December 24, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Hilary Hahn!

230 years ago
1783

Defense
British Loyalist troops stationed in Montreal, Lower Canada were disbanded.

150 years ago
1863

Died on this date
William Makepeace Thackeray, 52. Indian-born U.K. author. Mr. Thackeray wrote fiction and non-fiction, and was best known for his novels The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844) and Vanity Fair (1848). He died from a stroke.

140 years ago
1873

Died on this date
Johns Hopkins, 78. U.S. businessman and philanthropist. Mr. Hopkins, a devout Quaker, became prosperous as a partner in Hopkins & Brothers Wholesalers, which he and his brothers founded in Baltimore in 1819. Mr. Hopkins made so much money from wise investments that he retired at the age of 52, and spent the rest of his life as a philanthropist. He was best known for providing the money to found Johns Hopkins University and various institutions associated with it.

120 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Harry Warren. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Warren, born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna, was the first major songwriter to write primarily for cinema. He was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning for writing the music for Lullaby of Broadway (Gold Diggers of 1935) (1935); You'll Never Know (Hello, Frisco, Hello) (1943); and On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe (The Harvey Girls) (1945). Mr. Warren's other songs are too numerous to mention here; he died on September 22, 1981 at the age of 87.

Died on this date
B.T. Finniss, 86. Australian politician. Boyle Travers Finniss was born at sea and grew up in India and the United Kingdom. He was a surveyor by trade, and settled in South Australia in 1836. Mr. Finniss held various offices in South Australia, and represented the city of Adelaide in the S.A. Parliament from 1857-1860, serving as the first Premier of South Australia from 1856-1857.

70 years ago
1943

Movies
A Motion Picture Herald survey named Betty Grable as the number one box office star, with Bob Hope second.

War
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces during World War II. In daylight, nearly 3,000 Allied planes engaged in record operations across the English Channel. U.K. units in Italy continued heavy street fighting against German troops in Ortona. The Soviet offensive aimed at Vitebsk, White Russia netted more than 60 inhabited places, including the large fortified centre and rail station of Gorodok. Chinese troops crossed the Sungtze River.

Politics and government
General Georges Catroux, representing the French National Committee of Liberation, turned over Lebanese and Syrian government responsibilities to Lebanese and Syrian administrations.

Labour
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen called off the strike scheduled for December 31, but the conductors, firemen, and switchmen left their strike call in effect.

U.S. National War Labor Board Director William Davis telegraphed Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray, offering to reconvene the board and reconsider its vote to reject the demand of the United Steel Workers of America that any new wage contracts carry a retroactive clause.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill extending the Civilian Conservation Corps through February 17, 1944.

60 years ago
1953

At the movies
Bad for Each Other, directed by Irving Rapper, and starring Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, and Dianne Foster, opened in theatres in New York City.



50 years ago
1963

On television tonight
The Fugitive, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Girl from Little Egypt, with guest stars Ed Nelson, Pamela Tiffin, Diane Brewster, and June Dayton

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)--Helen Reddy

#1 single in France: Noël interdit--Johnny Hallyday (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Gerard Kuiper, 68. Netherlands-born U.S. astronomer. Dr. Kuiper moved to the United States in 1933 and became a U.S. citizen in 1937. He worked at the Yerkes Observatory at the University of Chicago for many years before founding the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Dr. Kuiper discovered two planetary satellites: Miranda (Uranus) and Nereid (Neptune), as well as several binary stars. He also discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars and the existence of a methane-laced atmosphere above Saturn's satellite Titan. A region of small planets beyond Neptune is known as the Kuiper Belt in his honour.

Business
The Coal Association of Canada, a national body representing the coal industry, was founded.

Disasters
Nearly 200 people were killed when an overloaded ferry capsized in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Le Rita!--Claude Barzotti (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): You Are--Dolly Parton

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Only You--The Flying Pickets (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K.: Only You--The Flying Pickets (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Say Say Say--Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Say Say Say--Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)
2 Union of the Snake--Duran Duran
3 All Night Long (All Night)--Lionel Richie
4 Say it Isn't So--Daryl Hall-John Oates
5 Uptown Girl--Billy Joel
6 Owner of a Lonely Heart--Yes
7 Love is a Battlefield--Pat Benatar
8 Twist of Fate--Olivia Newton-John
9 Cum On Feel the Noize--Quiet Riot
10 Crumblin' Down--John Cougar Mellencamp

Singles entering the chart were So Bad by Paul McCartney (#62); Give it Up by KC (#84); Sweetheart Like You by Bob Dylan (#87); You're Looking Like Love to Me by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack (#89); and "Kid" Santa Claus by Patsy (#99).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Say Say Say--Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)
2 All Night Long (All Night)--Lionel Richie
3 Islands in the Stream--Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton
4 Tonight I Celebrate My Love--Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack
5 Love is a Battlefield--Pat Benatar
6 Church of the Poison Mind--Culture Club
7 Union of the Snake--Duran Duran
8 Uptown Girl--Billy Joel
9 Major Tom (Coming Home)--Peter Schilling
10 Cum On Feel the Noize--Quiet Riot

Singles entering the chart were Rush Rush by Debbie Harry (#43); The Politics of Dancing by Re-Flex (#45); Ready to Make Up by Toronto (#46); and Read 'Em and Weep by Barry Manilow (#49). Rush Rush was from the movie Scarface (1983).

