January 15, 2018

525 years ago
1493

Exploration
Christopher Columbus departed Hispaniola for Spain, ending his first journey to the New World.

230 years ago
1788

Died on this date
Gaetano Latilla, 77. Italian composer. Mr. Latilla wrote 49 operas, and was the most important Italian opera composer in the period immediately preceding his nephew Niccolò Piccinni. Mr. Latilla died three days after his 77th birthday.

225 years ago
1793

World events
France's National Convention convicted deposed King Louis XVI of treason. 648 deputies voted to convict, none voted to acquit, and 23 abstained.

200 years ago
1818

Science
A paper by David Brewster was read to the Royal Society in London, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a "supplement" (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light.

140 years ago
1878

Born on this date
Johanna Müller-Hermann, 63. Austrian composer. Mrs. Müller-Hermann was known for her vocal works. She died on April 19, 1941 at the age of 63.

125 years ago
1893

Born on this date
Ivor Novello. U.K. entertainer. Mr. Novello, born David Ivor Davies, first achieved success as a songwriter, with his most popular composition being Keep the Home Fires Burning (1914). He then achieved success as an actor on stage and in movies such as The Lodger (1927) and Downhill (1927). Mr. Novello returned to writing stage musicals in the 1930s and 1940s, such as Glamorous Night (1935) and Perchance to Dream (1945). He died of a heart attack at the age of 58 on March 6, 1951, hours after completing a performance in King's Rhapsody (1949).

Died on this date
Fanny Kemble, 83. U.K. actress and writer. Miss Kemble, a member of a famous acting family, had a successful career on stage spanning four decades, and also wrote plays, poems, and non-fiction. She was married to American planter Pierce Butler from 1834-1849, and spent much time in the United States.

110 years ago
1908

Academia
The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority became the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by Negro American college women.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
Gamal Abdel Nasser. 2nd President of Egypt, 1954-1970. Mr. Nasser was an officer and chief organizer in the military coup that toppled King Faisal from the Egyptian throne in 1952, but installed General Mohammed Naguib as a figurehead president. Mr. Nasser took power himself in 1954, and turned Egypt into a military dictatorship under his control. He embarked on economic reforms and public works projects such as the Aswan High Dam. Egypt’s decisions to accept arms from the U.S.S.R. and to nationalize the Suez Canal alarmed the U.S.A. and U.K., precipitating the Suez crisis of 1956, in which an Anglo-French force swept into Egypt and achieved great success before being called back in the wake of disapproval from the United States. In February 1958, Egypt and Syria combined to form the United Arab Republic, which broke up just over 3½ years later when Syria abandoned the union because Egypt appeared to benefit from the UAR more than Syria. The Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt in June 1967 was another military disaster for Egypt, but Mr. Nasser retained his popularity. He was a charismatic figure who seemed to symbolize the aspirations of Arab peoples. On September 27, 1970 Mr. Nasser achieved a diplomatic success when he convened a meeting in Cairo of Arab nations that produced an end to the Jordanian civil war between King Hussein's troops and Palestinian guerrillas (led by a man hitherto unknown to the west, Yasser Arafat) that had begun 10 days earlier. Mr. Nasser, a diabetic who had suffered a heart attack in late 1969 which had been kept secret, suffered another heart attack on September 28, this one fatal, at the age of 52.

João Figueiredo. 30th President of Brazil, 1979-1985. General Figueiredo was the last President of Brazil to hold the office during the period of military rule following the 1964 coup d'état. He was Chief Minister of the Military Cabinet from 1969-1974 and head of the National Intelligence Service from 1974-1978. Gen. Figueiredo continued the process of redemocratization that his predecessor, General Ernesto Geisel, had pursued, but opposed a direct election for the presidency, in favour of an indirect election by Congress. Opposition candidate Tancredo Neves won the election, and Gen. Figueiredo finished his term and retired. He died on December 24, 1999 at the age of 81.

75 years ago
1943

Died on this date
Eric Knight, 45. U.K.-born U.S. author. Mr. Knight, a native of England who moved to the United States in 1912, was best known for the novels Lassie Come-Home (1940) and This Above All (1941). He was a major in the United States Army – Special Services, and was one of the 35 people aboard a U.S. Army C-54 transport plane that crashed in Dutch Guiana while en route to the Casablanca Conference of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Jarvis Roosevelt Catoe, 36. U.S. criminal. Mr. Catoe, who strangled 10 women from 1935-1941, was executed in the electric chair in New York for the March 8, 1941 murder of Mrs. Rose Abramowitz.

