December 14, 2016

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Wendy Welt!

470 years ago
1546

Born on this date
Tycho Brahe. Danish astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist. Mr. Brahe was known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical observations, despite not using a telescope. He believed that the Moon orbited Earth and the planets orbited the Sun, but erroneously considered the Sun to be orbiting Earth. Mr. Brahe was granted an estate by King Frederik II, and created a research institute, where his studies included supernovae and comets. He had disagreements with King Christian IV and went into exile in 1697, accepting an invitation from Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to go to Prague, where he became the imperial astronomer. During the last year of his life, Mr. Brahe had Johannes Kepler as his research assisant, and Mr. Kepler used Mr. Brahe's data in developing his three laws of motion. Mr. Brahe died on October 24, 1601 at the age of 54, 11 days after suddenly contracting a bladder or kidney ailment after attending a banquet in Prague; his death may have been from uremia or prostate cancer, and recent research has debunked claims that he was poisoned.

425 years ago
1591

Died on this date
John of the Cross, 49. Spanish mystic. John of the Cross, born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez, was a Roman Catholic priest and prior in the Carmelite Order who, with Teresa of Ávila, helped to found the movement eventually known as Discalced (barefoot) Carmelites. He died of erysipelas, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726 as St. John of the Cross.

180 years ago
1836

Politics and government
The Toledo War, a boundary dispute between the state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan, unofficially ended when delegates to a convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan passed a resolution to accept the terms passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on June 15, 1836. Michigan would become a state if she ceded an area known as the Toledo Strip along the border between the states.In return, Michigan would be granted three-quarters of the area now known as the Upper Peninsula.

130 years ago
1886

Born on this date
Henry G. Bennett. U.S. academic. Dr. Bennett was president of Southeastern Oklahoma State University (1919-1928) and Oklahoma A&M College (1928-1951). While still holding the latter office, he was appointed by U.S. President Harry Truman in November 1950 as the first director of the Point Four Program, a technical assistance program for backward nations. While on a visit to Iran to discuss U.S. technical aid with Iranian officials, Dr. Bennett was killed on December 22, 1951, eight days after his 65th birthday, along with his wife and 20 members of his staff, in a plane crash near Tehran.

120 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Jimmy Doolittle. U.S. aviator and military officer. Mr. Doolittle was a pioneer military aviator in the 1920s who left the United States Army in 1930 and set a speed record for land planes in 1932 of 296 miles per hour. In 1940 he returned to the Army, and on April 18, 1942, led 16 B-25 bombers on a raid on five Japanese cities, including Tokyo. The Doolittle Raid was the first retaliatory air raid on the Japanese homeland after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and had a significant positive effect on American morale. The movie Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) was a dramatization of the raid, with Spencer Tracy playing Mr. Doolittle. Mr. Doolittle returned to reserve status in 1946 as a lieutenant general and retired from active service in 1959. In retirement he was promoted to four-star general. He died on September 27, 1993 at the age of 96.

Transportation
The Glasgow Underground Railway was opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.

100 years ago
1916

Born on this date
Shirley Jackson. U.S. authoress. Miss Jackson was best known for her short story The Lottery (1948) and the novel The Haunting of Hill House (1959). She died in her sleep of heart failure on August 8, 1965 at the age of 48.

90 years ago
1926

Football
AFL-NFL Challenge Game (exhibition)
Philadelphia Quakers (AFL) 0 @ New York Giants (NFL) 31

The Giants scored 2 converted touchdowns in each of the 3rd and 4th quarters to rout the Quakers before 5,000 fans in a snowstorm at the Popo Grounds. The Giants had finished seventh in the 22-team National Football League in 1926 with a record of 8-4-1, while the Quakers had led the American Football League with a record of 8-2. Jack McBride led all scorers with 2 touchdowns, 4 converts and a field goal; Jack Haggerty and Tillie Voss scored the other TDs.

AFL
Exhibition
Los Angeles (0-0-1) 7 New York (0-0-1) 7 @ Atlanta

80 years ago
1936

Boxing
Joe Louis (27-1) took just 26 seconds to score a technical knockout over Eddie Simms (23-22-3) in a heavyweight bout at Public Hall in Cleveland. Referee Arthur Donovan stopped the fight because "another blow might have resulted fatally." It was the first time Mr. Simms had ever been knocked out.

