December 4, 2012

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Marina Kosan!

140 years ago
1872

World events
The U.K.-U.S. merchant brigantine Mary Celeste was found near the Azores, apprently abandoned by her seven-man crew and with all her papers missing except the captain's logbook. The weather was calm and there was plenty of food on board, but the crew were never seen again and the mystery remains unsolved.

110 years ago
1902

Born on this date
Charles Dow, 51. U.S. journalist and economist. Mr. Dow worked at newspapers in Springfield, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island in the 1870s, specializing in regional history. He moved to New York City in 1880 and began working with the Kiernan Wall Street Financial News Bureau. Mr. Dow, Edward Davis Jones, and Charles Bergstresser founded the financial reporting firm Dow, Jones & Company in 1882 and The Wall Street Journal in 1889. Mr. Dow devised the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896, and began writing editorial columns in The Wall Street Journal in 1899, which formed the basis of the Dow theory of stock price movement. Mr. Dow began experiencing health problems in 1902, and sold his share of the company. He died of a heart attack, four weeks after his 51st birthday.

90 years ago
1922

At the movies
Omar the Tentmaker, directed by James Young, and starring Guy Bates Post, Virginia Browne Faire, and Patsy Ruth Miller, opened in theatres.

70 years ago
1942

War
Polish Christian women Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz set up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews in Warsaw.

60 years ago
1952

Disasters
Four days of smog began over London, resulting in over 4,000 deaths.

50 years ago
1962

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: A Fist of Five

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K.: Beat Surrender--The Jam

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Truly--Lionel Richie (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Truly--Lionel Richie
2 Gloria--Laura Branigan
3 Maneater--Daryl Hall & John Oates
4 Up Where We Belong--Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
5 The Girl is Mine--Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
6 Steppin' Out--Joe Jackson
7 Mickey--Toni Basil
8 Dirty Laundry--Don Henley
9 Muscles--Diana Ross
10 It's Raining Again--Supertramp

Singles entering the chart were On the Loose by Saga (#84); Psychobabble by Alan Parsons Project (#85); Your Love is Driving Me Crazy by Sammy Hagar (#86); Do You Really Want to Hurt Me by Culture Club (#87); Funny how Time Slips Away by the Spinners (#88); and Jump by Loverboy (#89).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Up Where We Belong--Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (2nd week at #1)
2 Gloria--Laura Branigan
3 Da Da Da--Trio
4 The Look of Love--ABC
5 Dirty Laundry--Don Henley
6 It's Raining Again--Supertramp
7 Truly--Lionel Richie
8 Down Under--Men at Work
9 Maneater--Daryl Hall & John Oates
10 Shock the Monkey--Peter Gabriel

Singles entering the chart were Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners & the Emerald Express (#46); Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth (#47); Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye (#48); and Used to Be by Charlene and Stevie Wonder (#50).

Auto racing
USAC
Gold Crown Series
Keith Kauffman won the Nazareth 100 on a dirt track at Nazareth National Speedway in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Whenever You Need Somebody--Rick Astley

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Sweat (A La La La La Long)--Inner Circle (11th week at #1)

World events
U.S. President George Bush ordered 28,000 troops to Somalia to prevent warlords from interfering with delivery of humanitarian aid.