January 29, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Ken Dies!

1,070 years ago
946

World events
Caliph Al-Mustakfi was blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. Al-Mustakfi was succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.

220 years ago
1796

Torontonia
Upper Canada Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe officially opened Yonge Street, naming it after his friend Sir George Yonge, an expert on ancient Roman roads and British Secretary at War (1782–1783, 1783–1794).

160 years ago
1856

War
Queen Victoria issued a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that established the Victoria Cross to recognize acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.

130 years ago
1886

Transportation
Karl Benz received a patent for the first successful gasoline-driven car. Mr. Benz, a German engineer, had driven the three-wheeled car in Mannheim in 1885. The car had an electric ignition and differential gears and was water-cooled.

125 years ago
1891

World events
Liliuokalani was proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

110 years ago
1906

Died on this date
Christian IX, 87. King of Denmark, 1863-1906. Christian IX succeeded King Frederick VII on the throne, and became the first monarch of the House of Glücksburg. King Christian IX was succeeded by his son Frederick VIII.

100 years ago
1916

War
Paris was first bombed by German zeppelins.

75 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Ioannas Metaxas, 69. Prime Minister of Greece, 1936-1941. Lieutenant General Metaxas was a member of the Freethinkers' Party from 1922-1936; he governed constitutionally for the first four months of his tenure, but governed after that as the dictator of the 4th of August regime. He was succeded as Prime Minister by Alexandros Koryzis.

War
Japanese, French, and Thai representatives began armistice negotiations to stop border hostilities between Thailand and Indochina.

Diplomacy
Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka stated his hope that the appointment of Nobumasa Nomura as Japanese Ambassador to the United States would improve relations between the countries.

Defense
Secret U.S.-U.K. military staff talks began in Washington. The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee adopted amendments to the Lend-Lease bill limiting the bill to June 30, 1943, and barring convoying by the U.S. Navy. The Senate passed the $909-million authorization for Navy expansion, and sent the bill to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Politics and government
The Vichy French government announced the creation of a 40-man national committee called Rassemblement National to replace the old political parties.

Law
Cuban President Fulgencio Batista signed a decree making totalitarian propaganda in Cuba illegal.

Labour
A third International Harvester Company plant working on U.S. defense orders was closed by the Congress of Industrial Organizations Farm Equipment Workers strike. U.S. Representative Carl Vinson (Democrat--Georgia) introduced a bill to bar strikes and closed shops on naval defense projects.

70 years ago
1946

Died on this date
Harry Hopkins, 55. U.S. politician. Mr. Hopkins was United States Secretary of Commerce in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1938-1940, but was better known as one of Mr. Roosevelt's closest advisers. He was a key figure in the $50-billion Lend-Lease program of aid to the Allies before the entry of the United States into World War II, and served as President Roosevelt's personal envoy to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Mr. Hopkins died after a seven-year battle with stomach cancer.

War
At the trial in Nuremburg of accused Nazi war criminals, secret documents revealed that U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Vatican knew in advance of the July 1944 assassination plot against German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler. At the hearings of the United States Senate committee on the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, evidence from U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters was introduced stating that no Japanese "witness" had confirmed that a "winds code" message had been sent prior to the attack to indicate war against the United States.

Defense
Retiring U.S. Army Ordnance Chief Lieutenant General Levin Campbell said that the Army now had a rocket that reached a height of 50 miles.

Diplomacy
Norwegian Foreign Minister Trygve Lie nominated by the United Nations Security Council to be the UN's first Secretary-General, after the U.S.S.R. threatened to veto the U.S. choice, Lester Pearson of Canada.

U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes confirmed the Soviet claim that U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, at the Yalta Conference in 1945, had agreed to let the U.S.S.R. have the Kurile Islands, southern Sakhalin, and a small adjacent island.

Politics and government
French Prime Minister Félix Gouin received a vote of confidence from the Constituent Assembly after he outlined a severe austerity program to check inflation.

Chilean cabinet ministers Eduardo Frei and Enrique Arraigada resigned when President Admiral Vincente Merino Bielich ordered the arrest of all Federation of Labour leaders after the previous day's clash in Santiago between police and members of the Workers Federation.

Space
An Australian government scientist reported that noise waves generated by the Sun had been recorded with radar.

Transportation
British Overseas Airways Corporation announced plans for worldwide service, with daily flights to New York.

Economics and finance
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Director Herbert Lehman reinstated General Morgan as German chief after several "long and searching" talks.

Labour
Justice Ivan Rand of the Supreme Court of Canada issued the Rand Formula, denying the United Auto Workers' demand for a union shop, and making the union liable to penalties payable from union dues in the event of an illegal strike, but providing for compulsory checkoff of union dues for all employees whether they were union members or not. On December 13, 1945, Justice Rand had persuaded the UAW and Ford Motor Company of Canada to agree to binding arbitration, ending their strike.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to return the United States Employment Service to the states by June 30, 1946. Rep. Francis Case (Republican--North Dakota) introduced a new bill to set up mediation boards; enforce "cooling off" periods; outlaw boycotts and sympathy strikes; and authorize court injunctions.

Disasters
The Canadian racing schooner Bluenose, working as a banana freighter, sank the day after striking a reef off Haiti; the crew of eight all escape the sinking. The news reached Halifax on January 30, and was first reported in the newspapers on the morning of January 31.

