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.