chart were She's a Lady by Tom Jones (#56); Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#63); Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) by the Temptations (#66); Keep the Customer Satisfied by Gary Puckett (#68); Triangle of Love (Hey Diddle Diddle) by the Presidents (#74); I Love You for All Seasons by Fuzz (#75); Hang on to Your Life by the Guess Who (#79); Whole Lotta Love by C.C.S. (#82); Whole Lotta Love by King Curtis and the Kingpins (#85); Proud Mary by Ike & Tina Turner (#86); Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin (#88); Never Marry a Railroad Man by Shocking Blue (#95); Where are We Going by Bobby Bloom (#97); San Bernadino by Christie (#98); and (She's a) Very Lovely Woman by Linda Ronstadt (#99).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Record World)
1 Knock Three Times--Dawn (4th week at #1)
2 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
3 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
4 Groove Me--King Floyd
5 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
6 Your Song--Elton John
7 It's Impossible--Perry Como
8 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
9 If I were Your Woman--Gladys Knight & the Pips
10 Love the One You're With--Stephen Stills

Singles entering the chart were Hang on to Your Life by the Guess Who (#62); Keep the Customer Satisfied by Gary Puckett (#66); Theme from Love Story by Francis Lai and his Orchestra (#69); Whole Lotta Love by C.C.S. (#76); Whole Lotta Love by King Curtis and the Kingpins (#80); Everything is Good About You by the Lettermen (#88); Freedom by the Isley Brothers (#90); I Dig Everything About You by the Mob (#93); Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin (#94); Help Me Make it Through the Night by Sammi Smith (#97); From the Very Start by Children (#99); and We'll Have it Made by the Spinners (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Knock Three Times--Dawn (2nd week at #1)
2 Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
3 Your Song--Elton John
4 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin
5 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
6 Love the One You're With--Stephen Stills
7 If You Could Read My Mind--Gordon Lightfoot
8 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
9 Stoney End--Barbra Streisand
10 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson

Singles entering the chart were If I were Your Woman by Gladys Knight & the Pips (#61); Hang on to Your Life by the Guess Who (#74); Have You Ever Seen the Rain/Hey Tonight by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#75); Mama's Pearl by the Jackson 5 (#77); Cheryl Moana Marie by John Rowles (#81); Theme from Love Story by Henry Mancini, his Orchestra and Chorus (#83); Everything is Good About You by the Lettermen (#84); Kagie by Buxton Kastle (#89); Whole Lotta Love by C.C.S. (#92); Theme from "Love Story" by Francis Lai (#93); Together We Two by the Archies (#96); Stay Awhile by the Bells (#97); Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin (#98); Where are We Going by Bobby Bloom (#99); and Superstar by Murray Head (#100).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (6th week at #1)
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
4 Sweet Mary--Wadsworth Mansion
5 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
6 Born to Wander--Rare Earth
7 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
8 If You Could Read My Mind--Gordon Lightfoot
9 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
10 No Matter What--Badfinger
Pick hit of the week: Children--Jimmy Aiello and the Happy Feeling

On the radio
Sherlock Holmes, starring Georg Arlin and Gosta Pruzelius, on Radioteatern (Sweden)
Tonight's episode: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 4

War
Fatalities for the week in Vietnam numbered 29 Americans, 222 South Vietnamese, and an estimated 776 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.

30 years ago
1981


Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): När vi två blir en--Gyllene Tider (8th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Reality--Richard Sanderson

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond (2nd week at #1)
2 Can You Feel It--The Jacksons
3 Passion--Rod Stewart
4 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
5 The Tide is High--Blondie
6 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
7 Man on the Moon--Ballyhoo
8 I'm Alright--Kenny Loggins
9 Give Me the Night--George Benson
10 Celebration--Kool & The Gang

Singles entering the chart were A Lot of Things by Peach (#18); and Hold On by Lastique (#19).

Society
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service moved to expel 3,900 Haitians who had entered the U.S. since October 11, 1980. The Haitians were expected to appeal the decision on the basis that they were seeking asylum from the Haitian regime of "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

Environment
It was learned that the U.S. Interior Department’s Office of Endangered Species had been instructed to de-emphasize its efforts to place on its endangered species list animals and plants that are faced with extinction. Instead, it was to concentrate on the "recovery" of species already on the list. It was to reduce by half the number of species to be examined for listing as endangered, and spend more time planning to take such steps as moving an affected animal or plant to a less dangerous area.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of future economic trends had declined by 0.8% in December 1980, indicating an economic slowdown.

