January 12, 2018

180 years ago
1838

Religion
Mormon Church leader Joseph Smith and his followers fled Kirtland, Ohio to avoid arrest after a bank founded by Mr. Smith had failed during the panic of 1837.

170 years ago
1848

World events
The Palermo rising took place in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

150 years ago
1868

Canadiana
Nova Scotia voted to leave Confederation unless it could get better terms.

125 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Hermann Göring. German politician. Reichsmarschall Göring was a flying ace in World War I before becoming an early and leading member of the Nazi Party. He held numerous posts in the regime of Fuehrer Adolf Hitler, including commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe from 1935-1945. At the Nuremberg trial of accused Nazi war criminals, Reichsmarschall Göring was convicted of conspiracy; waging a war of aggression; war crimes; and crimes against humanity. On October 15, 1946, the night before he was to be hanged, Reichsmarschall Göring committed suicide at the age of 53 by consuming a potassium cyanide capsule.

Alfred Rosenberg. Estonian-born German politician. Dr. Rosenberg, an architect by profession, was Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories in the Nazi government of Fuehrer Adolf Hitler from 1941-1945, but was better known as one of the Nazis' leading theorists. He hated true Christianity and helped to establish "Positive Christianity," as well as Nazi theories of race, persecution of Jews, abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles, opposition to "degenerate" modern art, and lebensraum. Dr. Rosenberg was convicted at Nuremberg of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and was hanged on October 16, 1946 at the age of 53.

110 years ago
1908

Radio
A long-distance radio message was sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.

100 years ago
1918

Hockey
NHL
Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens scored 5 goals in a game against the Ottawa Senators.

90 years ago
1928

Died on this date
Henry Judd Gray, 34; Ruth Brown Snyder, 33. U.S. criminals. Mrs. Snyder and her lover, Mr. Gray, a corset salesman, were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison, New York, at 11:06 P.M. and 11:14 P.M. respectively. They had been convicted at Long Island City on May 9, 1927 (by their own separate confessions) of the murder of the woman's husband, 45-year-old Albert Snyder, art editor of Motor Boating magazine. Mr. Snyder had been found in his bed at the Snyder residence in Queen's Village, Long Island, strangled and clubbed to death, on March 20, 1927. Mrs. Snyder's last words were: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." She was survived by a 10-year-old daughter, as was Mr. Gray. Autopsies of the murderers showed that they had normal brains. The reader will note that the trial took place just two months after the crime, and the execution took place just eight months after the trial, in contrast to the 15-20 years of appeals that are so common today. One of the official witnesses to the execution was Tom Howard, a reporter with the New York Daily News. Mr. Howard had strapped a camera to his leg, and snapped a picture at the moment the switch was turned on while Mrs. Snyder was in the chair. The photo was published on the front page, under the headline "DEAD!", and the reaction was so sensational that the Daily News had to print 750,000 extra copies to meet the additional demand. Security at executions has been beefed up since then. Mr. Howard's actions inspired the 1933 movie Picture Snatcher, starring James Cagney.

75 years ago
1943

At the movies
Shadow of a Doubt, co-written by Thornton Wilder, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, and Hume Cronyn, opened in theatres.

War
Soviet forces breached the German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted since September 8, 1941. U.S. forces occupied Amchitka, one of the Rat Islands in the western Aleutians. Allied forces captured Fezzan in southern Libya with the conquest of Murzuk, the capital, and Sebha, the main military centre.

Politics and government
Ferdinand Grenier, former Communist deputy from St. Denis, arrived in London and announced the adhesion of the French Communists to General Charles de Gaulle's French National Committee.

Crime
A French Imperial Council spokesman announced at Allied North African headquarters that a small number of people had been arrested on January 10 in connection with the December 24, 1942 assassination in Algiers of Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan, French chief of state for North Africa.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Office of Price Administration ordered the price of corn frozen for 60 days at approximately $1 per bushel.

Labour
About 8,000 of the estimated 18,000 striking Pennsylvania anthracite coal miners returned to work following a joint appeal the previous day by the United Mine Workers of America and mine operators.

70 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Peter de Rochegune Munch, 77. Danish politician. Dr. Munch, a historian by profession, was a member of the Radikale Venstre, and held several cabinet posts, most notably Foreign Minister from 1929-1940, leaving office just after the Nazi occupation of Denmark. Dr. Munch supported unilateral disarmament and Danish neutrality, and was a delegate to the League of Nations from 1920-1938, serving as head of the League's disarmament commission.

Law
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ordered Oklahoma to provide the same legal education to Negro students as to whites. The ruling was a response to a suit brought by Ada Fisher, who had been denied admission to the University of Oklahoma law school after graduating from a Negro college in Langston, Oklahoma.

Academia
The U.S. President's Commission on Higher Education recommended a federal aid program to help establish a system of free junior colleges.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman presented Congress with a $39.7-billion budget proposal, the second-largest peacetime budget in American history.

Business
A U.S. federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted General Electric, Westinghouse, and eight smaller firms for fixing prices of electrical equipment sold to West Coast public utilities.