75 years ago
1941

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Dark Gentleman

Theatre
Robert E. Sherwood ordered his Pulitzer Prize-winning play There Shall Be No Night to close in Rochester, Minnesota. The play was based on the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939 and expressed an anti-Soviet viewpoint which now seemed inappropriate, with the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. having become allies within the past few days.

War
Ireland and Turkey announced their neutrality. Japan signed a treaty of alliance with Thailand. Japanese troops began a general land and air offensive against Hong Kong at dawn after their ultimatum for surrender was rejected.

Academia
The University of Cincinnati estimated, on the basis of a nationwide survey, that there had been a 9.16% decrease in college and university enrollment in the United States over the previous year.

Football
NFL
West Division playoff
Green Bay 14 @ Chicago Bears 33

The Packers and Bears had finished the regular season with records of 10-1, with each beating the other once, thus forcing a playoff game. The Bears played at home against the East Division champion New York Giants a week later for the NFL championship.

70 years ago
1946

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Ole Buttermilk Sky--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra (vocal chorus by Michael Douglas and the Campus Kids) (Best Seller--1st week at #1; Honor Roll of Hits--1st week at #1); Rumors are Flying--Frankie Carle and his Orchestra with Marjorie Hughes (Juke Box--8th week at #1; Airplay--8th week at #1)

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Elusive Emerald

War
Nationalist Chinese troops claimed the capture of Yengcheng, one of the last Communist centres in the economically crucial coastal province of Kiangsu.

Diplomacy
The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish the UN headquarters in New York City, accepting an offer from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to buy and turn over to the UN an $8.5-million property on the east side of Manhattan between 42nd and 48th streets.

The UN General Assembly rejected South Africa's plan to annex South West Africa, and requested that a trusteeship plan be drawn up for the territory.

Greek acting Foreign Minister Stephanos Stefanopoulos protested to the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., U.K., and France concerning "unjust" Greek-Bulgarian frontier provisions contained in the Bulgarian peace treaty.

Politics and government
Muslim League leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah rejected a British proposal that the Federal Court of India rule on the Muslim-Hindu differences on the U.K. plan for drafting an Indian constitution.

Defense
The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved a disarmament proposal calling for prohibition of nuclear weapons; international control of atomic energy; and creation of arms control agency not limited by a great power veto.

Columbia University announced that it would build a 2,500-ton cyclotron as part of a research centre being set up in cooperation with the U.S. Navy in Irvington, New York.

South Americana
Chile laid claim to parts of Antarctica "between the 53rd and 90th meridians west of Greenwich."

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman dropped building materials priorities and the $10,000 limit on new homes, allowing greater participation in the housing market.

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray (5th week at #1)

At the movies
Dance with Me, Henry, the last movie starring both Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Juho Paasikivi, 86. Prime Minister of Finland, 1918, 1944-1946; President of Finland, 1946-1956. Mr. Paasikivi, born Johan Gustaf Hellsten, was a member of the Finnish Party for many years before becoming chairman of the National Coalition Party in 1934. He held various positions in a career spanning five decades, and as Prime Minister and President was the architect of the Finnish foreign policy of peaceful relations with the U.S.S.R. Mr. Paasikivi died 17 days after his 86th birthday.

Journalism
The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company announced in New York that Collier's and Woman's Home Companion magazines would discontinue publication in January 1957.

Diplomacy
11 Arab states asked the United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold to investigate "the crime of genocide committed by Israel against innocent Arab inhabitants" of Kafr Kassim, to days after 48 Israeli Arabs had been shot and killed near the Jordanian border as they returned from work, unaware that a military curfew had been imposed.

Protest
The Hungarian government of Premier Janos Kadar banned all demonstrations and meetings. Warning that the collapse of the Hungarian economy was imminent, Budapest radio appealed to strikers to return to work.

Defense
The North Atlantic Council ended a four-day meeting in Paris, declaring its members "in general agreement" on issues confronting the alliance.

Politics and government
John Diefenbaker, Member of Parliament for the Saskatchewan riding of Prince Albert, was chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada on the first ballot at the party's convention in Ottawa, receiving 744 votes to 393 for Donald Fleming and 117 for Davie Fulton. Mr. Diefenbaker replaced George Drew, who was retiring because of ill health, after eight years as party leader and two unsuccessful federal election campaigns.

