January 8, 2014

225 years ago
1789

Died on this date
Jack Broughton, 84 or 85. U.K. boxer. Mr. Broughton was a bare-knuckle fighter who was best known as the first person to codify a set of rules for bouts, which evolved into the London Prize Ring rules, and remained the standard for 100 years. A round was to last until a man was knocked down, and there was a 30-second break between rounds. Mr. Broughton was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990 as a pioneer.

190 years ago
1824

Born on this date
Francisco González Bocanegra. Mexican poet. Mr. González was announced in February 1854 as the winner of a contest to write the lyrics to the Mexican national anthem. He died from typhus on April 11, 1861 at the age of 37.

150 years ago
1864

Born on this date
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. U.K. royal family member. The oldest child of the Prince of Wales--the future King Edward VII--was second in line, after his father, to the British throne. Known to his family as "Eddy," he died on January 14, 1892 at the age of 28, during an influenza epidemic. Prince Eddy's fiancee, Princess Mary of Teck, married Eddy's younger brother George, who became King George V in 1910. Prince Eddy's character and intellect have been the subjects of speculation by historians.

125 years ago
1889

Technology
Herman Hollerith was issued U.S. patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.

100 years ago
1914

Baseball
The New York Giants and Chicago White Sox continued their post-season exhibition tour, with the Giants defeating the White Sox 4-3 in 11 innings, and the White Sox defeating Victoria 16-3 in Melbourne. The teams then departed by train for Adelaide, South Australia, where they boarded RMS Orantes, bound for Ceylon.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Paper Doll--The Mills Brothers (Best Seller--10th week at #1; Jukebox--1st week at #1)

This week marked the introduction of the juke box chart.

Died on this date
William K. Vanderbilt II, 65. U.S. railroad executive and socialite. Mr. Vanderbilt, who inherited a fortune, was a U.S. Navy lieutenant in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War I and president of the New York Central Railroad. He was an auto racing and yachting enthusiast, founding the Vanderbilt Cup auto race and constructing a 48-mile toll highway. Mr. Vanderbilt died of a heart ailment.

War
HMCS Camrose and HMS Bayntun used depth charges to sink German submarine U-757 in the North Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Selective Service announced that no further occupational deferments would be granted to men aged 18-21, with a few exceptions. The 2nd Ukrainian Army captured more than 80 inhabited places, including Kirovograd, 130 miles west of Dniepropetrovsk. The German general staff was reportedly speeding defense preparations in France and the Low Countries and bringing its estimated 45 divisions there to full strength. U.S. troops in Italy mopped up the German resistance in San Giusta as Allied forces press their attack on Cassino.

Economics and finance
Maury Maverick was named vice chairman of the U.S. War Production Board in charge of the Smaller War Plants Corporation.

Labour
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered three operating railroad brotherhoods the same terms granted to the Railroad Trainmen and Locomotive Engineers, provided that they definitely cancelled their strike call and signed contracts with the carriers.

60 years ago
1954

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

Oil
The first Alberta crude oil reached Sarnia, Ontario through a pipeline from Edmonton.

50 years ago
1964

At the movies
Strait-Jacket, produced and directed by William Castle, and starring Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, and Howard St. John, opened in theatres.





Died on this date
Julius Raab, 72. Chancellor of Austria, 1953-1961. Mr. Raab was a member of the Christian Social Party when he sat in the National Council (1927-1934), and was then a member of the Fatherland's Front (1934-1938). He was ousted after the German Anschluss of Austria in 1938, shortly after being appointed Minister of Commerce, but avoided death or imprisonment because of a friendship with a Nazi official. Mr. Raab co-founded the Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) in November 1945; he succeeded Leopold Figl as ÖVP party chairman in 1951 and as Federal Chancellor in 1953. Mr. Raab had a foreign policy of neutrality, with a Western attitude but achieving positive relations with the Soviet Union. He suffered a slight stroke in 1957, and resigned as ÖVP leader and Chancellor in 1961. Mr. Raab unsuccessfully campaigned for the Austrian presidency in 1963, but his health continued to decline.