Defense
French peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon pulled back from positions in southern Beirut and turned them over to the Lebanese army.

Disasters
Three days after an earthquake in Guinea had killed more than 300 people, another earthquake there killed about 150.

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Denver 7 @ Seattle 31

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): C'è da spostare una macchina--Francesco Salvi (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Orinoco Flow--Enya (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Smooth Criminal--Michael Jackson

#1 single in France (SNEP): Pourvu qu'elles soient douces--Mylène Farmer (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Mistletoe and Wine--Cliff Richard (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Mistletoe and Wine--Cliff Richard (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard
1 Every Rose Has its Thorn--Poison
2 My Prerogative--Bobby Brown
3 Look Away--Chicago
4 Giving You the Best That I Got--Anita Baker
5 Waiting for a Star to Fall--Boy Meets Girl
6 Two Hearts--Phil Collins
7 Welcome to the Jungle--Guns n' Roses
8 In Your Room--Bangles
9 Walk on Water--Eddie Money
10 Don't Rush Me--Taylor Dayne

Singles entering the chart were Surrender to Me by Ann Wilson and Robin Zander (#80); All She Wants Is by Duran Duran (#85); I Beg Your Pardon by Kon Kan (#87); More than You Know by Martika (#91); and The Great Commandment by Camouflage (#98). Surrender to Me was from the movie Tequila Sunrise (1988).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Every Rose Has its Thorn--Poison
2 Giving You the Best That I Got--Anita Baker
3 My Prerogative--Bobby Brown
4 Waiting for a Star to Fall--Boy Meets Girl
5 Two Hearts--Phil Collins
6 Look Away--Chicago
7 I Don't Want Your Love--Duran Duran
8 Don't Rush Me--Taylor Dayne
9 Welcome to the Jungle--Guns N' Roses
10 In Your Room--Bangles

Singles entering the chart were Surrender to Me by Ann Wilson and Robin Zander (#80); All She Wants Is by Duran Duran (#82); More than You Know by Martika (#85); Doctorin' the Tardis by the Timelords (#87); Perfect by Fairground Attraction (#88); Madeline by Winger (#90); If Ever a Love There Was by the Four Tops with Aretha Franklin (#95); and Posse' on Broadway by Sir Mix-a-Lot (#97).

Politics and government
U.S. Vice President and President-elect George Bush named Elizabeth Dole, wife of U.S. Senator Bob Dole (Republican--Kansas) and Secretary of Transportation in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, as Secretary of Labor in his forthcoming administration.

Oil
Three oil fields in the North Sea were shut down after a giant floating storage vessel broke free of its moorings in gale-force winds.

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Houston 24 @ Cleveland 23

Tony Zendejas' 49-yard field goal with 1:54 remaining in the game provided the winning margin for the Oilers as they edged the Browns before 74,977 fans at Cleveland Stadium. The Browns scored a converted touchdown with 31 seconds remaining to draw within 1 point, but three attempts at a short kickoff resulted in penalties, and the Oilers ran out the clock.

20 years ago
1993

Died on this date
Norman Vincent Peale, 95. U.S. clergyman. Rev. Peale was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1922, but changed his affiliation to the Reformed Church in America in 1932, serving as pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New York City from 1932-1984. He hosted the radio program The Art of Living from 1954-1989, and founded Guideposts magazine with his wife Ruth in 1945. Rev. Peale attempted to combine religion with psychiatry, as he and psychiatrist Smiley Blanton operated a religio-psychiatric clinic, which became the American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry in 1951. Rev. Peale's most popular book, The Power of Positive Thinking, was published in 1952, which led Dr. Blanton to distance himself from Rev. Peale and his views. Rev. Peale's advice was criticized as promoting a form of self-hypnosis, while being advocated by prominent businessmen and politicians. Dr. Peale spoke out on political issues in the 1950s, but he was widely criticized for opposing John F. Kennedy's U.S. presidential candidacy in 1960 on the grounds of Mr. Kennedy's Catholicism; Rev. Peale thereafter withdrew from partisan politics. Rev. Peale was a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Freemason, and was much honoured by the world, despite whatever criticism he received.