January 10, 2012

70 years ago
1942

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Chattanooga Choo Choo--Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (6th week at #1)

40 years ago
1972

Society
U.S. District Judge Robert Merhige ordered the merger of the public schools of Richmond, Virginia--most of whose students were Negroes--with the schools of neighbouring Henrico and Chesterfield counties, 90% of which were entirely composed of white students. The order was an attempt to end a growing pattern of segregated and unequal education. The result would be a new metopolitan school district with an enrollment of 66% white pupils and 33% Negro pupils.

Disasters
A fire that had begun the previous night destroyed the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth. The 28-year-old former Cunard luxury liner was in Hong Kong Harbour, where it had been brought six months earlier to be converted into a floating campus.

30 years ago
1982

Died on this date
Paul Lynde, 55. U.S. comedian and actor. Mr. Lynde was probably best known as the occupant of the centre square on the long-running television game show The Hollywood Squares. He played Uncle Arthur in 11 episodes of the television comedy series Bewitched between 1965 and 1971, and starred in the comedy series The Paul Lynde Show (1972-1973) and The New Temperatures Rising (1973-1974), both of which appeared on ABC. Mr. Lynde's movies included New Faces (1954); Bye Bye Birdie (1963); Beach Blanket Bingo (1965); The Glass Bottom Boat (1966); and The Villain (1979). For more on Mr. Lynde, see this article.

World events
A group of Haitian exiles announced that they had captured the island of Tortuga, just off the main coast of Haiti. It was alleged that this attempt to overthrow the government of President Jean-Claude Duvalier was the work of the National Popular Haitian Party, based in Miami, Florida. Later in the day, the Haitian government claimed that they had landed troops on Tortuga and that the rebels had fled. A report from Miami from an exile stated that the rebels had crossed the channel between Tortuga and Haiti and captured the town of Port-de-Paix.

Weather
Nine new deaths were reported in the midwestern United States from a record cold snap. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan dropped to -36 F, while the windchill in Fargo, North Dakota reached -98 F.

Terrorism
Police in Guatemala announced that the bodies of 50 people kidnapped from their homes in the town of San Francisco el Tablon 10 days earlier had been found in the western part of the country. In addition to the kidnappings, the attackers had also burned down 20 houses in the town. 10 other people had been kidnapped with the 50, but their whereabouts were unknown.

Football
NFL
AFC Championship
San Diego 7 @ Cincinnati 27

The windchill at Riverfront Stadium approached -30 F before 46,302 fans in one of the coldest games in NFL history as the Bengals defeated the Chargers to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in their 14-year existence.

NFC Championship
Dallas 27 @ San Francisco 28

Dwight Clark's leaping catch of a Joe Montana pass for a touchdown in the last minute of regulation time and the subsequent convert by Ray Wersching gave the 49ers a dramatic victory over the Cowboys before 60,525 fans at Candlestick Park, sending San Francisco to its first appearance in a league championship game since the 49ers had come into existence in the All-America Football Conference in 1946.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: The Final Countdown--Europe (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Geronimo's Cadillac--Modern Talking (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)--Jackie Wilson

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)--Jackie Wilson

This was a reissue of a single that had been a hit for Mr. Wilson in 1957. It was reissued as a single in the U.K. after a clay animation video of the song was shown on an episode of the BBC Two documentary series Arena. This set a record for the longest time between a single's debut on the chart and the time that it reached #1: 29 years, 1 month, 11 days.

#1 single in Canada (RPM): The Way it Is--Bruce Hornsby and the Range (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Cash Box): Everybody Have Fun Tonight--Wang Chung (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, starring Michael Pennington and Margaret Colin, on CBS

This made-for-television movie was apparently intended to be a pilot for a series, but no series resulted.



Died on this date
Marion Hutton, 67. Miss Hutton, born Marion Thornburg and the older sister of actress Betty Hutton, sang with Glenn Miller and his Orchestra from 1938-1942. She and her third husband, arranger Vic Schoen, overcame drinking problems and founded the addiction treatment centre Residence XII in Kirkland, Washington in 1981, with Miss Hutton serving as executive director. She died of cancer.

20 years ago
1992

Economics and finance
The U.S. Labor Department reported that unemployment in December 1991 stood at 7.1%, the highest level in more than five years.

10 years ago
2002

Scandal
Officials of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, auditor of the collapsed energy firm Enron, disclosed that Arthur Andersen employees had destroyed documents relating to Enron, even after such documents had been subpoenaed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.