December 31, 2016

525 years ago
1491

Born on this date
Jacques Cartier. French explorer. Mr. Cartier, a native of Saint-Malo, Brittany, led expeditions for France in 1534, 1535-1536, and 1541-1542, becoming the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas" after the Iroquoian names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec City) and at Hochelaga (Montreal Island). He entered and departed 50 undiscovered harbours without serious mishap or losing a ship, and was one of the first to formally acknowledge that the New World was a land mass separate from Europe/Asia. Mr. Cartier spent his later years in Saint-Malo and his nearby estate, and died during an epidemic, possibly typhus, on September 1, 1557 at the age of 65.

325 years ago
1691

Died on this date
Robert Boyle, 64. Irish chemist and physicist. Mr. Boyle was one of the pioneers of the modern scientific method, and was best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system. He's largely regarded today as the founder of modern chemistry; his book The Sceptical Chymist (1661) was a major text in the history of chemistry. Mr. Boyle was an alchemist, but his experiments were unsuccessful. He was a devout Anglican, and believed that evidence from nature could provide evidence for the existence of God. Mr. Boyle died from paralysis after more than 20 years of declining health.

220 years ago
1796

Americana
Baltimore was officially incorporated as a city.

110 years ago
1906

Politics and government
King Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signed the Persian Constitution of 1906.

75 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): It's a Great Day for the Irish--Judy Garland; The Jesters (1st month at #1)

On television tonight
The first televised New Year’s Eve special aired on WNBT in New York. It consisted of entertainment from the Rainbow Room, atop the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center.

Died on this date
Sol Hess, 69. U.S. writer. Mr. Hess and Wallace Carlson created the comic strip The Nebbs in 1923, with Mr. Hess providing the writing and Mr. Carlson doing the illustrating. Mr. Hess died of a heart attack at his apartment in the Shoreham Hotel in Chicago. His daughter Betsy and her husband Stanley Baer took over the writing for The Nebbs after Mr. Hess's death, and by 1947 had folded the strip into another strip of theirs, The Toodle Family.

War
Admiral Chester Nimitz assumed command of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet in a simple ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan demanded that U.S. forces in the Philippines surrender, and rejected the designation of Manila as an open city. U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur reported that his forces were consistently falling back in the face of heavy Japanese assaults.

Diplomacy
Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The German government announced that German Ambassador to Argentina Baron Edmund von Thermann had been recalled.

Politics and government
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Jesse Jones as a member of the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board.

Communications
The U.S. Justice Department extended its ban on the possession of shortwave wireless sets and hand cameras by enemy aliens to cover the entire country, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Business
The U.S. Justice Department filed civil suits in Chicago against the National Broadcasting Company and Columbia Broadcasting System, charging that through their ownership of key stations and the use of exclusive contracts the two chains almost completely dominated the country's broadcasting industry.

70 years ago
1946

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Sioux City Sue--Bing Crosby; Kate Smith (1st month at #1)

War
U.S. President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II, terminating his emergency powers and 20 wartime control laws. He admitted that the move was an attempt to cooperate with the new Republican-controlled Congress.

World events
Yugoslavia released Ray Stoeckel, an American jailed on espionage charges.

Politics and government
The Soviet newspaper Izvestia assailed the merger of the British and American occupation zones in Germany as a violation of the 1945 Potsdam agreement.

The Republican Party steering committee voted to oppose the seating of Senator Theodore G. Bilbo (Democrat--Mississippi) in the new Congress to take office on January 3, 1947, because of speeches he had made in opposition to Negro voting, and accusations of graft. Mr. Bilbo had first been elected to the Senate in 1934.

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur stated in Tokyo that Japan had made "major advances" toward establishing a democratic social and political system.

Energy
U.S. President Truman signed an executive order turning the Army's atomic energy facilities over to the Atomic Energy Commission.

Health
Mexican cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs were banned from the United States because of an epidemic of hoof and mouth disease.

Labour
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board recognized the right of supervisory workers to organize when it ordered Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation to bargain with a United Mine Workers of America affiliate that accepted foremen as members.

60 years ago
1956

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mike Matson!

