January 2, 2015

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Kathy Fincham!

150 years ago
1865

War
In the Uruguayan War, the Siege of Paysandú ended as Brazilian and Coloradans captured Paysandú, Uruguay.

125 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Henrik Visnapuu. Estonian writer. Mr. Visnapuu was one of the most important Estonian poets of the 1920s and '30s, and was a member of the expressionistic and neo-romantic literary group "Siuru." He was also a playwright and journalist, and was culture secretary in the department of the Information Agency of the Estonian state (1935-1944). With Soviet invasion of Estonia looming, Mr. Visnapuu fled to Germany in 1944, and moved to the United States in 1949. He died of a heart attack on April 3, 1951 at the age of 61.

120 years ago
1895

Born on this date
Folke Bernadotte. Swedish diplomat. Count Bernadotte negotiated the release of 31,000 prisoners--including at least 450 Jews--from German concentration camps during World War II. He was unanimously chosen as the United Nations Security Council mediator in the Middle East during the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1947-1948. On September 17, 1948, the day after leaving Rhodes to return to Jerusalem to preserve the city's cease-fire, Count Bernadotte, 53, and French Army Colonel André Sérot were shot to death in their car by members of the Jewish terrorist organization Lehi, better known as the Stern Gang.

110 years ago
1905

Born on this date
Luigi Zampa. Italian film director. Mr. Zampa wrote and directed almost 40 movies from 1941-1979, including Campane a martello (Alarm Bells) (1949) and its English remake, Children of Chance (1949). He was known for neo-realist films in the 1940s, but achieved success in the Commedia all'italiana genre in the 1950s and '60s. Mr. Zampa died on August 16, 1991 at the age of 86.

War
In the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese General Nogi Marasuke received at 9 P.M. a letter from Russian Major General Anatoly Stoessel formally offering to surrender, ending the five-month siege of the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, Manchuria.

100 years ago
1915

Died on this date
Karl Goldmark, 84. Hungarian composer. Mr. Goldmark wrote seven operas and numerous chamber and choral works. His best-known compositions are probably the Rustic Wedding Symphony and Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor.

80 years ago
1935

Crime
Bruno Richard Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, New Jersey on charges of kidnapping and murdering 1-year-old Charles Lindbergh, Jr. in 1932.

75 years ago
1940

War
The Finnish government claimed to have trapped 55,000 Soviet troops on the eastern border between the two countries. Arrests of disaffected Czechs were reported in German-dominated Bohemia-Moravia. British officials announced that the Yangtze River patrol flotilla in China was being reduced from 13 to 3 ships.

Diplomacy
The U.S.A. announced its December 29, 1939 protest to the U.K. for opening mail from the United States to neutral countries, in violation of the 11th Hague Convention.

Defense
King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia announced the reorganization of his military and civil aviation, and the establishment of a new air base at Riyadh.

U.S. Senator Robert Taft (Republican--Ohio) said that the Western Hemisphere security zone could not be enforced short of war.

Politics and government
The U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) announced that it would not support incumbent U.S. Vice President John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner for political office.

Labour
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that National Labor Relations Board decisions making unions collective bargaining agents could not be appealed.

70 years ago
1945

Literature
The novel Cannery Row by John Steinbeck was published by Viking Press.

War
More than 1,000 British Royal Air Force heavy bombers struck Ludwigshafen, Nuremberg, and Berlin. U.S. troops in the Philippines landed unopposed on the west coast of Mindoro Island. British troops in Burma occupied the Mu River town of Kabo, 75 miles northwest of Mandalay.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that he wasn't worried over Allied "differences" as he prepared for a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin in the near future.

Mexico turned over a cheque for $448,000 to the U.S. State Department, completing payment of installments on American claims of damage incurred in the Mexican Revolution.

Society
The California Supreme Court ruled that the American Federation of Labor Boilermakers Union must admit Negroes under the same condition as whites.

Business
Major General Joseph Byron, in charge of the U.S. Army's seizure of Montgomery Ward & Company, revealed in Chicago that he was displacing key employees who refused to cooperate with the Army.

Horse racing
In compliance with the order issued by U.S. Director of War Mobilization and Reconversion James Byrnes, horse racing ceased in the United States. The order had been given as a wartime measure in order to save labour and critical materials.

