January 2, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Kathy Fincham!

340 years ago
1680

Died on this date
Trunajaya, 30. Javanese rebel. Trunajaya, aka Panembahan Maduretno, led a successful rebellion of the Madurese people against Sultan Amangkurat I in 1677. The sultan fled to the north coast and died while attempting to ask for Dutch assistance. His son and successor Amangkurat II made substantial concessions to the Dutch East India Company (VOC), who succeeded in defeating Trunajaya's forces in November 1678. Trunajaya was executed in Bantul on the order of Sultan Amangurat II, a month after being captured.

130 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Henrik Visnapuu. Estonian writer. Mr. Visnapuu was one of the most important Estonian poets of the 1920s and '30s, and was a member of the expressionistic and neo-romantic literary group "Siuru." He was also a playwright and journalist, and was culture secretary in the department of the Information Agency of the Estonian state (1935-1944). With Soviet invasion of Estonia looming, Mr. Visnapuu fled to Germany in 1944, and moved to the United States in 1949. He died of a heart attack on April 3, 1951 at the age of 61.

125 years ago
1895

Born on this date
Folke Bernadotte. Swedish diplomat. Count Bernadotte negotiated the release of 31,000 prisoners--including at least 450 Jews--from German concentration camps during World War II. He was unanimously chosen as the United Nations Security Council mediator in the Middle East during the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1947-1948. On September 17, 1948, the day after leaving Rhodes to return to Jerusalem to preserve the city's cease-fire, Count Bernadotte, 53, and French Army Colonel André Sérot were shot to death in their car by members of the Jewish terrorist organization Lehi, better known as the Stern Gang.

120 years ago
1900

Economics and finance
U.S. Secretary of State John Hay announced the Open Door Policy to prompt trade with China.

100 years ago
1920

Born on this date
Isaac Asimov. Russian-born U.S. author. Dr. Asimov, the author and/or editor of more than 500 books of fiction and non-fiction, was best known for his Foundation series. In 1969 this blogger received a signed postcard from Dr. Asimov after pointing out an error in an astronomy book that he had written for children. Dr. Asimov died on April 6, 1992 at the age of 72.

Died on this date
Paul Adam, 57. French author. Mr. Adam wrote more than 40 novels, including a series about the period of the Napoleonic Wars and their aftermath. He died 26 days after his 57th birthday.

Politics and government
Under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, U.S. Department of Justice agents launched its second series of raids against radical leftists and anarchists in more than 30 cities and towns across 23 states, resulting in 6,000 suspected Communists and anarchists being arrested and held without trial.

80 years ago
1940

War
The Finnish government claimed to have trapped 55,000 Soviet troops on the eastern border between the two countries. Arrests of disaffected Czechs were reported in German-dominated Bohemia-Moravia. British officials announced that the Yangtze River patrol flotilla in China was being reduced from 13 to 3 ships.

Diplomacy
The U.S.A. announced its December 29, 1939 protest to the U.K. for opening mail from the United States to neutral countries, in violation of the 11th Hague Convention.

Defense
King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia announced the reorganization of his military and civil aviation, and the establishment of a new air base at Riyadh.

U.S. Senator Robert Taft (Republican--Ohio) said that the Western Hemisphere security zone could not be enforced short of war.

Politics and government
The U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) announced that it would not support incumbent U.S. Vice President John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner for political office.

Labour
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that National Labor Relations Board decisions making unions collective bargaining agents could not be appealed.

75 years ago
1945

Literature
The novel Cannery Row by John Steinbeck was published by Viking Press.

War
More than 1,000 British Royal Air Force heavy bombers struck Ludwigshafen, Nuremberg, and Berlin. U.S. troops in the Philippines landed unopposed on the west coast of Mindoro Island. British troops in Burma occupied the Mu River town of Kabo, 75 miles northwest of Mandalay.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that he wasn't worried over Allied "differences" as he prepared for a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin in the near future.

Mexico turned over a cheque for $448,000 to the U.S. State Department, completing payment of installments on American claims of damage incurred in the Mexican Revolution.

Society
The California Supreme Court ruled that the American Federation of Labor Boilermakers Union must admit Negroes under the same condition as whites.

Business
Major General Joseph Byron, in charge of the U.S. Army's seizure of Montgomery Ward & Company, revealed in Chicago that he was displacing key employees who refused to cooperate with the Army.

Horse racing
In compliance with the order issued by U.S. Director of War Mobilization and Reconversion James Byrnes, horse racing ceased in the United States. The order had been given as a wartime measure in order to save labour and critical materials.

