January 21, 2016

120 years ago
1896

Born on this date
J. Carrol Naish. U.S. actor. Mr. Naish was a character actor who appeared in more than 200 movies and television programs, often playing characters who were of Latin, Arab, or East Indian ancestry. He was nominated for Academy Awards for his supporting performances in Sahara (1943) and A Medal for Benny (1945). Mr. Naish starred as the title character in the radio (1948-1953) and television (1952-1953) comedy series Life with Luigi and the television series The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1957-1958). He died of emphysema on January 24, 1973, three days after his 77th birthday.

90 years ago
1926

Died on this date
Camillo Golgi, 82. Italian physician and biologist. Dr. Golgi was recognized as the greatest neuroscientist of his time; he and Santiago Ramón y Cajal of Spain shared the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system."

75 years ago
1941

War
British and Australian troops began an assault on the Italian stronghold of Tobruk, Libya.

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt told a press conference that he was not considering using the U.S. Navy for convoys of ships to the United Kingdom. The U.S. State Department announced that the "moral embargo" dating back to December 2, 1939 on the shipment of planes to the U.S.S.R. had been lifted. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joseph P. Kennedy, testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, opposed the Lend-Lease bill "in its present form," and doubted that the U.K. would be able to defeat the Axis.

Diplomacy
Japanese Prime Minister Prince Fuminaro Konoye told the Diet that the creation of "a new order in East Asia" was the backbone of Japan's foreign policy.

Economics and finance
The United Kingdom signed trade pacts with the Belgian government-in-exile regarding the Congo, and with General Charles de Gaulle's Free French Council of Defense regarding the French Cameroons.

70 years ago
1946

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Symphony--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with Clyde Rogers
--Bing Crosby
--Jo Stafford
--Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
2 It Might as Well Be Spring--Paul Weston and his Orchestra with Margaret Whiting
--Dick Haymes
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
3 I Can't Begin to Tell You--Bing Crosby with Carmen Cavallaro
--Andy Russell
--Harry James and his Orchestra
4 It's Been a Long Long Time--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby with Les Paul and his Trio
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
--Stan Kenton and his Orchestra
5 Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra with Vaughn Monroe and the Norton Sisters
6 Waitin' for the Train to Come In--Peggy Lee
--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Johnny Long and his Orchestra and Dick Robertson
7 Chickery Chick--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Nancy Norman, Billy Williams and the Kaye Choir
--Evelyn Knight and the Jesters
8 Dig You Later (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba)--Perry Como and the Satisfyers
9 That's for Me--Dick Haymes
--Jo Stafford
10 Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief--Betty Hutton

Singles entering the chart were I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, with versions by Perry Como; and Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest (#26); Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 by Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (#36); and Personality by Johnny Mercer (#39). Perry Como's version of I'm Always Chasing Rainbows was the other side of You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart), charting at #31. Personality was originally performed by Dorothy Lamour in the movie Road to Utopia (1946).

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

War
Deputies of the Allied Council of Foreign Ministers met in London to discuss the proposed peace treaties. Clashes were reported in eastern Java and street barricades were thrown up by Dutch authorities in Bandung to repel attacks by Indonesian nationalists.

World events
The Greek government proclaimed martial law in the southern Peloponnesus and sent troops and a warship to quell royalist uprisings in Kalamata.

Diplomacy
Acting U.S.S.R. United Nations delegate Andrei Gromyko and chief Ukrainian representative Dmitry Z. Manuilsky urged the UN Security Council to investigate the presence of British troops in Greece and the Dutch East Indies.

U.S. President Harry Truman appointed U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Alan Kirk as Ambassador to Belgium and Minister to Luxembourg.

Politics and government
U.S. President Truman delivered a 25,000-word State of the Union message and a 1947 budget message to Congress, demanding full legislative support of his programs.

Cuban President Grau San Martin appointed Dr. Joaquin Martinez Saenz as minister without portfolio.