Crime
A court in Mineola, New York sentenced Angelo La Marca to death in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison, a week after convicting the Plainview, New York taxi driver of kidnapping and first degree murder in the death of infant Peter Weisberger on July 4, 1956.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower made $4 million available to the United Nations fund for the aid of Hungarian refugees in Austria.

Scandal
A U.S. federal court in Washington fined Superior Oil Company lawyers Elmer Patman and John Neff $2,500 each after the pair pled guilty to failing to register as lobbyists. The company was fined $10,000 for "aiding and abetting them."

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set):
1 No Milk Today--Herman's Hermits (2nd week at #1)
2 Ooh La La--Normie Rowe
3 Good Vibrations--The Beach Boys
4 Let it Be Me (EP)--Johnny Young
5 Friday on My Mind--The Easybeats
6 Sorry--The Easybeats
7 Winchester Cathedral--The New Vaudeville Band
8 Spicks and Specks--The Bee Gees
9 Lady Godiva--Peter and Gordon
10 I'm a Boy--The Who

Singles entering the chart were Mellow Yellow by Donovan (#24); Green, Green Grass of Home by Tom Jones (#28); Rain on the Roof by the Lovin' Spoonful (#36); Wheel of Hurt by Al Martino (#38); and Who Am I? by Petula Clark (#40).

Theatre
Breakfast at Tiffany's, a musical starring Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Chamberlain, and Sally Kellerman, closed at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway in New York after just four preview performances, without ever opening. Producer David Merrick was quoted as saying that he decided to close the play, which was scheduled to open on December 26, "rather than subject the drama critics and the public to an excruciatingly boring evening."

Died on this date
Verna Felton, 76. U.S. actress. Miss Felton was a radio and voice actress who used her husky voice and no-nonsense attitude to play numerous characters in animated films produced by Walt Disney. She also portrayed Pearl Slaghoople in the animated television comedy series The Flintstones (1960-1966). Miss Felton died of a stroke.

Space
The United States launched Biosatellite 1, with a cargo of plants and insects, from Cape Kennedy, Florida.

Politics and government
95.5% of voters in a referendum in Spain approved a new constitution; Generalissimo Francisco Franco retained executive and legislative powers for life.

Transportation
The Canadian Pacific Railway was authorized to abandon the Montréal and Ottawa line from Ottawa Union Station across the Interprovincial Bridge to Hull, Quebec.

Economics and finance
The Canadian Parliament passed an act to incorporate the Bank of British Columbia; it opened in July 1968 as Canada's tenth chartered bank.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Daddy Cool--Boney M. (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The United Kingdom adjourned the conference in Geneva on Rhodesia until January 17, 1977.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Black or White--Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Black or White--Michael Jackson (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Black or White--Michael Jackson (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Black or White--Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Black or White--Michael Jackson

#1 single in France (SNEP): Qui a le droit...--Patrick Bruel (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (CIN): Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me--George Michael/Elton John (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Kon Ik Maar Even Bij Je Zijn--Gordon (3rd week at #1)
2 Roodkapje--Pater Moeskroen
3 Black or White--Michael Jackson
4 I Love Your Smile--Shanice
5 Let's Talk About Sex!--Salt-N-Pepa
6 Over and Over Again--Robby Valentine
7 Smells Like Teen Spirit--Nirvana
8 Go--Moby
9 Obsession--Army of Lovers
10 Ring My Bell--DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

Singles entering the chart were Justified & Ancient by the KLF (#24); Olee Olee Sinterklaas is Here to Stay!!!/Het is Weer Kerstfeest Dit Jaar by Ole Henk (#25); Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me by George Michael/Elton John (#29); Live and Let Die by Guns N' Roses (#34); Stars by Simply Red (#35); This House by Alison Moyet (#36); and Tu by Mecano (#38).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Black or White--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)
2 It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday--Boyz II Men
3 Set Adrift on Memory Bliss--P.M. Dawn
4 When a Man Loves a Woman--Michael Bolton
5 All 4 Love--Color Me Badd
6 Blowing Kisses in the Wind--Paula Abdul
7 Can't Let Go--Mariah Carey
8 Finally--CeCe Peniston
9 That's What Love is For--Amy Grant
10 Wildside--Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch

Singles entering the chart were All Through the Night by Tone-Loc (#83); Uhh Ahh by Boyz II Men (#88); Everybody Move by Cathy Dennis (#90); Insatiable by Prince & the New Power Generation (#92); Right Down to It by Damian Dame (#93); and Move Any Mountain by the Shamen (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday--Boyz II Men
2 Black or White--Michael Jackson
3 Blowing Kisses in the Wind--Paula Abdul
4 Set Adrift on Memory Bliss--P.M. Dawn
5 Can't Let Go--Mariah Carey
6 All 4 Love--Color Me Badd
7 Keep Coming Back--Richard Marx
8 No Son of Mine--Genesis
9 Street of Dreams--Nia Peeples
10 When a Man Loves a Woman--Michael Bolton

Singles entering the chart were To Be with You by Mr. Big (#78) and Addams Groove by MC Hammer (#79).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 No Son of Mine--Genesis
2 Broken Arrow--Rod Stewart
3 Life is a Highway--Tom Cochrane
4 When a Man Loves a Woman--Michael Bolton
5 Keep Coming Back--Richard Marx
6 What About Now--Robbie Robertson
7 That's What Love is For--Amy Grant
8 Cream--Prince and the New Power Generation
9 Blowing Kisses in the Wind--Paula Abdul
10 Black or White--Michael Jackson

Singles entering the chart were Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana (#69); Someday by Aldo Nova (#72); If She Could Sing by Art Bergmann (#75); Go Back to Your Woods by Robbie Robertson (#82); Martika's Kitchen by Martika (#88); King's Highway by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (#90); and Finally by Ce Ce Peniston (#95).

Died on this date
Robert Eddison, 83. Japanese-born U.K. actor. Mr. Eddison was a character actor on stage, screen, and television for more than 60 years, known for his mellifluously resonant, baritone voice. He played Grail Knight in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

Married on this date
Happy Anniversary, Eileen and Leo Sasakamoose!

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Wannabe--Spice Girls (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): One & One--Robert Miles featuring Maria Nayler (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): One & One--Robert Miles featuring Maria Nayler

#1 single in Wallonia (Ultratop 40): Aïcha--Khaled (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Freed from Desire--Gala (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Gabbertje--Hakkûhbar (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): A Different Beat--Boyzone

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Un-Break My Heart--Toni Braxton (2nd week at #1)
2 No Diggity--BLACKstreet (featuring Dr. Dre)
3 Nobody--Keith Sweat featuring Athena Cage
4 Don't Let Go (Love)--En Vogue
5 Mouth--Merril Bainbridge
6 It's All Coming Back to Me Now--Celine Dion
7 Pony--Ginuwine
8 I Finally Found Someone--Barbra Streisand/Bryan Adams
9 I'm Still in Love with You--New Edition
10 Where Do You Go--No Mercy

Singles entering the chart were I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly (#26); Without Love by Donna Lewis (#60); Nothin' But the Cavi Hit by Mack 10 & Tha Dog Pound (#65); It's Your Body by Johnny Gill featuring Roger Troutman (#83); and Sugar Honey Ice Tea by Goodfellaz (#88). I Believe I Can Fly was from the movie Space Jam (1996). Nothin' But the Cavi Hit was from the movie Rhyme & Reason (1997).

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Ahmet Ertegun, 83. Turkish-born U.S. record executive. Mr. Ertegun moved with his family to Washington, D.C. in 1935, where his father Munir served as Turkish Ambassador to the United States. Ahmet became interested in American jazz and blues music, and co-founded Atlantic Records in 1947 with Herb Abramson. Mr. Ertegun used the company to promote many rhythm and blues and rock and roll artists, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He died six weeks after falling and hitting his head on a concrete floor while backstage at the Beacon Theatre in New York City awaiting a performance by the Rolling Stones.

Mike Evans, 57. U.S. actor. Mr. Evans was best known for playing Lionel Jefferson in the television comedy series All in the Family (1971-1975) and The Jeffersons (1975, 1979-1981). He co-created and wrote for the television comedy series Good Times (1974-1979). Mr. Evans died of throat cancer.

Diplomacy
Ban Ki-moon of South Korea was sworn in as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Politics and government
Several days after winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, Ed Stelmach took office as Premier of Alberta, replacing retiring Premier Ralph Klein, who had been Premier since December 1992.