70 years ago
1950

On television tonight
CBS Television News, hosted by Douglas Edwards



Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Riverman, starring Henry Brandon, Athena Lorde, and Elizabeth Moore

Died on this date
James Dooley, 72. U.K.-born Australian politician. Mr. Dooley, a native of Ireland, moved to Brisbane with his family at the age of 8. He eventually settled in New South Wales, and joined the Labour Party. Mr. Dooley was first elected to the N.S.W. Legislative Assembly in 1907, and served as Premier of New South Wales from October 1921-April 1922. Mr. Dooley resigned as party leader in 1923, and ran unsuccessfully three times in federal and state elections from 1931-1940.

Emil Jannings, 65. Swiss-born German actor. Mr. Jannings, born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, moved with his family to Germany in his youth, where he appeared in plays, and movies such as Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) (1924). He went to Hollywood in 1927 and starred in The Way of All Flesh (1927) and The Last Command (1928), and won the first Academy Award for Best Actor (1927-28), being honoured for his performances in both films. Mr. Jannings co-starred with Marlene Dietrich in Der blaue Engel (1930), and its English-language version (The Blue Angel), remained in Germany after the Nazis came to power in 1933, and starred in several Nazi-produced propaganda movies. His career ended with the fall of the Nazi regime in 1945, and he was subjected to denazification. Mr. Jannings died of liver cancer.

Robert Ringling, 52. U.S. entertainment executive. Mr. Ringling was an opera singer who was made president of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1944 as part of a power struggle between two branches of the Ringling family. He was president at the time of the circus fire in Hartford, Connecticut on July 6, 1944 that killed 167 people. Mr. Ringling was eventually removed and then reinstated as president, but he suffered a serious stroke in 1947, and was given the mainly honourary titles of executive vice president and chairman of the board. He died from a second stroke.

World events
Hungarian authorities arrested International Telephone & Telegraph executive Robert Vogeler in Budapest on espionage charges.

Economics and finance
The French National Assembly passed Prime Minister Georges Bidault's record 1950 budget of 2.275 trillion francs ($6.5 billion), after Mr. Bidault narrowly survived three votes of non-confidence.

Football
NCAA
Gator Bowl
Maryland 20 Missouri 7

Orange Bowl
Santa Clara 21 Kentucky 13

Sugar Bowl
Oklahoma 35 Louisiana State 0

Cotton Bowl
Rice 27 North Carolina 13

Sun Bowl
Texas Western 33 Georgetown 20

Rose Bowl
Ohio State 17 California 14



60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Joey's Song/Ooh! Look-a-There, Ain't She Pretty?--Bill Haley and his Comets (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Oh! Carol--Neil Sedaka

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Marina--Rocco Granata and the International Quintet

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): What Do You Want?--Adam Faith (5th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Why--Frankie Avalon
2 The Big Hurt--Miss Toni Fisher
3 El Paso--Marty Robbins
4 Way Down Yonder in New Orleans--Freddie Cannon
5 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
6 Among My Souvenirs--Connie Francis
7 It's Time to Cry--Paul Anka
8 Uh! Oh!--The Nutty Squirrels
9 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin
10 Running Bear--Johnny Preston

Singles entering the chart were Do-Re-Mi by Anita Bryant (#61, charting with the version by Mitch Miller and the Sing-Along Chorus); Tracy's Theme by Spencer Ross (#81); He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves (#89); Climb Ev'ry Mountain by Tony Bennett (#93); Rockin' Little Angel by Ray Smith (#96); Teenage Hayride by Tender Slim (#98); What in the World's Come Over You by Jack Scott (#99); and Lonely Blue Boy by Conway Twitty (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Why--Frankie Avalon
2 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
3 Go, Jimmy, Go--Jimmy Clanton
4 Hound Dog Man--Fabian
5 Way Down Yonder in New Orleans--Freddie Cannon
6 First Name Initial--Annette with the Afterbeats
7 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence
8 This Friendly World--Fabian
9 It's Time to Cry--Paul Anka
10 Bonnie Came Back--Duane Eddy and the Rebels

Singles entering the chart were If I Had a Girl by Rod Lauren (#12); Lonely Blue Boy by Conway Twitty (#19); Lucky Devil by Carl Dobkins, Jr. (#27); Where or When by Dion and the Belmonts (#31); Don't Destroy Me by Crash Craddock (#33); Rockin' Little Angel by Ray Smith (#35); The Village of St. Bernadette by Andy Williams (#37); Forever by the Little Dippers (#39); and You Got What it Takes by Marv Johnson (#40). Rockin' Little Angel was the other side of That's All Right, charting at #11.

