January 27, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Irina!

160 years ago
1854

Transportation
The Great Western Railroad opened from London to Windsor, Ontario.

75 years ago
1939

Aviation
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane, piloted by Ben Kelsey, made its first flight.

70 years ago
1944

War
The 900-day Siege of Leningrad was lifted. Allied troops ontinued to advance south of Rome, capturing Velletri, while reinforcements were landed on the beachheads. Yugoslavian partisans claimed the liberation of 70% of central Bosnia from German forces. U.S. War Secretary Henry Stimson said that two-thirds of the U.S. Army would be overseas by the end of the year. The U.S. Army and Navy issued a joint report charging Japan with starving and murdering more than 5,200 American soldiers captured in Corregidor and the Bataan Peninsula.

Literature
The U.S. National Institute of Arts and Letters awarded its gold medal for "distinguished achievement" to Willa Cather for her "sustained contribution to American fiction."

The novel The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson was published by Farrar & Rinehart.

Labour
The U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations adopted a resolution opposing the Austin-Wadsworth bill for a national service act.

60 years ago
1954

At the movies
Highway Dragnet, directed by Nathan Juran, and starring Richard Conte, Joan Bennett, and Wanda Hendrix, opened in theatres.



World for Ransom, co-produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, and starring Dan Duryea, Gene Lockhart, Patric Knowles, Reginald Denny, Nigel Bruce, and Marian Carr, opened in theatres in Los Angeles. It was the final film for Mr. Bruce, who had died on October 8, 1953.



Alaska Seas, directed by Jerry Hopper, and starring Robert Ryan, Jan Sterling, Brian Keith, and Gene Barry, opened in theatres.



50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Cuore--Rita Pavone (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Outer Limits, on ABC
Tonight's episode: ZZZZZ, starring Joanna Frank, Philip Abbott, and Marsha Hunt

40 years ago
1974

Disasters
63 of 73 people aboard a Turkish airliner were killed when it crashed and burst into flames on takeoff from the military airport at Izmir.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Come Back and Stay--Paul Young

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Jenseits von Eden--Nino de Angelo (5th week at #1)

Popular culture
U.S. pop singer Michael Jackson suffered second-degree burns to his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the U.S. merchandise trade deficit had totalled $69.4 billion in 1983, breaking the record of $42.7 billion reported in 1982.

Hockey
NHL
Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers registered an assist in the first period of a game against the New Jersey Devils at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, extending his point-scoring streak to a record 51 games.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): First Time--Robin Beck (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Thomas Sopwith, 101. U.K. aviator. Mr. Sopwith began flying in 1910 and in 1912 co-founded the Sopwith Aviation Company, which manufactured more than 18,000 aircraft for Allied forces in World War I, including the Sopwith Camel single-seat fighter plane.

Scandal
Two former executives of Unisys Corporation, a major U.S. defense contractor, pled guilty to making illegal campaign donations to members of Congress.

A civilian employee of the U.S. Marine Corps pled guilty to accepting $43,500 in bribes from a defense consultant to whom he had provided confidential information.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the gross national product had grown at an annual rate of 2% in the fourth quarter of 1988, reflecting the impact of the summer of 1988 drought on farm output. For the year as a whole, the economy grew 3.8%, its strongest showing in four years.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Claude Akins, 67. U.S. actor. Mr. Akins played character roles in numerous movies and television programs before starring in the television series Movin' On (1974-1976); B.J. and the Bear (1979-1981); and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (1979-1981).

Politics and government
Former U.S. Marine Colonel and U.S. National Security Council member Oliver North announced his candidacy for the Republican party nomination for United States Senator from Virginia in the November 1994 election. Mr. North had been involved in the 1986 Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal, and in 1989 had been convicted on three charges arising from the scandal, but the conviction had been overturned on appeal because of violations of Mr. North's constitutional rights, and the charges had been subsequently dropped.

Toronto-area Member of Parliament Jag Bhaduria quit the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent in the Canadian House of Commons after it was revealed that he had falsified his academic background.

Diplomacy
Officials with the U.S. administration of President Bill Clinton announced that Gerry Adams, leader of the Sinn Fein faction of the Irish Republican Army, would be allowed to visit the United States if the IRA renounced violence.

Crime
U.S. figure skater Tonya Harding, who had won the national women's championship three weeks earlier after her chief rival, defending champion Nancy Kerrigan, had been clubbed on the leg after a practice, said in a statement that she had learned several days after the attack on Miss Kerrigan that "persons that were close to me" had been involved in the attack, and she acknowledged that she had not told authorities what she had learned until several days later. Ms. Harding's bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, and her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, were two of the four men who were facing charges in the attack.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Jack Paar, 85. U.S. radio and television host. Mr. Paar hosted a number of radio programs and acted in several movies before moving into television in the 1950s. He became famous as host of the late-night talk show Tonight on NBC from 1957-1962. After leaving that show, he hosted The Jack Paar Program, a weekly interview show, from 1962-1965. His unpredictability and willingness to display his emotions made Mr. Paar one of the most watchable and influential television personalities of his era.

Salvador "Doy" Laurel, 75. 10th Vice-President of the Philippines, 1986-1992. Mr. Laurel, a leader of the United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO), helped to topple President Ferdinand Marcos from power in 1986 and served as Vice-President under President Corazon Aquino. He briefly held the position of Prime Minister in 1986 before assuming the position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1986-1987. Mr. Laurel was an unsuccessful candidate for President of the Philippines in 1992.

War
Canadian peacekeeper Corporal James Murphy and an Afghan civilian were killed and three other Canadian soldiers were injured in an attack by a suicide bomber in Kabul.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts) won the New Hampshire Democratic party primary for the nomination for President of the United States in the November 2004 election.