January 29, 2015

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Ken Dies!

170 years ago
1845

Literature
Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven was published in the New York Evening Mirror.

75 years ago
1940

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
Tonight’s episode: The Second Stain

French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier delivered a nationwide broadcast titled The Nazi's Aim is Slavery.

War
German planes bombed targets along 550 miles of Britain's east coast from Shetland to Kent.

Hindu-Muslim clashes in Rangoon continued despite appeals by Burmese civic and religious leaders for harmony.

Diplomacy
A spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Office asserted that Japan must affirm continuation of the Anti-Comintern pact because Communism was the antithesis of Japan's goals.

The Pan-American Neutrality Committee announced a resolution to standardize treatment of citizens of belligerent countries.

Politics and government
Supporters of New York City District Attorney Thomas Dewey said that they would enter his name in the Illinois primary in April for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in the November 1940 election.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the U.S. government's contention that a federal appeals court had no right to supervise the Federal Communications Commission.

70 years ago
1945

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Don't Fence Me In--Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (5th week at #1)
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Kate Smith
--Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights
2 I Dream of You (More than You Dream I Do)--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra
--Andy Russell
--Frank Sinatra
--Perry Como
3 Rum and Coca-Cola--The Andrews Sisters
4 Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive--Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers with Paul Weston and His Orchestra
--Artie Shaw and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
5 I'm Making Believe--The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald
6 One Meat Ball--The Andrews Sisters
7 The Trolley Song--The Pied Pipers
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Judy Garland
8 There Goes that Song Again--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
9 And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine--Stan Kenton and his Orchestra
10 Confessin' (That I Love You)--Ella Fitzgerald and the Song Spinners
--Perry Como

Singles entering the chart were Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights' version of Don't Fence Me In; Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters' version of Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive; Perry Como's version of Confessin' (That I Love You); Robin Hood, with versions by Les Brown and his Orchestra; and Tony Pastor and his Orchestra (#12); Cocktails for Two by Spike Jones and his City Slickers (#13); I'm Beginning to See the Light, with versions by Harry James and his Orchestra; and Duke Ellington and his Orchestra (#14); and A Little on the Lonely Side by Frankie Carle and his Orchestra (#21).

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

War
U.S. troops broke into Germany from the Ardennes bulge, crossing at the Our River near Oberhausen and Peteskirsche, and captured Schlierbach, Welchenhausen, and Stupbach. Soviet troops invaded Germany's northeastern province of Pomerania on a 30-mile front, driving to Woldenberg, only 93 miles from Berlin. U.S. troops in the Philippines took Rosario in northeastern Luzon after two weeks of fighting; other forces landed on the island's west coast, establishing beachheads in the province of Zambales.

Politics and government
King Peter II of Yugoslavia abandoned his stand against plans for a regency.

Law
The Argentine government of President Edelmiro Farrell decreed drastic penalties for almost every form of treason, espionage, and sabotage.

Labour
Harry Bridges, the Australian-born leader of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), won a U.S. Supreme Court petition for a review of the U.S. government's order deporting him.

Scandal
The U.S. Justice Department filed suit against seven companies and nine individuals, charging a conspiracy to restrict production, monopolize sales, and arbitrarily inflate prices of 95% of the world's output of diamonds.

Two Brooklyn College basketball players arrived at the Brooklyn apartment of Henry Rosen to tell him and partner Harvey Stemmer that they had decided not to "intentionally lose" their game against the University of Akron, scheduled for the following night at Boston Garden. The players had accepted $1,000 to throw the game. As they arrived at the apartment, so did police and detectives, who suspected Mr. Rosen of being a fence for stolen goods. The statement by the players, who were never publicly identified, was the beginning of the first college basketball gambling scandal.

60 years ago
1955

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Hold My Hand--Don Cornell; Nat "King" Cole

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Mambo Italiano--Rosemary Clooney (2nd week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Let Me Go Lover--Joan Weber (Best Seller--2nd week at #1; Disc Jockey--3rd week at #1; Jukebox--3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Mr. Sandman--The Chordettes (7th week at #1)
--The Four Aces
2 Hearts of Stone--The Fontane Sisters
--The Charms
3 Let Me Go Lover--Joan Weber
--[Teresa Brewer with the Lancers]
4 Melody of Love--Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra
--David Carroll and his Orchestra
--The Four Aces
5 The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane--The Ames Brothers
--Archie Bleyer
6 That's All I Want from You--Jaye P. Morgan
7 Sincerely--The McGuire Sisters
8 (My Baby Don’t Love Me) No More--The DeJohn Sisters
--[The McGuire Sisters]
9 Teach Me Tonight--The DeCastro Sisters
10 Make Yourself Comfortable--Sarah Vaughan

Singles entering the chart were Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) by the Crew-Cuts (#11, charting with the version by the Penguins); I Gotta Go Get My Baby by Teresa Brewer (#21); and All of You by Sammy Davis, Jr. (#37, charting with the version by Tony Martin).

Journalism
The original version of the Brooklyn Eagle, which had published its first edition on October 26, 1841, published its last edition.

50 years ago
1965

Hit parade
Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 This Diamond Ring--Gary Lewis and the Playboys
2 Love Potion No. 9--The Searchers
3 Downtown--Petula Clark
4 Look of Love--Lesley Gore
5 Paper Tiger--Sue Thompson
6 I Go to Pieces--Peter and Gordon
7 The Name Game--Shirley Ellis
8 Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)--Del Shannon
9 I Feel Fine--The Beatles
10 The Wedding--Julie Rogers
Pick hit of the week: It's Gotta Last Forever--Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas
New this week: Angel--Johnny Tillotson
I'm Coming Back for You--George Maharis
The Man--Lorne Greene
True Love--Nancy Sinatra
Born to Be Together--The Ronettes
Coming on Too Strong--Wayne Newton

40 years ago
1975

Diplomacy
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson arrived in Ottawa for talks with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Mr. Wilson offered to help Canada establish special relations with the European Economic Community.

