February 4, 2020

1,150 years ago
870

Died on this date
Ceolnoth. English religious leader. Ceolnoth was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury from 833 until his death. He had to deal with Viking raids on Kent, resulting in a decline in monastic life and scholarly works. Archbishop Ceolnoth made alliances with West Saxon Kings Egbert and Æthelwulf that laid the foundation for future relations between the archbishops of Canterbury and the kings of England. Ceolnoth was succeeded as Archbishop of Canterbury by Æthelred.

1,060 years ago
960

Chinatica
Zhao Kuangyin was crowned as Emperor Taizu, initiating the Song dynasty, which lasted more than three centuries.

430 years ago
1590

Died on this date
Gioseffo Zarlino, 72 or 73. Italian composer and music theorist. Mr. Zarlino wrote madrigals and 41 motets, but was better known as a music theorist, making a large contribution to the theory of counterpoint as well as to musical tuning.

280 years ago
1740

Born on this date
Carl Michael Bellman. Swedish songwriter. Mr. Bellman was best known for two collections of poems set to music: Fredmans epistlar (Fredman's Epistles) (1790) and Fredmans sånger (Fredman's Songs) (1791). Mr. Bellman was a heavy drinker who suffered from gout and tuberculosis; he died in his sleep on February 11, 1795, a week after his 55th birthday.

210 years ago
1810

War
The British Royal Navy seized Guadeloupe.

200 years ago
1820

War
In the Chilean War of Independence, the Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completed the two-day Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and 2 ships, defeating Spanish forces commanded by Colonel Manuel Montoy.

125 years ago
1895

Born on this date
Nigel Bruce. Mexican-born U.K. actor. Mr. Bruce was born in Ensenada, Mexico, where his father worked as an engineer. He was best known (and loved) for portraying Dr. Watson to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes in 14 movies and over 200 radio programs from 1939-1946. Mr. Bruce continued the role for the 1946-1947 radio season--getting top billing--with Tom Conway as Sherlock Holmes. He died of a heart attack on October 8, 1953 at the age of 58.

120 years ago
1900

Born on this date
Jacques Prévert. French poet and screenwriter. Mr. Prévert's poems were often about life in Paris after World War II, and were collected in six volumes (1946-1973). Some of his poems were set to music by Joseph Kosma; the most notable example was Les feuilles mortes (Autumn Leaves) (1945). Mr. Prévert's best-known screenplay was for Les Enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise) (1945). He died of lung cancer on April 11, 1977 at the age of 77.

80 years ago
1940

Died on this date
Nikolai Yezhov, 54. U.S.S.R. bureaucrat. Mr. Yezhov was a member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1935-1939, and held various positions, including head of the secret police force NKVD from 1936-1938, overseeing mass arrests and executions during the Great Purge. He fell from favour with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, and confessed--probably under torture--to various anti-Soviet activities. Two days after being convicted in a secret trial, Mr. Yezhov was executed by shooting, in the basement of a small NKVD station in Moscow.

War
Japanese planes disrupted traffic on the Haishong-Yunan rail line in China despite U.S. appeals.

Diplomacy
The Balkan Entente conference--with the foreign ministers of Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia--concluded with the communique that the entente would continue in force until 1949.

Economics and finance
The governing body of the International Labour Organization rejected U.S. delegate Robert J. Watt's suggestion the previous day that the ILO prepare a plan for the world's transition from a war to a peace-time economy.

The New York Times reported that because of the European War, Palestine was suffering its worst depression ever.

75 years ago
1945

Diplomacy
The Yalta Conference with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin opened at the Livadia Palace in the Crimea. The principal subject was the government of Poland.



War
U.S. troops in Germany continued their advance with the capture of Ruhrberg, Einruhr, Urft, Morsbach, and Gerhahn. Soviet units in Germany made a 19-mile advance on the Oder River front and outflanked Kuestrin on the north, driving a wedge between it and Stettin on the Baltic Sea. 47 hostages were freed from Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila by Japanese authorities as U.S. forces continued their siege of the camp. The British Indian Army and Imperial Japanese Army began a series of battles in Burma known as the Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations.

