December 18, 2014

125 years ago
1889

Communications
The Canadian Pacific Railway telegraph was linked up with the Atlantic Cable at Canso, Nova Scotia.

110 years ago
1904

Born on this date
Wilf Carter. Canadian musician. Mr. Carter, a native of Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, moved to Calgary at the age of 18, and in 1930 began performing on radio as a country and western singer and guitarist, with a distinctive yodelling style. He made his first recordings in 1933, and became the first Canadian country artist to achieve popularity in the United States, where he was known as "Montana Slim," hosting his own radio program on CBS from 1934-1940. Mr. Carter was seriously injured in a car accident in 1940 and didn't resume touring until 1949, but was still able to record. He wrote more than 500 songs, and in 1971 was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Mr. Carter continued to perform and record until hearing loss forced him to retire in 1992. He died in Scottsdale Arizona on December 5, 1996, 13 days before his 92nd birthday.

100 years ago
1914

World events
The United Kingdom declared Egypt a Sultanate under British protectorate. The declaration was issued in the form of a letter from acting British Agent Milne Cheetham to Prince Hussein Kamel, uncle of Abbas II, Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. Abbas II was deposed because of his support for the Ottoman Empire, and Hussein Kamel became Sultan of Egypt.

75 years ago
1939

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: Wisteria Lodge

Died on this date
Ernest Lawson, 66. Canadian-born U.S. artist. Mr. Lawson, a native of Halifax, moved to the United States in 1888, settling in Kansas. He was a landscape painter who was a member of The Eight, a group of artist who united to protest the restrictive policies of the National Academy of Design. Mr. Lawson drowned while apparently swimming at Miami Beach, Florida; he was suffering from declining health and depression, and some suspected that he committed suicide.

War
The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of World War II, took place. Three British Royal Air Force bomber squadrons attempted to sink or damage German ships in the Heligoland Bight in the North Sea, but suffered enough damage to persuade them to abandon daylight missions thereafter.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Trolley Song--The Pied Pipers (2nd week at #1)
--Judy Garland
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
2 I'm Making Believe--The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald
3 Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Evelyn Knight with Camarata and his Orchestra
--Tony Pastor and his Orchestra
4 Don't Fence Me In--Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
5 Together--Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
6 You Always Hurt the One You Love--The Mills Brothers
7 I'll Walk Alone--Dinah Shore
--Martha Tilton
--Mary Martin
8 Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That’s an Irish Lullaby)--Bing Crosby
9 Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall--The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald
10 Tico-Tico--Charles Wolcott and his Orchestra
--Ethel Smith and Bando Carioca

Singles entering the chart were the version of The Trolley Song by Judy Garland, who sang it in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis (1944); and Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are, with versions by Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra; and Bob Strong and his Orchestra (#40).

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Wandering Miser

War
The large-scale German offensive into Belgium and Luxembourg picked up, driving at Consdorf and St. Vith. The U.S. 1st Army was supported by 60,000 men and 11,000 vehicles of the 3rd Army. The U.S. 9th Army took Wurm and Mullendorf. Soviet troops captured more than 40 towns in a 12-mile advance on a 68-mile front aimed at Slovakia. 77 B-29 Superfortresses and 200 other aircraft of the U.S. 14th Army Air Force bombed the Japanese supply base of Hankow, China. U.S. forces on Mindoro Island in the Philippines fanned out 6 miles from San Jose.

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Edward Stettinius issued a statement reiterating the U.S. desire to defer border settlements in Poland to after the conclusion of the war.

Politics and government
Members of the U.S. Electoral College met in state capitols to cast 432 ballots for President and Democratic Party candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt and vice presidential nominee Harry Truman, and 99 for Republican Party presidential candidate Thomas Dewey and vice presidential candidate John W. Bricker.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Korematsu v. United States, voted 6-3 to uphold the constitutionality of the U.S. government's wartime relocation and internment of Americans of Japanese descent. Meanwhile, in Ex parte Endo, the court ruled unanimously that the U.S. government could not continue to detain a citizen who was "concededly loyal" to the United States.

In United States v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that defendants charged with violating the Federal Denture Act for mailing dentures from Illinois to Delaware, where they were received by a person not licensed to practice dentistry in Delaware, could be prosecuted only in the district from which the dentures had been mailed.

Labour
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tunstall v. Brother of Locomotive Firemen that Negro employees on American railroads were protected by the Railway Labor Act against management-union pacts seeking to oust them from jobs and deny them promotions.

Sport
The Associated Press announced the results of a nationwide poll naming swimmer Ann Curtis as America's top female athlete of 1944, and golfer Byron Nelson as the top male athlete.

