December 20, 2014

475 years ago
1539

Died on this date
Johannes Lupi, 33 (?). Flemish composer. Mr. Lupi, whose name in Flemish was Jean Leleu, composed a cappella polyphonic works. He died after years of chronic illness.

150 years ago
1864

Defense
Canadian militia were sent near the U.S. border to guard against possible raids by the Fenians, the Irish-American secret society dedicated to the end of British rule in Ireland.

War
In the U.S. Civil War, Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Georgia as Union General William T. Sherman continued his "March to the Sea."

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Robert Menzies. Prime Minister of Australia, 1939-1941, 1949-1966. Sir Robert was a member of the Nationalist Party and then the United Australia Party, and was one of the main figures in the founding of the Liberal Party in December 1944. When Joseph Lyons died in 1939, Sir Robert succeeded him as Prime Minister, several months before the beginning of World War II. Sir Robert spent four months in England in 1941, and apparently had strong support to replace Winston Churchill as British Prime Minister. Sir Robert eventually was compelled to return to Australia, where his government fell in August 1941. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1943-1949, returning to power with an electoral victory in 1949. Sir Robert was known for his opposition to Communism and his support for U.S. foreign policy and strong links with the United Kingdom. He resigned as Prime Minister on January 26, 1966, and from Parliament three weeks later. Sir Robert's 18 years and 5 months as Prime Minister is by far the longest time in the office for any Australian Prime Minister. He died of a heart attack on May 15, 1978 at the age of 83, several years after suffering two serious strokes.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Harry F. Byrd, Jr. U.S. politician. Mr. Byrd, a nephew of polar explorer Richard Byrd and son of a United States Senator, was a Democrat who served in the Virginia state Senate from 1948-1965. Upon the resignation of his father from the United States Senate in November 1965 for health reasons, Mr. Byrd was appointed to succeed him. He split with the Democratic Party in 1970 and was re-elected as an independent candidate in 1970 and 1976, serving in the Senate until 1983. Mr. Byrd died on July 30, 2013 at the age of 98.

90 years ago
1924

Crime
German Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison in Bavaria after serving nine months for treason as a result of his failed "Beer Hall Putsch" in Munich on November 9, 1923.

75 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Hans Langsdorff, 55. German military officer. Mr. Langsdorff, captain of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, lay on the ship’s battle ensign and shot himself in Montevideo a week after the ship suffered serious damage from British ships in the Battle of the River Plate, and three days after the Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled. Captain Langsdorff had wanted to go down with the ship, but held off until he knew that the crew would be granted amnesty. His suicide also forestalled any suspicions that he had retired from the battle out of cowardice.

70 years ago
1944

At the movies
Winged Victory, directed by George Cukor, and starring Lon McCallister, Jeanne Crain, and Edmond O'Brien, opened in theatres in New York City.



War
U.S. forces were holding on the flanks of the German offensive into Belgium. The U.S. 1st Army's VII Corps resumed its attack toward the Roer River, blocking the Winden-Untermanbach highway and pushing into Schneidhausen. Royal Canadian Air Force Squadrons Nos. 435 and 436 flew their first operational mission, supplying the British Fourteenth Army on its epic march south on the Burma Road. U.S. troops in the Philippines captured Valencia on Leyte Island and its airfield, recent headquarters of the Japanese 35th Army. U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur claimed that the Allies had won the battle for Ormoc in the Philippines.

Diplomacy
British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden told the House of Commons that the U.K. wanted only to feed starving Greeks and ensure a stable democratic government in Greece, and was not trying to force a regency or unwelcome king on the populace.

Transportation
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the measure appropriating $1.5 billion in federal aid for building state highways.

60 years ago
1954

On television tonight
Sherlock Holmes, starring Ronald Howard and H. Marion Crawford
Tonight's episode: The Mother Hubbard Case



Died on this date
James Hilton, 54. U.K.-born U.S. author. Mr. Hilton was best known for his novels Lost Horizon (1933); Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934); and Random Harvest (1941). He shared an Academy Award for his contribution to the screenplay of Mrs. Miniver (1942). Mr. Hilton died of liver cancer.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet--Bachman-Turner Overdrive

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Kung Fu Fighting--Carl Douglas (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
R. Palme Dutt, 78. U.K. journalist and politician. Mr. Dutt joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1920; he founded their monthly magazine Labour Monthly in 1921, and became editor of Workers' Weekly in 1922. Mr. Dutt was on the Executive Committee of the CPGB from 1923-1965, and was the party's chief theorist for many years, while also supervising the Communist Party of India. He was a hard-line Stalinist until his death.

Politics and government
The Canadian Parliament increased the number of seats in the House of Commons from 264 to 282, effective the next federal election.

30 years ago
1984

Disasters
The Summit Tunnel fire was the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million litres of gasoline derailed near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, and damage was minimal.

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Lambada--Kaoma (10th week at #1)

War
In the early morning hours, more than 12,000 U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel landed in Panama, doubling the U.S. military presence in the country. U.S. forces were divided into five task forces which attacked selected targets. One seized the headquarters of the Panama defense forces; other targets included military and strategic locations in and around Panama City. The U.S. force, however, failed to capture dictator General Manuel Noriega. An alternative government, headed by Guillermo Endara as president, was sworn in by a Panamanian judge at a U.S. military base. Mr. Endara claimed he had won a presidential election in May, but Gen. Noriega had annulled the vote. To protect shipping, U.S. troops closed the Panama Canal. Announcing the invasion, U.S. President George Bush said he had the obligation to safeguard the lives of American citizens. U.S. Secretary of State James Baker said that Gen. Noriega reportedly had planned to attack U.S. citizens in Panama. Most members of the United States Congress supported the invasion.

Politics and government
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia replaced Karel Urbanek as its leader with Premier Ladislav Adamec.

The Lithuanian Communist Party declared itself independent of the Soviet party and asserted that its goal was the creation of an "independent democratic Lithuanian state."

Protest
Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu returned from a visit to Iran and denounced the pro-democracy demonstrators in his country.

20 years ago
1994

Died on this date
Dean Rusk, 85. U.S. politician. Mr. Rusk was U.S. Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from 1961-1969, serving during the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War.

War
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in Bosnia as a private citizen to meet with leaders of that country's warring factions, announced that the government and the Bosnian Serbs had agreed to a cease-fire.

Economics and finance
In an attempt to make Mexican products more affordable on world markets, the Mexican government of President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon allowed the peso to fall nearly 15% in value against the U.S. dollar.

The United States Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit in October was $10.14 billion, the second-highest monthly figure ever.

10 years ago
2004

Crime
A gang of thieves stole £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, one of the largest bank robberies in British history.