December 29, 2011

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Christine Gotaas!

1,290 years ago
721

Died on this date
Genmei, 61. Empress of Japan, 707-715. Genmei, born Abe-hime, acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne upon the death of her son Monmu. She moved the seat of government to Nara, and abdicated in favour of her daughter Genshō.

160 years ago
1851

Americana
The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) opened in Boston.

130 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Jess Willard. U.S. boxer. Mr. Willard, nicknamed the Pottawatomie Giant, stood 6' 6 1⁄2" and didn't start boxing professionally until he was 29. He knocked out Jack Johnson in the 26th round in Havana on April 5, 1915 to win the world heavyweight title, thereby accomplishing what a host of "White Hopes" had failed to achieve since Mr. Johnson had won the title more than six years earlier. Mr. Willard fought just one title bout after that (a 10-round newspaper decision over Frank Moran in 1916) before being knocked out in 3 rounds by Jack Dempsey in Toledo, Ohio on July 4, 1919. Mr. Willard came out of retirement for two fights in 1923, and then retired permanently after compiling a professional record of 25-7-2. He died on December 15, 1968, two weeks before his 87th birthday.

110 years ago
1901

Politics and government
Arthur Peters was sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island, succeeding Donald Farquharson as head of the province's Liberal government. Lieutenant Governor Peter McIntyre had asked Mr. Peters to take office as Premier after Mr. Farquharson resigned to enter federal politics.

100 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Klaus Fuchs. German physicist. Dr. Fuchs was a socialist who became a Communist while still a student in Germany. He fled to the United Kingdom shortly after the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, and went to the United States during World War II, where he worked on the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bombs. Dr. Fuchs worked as a spy with the U.S.S.R., and illegally transferred nuclear information to the Soviets. In January 1950 he confessed to being a spy, and was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment for espionage. Dr. Fuchs was released in 1959 after serving 9 1/3 years, and emigrated to East Germany, where he spent the rest of his life. He died on January 28, 1988, 30 days after his 76th birthday.

Asiatica
Mongolia gained its independence from China's Qing dynasty, enthroning the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.

Politics and government
In Nanking, Sun Yat-sen was elected provisional President of the Republic of China.

Canadiana
A proclamation restored the words Dei Gratia to Canada's coins; the Latins phrase means King (or Queen) by the grace of God.

90 years ago
1921

Politics and government
Canada's new Liberal government, under Prime Minister Mackenzie King, took office, 23 days after winning a plurality in the federal election. For Mr. King, it was the beginning of more than two decades as Canada's Prime Minister, and he eventually became the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the British Commonwealth.

80 years ago
1931

Transportation
The new Jubilee Dock was moored in Wellington Harbour in Wellington, New Zealand.

70 years ago
1941

War
A London communique reported a successful six-hour raid on December 27 on the German-occupied islands of Vaagsoe and Maaloy off the Norwegaian coast. Tokyo reports claimed that Japanese troops the previous day had captured Ipoh, the tin mining centre 290 miles north of Singapore. Japanese planes bombed the island fortress of Corregidor, about 30 miles south of Manila guarding the entrance to Manila Bay.

Diplomacy
Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King returned to Ottawa from Washington with U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was beginning a visit to the Canadian capital.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry announced that it was recalling the country's Ambassador to Germany.

Politics and government
Mohandas Gandhi resigned as leader of the All-India Congress Party because, he said, the party's working committee had abandoned his principles of civil disobedience and non-violence.

Business
The U.S. Army formally returned the Bendix, New Jersey plant of Air Associates, Inc. to private management after operating it since October 31.

Labour
American Federation of Labor boilermakers routed picketing welders at the California Ship Building Corporation in Los Angeles.

Disasters
Portland, Oregon was shaken by a short, sharp earthquake at 10:30 A.M.

Sport
New York University miler Leslie MacMitchell was named the 1941 winner of the Amateur Athletic Union's James E. Sullivan Memorial Trophy as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.

Auto racing
Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Eddie Rickenbacker announced the cancellation of the Indianapolis 500 for 1942 because of American involvement in World War II. The speedway wasn't reopened, and the Indianapolis 500 wasn't held again, until 1946, the year after the war ended.

60 years ago
1951

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Sweet Violets--Dinah Shore; Jane Turzy (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads (Best Seller--1st week at #1); It's No Sin--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (Disc Jockey--7th week at #1; Jukebox--1st week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 (It's No) Sin--The Four Aces (8th week at #1)
--Eddy Howard
2 Cold, Cold Heart--Tony Bennett
3 Down Yonder--Del Wood
--Joe "Fingers" Carr
--Champ Butler
4 Undecided--The Ames Brothers and Les Brown and his Band of Renown
5 Because of You--Tony Bennett
--Les Baxter and his Orchestra
6 Charmaine--Mantovani and his Orchestra
7 Shrimp Boats--Jo Stafford
8 Jealousy (Jalousie)--Frankie Laine
9 Slow Poke--Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys
10 Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads

There were no singles entering the chart.

