January 8, 2016

230 years ago
1786

Born on this date
Nicholas Biddle. U.S. banker and politician. Mr. Biddle, a Federalist, sat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1810 and in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1813-1815. He was President of the Second Bank of the United States from 1823-1836, but was opposed by U.S. President Andrew Jackson, who vetoed a bill to recharter the bank in 1832. Mr. Biddle mounted an attempt to defeat Mr. Jackson's campaign for re-election in 1832, but was unsuccessful; Mr. Jackson withdrew federal government money from the bank and distributed it among several state banks, allowing the Second Bank of the United States' charter to expire in 1836, although it continued as a state-chartered bank in Pennsylvania before failing in 1841. Mr. Biddle was hit by several civil suits, which he was still dealing with at the time of his death on February 27, 1844 at the age of 58.

210 years ago
1806

War
British forces commanded by Lieutenant General Sir David Baird defeated forces of the Batavian Republic commanded by Lieutenant General Jan Willem Janssens in the Battle of Blaauwberg near Cape Town, resulting in British occupation and colonization of the Cape of Good Hope.

125 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Walther Bothe. German physicist. Dr. Bothe was awarded a share of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith." He died on February 8, 1957 at the age of 66.

120 years ago
1896

Died on this date
William Rainey Marshall, 70. U.S. politician. Mr. Marshall served in the Minnesota territorial legislature, and was chairman of the convention that founded the state's Republican party. He was Governor of Minnesota (1866-1870), and supported the adoption of an amendment to the state's constitution permitting Negro suffrage. Mr. Marshall died 30 years to the day of his taking office as Governor.

Paul Verlaine, 51. French poet. Mr. Verlaine was associated with the Decadent movement, and was known for collections such as Romances sans paroles (1874) and Sagesse (1880). He descended into drug addiction, drunkenness, and poverty.

110 years ago
1906

Disasters
20 people were killed in a landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River.

100 years ago
1916

Died on this date
Ada Rehan, 56-61. U.K.-born U.S. actress. Miss Rehan, born Bridget Crehan in Ireland, moved with her family to the United States as a child. Her two sisters became actresses, while her two brothers were involved in the business side of theatre. Miss Rehan was popular from 1879 through the 1890s in productions by Augustin Daly, who was also her lover, and typified the "personality" style of acting that was popular at the time. Miss Rehan retired from acting for about a year after Mr. Daly's death in 1899; her attempts at a comeback were unsuccessful, as her kind of acting had become unfashionable. Miss Rehan retired for good in 1905, and died from arteriosclerosis and cancer.

75 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Robert Baden-Powell, 83. U.K. military officer. Lieutenant General Baden-Powell served with distinction in several colonial wars, but was best known as the founder of the Scouting movement in 1907.

Diplomacy
Nelson Rockefeller, U.S. coordinator of commercial and cultural relations with the Americas, reported that anti-American firms frequently represented U.S. business in Latin America.

Law
Thailand imposed martial law in 24 provinces bordering Indochina.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented his budget to Congress, providing for expenditures of nearly $17.5 billion, with $10.8 billion earmarked for national defense.

The British government of Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that the basic food ration would be cut or raised week-by-week as the situation demanded.

Labour
U.S. Congress of Industrial Organizations President Philip Murray refused to yield on the workers' right to strike despite national emergency.

Sport
The U.S. Amateur Athletic Union gave the James E. Sullivan Memorial Trophy for the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States in 1940 to long distance runner Gregory Rice.

70 years ago
1946

Movies
Film Daily's poll of movie reviews cited Alexander Knox, Ingrid Bergman, and Greer Garson as best male and female performers of 1945.

War
U.K. and U.S. prosecutors closed their cases against 6 of the 21 defendants at the Nazi war crimes trial in Nuremberg.

British troops attacked Indonesians in the Semarang area after evacuating the town of Ungaran under Indonesian shelling.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Harry Truman stated at a press conference that he reserved the right to withdraw even conditional recognition of Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia ifthey failed to guarantee the democratic rights agreed upon at Yalta.

Defense
U.S. President Truman announced that "the critical need for troops overseas has begun to slow down," and that demobilization was proceeding with efficiency.