Society
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" in the United States.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Les divorcés--Michel Delpech (2nd week at #1)

Politics and government
South Korean President Park Chung Hee issued two decrees aimed at curbing political dissent, particularly at opposition to the constitution adopted under martial law in 1972. The first decree prohibited attempts to oppose, deny, or repeal the constitution or any actions barred by the emergency measures. The second decree established emergency courts-martial to deal with violations of the first decree. Those violating the first decree would be subject to arrest, trial, and imprisonment for up to 15 years. Despite the decrees, a group of 30 civic and religious leaders continued their campaign to collect a million signatures for a petition demanding a "democratic" constitution.

Scandal
U.S. President Richard Nixon issued two papers dealing with his involvement in 1971 administration decisions related to an increase in federal price supports for milk and an anti-trust suit against International Telephone and Telegraph. In the milk case, Mr. Nixon said he had taken "traditional political considerations" relating to the needs of farm states into account in ordering the increase, but termed "utterly false" the contention that he had granted favours to milk producers or ITT in return for campaign contributions. In the ITT case, Mr. Nixon said he had intervened because he felt the anti-trust suits were based on the philosophy that "bigness per se" was bad, a philosophy with which he disagreed. He claimed to be unaware of a pledge by ITT to fund the Republican National Convention when he intervened. Although his decision in the milk case had been "totally proper," the president admitted that he had been aware of the milk industry's plans to contribute up to $2 million to his 1972 re-election campaign at the time of his decision. Mr. Nixon also cited intensive Congressional pressure and the economic merits of the case itself as factors in his decision.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Flashdance...What a Feeling--Irene Cara

#1 single in Switzerland: ? (Fragezeichen)--Nena

On the radio
The Stories of Sherlock Holmes, on Springbok Radio
Tonight's episode: Tragedy at Torridge Lodge



Diplomacy
The foreign ministers of Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador agreed to a peace plan proposed by the nations of the Contadora Group--Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela. Provisions of the plan included an inventory of arms, bases, and soldiers in each country; a timetable for reducing and removing foreign military advisers; free elections; respect for human rights; and an end to the use of one country's base for attacks against another.

Football
NFL
NFC Championship
San Francisco 21 @ Washington 24

AFC Championship
Seattle 14 @ Los Angeles Raiders 30

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Teardrops--Womack & Womack (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Orinoco Flow--Enya (5th week at #1)

Defense
At a conference in Paris on chemical weapons, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze said that the U.S.S.R. would soon begin to destroy its stockpile of chemical weapons. The conference had been called by French President Francois Mitterand.

Disasters
British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashed into the M1 motorway near Kegworth, Leicestershire, England, killing 47 of the 126 people on board. The plane crashed when both engines of the new aircraft failed. The odds of a double engine failure were estimated at 100,000,000 to 1. The flight from London's Heathrow Airport to Belfast was forced to divert to East Midlands 10 minutes after takeoff when one engine caught fire. The remaining engine failed when the plane began its descent. A report by the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that the crew had shut down the wrong engine, i.e., the second one that was working, not the first one that had caught fire.

Hockey
NHL
Calgary 0 @ Edmonton 6

Football
NFL
AFC Championship
Buffalo 10 @ Cincinnati 21

Ickey Woods rushed for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns, and the Cincinnati defense limited the Buffalo offense to 10 first downs and 181 yards in total offense as the Bengals beat the Bills before 59,747 fans at Riverfront Stadium.

