January 8, 2011

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Elvis Presley!

1,140 years ago
871

Died on this date
Bagsecg. Viking military leader. Bagsecg led the Great Army that invaded the Kingdom of Wessex in the winter of 870-71. He was killed in the Battle of Ashdown.

War
West Saxon forces led by King Æthelred and his younger brother Alfred the Great defeated invading Viking forces in the Battle of Ashdown, killing Viking leader Bagsecg and five Viking earls.

200 years ago
1811

Protest
An unsuccessful slave revolt was led by Charles Deslondes in the north American settlements of St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.

190 years ago
1821

Born on this date
James Longstreet. U.S. military officer and diplomat. Lieutenant-General Longstreet served with the United States Army in the Mexican-American War, but joined the Confederate States Army in 1861 when his native state of South Carolina seceded from the Union. He contributed to several Confederate victories in the American Civil War, but had disagreements with General in Chief Robert E. Lee, and his role in the war remains a subject of dispute among historians. Mr. Longstreet was one of the few Confederate leaders to cooperate with the Republican Party after the war, and he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1880-1881). He died after years of declining health on January 2, 1804, six days before his 83rd birthday.

140 years ago
1871

Born on this date
James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, 1921-1940. Mr. Craig, a member of the Ulster Unionist Party, represented East Down (1906-1918) and Mid Down (1918-1921) in the British House of Commons. He was created a baronet in 1918, and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Craigavon in 1927. Mr. Craig also sat in the Northern Ireland Parliament, representing Down (1921-1929) and North Down (1929-1940). He became leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland on June 7, 1921, and held the office until his death on November 24, 1940 at the age of 69. Despite his experience in British politics, Viscount Craigavon had little influence over British policy toward the Republic of Ireland.

130 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Linnie Marsh Wolfe. U.S. librarian. Mrs. Wolfe worked in public and school libraries in Los Angeles, and took an interest in the work of naturalist John Muir. Her book Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir (1945) was published four months before her death on September 15, 1945 at the age of 64, and went on to win the 1946 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

Henrik Shipstead. U.S. politician. Dr. Shipstead, a dentist by trade, was a Republican before and after joining the Farmer-Labor Party. He represented Minnesota in the United States Senate (1923-1947), and was known for opposing U.S. involvement in world affairs. Dr. Shipstead warned that Communists were inflitrating the Farmer-Labor Party in the late 1930s, and was re-elected as a Republican in 1940, losing the Republican Party primary in 1946. He died on June 26, 1960 at the age of 79.

120 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Walther Bothe. German physicist. Dr. Bothe was awarded a share of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith." He died on February 8, 1957 at the age of 66.

100 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Gypsy Rose Lee. U.S. dancer and actress. Miss Lee, born Louise Hovick, was almost two years older than her sister June, who used the name June Havoc. Miss Lee became famous as a striptease artist in burlesque in the 1930s and '40s. She appeared in several films, wrote two mystery novels, and wrote her autobiography, which became the basis of the theatrical musical (1959) and movie (1962) Gypsy. Miss Lee hosted the daytime television talk show The Gypsy Rose Lee Show in San Francisco (1965-1968), and died of lung cancer on April 26, 1970 at the age of 59.

70 years ago
1941

Born on this date
Graham Chapman. U.K. comic actor and writer. Mr. Chapman, who was best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, died on October 4, 1989 at the age of 48.

Died on this date
Robert Baden-Powell, 83. U.K. military officer. Lieutenant General Baden-Powell served with distinction in several colonial wars, but was best known as the founder of the Scouting movement in 1907.

Diplomacy
Nelson Rockefeller, U.S. coordinator of commercial and cultural relations with the Americas, reported that anti-American firms frequently represented U.S. business in Latin America.

Law
Thailand imposed martial law in 24 provinces bordering Indochina.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented his budget to Congress, providing for expenditures of nearly $17.5 billion, with $10.8 billion earmarked for national defense.

The British government of Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that the basic food ration would be cut or raised week-by-week as the situation demanded.

Labour
U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray refused to yield on the workers' right to strike despite national emergency.

Sport
The U.S. Amateur Athletic Union gave the James E. Sullivan Memorial Trophy for the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States in 1940 to long distance runner Gregory Rice.