At the movies
Ice Palace, directed by Vincent Sherman, and starring Richard Burton, Robert Ryan, Carolyn Jones, Martha Hyer, and Jim Backus, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
J.-M.-Paul Sauvé, 52. Canadian politician. Mr. Sauvé, first elected to the Quebec National Assembly as a Conservative in 1930, was defeated in 1935, but helped to create the Union Nationale Party and served as an MNA from 1936 on. He became Premier of Quebec in September 1959 upon the death of Maurice Duplessis, and used the word "desormais" (henceforth) to serve notice that things would be changing in Quebec. Mr. Sauvé’s "hundred days" were seen as the beginning of Quebec’s Quiet Revolution of modernization. Hospital insurance and university subsidies were among the matters "on hold" that were settled by his government. Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker took Mr. Sauvé’s death from a stroke as a great blow.

50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Two Little Boys--Rolf Harris (2nd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother--The Hollies
2 (Call Me) Number One--The Tremeloes
3 Suspicious Minds--Elvis Presley
4 Down on the Corner--Creedence Clearwater Revival
5 Theresa--Dave Mills
6 Cry to Me--The Staccatos
7 Tracy--The Cuff Links
8 Pretty Belinda--Chris Andrews
9 Jam Up Jelly Tight--Tommy Roe
10 La-Dee-Doo-Down-Down--The Archies

Singles entering the chart were Smile a Little Smile for Me by the Flying Machine (#18); Without Love (There is Nothing) by Tom Jones (#19); and Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) by Steam (#20).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
2 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
3 Jam Up Jelly Tight--Tommy Roe
4 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
5 Don't Cry Daddy--Elvis Presley
6 Midnight Cowboy--Ferrante & Teicher
7 That's Where I Went Wrong--The Poppy Family
9 Whole Lotta Love--Led Zeppelin
10 Someday We'll Be Together--Diana Ross and the Supremes

Singles entering the chart were Don't Let Him Take Your Love from Me by the Four Tops (#25); Without Love (There is Nothing) by Tom Jones (#26); Hold On by the Rascals (#27); You Got Me Hummin' by Cold Blood (#28); I'm Tired by Savoy Brown (#29); and One Way Ticket by McKenna Mendelson Mainland (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Something/Come Together--The Beatles (9th week at #1)
2 Don't Cry Daddy--Elvis Presley
3 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
4 Fancy--Bobbie Gentry
5 One Tin Soldier--The Original Caste
6 Cold Turkey--Plastic Ono Band
7 Arizona--Mark Lindsay
8 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
9 Take a Letter Maria--R.B. Greaves
10 That's Where I Went Wrong--The Poppy Family

Society
U.S. Federal Bureau Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover, in his year-end report for 1969, cited more than 100 attacks on police by Negro extremists in the second half of 1969 and warned: "Extremist, all-Negro, hate-type organizations, such as the Black Panther party, continued to fan the flames of riot and revolution." At least 7 of the police officers attacked died and more than 120 were injured in the six-month period. Mr. Hoover noted a changing pattern in racial turmoil from "large-scale riots of previous years," to "attacks on police officers and disturbances in high schools and even elementary schools." Stressing the growth of revolutionary militancy among student agitators, Mr. Hoover pointed out that there had already been 215 campus demonstrations in the current school year, as compared to 225 in the entire 1968-1969 period.

Crime
U.S. federal authorities announced that raids the previous day on what was said to be a nationwide gambling syndicate involving widely known sports figures had netted gambling records, more than $450,000 in cashier’s and business cheques, and $172,000 in cash. Ten men were arrested. The operation was said to have taken bets on horse races and football, basketball, baseball, and hockey games.

40 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd (3rd week at #1)

World events
Babrak Karmal, installed as President of Afghanistan after the U.S.S.R. invaded the country and assassinated his predecessor, Hafizullah Amin, six days earlier, appealed for public support of the change of government.

Nobel Prize-winning Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov, in an interview, called for the United Nations to put pressure on the U.S.S.R. to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, and came out in support of boycotting the summer Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Moscow. The Soviet news agency Tass charged that Dr. Sakharov "has been conducting subversive activities against the Soviet state for a number of years," and "lately embarked on the road of open calls to reactionary circles of imperialist states to interfere in the U.S.S.R.'s internal affairs."

Diplomacy
U.S. President Jimmy Carter recalled the U.S. Ambassador from Moscow and said he would ask the Senate to delay consideration of the SALT-II arms limitation treaty.