Medicine
Dr. Cornelius Rhoads announced the organization of the Committee on Growth to promote and coordinate cancer research.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Truman said that the government would allow a steel price increase, reported to be about $4 per ton.

Labour
A strike of 7,000 Western Electric employees connected with the Congress of Industrial Organizations American Communications Association paralyzed New York City's commercial and financial life and international cable and radio messages.

60 years ago
1956

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Big Switch, starring George Mathews and Beverly Michaels

Died on this date
Nate Saint, 32; Roger Youdarian, 31; Ed McCully, 28; Jim Elliot, 28; Pete Fleming, 27. U.S. missionaries. Messrs. Saint, Youdarian, McCully, Elliot, and Fleming were evangelical Christian missionaries who had recently made contact with the isolated and hostile Huaorani people--also known as Auca--in Ecuador when they were speared to death by Huarani tribesmen. The missionaries' efforts were not in vain; Jim Elliot's wife Elisabeth and Mr. Saint's sister Rachel later returned to the area, and many of the Huaorani people came to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The story was told in Mrs. Elliot's book Through Gates of Splendor, which was originally published in 1957, and was published in several revised editions through 2005. The deaths of the martyrs in Operation Auca also served to galvanize missionary efforts elsewhere.

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Carnival is Over--The Seekers (6th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Le Travail C'est la Santé--Henri Salvador

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): La festa--Adriano Celentano (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Get Off My Cloud--The Rolling Stones (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): We Can Work it Out/Day Tripper--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out--The Beatles (5th week at #1)

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

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 We Can Work It Out--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)
2 The Sounds of Silence--Simon & Garfunkel
3 I Got You (I Feel Good)--James Brown and the Famous Flames
4 Ebb Tide--The Righteous Brothers
5 Over and Over--The Dave Clark Five
6 As Tears Go By--The Rolling Stones
7 Five O'Clock World--The Vogues
8 England Swings--Roger Miller
9 A Must to Avoid--Herman's Hermits
10 She's Just My Style--Gary Lewis and the Playboys

Singles entering the chart were Get Out of My Life, Woman by Lee Dorsey (#79); I'm Too Far Gone (To Turn Around) by Bobby Bland (#80); Because I Love You by Billy Stewart (#85); I See the Light by the Five Americans (#88); Call Me by Chris Montez (#89); Blue River by Elvis Presley (#96); Goodnight My Love by Ben E. King (#97); You Don't Know Like I Know by Sam and Dave (#98); Look in My Eyes by the Three Degrees (#99); and Time by the Pozo-Seco Singers (#100). Blue River was the B-side of Tell Me Why, charting at #49.

Politics and government
Charles de Gaulle was inaugurated into his second seven-year term as President of France.

40 years ago
1976

Died on this date
Zhou Enlai, aka Chou En-lai, 77. 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China, 1949-1976. Zhou was probably the leading figure in China's Communist regime other than Chairman Mao Zedong. He served as China's Foreign Minister from 1949-1958, and held various other positions in the government and in the Communist Party. Zhou was succeeded as Premier by Hua Guofeng.

Hockey
NHL
Super Series '76
U.S.S.R. Central Red Army (2-0-1) 5 @ Boston 2

Valery Kharlamov scored 2 consecutive goals in the 2nd period and Aleksandr Maltsev added another as the Central Red Army defeated the Bruins at Boston Garden. Dave Forbes opened the scoring for Boston at 2:54 of the 2nd period and Jean Ratelle scored a powerplay goal at 17:41 to reduce the Soviets' lead to 3-2, but Gynady Tsygankov scored 43 seconds into the 3rd period and Boris Aleksandrov scored at 8:58 to clinch the win for the Central Red Army. The Bruins outshot the Soviets 40-19, including 19-8 in the 1st period, but CRA goalie Vladislav Tretiak was outstanding.