25 years ago
1986


Hit parade
Edmonton's Top 18 (CHED)
1 That's What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder)
2 So Far Away--Dire Straits
3 Spies Like Us--Paul McCartney
4 Talk to Me--Stevie Nicks
5 Everything in My Heart--Corey Hart
6 It's Only Love--Bryan Adams and Tina Turner
7 Burning Heart--Survivor
8 Tarzan Boy--Baltimora
9 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean
10 My Hometown--Bruce Springsteen
11 I'm Your Man--Wham!
12 Live is Life--Opus
13 Conga--Miami Sound Machine
14 Rock Me Amadeus--Falco
15 Take Me Home--Phil Collins
16 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
17 Cosmetics--Gowan
18 Go Home--Stevie Wonder

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CITV
Tonight’s episode: The Elevator (starring Stephen Geoffreys and Robert Prescott); To See the Invisible Man (starring Cotter Smith); Tooth and Consequences (starring David Birney)

Diplomacy
Jonas Savimbi, leader of the anti-Communist Angolan rebel group UNITA, met with U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington. The two men called for a negotiated settlement of the civil war in that country.

Scandal
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Erik Nielsen, who had been a member of the House of Commons since 1958, admitted that he had secretly listened in on Liberal Party caucus meetings during the 1960s.

20 years ago
1991


Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Sadeness Part I--Enigma (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight’s episode: Denial

Died on this date
John McIntire, 83
. U.S. actor. Mr. McIntire was a character actor who appeared in movies such as The Asphalt Jungle (1950); Winchester '73 (1950); and The Phenix City Story (1955), and had regular roles in the television series Naked City (1958-1959) and Wagon Train (1961-1965).

John Bardeen, 82. U.S. physicist. Dr. Bardeen is the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: in 1956 with Walter Brattain and William Shockley "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect;" and in 1972 with Leon Cooper and John Schrieffer "for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory."

War
11 U.S. Marines were reported killed as troops from the U.S.A., Saudi Arabia, and Qatar retaliated against Iraq’s seizure of the Saudi town of Al Khafji the previous day. Seven of the U.S. deaths were from "friendly fire" from a U.S. warplane. U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf said that the air campaign was on schedule, with two weeks of bombing forcing Iraq to abandon centralized control of its air defense. Canada began military operations in Operation Friction; a Canadian CF-18 Hornet attacked and caused irreparable damage to an Iraqi warship.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators had edged upward 0.1% in December 199, ending a string of six monthly declines.

Business
The Hudson's Bay Company announced that it was selling its fur business due to declining sales and auction competition; the HBC was originally founded as a fur trading company in 1670.

10 years ago
2001


Died on this date
Jean-Pierre Aumont, 90
. French actor. Mr. Aumont, born Jean-Pierre Salomons, appeared in plays, films, and television programs in France and the United States in a career spanning 65 years, with time out for service with Free French Forces in World War II. His movies included Maria Chapdelaine (1934); The Cross of Lorraine (1943); Lili (1953); and The Seven Deadly Sins (1962). Mr. Aumont died of a heart attack, 25 days after his 90th birthday.

Politics and government
The United States Senate voted 75-24 to approve Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President George W. Bush.

January 29, 2011

1,350 years ago
661


Died on this date
Ali, 59
. Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, 656-661. Ali, a native of Mecca and the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, was the first male who accepted Islam under Muhammad, and became the 1st Imam of Shia Islam in 632. Ali died three days after being attacked with a poisoned sword wielded by Kharijite Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, while Ali was praying in the Great Mosque of Kufa. Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam was executed three days later. Ali is regarded by Shia Muslims as the rightful successor to Muhammad as caliph. Upon his death, Kufi Muslims pledged allegiance to his eldest son Hasan without dispute.

300 years ago
1711


Born on this date
Giuseppe Bonno
. Austrian composer. Mr. Bonno composed a number of operas and oratorios, largely forgotten today. He died on April 15, 1788 at the age of 77.

