January 7, 2017

220 years ago
1797

Italiana
The modern Italian flag was first used.

125 years ago
1892

Died on this date
Muhammed Tewfik Pasha, 39. Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, 1879-1892. Tewfik succeeded to the Khedivate upon the death of his father Ismail, and followed British recommendations to become a constitutional ruler. He died suddenly at the winter resort of Helwan, south of Cairo. The cause of death was stated as influenza, double pneumonia, and kidney inflammation, but a rumour spread rapidly that Khedive Tewfik had been poisoned by the Turks or even the British.

Ham Allen, 37. U.S. baseball player. Homer S. Allen was an outfielder and shortstop with the Middletown Mansfields of the National Association in 1872. He batted .169 in 16 games.

90 years ago
1927

Died on this date
Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, 75. Prime Minister of Greece, 1916, 1921. Mr. Kalogeropoulos was Prime Minister of Greece from September 3-27, 1916, and January 24-March 25, 1921. He joined the People's Party after its formation in 1920.

Communications
Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.

75 years ago
1942

War
The siege of the Bataan Peninsula began.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Ooh La La/Ain't Nobody Home--Normie Rowe (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France: Les Playboys--Jacques Dutronc (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Bang Bang--Dalida

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Dandy--The Kinks (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Green, Green Grass of Home--Tom Jones

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Green, Green Grass of Home--Tom Jones (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I'm a Believer--The Monkees (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I'm a Believer--The Monkees (3rd week at #1)
2 Snoopy vs. the Red Baron--The Royal Guardsmen
3 Winchester Cathedral--The New Vaudeville Band
4 Tell it Like it Is--Aaron Neville
5 That's Life--Frank Sinatra
6 Sugar Town--Nancy Sinatra
7 Mellow Yellow--Donovan
8 Coming Home Soldier--Bobby Vinton
9 Good Thing--Paul Revere and the Raiders
10 Standing in the Shadows of Love--Four Tops

Singles entering the chart were Wild Thing by Senator Bobby (#69); Bring it Up by James Brown and the Famous Flames (#73); Ride, Ride, Ride by Brenda Lee (#87); Tiny Bubbles by Don Ho and the Aliis (#92); I've Got to Have a Reason by the Dave Clark Five (#93); I Got to Go Back (And Watch that Little Girl Dance) by the McCoys (#96); Let's Fall in Love by Peaches & Herb (#99); Bend It by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (#100); and Gimme Some Lovin' by the Spencer Davis Group (also #100).

Died on this date
David Goodis, 49. U.S. author. Mr. Goodis wrote novels, short stories, and radio scripts in the noir crime genre; he was best known for the novel Dark Passage (1946), which was made into a movie in 1947. Mr. Goodis died of a stroke several days after being beaten while resisting a robbery attempt.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Money, Money, Money--ABBA (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Daddy Cool--Boney M. (13th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Voici les clefs--Gérard Lenorman

Diplomacy
West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt visited Madrid, where he met King Juan Carlos of Spain and Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): The Way You Are--Agnetha Fältskog and Ola Håkansson (8th week at #1)

War
French fighter-bombers struck Libyan radar installations in northern Chad, while Libyan planes bombed a Chadian government post.

25 years ago
1992

World events
A Yugoslav air force jet shot down an unarmed helicopter carrying observers from the European Community, killing all 5 people aboard. The Yugoslav defense ministry accepted responsibility for the attack and expressed "deep regret."

Diplomacy
Canadian External Affairs Minister Barbara McDougall protested the expulsion of Canadian members of parliament Geoff Scott, Svend Robinson, and Beryl Gaffney from China. The MPs were in the midst of a fact-finding tour concerning China's human rights record.

U.S. President George Bush arrived in Tokyo to begin three days of trade talks with Japanese government leaders and business executives.

Transportation
The Jeep Grand Cherokee was introduced at the Detroit Auto Show.

Baseball
Tom Seaver, who pitched for the New York Mets (1967-1977, 1983); Cincinnati Reds (1977-1982); Chicago White Sox (1984-1986); and Boston Red Sox (1986), compiling a record of 311-205, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, receiving a record 98.8% of the vote.

20 years ago
1997

Politics and government
Newt Gingrich (Georgia) became the first Republican to be re-elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 68 years.

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Bobby Hamilton, 49. U.S. auto racing driver. Mr. Hamilton drove with the NASCAR circuit from 1988-2006, winning 500-mile races at Phoenix in 1996 and Talladega in 2001. He died of head and neck cancer.

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
New York Jets 16 @ New England 37

NFC Wild Card Playoff
New York Giants 20 @ Philadelphia 23