60 years ago
1955

Died on this date
José Antonio Remón Cantera, 46. President of Panama, 1952-1955. General Remón, a member of the National Patriotic Coalition (CNP), became Panama's police chief in 1947, and was largely responsible for the coups that ousted acting President Daniel Chanis Pinzón in 1949 and President Arnulfo Arias in 1951. General Remón was assassinated at a racetrack when he was ambushed and gunned down by an unknown number of assailants using submachine guns. He was succeeded as President by Vice President José Ramón Guizado, who was suspected of complicity in the assassination, and was removed from office and arrested 13 days later.

50 years ago
1965

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Feel Fine/She's a Woman--The Beatles (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Sacré Charlemagne--France Gall (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Non son degno di te--Gianni Morandi (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Kleine Annabell--Ronny

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): I Feel Fine--The Beatles

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Feel Fine--The Beatles (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Feel Fine--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Feel Fine--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)
2 Mr. Lonely--Bobby Vinton
3 Come See About Me--The Supremes
4 She's Not There--The Zombies
5 Goin' Out of My Head--Little Anthony and the Imperials
6 The Jerk--The Larks
7 Love Potion No. 9--The Searchers
8 She's a Woman--The Beatles
9 Amen--The Impressions
10 Any Way You Want It--Dave Clark Five

Singles entering the chart were No Arms Can Ever Hold You by the Bachelors (#80); All Day and All of the Night by the Kinks (#85); I Found a Love Oh What a Love by Jo Ann and Troy (#91); Shabby Little Hut by the Relections (#94); He's My Guy by Irma Thomas (#96); Laugh, Laugh by the Beau Brummels (#97); You're the Only World I Know by Sonny James (#98); The "In" Crowd by Dobie Gray (#99); and Are You Still My Baby by the Shirelles (#100).

Vancouver's Top 50 (CFUN)
1 I Feel Fine/She's a Woman--The Beatles
2 Come See About Me--The Supremes
3 Goin' Out of My Head--Little Anthony and the Imperials
4 Mr. Lonely--Bobby Vinton
5 Anyway You Want It--Dave Clark Five
6 Dance, Dance, Dance/The Warmth of the Sun--The Beach Boys
7 Shaggy Dog--Mickey Lee Lane
8 Love Potion No. 9--The Searchers
9 Sha La La--Manfred Mann
10 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'--The Righteous Brothers
11 I'll Be There--Gerry and the Pacemakers
12 Big Brother--Dickey Lee
13 Amen--The Impressions
14 I Don't Wanna Love You--Cliff Richard
15 The Jerk--The Larks
16 The Wedding--Julie Rogers
17 5 X 5--The Rolling Stones (EP track)
18 Willow Weep for Me--Chad & Jeremy
19 Boom Boom--The Animals
20 Hey-Da-Da-Da-Dow--The Dolphins
21 Saturday Night at the Movies--The Drifters
22 Downtown--Petula Clark
23 I'm Gonna Be Strong--Gene Pitney
24 All Day and All of the Night--The Kinks
25 Meadowlands/Mustang--The Chessmen
26 Reach Out for Me--Dionne Warwick
27 Bucket "T"--Ronny and the Daytonas
28 Google Eye--The Nashville Teens
29 Time is on My Side--The Rolling Stones
30 You'll Always Be the One I Love/You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You--Dean Martin
31 Tokyo Melody--Helmut Zacharias
32 Leave Me Be--The Zombies
33 Hawaii Tattoo--The Waikikis
34 Give Him a Great Big Kiss--The Shangri-Las
35 Don't Forget I Still Love You--Bobbi Martin
36 (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me--Sandie Shaw
37 The "In" Crowd--Dobie Gray
38 Beatles '65--The Beatles (LP)
39 Dear Heart--Andy Williams
--Jack Jones
40 Paper Tiger--Sue Thompson
41 Lovely, Lovely (Loverly, Loverly)--Chubby Checker
42 Do-Wacka-Do--Roger Miller
43 Roses are Red My Love--The "You-Know-Who" Group
44 Is it Because--The Honeycombs
45 Lovin' Place--Gale Garnett
46 Have You Looked Into Your Heart--Jerry Vale
47 Run, Run, Run--The Gestures
48 Alone and Lonely--Bobby Curtola
49 Everything's Alright/Pink Dally Rue--The Newbeats
50 Promised Land--Chuck Berry
Pick hits of the week: 1 That Weepin' Willow Tree--Ray Griff
2 Break Away (From that Boy)--The Newbeats

Leave Me Be was the B-side of Tell Her No.