250 years ago
1761


Born on this date
Albert Gallatin
. Swiss-born U.S. politician and diplomat. Mr. Gallatin, a native of Geneva, moved to the United States in the 1780s and settled in Pennsylvania. He was an ethnologist and linguist who, as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate (1793-1794) and represented the state's 12th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1795-1801). He was United States Secretary of the Treasury (1801-1814), taking the last nine months of his time in office off to go to St. Petersburg as one of four American commissioners who were trying to negotiate an end to the War of 1812. Mr. Gallatin was U.S. Minister to France (1816-1823) and the United Kingdom (1826-1827). He became president of the National Bank of New York in 1829, and helped to found New York University in 1831. Mr. Gallatin died on August 12, 1849 at the age of 88.

160 years ago
1861


Born on this date
Florida Ruffin Ridley
. U.S. civil rights activist and journalist. Mrs. Ridley was active in supporting Negro civil rights in Boston. She wrote about civil rights in New England, and contributed to various publications; she edited The New Era, the first American newspaper published by and for Negro women. Mrs. Ridley died on February 25, 1943, 27 days after her 82nd birthday.

Americana
Kansas entered the Union as the 34th state; it entered as a free state at a time when slave states in the south were threatening secession.

125 years ago
1886


Transportation
Karl Benz received a patent for the first successful gasoline-driven car. Mr. Benz, a German engineer, had driven the three-wheeled car in Mannheim in 1885. The car had an electric ignition and differential gears and was water-cooled.

120 years ago
1891


World events
Liliuokalani was proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

110 years ago
1901


Born on this date
Allen B. DuMont
. U.S. engineer and television magnate. Mr. DuMont invented several electronic devices, but was best known for devising improvements to the cathode ray tube for use in television sets. Mr. DuMont issued the Model 180 in June 1938, which was the first all-electronic television set available to the public. He founded the DuMont Television Network, which broadcast from 1942-1956. Mr. DuMont became television's first millionaire; he died on November 14, 1965 at the age of 64.

E.P. Taylor. Canadian businessman and horse breeder. Edward Plunket Taylor, a native of Ottawa, was successful in developing businesses and getting others to buy them; he was particularly known as a brewery magnate. Mr. Taylor founded Argus Corporation in 1945, which became Canada's largest holding company in the 1960s and '70s. He began breeding horses in the 1950s, and purchased the property in Oshawa, Ontario that eventually became Windfields Farm. Mr. Taylor's horses won 15 Queen's Plates, with Northern Dancer winning that race in 1964 as well as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Mr. Taylor was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1974. He moved to the Bahamas in 1963, and died on May 14, 1989 at the age of 88.

Hockey
Stanley Cup challenge
Winnipeg Victoria 4 @ Montreal Shamrocks 3 (Winnipeg led best-of-three series 1-0)

The Shamrocks were the defending champions.

100 years ago
1911


War
Mexicali was captured by forces of the Mexican Liberal Party led by José María Leyva, igniting the Magonista rebellion of 1911.

70 years ago
1941


Died on this date
Ioannas Metaxas, 69
. Prime Minister of Greece, 1936-1941. Lieutenant General Metaxas was a member of the Freethinkers' Party from 1922-1936; he governed constitutionally for the first four months of his tenure, but governed after that as the dictator of the 4th of August regime. He was succeded as Prime Minister by Alexandros Koryzis.

War
Japanese, French, and Thai representatives began armistice negotiations to stop border hostilities between Thailand and Indochina.

Diplomacy
Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka stated his hope that the appointment of Nobumasa Nomura as Japanese Ambassador to the United States would improve relations between the countries.

Defense
Secret U.S.-U.K. military staff talks began in Washington. The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee adopted amendments to the Lend-Lease bill limiting the bill to June 30, 1943, and barring convoying by the U.S. Navy. The Senate passed the $909-million authorization for Navy expansion, and sent the bill to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Politics and government
The Vichy French government announced the creation of a 40-man national committee called Rassemblement National to replace the old political parties.

Law
Cuban President Fulgencio Batista signed a decree making totalitarian propaganda in Cuba illegal.

