December 31, 2019

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mike Matson!

790 years ago
1229

War
James I "the Conqueror," King of Aragon, entered Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain), thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca.

300 years ago
1719

Died on this date
John Flamsteed, 73. English astronomer. Rev. Flamsteed, an ordained deacon in the Church of England, was appointed the first Astronomer Royal in 1675. He made some of the first observations of Uranus in 1690, erroneously thinking it was a star. Rev. Flamsteed prepared the 3,000-star catalogue Catalogus Britannicus and the Atlas Coelestis, both of which were published after his death.

260 years ago
1759

Business
Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum, and started brewing Guinness beer.

150 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Henri Matisse. French artist. Mr. Matisse was a painter and sculptor who was one of the major figures in 20th century modern art, and was often compared with Pablo Picasso. He was known for the use of colour in his paintings. Mr. Matisse died on November 3, 1954 at the age of 84.

140 years ago
1879

Technology
Thomas Edison gave his first public demonstration of the incandescent light bulb, at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

130 years ago
1889

Died on this date
George Kerferd, 58. U.K.-born Australian politician. Mr. Kerferd, a native of Liverpool, emigrated to Victoria in 1853, and became a beer and wine merchant. He represented Ovens in the Victoria Legislative Assembly from 1864-1886, and held several cabinet posts, including several terms, totalling eight years, as Attorney General. Mr. Kerferd was Premier of Victoria from 1874-1875. He was a judge on the Supreme Court of Victoria from January 1, 1886 until his death.

125 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Ernest John Moeran. U.K. composer. Mr. Moeran was English, but partly of Irish extraction, whose work was strongly influenced by English and Irish folk music. He wrote two symphonies and other orchestral, vocal, and chamber works, as well as works for piano. Mr. Moeran's life and work were interrupted by periods of heavy drinking. He had a fatal cerebral hemorrhage and fell into water near his cottage in Ireland on December 1, 1950, 30 days before his 56th birthday.

120 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez. Mexican composer and conductor. Mr. Revueltas was a violinist who served as assistant conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (1929-1935), composing film scores, chamber music, and orchestral works. He had difficulty earning money in the late 1930s, and drank himself to death on October 5, 1940 at the age of 40.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Tommy Byrne. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Byrne played with the New York Yankees (1943, 1946-1951, 1954-1957); St. Louis Browns (1951-1952); Chicago White Sox (1953); and Washington Nationals (1953), compiling a record of 85-69 with an earned run average of 4.11 in 281 games, while batting .238 with 14 home runs and 98 runs batted in in 377 games. He drove New York manager Casey Stengel to distraction with his wildness, and led the American League in bases on balls for three straight seasons (1949-1951) and in hit batsmen four times in five years (1948-1952). Mr. Byrne led the AL in winning percentage in 1950 (16-5, .762), and helped the Yankees win World Series championships in 1949, 1950, and 1956. He was Mayor of Wake Forest, North Carolina from 1973-1987. Mr. Byrne died on December 20, 2007, 11 days before his 88th birthday.

90 years ago
1929

Music
Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The performance was carried on a coast-to-coast radio broadcast, and the band's rendition of Auld Lang Syne helped to popularize the song as a New Year's Eve anthem.

75 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): A Lovely Way to Spend An Evening--The Ink Spots; Frank Sinatra (1st month at #1)

War
Hungary declared war on Germany. Operation Nordwind, the last major German offensive on the Western Front, began. After a 48-hour battle, U.S. forces seized Rochefort on the western end of the German salient in Belgium. U.S. troops attacked north of Bastogne, while other units advanced against the Germans between Bastogne and St. Hubert. Remagen was captured. U.S. forces on the west coast of Italy advanced 1 1/2 miles north of Barga and captured Sommocolonia. U.S. aircraft under the command of General Douglas MacArthur made their first daylight raid on Formosa.

Politics and government
The Polish Committee of National Liberation, operating from Lublin with the cooperation of the U.S.S.R., proclaimed itself Poland's provisional government.

The Greek government of Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou left office, as Archbishop Damaskinos was sworn in as Regent of Greece. ELAS forces accepted the development as the basis for truce negotiations in the civil war.

In his New Year's message, Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek promised the Chinese people a constitutional government before the end of World War II.

Society
Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler said in a year-end message in New York that unless the world was rebuilt on a moral foundation the end of all that had been accomplished in 5,000 years would not be far off.

Disasters
48 people were killed and more than 80 injured when the second section of the Southern Pacific Railroad's Pacific Limited rammed into the rear of the first section, 18 miles west of Ogden, Utah.

70 years ago
1949

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)--Burl Ives; Dinah Shore (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best seller): Mule Train--Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners (6th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Mule Train--Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners (5th week at #1)
--Bing Crosby
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Tennessee Ernie
2 I Can Dream, Can't I?--The Andrews Sisters
3 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer--Gene Autry and the Pinafores
4 Don't Cry, Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go, Let Her Go)--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
5 Slipping Around--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
6 A Dreamer's Holiday--Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters
--Buddy Clark with the Girl Friends
7 Dear Hearts and Gentle People--Dinah Shore
--Bing Crosby
8 Jealous Heart--Al Morgan
9 The Old Master Painter--Dick Haymes
--Richard Hayes
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
10 That Lucky Old Sun--Frankie Laine
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were the version of The Old Master Painter by Phil Harris and his Orchestra; Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song) by Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae (#31); Careless Kisses by Russ Morgan and his Orchestra (#33); Dill Pickles by Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra (#36); and The Meadows of Heaven by Perry Como (#40). Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song) was the other side of Echoes, charting at #18. The Meadows of Heaven was the B-side of A Dreamer's Holiday.

Theatre
Born Yesterday closed at Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in New York after 1,642 performances since February 4, 1946.

Died on this date
Raimond Valgre, 36. Estonian songwriter. Mr. Valgre, born Raimond Tiisel, played piano and other instruments, and wrote some of Estonia's best-known songs. He served with the orchestra of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps of the Soviet Red Army during World War II, and became a drunkard as a result of his war experiences. Mr. Valgre's music was banned by Soviet authorities in 1948; he was killed in an accident.

World events
A Soviet military court in Khabarovsk sentenced 12 Japanese officers to prison terms of 2-25 years for planning to wage germ warfare against the U.S.S.R.

Diplomacy
Israel rejected a United Nations Trusteeship Council request to remove her capital from the new city of Jerusalem.

Communist authorities ordered the staff of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to leave China within a month.

Crime
Former U.S. Justice Department employee Judith Coplon asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order a retrial of government espionage charges against her on grounds that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had illegally tapped her telephone.

Business
American Telephone & Telegraph Board Chairmen Walter Gifford retired, and was succeeded by President Leroy Wilson.

Labour
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board issued its fourth anti-closed shop ruling against the International Typographical Union, ordering the union to stop attempting to impose such conditions on commercial printing shops in Chicago, Detroit, and other cities.

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Underground Railway, with guest stars Virginia Vincent, Jo De Santis, and Cliff Robertson

Married on this date
U.S. actor Ernest Borgnine and Mexican actress Katy Jurado were married in Cuernavaca.

War
French-led Cameroonian troops killed at least 30 guerrillas in repulsing an attack on the Douala airport and police headquarters.

The South Korean Navy denied responsibility for the attack on a Soviet hydrographic ship.

Defense
General Randolph Pate retired as Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Politics and government
The day after Prime Minister Phoui Sananikone submitted his resignation, King Savang Vathana of Laos placed the country under Army control pending formation of a new cabinet.

Labour
A New York City transit strike was averted when the Transport Workers Union and New York Transit Authority agreed on a two-year contract providing $35 million in raises and other benefits for 38,000 workers.

Football
NCAA
Sun Bowl
New Mexico State 28 North Texas State 8

50 years ago
1969

On television tonight
Then Came Bronson, starring Michael Parks, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Sibyl

Died on this date
Jock Yablonski, 59. U.S. labour leader. Mr. Yablonski, his wife, and their 25-year-old daughter were shot to death in their Clarksville, Pennsylvania home. The bodies weren't discovered until January 5, 1970. Mr. Yablonski had lost a bitterly-fought election on December 9 to Tony Boyle for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America. The election was widely believed to be corrupt, and on December 18, Mr. Yablonski had asked the United States Department of Labor to investigate.

World events
An Israeli crew that had defied a French arms embargo and spirited five gunboats out of the port of Cherbourg on December 25 reached the Israeli port of Haifa.

Yellowknifiana
A pyrotechnics display in Petitot Park on Yellowknife’s last night as a town fizzled when most of the fireworks didn’t work, as a large number of people (including this blogger and his father) stood there freezing.

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ihōjin--Sayuri Kume (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Sin Amor (Dghingis Khan)--Iván (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
John "Shorty" Powers, 57. U.S. military officer. Air Force Colonel Powers served in World War II and the Korean War, and helped to establish the U.S. Air Force's first Community Relations Program in 1955. He acquired experience in public relations over the next few years, which led to his appointment in April 1959 as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Task Group's public affairs officer. Col. Powers became famous from 1961-1963 as the "voice of Project Mercury," describing the first U.S. manned space flights. He was best known for coining the phrase "A-OK." Col. Powers enjoyed the limelight, but a dispute with NASA headquarters over publicity for the Mercury 9 flight in 1963 led to his resignation from the Air Force in 1964. He became part owner of the radio station KMSC-FM in Clear Lake, Texas, from which he distributed coverage of the Gemini and Apollo manned space missions. Col. Powers did commercials for various products, lectured on the space program, and had a newspaper column titled Space Talk in 1967, but eventually drank himself to death in Phoenix, where he had moved in 1978.