30 years ago
1986

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

Diplomacy
U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed an executive order freezing all Libyan government assets in the United States and in U.S. bank branches abroad. He asked allies of the U.S. to join the economic boycott of Libya, but received little support. Italy banned weapons sales to Libya, but West Germany had already ruled out sanctions, and British officials reported that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would not impose sanctions, whose effectiveness she doubted.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average fell a record 39.10 points and closed at 1526.61; however, the decline of 2.5% was far smaller than on occasions in the past when the Dow had fallen by nearly as many points from a much smaller average.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had declined in December to 6.8%.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 9 @ Toronto 11



25 years ago
1991

War
The Latvian parliament condemned the Soviet threat to send troops into Latvia and Lithuania to seize draft dodgers and enforce conscription as an "invasion" of the Baltic republics. Paratroopers were reported to have landed and set up positions in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

Politics and government
Keith Spicer's Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future launched its first satellite town hall meeting from Ottawa, with people from Vancouver to Saint John, New Brunswick commenting.

Protest
A group of Mohawk Indians armed with baseball bats and metal bars clashed with Quebec police officers at the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal. The dispute flared when police attempted to stop a truck for a minor traffic violation. The driver of the truck ignored the police and drove to a lumberyard on the reserve. Fights broke out between police and Mohawks who did not believe that outside police forces had jurisdiction on the reserve.

Business
Pan American World Airways filed for bankruptcy, a month after Continental Airlines Holdings Inc. had done the same. Pan Am said it hoped to get needed cash from the sale of overseas routes.

Disasters
One person was killed and hundreds injured in the crash of a commuter train at Cannon Street station in London.

Baseball
Rod Carew, Gaylord Perry, and Ferguson Jenkins were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mr. Jenkins, a native of Chatham, Ontario who compiled a career major league record of 284-226 from 1965-1983, became the Hall’s first Canadian member. Mr. Carew batted .328 in a career that ran from 1967-1985, and won seven American League batting titles. In 22 seasons from 1962-1983, Mr. Perry posted a record of 314-265.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Ex-p-cial--EX-3

#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Earth Song--Michael Jackson (5th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Exhale (Shoop Shoop)--Whitney Houston
2 Hand in My Pocket--Alanis Morissette
3 Blessed--Elton John
4 Breakfast at Tiffany's--Deep Blue Something
5 Name--Goo Goo Dolls
6 Your Little Secret--Melissa Etheridge
7 Fantasy--Mariah Carey
8 Back for Good--Take That
9 Good Intentions--Toad the Wet Sprocket
10 I Wish You Well--Tom Cochrane

Singles entering the chart were Missing by Everything But the Girl (#92); Ironic by Alanis Morissette (#95); I Got I.D. by Pearl Jam (#97); Devil in the Kitchen by Ashley MacIsaac (#98); and Wonderwall by Oasis (#99).

Died on this date
François Mitterand, 79. 21st President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra, 1981-1995. Mr. Mitterand, a Socialist, held various positions before assuming the presidency, which he held longer than any other person (so far). He was the first Socialist President of the Fifth Republic.

John Hargreaves, 50. Australian actor. Mr. Hargreaves won Australian Film Institute Awards for his starring performance in My First Wife (1984) and for his supporting performances in Careful, He Might Hear You (1983) and Malcolm (1986). He died of AIDS.

Politics and government
Canadian Fisheries Minister Brian Tobin announced that he was leaving federal politics to run for the job of provincial Liberal leader and Premier of Newfoundland, replacing the retiring Clyde Wells; Mr. Tobin was elected by acclamation.

Disasters
An Antonov An-32 Air Africa cargo aircraft crashed into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 237 on the ground; the aircraft's crew of six survived the crash.

10 years ago
2006

Abominations
The National Parole Board of Canada pardoned junior hockey coach Graham James--convicted in 1997 of two counts of sexually abusing his players--and sentenced him to 3 1/2 years in prison. The pardon became public knowledge on April 4, 2010, when another victim reported alleged abuse to Winnipeg police.

Skiing
Canadians Kyle Nissen, Jeff Bean, Warren Shouldice and Ryan Blais finished first, second, third, and fourth in the men's Freestyle Grand Prix at the World Cup Aerials.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Carolina 23 @ New York Giants 0



AFC Wild Card Playoff
Pittsburgh 31 @ Cincinnati 17