Labour
A third International Harvester Company plant working on U.S. defense orders was closed by the Congress of Industrial Organizations Farm Equipment Workers strike. U.S. Representative Carl Vinson (Democrat--Georgia) introduced a bill to bar strikes and closed shops on naval defense projects.

60 years ago
1951


On the radio
Sherlock Holmes, read by Laidman Browne, on BBC
Tonight's episode: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 2

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Masque of the Red Death, starring Hurd Hatfield, Berry Kroeger, and Monica Lang

Died on this date
José Gómez Mena
. Cuban businessman. Mr. Gómez was a wealthy sugar planter and society leader. He was shot to death in Havana by a former sugar mill foreman.

Divorced on this date
Actress Elizabeth Taylor, 18, divorced hotel heir Nicky Hilton, 24, in Hollywood.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Harry Truman and French Prime Minister Rene Pleven began two days of talks in Washington, concentrating on European defense problems and Indochina.

Defense
U.K. Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced an increase in Britain's defense budget for the next three years, raising total military expenditures to $13.1 billion.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Price Stabilization Office opened 13 regioal and 42 district branch offices throughout the country to begin local administration of price controls.

Boxing
Rocky Marciano (32-0) scored a technical knockout over Keene Simmons (8-9-1) at 2:54 of the 8th round of a heavyweight bout at Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence.

50 years ago
1961


Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Ken Dies!

Terrorism
Brazilian President-elect Janio Quadros, scheduled to take office two days later, said that he would grant asylum to the pirates led by former Portuguese army captain Hector Galvao who had been holding almost 1,000 people hostage aboard the Portuguese cruise ship Santa Maria in the Atlantic Ocean for a week.

Track and field
Valery Brumel of the U.S.S.R. set a world record in the high jump at 7 feet 4½ inches at a meet in Leningrad. John Thomas of the United States held the previous record of 7 feet 2½ inches. Mr. Thomas was at a meet in Boston when he got word of Mr. Brumel’s feat; Mr. Thomas then jumped 7 feet 3 inches.

Figure skating
Laurence Owen won the gold medal in the women's singles competition at the U.S.Championships at World Arena in Colorado Springs. Stephanie Westerfeld won the silver medal, and Rhode Lee Michelson won the bronze medal.







40 years ago
1971


Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow--The Dealians (3rd week at #1)
2 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
3 Looky Looky--Giorgio
4 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
5 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
6 Cracklin' Rosie--Neil Diamond
7 Zanzibar--Wanda Arletti
8 Knock Three Times--Dawn
9 San Bernadino--Christie
10 No Matter What--Badfinger

The only single entering the chart was There's a Light, There's a Way by the Invaders (#20).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Lonely Days-- Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)
2 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
3 Love the One You're With--Stephen Stills
4 Your Song--Elton John
5 Knock Three Times--Dawn
6 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
7 One Bad Apple--The Osmonds
8 Knock Three Times--Dawn
9 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
10 Bridget the Midget (The Queen of the Blues)--Ray Stevens

Singles entering the chart were Hang on to Your Life/Do You Miss Me Darlin' by the Guess Who (#26); Watching Scotty Grow (#27); Temptation Eyes (#28); and Dickens by Leigh Ashford (#30).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKVN)
1 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds (2nd week at #1)
2 Lonely Days-- Bee Gees
3 Your Song--Elton John
4 If You Could Read My Mind--Gordon Lightfoot
5 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
6 Love the One You're With--Stephen Stills
7 Apeman--The Kinks
8 If I were Your Woman--Gladys Knight & the Pips
9 Remember Me--Diana Ross
10 Amazing Grace--Judy Collins

Singles entering the chart were Woodstock by Matthews' Southern Comfort (#24); Mama Pearl by the Jackson 5 (#27); Do You Know What You are Doing? by Terry Bush (#28); and Fresh as a Daisy by Emitt Rhodes (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (6th week at #1)
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
4 Your Song--Elton John
5 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
6 For the Good Times--Ray Price
7 If You Could Read My Mind--Gordon Lightfoot
8 Amazing Grace--Judy Collins
9 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
10 Silver Moon--Michael Nesmith & the First National Band

On television tonight
The Interns, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Tasha

Diplomacy
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau returned home after a 24-day Asian tour, which included his participation in the Singapore conference of Commonwealth heads of government.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Richard Nixon submitted an "expansionary but not inflationary" budget of $229.2 billion to Congress for fiscal 1972.