Music
Andre Kostelanetz conducted the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in A Night in Old Vienna at War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. It turned out to be Mr. Kostelanetz's last concert; he went on vacation in Haiti, and died there of pneumonia on January 13, 1980.

War
A brief gun battle broke out in Kabul between dissident elements of the Afghan army and the Soviets, but the Afghan capital stayed firmly under Soviet control. Islamic rebels, who had been fighting the Afghan government for two years and were thought to control perhaps 2/3 of the countryside, fought skirmishes with Soviet troops at scattered points throughout the country. They were aided and often armed by Afghan army deserters. U.S. President Jimmy Carter accused Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev of "not telling facts accurately" in a December 28 cable in which Mr. Brezhnev claimed that Afghanistan had invited the U.S.S.R. to intervene. According to Mr. Carter, Mr. Brezhnev’s explanation was "obviously false, because the person he claimed invited him in, President Amin, was murdered or assassinated after the Soviets pulled their coup."

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council voted 11-0 to give Iran one week to release the hostages being held at the United States embassy in Tehran before deciding on economic sanctions. UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim left for Tehran in an effort to negotiate the release of the hostages.

Hockey
NHL-U.S.S.R. (exhibition)
Super Series ‘80
Central Red Army 2 @ Montreal 4



30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Escaping--Margaret Urlich (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Girl I'm Gonna Miss You--Milli Vanilli (5th week at #1)

Hockey
Winnipeg 3 Edmonton 2

NHL-U.S.S.R. (exhibition)
Super Series ‘90
Moscow Dynamo 7 @ Toronto 4 (exhibition)

See video.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Los Angeles Rams 21 @ Philadelphia 7



AFC Wild Card Playoff
Pittsburgh 26 @ Houston 23 (OT)



25 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Zombie--The Cranberries (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Strange Love--Kina (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Kaña de España--J. Rapallo

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Cotton-Eyed Joe--Rednex (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Dromen zijn bedrog--Marco Borsato

#1 single in France (SNEP): Can You Feel the Love Tonight--Elton John (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): I Will Survive--Hermes House Band (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Stay Another Day--East 17 (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
2 Here Comes the Hotstepper--Ini Kamoze
3 Another Night--Real McCoy
4 Creep--TLC
5 Always--Bon Jovi
6 I Wanna Be Down--Brandy
7 I'll Make Love to You--Boyz II Men
8 Before I Let You Go--BLACKstreet
9 Tootsee Roll--69 Boyz
10 I'm the Only One--Melissa Etheridge

Singles entering the chart were Sympathy for the Devil by Guns N' Roses (#62); Get Down by Craig Mack (#73); Strong Enough by Sheryl Crow (#81); Don't Say Goodbye Girl by Tevin Campbell (#85); and I Apologize by Anita Baker (#87). Sympathy for the Devil was from the movie Interview with the Vampire (1994).

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Cash Box): On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Woody Strode, 80. U.S. football player, wrestler, and actor. Mr. Strode was a decathlete and football player at the University of California at Los Angeles in the late 1930s. After serving in World War II, he played with the Los Angeles Rams in 1946 and the Calgary Stampeders from 1948-1950, making the Western Interprovincial Football Union All-Star team at end in each of his first two seasons in Calgary and playing a major role in the Stampeders' 1948 Grey Cup championship. Mr. Strode wrestled professionally from the 1940s until the early 1960s. He began acting in movies in the early 1940s in bit parts, and played major supporting roles in later years in movies such as The Ten Commandments (1956); Spartacus (1960); and The Professionals (1966). He was known for working with director John Ford in such films as Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

War
In a settlement negotiated primarily by Lieutenant General Sir Michael Rose, United Nations commander in Bosnia, the warring factions in Bosnia signed a cease-fire agreement effective January 1, 1995, under which they were to withdraw from the front line and allow UN peacekeepers to occupy the ground between them.

Russian forces launched a full air and ground attack on Grozny, capital of the rebel province of Chechnya. Although the presidential palace was in flames, Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev refused to surrender.

Oddities
This date was skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands changed time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Detroit 12 @ Green Bay 16



AFC Wild Card Playoff
Kansas City 17 @ Miami 27



20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Elliot Richardson, 79. U.S. politician. Mr. Richardson, a Republican, held various state offices in Massachusetts, and four different cabinet posts in the administrations of U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon (1970-1973) and Gerald Ford (1975-1977). He was best known for his time as U.S. Attorney General under President Richard Nixon (May-October 1973), and he resigned rather than carry out Mr. Nixon's order to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox on October 20, 1973, in what became known as the "Saturday Night Massacre." Mr. Richardson served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1975-1976. He died from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Abominations
The U.S. government handed control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama, in compliance with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.

Terrorism
The Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ended after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.

Politics and government
Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia and appointed his Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin as his successor. In a televised New Year’s Eve address, Mr. Yeltsin said it was time for "new politicians...new personalities...and new smart, strong, and energetic people."

Crime
A painting by Paul Cezanne titled Auvers-sur-Oise was stolen from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.

Hockey
NHL
Anaheim 4 @ Dallas 5

Brett Hull of the Stars became the 12th player in NHL history to score 600 career goals when he scored twice in their victory over the Mighty Ducks at Reunion Arena. He reached the milestone in his 900th game; only Wayne Gretzky (718th game) and Mario Lemieux (719th) got there faster.

Football
NCAA
Sun Bowl
Oregon 24 Minnesota 20

10 years ago
2009

Space
Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occurred.

December 30, 2019

1,980 years ago
39

Born on this date
Titus. Emperor of the Roman Empire, 79-81. Titus, the son of Vespasian, served as a military commander under his father. When Vespasian became Emperor in 69, Titus completed the suppression of the rebellion in Judea, sacking Jerusalem and destroying the Second Temple in 70. Titus served as prefect of the Praetorian Guard and acceded to the throne upon the death of his father, becoming the first Roman Emperor to succeed his biological father. He oversaw the completion of the Colosseum and eased the suffering caused by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 and a fire in Rome in 80, but died from a fever on September 13, 81 at the age of 41, and was succeeded as Emperor by Domitian.

1,020 years ago
999

War
The combined forces of Munster and Meath under king Brian Boru inflicted a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin in the Battle of Glenmama near Lyons Hill in Ireland.

600 years ago
1419

War
Castilian forces led by King John II captured 40 ships of an allied Flemish-Hanseatic fleet in the naval Battle of La Rochelle in the Bay of Biscay.

200 years ago
1819

Born on this date
John W. Geary. U.S. military officer and politician. Colonel Geary served with the 2nd Pennsylvania infantry in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and was the first Mayor of San Francisco (1850-1851). He was Territorial Governor of Kansas (1856-1857), but resigned after failing to bring peace between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in the territory. Brigadier General Geary commanded Pennsylvania infantry forces with the Union Army in the American Civil War, and he rose to the rank of Brevet Major General. As a Republican, he served two terms as Governor of Pennsylvania (1867-1873), but died of a heart attack on February 8, 1873 at the age of 53, just 18 days after leaving office.

160 years ago
1859

Born on this date
J.B. Foerster. Bohemian composer. Josef Bohuslav Foerster was a drama critic and music teacher before becoming known as a composer. He wrote five symphonies, six operas, and chamber, orchestral, and instrumental works. Mr. Foerster died on May 29, 1951 at the age of 91.

150 years ago
1869

Born on this date
Stephen Leacock. U.K.-born Canadian humourist. Mr. Leacock was born in England but moved to Ontario with his family at the age of 6. He was a professor of political economy at McGill University and wrote the standard textbook Elements of Political Science (1936), but was better known for his humourous works, which were collected into books such as Literary Lapses (1910); Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912); and Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914). Groucho Marx and Jack Benny were both influenced by Mr. Leacock's writing. Mr. Leacock died on March 28, 1944 at the age of 74. The Stephen Leacock Award was created in 1947 to recognize the best of Canadian humour writing.

120 years ago
1899

Born on this date
Helge Ingstad. Norwegian explorer and politician. Mr. Ingstad, a lawyer by training, explored the Scandinavian and North American Arctic from the 1920s through the 1960s. He and his wife Anne found remnants of a Viking settlement in Newfoundland in 1960, proving that Norsemen had landed in North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. Mr. Ingstad was Governor of Erik the Red's land (1932-1933) and acting Governor of Svalbard (1933-1935). He died on March 29, 2001 at the age of 101.

110 years ago
1909

Canadiana
Gold was discovered at Porcupine, Ontario.

Hockey
CHA
All-Montreal 7 @ Montreal Le National 2

This was the first game played in the new professional league known as the Canadian Hockey Association.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
David Willcocks. U.K. composer and conductor. Sir David was an organist who composed choral works, but was best known as a conductor of choral ensembles, especially the Choir of King's College, Cambridge (1957-1974), with whom he made numerous broadcasts and recordings. He died on September 17, 2015 at the age of 95.

75 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Don't Fence Me In--Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra (Best Seller--2nd week at #1; Juke Box--3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Romain Rolland, 78. French author. Mr. Rolland was awarded the 1915 Nobel Prize for Literature "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings." His best-known work was the 10-volume novel Jean Christophe (1903-1912).

War
U.S. Senator Burton K. Wheeler (Democrat--Montana) proposed that the Senate proclaim its own peace aims "in the absence of the President taking a stand." Three American divisions launched attacks on both sides of the Bastogne corridor and thrusted into the German salient in Belgium. Moircy was taken but was lost to a German counterattack later in the day. U.S. planes made their deepest penetration of the Japanese-held Philippines, sinking eight ships at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon.