60 years ago
1958

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Together, starring Joseph Cotten and Christine White

Died on this date
Charles Hatfield, 82. U.S. meteorologist. Mr. Hatfield was the most famous rainmaker in American history, using a secret mixture of 23 chemicals in large galvanized evaporating tanks. His most notorious achievement occurred in January 1916, when he was asked by San Diego city council to produce enough rain to fill the Morena Dam reservoir. Several days of heavy rain resulted in flooding that caused two dams to overflow, and reportedly caused 20 deaths. Mr. Hatfield and the city of San Diego batted for years in court over whether he was entitled to his fee. Mr. Hatfield returned to his previous occupation as a sewing machine salesman during the Depression of the 1930s, and took his chemical formula with him to the grave. His story inspired the film The Rainmaker (1956), starring Burt Lancaster.

Politics and government
West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt was elected to replace Franz Neumann as chairman of the Berlin Social Democratic Party.

Saichi Kaneshi, a leftist who advocated the return of Okinawa to Japanese rule and the withdrawal of U.S. air and missile forces, was elected Mayor of the Okinawan capital of Naha.

Labour
All major hotels in the Bahamas were closed by a walkout of 7,000 utility, maintenance, and hotel workers demanding recognition of their right to organize.

Basketball
NBA
Dolph Schayes, the dominant forward of the Syracuse Nationals, scored 23 points in a victory over the Detroit Pistons, surpassing George Mikan as the National Basketball Association's new career scoring leader with 11,770 points. Mr. Schayes played for 16 seasons and finished with 18,438 points.

Football
NFL
Ray Prochaska, who had served with the Edmonton Eskimos as an assistant coach under Pop Ivy from 1955-1957, shocked the club by telling them that he was turning down the position of head coach with the Eskimos to join Mr. Ivy as an assistant with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League. He would have made more money as a head coach in Canada (approximately $15,000 per year) than as an assistant in the NFL.

Pro Bowl @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
West 26 East 7

NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association adopted a new rule, the 2-point conversion option after touchdowns, opening coaches to endless second-guessing, but also giving teams another way to win.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: Snoopy's Christmas--The Royal Guardsmen (2nd week at #1)

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Hello Goodbye--The Beatles (2nd week at #1)
2 Daydream Believer--The Monkees
3 Bottle of Wine--The Fireballs
4 Dear Eloise--The Hollies
5 Jezebel--The Witness Inc.
6 Next Plane to London--The Rose Garden
7 Neon Rainbow--The Box Tops
8 Monterey--Eric Burdon & the Animals
9 Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)--John Fred and his Playboy Band
10 Different Drum--Stone Poneys
Pick of the Week: That's All Right--Brenda Lee
New this week: I Wish it Would Rain--The Temptations
Keep the Ball Rolling--Al Hirt
New Orleans--Neil Diamond
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition was In)--The First Edition
Has She Got the Nicest Eyes--Gary Lewis and the Playboys

Died on this date
Rogelia Cruz Martinez. Guatemalan crime victim. Miss Cruz, who was Miss Guatemala in 1950, was murdered. She wa suspected of having leftist sympathies, and Communists in Guatemala blamed the United States for her murder.

War
The United States and Cambodia agreed on a policy to keep Cambodia from becoming involved in the Vietnam War. Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops had reportedly been using Cambodia as a sanctuary for raids into Vietnam. In December 1967, reports circulated that a policy of "hot pursuit" by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces was being considered in which the Allied forces would pursue the enemy into Cambodia.

Politics and government
Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) President Alphonse Massamba-Debat dismissed Prime Minister Ambroise Noumazalaye, declaring the position of Prime Minister to be superfluous.

40 years ago
1978

On television tonight
Class of '65, starring Tony Bill, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Class Crusader

Died on this date
Lee Metcalf, 66. U.S. politician. Mr. Metcalf, a Democrat, represented Montana's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1953-1961 and in the U.S. Senate from 1961-1978, and was known for his support for conservation. He was Permanent Acting President pro tempore of the Senate from 1963 until his death, and was the only person ever to hold the position. Sen. Metcalf died 16 days before his 67th birthday, and the day before Senate colleague Hubert Humphrey.

War
Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Vo Dong Giang said that Vietnam would not withdraw its troops from the border region of Vietnam and Cambodia unless Cambodia agreed to negotiations.

Protest
Rioting broke out in Managua following the funeral of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal, editor and publisher of the opposition newspaper La Prensa, who had been assassinated two days earlier. 40,000 people attended the funeral of Mr. Chamorro, whose assassination was believed by many to have been ordered by Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

20 years ago
1998

Diplomacy
Canadian diplomat Louise Frechette was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Scandal
Linda Tripp provided Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's office with taped conversations between herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

10 years ago
2008

Disasters
A traffic accident near Bathurst, New Brunswick left eight people dead, including a woman and seven teenagers who were all members of the Bathurst High School basketball team.

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
Seattle 20 @ Green Bay 42



AFC Divisional Playoff
Jacksonville 20 @ New England 31