NFC Championship
San Francisco 28 @ Chicago 3

Joe Montana passed for 288 yards and 3 touchdowns as the 49ers scored a touchdown in each quarter to beat the Bears before 66,946 fans at Soldier Field in a windchill of -26 F.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Penso Positivo--Jovanotti (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Saturday Night--Whigfield (3rd week at #1)

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

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Living on My Own (1993)--Freddie Mercury (14th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): La solitudine--Laura Pausini

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

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Hero--Mariah Carey (3rd week at #1)
2 All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting
3 All that She Wants--Ace of Base
4 Again--Janet Jackson
5 Gangsta Lean--DRS
6 Breathe Again--Toni Braxton
7 Whoomp! (There it Is)--Tag Team
8 What's My Name?--Snoop Dogg
9 I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf
10 Said I Loved You...But I Lied--Michael Bolton

Singles entering the chart were Always on My Mind by SWV (#65); We Ain't Goin' Out Like That by Cypress Hill (#85); and Dunkie Butt (Please Please Please) by 12 Gauge (#95).

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Cash Box): Again--Janet Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Canada (RPM): Please Forgive Me--Bryan Adams (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Pat Buttram, 78. U.S. actor. Mr. Buttram specialized in playing "hayseed" rural characters, and was best known as Gene Autry's sidekick in films and television and as Mr. Haney in the television comedy series Green Acres (1965-1971).

Harvey Haddix, 68. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Haddix played with the St. Louis Cardinals (1952-1956); Philadelphia Phillies (1956-1957); Cincinnati Redlegs (1958); Pittsburgh Pirates (1959-1963); and Baltimore Orioles (1964-1965), compiling a record of 136-113 with an earned run average of 3.63 in 453 games. His best season was 1953, when he went 20-9 with a 3.06 ERA. Mr. Haddix is primarily remembered for his performance on May 26, 1959, when he pitched 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves, only to lose the game in the bottom of the 13th inning when leadoff batter Felix Mantilla reached first base on an error by Pittsburgh third baseman Don Hoak. Mr. Mantilla went to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and Hank Aaron was intentionally walked. Joe Adcock then hit an apparent game-ending home run, but Mr. Aaron left the field before reaching third base, and Mr. Adcock was called out for passing him on the basepath. The hit was ruled a double, with the Braves winning 1-0. Mr. Haddix pitched with the Pirates in their World Series championship in 1960, winning game 5 of the World Series against the New York Yankees as the starting pitcher, and getting the win in relief in game 7 when Bill Mazeroski hit the series-winning home run leading off the bottom of the 9th. Mr. Haddix spent many years as a pitching coach after his playing career, serving with five teams, including the Pirates.

Space
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, a member of the crew of Soyuz TM-18, left for Mir to begin a record 437-day stay on the space station, lasting until March 22, 1995.

Defense
Hungary accepted the proposal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for a limited association with NATO.

Figure skating
Tonya Harding won the U.S. women's championship in Detroit. Her chief rival, defending champion Nancy Kerrigan, had been forced to withdraw two days earlier after being clubbed on the leg by an assailant after a practice session. Her inury wasn't regarded as serious enough to keep her from competing in the Winter Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway in February, and the U.S. Figure Skating Association added Miss Kerrigan to the U.S. Olympic team.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 5 Vancouver 3

Football
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Green Bay 28 @ Detroit 24

Brett Favre's 40-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe with 55 seconds remaining in regulation time completed the Packers' comeback from a 17-7 3rd-quarter deficit as they beat the Lions before 68,479 fans in the last playoff game ever played at Pontiac Silverdome.

AFC Wild Card Playoff
Pittsburgh 24 @ Kansas City 27 (OT)

Nick Lowery's 32-yard field goal at 11:03 of the 1st overtime period gave the Chiefs their win over the Steelers before 74,515 fans at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs tied the game with 1:43 remaining in regulation time on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana to Tim Barnett, converted by Mr. Lowery.

10 years ago
2004

War
Nine U.S. soldiers were killed when a Black Hawk helicopter was downed by a missile near Fallujah, Iraq.

Transportation
RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, was christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.