30 years ago
1981


Politics and government
Ronald Reagan held, in Washington, his first press conference as President of the United States. He ordered a 60-day freeze on pending government regulations and announced the elimination of the Council on Wage and Price Stability, the federal agency that had monitored wage and price increases for six years. He repeated his support for a 30% cut in personal tax rates and the elimination of the federal departments of energy and education.



25 years ago
1986


World events
Yoweri Museveni, leader of the National Resistance Army, was sworn in as President of Uganda, two days after his predecessor, General Tito Okello, had fled to Sudan. Mr. Museveni said that a fundamental change in Ugandan politics had taken place, and he promised to return the country to civilian rule.

Diplomacy
Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)--a rebel force opposing the Communist-supported government of Angola--met with U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in Washington.

20 years ago
1991


War
Iraqi troops seized the Saudi Arabian town of Al Khafji. In his State of the Union speech, U.S. President George Bush emphasized that the liberation of Kuwait was the purpose of the Gulf War, not to being about "the destruction of Iraq, its culture, or its people." U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Aleksandr Bessmertnykh issued a statement in Washington which held out the possibility of a cease-fire if Iraq left Kuwait.

Politics and government
U.S. President George Bush delivered his annual State of the Union address to Congress.



A Quebec Liberal Party committee headed by Quebec City lawyer Jean Allaire issued its report, demanding that Quebec be given far-reaching powers and exclusive control over a wide range of areas, including communications, energy, the environment, agriculture, and regional development. The report also called for the abolition of Canada’s Senate and a new constitution with an amending formula that would include a veto for Quebec. Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa accepted the thrust of the report. Ontario Premier Bob Rae expressed concern that a call for such a transfer of federal powers represented a "dismantling of the country." Separatist leaders reacted negatively to the report, while Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was cautious in his reaction, calling the report a "working document." Mr. Bourassa had created the committee in February 1990 in anticipation of the rejection of the Meech Lake accord.

Diplomacy
African National Congress Deputy President Nelson Mandela and Inkatha Freedom Party President Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi met for the first time in 30 years in an attempt to end the violence between the South African anti-apartheid groups that had claimed 5,000 lives since they had split in 1979.

10 years ago
2001


Protest
Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia stormed Parliament and demanded that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign because of alleged involvement in corruption scandals.

Politics and government
The United States Senate approved Elaine Chao as Secretary of Labor in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Peter Milliken (Liberal--Kingston and the Islands) was elected the new Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons after five rounds of voting.

Economics and finance
The Toronto Stock Exchange allowed stocks greater than $5 in value to trade at 1-cent increments instead of at 5-cent increments.

Business
Canada 3000 announced that it would acquire and merge with rival Royal Aviation in an $82-million all-stock deal; the new Canada 3000 Airlines would continue low-fare domestic and international routes.

Winnipeg-based Investors Group announced that it would acquire Toronto-based Mackenzie Financial Corporation for $4.15 billion, creating Canada's largest mutual fund company.

Thursday 27 January 2011

January 28, 2011

740 years ago
1271


Died on this date
Isabella of Aragon, 23 or 24
. Queen consort of France, 1270-1271. Isabella, the eighth child and youngest daughter of King James I of Aragon, married the future King Philip III of France in 1262, and became Queen consort when he acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Louis IX on August 25, 1270. Isabella and Philip were on the Eighth Crusade in Tunis at the time; in January 1871, they were in Calabria, on their way home, and she was six months pregnant when she fell from her horse and gave birth prematurely to a son, who soon died. Queen Isabella was exhausted and feverish, and died.

490 years ago
1521


Religion
The Diet of Worms began, lasting until May 25.

390 years ago
1621


Died on this date
Paul V, 70
. Roman Catholic Pope, 1605-1621. Paul V, born Camillo Borghese, succeeded Leo XI on the papal throne. Paul V supported Galileo Galilei in his studies, and while warning against teaching the Copernican model of the universe as fact, told him that he would be safe from prosecution during his papacy. Pope Paul promoted ecclesiastical jurisdiction in legal disputes with foreign countries, and his positions made things difficult for moderate Catholics in England. Pope Paul V died from the last of a series of strokes, and was succeeded by Gregory XV.