Energy
The United Nations General Assembly's Political and Security Committee adopted a resolution to create an atomic energy commission.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Federal Reserve issued a 100% margin ruling for the New York Stock Exchange to check inflation, as U.S. President Truman named James Vardaman, Jr. to a 14-year term on the Fed's board of governors.

Labour
Steel plants throughout the United States shut down, as 750,000 members of United Steel Workers went on strike for higher wages.

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Yellow Rose of Texas--Mitch Miller, his Orchestra and Chorus (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Der Mond hält seine Wacht--Peter Alexander (9th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Sixteen Tons--"Tennessee" Ernie Ford (2nd week at #1)

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Memories are Made of This--Dean Martin (Best Seller--2nd week at #1; Disc Jockey--3rd week at #1; Top 100--2nd week at #1); Sixteen Tons--"Tennessee" Ernie Ford (Jukebox--8th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Memories are Made of This--Dean Martin (2nd week at #1)
--[Gale Storm]
2 Sixteen Tons--"Tennessee" Ernie Ford
3 The Great Pretender--The Platters
4 Band of Gold--Don Cherry
5 Rock and Roll Waltz--Kay Starr
6 It's Almost Tomorrow--The Dream Weavers
--Jo Stafford
7 Dungaree Doll--Eddie Fisher
8 I Hear You Knocking--Gale Storm
9 Lisbon Antigua--Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra
10 Teen Age Prayer--Gale Storm
--Gloria Mann

Singles entering the chart were No, Not Much! by the Four Lads (#30); Ninety Nine Years (Dead or Alive) by Guy Mitchell (#34); Mostly Martha by the Crew-Cuts (#36); and Moritat (A Theme from “The Three Penny Opera”) by the Dick Hyman Trio (#37).

On television tonight
The Honeymooners, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Baby Sitter



50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Day Tripper/We Can Work it Out--The Beatles (6th week at #1)
2 The Sounds of Silence--Simon & Garfunkel
3 It's Good News Week--Hedgehoppers Anonymous
4 My Love--Petula Clark
5 Tijuana Taxi/Zorba the Greek--Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
6 Flowers on the Wall--The Statler Brothers
7 As Tears Go By--The Rolling Stones
8 Spanish Eyes--Al Martino
9 A Must to Avoid--Herman's Hermits
10 Lies--The Knickerbockers
Pick hit of the week: Lonely Weekend--Sammy Davis, Jr.
New this week: These Boots are Made for Walkin'--Nancy Sinatra
The Rains Came--Sir Douglas Quintet
The River--Ken Dodd
It Won't Be Wrong--The Byrds

Auto racing
The Monte Carlo rally ended in an uproar when the British cars occupying the first four places were disqualified because of the way their headlights dipped. Six other British cars were also disqualified. Pauli Toivonen, a Finn who lived in Paris and drove a Citroen, was declared the winner.

40 years ago
1976

Transportation
Commercial service of the supersonic Concorde jet began with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio de Janeiro (via Dakar) routes.

30 years ago
1986

Economics and finance
The Canadian House of Commons passed the sweeping tax changes that had been announced in Finance Minister Michael Wilson’s budget in May 1985. The changes included a $500,000 lifetime capital gains tax exemption and elimination of the Registered Home Ownership Plan.

Hockey
NHL
Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders tied Bobby Orr's league record for defensemen by scoring the 270th goal of his career in a victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ai wa Katsu--(愛は勝つ)--Kan (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Raptori--Debi Gibson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Sadeness Part I--Enigma (11th week at #1)

War
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger met with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem and said they had agreed not to retaliate against Iraq for that country’s Scud missile attacks on Israel without first consulting the United States. Iraq said that it would disperse the growing number of Allied prisoners to strategic sites to discourage air attacks.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): One Sweet Day--Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): Spaceman--Babylon Zoo

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Ibrahim Rugova, 61. 1st President of Kosovo, 1992-1999; 2002-2006. Mr. Rugova, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), was known as the "Father of the Nation," as the most prominent figure of the state whose independence was initially recognized only by Albania. He was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer. Mr. Rugova died in office, and was succeeded as President by Fatmir Sejdiu.