Economics and finance
The International Monetary Fund held its monthly gold auction and sold its gold at $562.85 U.S. per ounce, $136.48 per ounce higher than at its previous auction on December 5, 1979.

Labour
British steelworkers staged their first national strike in over 50 years.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 3 Hartford 3

30 years ago
1990

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Rock 'n Roll

Died on this date
Evangelos Averoff-Tositsas, 79. Greek politician and historian. Mr. Averoff was a major public figure in Greece for almost 50 years. He led resistance against Axis occupation of Greece during World War II, and against the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967-1974. Mr. Averoff was first elected to Parliament in 1946, and held several cabinet posts, including Foreign Minister (1956-1963) and Defense Minister (1974-1981). He was involved with the New Democracy movement from 1974-1984, and was the party's president from 1981-1984. Mr. Averoff wrote more than a dozen books dealing with Greek historical and political issues. In accord with the wishes of Baron Michael Tositsas, he added Tositas to his own surname in later years. In her novel A Man (1979), Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci alleged, among other things, that Mr. Averoff had been an Axis collaborator rather than a resistance leader, and that he had been a link between the Greek military junta and the subsequent democratic government led by Konstantinos Karamanlis.

Alan Hale, Jr., 68. U.S. actor. Mr. Hale, born Alan Hale MacKahan, Jr. and son of the character actor Alan Hale, played the Skipper on the popular television comedy series Gilligan's Island (1964-1967). He died of thymus cancer.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high of 2810.15.

25 years ago
1995

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

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Zombie--Ororo

#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Cotton Eye Joe--Rednex (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Canada (RPM): Always--Bon Jovi (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Siad Barre, 75. 3rd President of Somalia, 1969-1991. Major General Barre became President after the military coup that overthrew and assassinated President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke in October 1969. Maj. Gen. Barre turned Somalia into a one-party Marxist-Leninist dictatorship, achieving some reforms in the 1970s, but declining in popularity after defeat in the Ogaden War (1977-1978) against Ethiopia. Maj. Gen. Barre was deposed in a revolt in 1991, and he died in exile in Nigeria.

Nancy Kelly, 73. U.S. actress. Miss Kelly was a leading lady on stage, screen, and radio in the 1930s and '40s, but was best known for playing the mother in the play (1955) and movie (1956) The Bad Seed, winning a Tony Award for her starring performance in the former and receiving an Academy Award nomination for the latter. She died from complications of diabetes.

War
Defenders of the Chechen capital of Grozny turned back the first Russian attack on the city, inflicting heavy casualties.

Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir Zubak signed the four-month truce which had gone into effect the previous day between Bosnia's Muslim-led government and the Bosnian Serbs.

Football
NCAA
Orange Bowl
Nebraska 24 U. of Miami 17

The Cornhuskers, led by quarterback Tommie Frazier, scored 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to defeat the Hurricanes to win the national championship, the first for Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne.



Rose Bowl
Pennsylvania State 38 Oregon 20



20 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Elmo Zumwalt, 79. U.S. military officer. Admiral Zumwalt served with the United States Navy from 1939-1974, seeing action in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He was Chief of Naval Operations from 1970 until his retirement in 1974, and instituted reforms designed to eliminate outdated policies and attract new recruits. Admiral Zumwalt died of cancer which he had perhaps contracted as a result of exposure to asbestos.

Crime
25 Chinese men were discovered aboard a cargo ship in Vancouver, British Columbia; the illegal migrants were locked inside two canvas-covered containers buried beneath thousands of tons of other cargo. The men, who were en route to Seattle when they were discovered, had been on the boat for two weeks.

Football
NFL
Indianapolis (13-3) 6 @ Buffalo (11-5) 31
Arizona (6-10) 24 @ Green Bay (8-8) 49
Baltimore (8-8) 3 @ New England (8-8) 20
New Orleans (3-13) 13 @ Carolina (8-8) 45
Tampa Bay (11-5) 20 @ Chicago (6-10) 6
Cincinnati (4-12) 7 @ Jacksonville (14-2) 24
New York Giants (7-9) 18 @ Dallas (8-8) 26
San Diego (8-8) 6 @ Denver (6-10) 12
Detroit (8-8) 17 @ Minnesota (10-6) 24
Miami (9-7) 10 @ Washington (10-6) 21
Seattle (9-7) 9 @ New York Jets (8-8) 19
Oakland (8-8) 41 @ Kansas City (9-7) 38 (OT)
St. Louis (13-3) 31 @ Philadelphia (5-11) 38
Tennessee (13-3) 47 @ Pittsburgh (6-10) 36