January 11, 2014

150 years ago
1864

Born on this date
Thomas Dixon, Jr. U.S. author. Mr. Dixon, this blogger's favourite politically-incorrect novelist was born in Shelby, North Carolina. A brilliant student, he was an actor, lawyer, politician, and clergyman before becoming a novelist. A theatrical production of Uncle Tom's Cabin enraged Mr. Dixon, so he determined to set the record straight regarding the American South and Reconstruction. He presented his perspective on the South and racial issues in the novels The Leopard's Spots (1902); The Clansman (1905); The Traitor (1907); The Sins of the Father (1912); The Black Hood (1924); and The Flaming Sword (1939). The Leopard's Spots and The Clansman were the inspiration for the movie The Birth of a Nation (1915), while The Flaming Sword was prophetic of the racial upheavals of the 1960s and beyond. Mr. Dixon also wrote novels critical of socialism, including The One Woman (1903); Comrades (1909); and The Root of Evil (1911). Mr. Dixon died on April 3, 1946 at the age of 82. Go here and scroll down to Mr. Dixon's name for free downloads of some of his novels. I particularly recommend Comrades--which has a similar story line to George Orwell's Animal Farm, but is much funnier--and The Clansman, which may be the most politically incorrect novel ever written.

Politics and government
In New Westminster, British Columbia, Frederick Seymour was appointed first Governor of the united province of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, to take office on May 21, 1864.

140 years ago
1874

Died on this date
Gail Borden, 72. U.S. surveyor and inventor. Mr. Borden worked as a surveyor in Texas in the 1830s, and helped to plan the cities of Houston and Galveston in 1836. In 1853, he created a process to make sweetened condensed milk. Mr. Borden founded the New York Condensed Milk Company in 1857, which became known as Borden Dairy Company after his death.

70 years ago
1944

At the movies
Lifeboat, written by John Steinbeck, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, and others, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Galeazzo Ciano, 40. Italian politician. Count Ciano was Minister of Foreign Affairs for Italy under the Fascist regime of his father-in-law, dictator Benito Mussolini, from 1936-1943. Along with four other Italian politicians who had voted against Il Duce's leadership in 1943, Count Ciano was executed by firing squad in Verona.

War
The 1st Ukrainian Army advanced 39 miles inside the prewar Polish borders. More than 700 U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators raided three of Germany's most important fighter assembly plants, at Oschersleben, Halberstadt, and Brunswick. U.S. planes bombed Piraeus, Greece and the port of Athens. In the face of strong Japanese opposition, Allied troops took Maungdaw and continued down the Mayu Peninsula in Burma.

Society
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that there were 3.2 million births in 1943, the greatest in history.

Labour
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress for a national service law "to prevent strikes" and to make available for essential war service "every able-bodied adult in the nation."

60 years ago
1954

Died on this date
Oscar Straus, 83. Austrian composer. Mr. Straus wrote operettas, film scores, and about 500 cabaret songs, as well as orchestral and choral works, and chamber music. He was best known for the operettas Ein Walzertraum (A Waltz Dream) (1907) and Der tapfere Soldat (The Chocolate Soldier) (1908).

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Si Je Chante--Sylvie Vartan

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Non è facile avere 18 anni--Rita Pavone

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Rote Lippen soll man küssen--Cliff Richard and the Shadows (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): There! I've Said it Again--Bobby Vinton (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Louie Louie--The Kingsmen
--[Paul Revere and the Raiders]
2 There! I've Said it Again--Bobby Vinton
3 Popsicles and Icicles--The Murmaids
4 Dominique--The Singing Nun
5 Forget Him--Bobby Rydell
6 Since I Fell for You--Lenny Welch
7 Surfin' Bird--The Trashmen
8 Talk Back Trembling Lips--Johnny Tillotson
9 The Nitty Gritty--Shirley Ellis
10 Midnight Mary--Joey Powers

Singles entering the chart were Talking About My Baby by the Impressions (#70); His Kiss by Betty Harris (#79); I Want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles (#80); Who Cares by Fats Domino (#85); Deep in the Heart of Harlem by Clyde McPhatter (#86); You'll Never Walk Alone by Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles (#88); Java by Al Hirt (#92); Ask Me by Inez Foxx (#93); Southtown, U.S.A. by the Dixiebelles (#94); Since I Found a New Love by Little Johnny Taylor (#96); Snap Your Fingers by Barbara Lewis (#97); 442 Glenwood Avenue by Pixies Three (#98); Penetration by the Pyramids (#99); and He Says the Same Things to Me by Skeeter Davis (#100).

U.S.A. Top Ten (Music Reporter)
1 There! I've Said it Again--Bobby Vinton (3rd week at #1)
2 Since I Fell for You--Lenny Welch
3 Forget Him--Bobby Rydell
4 Midnight Mary--Joey Powers
5 Popsicles and Icicles--The Murmaids
6 Quicksand--Martha and the Vandellas
7 Talk Back Trembling Lips--Johnny Tillotson
--Ernest Ashworth
8 The Nitty Gritty--Shirley Ellis
9 Pretty Paper--Roy Orbison
10 As Usual--Brenda Lee

Singles entering the chart were Girls Grow Up Faster than Boys by the Cookies (#41); If Somebody Told You by Ann King (#64); Who Cares by Fats Domino (#67); Saginaw, Michigan by Lefty Frizzell (#71); Tonight You're Gonna Fall in Love with Me by the Shirelles (#78); Roses in the Snow by Kim Weston (#79); Mr. Magic Moon by the Gleams (#84); His Kiss by Betty Harris (#88); Coming Back to You by Maxine Brown (#92); Never Love a Robin by Bobby Vee (#93); My Home Town by Steve Lawrence (#94); Don't Cross Over by Linda Brannon (#95); Little Boxes by Pete Seeger (#96); For Your Sweet Love by the Cascades (#97); Look Homeward Angel by the Monarchs (#98); I'll Search My Heart by Johnny Mathis (#99); and Puppy Love by Barbara Lewis (#100).

