January 9, 2019

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Olga!

670 years ago
1349

Abominations
The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, was rounded up and incinerated.

220 years ago
1799

Economics and finance
British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduced an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.

200 years ago
1819

Born on this date
James Francis. U.K.-born Australian politician. Mr. Francis, a native of London, moved to Van Diemen's Land in 1847 and to Victoria in 1853, achieving success as a banker and being elected to the state legislature in 1859. He served as Premier of Victoria from 1872-1874, and was a minister without portfolio in 1880. Mr. Francis died on January 25, 1884, 16 days after his 65th birthday.

180 years ago
1839

Born on this date
John Knowles Paine. U.S. composer. Mr. Paine was the first American composer to gain fame for large-scale orchestral music, and was the senior member of a group known as the Boston Six. He served as director of the New England Conservatory of Music and taught at Harvard University for many years. Mr. Paine wrote two symphonies and numerous pieces for chorus and orchestra, and for organ. The only piece of Mr. Paine's music I've ever heard is the Prelude to his music for a production of Oedipus Tyrannus at Harvard (1881)--and it's a great piece of music. Mr. Paine died on April 25, 1906 at the age of 67.

War
The State of Maine prepared for war with New Brunswick, as Colonel Jarvis and 800 Maine volunteers occupied the disputed territory of Aroostook.

Technology
The French Academy of Sciences announced the invention of the Daguerreotype photography process.

160 years ago
1859

Born on this date
Carrie Chapman Catt. U.S. activist. Mrs. Catt was one of the most prominent suffragettes of the early 20th century; she was president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and was the founder of the League of Women Voters and the International Alliance of Women. Mrs. Catt died of a heart attack on March 9, 1947 at the age of 88.

130 years ago
1889

Disasters
The Niagara Suspension Bridge collapsed at Queenston, Ontario during a winter storm.

125 years ago
1894

Technology
New England Telephone and Telegraph installed the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.

120 years ago
1899

Academia
The Collège Sacré-Coeur was opened in Caraquet, New Brunswick by the Eudist Fathers.

Weather
Manitobans suffered under a record low temperature of - 52.8 Celsius (- 63 Fahrenheit).

110 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Anthony Mamo. 1st President of Malta, 1974-1976; Governor General of Malta, 1971-1974. Sir Anthony was Malta's Chief Justice from 1957-1971, when he was appointed the country's last Governor General before it became a republic. He died on May 1, 2008 at the age of 99.

Exploration
Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, planted the British flag 97 nautical miles (112 miles) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.

100 years ago
1919

World events
Three days after Communist shock troops had occupied the German Chancellery in Berlin, regular troops commanded by War Minister Gustav Noske counterattacked with howitzers and machine guns.

80 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Johann Strauss III, 72. Austrian composer and conductor. Mr. Strauss, the son of composer Eduard Strauss, nephew of composers Josef Strauss and Johann Strauss II, and grandson of composer Johan Strauss I, wrote operettas and dance music, but was better known as a conductor.

75 years ago
1944

Died on this date
Antanas Smetona, 69. 1st President of Lithuania, 1919-1920, 1926-1940. Mr. Smetona was a member of the Lithuanian Democratic Party from 1902-1907, and then joined the Party of National Progress before joining the Lithuanian Nationalist Union in 1924. He was elected President in 1919 by the State Council, but was defeated in an election by the Constituent Assembly in 1920. Mr. Smetona became President again in December 1926 after a coup unseated President Kazys Grinius. He ruled by decree from 1929 until he was forced to flee the country when Soviet forces occupied Lithuania in 1940. Mr. Smetona fled to Germany and was eventually allowed to emigrate to the United States, where he lived as a private citizen until his death in a fire at the house of his son.

War
Allied units in Italy reached to within 4 1/2 miles of Cassino, on the northern end of their 10-mile line. German forces added large reinforcements to their units in an effort to eliminate the Yugoslavian partisans in western and central Bosnia. Soviet offensives continued in Ukraine, with more than 110 localities being captured, including Polonnoye and Alexandrovka.

Diplomacy
Iraq and Syria announced an agreement on questions of unity.

Politics and government
The U.S. Prohibition Party nominated Claude A. Watson as its 1944 U.S. presidential candidate; he called for a fight against "governmental bureaucracy and extravagance and the strongly entrenched liquor power."

Labour
American Federation of Labor President William Green and the Congress of Industrial Organizations' Postwar Planning Committee urged the creation of centralized agencies to plan the reconversion of industry to peacetime activities.

70 years ago
1949

Died on this date
William Kelley, 79. U.S. inventor. Mr. Kelley invented the automatic printing press.

War
The United Kingdom put her Mediterranean forces on alert and threatend to take action against Israel to prevent further downings of Royal Air Force planes in the Negev desert.

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): It's Only Make Believe--Conway Twitty (4th week at #1)

War
North Vietnamese troops were reported to have crossed the Laotian border and established posts 12 miles inside Laos.

Diplomacy
The United States refused to recognize Panama's extension of her territorial waters to a 12-mile limit.

Canada returned to Poland Polish treasures taken during World War II.

Defense
The East German Foreign Ministry indicated that it would accept the presence of Western troops in Berlin if they were there under United Nations auspices to guarantee the security of a "free city" of West Berlin.