Politics and government
King George II of Greece issued a royal proclamation in London appointing Archbishop Damaskinos as his regent.

Economics and finance
U.S. Army authorities in control of the Montgomery Ward & Company offices in Chicago seized the firm's books and set their accountants to study them. Two days earlier, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ordered the Army to seize Montgomery Ward's executive offices and other facilities in Chicago and Detroit for the company's refusal to obey National War Labor Board orders.

Labour
U.S. Stabilization Director Fred Vinson approved the National War Labor Board adjustments in the "Little Steel" wage formula.

70 years ago
1949

Hit parade
Billboard listed Mule Train as the year's most popular song of 1949.

Radio
Radio Daily selected Mind the Shadows (CBS); Living (NBC); and The Berlin Story (ABC) as the outstanding network broadcasts of 1949. Hooperatings named The Jack Benny Program (CBS); Radio Theater; Fibber McGee and Molly (NBC); and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (CBS) as the most popular network shows.

War
U.S. President Harry Truman and his military advisers decided against using American forces to defend Taiwan against a possible Communist attack, but agreed to consider the possibility of sending fresh equipment and advisers to the Nationalist government on the island.

Diplomacy
India recognized the People's Republic of China and ended diplomatic relations with the Nationalist government.

The Shah of Iran concluded a six-week visit to the United States.

Politics and government
Vietnamese Chief of State Bao Dai and French High Commissioner Leon Pignon signed an agreement in Saigon giving the French-sponsored Vietnamese state greater control over its internal affairs, including education and local administration. Foreign and military affairs remained in French hands.

French Prime Minister Georges Bidault won a vote of confidence in the National Assembly during debate over the 1950 budget.

The British government gave Hong Kong Governor Sir Alexander Grantham emergency powers to deal with disorders arising from Communist efforts to organize a general strike.

The U.S. War Assets Administration was liquidated, and the remaining property was turned over to the General Services Administration.

Economics and finance
The British government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee introduced several measures to attract more foreign capital into the country, giving investors permission to withdraw their capital at any time, and allowing foreign workers to send home all of their savings.

Business
The court-ordered dissolution of Paramount Pictures, Inc. was completed with the formation of Paramount Pictures Corporation and United Paramount Theaters, Inc.

Boxing
Rocky Marciano (25-0) knocked out Carmine Vingo (16-2) at 1:46 of the 6th round of a heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York. Mr. Vingo was taken from the ring on a stretcher, slipped into a coma, and was given only a 50% chance of survival. He did survive, and recovered, with slight paralysis on his left side, but never boxed again.

60 years ago
1959

Defense
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told interviewers that the U.S.S.R. "has already suspended all tests of atomic and hydrogen weapons" and would conduct no more tests unless Western powers did so.

The U.S. Navy commissioned its first active atomic submarine equipped to fire the Polaris missile--the 5,400-ton USS George Washington--in Groton, Connecticut.

Politics and government
Laotian Prime Minister Phoui Sananikone submitted his resignation to King Savang Vathana.

Four Syrians resigned from the U.A.R.'s central cabinet and the Syrian Regional cabinet in opposition to the appointment of Vice President Abdel Hakim Amer as administrator of the Syrian Regional Government.

U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey (Minnesota) announced his candidacy for the 1960 Democratic Party U.S. presidential nomination.

Anthropology
Margaret Mead was named President of the American Anthropological Association at its convention in Mexico City, succeeding Sol Tax.

Business
Cuba's National Agrarian Reform Institute announced the seizure of Unitd Fruit Company property in Oriente Province.

Basketball
NCAA
The top-ranked University of Cincinnati Tigers defeated the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 96-83 in the final of the Holiday Festival tournament in New York City.

50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Grüezi wohl, Frau Stirnimaa--Die Minstrels (10th week at #1)

War
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong delegates at the Paris peace talks criticized as perfidious a U.S. appeal bidding the Communists, as a humanitarian gesture, to indicate whether the 1,046 men on a list of missing in action in Vietnam were prisoners of war or dead. Chief North Vietnamese negotiator Xuan Thuy boycotted the final sessions.

Diplomacy
U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew, as part of his tour of Asia, was in Manila, and attended the inauguration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos for his second term.

Crime
A three-judge Israeli court ruled that Dennis Michael Rohan was mentally ill when he set fire to the El Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on August 21, and ordered him confined to a hospital for treatment. The court held that the 28-year-old Australian had acted on an "irresistible impulse" in setting the blaze and was not punishable under Israeli law.

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Jezebel--Jon Stevens (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Todesengel--Frank Duval (2nd week at #1)

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Gladys Lucy Pomazongo!

Died on this date
Richard Rodgers, 77. U.S. composer. Mr. Rodgers was best known for his work in musical theatre, writing music for 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs. He became one of the most popular songwriters of the 20th century, writing with lyricists Lorenz Hart (1919-1942) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1942-1960). Mr. Rodgers was the first person to complete the "EGOT"--winning an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, Academy Award (Oscar), and Tony Award--in addition to winning a Pulitzer Prize. He died after years of declining health.

War
The Soviet newspaper Pravda said that the U.S.S.R. had sent a "limited" military contingent to Afghanistan due to "imperialist interference" in Afghan affairs that was "taking form and acquiring a scale that placed the very existence of the republic in danger." The U.S.S.R. justified the invasion on the basis of its defense treaty with Afghanistan and article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which grants any country the right to provide military aid to a member that appeals for such help.

Religion
Pope John Paul II and five West German prelates who had been summoned to Rome upheld the censure of Rev. Hans Kung, a Swiss theologian teaching at the University of Tubingen in West Germany, for teaching views contrary to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.

Football
NFL
AFC Divisional Playoff
Miami 14 @ Pittsburgh 34



NFC Divisional Playoff
Los Angeles 21 @ Dallas 19

See videos here and here.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Lambada--Kaoma (14th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Hélène--Roch Voisine (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Do They Know it's Christmas?--Band Aid II (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (3rd week at #1)
2 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
3 Rhythm Nation--Janet Jackson
4 Just Like Jesse James--Cher
5 With Every Beat of My Heart--Taylor Dayne
6 Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic featuring Felly
6 This One's for the Children--New Kids on the Block
8 Just Between You and Me--Lou Gramm
9 Living in Sin--Bon Jovi
10 How am I Supposed to Live Without You--Michael Bolton

Singles entering the chart were All or Nothing by Milli Vanilli (#64); C'Mon and Get My Love by D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis (#80); Black Velvet by Alannah Myles (#85); and Timeless Love by Saraya (#92).

#1 single in Canada (RPM): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (3rd week at #1)

Football
NCAA
Sun Bowl
Pittsburgh 31 Texas A&M 28

25 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Old Pop in an Oak--Rednex (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Love Me for a Reason--Boyzone

Crime
John Salvi shot two women to death and wounded at least five others when he opened fire with a rifle at two neighbouring abortion clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts.

War
U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall, captured by North Korea after his renaissance helicopter had been shot down over N.K. air space on December 17, was released, after U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Hubbard met with N.K. officials in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The U.S. agreed to express its "sincere regret" over the incident.

Scandal
U.S. Representative Newt Gingrich (Republican--Georgia), due to become Speaker of the House of Representatives when the 104th Congress was sworn in four days later, said that he would give up a $4.5-million advance payment from HarperCollins Publishing, Inc. for two books, one he was writing about conservative political philosophy and the other an anthology of writings on democracy for which he was providing commentary. Mr. Gingrich had been heavily criticized by the liberal mainstream media for the deal; although he was forfeiting the advance, he said he would go ahead with the books, for which he would receive royalties.

Economics and finance
On the last trading day of the year, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 3,834.44, a modest increase of 80.35 points or 2.1% for all of 1994.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Sarah Knauss, 119. U.S. supercentenarian. Mrs. Knauss, a native of Hollywood, Pennsylvania, was married to Lehigh County official Abraham Knauss from 1901 until his death in 1965 at the age of 86. Mrs. Knauss became the oldest American ever, and the second-oldest whose lifespan can be fully documented. She and her husband had a daughter, Kathryn, who died in 2005 at the age of 101.

Des Renford, 77. Australian swimmer. Mr. Renford took up distance swimming in 1939, and made 19 crossings of the English Channel in as many attempts. He died the day after suffering a heart attack while swimming.

10 years ago
2009

Died on this date
Abdurrahman Wahid, 69. 4th President of Indonesia, 1999-2001. Mr. Wahid, born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil and popularly known as Gus Dur, was a Muslim reformer who founded the Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (National Awakening Party) in 1999, and became Indonesia's first elected President following the resignation of Suharto in 1998. Increasing opposition led to his impeachment, and he was forced to resign. Mr. Wahid attempted a comeback in 2004, but he was disqualified as a potential presidential candidate after failing a required medical examination.

Terrorism
A suicide bomber killed nine people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.

Protest
Pro-government counter-demonstrators held rallies in several Iranian cities in response to recent anti-government protests held on the holy day of Ashura.

Environment
A segment of the Lanzhou–Zhengzhou–Changsha pipeline ruptured in Shaanxi, China, and approximately 150,000 litres (40,000 U.S. gallons) of diesel oil flowed down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River.

December 29, 2019

1,000 years ago
1019

Born on this date
Munjong. King of Korea, 1046-1083. Munjong, the third son of King Hyeonjong, succeeded his half-brother Jeongjong as a ruler of the Goryeo dynasty. He presided over a northward expansion of Korea's borders, and emphasized the importance of civilian leadership over the military. Munjong died on September 2, 1083 at the age of 63, and was succeeded by his son Sunjong.