Politics and government
Danish Prime Minister Poul Hartling announced his resignation, the day after a motion in parliament calling for his resignation had passed 86-85. Queen Margrethe II then asked the 10 political parties to seek a compromise solution.

Health
Environment Canada declared the levels of arsenic in Yellowknife to be safe. Recent reports of high levels of arsenic had led to tests of Yellowknife residents. This blogger was among those tested, and I was clean.

Hockey
NHL
California 3 @ Toronto 5

Gary Sabourin scored 2 goals to lead the Maple Leafs over the Golden Seals before 16,485 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens in the Wednesday Hockey Night in Canada telecast on CTV.

Baseball
The Los Angeles Dodgers released outfielder Von Joshua on waivers to the San Francisco Giants. In five seasons with the Dodgers, Mr. Joshua batted .246 with 4 home runs and 41 runs batted in in 253 games. In 1974 he batted .234 with 1 homer and 16 RBIs in 81 games, and was hitless in 4 at bats in as many games in the World Series.

30 years ago
1985

Scandal
New Brunswick Premier Richard Hatfield was found not guilty in Fredericton of possession of marijuana. The drug had been discovered in his bag during a Royal Visit security search on September 25, 1984, leading to a British tabloid headline "Pot on the Royal Plane."; Mr. Hatfield claimed the marijuana had been planted in his bag.

Academia
Oxford University dons, by a vote of 738-319, voted to deny British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher an honourary degree. Academics led a campaign against honouring Mrs. Thatcher in protest against the government's cuts in funding for education.

25 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Midnight Taxi--Miho Nakayama

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (9th week at #1)

Politics and government
Former Progressive Conservative MP and Justice Minister Ray Hnatyshyn was sworn in as Canada’s 24th Governor General, succeeding Jeanne Sauve.

It was announced that former Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov, under house arrest since January 18 on charges of malfeasance in office and misuse of government property and money, had been transferred to a prison.

A congress of Poland’s United Workers’ (Communist) Party in Warsaw voted overwhelmingly to disband and create at once a new Social Democracy Party. Some former Communist Party members bolted and formed yet another new group, the Social Democratic Union.

Protest
A judge investigating the violence in December 1989 in Timosoara, Romania, said that only 95 civilian deaths had been verified, contrary to earlier reports that there had been thousands of victims.

Diplomacy
U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle concluded a three-day visit to Panama, Honduras, and Jamaica. His purpose was to explain the Latin American policy of the administration of U.S. President George Bush.

Society
Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney deplored a motion by the city council of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario declaring English the official language of the municipality.

Scandal
Marilyn Harrell, a private escrow agent, pled guilty in U.S. federal court to embezzling $4.5 million that was supposed to go to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also admitted underreporting income on her tax return for 1987. Ms. Harrell had previously claimed that she had given much of the money to charities and the poor, and had been nicknamed "Robin HUD." Prosecutors said that Ms. Harrell had been "her own biggest charity."

Economics and finance
U.S. President George Bush submitted a budget for the 1991 fiscal year to Congress that called for no increase in taxes. The $1.23-trillion budget included a small cut in real spending for defense--a 1.9% increase in outlays that was below the rate of inflation. Larger cuts were proposed for some domestic programs, but not for environmental programs, the war on drugs, and space projects. Overall, the budget adhered to the deficit limitation of the Gramm-Rudman law, but the Congressional Budget Office and some economists said that the deficit projections were based on economic forecasts that were far too optimistic.

Bank of Canada Governor John Crow told a Canadian Senate banking committee that any reduction in interest rates would have to be done cautiously and gradually.

20 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Here Comes the Hotstepper--Ini Kamoze (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Old Pop in an Oak--Rednex

#1 single in Switzerland: Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (10th week at #1)

Defense
U.S. Secretary of State William Perry said that Haiti was "safe and secure," and that U.S. troops had put an end to all but occasional uses of violence.

Tennis
Andre Agassi defeated Pete Sampras 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-8, 6-4 in the men's final at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Football
NFL
Super Bowl XXIX @ Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami
San Francisco 49 San Diego 26

Steve Young threw 6 touchdown passes, breaking the Super Bowl record set by former teammate Joe Montana, as the 49ers defeated the Chargers before 74,107 fans to become the first team to win five Super Bowls. Jerry Rice caught 3 of Mr. Young's TD passes, while Ricky Watters caught 2 more and rushed for another touchdown.



10 years ago
2005

Died on this date
Eric Griffiths, 64. U.K. musician. Mr. Griffiths was a guitarist with the Liverpool skiffle/rock and roll group The Quarrymen, a group he co-founded with John Lennon and others. Paul McCartney joined in 1957 and George Harrison in 1958, and Mr. Griffiths departed shortly after. He spent most of his adult life as a civil servant with the English Prison Service, working there for 30 years before taking over the family business, a chain of dry cleaners. Mr. Griffiths and surviving original members of the Quarrymen reunited in 1997 and recorded an album. Mr. Griffiths toured with the group until November 2004, when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Diplomacy
The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterward, a China Airlines flight from Taiwan landed in Beijing.