War
Soviet forces began a counter-offensive at Voronezh, and recaptured 30 more localities--six in the Caucasus, eight in the Northern Donets, and 16 in the Zimovniki areas. U.K. forces in Libya resumed their advance on Tripoli, driving northwestward 40 miles from the Buerat el Hsun-Wadi Zemzem area to the Sedada Bir Tala area. Allied ground forces broke through and destroyed enemy forward positions at Sanananda Point in New Guinea. U.S. planes in the Solomon Islands damaged three Japanese destroyers; set a cargo ship afire; and shot down 30 planes, losing only 7 of their own. The Cuban government announced that 8,000-10,000 people would be drafted for military service by April.

Diplomacy
Nearly 800 Japanese living near Lima, Peru were taken into custody as the first step in a plan to deport 22,000 to the United States for internment. German officials in Buenos Aires asked the Argentine government to provide a safe-conduct return to Germany for Captain Dietrich Niebuhr, attache to the German embassy in Buenos Aires, whom the Argentine government had asked to be recalled.

Defense
Construction on The Pentagon, the world's largest office building, was completed in Arlington County, Virginia after 16 months.

Politics and government
The French National Committee in London invited all Frenchmen except collaborators with the Vichy regime to join them in unity.

Labour
The U.S. National War Labor Board ordered striking coal miners to return to work, and 32 officers of United Mine Workers of America agreed in Washington to advise strikers to end their unofficial walkout.

Disasters
18 U.S. Army officers, 8 civilians, and 9 crew members were killed when a C-54 Army transport plane crashed in a jungle in Dutch Guiana while en route to the Casablanca Conference of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

70 years ago
1948

At the movies
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, and Bruce Bennett, received its premiere screening in Los Angeles.

Died on this date
Josephus Daniels, 85. U.S. politician and diplomat. Mr. Daniels, a Democrat, edited and published the Raleigh News & Observer from 1894 until his death. He supported the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy, and played an influential role in an amendment passed by the North Carolina state legislature in 1900 that effectively disenfranchised Negroes. Mr. Daniels later said that he regretted his earlier tactics, and supported measures such as women's suffrage and child labour laws. Mr. Daniels was United States Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913-1921, and implemented prohibition of alcohol aboard Navy vessels; prohibition of prostitution within a five-mile radius of Navy installations; and prohibition of unnecessary work in the Navy on Sundays. Mr. Daniels served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 1933-1941.

War
Arab League headquarters in Cairo announced plans to occupy all of Palestine immediately after British withdrawal.

Defense
The United Kingdom signed a 20-year military agreement with Iraq, allowing British forces to remain in two Iraqi air bases.

Politics and government
Alexander Bittelman, Russian-born national committeeman of the Communist Party USA, was arrested for deportation in Miami.

Law
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill revising the Articles of War to permit enlisted men to serve on military courts trying other enlisted men.

Oil
U.S. Interior Secretary Julius Krug conferred with representatives of 24 states complaining of fuel shortages, and called on the nation to reduce its consumption of gasoline and fuel oil by 15% to relieve a "critical" supply situation.

Economics and finance
The Canadian government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King reimposed price ceilings on meat and butter.

Business
A Detroit syndicate led by Lyle Fife bought the Detroit Lions of the National Football League for $200,000.

Labour
The Screen Writers Guild voted to require affidavits from all officials affirming that they were not Communists.

60 years ago
1958

Opera
Vanessa by Samuel Barber, with libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti, received its world premiere performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, with Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Laotian Prime Minister Prince Souvanna Phouma issued a joint communique in Washington, pledging continued U.S. aid to help Laos maintain her independence.

Politics and government
The French cabinet presented the National Assembly with a constitutional reform bill increasing the powers of the president and making overthrow of a cabinet more difficult.

Law
Roy Kellock, a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada since 1944, retired.

Economics and finance
Members of the Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa South of the Sahara reached agreement in London on a technical assistance development program for sub-Saharan Africa similar to that begun in Southeast Asia by Columbo Plan nations.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board reduced the margin requirement for U.S. stock exchange transactions from 70%-50%.

