January 11, 2011

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Kristi!

220 years ago
1791

Died on this date
William Williams Pantycelyn, 73. U.K. composer and poet. Mr. Pantycelyn, aka William Williams, was an Anglican deacon who became a Calvinist Methodist pastor, and a leader of the Methodist revival in Wales. He wrote poetry and prose, but was best known as Wales' premier hymnist. Some of Mr. Pantycelyn's lyrics were in English, but most were in his native Welsh. He died about a month before his 74th birthday.

150 years ago
1861

Americana
Alabama became the fourth state, and the third in as many days, to vote to secede from the Union, as delegates to a state convention voted 61-39 in favour of secession.

100 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Tommy Duncan. U.S. musician. Mr. Duncan was a Western swing singer and songwriter who was best known as a founding member of the Texas Playboys for most of the 1930s and '40s and again from 1959-1961. He led his own band from 1949-1951. Mr. Duncan suffered from heart, problems, and died of heart failure in his motel room in San Diego at the age of 56 on July 25, 1967, the day after performing in nearby Imperial Beach.

Zenkō Suzuki. Prime Minister of Japan, 1980-1982. Mr. Suzuki succeeded Masayoshi Ōhira as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister upon Mr. Ōhira's death during the 1980 national election campaign. Mr. Suzuki elected not to run for re-election as president of the LDP, and was succeeded by Yasuhiro Nakasone. Mr. Suzuki died on July 19, 2004 at the age of 93.

Defense
The Canadian government mandated high schools to begin programs for cadet training, backed by the Strathcona Trust to help promote a strong militia.

Protest
Western Canadian farmers occupied the House of Commons in Ottawa; one sat in Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier's seat and demanded free trade with the United States.

Weather
A record low Alberta temperature of -78 F. (-61.1 C.) was recorded at Fort Vermilion.

70 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Frenesi--Artie Shaw and his Orchestra (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Emanuel Lasker, 72. German chess player. Mr. Lasker was world champion from 1894-1921, and is regarded as one of the greatest players ever. He fled Gemany after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933; Mr. Lasker and his wife lived in the U.S.S.R. before moving to the U.S.A. Mr. Lasker died in New York City.

Defense
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull announced that a final agreement had been reached with Great Britain on sites for eight American naval and air bases in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas under the destroyers-for-bases trade. U.S. Senator Warren Austin (Republican--Vermont) said that he favoured the Lend-Lease bill, but urged a two-year limit on presidential authority under the bill.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department announced that the American legation in Uruguay had been raised to embassy status, with Minister Edwin C. Wilson named Ambassador.

Politics and government
Swedish newspapers reported that Vidkun Quisling, leader of Norway's pro-Nazi puppet regime, had appealed for German help to quell opposition.

U.S. Senator Guy Gillette (Democrat--Iowa) said that both the Democratic and Republican parties had evaded the $3-million limit on campaign expenditures in the 1940 elections.

Journalism
The Brazilian government of President Getúlio Vargas said that newspaper attacks agaist the United States would not be tolerated.

60 years ago
1951

Died on this date
Charles Goddard, 71. U.S. playwright and screenwriter. Mr. Goddard was best known for writing the silent film serials The Perils of Pauline (1914) and The Exploits of Elaine (1914).

Defense
Liberia signed an agreement with the United States providing for an American military mission to help train the country's army.

Medicine
Yale University Professor John Fulton, speaking before the New York Academy of Medicine, described brain operations for the relief of otherwise hopeless psychoses without impairment of intellectual functions.

Religion
The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano published a decree forbidding Roman Catholic clergy to be members of Rotary Clubs, which were charged with having Masonic connections and anti-Catholic tendencies.

50 years ago
1961

Disasters
43 Moroccan Jews en route to Israel drowned when the motor yacht Price sank in a storm of Spanish Morocco.