60 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Bird of Time, starring Julie Bennett, David Lewis, Jessica Tandy, and Irving Winter

Asiatica
The Nepalese government announced that its Parliament and hereditary Prime Minister Maharajah Mohan Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana had agreed to the return of King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah, who had been deposed in favour of his three-year-old grandson Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah and had fled to India seven weeks earlier.

Politics and government
U.S. President Harry Truman delivered his annual State of the Union message to Congress.



Labour
An anti-Communist Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers was organizaed in Mexico City, including the American Federation of Labor, Congress of Industrial Organizations, United Mine Workers of America, and labour federations of 19 other Western Hemisphere nations. Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Panama were banned on the grounds that their labour organizations were government-controlled.

50 years ago
1961

Died on this date
Schoolboy Rowe, 50. U.S. baseball player. Lynnwood Rowe played with the Detroit Tigers (1933-1942); Brooklyn Dodgers (1942); and Philadelphia Phillies (1943, 1946-1949), compiling a record of 158-101 with an earned run average of 3.87 in 382 games, batting .263 with 18 home runs and 153 runs batted in in 491 games. He helped the Tigers win the World Series in 1935 and American League pennants in 1934 and 1940, and was 2-5 with a 3.91 ERA in 8 World Series games, batting .125 (2 for 16) with no homers or RBIs. Mr. Rowe was 24-8 in 1934 and 16-3 in 1940, leading the AL in winning percentage in the latter season. Mr. Rowe died of a heart attack, three days before his 51st birthday.

Politics and government
A three-day referendum in France concluded with 75% of the votes in favour of granting Algeria independence from France.

Americana
A five-year commemoration of the centennial of the U.S. Civil War opened with ceremonies at Union General U.S. Grant’s tomb in New York City and at Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s tomb in Lexington, Virginia. Participants in the New York ceremony included Major General U.S. Grant III, grandson of the Union commander and chairman of the National Civil War Centennial Commission. In a telegram which was read at the Virginia ceremony, Gen. Grant praised Gen. Lee as "a great and knightly American soldier and citizen."

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): A Song of Joy--Miguel Rios (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): If Those Lips Could Only Speak--Dermot Henry (2nd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Looky Looky--Giorgio (4th week at #1)
2 Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow--The Dealians
3 Zanzibar--Wanda Arletti
4 You Can Get it if You Really Want--Desmond Dekker
5 Cracklin' Rosie--Neil Diamond
6 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
7 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
8 Indiana Wants Me--R. Dean Taylor
9 San Bernadino--Christie
10 Woodstock--Matthews Southern Comfort

Singles entering the chart were Gypsy Woman by Brian Hyland (#16); and Sing Out Glory by Bernie Brown (#20).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Knock Three Times--Dawn
2 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
3 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin
4 Lonely Days-- Bee Gees
5 Black Magic Woman--Santana
6 Stoney End--Barbra Streisand
7 Love the One You're With--Stephen Stills
8 Stoned Love--The Supremes
9 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
10 Your Song--Elton John

Singles entering the chart were Bridget the Midget (The Queen of the Blues) by Ray Stevens (#26); Sweet Mary by Wadsworth Mansion (#28); Remember Me by Diana Ross (#29); and We Gotta Get You a Woman by Runt (#30).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKVN)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (4th week at #1)
2 Black Magic Woman--Santana
3 Knock Three Times--Dawn
4 Lonely Days-- Bee Gees
5 Stoned Love--The Supremes
6 Domino--Van Morrison
7 I Think it's Going to Rain Today--Tom Northcott
8 Love the One You're With--Stephen Stills
9 Pay to the Piper--The Chairmen of the Board
10 If You Could Read My Mind--Gordon Lightfoot

Singles entering the chart were I Hear You Knocking by Dave Edmunds (#24); Remember Me by Diana Ross (#26); Amos Moses by Jerry Reed (#27); Stop the War Now by Edwin Starr (#28); Amazing Grace by Judy Collins (#29); and I Really Don't Want to Know by Elvis Presley (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (3rd week at #1)
2 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
3 Knock Three Times--Dawn
4 If You Could Read My Mind--Gordon Lightfoot
5 For the Good Times--Ray Price
6 One Man Band--Three Dog Night
7 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
8 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin
9 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
10 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family

Terrorism
A band of 20 Tupamaros kidnapped British Ambassador to Uruguay Geoffrey Jackson while he was being driven to his office in Montevideo.