Economics and finance
The American Bankers Association announced a proposal for an international financial organization that would include the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, but would eliminate the International Monetary Fund.

70 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): "A" You're Adorable--Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters; Tony Pastor

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Can Dream, Can't I?--The Andrews Sisters with Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra (Best Seller--4th week at #1; Disc Jockey--5th week at #1; Jukebox--3rd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Can Dream, Can't I?--The Andrews Sisters (5th week at #1)
2 Dear Hearts and Gentle People--Bing Crosby
--Dinah Shore
3 The Old Master Painter--Dick Haymes
--Richard Hayes
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
4 Johnson Rag--Jack Teter Trio
--Jimmy Dorsey and his Original "Dorseyland" Jazz band
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra
5 There's No Tomorrow--Tony Martin
6 A Dreamer's Holiday--Perry Como
--Buddy Clark and the Girl Friends
7 Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae
--Perry Como
8 Mule Train--Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners
--Bing Crosby
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Tennessee Ernie
9 Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy--Red Foley
--Bing Crosby
10 Slipping Around--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely

Singles entering the chart were Sitting by the Window by Billy Eckstine (#26); Quicksilver by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (#29); Bamboo by Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra (#30); and Fairy Tales by Paul Weston and his Orchestra (#34).

Died on this date
Montagu Norman, 78. U.K. banker. Baron Norman was Governor of the Bank of England from 1920-1944, and was known as the "currency dictator of Europe." While visiting his brother's country estate in 1944, he tripped over a cow and may have been kicked in the head, suffering an injury from which he never fully recovered. Baron Norman died after a stroke.

Defense
12 leading U.S. physicists, led by Hans Bethe of Cornell University, urged that the United States promise the world that it would not be the first country to use the hydrogen bomb.

Politics and government
Chinese Communists announced the formation of a regional for the eastern provinces of Shantung, kiangsu, Anthwei, Chekiang, Fukien, and Taiwan.

Five Socialist ministers quit French Prime Minister Georges Bidault's cabinet in protest against a January cost-of-living wage increase.

Labour
United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis rejected U.S. President Harry Truman's proposal to end the coal strike, claiming the miners did not want their wages and working conditions dictated by "three strangers" on the proposed presidential fact-finding board.

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates (7th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: One-Armed Bandits, with guest stars Larry Gates, John Beradino, and Harry Guardino

At the movies
Visit to a Small Planet, directed by Norman Taurog, and starring Jerry Lewis, Earl Holliman, Joan Blackman, and Fred Clark, opened in theatres.





50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)--Edison Lighthouse

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

At the movies
Patton, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, and starring George C. Scott and Karl Malden, received its premiere screening in New York City.



Died on this date
Louise Bogan, 72. U.S. poetess. Miss Bogan was known for her lyric poetry, which was collected into six volumes. She was Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1945, becoming was the first woman to hold the title. Miss Bogan was the poetry reviewer for The New Yorker from 1931-1970, retiring shortly before her death.

Space
The New York Times Service reported that American and British experts believed that the Soviet Union had built and successfully tested a satellite capable of intercepting and destroying other orbiting spacecraft. From tracking data gathered on Soviet spacecraft and from secret intelligence reports, the experts deduced that 16 months earlier the U.S.S.R. had launched an "interceptor-inspector-destroyer" satellite, officially named Cosmos 248, which had homed in on Cosmos 249 and Cosmos 252 and destroyed them. Radars of the United States Air Force originally saw the two Cosmos target satellites and their carrier rockets in orbit. According to officially published reports, the radars later detected 25 pieces of each spacecraft, indicating that an explosion had occurred. The experts noted that the explosions, which could have been caused by small onboard missiles with conventional warheads such as the Sidewinder type, occurred about the time the target satellites were near Cosmos 248. For more than a year, it was said, the Soviets successfully masked the tests by conducting them in October 1968 while public attention and private radars were focused on the U.S.A.’s Apollo 7 manned flight and the U.S.S.R.’s Soyuz 3 manned mission.

