January 13, 2017

650 years ago
1367

Died on this date
Pedro I, 46. King of Portugal, 1357-1367. Peter I, nicknamed "The Just" or "The Cruel" depending on one's point of view, was the son of Afonso IV, and had a difficult relationship with his father. When Pedro pursued a relationship with a Galician woman named Inês de Castro and appointed her brothers to key positions, King Afonso had her beheaded. Pedro then launched an unsuccessful revolt against his father, but King Afonso IV soon died, and Pedro I acceded to the throne. He earned his nicknames, imposing numerous death sentences while defending the least favoured groups in society and resisting papal authority. Pedro I was succeeded on the throne by his son Ferdinand I.

175 years ago
1842

War
Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, became famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reached the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

170 years ago
1847

War
The Treaty of Cahuenga ended the Mexican–American War in California.

75 years ago
1942

Technology
A German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter made the first use of an ejection seat.

Henry Ford patented a plastic automobile, which was 30% lighter than a regular car.

70 years ago
1947

Hit parade
U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Old Lamp-Lighter--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra (3rd week at #1)
--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
--Hal Derwin
2 Ole Buttermilk Sky--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
--Hoagy Carmichael
--Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers
--Paul Weston and his Orchestra with Matt Dennis
3 (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons--King Cole Trio
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
--Dinah Shore
4 Rumors are Flying--Frankie Carle and his Orchestra
--The Andrews Sisters with Les Paul
--Betty Rhodes
--Tony Martin
5 The Whole World is Singing My Song--Les Brown and his Orchestra
6 Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
7 A Gal in Calico--Tex Beneke with the Glenn Miller Orchestra
--Bing Crosby with the Calico Kids
--Johnny Mercer
8 The Things We Did Last Summer--Frank Sinatra
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
9 You Keep Coming Back Like a Song--Dinah Shore
--Bing Crosby
10 Sonata--Perry Como
--Jo Stafford

Singles entering the chart were And So to Bed, with versions by Skitch Henderson and his orchestra, and Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra (#16); and Uncle Remus Said, with versions by Tex Beneke with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Woody Herman and his Orchestra (#26). Uncle Remus Said was originally from the movie Song of the South (1946).

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

The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis and Howard McNear, on MBS
Tonight`s episode: Nob Hill

60 years ago
1957

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Nightmare in 4-D, starring Henry Jones, Barbara Baxley, and Norman Lloyd

Football
NFL
Pro Bowl @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
East 10 West 19

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Stop Stop Stop--The Hollies (5th week at #1)

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 I'm a Believer/(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone--The Monkees (4th week at #1)
2 Snoopy vs. the Red Baron--The Royal Guardsmen
3 Cry Baby--Lennie Richards and the Nomads
4 Armful of Teddy Bears--Barry Allen
5 Single Girl--Sandy Posey
6 Good Thing--Paul Revere and the Raiders
7 Color My World--Petula Clark
8 Georgy Girl--The Seekers
9 Sugar Town--Nancy Sinatra
10 Knight in Rusty Armour--Peter and Gordon
Pick hit of the week: Momma's Boy--Wes Dakus
New this week: Wack Wack--The Young Holt Trio
She--Del Shannon
Grizzly Bear--The Youngbloods
Gallant Men--Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen
My Future Just Passed--Barry Young

World events
A military coup in Togo led by Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Etienne Eyadema deposed President Nicolas Grunitzky.

30 years ago
1987

Crime
Hector Escudero Aponte, a maintenance worker at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was arraigned on 96 counts of murder after admitting to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation that he had started a fire, intended to be a small fire, in the hotel on New Year's Eve 1986, that had killed 96 people. Another man was charged in the case the following day, and a third man on January 29.

Disasters
All 54 people aboard an Ethiopian air force plane were killed when it killed shortly after takeoff from Asmara, Eritrea.

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Mouth--Merril Bainbridge
2 How Bizarre--OMC
3 Head Over Feet--Alanis Morissette
4 Fly Like an Eagle--Seal
5 When You Love a Woman--Journey
6 Just Between You and Me--dc talk
7 Just Another Day--John Mellencamp
8 He Liked to Feel It--Crash Test Dummies
9 Bittersweet Me--R.E.M.
10 Black Cloud Rain--Corey Hart

Singles entering the chart were Without Love by Donna Lewis (#71); You were Meant for Me by Jewel (#72); #1 Crush by Garbage (#73); Dark Horse by Amanda Marshall (#74); Everyday is a Winding Road by Sheryl Crow (#90); Thirty-Three by the Smashing Pumpkins (#98); and Desperately Wanting by Better than Ezra (#99).

On television tonight
The Arrow: Part II, on CBC

This two-part fictionalized account of the Avro Arrow fighter plane starred Dan Aykroyd as Crawford Gordon, president of A.V. Roe and Company.

Terrorism
Members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), who had been holding 72 people at the Japanese embassy in Lima, Peru hostage for four weeks, fired gunshots inside the embassy, as police surrounded the embassy.

Died on this date
Michael Brecker, 57. U.S. musician. Mr. Brecker was a jazz saxophonist who performed as both sideman and leader, and won 15 Grammy Awards. This blogger saw him as a featured soloist while performing with Paul Simon at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton on January 7, 1991. Mr. Brecker died of leukemia.

10 years ago
2007

Football
NFL
AFC Divisional Playoff
Indianapolis 15 @ Baltimore 6

NFC Divisional Playoff
Philadelphia 24 @ New Orleans 27