60 years ago
1956

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Shopping for Death, starring Jo Van Fleet, Robert H. Harris, and John Qualen

Died on this date
H. L. Mencken, 75. U.S. journalist and critic. Henry Louis Mencken, nicknamed the "Sage of Baltimore," was known for his multi-volume work The American Language (1919, 1945, 1948); The American Mercury magazine, which he co-founded in 1924 and edited until 1933; and his columns for the Baltimore Sun, which became syndicated nationally. Mr. Mencken mocked organized religion and opposed America's entry into both World Wars and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal economic policies.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): We Can Work it Out/Day Tripper--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France: La Bohème--Charles Aznavour (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Lei--Adamo

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht--Drafi Deutscher (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): We Can Work it Out/Day Tripper--The Beatles (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Keep on Running--The Spencer Davis Group (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): We Can Work It Out--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Sounds of Silence--Simon & Garfunkel
2 We Can Work It Out--The Beatles
3 Five O'Clock World--The Vogues
4 She's Just My Style--Gary Lewis and the Playboys
5 Barbara Ann--The Beach Boys
6 No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)--The T-Bones
7 The Men in My Little Girl's Life--Mike Douglas
8 My Love--Petula Clark
9 As Tears Go By--The Rolling Stones
10 Day Tripper--The Beatles

Singles entering the chart were At the Scene by the Dave Clark Five (#58); Working My Way Back to You by the 4 Seasons (#64); My Baby Loves Me by Martha and the Vandellas (#71); These Boots are Made for Walkin' by Nancy Sinatra (#74); I Fought the Law by the Bobby Fuller Four (#84); Long Live Our Love by the Shangri-Las (#86); What Now My Love by Sonny & Cher (#87); My Ship is Comin' In by the Walker Brothers (#89); Giddyup Go by Red Sovine (#95); Hide and Seek by the Sheep (#97); Love Makes the World Go Round by Deon Jackson (#98); The Ballad of the Green Berets by SSgt Barry Sadler (#99); The Cheater by Bob Kuban and the In-Men (#100); and You Baby by the Turtles (also #100).

Died on this date
Pierre Mercure, 38. Canadian composer. Mr. Mercure, a native of Montreal, composed works in various genres, but was best known for his 10 ballets. He was killed in an accident in France.

40 years ago
1976

Terrorism
The Irish Republican Army set off 12 small bombs in the West End of London during the night, but no fatalities, and only one injury, resulted.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Say You, Say Me--Lionel Richie (4th week at #1)

World events
Yoweri Museveni, leader of the National Resistance Army, was sworn in as President of Uganda, two days after his predecessor, General Tito Okello, had fled to Sudan. Mr. Museveni said that a fundamental change in Ugandan politics had taken place, and he promised to return the country to civilian rule.

Diplomacy
Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)--a rebel force opposing the Communist-supported government of Angola--met with U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in Washington.

25 years ago
1991

War
Iraqi troops seized the Saudi Arabian town of Al Khafji. In his State of the Union speech, U.S. President George Bush emphasized that the liberation of Kuwait was the purpose of the Gulf War, not to being about "the destruction of Iraq, its culture, or its people." U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Aleksandr Bessmertnykh issued a statement in Washington which held out the possibility of a cease-fire if Iraq left Kuwait.

Politics and government
U.S. President George Bush delivered his annual State of the Union address to Congress.



A Quebec Liberal Party committee headed by Quebec City lawyer Jean Allaire issued its report, demanding that Quebec be given far-reaching powers and exclusive control over a wide range of areas, including communications, energy, the environment, agriculture, and regional development. The report also called for the abolition of Canada’s Senate and a new constitution with an amending formula that would include a veto for Quebec. Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa accepted the thrust of the report. Ontario Premier Bob Rae expressed concern that a call for such a transfer of federal powers represented a "dismantling of the country." Separatist leaders reacted negatively to the report, while Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was cautious in his reaction, calling the report a "working document." Mr. Bourassa had created the committee in February 1990 in anticipation of the rejection of the Meech Lake accord.

Diplomacy
African National Congress Deputy President Nelson Mandela and Inkatha Freedom Party President Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi met for the first time in 30 years in an attempt to end the violence between the South African anti-apartheid groups that had claimed 5,000 lives since they had split in 1979.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Jesus to a Child--George Michael (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Spaceman--Babylon Zoo (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (8th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 One Sweet Day--Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men (2nd week at #1)
2 Exhale (Shoop Shoop)--Whitney Houston
3 Beautiful Life--Ace of Base
4 Name--Goo Goo Dolls
5 You'll See--Madonna
6 When Love and Hate Collide--Def Leppard
7 Time--Hootie & the Blowfish
8 Free as a Bird--The Beatles
9 Hand in My Pocket--Alanis Morissette
10 Breakfast at Tiffany's--Deep Blue Something

Singles entering the chart were Rosealia by Better than Ezra (#86); Promise by Victor (#87); Oh Shelley by Barney Bentall (#88); Swing Street by Bruce Hornsby (#89); Times Change by Jay Semko (#90); Wonder by Natalie Merchant (#92); Sleepy Maggie by Ashley MacIsaac (#93); and Cover You in Oil by AC/DC (#98).

Music
Shania Twain was named best new country artist at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles.

Defense
In response to international protests, French President Jacques Chirac announced a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing, cancelling the last two scheduled tests.

Politics and government
Lucien Bouchard took office as Premier of Québec, replacing Jacques Parizeau. Mr. Bouchard, who had resigned as leader of the federal Bloc Québecois to move into provincial politics, was replaced by Michel Gauthier as interim leader of the BQ. Premier Bouchard also announced his cabinet.

The Ontario Provincial Parliament passed a bill giving the provincial government sweeping powers to overhaul fiscal policy and social services.

10 years ago
2006

Sport
India's Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to take a Test cricket hat-trick in the opening over of a match.