Environment
An executive order by U.S. President Richard Nixon called for the elimination of all air and water pollution caused by federal agencies. The directive provided $359 million to carry out the task and a three-year deadline to meet the requirements of state pollution standards.

Journalism
The U.S. Justice Department disclosed that it would not insist on obtaining all the material asked from newsmen in a recent series of subpoenas. A spokesman for the department said that investigators had breached a long-standing policy of agreeing with newsmen on the information to be demanded through a subpoena.

Disasters
All 39 aboard were killed when an Argentinian airliner crashed in a northeastern swamp.

40 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough--Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Daitokai--Crystal King (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Man Gave Names to All the Animals--Bob Dylan

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)--Pink Floyd

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Whispers

World events
Dissident Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov, recently exiled to Gorky, said that he had been threatened with a pistol and had been warned that he faced harsher exile or commitment to a psychiatric hospital if his wife, Yelena Bonner, continued to carry his written statements to Moscow.

Protest
100 demonstrators jostled Québec Premier René Lévesque to prevent him from entering the Paladium in Longueuil, where he was to deliver a speech related to the province's upcoming referendum on sovereignty. Mr. Lévesque said that the protest had been infiltrated by "marginal second-class revolutionaries who take advantage of every opportunity to get their message across, or they could not get through. Our society is not violent compared to others, and I've seen worse."

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Love Shack--The B-52's (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield (5th week at #1)
2 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins
3 Bakerman--Laid Back
4 Leave a Light On--Belinda Carlisle
5 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
6 I Feel the Earth Move--Martika
7 Listen to Your Heart--Roxette
8 Ride on Time--Black Box
9 The Road to Hell (Part 2)--Chris Rea
10 Sit and Wait--Sydney Youngblood

Singles entering the chart were Sit and Wait; Dear Jessie by Madonna (#21); Rich in Paradise "Going Back to My Roots" by F.P.I. Project (#27); and The Message is Love by Arthur Baker and the Backbeat Disciples featuring Al Green (#30).

Died on this date
"Whipper" Billy Watson, 74. Canadian wrestler. Mr. Watson, born William Potts in East York, Ontario, was a main attraction at Maple Leaf Wrestling in Toronto from 1940-1971, frequently holding the British Empire heavyweight title, and briefly holding the world title in 1947 and 1956. He also wrestled in St. Louis in the 1940s and '50s, joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1955, and bought the Seattle territory. Mr. Watson was forced to retire from wrestling after suffering a serious knee injury in a car accident. He devoted himself to charity work, especially with Easter Seals. Mr. Watson retired to Florida, where he died.

Protest
100,000 people demonstrated in Moscow on behalf of democracy.

Football
NFL
Pro Bowl @ Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
NFC 27 AFC 21

Los Angeles Rams’ cornerback Jerry Gray was the game’s Most Valuable Player.

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Zombie--The Cranberries (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Zombie--The Cranberries

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Zombie--The Cranberries (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Can You Feel the Love Tonight--Elton John (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): No Limit--Irene Moors & de Smurfen (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Think Twice--Celine Dion

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Creep--TLC (2nd week at #1)
2 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men
3 Another Night--Real McCoy
4 Take a Bow--Madonna
5 Always--Bon Jovi
6 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
7 Before I Let You Go--BLACKstreet
8 Sukiyaki--4 P.M.
9 Here Comes the Hotstepper--Ini Kamoze
10 I'm the Only One--Melissa Etheridge

Singles entering the chart were Baby by Brandy (#60); Tour by Capleton (#62); This Lil' Game We Play by Subway (featuring 702) (#64); Mad Izm by Channel Live (#75); Take You There by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth (#84); Supa Star by Group Home (#88); and Fat Boy by Max-A-Million (#89).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 On Bended Knee--Boyz II Men (10th week at #1)
2 Take a Bow--Madonna
3 Creep--TLC
4 Another Night--Real McCoy
5 Always--Bon Jovi
6 You Gotta Be--Des'ree
7 Hold My Hand--Hootie & the Blowfish
8 Here Comes the Hotstepper--Ini Kamoze
9 Every Day of the Week--Jade
10 Sukiyaki--4 P.M.