50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Friday on My Mind--The Easybeats (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Les Playboys--Jacques Dutronc (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Bang Bang--Equipe 84 (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Dandy--The Kinks (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Friday on My Mind--The Easybeats; The Dukes (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Green, Green Grass of Home--Tom Jones (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I'm a Believer--The Monkees

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I'm a Believer--The Monkees (2nd week at #1)
2 Winchester Cathedral--The New Vaudeville Band
3 Snoopy vs. the Red Baron--The Royal Guardsmen
4 Mellow Yellow--Donovan
5 That's Life--Frank Sinatra
6 Good Vibrations--The Beach Boys
7 Sugar Town--Nancy Sinatra
8 Tell it Like it Is--Aaron Neville
9 Coming Home Soldier--Bobby Vinton
10 A Place in the Sun--Stevie Wonder

Singles entering the chart were Knight in Rusty Armour by Peter and Gordon (#67); Music to Watch Girls By by the Bob Crewe Generation (#75); Hey, Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You by Jimmy Castor (#84); Pretty Ballerina by the Left Banke (#87); I Dig Girls by J.J. Jackson (#88); Dead End Street by the Kinks (#89); Love Me by Bobby Hebb (#94); Mercy, Mercy, Mercy by the "Cannonball" Adderley Quintet (#96); Oh Yeah! by the Joe Cuba Sextet (#98); At the Party by Hector Rivera (#100); Constant Rain (Chove Chuva) by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 (also #100); and Walk with Faith in Your Heart by the Bachelors (also #100). Music to Watch Girls By, the theme from a Diet Pepsi commercial, had originally been released earlier in 1966 on the Diet Pepsi label, with no artist credited.

War
A 48-hour New Year's truce began in Vietnam; the United States reported 60 incidents of enemy attacks on the first day of the cease-fire.

40 years ago
1976

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Money, Money, Money--ABBA (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Daddy Cool--Boney M. (12th week at #1)

On television tonight
The annual New Year's Eve celebration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City was broadcast on CBS, and proved to be the last such broadcast with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians while Mr. Lombardo was alive.

40 years ago
1976

Football
NCAA
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
Nebraska 27 Texas Tech 24

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): The Way You Are--Agnetha Fältskog and Ola Håkansson (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Dwight Taylor, 83. U.S. screenwriter and playwright. Mr. Taylor, the son of actress Laurette Taylor, wrote several plays, but was better known for his screenplays, which included The Gay Divorcee (1934); Top Hat (1935); I Wake Up Screaming (1941); Conflict (1945); The Thin Man Goes Home (1947); and Pickup on South Street (1953). He died the day before his 84th birthday, being born on New Year's Day and dying on New Year's Eve.

Crime
96-98 people were killed in a fire that swept through the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Investigators focused on a possible link between the fire and negotiations between the hotel's management and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represented more than half the employees. The talks had been acromonious, and three small fires had occurred in the two weeks before the fatal fire. The main issue in dispute was management's desire to replace 60 union workers with non-union workers.

25 years ago
1991

World events
As of this date, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist, as all official Soviet Union institutions ceased operations.

Terrorism
17 Haitian Liberation Organization activists surrendered to police after occupying the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince for six weeks.

20 years ago
1996

Died on this date
Wesley Addy, 83. U.S. actor. Mr. Addy was a character actor in numerous plays, television programs, and movies. His films included Seconds (1966); Tora! Tora! Tora! 1970) and The Verdict (1982).

Music
About 4,000 people made their way to the remote location of Canaan Downs, Tākaka, New Zealand to take part in the first Gathering, a two-day festival for electronic dance music fans.

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
George Sisler, Jr., 89. U.S. baseball executive. Mr. Sisler, the son of Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman George Sisler and brother of major league players Dick and Dave Sisler, was general manager of the Columbus Red Birds, Rochester Red Wings and Columbus Clippers of the International League, and was IL President from 1966-1976. He was named minor league baseball's King of Baseball in 1989, and was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 2007.

Seymour Lipset, 84. U.S. sociologist. Dr. Lipset was one of the most prominent figures in political sociology. His books included Political Man (1960) and Student Politics (1967).

War
The death toll for Americans killed in the Iraq war reached 3,000.