Disasters
Earthquakes centred on the Andean city of Arequina and resultant landslides caused 128 deaths in Peru.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Cállate Niña--Pic-Nic (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Bill Masterton, 29. Canadian-born U.S. hockey player. Mr. Masterton, a native of Winnipeg, played centre with the University of Denver Pioneers from 1958-61, scoring 66 goals and 130 assists in 89 games. He was an All-American in each of his last two seasons, and led the Pioneers to the NCAA championship in both seasons. Mr. Masterton was signed by the Montreal Canadiens in 1961, and played with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens of the Eastern Professional Hockey League in 1961-62, scoring 31 goals and 34 assists. He joined the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League for the following season, scoring 82 points. Mr. Masterton retired from professional hockey and finished his engineering degree at the University of Denver, and settled in Minneapolis, working for Honeywell Corporation on the financial aspects of Project Apollo, and becoming an American citizen. He regained his amateur status and served as captain of the U.S. National Team in 1966-67, before accepting an offer to join the Minnesota North Stars, one of six expansion teams in the National Hockey League beginning play in 1967-68. Mr. Masterton played his first NHL game on October 11, 1967, scoring the first goal in North Stars' history. As an NHL rookie in 1967-68, Mr. Masterton scored 4 goals and 8 assists in 38 games. On January 13, 1968, the North Stars played the Oakland Seals at Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. Four minutes into the game, Mr. Masterton crossed the Oakland blue line after passing the puck to a teammate, and was hit by Oakland defencemen Larry Cahan and Ron Harris. Like most players at the time, Mr. Masterton was not wearing a helmet, and his head struck the ice hard. He almost immediately lost consciousness, was taken off on a stretcher, and died 30 hours later, becoming the National Hockey League's first (and still only) on-ice fatality. Many years later, the results of the medical examination were publicized, offering the opinion that Mr. Masterton was already suffering from a concussion when he was hit the final time, causing the final hit to produce rapid brain swelling. He had reportedly been complaining about severe headaches in his last days, and Minnesota coach Wren Blair was concerned enough about his condition to want to have him examined by a doctor. The North Stars eventually retired Mr. Masterton's jersey number 19. After the 1967-68 season, the NHL began awarding the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, presented to the player who best embodies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

Disasters
Earthquakes struck western Sicily, leaving 206 dead and 80,000 homeless.

125-mile-per-hour winds swept Scotland, killing 20 people.

40 years ago
1978

Died on this date
Margaret Bowman, 21; Lisa Levy, 20. Misses Bowman and Levy were students at Florida State University who were assaulted and strangled in their rooms at Chi Omega sorority house in Tallahassee by serial killer Ted Bundy, who then assaulted Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler before going to a basement apartment eight blocks away and assaulting student Cheryl Thomas. The murders were the ones for which Mr. Bundy was eventually executed on January 24, 1989.

Football
NFL
Super Bowl XII @ Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans
Dallas 27 Denver 10

In the first Super Bowl to be played indoors, the Cowboys defeated the Broncos before 76,400 fans. Cowboys' quarterback Roger Staubach completed 17 of 25 passes for 183 yards, including a spectacular 45-yard touchdown pass to Butch Johnson. Tony Dorsett rushed 3 yards for another Cowboy touchdown, and Robert Newhouse, on an option pass, connected with Golden Richards for a 29-yard score. Efren Herrera added three converts and two field goals. Rob Lytle rushed 1 yard for the Broncos' lone touchdown, and Jim Turner converted and added a field goal. Former Cowboys' quarterback Craig Morton had a miserable day, completing just 4 of 15 passes for 39 yards and 4 interceptions. Backup Norris Weese wasn't much better: 4 for 10 for 22 yards.



30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Always on My Mind--Pet Shop Boys (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Sean MacBride, 83. Irish politician. Mr. MacBride was Ireland's Minister of External Affairs from 1948-1951. He was a founding member and international chairman of Amnesty International and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 and the Lenin Peace Prize for 1975-1976.

25 years ago
1993

Died on this date
Sammy Cahn, 79. U.S. songwriter. Mr. Cahn was nominated 23 times for the Academy Award for best song and won 4 times, for the lyrics to Three Coins in the Fountain (Three Coins in the Fountain, 1954); All the Way (The Joker is Wild, 1957); High Hopes (A Hole in the Head, 1959); and Call Me Irresponsible (Papa's Delicate Condition, 1963).

Crime
Mafia boss Salvatore "The Beast" Riina was arrested in Sicily after three decades as a fugitive.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Gulzarilal Nanda, 99. Prime Minister of India, 1964, 1966. Mr. Nanda, a member of the Indian National Congress Party, sat in the Lok Sabha from 1957-1973. He was acting Prime Minister from May 27-June 9, 1964, after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, and from January 11-24, 1966, after the death of Lal Shastri.

Junior Wells, 63. U.S. musician. Mr. Wells, born Amos Wells Blakemore, Jr., was a Chicago blues singer and harmonicist who was best known for the song Messing with the Kid (1960) and the album Hoodoo Man Blues (1965) in a performing and recording career that spanned almost 50 years. He died after several years of declining health.

10 years ago
2008

Crime
Europol's Operation Koala arrested nine Canadians in connection with an international pedophile ring.

Business
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission brought in new regulations to restrict cross-media ownership, to ensure diversity of editorial voices in similar markets.