December 20, 2016

210 years ago
1806

Born on this date
Martín Carrera. President of Mexico, 1855. Brigadier General Carrera entered the Mexican Army at the age of 9 as a cadet and was a career officer. He was a member of the National Legislative Junta charged with writing the Bases Orgánicas (constitution) in 1843 and Senator of the Republic (1844-1846). When Antonio López de Santa Anna resigned the presidency in 1855, a junta of representatives named Brig. Gen. Carrera interim president to replace him. He served from August 5-September 12, 1855, resigned after calling elections for a constituent congress, and retured to private life. Brig. Gen. Carrera died on April 22, 1871 at the age of 64.

175 years ago
1841

Born on this date
Ferdinand Buisson. French politician. Mr. Buisson was a member of the Radical-Socialist party who was president of the French Human Rights League from 1913-1926. He and Ludwig Quidde of Germany shared the 1927 Nobel Peace Prize "[for] contributions to Franco-German popular reconciliation." Mr. Buisson died on February 16, 1932 at the age of 90.

125 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Erik Almlöf. Swedish athlete. Mr. Almlöf specialized in the triple jump, winning bronze medals at the 1912 Olympic Games in Oslo and the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp. He had a business career divided between Sweden and the United States, and died in Pennsylvania on January 18, 1971, 29 days after his 79th birthday.

110 years ago
1906

Born on this date
Tony Kubek. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Kubek was an outfielder who played 6 seasons in the minor leagues (1931-1936), batting .304 with 24 home runs in 609 games. Most of his career was spent with the Milwaukee Brewers of the AA American Association (1931-1935). Mr. Kubek died on December 13, 1994, a week before his 88th birthday. His son Tony played with the New York Yankees (1957-1965) before embarking on a long career as a baseball broadcaster.

90 years ago
1926

Baseball
The St. Louis Cardinals traded manager and second baseman Rogers Hornsby to the New York Giants for second baseman Frankie Frisch and pitcher Jimmy Ring. Mr. Hornsby was the National League batting champion for six straight years from 1920-1925, and led the Cardinals to their first World Series championship in 1926, batting .317 with 11 home runs and 93 runs batted in in 134 games. Mr. Frisch hit .314 with 5 homers and 44 RBIs in 135 games with the Giants in 1926, while Mr. Ring was 11-10 with an earned run average of 3.72 in 33 games. The Giants had finished fifth in the National League in 1926 with a record of 74-77, 13 1/2 games behind the Cardinals.

75 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Elmer's Tune--Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (Vocal refrain by Ray Eberle and the Modernaires)

War
A Soviet communique reported the recapture of Volololamsk on the central front and Voibokala on the northern front. Japanese troops landed from four transports at Davao on the Philippine island of Mindanao, 60 miles southeast of Manila; heavy fighting was reported. The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, better known as the "Flying Tigers," saw their first action in Kunming, China, when aircraft of the 1st and 2nd squadrons intercepted 10 unescorted Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lily" bombers of the 21st Hikōtai attacking Kunming. The bombers jettisoned their loads before reaching Kunming. Three of the Japanese bombers were shot down near Kunming and a fourth was damaged so severely that it crashed before returning to its airfield at Hanoi. Two American tankers were attacked by submarines off the Pacific coast of the United States; one ship escaped, but the 6,912-ton Emidio was abandoned off Cape Mendocino after being shelled and torpedoed. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt named Admiral Ernest King, current commander of the Atlantic Fleet, as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Fleet. The Cuban government ordered the internment of all Japanese in Cuba.

Labour
Scores of welders went on strike in shipyards and defense plants in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas in protest against alleged American Federation of Labor discrimination.

70 years ago
1946

War
French forces recaptured parts of Hanoi that had been seized the day before by Vietnamese nationalists, who took refuge west of the city near Ha Dong.

British authorities in Hamburg ordered immediate trials for 27,000 members of the SS and other Nazi organizations condemned for war crimes at Nuremberg.

World events
Soviet occupation authorities ordered a U.S. courier ship out of the Manchurian port of Dairen after a two-day stay, creating an international incident.