Singles entering the chart were I Know by Dionne Farris (#56); Kitty Kitty by 69 Boyz (#69); Hold On by Jamie Walters (#78); (She’s Got) Skillz by All-4-One (#82); Woman to Woman by Jewell (#84); Pimp of the Year by Dru Down (#86); Freak Like Me by Adina Howard (#87); and Baby by Brandy (#89).

Died on this date
Patricia Highsmith, 74. U.S. author. Miss Highsmith, born Mary Patricia Plangman, was known for psychological thriller novels such as Strangers on a Train (1950); The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955); and Ripley's Game (1974), all of which were made into movies.

Space
The crew of U.S. space shuttle mission STS-63 deployed the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration System-II (ODERACS-II) to help characterize orbital debris environment for objects smaller than 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) in diameter.



Economics and finance
U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor announced the institution of tariffs of as much as 100% on a wide range of imports from China, including plastic articles, telephones, answering machines, bicycles, silk goods, and jewellery. The action was a response to Chinese copying of motion pictures and music recordings and exporting the pirated copies abroad. China immediately responded to the U.S. action by imposing tariffs on U.S. imports.

20 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Carl Albert, 91. U.S. politician. Mr. Albert, a Democrat, represented Oklahoma's 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947-1977. He was House Majority Whip (1955-1962); House Majority Leader (1962-1971); and Speaker of the House (1971-1977). Mr. Albert served with the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, acting as a prosecutor with the Judge Advocate General Corps, and rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Doris Kenner Jackson, 58. U.S. singer. Mrs. Jackson was an original member of the Shirelles, who recorded such hit singles as Dedicated to the One I Love (1960-1961); Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1960-1961); Mama Said (1961); Baby It’s You (1962); Soldier Boy (1962); and Foolish Little Girl (1963).

Politics and government
Austria’s coalition government, with 12 ministers--6 from the People’s Party and 6 from the Freedom Party--was sworn in. People’s Party leader Wolfgang Schussel became Chancellor; Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider was not named to the cabinet, but his private secretary, Susanne Riess-Passer, became the country’s first Vice-Chancellor.

Three days after taking just 1% of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, Gary Bauer withdrew from the contest for the Republican party nomination for President of the United States for 2000.

Diplomacy
The United States recalled its Austrian ambassador "for consultations."

Health
The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium Charter of Paris was signed by French President Jacques Chirac and UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, initiating World Cancer Day, which is held on February 4 every year.

10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Helen Tobias-Duesberg, 90. Estonian-born U.S. composer. Mrs. Duesberg, the youngest daughter of composer Rudolf Tobias, moved to the United States in 1951. Her compositions included a requiem, violin and cello sonatas, concertos, and a wide range of choral works.

Bill Dudley, 88. U.S. football player. Mr. Dudley was a halfback, kicker, and punter with the University of Virginia Cavaliers (1938-1941), earning All-America honours in his senior year and recognition by both the Maxwell Club in Philadelphia and the Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C. as the nation's most outstanding college player. He played in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1942, 1945-1946); Detroit Lions (1947-1949); and Washington Redskins (1950-1951, 1953), earning First Team All-Pro recognition four times and Second Team All-Pro recognition twice, leading the league twice in yards rushing, and being named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1946, when he led the league in yards rushing (604); interceptions (10); interception return yards (242); and punt return yards (385). Mr. Dudley interrupted his career for service in World War II, playing for the Army (1943-1944) and being named Most Valuable Player in the service in 1944. He was the only player in NFL history to score touchdowns by rushing, receiving, punt returns, kickoff returns, interception returns, and fumble returns, and throwing a touchdown pass. Mr. Dudley worked in insurance in Lynchburg, Virginia after his playing career, and was a scout for the Steelers and Lions. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1956 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966. Mr. Dudley died five days after suffering a severe stroke.