December 12, 2014

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Robb Findlay!

200 years ago
1814

Born on this date
Juan Prim, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos. Prime Minister of Spain, 1868-1869. Major-General Prim, a career military officer, was Captain-General (Governor) of Puerto Rico from 1847-1848 and Prime Minister of Spain two decades later. He died on December 30, 1870 at the age of 56, two days after being shot by unknown assailants.

125 years ago
1889

Died on this date
Robert Browning, 77. U.K. poet. Mr. Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. He was known for his romance with and marriage to Elizabeth Barrett, one of the most famous poetesses of the 19th century.

120 years ago
1894

Died on this date
John Thompson, 49. Prime Minister of Canada, 1892-1894. Sir John, a Conservative, was Premier of Nova Scotia in 1882 and Minister of Justice in the federal government of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald from 1885-1891. Upon Mr. Macdonald's death in June 1891, Sir John declined the office of Prime Minister, but accepted it upon the resignation of Sir John Abbott in December 1892, becoming the first Prime Minister from Atlantic Canada and the first Roman Catholic to hold the position. He was at Windsor Castle in London, and Queen Victoria had just made him a member of her Privy Council, when he died of a sudden heart attack just minutes after the ceremony. Sir John was succeeded as Prime Minister by Sir Mackenzie Bowell.

100 years ago
1914

Economics and finance
The New York Stock Exchange reopened for the first time since July 30. The market had shut down when World War I began.

80 years ago
1934

Died on this date
Thorleif Haug, 40. Norwegian skier. Mr. Haug won three gold medals at the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

75 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., 56. U.S. actor. Mr. Fairbanks was one of the most popular movie stars of the silent era, first in comedies and then in adventure films such as The Mark of Zorro (1920); The Three Musketeers (1921); Robin Hood (1922); The Thief of Bagdad (1924); and The Black Pirate (1926). His second wife was actress Mary Pickford, and they, along with director D.W. Griffith and movie comedian Charlie Chaplin, founded the United Artists studio in 1919. Mr. Fairbanks died of a heart attack.

War
Finnish forces defeated those of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, the Finns' first major victory of the Winter War.

Disasters
The British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duchess sank after being accidentally rammed by the battleship HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland in heavy fog, with the loss of 124 men.

70 years ago
1944

War
U.S. troops in Germany gained 7 miles between the Rhine River and Hagenau Forest as German forces were driven from 10 localities. Soviet forces in Hungary captured Goedoelloe, 9 miles north of Budapest, the last major fort guarding the capital. The United Kingdom presented Greek Communists with terms for the cessation of hostilities in Greece, providing for the evacuation of the Attic peninsula; cessation of all resistance; and surrender of all arms. U.S. planes smashed another convoy seeking to land Japanese reinforcements on Leyte Island in the Philippines.

Politics and government
U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he had confidence in Joseph Grew, Archibald MacLeish, and Nelson Rockefeller, who had all been appointed to new posts in the reorganized State Department.

Labour
The U.S. National War Labor Board ordered the Congress of Industrial Organizations United Mail Order, Warehouse and Retail Employes union to appear before the Board and explain why it had not ended its strike against Montgomery Ward in Detroit.

60 years ago
1954

Died on this date
Johnny Greco, 31. Canadian boxer. Mr. Greco was based in Montreal and was a contender in the lightweight and welterweight divisions, compiling a profesional record of 78-18-5, winning the Canadian welterweight championship in 1946. He fought former New York State Athletic Commission world lightweight champion Beau Jack four times, winning the last of the bouts. Mr. Greco fought future world welterweight champion Kid Gavilan and former world middleweight champion Rocky Graziano, but was knocked out by both men. Mr. Greco was killed when the car he was driving skidded on an icy road and hit a tree, and he suffered a broken neck.