Defense
Commanding general of U.S. ground forces General Jacob Devers announced plans for an increase in the size and firepower of fighting units to meet the requirements of the "atomic age."

Politics and government
The United Kingdom offered Burma independence on the same terms extended to India, and invited a Burmese delegation to London for negotiations.

Boxing
Sugar Ray Robinson (74-1-1) won a 15-round unanimous decision over Tommy Bell (39-11-2) before 15,670 fans at Madison Square Garden in New York to win the National Boxing Association and New York State Athletic Commission world welterweight titles, which had been vacant since the retirement of Marty Servo three months earlier.

60 years ago
1956

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Je vais revoir ma blonde--Darío Moreno (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Samuel Anderson, 76. U.S. physicist. Dr. Anderson headed a scientific team that first succeeded in bouncing radio signals off the Moon.

Diplomacy
The United Kingdom agreed to allow the United Nations use of her salvage vessels in the Suez Canal, but insisted that teh ships' regular crews remain on board.

Politics and government
The Japanese Diet named former international Trade and Industry Minister Tanzan Ishibashi, 72, as Prime Minister after Ichiro Hatayama resigned because of ill health.

Protest
The Hungarian government decreed up to six months' detention without trial for disturbances of public order or "endangering of production."

Society
Negroes in Montgomery, Alabama called off their year-long boycott of buses as U.S. marshals served a federal injunction to state, city, and bus company officials prohibiting segregation on Montgomery buses.

50 years ago
1966

On television tonight
Quentin Durgens, M.P., starring Gordon Pinsent, on CBC
Tonight's episode: A Family Affair

The Fugitive, starring David Janssen, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Blessings of Liberty, with guest stars Ludwig Donath, Arlene Martel, and Tony Musante

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Money, Money, Money--ABBA (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kita no Yadokara--Harumi Miyako (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Libertad Sin Ira--Jarcha (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Richard J. Daley, 74. U.S. politician. Mr. Daley, a Democrat, was Mayor of Chicago from 1955 until his death from a heart attack. He was perhaps the most prominent American mayor of the 20th century; he ran a political machine that was accused of corruption, but has been credited with running the city in such a way as to prevent the decline that affected other major American cities during the 1960s and '70s. Mr. Daley was succeeded in office by Michael Bilandic. Mr. Daley's son Richard M. Daley was Mayor of Chicago from 1989-2011.

Politics and government
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin resigned, the day after losing his majority in the Knesset when he ousted members of the National Religious Party from his coalition.

Hockey
NHL
The St. Louis Blues traded defenceman Rick Smith to the Boston Bruins for defenceman Joe Zanussi. Mr. Smith, who had previously played with the Bruins from 1968-72, had no goals and 1 assist in 18 games with St. Louis, and 1 goal and 6 assists with the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League in 1976-77. Mr. Zanussi, who had come to the Bruins with defenceman Brad Park and centre Jean Ratelle on November 7, 1975 in a trade with the New York Rangers for centre Phil Esposito and defenceman Carol Vadnais, had no goals and 1 assist in 8 games with the Bruins, and 1 goal and 9 assists in 17 games with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League in 1976-77.

WHA
International Series (exhibition)
C.S.S.R. (2-3) 4 @ New England 1

Football
Liberty Bowl
Alabama 36 California at Los Angeles 6

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): The Final Countdown--Europe (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Don't Leave Me This Way--The Communards (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Caravan of Love--The Housemartins (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Caravan of Love--The Housemartins

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles
2 The Way it Is--Bruce Hornsby and the Range
3 Everybody Have Fun Tonight--Wang Chung
4 You Give Love a Bad Name--Bon Jovi
5 Notorious--Duran Duran
6 The Next Time I Fall--Peter Cetera with Amy Grant
7 Shake You Down--Gregory Abbott
8 Hip to Be Square--Huey Lewis and the News
9 To Be a Lover--Billy Idol
10 Stand by Me--Ben E. King

Singles entering the chart were (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) by the Beastie Boys (#83); Brand New Lover by Dead or Alive (#85); This is the World Calling by Bob Geldof (#86); Somewhere Out There by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram (#88); Girlfriend by Bobby Brown (#89); and We Connect by Stacey Q (#90).

