January 25, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Zlata Antunovic!

1,975 years ago
41

Politics and government
After a night of negotiation, Claudius was accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate, the day after the death of Caligula.

225 years ago
1791

Canadiana
The British Parliament passed the Constitutional Act of 1791 and split the old Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

75 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Frenesi--Artie Shaw and His Orchestra (6th week at #1)

Diplomacy
Cuban Secretary of State Jose Manuel Cortina repudiated U.S. Senator George Smathers' (Democrat--Florida) resolution that Cuba be admitted as a state of the union.

Defense
Former U.S. Ambassador to France William C. Bullitt told the House of Representatives that he supported the Lend-Lease bill, and warned the committee of German invasion through Latin America if Britain failed.

Religion
Pope Pius XII elevated the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese; it became the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

70 years ago
1946

Diplomacy
Sir Archibald Clark Kerr was appointed U.K. Ambassador to the United States to succeed Lord Halifax, whose resignation was effective May 1, 1946.

U.S.S.R. delegate to the United Nations Andrei Vishinsky told the Security Council that the Soviet Union opposed any UN inquiry into Iranian accusations of Soveit interference in Iran's affairs.

The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry began hearings in London on the Palestine issue.

Protest
Rioting in Bombay by followers of the late Subhas Chandra Bose, leader of the pro-Japanese Indian National Army during World War II, continued for the third day, with casualties mounting to 22 dead and over 600 wounded.

Labour
The American Federation of Labor voted to readmit the United Mine Workers, and elected UMW President John L. Lewis as Vice President of the AFL.

50 years ago
1966

On television tonight
The Fugitive, starring David Janssen, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Echo of a Nightmare, with guest stars Shirley Knight and Arch Johnson



Boxing
Henry Cooper (32-11-1) scored a technical knockout over Hubert Hilton (13-3-2) in the 2nd round of a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout at the Olympia in London. On the undercard, Hector Eduardo Corletti (12-2-5) scored an upset with a 10-round decision over George Chuvalo (34-11-2) in a heavyweight bout.

Stan Harrington (60-16-2) won a unanimous 10-round decision over Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (26-11) in a middleweight bout at International Center Arena in Honolulu.

Luis Rodriguez (70-4) knocked down Jose Limas (24-18-4) 3 times in the 4th round to score a technical knockout in a super welterweight bout at Civic Auditorium in Albuquerque.

40 years ago
1976

Politics and government
Stuart Smith was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, succeeding Robert Nixon.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Take on Me--A-Ha (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Nikita--Elton John (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Nikita--Elton John (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Walk of Life--Dire Straits

#1 single in the U.K.: The Sun Always Shines on T.V.--A-Ha

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): That’s What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder) (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 That’s What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder)
2 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
3 Alive and Kicking--Simple Minds
4 Party All the Time--Eddie Murphy
5 Talk to Me--Stevie Nicks
6 Burning Heart--Survivor
7 Broken Wings--Mr. Mister
8 I’m Your Man--Wham!
9 My Hometown--Bruce Springsteen
10 Tonight She Comes--The Cars

Singles entering the chart were Sanctify Yourself by Simple Minds (#58); No Easy Way Out by Robert Tepper (#77); Manic Monday by the Bangles (#87) and Pleasure and Pain by Divinyls (#90).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 That's What Friends are For--Dionne and Friends (with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder)
2 Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie
3 Rock Me, Amadeus--Falco
4 Party All the Time--Eddie Murphy
5 Everything in My Heart--Corey Hart
6 Tarzan Boy--Baltimora
7 I Miss You--Klymaxx
8 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going--Billy Ocean
9 I'm Your Man--Wham!
10 Sun City--Artists United Against Apartheid

Singles entering the chart were People See Through You by Bruce Cockburn (#70); These Dreams by Heart (#74); Stages by ZZ Top (#78); Sanctify Yourself by Simple Minds (#86); Nikita by Elton John (#90); This Could Be the Night by Loverboy (#93); and Heart of the City by the Arrows (#95).

25 years ago
1991

War
Allied officials accused Iraq of environmental terrorism for dumping millions of litres of crude oil from a Kuwaiti supertanker into the Persian Gulf. It was the largest oil slick on record, covering about 900 square kilometres, and containing as much as 11 million barrels of oil by January 30. The oil posed a serious danger to the area’s ecosystem as well as to the operation of Allied ships.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the gross national product had declined at an annual rate of 2.1% for the fourth quarter of 1990; for all of 1990, the growth rate was 0.9%, the lowest since the 2.5% decline in 1982.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Jesus to a Child--George Michael (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Missing--Everything But the Girl

Died on this date
Billy Bailey, 49. U.S. criminal. Mr. Bailey was hanged at Delaware Correctional Center at Smyrna for the 1979 murders of Gilbert Lambertson, 80, and his wife Clara, 73. Mr. Bailey remainis the most recent person to be hanged in the U.S.A.

Jonathan Larson, 35. U.S. composer and playwright. Mr. Larson was best known for the musical Rent (1996), which won numerous awards, including several Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Larson died of an aortic dissection, believed to be caused by undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, the morning of the play's first Off-Broadway preview performance, and 10 days before his 36th birthday. Mr. Larson had been suffering from severe chest pains, dizziness, and shortness of breath for several days, but his condition was misdiagnosed; an investigation concluded that proper diagnosis and surgery would have saved his life.

Europeana
Russia became a member state of the Council of Europe.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien launched a major cabinet shuffle, adding Pierre Pettigrew as Minister of Human Resources Development and Stéphane Dion as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Law
Leilani Muir was awarded $750,000 by an Alberta judge; she had been wrongly diagnosed as mentally disabled and sterilized by the province's Eugenics Board in 1959.

Labour
A general strike was held in Bolivia to protest attempts by the government of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada Bustamente to balance the budget by raising fuel prices and holding wage increases to 8%.

10 years ago
2006

Space
Three independent observing campaigns announced the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing, the first cool rocky/icy extrasolar planet around a main-sequence star.

Crime
Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza was arrested in connection with the serial killing of at least 11 elderly women.

Politics and government
The Islamic terrorist group Hamas won a large majority of seats in Palestinian parliamentary elections.