340 years ago
1671


Disasters
The original city of Panama, founded in 1519, was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins.

170 years ago
1841


Born on this date
Henry Morton Stanley
. U.K. journalist and explorer. Mr. Stanley, born John Rowlands, was working as a journalist when he travelled to Africa in search of medical missionary David Livingstone, and found him in Tanganyika, reportedly greeting him with the words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Mr. Stanley led several other expeditions to Africa, and claimed the Congo on behalf of King Leopold II of Belgium. Mr. Stanley sat in the U.K. House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Unionist Party from 1895-1900, and died on May 10, 1904 at the age of 73.

160 years ago
1851


Academia
Northwestern University became the first chartered university in Illinois.

150 years ago
1861


Born on this date
Julián Felipe
. Philippine composer. Mr. Felipe was a church organist and songwriter who composed Marcha Nacional Filipina--now known as Lupang Hinirang--which was first performed upon the proclamation of Philippine independence in 1898, and officially became the Philippine national anthem in 1938. Mr. Felipe died on October 2, 1944 at the age of 83.

140 years ago
1871


War
The Siege of Paris ended in a French defeat by Prussian forces and an armistice in the Franco-Prussian War.

110 years ago
1901


War
Farrier-Major William Hardham of the fourth New Zealand contingent earned the Victoria Cross for his actions near Naauwpoort, South Africa. He was with a section of troops that were engaged with about 20 Boers and were about to retire when N.Z. Trooper McCrae was wounded and his horse killed. Farrier-Major Hardham, under heavy fire, went to his assistance, dismounted, placed him on his own horse, and ran alongside him to a place of safety. Farrier-Major Hardham was the only New Zealander to win the Victoria Cross during the Boer War.

90 years ago
1921


Died on this date
Mustafa Subhi, 37 or 38
. Turkish revolutionist. Mr. Subhi was a journalist and lecturer in law and economics before he joined the Bolsehvik Party in 1918. He was elected chairman of the Turkish Communist Party at its First Congress in September 1920, and joined the Turkish War of Independence. Mr. Subhi and 14 other Communists were assassinated by Sailor Yahya while travelling from Trabzon to Batumi on the Black Sea.

70 years ago
1941


War
U.S. Chief of Staff General George Marshall said that there were growing indications that Germany would attempt to invade Britain in the spring of 1941. The Japanese Finance Ministry reported that about $4.1 billion had been spent on the war against China.

Defense
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Congress must pass the Lend-Lease bill if the Allies wwere to continue to fight.

Americana
The United States Census Bureau reported that the nation's population was growing older, with a median age of 28.9 years in 1940.

Transportation
Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco nationalized the nation's transportation systems in order to ease the food situation.

Journalism
Panamanian President Arnulfo Arias ordered the deportation of Edward W. Scott, correspondent for Reuters and United Press, for reporting that Mr. Arias sympathized with the Axis.

Economics and finance
U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray revealed a plan to increase steel output by coordinating the steel industry as a single production unit.

Labour
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce committee announced its opposition to anti-strike laws as contrary to the fundamental rights of citizens.

60 years ago
1951


Defense
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, in Operation Ranger, set off the second in a series of atomic explosions at an Air Force testing range in Nevada.

Economics and finance
Iranian Shah Mohammed Riza Pahlevi announced that he would break up his royal estates as part of a national land reform program.

50 years ago
1961


Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Are You Lonesome To-night?/I Gotta Know--Elvis Presley (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: What a Sky (Su nel cielo)--Nico Fidenco

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Ramona--Blue Diamonds (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Dutch Top 40): Save the Last Dance for Me--The Drifters

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles
2 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
--[Mantovani & his Orchestra]
3 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
4 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
--[Louis Prima]
--[Anita Bryant]
5 Shop Around--The Miracles
6 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley
7 Angel Baby--Rosie and the Originals
8 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka
9 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee
10 Emotions--Brenda Lee