330 years ago
1689

Died on this date
Thomas Sydenham, 65. English physician. Dr. Sydenham, nicknamed "The English Hippocrates," wrote Observationes Medicae (Observations of Medicine) (1676), which was a standard textbook for 200 years. His achievements included the discovery of Sydenham's Chorea, also known as St. Vitus' Dance.

310 years ago
1709

Born on this date
Elizabeth. Empress of Russia, 1741-1762. Elizabeth, the daughter of Emperor Peter I "The Great" and Empress Catherine I, seized the throne from her infant cousin Ivan VI in a coup. She led her country during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. Empress Elizabeth allowed the nobility to gain dominance in local government, and spent large amounts of money on architectural works such as the Winter Palace and Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Shortly after suffering a stroke, she died on January 5, 1762, a week after her 52nd birthday.

240 years ago
1779

War
Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell led a contingent of British soldiers to capture Savannah, Georgia.

210 years ago
1809

Born on this date
Albert Pike. U.S. military officer and Freemason. Mr. Pike was a captain in a cavalry unit during the U.S.-Mexican War in the 1840s, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). He was best known for his involvement with and influence within Freemasonry; his book Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (first published in 1872) remains an influential textbook of Scottish Rite Freemasonic philosophy. Mr. Pike died on April 2, 1891 at the age of 81.

William Gladstone. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1868-1874; 1880-1885; 1886; 1892-1894. Mr. Gladstone was a Tory (1828-1834); Conservative (1934-1846); Peelite (1846-1859); and Liberal (1859-1898). He represented various ridings in the House of Commons from 1833-1895, and had a long and memorable rivalry with Benjamin Disraeli. Mr. Gladstone regarded foreign affairs as a sphere for moral exercises, while Mr. Disraeli took a more practical political view. Perhaps the low point of Mr. Gladstone’s career as Prime Minister occurred in January 1885, when he delayed sending a party to relieve General Charles Gordon at Khartoum, and the British forces were massacred. Mr. Gladstone was popularly regarded as Gen. Gordon’s murderer, and Queen Victoria agreed with that view. In addition to his political activities, Mr. Gladstone wrote a couple of best-selling pamphlets: one was a polemic against papal infallibility; his other notable pamphlet was a denunciation of Turkish massacres in Bulgaria. Mr. Gladstone’s moralism led him to conduct missionary activity among London prostitutes, while he literally scourged himself in an attempt to tame his sexual desires. He died on May 19, 1898 at the age of 88.

175 years ago
1844

Born on this date
Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee. Indian lawyer and politician. Mr. Bonnerjee was a barrister who became president of the law faculty of Calcutta University, retiring from the bar in 1901. He was president of the first Indian National Congress in 1885, and served in the same capacity in 1892. Mr. Bonnerjee lived and worked in England for much of his life, ran unsuccessfully as a Liberal candidate for the House of Commons in 1892, and co-founded the Indian Parliamentary Committee in England in 1893. He died in London on July 21, 1906 at the age of 61.

160 years ago
1859

Born on this date
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza. 37th President of Mexico, 1917-1920. Mr. Carranza was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution, and was Governor of Coahuila from 1911-1913. His Constitutionalist Army was victorious over the forces of President Victoriano Huerta in 1914, but had to defeat forces of fellow revolutionaries in order for Mr. Carranza to take power. He was head of state from 1914 until a new constitution went into effect in 1917, under which Mr. Carranza became President. He was constitutionally ineligible to succeed himself, and attempted to impose a virtual unknown, Ignacio Bonillas, as his successor. Northern generals conspired against Mr. Carranza, and he was assassinated in Mexico City on May 21, 1920 at the age of 60.

140 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Billy Mitchell. U.S. military officer. Major General Mitchell was known as the father of the United States Air Force. His advocacy of the importance of air power and his criticism of U.S. defense policy led to a famous court martial in 1925. Gen. Mitchell was convicted of violating the 96th Article of War and was suspended for five years without pay, but he chose to resign from the United States Army. He continued to advocate air power until his death from natural causes on February 19, 1936 at the age of 56.

125 years ago
1894

Literature
John Wilson Bengough ceased publishing the satirical publication Grip, which had been published weekly in Toronto since May 24, 1873.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Roman Vlad. Bukovinian-born Italian composer. Mr. Vlad studied in Romania and moved to Italy in 1938, eventually becoming an Italian citizen. He composed symphonies, operas, chamber music, and scores for films such as Romeo and Juliet (1954); I Vampiri (1957); and The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962). Mr. Vlad died on September 21, 2013 at the age of 93.

80 years ago
1939

Defense
The U.S. heavy bomber Consolidated B-24 Liberator made its first flight.

75 years ago
1944

Theatre
Trio, written by Dorothy and Howard Baker, opened at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway in New York. The play had been scheduled to open on November 8, 1944 at the Cort Theatre, but Cort Theatre owner Lee Shubert had refused to allow the play to run there because the play's themes included an older woman's feelings for a girl. Elmer Rice, lease-holder of the Belasco Theatre, then allowed the play to run, where it closed on February 24, 1945 after 67 performances, after New York License Commissioner Paul Moss refused to renew the Belasco Theatre's license if Trio continued to run there. The cast included Richard Widmark.

Died on this date
Khasan Israilov, 34. Chechen rebel. Mr. Israilov joined the Communist Party in 1919, but opposed Soviet domination of Chechnya, and led the Chechen rebellion against Soviet rule (1940-1944). Soviet authorities deported all Chechens and Ingushes in February 1944, but Mr. Israilov managed to elude capture, hiding in caves, until he was finally captured and killed.

War
Royal Canadian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Dick Audet destroyed five German planes over France in 10 minutes. The point of the German salient in Belgium was driven back to Rochefort. The U.S. 3rd Army prepared for a drive on Houffalize, and other American troops moved toward Neufchateau. The Arlon-Bastogne highway was opened. American troops halted the German drive on the Italian west coast south of Gallicano. Bitter street fighting continued as Soviet forces attempted to complete control of Budapest. United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Director Herbert Lehman reported after his six-week tour of Europe that the Allies had promised all available shipping to take relief supplies to Europe.

Politics and government
Panamanian President Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia suspended the 1941 constitution and dissolved the National Assembly.

Environment
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt killed by "pocket veto" a bill that would have abolished the 221,610-acre Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming, established by executive order on March 15, 1943 after Congress had refused to approve this extension of Teton National Park because of opposition to government acquisition of grazing areas.

Labour
The day after U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ordered the U.S. Army to seize the executive offices and other facilities of Montgomery Ward in Chicago and Detroit because of the company's refusal to obey National War Labor Board orders, Montgomery Ward officials refused to cooperate with Mr. Roosevelt by making the company's books and other data available to the Army.

70 years ago
1949

Died on this date
Henry McMahon, 87. U.K. military office and diplomat. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry was born and served in India from the 1880s to the 1910s, and was appointed secretary of the British government in India in 1911. He succeeded Lord Kitchener as British High Commissioner in Egypt at the beginning of 1915, and engaged in correspondence with Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca in an attempt to spark an Arab rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for a British promise of Arab independence after World War I. Sir Henry resigned after the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which negated the British promises to the Arabs, was publicized in November 1917.

Tyler Dennett, 66. U.S. historian. Dr. Dennett was a Congregationalist minister before becoming a historian, teaching at Johns Hopkins (1923-1924); Columbia (1927-1928); and Princeton (1931-1934) Universities, and serving as President of Williams College (1934-1937). He was initially known for his work in U.S.-Japanese relations, but was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for John Hay: From Poetry to Politics (1933).

Television
KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut became the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.

Journalism
Time magazine named Winston Churchill as its Man of the Half-Century.

War
Nationalist Chinese forces on Hainan Island off the South China coast reported defeating a Communist invasion attempt.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. objected to Chinese Nationalist representation on the UN Security Council, but refrained from demanding replacement of the Nationalists by a Communist delegation.

Defense
U.S. Navy Captain Arleigh Burke, head of the office charged with planning strategy against the Army and Air Force in the debate over U.S. military strategy, was promoted to rear admiral. The U.S. Navy announced plans to assign the new aircraft carrier USS Boxer to the Seventh Fleet, operating in the western Pacific Ocean.

Environment
Israel began a 10-year drive to plant forests in the northern half of the country.

Economics and finance
The Hungarian government issued decree nationalizing all industrial firms, including foreign-owned companies, with more than 10 employees.

The Romanian Parliament approved a plan for 1950 calling for a 37% increase in industrial production.

The U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers issued its fourth annual report, predicting continued economic growth and urging closer cooperation between business and government.

60 years ago
1959

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, hosted by John Newland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Hand, starring Robert Loggia, Anna Lee Carroll, and Miriam Colon



Theatre
The Andersonville Trial by Saul Levitt, directed by José Ferrer, and starring Herbert Berghof, Albert Dekker, and George C. Scott, opened at Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in New York.

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Christine Gotaas!

Died on this date
Robin Milford, 56. U.K. composer. Mr. Milford was strongly influenced by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gerald Finzi, and composed instrumental and vocal works. He suffered frequent bouts of depression resulting from family tragedies, and committed suicide with an overdose of aspirin.