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): As the Years Go By (Kiri no Naka no Futari) (霧の中の二人)--Mashmakhan

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Te Quiero, Te Quiero--Nino Bravo (4th week at #1)

World events
Bolivian President Juan Jose Torres announced that a coup had been crushed.

Terrorism
The trial of 11 FLQ terrorists began in Montreal.

Diplomacy
Canadian diplomat John MacLeod Fraser arrived in China to set up Canada's embassy there.

Academia
Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1843, announced that it would admit female students in September 1972, thereby becoming the last of the 28 Jesuit colleges in the United States to go coeducational.

30 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Shaddap You Face--Joe Dolce Music Theatre (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Angel of Mine--Frank Duval & Orchestra (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Beulah Bondi, 91. U.S. actress. Miss Bondi was a character actress in plays, films, and television programs. She was nominated for Academy Awards for her supporting performances in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) and Of Human Hearts (1938), and won an Emmy Award for a guest appearance in The Waltons (1976). Miss Bondi died from pulmonary complications following broken ribs after tripping over her cat.

War
The civilian-military junta that controlled the government of El Salvador imposed a nationwide curfew in the light of leftist guerrillas’ claims that they had begun a "final offensive." President Jose Napoleon Duarte announced that government troops were in control of the situation, although 300 people had died in the previous 24 hours.

Football
NFL
NFC Championship
Dallas 7 @ Philadelphia 20



AFC Championship
Oakland 34 @ San Diego 27



The Eagles advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time with their win over the Cowboys at Veterans Stadium, while the Raiders became the first wild card team to advance to the Super Bowl with their win over the Chargers at Jack Murphy-San Diego Stadium.

20 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Carl David Anderson, 85. U.S. physicist. Dr. Anderson was awarded a share of the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of the positron" in 1932. He also discovered the muon in 1936.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that prices paid to producers for finished goods had declined 0.6% in December 1990 but that the index for the entire year of 1990 had risen 5.6%.

Track and field
A drug-free Ben Johnson, running his first race in two years, finished a close second in a 50-metre race in Hamilton, Ontario. His time was 5.77 seconds; Daron Council of the United States won in a time of 5.75 seconds. It was Mr. Johnson’s first race after a two-year suspension after being stripped of an Olympic gold medal after testing positive for an illegal anabolic steroid after the men’s 100-metre run at Seoul in 1988.

10 years ago
2001

War
After a year-long inquiry, the U.S. Army found that American soldiers had shot and killed unarmed South Korean civilians in July 1950, early in the Korean War. The incident, which had recently come to general attention, occurred near the village of No Gun Ri. South Korea claimed that 400 civilians had been killed or wounded, or were missing as a result of the shootings, while the U.S. Army disputed whether any reliable estimate was possible. The Army said that there had been no order to kill civilians, and that the incident was the result of confusion and was not deliberate.

Scandal
James Riady, a wealthy Indonesian businessman, agreed to plead guilty to involvement in a scheme to funnel illegal donations to U.S. politicians and influence U.S. international trade policies. He had reimbursed bank employees for their donations, most of which went to Democrats. The bank pleaded guilty to 86 counts of transmitting illegal contributions from outside the United States. Mr. Riady agreed to pay a fine of $8.6 million and to cooperate in an ongoing investigation into contributions to the Democratic Party.

Politics and government
Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard announced his resignation as Premier and his desire to leave public life, opening the way for a change in the province’s leadership in the spring.

U.S. President-elect George W. Bush named Elaine Chao to replace Linda Chavez as his choice for Secretary of Labor. Ms. Chavez, named on January 2, had withdrawn on January 9 after it was revealed that she had sheltered an illegal alien from Guatemala.

Business
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 5-0 to approve the merger of America Online and Time Warner, Inc., creating the world’s largest media conglomerate. The European Union and U.S. Federal Trade Commission had already approved the deal. The FCC required that AOL Time Warner’s instant messaging system be made compatible with that of at least one rival and that compatibility be provided to two other competitors within six months.