December 23, 2018

1,100 years ago
918

Died on this date
Konrad I, 28. King of East Francia, 911-918. Konrad I was chosen by the rulers of the East Frankish stem duchies to succeed Louis the Child, becoming the first king not of the Carolingian dynasty, the first to be elected by the nobility, and the first to be anointed. He had difficulty maintaining power against the nobility, and died several weeks after being wounded in battle against Amulf, Duke of Bavaria. Konrad I was succeeded on the throne by Henry the Fowler.

330 years ago
1688

World events
As part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England fled from England to Paris after being deposed in favor of his nephew William of Orange, and his daughter Mary.

230 years ago
1788

Americana
Maryland passed an act to cede a parcel of land for the seat of the national government, part of which later became the District of Columbia.

225 years ago
1793

Born on this date
Dost Mohammad Khan. Emir of Afghanistan, 1826-1839, 1845-1863. Dost Mohammad Khan took power as the result of victory in tribal warfare. He was overthrown as the result of British intervention, but regained power with the promise that the U.K. would not intervene in Afghan politics. Dost Mohammad Khan renewed hostility against Britain in 1846, and then reversed his position and signed an alliance with the U.K. in 1855. Dost Mohammad Khan, with British help, led his troops to victory over invading Persian forces on May 26, 1863, but suddenly died two weeks later on June 9 at the age of 69, and was succeeded as Emir by Sher Ali Khan.

War
The Battle of Savenay resulted in a decisive defeat of the royalist counter-revolutionaries in War in the Vendée during the French Revolution.

100 years ago
1918

Born on this date
José Greco. Italian-born U.S. dancer and choreographer. Mr. Greco, born Costanzo Greco Bucci, moved to New York City with his family at the age of 10. He popularized flamenco dancing on stage and screen in the 1940s and '50s, and died on December 31, 2000, eight days after his 82nd birthday.

Helmut Schmidt. 5th Chancellor of West Germany, 1974-1982. Mr. Schmidt, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), represented various ridings in the Bundestag from 1957-1987 and held several cabinet posts before serving as Chancellor. As Chancellor, Mr. Schmidt supported European economic and political cooperation, but was forced out of office on a non-confidence vote in the Bundestag. Mr. Schmidt died on November 10, 2015 at the age of 96.

75 years ago
1943

War
The Soviet Baltic Army fought its way to a point 12 miles north of Vitebsk. Chinese forces recaptured the city of Sungtze, mopping up Japanese forces west of the Sungtze River. U.K. and U.S. heavy bombers assaulted Bangkok, setting fires visible for 100 miles.

Business
The U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission ruled that the Interstate Commerce Act had not been violated by the Atlantic Coast Line's failure to serve 18 Negro seamen meals in a dining car, as the service to the Negroes in their seats was the same as diner service.

70 years ago
1948

Died on this date
Gil Dobie, 70. U.S. football coach. Mr. Dobie played end and quarterback with the University of Minnesota from 1900-1902, but was best known as head coach at North Dakota Agricultural College (1906-1907); University of Washington (1908-1916); U.S. Naval Academy (1917-1919); Cornell University (1920-1935); and Boston College (1936-1938), compiling a record of 182-45-15, including 58-0-3 at Washington. It took Mr. Dobie just 108 games to achieve 100 career wins, an NCAA record that stood until 2014, and still a major college record. Mr. Dobie's Cornell teams from 1921-1923 were recognized as national champions. Mr. Dobie also compiled a 17-5 record as NDSAC's basketball coach from 1908-1908. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1951.

Kōki Hirota, 70. Prime Minister of Japan, 1936-1937;
Iwane Matsui, 70. Japanese military officer; Kenji Doihara, 65. Japanese military officer; Hideki Tojo, 63. Prime Minister of Japan, 1941-1944; Seishirō Itagaki, 63. Japanese military officer and politician; Heitarō Kimura, 60. Japanese military officer; Akira Mutō, 56. Japanese military officer. The seven generals and politicians had been convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East of war crimes committed during World War II, and were hanged by Allied occupation authorities at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo.

War
The Israeli-Egyptian truce in the Negev desert broke down as Israeli forces attacked Egyptian positions near Gaza and other coastal cities.

Politics and government
The Japanese Diet passed a vote of non-confidence in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, forcing the government to dissolve parliament and call new elections for early 1949.

Economics and finance
Yugoslavia signed a one-year, $120-million trade agreement with the United Kingdom after promising to compensate British owners of nationalized Yugoslavian factories.

Labour
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities issued the pamphlet 100 Things You Should Know About Communism in Labor, attacking 20 Congress of Industrial Organizations unions as Communist-controlled. Among the unions listed were the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union; National Maritime Union; United Public Workers of America; and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. ILWU President Harry Bridges was criticized with 13 other CIO officials as a Communist.

60 years ago
1958

Politics and government
Nationalist Chinese President Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek announced that he would not seek a third term as President when his current term expired in 1960.

Labour
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Chicago that union strike benefits were not taxable.