Katāy Dōn Sasōrit, 55. Prime Minister of Laos, 1954-1956. Mr. Sasōrit was a Laotian nationalist who founded the anti-Thai "Movement for National Renovation" during World War II. The provisional Laotian government, formed in October 1945, was forced into exile in Bangkok, and Mr. Sasōrit was Minister of Finance. When Laos gained her independence within the French community in 1949, the provisional government was dissolved, and its members returned to Laos. Mr. Sasōrit was Minister of Finance and Economics (1951-1954), became chairman of the Progress Party (Phak Kaonā) in 1954, and succeeded Prince Suvanna Phūmā as Prime Minister. Mr. Sasōrit was overthrown by a coup in March 1956 after failing to achieve national reconciliation, and Prince Suvanna Phūmā returned to power. Mr. Sasōrit returned as Deputy Prime Minister and Defense and Home Affairs Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Phoui Sananikone in 1958, and died of natural causes.

World events
45 political suspects were arrested throughout Cuba and charged with conspiring against the government.

Defense
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that the United States no longer considered herself bound by the unilateral nuclear test suspension and was "free to resume...testing."

West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt reported that stockpiles of food and essential goods in the city were adequate to ensure a full year of Soviet blockade.

Science
U.S. physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech titled There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom at California Institute of Technology, anticipating the field of nanotechnology.

Environment
A scientific panel of experts told a meeting of the American Physical Society that the explosion of nuclear devices in large underground caverns could muffle their seismic effects almost completely.

50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kuroneko no Tango--Osamu Minagawa (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Sugar, Sugar--The Archies (7th week at #1)

On the radio
The Challenge of Space, on Springbok Radio
Tonight’s episode: Ergot

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Southern Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Is She Really Going Out with Him?--Joe Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): Remi, Le Sue Avventure--Ragazzi Di Remi (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Weekend--Earth and Fire (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes (2nd week at #1)
2 Rock with You--Michael Jackson
3 Do That to Me One More Time--Captain & Tennille
4 Ladies Night--Kool & The Gang
5 Send One Your Love--Stevie Wonder
6 Jane--Jefferson Starship
7 We Don't Talk Anymore--Cliff Richard
8 Please Don't Go--KC and the Sunshine Band
9 Coward of the County--Kenny Rogers
10 Cruisin'--Smokey Robinson

Singles entering the chart were Star by Earth, Wind & Fire (#84); Let Me Go, Love by Nicolette Larson (#85); Don't Make Me Over by Jennifer Warnes (#86); Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney (#87); Wonderland by the Commodores (#89); Flirtin' with Disaster by Molly Hatchet (#90); Too Late by Journey (#94); Remember (Walking in the Sand) by Aerosmith (#97); Trust Me by Cindy Bullens (#98); and With You I'm Born Again by Billy Preston & Syreeta (#99).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Babe--Styx (5th week at #1)
2 No More Tears/Enough is Enough--Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer
3 Still--Commodores
4 Take the Long Way Home--Supertramp
5 Heartache Tonight--Eagles
6 Escape (The Pina Colada Song)--Rupert Holmes
7 I Don't Like Mondays--The Boomtown Rats
8 Send One Your Love--Stevie Wonder
9 Dream Police--Cheap Trick
10 Please Don't Go--KC and the Sunshine Band

Singles entering the chart were Baby and the Blues by Quarrington Worthy (#88); Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin (#91); Why Me by Styx (#97); Money by the Flying Lizards (#98); Paradise Skies by Max Webster (#99); and Yes, I'm Ready by Teri DeSario with K.C. (#100).

Died on this date
Bill Plummer, 78. U.S. baseball pitcher. William Lawrence Plummer played in the Pacific Coast League with the Portland Beavers (1921) and Seattle Indians (1923-1925, 1927), compiling a record of 17-29 in 79 games, and hitting at least 1 home run in 80 games, helping the Indians win the PCL championship in 1924. He missed the 1922 and 1926 seasons because of injury, and played in just one game in his final season. Mr. Plummer's brother-in-law Red Baldwin was his teammate and catcher in 1924-1925. Mr. Plummer later served as a police officer in Oakland, and was a farmer and school bus driver in California. His son William Francis Plummer was a catcher with the Chicago Cubs (1968), Cincinnati Reds (1970-1977) and Seattle Mariners (1978).

Basketball
This blogger was in attendance at a wheelchair basketball tournament at the University of Alberta main gym, which included men’s teams from major cities in the United States and Canada. The Vancouver Cable Cars were one of the teams, and one of their players was Terry Fox (several months before he began his cross-Canada run).

Hockey
NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs, in a deal that shocked their fans, traded popular right wing Lanny McDonald and defenceman Joel Quenneville to the Colorado Rockies for right wing Wilf Paiement and left wing Pat Hickey. In 35 games with the Maple Leafs that season, Mr. McDonald had 15 goals and 15 assists; Mr. Quenneville had 1 goal and 4 assists in 32 games with Toronto that season. Mr. Paiement had 10 goals and 16 assists in 34 games with Colorado, while Mr. Hickey, who had started the season with the New York Rangers, scored 7 goals and 9 assists in 24 games with the Rockies. The trade prompted Toronto captain Darryl Sittler to rip the "C" off his uniform prior to that night’s game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Winnipeg Jets.

Winnipeg 1 @ Toronto 6

Bob Stephenson, acquired five days earlier from the Hartford Whalers in a trade for Pat Boutette, scored a goal and was named the third star in his fifth NHL game and first game as a Maple Leaf, on the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast. He wore jersey #15, formerly worn by Mr. Boutette.

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
Philadelphia 17 @ Tampa Bay 24

See video.

AFC Divisional Playoff
Houston 17 @ San Diego 14

See video.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins (5th week at #1)

War
The United Nations Security Council voted 75-20, with 39 abstentions, to "strongly deplore" the U.S. invasion of Panama.

Politics and government
The Czechoslovakian parliament elected Vaclav Havel, leader of the opposition group Civic Forum, President, without opposition.

Protest
Riots broke-out after Hong Kong decided to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.

Health
Canada became the first country in the world to ban smoking on domestic airlines.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department reported that the leading economic indicators had edged upward 0.1% in November. The stock exchanges closed on the last day of trading for the year, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 2753.20, up 27% for the year. Standard & Poor’s index of 500 stocks was also up 27% for the year. The American Stock Exchange index was up 23%, and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market composite index posted a 19% gain for 1989.

The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hit its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.

Sport
NHL star centre Wayne Gretzky was named Male Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press, with tennis star Martina Navratilova being named Woman Athlete of the Decade.

25 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Super Gut--Mo-Do (2nd week at #1)

War
12 days after North Korea had shot down a U.S. reconnaissance helicopter flying over its territory, North Korea released a statement ostensibly singed by captured Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall in which he admitted to a "criminal action."

The U.S. State Department criticized Russian attacks on civilians in the rebel province of Chechnya.

Disasters
Turkish Airlines Flight 278, a Boeing 737-400 jetliner en route from Ankara, crashed on approach to Van Ferit Melen Airport in Van, Turkey, killing 57 of the 76 people on board.

20 years ago
1999

Economics and finance
The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.

December 28, 2019

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Heather Pick!

360 years ago
1659

War
Maratha Empire forces defeated Adil Shahi forces in the Battle of Kolhapur in India.

325 years ago
1694

Died on this date
Mary II, 32. Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1689-1694. Mary II, the daughter of King James II, married her cousin, the Dutch Protestant William of Orange--the future King William III--in 1677. They came to power after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and reigned as joint sovereigns until her death from smallpox.

230 years ago
1789

Born on this date
Catharine Sedgwick. U.S. authoress. Miss Sedgwick was popular from the 1820s through the 1850s, writing novels and short stories featuring heroines who combined American patriotism with rebellion against Puritan conventions. She died on July 31, 1867 at the age of 77.

160 years ago
1859

Died on this date
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, 59. U.K. historian and politician. Lord Macaulay was best known for the five-volume The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (1848-1861), which promulgated the Whig view of history as a story of progress from superstition and oppression toward greater liberty and enlightenment. He served on the Supreme Council of India (1834-1838), and issued his Minute on Indian Education (1835), urging Western education on India. Lord Macaulay's other offices included Secretary at War (1839-1841) and Paymaster General (1846-1848). He died of a heart attack.

150 years ago
1869

Technology
William F. Semple patented chewing gum.

140 years ago
1879

Disasters
Gales plunged a railway bridge and passenger train on the Tay Bridge over the Silvery Tay, near Dundee, Scotland, into icy waters, killing 75. The bridge collapsed after the central spans gave way.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Emily Cheney Neville. U.S. writer. Mrs. Neville was a journalist before writing novels for adolescent readers. Her works included It's Like This, Cat (1963), which won the Newbery Medal in 1964. Mrs. Neville died on December 14, 1997, two weeks before her 78th birthday.

Died on this date
Johannes Rydberg, 65. Swedish physicist. Professor Rydberg was known for devising the Rydberg formula, in 1888, which is used to describe the wavelengths of photons (of light and other electromagnetic radiation) emitted by changes in the energy level of an electron in a hydrogen atom. He died after several years of declining health.

75 years ago
1944

Movies
Motion Picture Herald announced that Bing Crosby was the biggest box office attraction of 1944.

War
The German offensive stood still as U.S. forces registered gains in counter-drives at several points along the perimeter in Belgium, and successfully repelled the final German effort to take Elsenborn. On the western fort of the Italian line, Germans forced an American retreat of 3 miles and took the villages of Barga and Gallicano. Soviet troops moved westward along a 90-mile front from Budapest toward Austria.

Literature
In Boston, Judge Elijah Adlow ruled that the novel Tragic Ground by Erskine Caldwell was not obscene, and dismissed police charges against a bookseller for distributing the book.