On the radio
Sherlock Holmes, starring Fridtjof Hansen Mjoen and Arne Bang-Hansen, on Norsk Rikskringkasting (Norwegian State Broadcasting Corporation)
Tonight's episode: Det stripet bandet (The Speckled Band)

Space
The United States launched the satellite Solar Radiation, whose mission was the measurement of solar ultraviolet and x-radiation.

Health
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry published the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States, saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Photograph--Ringo Starr (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): I'd Love You to Want Me--Lobo (9th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top Ten (Radio & Records)
1 Time in a Bottle--Jim Croce (2nd week at #1)
2 The Joker--Steve Miller Band
3 You're Sixteen--Ringo Starr
4 The Most Beautiful Girl--Charlie Rich
5 Smokin' in the Boy's Room--Brownsville Station
6 Show and Tell--Al Wilson
7 The Way We Were--Barbra Streisand
8 Love's Theme--The Love Unlimited Orchestra
9 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road--Elton John
10 Living for the City--Stevie Wonder

World events
China reclaimed sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, a desolate archipelago believed to have oil deposits. China and South Vietnam had a longstanding dispute over the islands.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger began a week of shuttling between Jerusalem and Aswan in order to facilitate a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.

Scandal
The New York Times disclosed that according to well-informed sources, the White House "plumbers"--aides to U.S. President Nixon who were assigned the task of plugging "leaks"--had discovered, late in 1971, evidence that a "ring" of military officers, some of them assigned to the National Security Council, had passed secret information about U.S. diplomatic initiatives to Pentagon officials. David Young, who headed the inquiry, had concluded, according to the sources, that secret information from national security adviser Henry Kissinger's office had been leaked to Admiral Thomas Moorer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Crime
Police in Oakland, California arrested Joseph Remiro, 27, a Vietnam War veteran and political activist, for the November 1973 murder of Oakland School Superintendent Marcus Foster. The .38-calibre gun used in the killing was found in Mr. Remiro's possession. Police said they had also uncovered what appeared to be the headquarters of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the underground group that had claimed responsibility for the killing.

30 years ago
1984

War
A U.S. helicopter pilot was killed along the Honduran-Nicaraguan border by fire from Nicaraguan military units that downed his helicopter.

Diplomacy
Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang continued his visit to Washington by meeting with cabinet members and Congressional leaders, asking the latter to permit Communist Third World countries to receive most favourable trade and economic aid conditions.

The National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, head by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, submitted its report, endorsing most of the elements of the Central American policy of the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The report called for a comprehensive approach to economic development of the region involving both the Central American republics and the United States. The commission favoured both an outlay of $8 billion in economic aid over five years and a big increase in military aid to El Salvador. The report saw a serious threat to U.S. security from the involvement of Cuba and the U.S.S.R. in the region. Dr. Kissinger was among three members of the commission who dissented from the majority view that aid to El Salvador should be contingent on improvement in the nation's human rights record. The commission favoured military aid to Honduras, and possibly for Guatemala, and called for "the development of an open political system in Nicaragua." Mr. Reagan praised the report, bu some Democrats in Congress questioned the outlay of $8 billion at a time of high budget deficits.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Vingar--Mikael Rickfors (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Steady as She Goes

Politics and government
U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivered his farewell address to the nation, saying that he saw his administration as a time of "rediscovery of our values and our common sense." He described the country as "more prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago."



Defense
At a conference in Paris, representatives of 149 nations adopted a statement saying that they "solemnly affirm their commitments not to use chemical weapons and condemn such use." The statement reaffirmd the 1925 Geneva Protocol renouncing the use of chemical weapons in war.

Health
On the 25th anniversary of U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry's report on smoking and health, the current Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, issued his own report on the subject. He called the original report "the most significant health statement ever made by the government." The new report showed that lung cancer, not breast cancer, was the leading cause of cancer death among women, and that smoking was more common among blue-collar workers and less-educated people. The new report included a study from the American Cancer Society stating that cigarette smoking had claimed 390,000 lives in 1985, a figure higher than previous annual estimated totals.

20 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Helmut Poppendick, 92. German physician. Dr. Poppendick joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and was a member of the SS, specializing in "race hygiene." He was implicated in medical experiments performed on prisoners at concentration camps during World War II. American Military Tribunal No. I acquitted Dr. Poppendick in 1947 of criminal accusations, but was sentenced to 10 years in prison for membership in the SS, a criminal organization. He was released on January 31, 1951, and died five days after his 92nd birthday.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in Prague to begin a trip to eastern Europe.

Politics and government
Recently-elected Liberal Party leader Daniel Johnson succeeded the retiring Robert Bourassa as Premier of Quebec.

World events
The Irish Government announced the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the Irish Republican Army and its political arm Sinn Féin.

Economics and finance
The U.S. State Department said in a preliminary report that China had not yet made enough progress in human rights to earn U.S. renewal of most-favored-nation trading status.

10 years ago
2004

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
Green Bay 17 @ Philadelphia 20 (OT)

AFC Divisional Playoff
Indianapolis 38 @ Kansas City 31