Singles entering the chart were Good Time Baby (#56)/Cherie (#87) by Bobby Rydell; Pony Time by Chubby Checker (#63); What a Price (#67)/Ain't that Just Like a Woman (#70) by Fats Domino; Wait a Minute by the Coasters (#82); The Exodus Song by Pat Boone (#90); Keep Your Hands Off of Him by Damita Jo (#98); Your Friends by Dee Clark (#99); Won't Be Long by Aretha Franklin with the Ray Bryant Combo (#100); and Leave My Kitten Alone by Johnny Preston (also #100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Baby Sittin' Boogie--Buzz Clifford
2 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
3 Oh Joan--The Beau-Marks
4 Shop Around--The Miracles
5 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
6 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka
7 Take Time Out--Carl Dobkins, Jr.
8 Emotions--Brenda Lee
9 (I Wanna) Love My Life Away--Gene Pitney
10 Pepe--Duane Eddy and the Rebels

Singles entering the chart were Wheels by the String-A-Longs (#15, charting with its other side, Tell the World); Ebony Eyes by the Everly Brothers (#26); There's a Moon Out Tonight by the Capris (#36); Don't Worry by Marty Robbins (#39); Battle of Gettysburg by Fred Darian (#42); C'est Si Bon (It's So Good) by Conway Twitty (#43); Don't Believe Him, Donna by Lenny Miles (#45); He Had Pretty Eyes by Libby and Sue (#46); Dance by the Light of the Moon by the Olympics (#47); What a Price by Fats Domino (#48); Little Boy Sad by Johnny Burnette (#49); and I Don't Know Why by Clarence "Frogman" Henry (#50). I Don't Know Why was also released under the title But I Do.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka (4th week at #1)
2 Emotions--Brenda Lee
3 Baby Sittin' Boogie--Buzz Clifford
4 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
5 Cool Operator--Sandy Nelson
6 Wings of a Dove--Paul Clayton
7 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
8 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
9 Shop Around--The Miracles
10 Ebony Eyes--The Everly Brothers

Singles entering the chart were Muskrat Ramble by Freddy Cannon (#34); Cherry Berry Wine by Charlie McCoy (#35); The Story of My Love by Paul Anka (#36); Apache by Jorgen Ingmann and his Guitar (#37); Jimmy's Girl by Johnny Tillotson (#38); Don't Cha Know by the Crickets (#39); and Model Girl by Johnny Maestro (#40).

On television tonight
The Roaring 20's, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Coney Red Hots

Diplomacy
Congolese President Joseph Kasavubu, in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, warned that he would seek foreign military aid unless the UN force was ordered to put down the revolt against his government by supporters of deposed Premier Patrice Lumumba. Mr. Kasavubu said he would be compelled to seek such aid outside the framework of the UN "despite the manifest danger that would entail the conflict’s becoming international."

40 years ago
1971


Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (3rd week at #1)

Protest
U.S. District Court Judge William K. Thomas ruled illegal a report by the Portage County grand jury on the disorders at Kent State University in May 1970. He ordered the 18-page report destroyed and stricken from the records, but he did not dismiss the indictment of 25 people.

30 years ago
1981


Hit parade
Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon (8th week at #1)
2 The Tide is High--Blondie
3 Looking for Clues--Robert Palmer
4 9 to 5--Dolly Parton
5 Turn Me Loose--Loverboy
6 De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da--The Police
7 Passion--Rod Stewart
8 I Got You--Split Enz
9 The Winner Takes it All--ABBA
10 Teacher Teacher--Rockpile

Singles entering the chart were Woman by John Lennon (#18); The Best of Times by Styx (#19); and A Little in Love by Cliff Richard (#20).

Oil
U.S. President Ronald Reagan abolished remaining price and allocation controls on domestic oil and gasoline production and distribution. It was predicted that retail gasoline prices would rise 3-5c per gallon, and possibly 12c by the end of the summer, and that heating oil prices would climb even higher. Mr. Reagan’s administration argued that only 15% of crude oil processed by U.S. refineries had remained subject to price controls.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 1 @ Edmonton 9

Jarri Kurri scored a hat trick and Wayne Gretzky scored 4 points as the Oilers routed the Canadiens at Northlands Coliseum. The final goal was scored by Edmonton rookie Roy Sommer, who had recently been called up from their Central Hockey League farm team, the Wichita Wind. It turned out to be Mr. Sommer’s only NHL goal, on his only shot. The game remains, if I’m not mistaken, the most lopsided win the Oilers have ever had over the Canadiens.