Economics and finance
The United States and Brazil agreed that the U.S. would supply 2,500 tons of synthetic rubber annually in return for Brazil's reduction of natural rubber by a similar amount.

Labour
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Army to seize the executive offices and other facilities of Montgomery Ward in Chicago and Detroit for its refusal to obey National War Labor Board orders.

Hockey
NHL
Detroit 1 @ Montreal 9

Maurice "Rocket" Richard set a league record for a single game with 8 points, scoring 5 goals and 3 assists as the Canadiens routed the Red Wings at the Montreal Forum.

70 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Ben Wright and Eric Snowden
Tonight’s episode: The Case of the Bandaged Bridegroom

Died on this date
Hervey Allen, 60. U.S. author. Mr. Allen was best known for his novel Anthony Adverse (1933). He had completed the first three novels in a series about colonial America titled The Disinherited when he died of a heart attack, 20 days after his 60th birthday.

Jack Lovelock, 39. N.Z. runner and physician. Dr. Lovelock set a British Empire record for the one-mile run in 1932, and set a world record of 4:07.36 in the mile in 1933. He won the gold medal in the mile at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, and won the gold medal in the men's 1,500-metre run at the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. Dr. Lovelock was thrown from a horse in 1940, and was thereafter subject to attacks of dizziness. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II, and moved to the United States after the war, practicing medicine at Manhattan Hospital in New York City. Dr. Lovelock fell onto subway tracks while waiting for a train, apparently after suffering another dizzy spell, and was killed, eight days before his 40th birthday.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Harry Truman announced American recognition of the United States of Indonesia, appointing H. Merle Cochran as the first U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia.

Hungary freed American Joint Distribution Committee official Isrel Jacobson after questioning him for several days on suspicion of espionage.

Politics and government
Syrian President Hashem al-Atassi appointed a new cabinet, excluding representation of the People's Party and other politicians accused by the Army of favouring union with Iraq.

Medicine
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced plans for a series of one-week courses for physicians on the hazards of atomic warfare.

Economics and finance
France abolished quotas on most food and manufactured items.

Business
Sears, Roebuck issued its annual catalogue, with price reductions averaging 10%. Proctor & Gamble reduced household soap prices by 4%.

Labour
The Southern Coal Producers Association filed an unfair practices suit against the United Mine Workers of America with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the union of violating the Taft-Hartley Act by refusing to bargain in good faith and seeking to impose union-shop conditions.

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): La Canción de Orfeo--Gloria Lasso

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Why--Frankie Avalon
2 El Paso--Marty Robbins
3 The Big Hurt--Miss Toni Fisher
4 It's Time to Cry--Paul Anka
5 Way Down Yonder in New Orleans--Freddie Cannon
6 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
7 Among My Souvenirs--Connie Francis
8 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin
9 Hound Dog Man--Fabian
10 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence

Singles entering the chart were He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves (#58); Mary Don't You Weep by Stonewall Jackson (#61); No Love Have I by Webb Pierce (#67); Where or When by Dion and the Belmonts (#72); Down by the Station by the Four Preps (#78); Bonnie Came Back by Duane Eddy and the Rebels (#83); Handy Man by Jimmy Jones (#87); Promise Me a Rose (A Slight Detail) (#88)/Do-Re-Mi (#94) by Anita Bryant; Lonely Blue Boy by Conway Twitty (#89); Honey Hush by Joe Turner (#91); Little Things Mean a Lot by Joni James (#93); Harlem Nocturne by the Viscounts (#98); The Sound of Music by Patti Page (#99); and Darling Lorraine by the Knockouts (#100). The Sound of Music was the title song of the musical.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 El Paso--Marty Robbins (2nd week at #1)
2 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
3 The Big Hurt--Miss Toni Fisher
4 Hound Dog Man/This Friendly World--Fabian
5 Marina--Willy Alberti
--Rocco Granata and the International Quintet
6 Living Doll--Cliff Richard and the Drifters
--David Hill
7 In the Mood--Ernie Fields Orchestra
8 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence
9 Among My Souvenirs/God Bless America--Connie Francis
10 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin

Singles entering the chart were Clouds by the Spacemen (#30); Where or When by Dion and the Belmonts (#34); How About That? by Dee Clark (#39); Let's Try Again by Clyde McPhatter (#44); Little Coco Palm by Jerry Wallace (#45); The Golden Rule by 'Cile Turner (#49); Tracy's Theme by Spencer Ross (#50); He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves (#51); Climb Ev'ry Mountain by Tony Bennett (#52); All in Good Time by the Nelson Trio (#54); Honeymoon Song by Manuel (#55); There's Still Time Brother by Bill Courtney (#56); Christopher Sunday/China Doll by the Ames Brothers (#57); 'Til Tomorrow by the Four Aces (#58); You Deserve by Peggy Lee (#59); and Until Tomorrow by Richard Wolfe (#60). Tracy's Theme was from the made-for-television movie The Philadelphia Story (1959); Spencer Ross was a pseudonym of Robert Mersey.

Died on this date
Ante Pavelić, 70. Croatian military officer and politician. General Pavelić founded the Croatian fascist nationalist organization Ustaše in 1929, and governed the "Independent State of Croatia"--a Nazi-Fascist puppet state--using the title of Poglavnik from 1941-1945. He was responsible for assassinations--including King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934--and genocides against Serbs, Jews, and other peoples. Gen. Pavelić was able to escape Europe after World War II and fled to Argentina, where he organized a Croatian government-in-exile. He was severely wounded in an assassination attempt in 1957 and eventually moved to Spain, where he died of the effects of his wounds.

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle announced its awards for 1959, naming Ben-Hur as Best Picture. The other winners were: Director--Fred Zinnemann (The Nun's Story); Actor--James Stewart (Anatomy of a Murder); Actress--Audrey Hepburn (The Nun's Story); Screenplay--Wendell Mayes (Anatomy of a Murder); Foreign Language Film--The 400 Blows.

War
The U.S.S.R. charged that a South Korean warship had attacked an unarmed Soviet hydrographic vessel 30 miles off the east coast of North Korea and 36 miles north of the demarcation line.

Protest
African crowds in Leopoldville protested the arrival of King Baudoin of Belgium on an inspection tour.

Economics and finance
Quebec Labour Minister Antonio Barrette announced an increase in the province's minimum wage effective January 1, 1960. The increase brought the minimum wage to 69c per hour in the Montreal region, 62c for the Quebec region, and 57c for small cities, for an overall increase of 15c per hour.

Business
The U.S. Justice Department sued in a U.S. federal court in New York to upset alleged price-fixing and exclusive representation agreements made by French automobile manufacturers Renault and Peugeot with 16 import firms in the United States.

50 years ago
1969

Football
NFL
Eastern Conference Championship
Cleveland 38 @ Dallas 14

Bill Nelsen completed 18 of 27 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown as the Century Division champion Browns easily beat the Capitol Division champion Cowboys in front of a disappointed crowd of 69,321 at the Cotton Bowl (see videos here and here). Bo Scott scored twice on 2-yard runs, and Leroy Kelly rushed 1 yard for a Cleveland touchdown. Mr. Nelsen threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Milt Morin, and Walt Sumner returned an interception 88 yards for another Cleveland touchdown. Don Cockroft converted all 5 and added a field goal. Dallas quarterback Craig Morton rushed 2 yards for a touchdown, and backup quarterback Roger Staubach completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Lance Rentzel late in the game for another touchdown, both of which were converted by Mike Clark. Mr. Morton had a terrible game, completing just 8 of 24 passes for 92 yards and 2 interceptions, while Mr. Staubach was 4 for 5 for 44 yards. Paul Warfield of the Browns led all receivers with 8 receptions for 99 yards, while Mr. Kelly rushed 19 times for 66 yards.

40 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Oh! Susie--Secret Service (11th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Maybe--Thom Pace (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (7th week at #1)

War
15,000 more Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, two days after an initial force of 5,000 had invaded. Two overland routes were used by several mechanized Soviet divisions to cross the border. Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev sent a cable to U.S. President Jimmy Carter in which he said that Afghanistan had invited the U.S.S.R. to intervene.

Politics and government
U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced his withdrawal from a forum with his rivals for the 1980 Democratic Party U.S. presidential nomination that had been scheduled for January 7 in Des Moines prior to the Iowa caucus on January 21. Mr. Carter said that the hostage crisis in Iran made an appearance at a partisan political event inappropriate. California Governor Jerry Brown and Senator Ted Kennedy charged that President Carter had withdrawn in order to keep attention away from them and from economic issues.

Lord Soames, British Governor General of Rhodesia, who had been commissioned to guide the country to majority Negro rule, set national elections for February 1980.

Oil
Several countries, including Venezuela, Libya, Indonesia, and Iraq, announced price increases of 10-15%. Experts estimated the aggregate increases in prices for the month at about 8%, making the increase for the year of 1979 approximately 80%.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 5 Vancouver 3

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Ryyd-joulu--Bat & Ryyd (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Finnish Singles Chart): Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Do They Know It's Christmas?--Band Aid II (3rd week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 singles of 1989
1 Straight Up--Paula Abdul
2 She Drives Me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals
3 The Look--Roxette
4 Like a Prayer--Madonna
5 Wild Thing--Tone Loc
6 Buffalo Stance--Neneh Cherry
7 On Our Own--Bobby Brown
8 Wind Beneath My Wings--Bette Midler
9 Cold Hearted--Paula Abdul
10 You Got It--Roy Orbison

Canada's Top 10 albums of 1989
1 The Raw & the Cooked--Fine Young Cannibals
2 Forever Your Girl--Paula Abdul
3 Girl You Know it's True--Milli Vanilli
4 Like a Prayer--Madonna
5 Volume One--Traveling Wilburys
6 Don't be Cruel--Bobby Brown
7 Appetite for Destruction--Guns 'n' Roses
8 Full Moon Fever--Tom Petty
9 Alannah Myles--Alannah Myles
10 Mystery Girl--Roy Orbison

Died on this date
Hermann Oberth, 95. Austro-Hungarian born German physicist and engineer. Dr. Oberth was one of the founders of modern rocketry, with his short book Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (By Rocket into Planetary Space) (1923) one of the most influential works in the field. A young Wernher von Braun was one of his assistants in the early 1930s.

