January 15, 2017

240 years ago
1777

Americana
New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declared its independence.

125 years ago
1892

Born on this date
Hobey Baker. U.S. hockey and football player. Mr. Baker was a rover and right wing with the Princeton University Tigers from 1911-14, and quarterbacked the Princeton football team from 1911-1913, setting school scoring records that stood for decades. He helped the Tigers win a national football championship in 1911 and national hockey championships in 1912 and 1914. Mr. Baker worked as a banker after graduation, but was more comfortable as a sportsman, and continued his hockey career with the St. Nicholas Club in New York (1914-1916), leading them to a U.S. amateur championship in 1915. He turned down a contract offer from the Montreal Canadiens, believing that sports should not be played for money, especially for someone of his wealthy upbringing. Mr. Baker served with the U.S. Army during World War I as an aviator, with three confirmed combat victories. In December 1918 he received orders to return to the United States, but insisted on taking a recently-repaired plane for a test flight in a heavy rain on December 21. The engine failed, and Mr. Baker was killed when the plane crashed, 25 days before his 27th birthday. Mr. Baker was inducted into both the Hockey Hall of Fame (1945) and United States Hockey Hall of Fame (1973) as a charter member, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975. The Hobey Baker Award is given annually to the best hockey player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Basketball
Basketball's founder, Dr. James Naismith, published the first rules for the new game in Springfield, Massachusetts.

90 years ago
1927

On the radio
Teddy Wakelam provided the first running sports commentary on BBC, calling England's 11-9 win over Wales in a Rugby International match at Twickenham Stadium in London.

80 years ago
1937

War
In the Spanish Civil War, Nationalists and Republican both withdrew after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.

75 years ago
1942

Baseball
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote his "Green Light" letter to Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, urging baseball to keep going during World War II to boost public morale.

70 years ago
1947

At the movies
13 Rue Madeleine, starring James Cagney, Annabella, and Richard Conte, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Elizabeth Short, 22. U.S. crime victim. Miss Short, nicknamed the "Black Dahlia," was an aspiring actress whose nude and dismembered corpse was found in Los Angeles; the crime remains unsolved, with numerous suspects.

Politics and government
The Georgia General Assembly elected Herman Talmadge as Governor to succeed his late father Eugene, who had been elected in November 1946, but had died on December 21, before taking office. Lieutenant Governor-elect Melvin Thompson thought he was entitled to be Governor, while outgoing Governor Ellis Arnall thought he was entitled to remain in office until the issue was settled. The Georgia state constitution didn't specify what happened in the case of the death of the Governor-elect, leading to the "Three Governors" controversy. The Supreme Court of Georgia eventually ruled in March in favour of Mr. Thompson, while also ruling that a special election should take place in November 1948 to fill the remainder of Eugene Talmadge's term.

60 years ago
1957

Basketball
NBA
All-Star Game @ Boston Garden
West 97 East 109

50 years ago
1967

Football
AFL-NFL World Championship Game @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Green Bay 35 Kansas City 14

Bart Starr completed 2 touchdown passes to Max McGee to lead the Packers over the Chiefs before 61,946 fans in the game that became retroactively named Super Bowl I.



40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Sei forte papà--Gianni Morandi (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (Veronica Top 40): Somebody to Love--Queen (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: If You Leave Me Now--Chicago (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K (BMRB): Don't Give Up on Us--David Soul

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): You Make Me Feel Like Dancing--Leo Sayer

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Car Wash--Rose Royce
2 You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)--Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.
3 I Wish--Stevie Wonder
4 You Make Me Feel Like Dancing--Leo Sayer
5 After the Lovin'--Engelbert Humperdinck
6 Dazz--Brick
7 Hot Line--Sylvers
8 Torn Between Two Lovers--Mary MacGregor
9 Somebody to Love--Queen
10 Walk This Way--Aerosmith