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Stand by Me--Ben E. King
2 You Give Love a Bad Name--Bon Jovi
3 The Way it Is--Bruce Hornsby and the Range
4 The Next Time I Fall--Peter Cetera with Amy Grant
5 The Lady in Red--Chris de Burgh
6 Two of Hearts--Stacey Q
7 Amanda--Boston
8 Everybody Have Fun Tonight--Wang Chung
9 The Rain--Oran "Juice" Jones
10 Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles

Singles entering the chart were Ballerina Girl by Lionel Richie (#78); Welcome to the Boomtown by David and David (#87); We're Ready by Boston (#90); Jimmy Lee by Aretha Franklin (#92); Keep Your Hands to Yourself by the Georgia Satellites (#93) and A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles (#97). A Hard Day's Night was a reissue of the title song of the movie and was originally a hit in 1964, but a few months before RPM began publication. The B-side, Things We Said Today, had not previously been released on a single in Canada.

Died on this date
Joe DeSa, 27. U.S. baseball player. Mr. DeSa was a first baseman with the St. Louis Cardinals (1980) and Chicago White Sox (1985), batting .200 with 2 home runs and 7 runs batted in in 35 games. This blogger saw Mr. DeSa play his first professional game with the Calgary Cardinals against the Idaho Falls Angels in a Pioneer League game at Foothills Park in Calgary on June 25, 1977; he played in all 70 of the Cardinals' games that year, batting .272 with 3 home runs and 55 RBIs. Mr. DeSa signed with the Kansas City Royals on November 8, 1986, and was playing in the Puerto Rico Winter League when he was killed in a car accident, hours after hitting 4 doubles for the Ponce Leones against the Mayagüez Indios.

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Radio & Records)
1 Black or White--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)
2 All 4 Love--Color Me Badd
3 Can't Let Go--Mariah Carey
4 It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday--Boyz II Men
5 Keep Coming Back--Richard Marx
6 No Son of Mine--Genesis
7 Wildside--Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch
8 Finally--Ce Ce Peniston
9 Broken Arrow--Rod Stewart
10 Blowing Kisses in the Wind--Paula Abdul

Singles entering the chart were I Love Your Smile by Shanice (#22); Save Up All Your Tears by Cher (#23); I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt (#30); Addams Groove by MC Hammer (#31); Keep it Comin' by Keith Sweat (#35); I'll Get By by Eddie Money (#37); and There Will Never be Another Tonight by Bryan Adams (#40).

Edmontonia
A year after it had closed, the Garneau Theatre reopened as a second-run movie theatre. The theatre, located at 8712 109 St., was built in 1940.

Defense
The U.S. Navy announced plans to close its Argentia, Newfoundland base in 1994; 500 personnel would leave what was once the largest U.S. base on foreign soil.

Abominations
A Missouri court sentenced Palestinian terrorist Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the "honour killing" of their daughter Palestina.

Hockey
NHL
National Hockey League governors granted membership to the new Ottawa and Tampa Bay teams; the Ottawa group was led by real estate investor Bruce Firestone.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Un-Break My Heart--Toni Braxton

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): 2 Become 1--Spice Girls

At the movies
My Fellow Americans, directed by Peter Segal, and starring Jack Lemmon, James Garner, and Dan Aykroyd, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Carl Sagan, 62. U.S. astronomer. Dr. Sagan was known within science for his research into planetary atmospheres, especially that of Venus, but was best known as a popularizer of astronomy and science. He wrote and hosted the PBS documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980). Dr. Sagan promoted investigation of unidentified flying objects, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), and nuclear disarmament. He died of pneumonia after a battle with cancer.

10 years ago
2006

Politics and government
The first parliamentary elections in United Arab Emirates concluded. 20 members were elected to the Federal National Council, joining the 20 members who had been appointed by the rulers of the seven constituent emirates.