25 years ago
1986


Disasters
The U.S. space shuttle Challenger blew up just 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all 7 crew members. This blogger was in the shower at the time, with the radio tuned to Edmonton station CFRN. The song that was playing--which was interrupted with the announcement of the disaster--was I’m on Fire by Bruce Springsteen. The crew were: Dick Scobee, the mission commander; U.S. Navy Commander Michael Smith, pilot; Judy Resnick, engineer; Ronald McNair, physicist; U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Ellison Onizuka, engineer; Gregory Jarvis, engineer; and Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, who had been selected as the winner of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s "Teacher in Space" competition. She was to give two lessons from space while her students watched on television.





20 years ago
1991


Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ai wa Katsu--(愛は勝つ)--Kan (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Raptori--Debi Gibson (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Beinhart--Torfrock

War
Canadian CF-18 fighter planes faced anti-aircraft fire over Kuwait without damage. Iraqi fighter planes fled to Iran, where they were offered sanctuary.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Aleksandr Bessmertnykh announced in Washington that a summit scheduled for February in Moscow between U.S. President George Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had been postponed indefinitely. The official explanation was that Mr. Bush needed to stay in Washington while the Gulf War was continuing. Problems with the strategic arms reduction treaty, which was to be signed in Moscow, were also cited. Unidentified sources in the White House said the postponement was also related to the Soviet invasion of Latvia and Lithuania.

10 years ago
2001


Died on this date
Curt Blefary, 57
. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Blefary, nicknamed "Clank" because of his poor fielding, was a left fielder, first baseman, and catcher the the Baltimore Orioles (1965-1968); Houston Astros (1969); New York Yankees (1970-1971); Oakland Athletics (1971-1972); and San Diego Padres (1972), batting .237 with 112 home runs and 382 runs batted in in 974 games. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1965 when he hit .260 with 22 homers and 70 RBIs in 144 games. Mr. Blefary hit .255 with 23 homers and 64 RBIs in 131 games in 1966 when he helped the Orioles win the World Series, batting only .077 (1 for 13) in 4 World Series games. He drifted from job to job after his playing career ended, and heavy drinking contributed to chronic pancreatitis which eventually proved fatal. Oddly, Mr. Blefary died six days after the death of Tommie Agee, who succeeded him as AL Rookie of the Year.

Religion
Pope John Paul II named seven new cardinals, bringing the total eligible to vote (under age 80) to 135, a record.

Football
NFL
Super Bowl XXXV @ Tampa
Baltimore 34 New York Giants 7

The Ravens intercepted 4 passes by Giants’ quarterback Kerry Collins to win their first Super Bowl before a crowd of 71,921 at Raymond James Stadium (see video). The Ravens led 10-0 at halftime on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Trent Dilfer to Brandon Stokley in the first quarter, converted by Matt Stover, and Mr. Stover’s 47-yard field goal in the 2nd quarter. All the excitement came in the 3rd quarter when 3 touchdowns were scored in as many plays in a span of 36 seconds. Duane Starks returned an interception 49 yards for a Baltimore touchdown, and Mr. Stover converted to extend the Ravens’ lead to 17-0. Ron Dixon returned Mr. Stover’s kickoff 97 yards for the Giants’ only touchdown, converted by Brad Daluiso, to make the score 17-7. Jermaine Lewis then returned Mr. Daluiso’s kickoff 84 yards for a Baltimore touchdown, and Mr. Stover’s convert gave the Ravens a 24-7 lead. Jamal Lewis, who led all rushers with 102 yards on 27 carries, ran 3 yards for a touchdown in the 4th quarter, converted by Mr. Stover, to make the score 31-7. Mr. Stover finished the scoring with a 34-yard field goal. Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis was voted the game’s most valuable player. The Ravens’ defense was so dominant that the Giants were held to 11 first downs and 152 yards net offense. The Ravens weren’t much better, managing just 13 first downs and 244 yards net offense. Mr. Stokley led all receivers with 52 yards on 3 receptions. Mr. Dilfer completed just 12 of 25 passes for 153 yards, while Mr. Collins was just 15 for 39 for 112 yards. One might wonder why New York head coach Bill Parcells didn't change quarterbacks at some point.