Singles entering the chart were Boogie Child by the Bee Gees (#88); I Love My Wife by Frank Sinatra (#95); and I Just Can't Say No to You by Parker McGee (#100).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)--Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.
2 Muskrat Love--Captain and Tennille
3 You Make Me Feel Like Dancing--Leo Sayer
4 Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)--Rod Stewart
5 Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word--Elton John
6 Hot Line--Sylvers
7 I Wish--Stevie Wonder
8 Stand Tall--Burton Cummings
9 Love So Right--Bee Gees
8 Livin' Thing--Electric Light Orchestra
10 After the Lovin'--Engelbert Humperdinck

Singles entering the chart were Dreamboat Annie by Heart (#95); The Things We Do for Love by 10 C.C. (#96); Don't Leave Me this Way by Thelma Houston (#97); Baby, You Look Good to Me Tonight by John Denver (#98); Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll! by Starland Vocal Band (#99); and C.B. Savage by Rod Hart (#100). Dreamboat Annie had originally been released in the spring of 1976 as the B-side of Crazy on You.

Basketball
CIAU
Golden Boy tournament
Waterloo 61 @ Manitoba 78

Hockey
NHL
Los Angeles 0 @ Montreal 6

30 years ago
1987

On television tonight
Our World, hosted by Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Fear and Frustration: Winter 1952



Died on this date
Ray Bolger, 83. U.S. actor, singer, and dancer. Mr. Bolger had a career that spanned a half-century, but was best known for playing the Scarecrow in the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939). He died of bladder cancer five days after his 83rd birthday.

Jim Champion, 61. U.S. football player and coach. Mr. Champion was a linebacker and tackle at Mississippi State University before playing with the New York Yanks (1950-1951). He then moved into coaching, as a line coach with Mississippi State (1957-1961), and a defensive assistant with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League (1962-1965). He molded the defense which became known as the "Headhunters," helping the Lions to their first Grey Cup championship in 1966. Mr. Champion joined the St. Louis Cardinals as an assistant coach in 1966, but returned to the Lions to accept the position of head coach after Dave Skrien was fired four games into the 1967 season. Mr. Champion was popular with the media, but was ineffective as a head coach. He led the Lions through the 10th game of the 1969 season, but was fired after the team started the season 1-9; he left the CFL with a head coaching record of 8-28-2. Mr. Champion returned to the National Football League as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints (1971-1972); scout (1973) and defensive line coach (1974-1975) with the Cardinals; and defensive line coach with the New York Jets (1976); Atlanta Falcons (1977-1979); and Green Bay Packers (1980). He died of a heart attack, four days after his 61st birthday.

Crime
British police Inspector Douglas Lovelock, whose shooting of an innocent Negro woman during a 1985 raid on her home had prompted riots in the London area of Brixton, was cleared of all criminal charges.

Economics and finance
A record 253.1 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Black or White--Michael Jackson (9th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Grandpa's Car

Europeana
The European Community recognized Croatia and Slovenia as separate states, effectively marking the collapse of the Yugoslav federation.

Health
Ontario, Quebec, and Prince Edward Island ordered mass vaccination programs to protest children and teenagers from an outbreak of meningococcal disease that had killed six in the previous month.

20 years ago
1997

Diplomacy
Princess Diana, on a visit to Angola, angered British government ministers after calling for an international ban on landmines.

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
James Hillier, 91. Canadian-born U.S. scientist. Dr. Hillier, a native of Brantford, Ontario, co-invented the electron microscope with Albert Prebus in 1938.

Awad Hamed al-Bandar, 62. Iraqi judge. Judge al-Bandar was Head of the Revolutionary Court for Dujail, issuing 143 death sentences while serving under President Saddam Hussein. Judge al-Bandar was convicted of crimes against humanity, and was hanged, 13 days after his 62nd birthday.

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, 55. Iraqi spy master. Mr. al-Tikriti, a half-brother of President Saddam Hussein, was a leader of the Mukhabarat, the Iraqi intelligence service. He was convicted of crimes against humanity and was hanged; because of incorrect measurement of how far he was expected to drop, Mr. al-Tikriti was decapitated by the rope.