Politics and government
The Parliament of Czechoslovakia elected Alexander Dubcek as its speaker.

Disasters
An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.

25 years ago
1994

At the movies
The Madness of King George, directed by Nicholas Hytner, and starring Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, and Ian Holm, opened in theatres in North America.



Politics and government
R. James Woolsey resigned as Director of the U.S. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. He had been criticized for his handling of the case of Aldirch Ames--the CIA agent who had been spying for Russia--and for not dealing sternly with oofficers who had failed to discover Mr. Ames' espionage more quickly Mr. Woolsey had also been criticized for not revamping the CIA in light of the end of the Soviet Union.

Scandal
U.S. Federal District Court Judge Susan Weber ruled that a lawsuit for sexual harassment filed by Paula Jones against U.S. President Bill Clinton could not be tried until Mr. Clinton left office. Judge Weber wrote that the president's responsibilities justified a temporary and limited immunity from trial, but she held that Ms. Jones' attorneys could gather facts in the case that could include interviewing Mr. Clinton.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Clayton Moore, 85. U.S. actor. Mr. Moore, a bit player in movies for a decade, became famous playing the Lone Ranger on television (1949-1952, 1954-1957). He was fired from the series in a salary dispute in 1952, but was brought back two years later. Mr. Moore also played the character in two feature films. He died of a heart attack.

10 years ago
2009

Terrorism
A suicide bomber in Karachi attacked a Shia procession commemorating the day of Ashura, causing 43 deaths.

December 27, 2019

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Marilyn Draper and Ana!

560 years ago
1459

Born on this date
Jan I. King of Poland, 1492-1501. Jan I acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Casimir IV; his reign included unsuccessful military efforts against the Ottoman Turks. King Jan I died on June 17, 1501 at the age of 41, and was succeeded by his brother Aleksander I.

210 years ago
1809

Born on this date
Alexandros Rizos Rangavis. Greek writer and diplomat. Mr. Rangavis wrote philological works, plays and poetry. He held various educational and diplomatic posts, including Greek Ambassador to Germany (1874-1886). He was one of the Greek representatives at the Congress of Berlin (1878). Mr. Rangavis died on June 28, 1892 at the age of 82.

140 years ago
1879

Born on this date
Sydney Greenstreet. U.K.-born U.S. actor. Mr. Greenstreet spent many years as a stage actor before making his movie debut in The Maltese Falcon (1941). His movies included Across the Pacific (1942); Casablanca (1942); Passage to Marseille (1944); The Mask of Dimitrios (1944); Three Strangers (1946); The Hucksters (1947); Ruthless (1948); and Flamingo Road (1949). Many of these movies also featured Peter Lorre in the cast. Mr. Greenstreet starred as the title character of the radio series The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe (1950-1951), and died from complications of diabetes and Bright's disease on January 18, 1954, 22 days after his 74th birthday.

100 years ago
1919

Born on this date
Charles Sweeney. U.S. military aviator. Major General Sweeney served with the U.S. Army Air Forces (later renamed the U.S. Air Force) from 1941-1979, but was best known as the pilot of the B-29 bomber Bockscar, which dropped the atomic bomb Fat Man on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. He died on July 16, 2004 at the age of 84.

Died on this date
Achilles Alferaki, 73. Russian composer and politician. Mr. Alferaki was Mayor of Taganrog (1880-1888) before serving as Chancellor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and director of the Russian Telegraph Agency. He wrote two operas and more than 100 Romantic compositions.

90 years ago
1929

Abominations
U.S.S.R. Communist Party General Secretary Josef Stalin ordered the "liquidation of the kulaks as a class."

80 years ago
1939

War
Finnish forces held off a Soviet attack in the Battle of Kelja.

Disasters
Erzincan, Turkey was hit by an earthquake, killing 30,000.

75 years ago
1944

Died on this date
Amy Beach, 77. U.S. composer. Mrs. Beach was a pianist who became the first successful female American composer when her Gaelic Symphony was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896. She wrote about 150 songs, as well as works for piano, and other compositions.

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle named Going My Way as the Best Picture of 1944, with Leo McCarey winning for Best Director and Barry Fitzgerald for Best Actor. Talullah Bankhead was named Best Actress for her performance in Lifeboat.

War
U.S. Army forces under General George Patton cut a northward path through the German salient in Belgium to relieve troops surrounded at Bastogne. U.S. forces captured Manhay, Humain, Surre, Boluide, and Boschleiden. Nazi elite troops were ordered to fight to the last man in house-to-house combat against Soviet troops in Budapest. U.S. air strikes drove off the Japanese task force on Mindoro Island in the Philippines.

Politics and government
A conference in Athens of Greek political leaders agreed to a regency under Archbishop Damaskinos.

Economics and finance
The U.S. War Production Board ordered a reduction in the use of lead for civilian production in 1945 because of war needs.

Labour
Harry Bridges, president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations International Longshoremen's Union, asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a final adjudication of the order to deport him to Australia.

70 years ago
1949

On the radio
Philo Vance, starring Jackson Beck
Tonight’s episode: The Identical Murder Case

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Case of Lady Sannox, starring Stella Adler, Henry Brandon, and Berry Kroeger



Died on this date
Andrew Johnson, 89. Swedish-born U.S. inventor. Mr. Johnson invented the combine harvester and other machines.

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle named All the King's Men as the Best Picture of 1949, with Broderick Crawford winning for Best Actor. Other awards were: Best Director--Carol Reed (The Fallen Idol); Best Actress--Olivia de Havilland (The Heiress); Foreign Language Film--Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves aka The Bicycle Thief).

Literature
The $10,000 Harper award went to Max Steele for his first novel, Debby.

Asiatica
Ceremonies in Amsterdam and Jakarta marked the formal establishment of the United States of Indonesia, ending the Dutch East Indies after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.

Defense
The U.S. Air Force ended a two-year investigation of flying saucer reports by denying their authenticity.

Crime
Pre-trial testimony in the Judith Coplon-Valentin Gubitchev espionage case in New York produced a statement from a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent that Ms. Coplon's telephone line had been illegally tapped, reversing earlier government contentions that all evidence had been gathered legally.

Journalism
Argentine President Juan Peron sued the newspapers Prensa and Nacion for claiming that he had enriched himself through the presidency.

Economics and finance
U.S. headquarters in Tokyo announced plans to give private firms control over Japanese imports.

60 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Le marchand de bonheur--Les Compagnons de la chanson (7th week at #1)

On the radio
Ungdomsteatern, on Sveriges Radio
Today's episode: De tre studenterna, starring Georg Arlin as Sherlock Holmes and Ragnar Falck as Dr. Watson

This adaptation of A. Conan Doyle’s story The Adventure of the Three Students was reportedly the first Sherlock Holmes radio broadcast in Sweden.

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Graduating Class, starring Wendy Hiller, Gigi Perreau, Jocelyn Brando, and Robert H. Harris

Politics and government
The French protectorate islands of Wallis and Futuna, northeast of the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, voted to become French overseas territories.

Labour
The International Longshoremen's Association and the Mobile Steamship Association agreed on a contract, averting the resumption of a dock strike in Mobile, Alabama.

Football
NFL
Championship @ Memorial Stadium, Baltimore
New York 16 @ Baltimore 31

Quarterback Johnny Unitas passed for 2 touchdowns and rushed for another to lead the Colts to their second straight championship game win over the Giants. Mr. Unitas hooked up with Lenny Moore for a 60-yard touchdown, converted by Steve Myhra, 4:55 into the 1st quarter to give Baltimore a 7-0 lead. New York came back with field goals by Pat Summerall in each of the first 3 quarters to take a 9-7 lead. Late in the 3rd quarter, Giants’ running back Alex Webster was stopped on a fourth down- and inches-to-to gamble on the Colts’ 28, and that changed the momentum of the game. Mr. Unitas rushed 4 yards for the touchdown that put the Colts ahead at 2:42, and completed a 12-yard pass to Jerry Richardson for another major score at 7:21. Johnny Sample returned an interception 42 yards for another touchdown at 9:31. Mr. Myhra converted all 3 and kicked a 25-yard field goal at 12:40 to make the score 31-9. The Giants finally scored a touchdown when Chuck Conerly passed 32 yards to Bob Schnelker, converted by Mr. Summerall, with just 32 seconds remaining. Mr. Unitas finished with 18 completions in 29 passes for 265 yards; Mr. Moore had 127 yards on 3 catches. Mr. Schnelker led all receivers with 9 receptions for 178 yards. Mr. Sample had 2 interceptions on the day for 76 yards, returned 2 punts for 23, and 1 kickoff for 8. The Giants lost the services of offensive end Kyle Rote for the 2nd half when he left with a concussion. 57,545 fans attended the only NFL championship game to be played at Memorial Stadium.





