January 29, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Ken Dies!

200 years ago
1814

War
French forces commanded by Emperor Napoleon I defeated Russian and Prussian forces in the Battle of Brienne in France.

180 years ago
1834

Labour
U.S. President Andrew Jackson ordered the first use of U.S. federal soldiers to suppress a labour dispute.

80 years ago
1934

Died on this date
Fritz Haber, 75. German chemist. Dr. Haber won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. While Dr. Haber's work in the production of fertilizer has helped in the feeding of much of the world's population, he's also been criticized as the "father of chemical warfare" for his work in the development of chlorine and other poisonous gases in World War I. Although Dr. Haber was Jewish, the Nazis offered him funding to continue his research in weapons, but he left the country, and died of heart failure in Basel, Switzerland, while on his way to live in what is now Israel.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart?)--Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra with Eugenie Baird (Best Seller--1st week at #1); Shoo-Shoo Baby--The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra (Jukebox--3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
William Allen White, 75. U.S. journalist and author. Mr. White bought the Emporia Gazette in Emporia, Kansas in 1895, and edited the paper until his death, 12 days before his 76th birthday. He became nationally known as a representative of the views of small-town middle America, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for an editorial in defense of free speech.

War
The last German hold on the Moscow-Leningrad railway was broken by the capture of Chudovo by Soviet forces. A 14-man British expedition departed the Falkland Islands aboard the minesweeper HMS William Scoresby and HMS Fitzroy for Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands as part of Operation Tabarin. U.S. troops in Italy fought their way to a point one mile north of Cassino. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities reported that Japan had been carrying out an organized and systematic espionage plan in the United States since World War I.

Abominations
Approximately 38 civilian men, women, and children died in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland at the hands of Soviet and Jewish partisans.

Defense
The world's most powerful battleship, the USS Missouri, was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Oswaldo Aranha announced that air bases in Brazil built by the United States "are ours 100% and will always be ours."

Diplomacy
Mexico and Canada announced that they would establish diplomatic relations and exchange ministers in the near future.

Politics and government
Wayne Morse resigned his position with the U.S. National War Labor Board and announced his candidacy for the 1944 Republican Party nomination for the United States Senate in Oregon.

Society
American Legion commander Warren Atherton said in a speech in Boston that all Japanese nationals in the United States should be deported "as soon as possible" because "50 years of trial has proved that they can never be assimilated."

Labour
R.J. Thomas and George Meany, Congress of Industrial Organizations and American Federation of Labor members, respectively, of the Presidential Committee on the Cost of Living, issued a statement claiming that living costs had increased 43.5% since January 1, 1941 instead of the 23.4% increase reported by the government.

60 years ago
1954

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Oh, Mein Papa (Oh! My Pa-Pa)--Eddie Calvert (4th week at #1)

At the movies
Face the Music, a British film released in the U.S.A. as The Black Glove, directed by Terence Fisher, and starring Alex Nicol, Eleanor Summerfield, and John Salew, opened in theatres in the United States; it opened in the United Kingdom on February 22, 1954.



50 years ago
1964

Died on this date
Alan Ladd, 50. U.S. actor. Mr. Ladd was one of the most popular movie stars of the 1940s and early '50s, starring in such movies as This Gun for Hire (1942); The Glass Key (1942); The Blue Dahlia (1946); O.S.S. (1946); Whispering Smith (1948); The Great Gatsby (1949); Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950); Appointment with Danger (1951); Shane (1953); and The Badlanders (1958), as well as the syndicated radio series Box 13 (1947-1949). His last film, The Carpetbaggers (1964), was released five months after his death, which was ruled to be the result of an accidental combination of alcohol and pills.

Music
The Beatles recorded the song Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand, which was I Want to Hold Your Hand, sung in German. They used the instrumental track from the original version to back the new vocals.

Space
The U.S.A. launched Saturn SA-5, a Saturn I rocket, to test its engineering. The test was successful.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Les divorcés--Michel Delpech (5th week at #1)

Scandal
Herbert Porter, former scheduling director for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), pled guilty to a charge of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during an early investigation of the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.

Hockey
NHL
All-Star Game @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago
East 5 West 4

Garry Unger of the St. Louis Blues scored a shorthanded goal at 7:54 of the 3rd period, which proved to be the winner as the Western Division edged the Eastern Division before 16,986 fans. Mr. Unger, who also had an assist, was named the game's most valuable player. This was the last All-Star Game played while the NHL consisted of two divisions.



30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Flashdance...What a Feeling--Irene Cara (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Jenseits von Eden--Nino de Angelo

On television tonight
The Four Seasons, based on the 1981 movie of the same name, debuted as a series on CBS. Alan Alda, who wrote and directed the film, introduced the first episode of the TV series.

Defense
A study released by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization showed that the rate of growth of Soviet military spending had slowed between 1976 and 1982. The U.S.S.R. accused the U.S.A. of violating arms control agreements.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 7 @ Boston 2

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Angel of Harlem--U2

#1 single in Switzerland: Bring Me Edelweiss--Edelweiss (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Mandel Kramer, 72. U.S. actor. Mr. Kramer appeared in numerous radio programs, but was perhaps best known as the lat actor to play the title character in Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (1961-1962). He played police chief Bill Marceau in the television soap opera The Edge of Night (1959-1979).

Diplomacy
Hungary became the first Eastern Bloc nation to establish diplomatic relations with South Korea.

Baseball
The game-winning run batted in was dropped as a statistic, after 9 seasons. The career leader in game-winning RBIs was Keith Hernandez, with 129.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Saturday Night--Whigfield (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Ik wil niet dat je liegt/Waarheen waarvoor--Paul de Leeuw (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Things Can Only Get Better--D: Ream (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting (2nd week at #1)
2 Hero--Mariah Carey
3 Breathe Again--Toni Braxton
4 The Power of Love--Celine Dion
5 Again--Janet Jackson
6 Said I Loved You...But I Lied--Michael Bolton
7 All that She Wants--Ace of Base
8 Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams
9 Shoop--Salt-n-Pepa
10 Can We Talk--Tevin Campbell

Singles entering the chart were Because of Love by Janet Jackson (#29); Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through by Meat Loaf (#48); Everyday by Phil Collins (#49); Without You/Never Forget You by Mariah Carey (#53); Loser by Beck (#75); Gin and Juice by Snoop Doggy Dogg (#77); Zunga Zeng by K7 (#86); Boom Shak A-Tack by Born Jamericans (#88); Come Clean by Jeru the Damaja (#89); Runaway Love by Johnny O (#90); and Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by Crash Test Dummies (#91).

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Cash Box): All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Ulrike Maier, 26. Austrian skier. Miss Maier won the gold medal in the Super G event at the world championships in 1989 and 1991, and the silver medal in the giant slalom in 1991. She died after breaking her neck in a crash during the downhill race in the women's World Cup at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Politics and government
Both houses of the Japanese Diet overwhelmingly approved a political reform compromise devised by Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and the opposition Liberal Democrats. The proposal provided for a 500-member lower house in which 300 members would be elected from single-seat districts, with the rest of the seats allocated according to the share of the vote obtained by each party. Representation from urban areas would be increased. Corporate contributions to individual candidates would be limited to 500,000 yen (about $4,500) per year, with state subsidies making up for the reduction in private donations.

10 years ago
2004

Died on this date
Janet Frame, 79. N.Z. author. Born Nene Janet Paterson Clutha, Miss Frame's works included 11 novels and three collections of short stories.