On television tonight
The Outer Limits, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Brain of Colonel Barham, starring Grant Williams, Anthony Eisley, Elizabeth Perry, Douglas Kennedy, Martin Kosleck, and Wesley Addy

Football
AFL
Under the goal posts of the Orange Bowl in Miami, where he had performed superbly in a 21-17 loss to the University of Texas the day before, University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath signed a three-year contract with New York Jets' owner Sonny Werblin for an unheard-of $427,000. It was the highest salary of any professional athlete at the time, and the most significant signing in the history of the American Football League.

40 years ago
1975

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Lonely This Christmas--Mud

Died on this date
Jim Poole, 79. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Poole, a first baseman, had perhaps the longest professional career on record, playing 34 years with at least 30 teams from 1912-1946. He was with the Philadelphia Athletics from 1925-1927, batting .288 with 13 home runs and 141 runs batted in in 283 games.

Siraj Sikder, 30. Bangladeshi political activist. Mr. Sikder was a Communist activist who was arrested at Hali Shahr in Chittagong by government intelligence officials, and killed by police while in custody on his way from Dhaka Airport to the Rakkhi Bahini Camp at Sava. Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been accused of ordering Mr. Sikder's murder.

Terrorism
Indian Minister of Railways Lalir Narayan Mishra was at the railway station in Samastipur to officially open the Samastipur-Muzaffarpur broad gauge line, when a bomb exploded on the dais. Mr. Mishra was rushed to the nearby railway hospital, where he died the next day.

25 years ago
1990

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Rock 'n Roll

Died on this date
Evangelos Averoff-Tositsas, 79. Greek politician and historian. Mr. Averoff was a major public figure in Greece for almost 50 years. He led resistance against Axis occupation of Greece during World War II, and against the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967-1974. Mr. Averoff was first elected to Parliament in 1946, and held several cabinet posts, including Foreign Minister (1956-1963) and Defense Minister (1974-1981). He was involved with the New Democracy movement from 1974-1984, and was the party's president from 1981-1984. Mr. Averoff wrote more than a dozen books dealing with Greek historical and political issues. In accord with the wishes of Baron Michael Tositsas, he added Tositas to his own surname in later years. In her novel A Man (1979), Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci alleged, among other things, that Mr. Averoff had been an Axis collaborator rather than a resistance leader, and that he had been a link between the Greek military junta and the subsequent democratic government led by Konstantinos Karamanlis.

Alan Hale, Jr., 68. U.S. actor. Mr. Hale, born Alan Hale MacKahan, Jr. and son of the character actor Alan Hale, played the Skipper on the popular television comedy series Gilligan's Island (1964-1967).

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high of 2810.15.

20 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: Strange Love--Kina (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Zombie--Ororo

#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Canada (RPM): Always--Bon Jovi (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Siad Barre, 75. 3rd President of Somalia, 1969-1991. Major General Barre became President after the military coup that overthrew and assassinated President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke in October 1969. Maj. Gen. Barre turned Somalia into a one-party Marxist-Leninist dictatorship, achieving some reforms in the 1970s, but declining in popularity after defeat in the Ogaden War (1977-1978) against Ethiopia. Maj. Gen. Barre was deposed in a revolt in 1991, and he died in exile in Nigeria.

Nancy Kelly, 73. U.S. actress. Miss Kelly was a leading lady on stage, screen, and radio in the 1930s and '40s, but was best known for playing the mother in the play (1955) and movie (1956) The Bad Seed, winning a Tony Award for her starring performance in the former and receiving an Academy Award nomination for the latter. She died from complications of diabetes.

War
Defenders of the Chechen capital of Grozny turned back the first Russian attack on the city, inflicting heavy casualties.

Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir Zubak signed the four-month truce which had gone into effect the previous day between Bosnia's Muslim-led government and the Bosnian Serbs.

Football
NCAA
Orange Bowl
Nebraska 24 U. of Miami 17

The Cornhuskers, led by quarterback Tommie Frazier, scored 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to defeat the Hurricanes to win the national championship, the first for Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne.



Rose Bowl
Pennsylvania State 38 Oregon 20



10 years ago
2005

Died on this date
Kelly Freas, 82. U.S. artist. Mr. Freas, born in Hornell, New York but raised in Crystal Beach, Ontario, was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" for his illustrations for covers and short stories of science fiction magazines, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006. He also provided many covers for Mad magazine from 1957-1962, as well as the covers of various record albums.