50 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Suspicious Minds--Elvis Presley

#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Abbey Road (LP)--The Beatles

#1 single in France: Tu veux ou tu veux pas--Marcel Zanini

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Belinda--Gianni Morandi (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Sugar, Sugar--The Archies (7th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Two Little Boys--Rolf Harris

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Two Little Boys--Rolf Harris (2nd week at #1)

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Something/Come Together--The Beatles (3rd week at #1)
2 Suspicious Minds--Elvis Presley
3 Penny Arcade--Roy Orbison
4 Picking Up Pebbles--Matt Flinders
5 And When I Die--Blood, Sweat & Tears
6 I'll Never Fall in Love Again--Bobbie Gentry
7 Take a Letter Maria--R.B. Greaves
8 Jean--Oliver
9 The Star--Ross D. Wyllie
10 Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head--Johnny Farnham

Singles entering the chart were Holly Holy by Neil Diamond (#28); Cold Turkey by the Plastic Ono Band (#31); Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head by B.J. Thomas (#36); and Carroll County Accident by Bobby and Laurie (#38).

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Marian--The Cats (2nd week at #1)
2 Mighty Joe--Shocking Blue
3 Oh Well!--Fleetwood Mac
4 Cha-La-La, I Need You--The Shuffles
5 Another 45 Miles--The Golden Earring
6 One Million Years--Robin Gibb
7 The Flood--Ginger Ale
8 Maanserenade--Marty
9 Yester-Me Yester-You Yesterday--Stevie Wonder
10 Tonight Today--DBM & T

Singles entering the chart were Winter World of Love by Engelbert Humperdinck (#30); Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (#36); Without Love by Tom Jones (#38); and Everybody's Talkin' by Nilsson (#39).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Someday We'll Be Together--Diana Ross and the Supremes
2 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
3 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
4 Down on the Corner/Fortunate Son--Creedence Clearwater Revival
5 Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye--Steam
6 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
7 Come Together/Something--The Beatles
8 I Want You Back--The Jackson 5
9 Whole Lotta Love--Led Zeppelin
10 Take a Letter Maria--R.B. Greaves

Singles entering the chart were Without Love (There is Nothing) by Tom Jones (#50); I'll Never Fall in Love Again by Dionne Warwick (#51); Monster by Steppenwolf (#71); Hey There Lonely Girl by Eddie Holman (#73); Traces/Memories by the Lettermen (#75); A World Without Music by Archie Bell & the Drells (#92); Theme from Electric Surfboard by Brother Jack McDuff (#95); The Gangs Back Again by Kool & The Gang (#98); Guess Who by Ruby Winters (#99); and The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Someday We'll Be Together--Diana Ross and the Supremes
2 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
3 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
4 Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye--Steam
5 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
6 Whole Lotta Love--Led Zeppelin
7 I Want You Back--The Jackson 5
8 Jam Up Jelly Tight--Tommy Roe
9 Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday--Stevie Wonder
10 Down on the Corner--Creedence Clearwater Revival

Singles entering the chart were Without Love (There is Nothing) by Tom Jones (#34); I'll Never Fall in Love Again by Dionne Warwick (#39); Monster by Steppenwolf (#62); Hold On by the Rascals (#73); The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King (#82); Everybody is a Star (#84)/Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin (#87) by Sly & the Family Stone; Moon Walk Part I by Joe Simon (#88); Lu by Peggy Lipton (#89); Voodoo Woman by Simon Stokes & the Nighthawks (#95); Mornin' Mornin' by Bobby Goldsboro (#97); Come Saturday Morning by the Sandpipers (#98); and Listen to the People by Zager & Evans (#100).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
2 And When I Die--Blood, Sweat & Tears
3 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
4 Someday We'll Be Together--Diana Ross and the Supremes
5 Heaven Knows--The Grass Roots
6 Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye--Steam
7 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
8 Jam Up Jelly Tight--Tommy Roe
9 Whole Lotta Love--Led Zeppelin
10 Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday--Stevie Wonder

Singles entering the chart were Without Love (There is Nothing) by Tom Jones (#75); Hey There Lonely Girl by Eddie Holman (#84); Monster by Steppenwolf (#85); Look-Ka Py Py by the Meters (#86); Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Nancy Wilson (#87); Hold On by the Rascals (#88); How I Miss You Baby by Bobby Womack (#91); He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother by the Hollies (#94); Mornin' Mornin' by Bobby Goldsboro (#96); Lu by Peggy Lipton (#97); Room to Move by John Mayall (#98); Listen to the People by Zager & Evans (#99); and Voodoo Woman by Simon Stokes & the Nighthawks (#100).

War
Leaders of Egypt, Sudan, and Libya concluded a three-day summit in Tripoli and announced after the last session that the Arab western front against Israel had been extended from Libya through Cairo to Khartoum.

Politics and government
Prime Minister Eisaku Satō led his Liberal Democratic Party to another victory in the Japanese general election, taking 288 of 486 seats in the House of Representatives. The LDP total was an increase of 11 from the most recent election in 1967. The Japan Socialist Party, led by Tomomi Narita, lost 50 seats, but still finished second with 90 seats. Komeitō, led by Yoshikatsu Takeiri, increased its total from 25 to 47, finishing third.

Disasters
A Montreal apartment house fire killed 6 people.

Zambian officials reported that rampaging hippopotamuses (hippopotami?) had killed 9 people by overturning their boats on the Namwala River.

Football
NFL
Western Conference Championship
Los Angeles 20 @ Minnesota 23

Minnesota quarterback Joe Kapp rushed 2 yards for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter--converted by Fred Cox--and defensive end Carl Eller sacked Los Angeles quarterback Roman Gabriel for a safety touch to give the Central Division champion Vikings the win over the Coastal Division champion Rams before 47,900 fans at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. The Rams led 17-7 at halftime on short touchdown passes from Mr. Gabriel to Bob Klein and Billy Truax. Bruce Gossett converted both and added a field goal. Dave Osborn rushed 1 yard for a Minnesota touchdown in the 1st quarter, and did the same in the 3rd quarter. Both were converted by Mr. Cox. Mr. Gossett kicked another field goal in the 4th quarter to give Los Angeles a 20-14 lead. Mr. Gabriel completed 22 of 32 passes, but for just 150 yards; he also rushed 4 times for 26 yards. Mr. Kapp was 12 for 19 in passing for 196 yards, and led the Minnesota ground game with 7 carries for 42. Gene Washington of the Vikings led all receivers with 90 yards on 4 receptions. The loss was the fourth straight for the Rams, who had started the season with 11 straight wins.





40 years ago
1979

Died on this date
Hafizullah Amin, 50. Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council of Afghanistan, 1979. Mr. Amin, a Communist, was Afghanistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs (1978-1979) and became Chairman of the Council of Ministers on March 27, 1979. He came to power in a coup on September 14, 1979, and took the offices of Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party. Mr. Amin was opposed to excessive Soviet influence, and was murdered the day after 5,000 Soviet troops invaded the country. He was succeeded in his various offices by Babrak Karmal.

War
U.S.S.R. forces seized control of Afghanistan.

Politics and government
Following four hours of heavy street fighting in Kabul and the death of President Hafizullah Amin, a new Afghan government led by Babrak Karmal was installed. Mr. Karmal, a former deputy to Mr. Amin’s Marxist predecessor, Nur Mohammad Taraki, had been in exile in East Germany and Czechoslovakia after his pro-Moscow faction had been purged from the Afghan government.

Disasters
A fire broke out in a 150-year-old prison in Lancaster County, South Carolina, killing 10 inmates and injuring 8 other people.

Hockey
NHL-U.S.S.R.
Exhibition
Super Series '80
Central Red Army 5 @ New York Rangers 2

This was the first game of Super Series ’80.



St. Louis 3 @ Detroit 2

This was the first National Hockey League game at Joe Louis Arena.

30 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins

World events
The Romanian Revolution concluded, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly ended in Bucharest.

War
American military officials released casualty figures regarding the U.S. invasion of Panama which had begun on December 20. 23 U.S. soldiers, 3 American civilians, 297 Panamanian soldiers, and at least 400 Panamanian civilians were killed. 322 U.S. soldiers, 1 American civilian, 123 Panamanian soldiers, and at least 2,000 Panamanian civilians were wounded or injured.

25 years ago
1994

Died on this date
J.B.L. Reyes, 92. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, 1954-1972. Jose Benedicto Luna Reyes began practicing law at the age of 21, and was a law professor and leader of the Philippine resistance against Japanese occupation during World War II. He was appointed to the Court of Appeals after the war, serving on the Court before he was elevated to the Supreme Court. Dr. Reyes was highly regarded, and it was said that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos waited until Dr. Reyes' retirement before imposing martial law. Dr. Reyes served as the first president of the Integrated Bar Association after his retirement, and opposed martial law and the presence of American military bases in the Philippines.

20 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Michael McDowell, 49. U.S. author and screenwriter. Mr. McDowell wrote numerous paperback horror novels, but his best-known work was the screenplay for the movie Beetlejuice (1988). He was a sodomite who died of AIDS.

Terrorism
Indian negotiators opened talks with five hijackers who had seized a plane on December 24 after takeoff from Katmandu, Nepal, and had taken it to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Weather
It was warm enough in Edmonton for this blogger to go out at night wearing shorts.

Football
NFL
New York Jets (7-8) 38 @ Miami (9-6) 31

10 years ago
2009

Protest
On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iranian government security forces fired upon demonstrators who were protesting the outcome of the 2009 presidential election, which had taken place on June 12, resulting in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.