World events
At a news conference in Erding, West Germany, four American fliers released the previous day by Hungary claimed that they had flown off course on November 19 in murky skies while transporting a diplomatic cargo from Munich to Belgrade.

Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion denounced U.S. Zionist leaders for not moving to Israel.

War
In an effort to rescue stalled armistice talks, U.S. negotiators at Panmunjom offered to forego aerial inspection of Communist positions during a cease-fire. Disagreement remained over construction of new military airports, which the Americans wanted banned.

Defense
The $44-million, 540-foot U.S. Navy destroyer leader USS Norfolk, the largest destroyer in the world, was launched in Camden, New Jersey.

Politics and government
Colombian opposition leader Carlos Augusto Noriega, President of the House of Representatives, was removed from office and physically ejected from the chamber for trying to block debate.

The U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee urged the adoption of the death penalty for peacetime espionage in the United States.

Energy
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced the first use of an atomic reactor to generate electric power in the United States, near Arco, Idaho.

Health
U.S. President Harry Truman created a 15-member President's Commission on the Health Needs of the Nation, with Dr. Paul Magnuson as chairman.

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Gray 20 Blue 14

50 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Take Good Care of My Baby--Bobby Vee (2nd week at #1)

Los Angeles's Top 40 (KFWB)
21 Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night--Kenny Dino
22 Town Without Pity--Gene Pitney
23 Unchain My Heart--Ray Charles and his Orchestra
24 Moments to Remember--Jennell Hawkins
25 Jingle Bell Rock--Bobby Rydell/Chubby Checker
26 I Don't Know Why--Linda Scott
27 Surfer Stomp--The Marketts
28 When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)--Connie Francis
29 Small Sad Sam--Phil McLean
30 Pocketful of Miracles--Frank Sinatra
31 Just Out of Reach--Solomon Burke
32 Big Bad John--Jimmy Dean
33 Surfin'--The Beach Boys
34 And Then Came Love--Ed Townsend
35 Jambalaya (On the Bayou)--Fats Domino
36 Tonight--Ferrante & Teicher
37 The Wanderer--Dion
38 Crazy--Patsy Cline
39 Revenge--Brook Benton
40 Dear Ivan--Jimmy Dean

Surfer Stomp,Surfin', Jambalaya (On the Bayou), The Wanderer, and Dear Ivan were entering the chart. Surfin' was the Beach Boys' first single, and this was their first entry on any chart.

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight's episode: A Quality of Mercy, starring Dean Stockwell, Albert Salmi, and Jerry Fujikawa

Boxing
Alejandro Lavorante (19-2) knocked out Von Clay (16-6-2) at 1:10 of the 2nd round of a heavyweight bout at Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It proved to be the last win for Mr. Lavorante.

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)--Benny Hill (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Different Ones, starring Dana Andrews and Jon Korkes; Tell David..., starring Sandra Dee and Jared Martin; Logoda's Heads, starring Patrick Macnee, Brock Peters, Denise Nicholas, and Tim Matheson

War
U.S. Air Force and Navy planes concluded three days of heavy bombing raids on military installations in North Vietnam; it was the first time since 1968 that a series of attacks against North Vietnam had lasted more than two days.

25 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Funkytown--Pseudo Echo (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Harold Macmillan, 92. Prime Minister of Great Britain, 1957-1963. Mr. Macmillan, who accepted a peerage as Lord Stockton in 1984, succeeded Anthony Eden as Prime Minister in 1957 and led his Conservative Party to an easy election win in 1959, but resigned in the wake of a scandal involving a relationship between Defense Secretary John Profumo and call girl Christine Keeler.

20 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Black or White--Michael Jackson (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Let's Talk About Sex--Salt-N-Pepa (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Black or White--Michael Jackson (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Susan Wright, 44. Miss Wright, a native of Calgary, grew up in Saskatoon, where she began her career. She was best known as a stage actress, appearing frequently at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and winning two Dora Mavor Moore Awards and an ACTRA Award. Miss Wright appeared in several films and television programs. She and her parents were staying in a house in Stratford owned by actor Brent Carver, who was absent when the others died in a fire.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Dallas 17 @ Chicago 13



AFC Wild Card Playoff
New York Jets 10 @ Houston 17



10 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Takashi Asahina, 93. Japanese orchestra conductor. Mr. Asahina founded the Kansai Symphonic Orchestra (today the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1947, and was its principal conductor until his death. He specialized in the music of Anton Bruckner.

Crime
Magloire Poissant murdered his ex-wife Colette Harnois, her two sons Mathieu MacDonald, 18, and Michael MacDonald, 15, and their friend Francis Mongrain, age 17, at Ms. Harnois' home in Lavaltrie, Quebec.

Weather
Five days of snow in Buffalo, New York ended with a record total of 6 feet and 9 inches.

Disasters
Nearly 300 people were killed when a firecracker ignited fireworks stands lining narrow streets in Lima, Peru.