January 2, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Kathy Fincham!

130 years ago
1884

Born on this date
Oscar Micheaux. U.S. filmmaker and author. Mr. Micheaux, who was based in Chicago, was the first Negro American to direct a feature film. The Homesteader (1919) was based on his novel, published two years earlier. Within Our Gates and The Symbol of the Unconquered, both from 1920, seem to be the only films of Mr. Micheaux that still exist. They don't hold up well as films, but they are of historical significance. In 1931 Mr. Micheaux added to his resume when The Exile became the first sound film to be directed by a Negro American. Mr. Micheaux died in 1951 at the age of 67.

Disasters
A railway accident at the Humber River, west of Toronto, claimed 31 lives.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Jim Londos. Greek-born U.S. wrestler. Mr. Londos, born Christos Theofilou, moved to the United States as a young man, and became one of the most popular professional wrestlers in the U.S.A. during the 1930s and '40s; he was National Wrestling Association and New York State Athletic Commission world heavyweight champion from 1930-1935 and 1938-1946. Mr. Landos died of a heart attack on August 19, 1975 at the age of 81.

75 years ago
1939

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
St. Mary's 20 Texas Tech 13

Rose Bowl
Southern California 7 Duke 3

Orange Bowl
Tennessee 17 Oklahoma 0

Sugar Bowl
Texas Christian 15 Carnegie Tech 7

70 years ago
1944

Radio
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Dominion Network began broadcasting coast-to-coast, with lighter programs in the evening hours; it was discontinued in 1962.

War
Canadian troops took a strongly-defended peak 3 miles beyond Ortona on the Italian Adriatic coast. On the Kiev front, Soviet troops took Pulaski, within 14 miles of the Polish border. U.S. Marines moved 1 1/2 miles beyond the Cape Gloucester airport on New Britain, counting 1,000 Japanese slain. U.S. forces landed at Saidor on the north coast of New Guinea, 55 miles southeast of the Japanese air base at Madang.

Russiana
The Soviet government announced that the new national anthem, replacing the Internationale, was the Hymn of the Soviet Union.

60 years ago
1954

Hit Parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Pretend--Nat "King" Cole

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Oh, Mein Papa (Oh! My Pa-Pa)--Eddie Fisher (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Rags to Riches--Tony Bennett (Disc Jockey--6th week at #1; Jukebox--5th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Oh, Mein Papa (Oh! My Pa-Pa)--Eddie Fisher (2nd week at #1)
--Eddie Calvert
2 Stranger in Paradise--Tony Bennett
--The Four Aces
3 That's Amore--Dean Martin
4 Rags to Riches--Tony Bennett
5 Changing Partners--Patti Page
--[Kay Starr]
6 Ricochet (Rick-O-Shay)--Teresa Brewer
7 Ebb Tide--Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra
8 Santa Baby--Eartha Kitt
9 The Gang that Sang "Heart of My Heart"--The Four Aces
-- Don Cornell, Alan Dale, and Johnny Desmond
10 Eh, Cumpari--Julius LaRosa

Singles entering the chart were The Creep by the Three Suns (#31); A Dear John and Marsha Letter by Stan Freberg (#32); and Bimbo by Jim Reeves (#43, charting with the version by Eddy Howard).

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): I Want to Hold Your Hand--The Beatles (4th week at #1)

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: I'd Love You to Want Me--Lobo (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Tex Ritter, 68. U.S. musician and actor. Mr. Ritter was a popular "singing cowboy" from the mid-1930s through the early 1960s, and in 1942 became the first artist to sign with Capitol Records. Mr. Ritter's hit songs included I'm Wastin' My Tears on You (1944) and There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder (1944). He sang the title song in the movie High Noon (1952) and sang it at the first televised Academy Awards ceremony in 1953, where the song won the Oscar for 1952. Mr. Ritter appeared in dozens of movies as a singing cowboy, most of them in the 1930s and '40s. Mr. Ritter, the father of actor John Ritter, died of a heart attack 10 days before his 69th birthday.

Law
U.S. President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 miles per hour, ostensibly to save on gasoline and improve safety.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): All Night Long (All Night)--Lionel Richie (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Karma Chameleon--Culture Club (3rd week at #1)

War
France announced that she would remove 482 troops from the international peacekeeping force in Beirut and would rejoin the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

Diplomacy
Rev. Jesse Jackson, a candidate for the 1984 Democratic party nomination for President of the United States who was in Syria in an attempt to win the freedom of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman, who had been shot down near Beirut on December 4, met with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Kokomo--The Beach Boys (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You--Glenn Medeiros (7th week at #1)

Football
NCAA
Cotton Bowl
California @ Los Angeles 17 Arkansas 3

Rose Bowl
Michigan 22 Southern California 14

Orange Bowl
University of Miami 23 Nebraska 3

Sugar Bowl
Florida State 13 Auburn 7

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: It Keeps Rainin' (Tears from My Eyes)--Bitty McLean (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): Twist and Shout--Chaka Demus and the Pliers

Died on this date
Dixy Lee Ray, 79. U.S. politician. Miss Ray, a Democrat, was Governor of Washington from 1977-1981 and was the state's first female governor. She was a marine biologist who taught at the University of Washington from 1947-1972. Miss Ray wrote two excellent books that were critical of the environmental movement: Trashing the Planet (1992) and Environmental Overkill (1993).

Politics and government
Rudolph Giuliani was inaugurated as Mayor of New York.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Etta Moten Barnett, 102. U.S. actress and singer. Mrs. Bennett performed in musical films such as Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) and Flying Down to Rio (1933), but was best known for playing Bess in Porgy and Bess on Broadway and with the touring company (1942-1945).

Space
The NASA probe Stardust, launched FebruAry 7, 1999, flew past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that were returned to Earth on January 15, 2006.