Politics and government
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his State of the Union address to Congress. Rejecting the idea of a "Fortress America," he said that the United States "can and must" help nations "that want to defend their freedom but cannot fully do so from their own means." He also claimed that "a healthy and vigorous [economic] recovery has been under way since last May."



The U.S. Senate voted 60-36 to defeat a bipartisan effort to impose strict limitations on Senate filibusters.

Major Camilo Cienfuegos, commander of Havana Province, legalized the Cuban Communist Party.

Algerian deputies in the French National Assembly demanded "integral fusion" of Algeria with metropolitan France.

Americana
U.S. Senator James Murray (Democrat--Montana) and 51 co-signers introduced a bill in the Senate to admit Hawaii to statehood.

50 years ago
1969

On television tonight
Dragnet 1969, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Homicide: DR-22



Disasters
Two days of bush fires in the Australian state of Victoria killed 15 people and destroyed 209 homes.

Seven fishermen drowned when their boat sank outside the port of Chimbote, Peru.

40 years ago
1979

Protest
Anti-government riots in Tehran resulted in four deaths.

Hockey
NHL-U.S.S.R. exhibition
Super Series '79
Soviet Wings 4 @ Boston 1

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Kokomo--The Beach Boys (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Smooth Criminal--Michael Jackson

Died on this date
Bill Terry, 90. U.S. baseball player and manager. Mr. Terry was a first baseman with the New York Giants from 1923-1936 and managed the Giants from 1932-1941. He batted .341 with 154 home runs and 1,078 runs batted in in 1,721 games. He was the last National League player to hit .400, leading the NL with a .401 average in 1930. As a manager, Mr. Terry led the Giants to the World Series championship in 1933, and National League pennants in 1936 and 1937, compiling a record of 823-661 (.555). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a player in 1954.

Economics and finance
Outgoing U.S. President Ronald Reagan submitted his final budget--for fiscal 1990--to the United States Congress. He proposed to spend $1.15 trillion, with a deficit of $92.5 billion. Defense spending would grow 2% faster than inflation. More money was targeted for AIDS, rescuing insolvent savings and loan institutions, and cleaning up contaminated nuclear weapons facilities. The President also proposed elimination of 82 federal programs. All of this hardly mattered, since Vice President George Bush would be replacing Mr. Reagan as President eleven days hence.

25 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand: It Keeps Rainin' (Tears from My Eyes)--Bitty McLean (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)--Meat Loaf (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Chart Information Network): Twist and Shout--Chaka Demus and the Pliers (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Johnny Temple, 66. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Temple was a second baseman with the Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs (1952-1959, 1964); Cleveland Indians (1960-1961); Baltimore Orioles (1962); and Houston Colt .45s (1962-1963), batting .284 with 22 home runs and 384 runs batted in in 1,420 games. A leadoff hitter, he walked almost twice as often as he struck out, and was selected to play in six All-Star games. His best season was 1959, when he hit .311 with 8 home runs and 67 runs batted in. Mr. Temple was popular with fans, but was reportedly unpopular with other players, and was fired by the Reds as a coach in 1964 after getting into a fight with fellow coach Reggie Otero. Mr. Temple fell on hard times after his playing career, losing lots of money in a bad investment, and being charged in 1977 with being involved in a heavy equipment theft ring. He testified against his partners in crime, and disappeared from the public eye.

Defense
Slovakia accepted the proposal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for a limited association with NATO.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Minnesota 10 @ New York Giants 17

Rodney Hampton rushed for touchdowns of 51 and 2 yards in the 3rd quarter to enable the Giants to overcome a 10-3 halftime deficit and defeat the Vikings before 75,089 fans at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

AFC Wild Card Playoff
Denver 24 @ Los Angeles Raiders 42

Napoleon McCallum rushed for touchdowns of 26, 2, and 1 yards in the 2nd half as the Raiders broke a 21-21 halftime tie to defeat the Broncos before 65,314 fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

20 years ago
1999

Personal
This blogger put in an appearance at the Blue Carbuncle/Sherlock Holmes birthday dinner of the CPR Stockholders of Edmonton at the Faculty Club on the University of Alberta campus.

Crime
Canadian diamond driller Norbert Reinhart was released after 94 days by Colombian leftist rebels after a U.S.$70,000 ransom was paid.

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
San Francisco 18 @ Atlanta 20

Jamal Anderson rushed for touchdowns of 2 and 34 yards in the 1st half and Morten Andersen kicked field goals of 29 and 32 yards in the 2nd half to provide the winning margin as the Falcons held on to edge the 49ers before 70,262 fans in the first playoff game ever played at the Georgia Dome. With 2:57 remaining in regulation time and the Falcons leading 20-10, San Francisco quarterback Steve Young rushed 8 yards for a touchdown and backup quarterback Ty Detmer, holding for the placekicks, fumbled the snap on the convert, but completed a pass to Greg Clark for a 2-point convert. The game ended with Mr. Young throwing an interception to William White at midfield.

AFC Divisional Playoff
Miami 3 @ Denver 38

Terrell Davis rushed for touchdowns of 1 and 20 yards in the 1st quarter as the Broncos opened an early lead and coasted to a rout of the Dolphins before 75,729 fans at Mile High Stadium.

10 years ago
2009

Scandal
The Illinois House of Representatives voted to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Democratic Governor was removed from office by the state Senate later in the month.