Boxing
Willie James (19-5-1) knocked out Ed Sanders (6-2-1) 25 seconds into the 11th round of their bout for the New England heavyweight title at Boston Garden. Mr. Sanders lapsed into unconsciousness and was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Feel Fine/She's a Woman--The Beatles

#1 single in France: Donna, Donna--Claude François (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): La mia festa--Richard Anthony (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Memphis--Johnny Rivers; Bernd Spier (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Feel Fine--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Mr. Lonely--Bobby Vinton

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Ringo--Lorne Greene
2 Mr. Lonely--Bobby Vinton
3 She's Not There--The Zombies
4 Leader of the Pack--The Shangri-Las
5 You Really Got Me--The Kinks
6 Come See About Me--The Supremes
7 Time is on My Side--The Rolling Stones
8 I Feel Fine--The Beatles
9 I'm Into Something Good--Herman's Hermits
10 Goin' Out of My Head--Little Anthony and the Imperials

Singles entering the chart were Dear Heart by Henry Mancini and his Orchestra (#39, charting with the versions by Andy Williams and Jack Jones); Promised Land by Chuck Berry (#78); Sometimes I Wonder by Major Lance (#82); Do it Right by Brook Benton (#93); Makin' Whoopee by Ray Charles (#84); Seven Letters by Ben E. King (#89); I'll Be There by Gerry and the Pacemakers (#90); I Don't Want to Walk Without You by Phyllis McGuire (#92); Have You Looked Into Your Heart by Jerry Vale (#95); Hey-Da-Da-Dow by the Dolphins (#99); and Can You Jerk Like Me by the Contours (#100).

Space
The mission of the U.S. rocket Centaur (AC-4) ended, the day after launch.

Africana
The Republic of Kenya was proclaimed, with Jomo Kenyatta, who had been Prime Minister in the country's first year of independence from Great Britain, taking office as President.

Boxing
Former world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson (41-4) scored a technical knockout of Charlie Powell (29-10-3) at 1:21 of the 6th round at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.



40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Gonna Make You a Star--David Essex (4th week at #1)

At the movies
The Godfather Part II opened in theatres in New York City.

30 years ago
1984

World events
Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya became the third President of Mauritania after a coup d'état against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the latter was attending a summit.

Society
The Ontario government of Premier William Davis ended "happy hours" in Ontario bars by banning mixed pricing and cut-rate drinks.

25 years ago
1989

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Math Class Squared

Diplomacy
The presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, signed a peace agreement for the Central American region. The agreement declared that all support for the 10,000 rebels fighting against the Nicaraguan regime should be channelled through an international commission set up to disband the rebels. The accord included a strong endorsement of the government of President Alfredo Cristiani of El Salvador, which was also under attack from a rebel force.

U.S. Secretary of State James Baker delivered a speech in East Berlin and then went to Potsdam to meet with East German Premier Hans Modrow.

Politics and government
At the opening of the Congress of People’s Deputies in Moscow, U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev averted an effort to debate the leading role of the Communist Party in the U.S.S.R. Among those opposing Mr. Gorbachev and calling for a debate was nuclear physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Transportation
Canadian Pacific Rail ran the first regular freight train through the 14.5-kilometre Mount MacDonald Tunnel at Revelstoke, British Columbia, the longest rail tunnel in the Americas.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (10th week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (6th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Always--Bon Jovi (2nd week at #1)
2 Secret--Madonna
3 Out of Tears--Rolling Stones
4 Get Over It--Eagles
5 Insensitive--Jann Arden
6 What's the Frequency, Kenneth--R.E.M.
7 You Don't Know How it Feels--Tom Petty
8 Dance Naked--John Mellencamp
9 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
10 About a Girl--Nirvana

Singles entering the chart were Strong Enough by Sheryl Crow (#76); Take a Bow by Madonna (#85); All Uncovered by the Watchmen (#88); Move This Night by the Earthtones (#93); Love T.K.O. by the Nylons (#94); Tell Me You Love Me by Carol Medina (#95); and Buddy Holly by Weezer (#96).

Died on this date
Stuart Roosa, 61. U.S. astronaut. Colonel Roosa, a United States Air Force pilot, was selected to join the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut program in 1966. He served as Command Module Pilot for Apollo 14 (January 31-February 9, 1971), piloting the command module Kitty Hawk while Commander Alan Shepard and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell were exploring the Moon.