60 years ago
1954

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Sh-Boom--The Crew-Cuts (3rd week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Mr. Sandman--The Chordettes (Best Seller--3rd week at #1; Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1; Jukebox--1st week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Let Me Go Lover--Joan Weber
2 Mr. Sandman--The Chordettes
--The Four Aces
3 I Need You Now--Eddie Fisher
4 Papa Loves Mambo--Perry Como
5 Teach Me Tonight--The DeCastro Sisters
6 This Ole House--Rosemary Clooney
7 Hey There--Rosemary Clooney
--Sammy Davis, Jr.
8 The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane--The Ames Brothers
--Archie Bleyer
9 Shake, Rattle and Roll--Bill Haley and his Comets
10 Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)--Eddie Fisher

Singles entering the chart were Hearts of Stone by the Charms (#16, with the version by the Fontane Sisters); Open Up the Doghouse (Two Cats are Comin’ In) by Nat "King" Cole and Dean Martin (#27); Christmas Alphabet by the McGuire Sisters (#34); Melody of Love by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#36); Hold Me in Your Arms by Doris Day (#39); Addio by the Ames Brothers (#40); and No Man is an Island by Don Cornell (#43). Hold Me in Your Arms was the B-side (or maybe the A-side) of Ready, Willing and Able, charting at #47. Addio was the B-side of The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane.

Hockey
NHL
Maurice "Rocket" Richard of the Montreal Canadiens scored his 400th career goal in his 690th game.

50 years ago
1964

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): I Feel Fine--The Beatles

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 I Feel Fine--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)
2 The Wedding--Julie Rogers
3 Love Potion No. 9--The Searchers
4 Run, Run, Run--The Gestures
5 Slaughter on Tenth Avenue--The Ventures
6 Amen--The Impressions
7 Alone and Lonely--Bobby Curtola
8 Dance, Dance, Dance--The Beach Boys
9 Mr. Lonely--Bobby Vinton
10 Leader of the Laundromat--The Detergents
Pick hit of the week: Little by Little--The Pickwicks
New this week: You'll Always Be the One I Love--Dean Martin
I Will Wait for You--Steve Lawrence
So What--Bill Black's Combo
Across the Street (Is a Million Miles Away)--Ray Peterson
So Many Other Boys--The Esquires

You'll Always Be the One I Love was the B-side (or maybe the A-side) of You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: I'm Leaving It (All) Up to You--Donny and Marie Osmond (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Harry Hooper, 87. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Hooper played right field with the Boston Red Sox (1909-1920) and Chicago White Sox (1921-1925), batting .281 with 75 home runs and 817 runs batted in in 2,309 games. He was a member of World Series championship teams in 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918, as he combined with Tris Speaker and Duffy Lewis to form one of the best outfields in major league history. Mr. Hooper was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

Crime
In Mississauga, Ontario, businessman Peter Demeter was sentenced to life imprisonment for hiring an unknown person to kill his wife Christine in 1973 and collect $1 million insurance money.

Protest
The British government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced that it would pay £42,000 in compensation to relatives of those killed in the Bloody Sunday riots in Londonderry, Northern Ireland on January 30, 1972.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): If I Could Turn Back Time--Cher (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic featuring Felly (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Robert E. Robinson. U.S. attorney. Mr. Robinson, a Negro who had performed legal work for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was killed by a bomb that had been mailed to his office in Savannah, Georgia. Mr. Robinson’s death occurred two days after the similar murder of Judge Robert S. Vance of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Alabama. Another bomb was discovered at the federal court building in Atlanta. Walter Moody ended up being convicted of the murders.

Diplomacy
The United States administration of President George Bush announced that national Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who had concluded a two-day visit to China on December 10, had also made a secret trip to China in July, a month after the Chinese regime had crushed the student uprising in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square.

Economics and finance
The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union signed an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.

Labour
Britain’s Labour Party, in line with European legislation, abandoned its policy in favour of closed shops. The move was seen by many as an attempt by Labour to shed the image of a party that was run by unions.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Here Comes the Hotstepper--Ini Kamoze

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): Stay Another Day--East 17 (3rd week at #1)

On television tonight
Don't Drink the Water, on ABC

This was the first made-for-television movie to be directed by Woody Allen, and was based on his 1966 Broadway play. He didn't direct the theatrical movie version, which was released in 1969. The stars of the 1994 version were Mr. Allen, Michael J. Fox, Dom DeLuise, Mayim Bialik, Edward Herrmann, and Julie Kavner.





Died on this date
Lilia Skala, 98. Austro-Hungarian born U.S. actress. Mrs. Skala, a native of Vienna, fled her native land after the German occupation of Austria in the late 1930s, eventually settling in the United States. She was best known for her supporting performance as the Mother Superior in Lilies of the Field (1963), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She played the Countess, Lisa Douglas’s mother in the television comedy series Green Acres (1965-1971). Mrs. Skala died 20 days after her 98th birthday.

War
Russian bombing raids on Grozny, capital of the separatist state of Chechnya, began.

Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said that his government would agree to only a short-term cease-fire rather than to a long-term cease-fire that would tend to solidify territorial gains by the opposition Serbs. Mr. Izetbegovic made the announcement after meeting with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who had come to meet with leaders of the warring factions at the invitation of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.