30 years ago
1981

Died on this date
Réal Chevrefils, 48. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Chevrefils played left wing with the Boston Bruins (1951-55, 1956-59) and Detroit Red Wings (1955-56), scoring 201 points on 104 goals and 97 assists in 387 regular season games and 5 goals and 4 assists in 30 playoff games. His best season was 1956-57, when he played all 70 games, scoring 31 goals and 17 assists, adding 2 goals and 1 assist in 10 playoff games as he helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup finals and was named to the National Hockey League's Second All-Star Team. Mr. Chevrefils concluded his career in the amateur ranks, and helped the Windsor Bulldogs win the Allan Cup in 1963. He was a heavy drinker throughout his playing days and afterward, leading to his death in Windsor, Ontario.

War
Iraqi officials and U.S. military analysts denied that there had been an Iranian counteroffensive against Iraq on January 5, as claimed by Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr.

Oddities
A farmer in Trans-en-Provence, France reported a UFO sighting claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time."

Health
The U.S. National Center for Disease Control announced that full-scale epidemics were being reported in several areas across the country. In the previous three weeks, deaths from pneumonia and influenza in 121 cities had exceeded the "epidemic threshold." These cities included 26% of the total U.S. population. Normally, 3.5% of the deaths in those cities would have been caused by pneumonia or influenza, but the rate had climbed to 5%, and hospital admissions were up nearly 60%. It seemed that the disease most often contracted was influenza virus A/Bangkok/79, a descendant of the A/Hong Kong virus that had caused a national epidemic in the winter of 1968-1969.

Disasters
At least 230 people, including 50 children, were killed when a riverboat carrying relatives of Brazilian workers hit a sandbar and sank in a tributary of the Amazon River.

25 years ago
1986

Diplomacy
U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed an executive order freezing all Libyan government assets in the United States and in U.S. bank branches abroad. He asked allies of the U.S. to join the economic boycott of Libya, but received little support. Italy banned weapons sales to Libya, but West Germany had already ruled out sanctions, and British officials reported that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would not impose sanctions, whose effectiveness she doubted.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average fell a record 39.10 points and closed at 1526.61; however, the decline of 2.5% was far smaller than on occasions in the past when the Dow had fallen by nearly as many points from a much smaller average.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had declined in December to 6.8%.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 9 @ Toronto 11




20 years ago
1991

War
The Latvian parliament condemned the Soviet threat to send troops into Latvia and Lithuania to seize draft dodgers and enforce conscription as an "invasion" of the Baltic republics. Paratroopers were reported to have landed and set up positions in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

Politics and government
Keith Spicer's Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future launched its first satellite town hall meeting from Ottawa, with people from Vancouver to Saint John, New Brunswick commenting.

Protest
A group of Mohawk Indians armed with baseball bats and metal bars clashed with Quebec police officers at the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal. The dispute flared when police attempted to stop a truck for a minor traffic violation. The driver of the truck ignored the police and drove to a lumberyard on the reserve. Fights broke out between police and Mohawks who did not believe that outside police forces had jurisdiction on the reserve.

Business
Pan American World Airways filed for bankruptcy, a month after Continental Airlines Holdings Inc. had done the same. Pan Am said it hoped to get needed cash from the sale of overseas routes.

Disasters
One person was killed and hundreds injured in the crash of a commuter train at Cannon Street station in London.

Baseball
Rod Carew, Gaylord Perry, and Ferguson Jenkins were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mr. Jenkins, a native of Chatham, Ontario who compiled a career major league record of 284-226 from 1965-1983, became the Hall’s first Canadian member. Mr. Carew batted .328 in a career that ran from 1967-1985, and won seven American League batting titles. In 22 seasons from 1962-1983, Mr. Perry posted a record of 314-265.

10 years ago
2001

Scandal
Former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $250,000 after being convicted in May 2000 of extortion from applicants seeking riverboat casino licenses. Four other convicted defendants, including Mr. Edwards’ son Stephen, received lesser prison terms. Mr. Edwards said he would appeal.

Crime
The British High Court ruled that the identities of the two boys--then 10 years old--who abducted and murdered 2-year-old James Bulger in 1993 were to remain secret for the rest of their lives.