Football
NCAA
Joe Kuharich, recently fired as head coach of the Washington Redskins, was named to succeed Terry Brennan as head coach of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

50 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Koi no Kisetsu--Pinky and the Killers (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin (3rd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Wichita Lineman--Glen Campbell (2nd week at #1)
2 Stormy--Classics IV
3 Shame, Shame--Magic Lanterns
4 I Love How You Love Me--Bobby Vinton
5 Cinnamon--Derek
6 Scarborough Fair--Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66
7 For Once in My Life--Stevie Wonder
8 Chewy Chewy--Ohio Express
9 Cloud Nine--The Temptations
10 A Ray of Hope--The Rascals

Singles entering the chart were Eloise by Barry Ryan (#73); These Eyes by the Guess Who (#85); Hey Jude by Wilson Pickett (#86); This Magic Moment by Jay and the Americans (#87); Hang 'em High by Booker T. & the M.G.'s (#89); Feelin' So Good (S.k.o.o.b.y-D.o.o.) by the Archies (#90); Honey Do by the Strangeloves (#94); Saturday Night at the World by Mason Williams (#95); Soul Sister, Brown Sugar by Sam & Dave (#98); Release Me by Johnny Adams (#99); and Don't Pat Me on the Back and Call Me Brother by Kasandra (#100).

On television tonight
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock, on BBC 1
Tonight's episode: The Blue Carbuncle

This was the final episode of the series.

Space
The Apollo 8 crew of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders became the first people to leave the earth's gravitational pull and enter that of the moon; they were more than 200,000 miles from earth. In their daily television coverage from the spacecraft, the astronauts showed pictures of the earth, the first time people had seen such views.

War
At a news conference in Seoul, Lloyd Bucher, commander of the U.S. spy ship USS Pueblo , said that he and the crew members had been brutally beaten during their 11-month imprisonment, and that he had been kept in solitary confinement. "Not once," he said, did his ship violate North Korean waters, but he confessed to such a violation because of "pretty vivid" threats.

Politics and government
Italian Prime Minister Mariano Rumor received a vote of confidence from the Chamber of Deputies for his 20-member coalition cabinet of Christian Democrats, Socialists, and Republicans.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Una donna per amico--Lucio Battisti (10th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord--Boney M. (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord--Boney M. (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Le Freak--Chic (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Paradise by the Dashboard Light--Meat Loaf
2 Trojan Horse--Luv'
3 Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord--Boney M.
4 Get Off--Foxy
5 Y.M.C.A.--Village People
6 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?--Rod Stewart
7 Felicidad--BZN
8 Sandy--John Travolta
9 Giving Up, Giving In--The Three Degrees
10 Who Pays the Ferryman?/Wie Betaalt de Veerman?--Yannis Markopoulos

Singles entering the chart were Stumblin' In by Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman (#22); Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Dury and the Blockheads (#23); Holland Disco by the New Dutch Organ Group (#29); Music Box Dancer by Frank Mills (#31); Nachtrijders by Henk Wijngaard (#32); Hey Girl by Gruppo Sportivo (#33); and Still Believe by Herman Brood & his Wild Romance (#35).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Le Freak--Chic (2nd week at #1)
2 You Don't Bring Me Flowers--Barbra & Neil
3 Too Much Heaven--Bee Gees
4 Sharing the Night Together--Dr. Hook
5 My Life--Billy Joel
6 I Love the Night Life (Disco 'round)--Alicia Bridges
7 (Our Love) Don't Throw it All Away--Andy Gibb
8 Hold the Line--Toto
9 Y.M.C.A.--Village People
10 I Just Wanna Stop--Gino Vannelli

Singles entering the chart were Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? by Rod Stewart (#47); Blue Morning, Blue Day by Foreigner (#67); No Tell Lover by Chicago (#82); I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor (#84); Stormy by Santana (#88); and Take it Any Way You Wanna by the Outlaws (#98).

Canada's top 10 (RPM)
1 You Don't Bring Me Flowers--Barbra & Neil (3rd week at #1)
2 I Just Wanna Stop--Gino Vannelli
3 Sharing the Night Together--Dr. Hook
4 I Love the Night Life (Disco 'round)--Alicia Bridges
5 Y.M.C.A.--Village People
6 Too Much Heaven--Bee Gees
7 How Much I Feel--Ambrosia
8 (Our Love) Don't Throw it All Away--Andy Gibb
9 My Life--Billy Joel
10 Time Passages--Al Stewart

Singles entering the chart were (Boogie Oogie) Dancin' Shoes by Claudja Barry (#84); Fire by the Pointer Sisters (#91); Please Come Home for Christmas by the Eagles (#92); Easy Driver by Kenny Loggins (#94); Soul Man by the Blues Brothers (#99); and Love Don't Live Here Anymore by Rose Royce (#100).

Disasters
The bodies of 108 people were pulled from the Tyrrhenian Sea near Palermo, Sicily after an Alitalia jet crashed just short of the airport; 21 survived.

Hockey
NHL
St. Louis 1 @ Toronto 6
New York Islanders 9 @ New York Rangers 4

Islanders' centre Bryan Trottier scored 5 goals and 3 assists to lead his team over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. He set a league record for points in a period with 3 goals and 3 assists in the 2nd period.

30 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Don't Worry Be Happy--Bobby McFerrin (8th week at #1)

25 years ago
1993

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): The Sign--Ace of Base (3rd week at #1)

Journalism
The Toronto Star completed its transformation to a full morning newspaper, with its last "Final Edition" issue.

20 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Anatoly Rybakov. U.S.S.R. author. Mr. Rybakov, a native of Ukraine, wrte the anti-Stalinist tetralogy Children of the Arbat (1987-1994) and many popular children's books. He died in New York City.

Joe Orlando, 71. Italian-born U.S. writer and illustrator. Mr. Orlando, who moved to the United States at the age of 2, worked as a writer and editor for various comic books and comic strips, but was perhaps best known for his work as an illustrator with Mad magazine in the 1960s. He was associate publisher and illustrator with Mad from 1992-1997.