December 31, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mike Matson and Erica Levine!

1,150 years ago
870

War
West Saxon forces led by Æthelwulf, Ealdorman of Berkshire defeated invading Vikings in the Battle of Englefield. The Vikings were driven back to Reading, East Anglia, and many Danes were killed.

510 years ago
1510

Died on this date
Bianca Maria Sforza, 38. Holy Roman Empress, 1508-1510. Bianca Maria, the daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan, became Queen consort of Germany and Archduchess upon her marriage to King Maximilian I of Germany in 1494, and became Empress consort upon his election in 1508. The marriage was unhappy, and Bianca Maria lived with her own court in the Tyrol until her death in Innsbruck.

420 years ago
1600

Business
The British East India Company was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I.

360 years ago
1660

Franciana
King James II of England was named Duke of Normandy by King Louis XIV of France.

350 years ago
1670

World events
The English naval expedition of Rear-Admiral Sir John Narborough left Corral Bay, Chile, having surveyed the coast and lost four hostages to the Spanish.

300 years ago
1720

Born on this date
Charles Edward Stuart. Scottish claimant to the throne of England. "Bonnie Prince Charlie," the grandson of King James II of England (King James VII of Scotland), was born in Rome, where his father Jame Stuart, pretender to the throne, had a residence. Charles led a French-backed uprising in 1745 to establish his father on the throne of England, but was defeated in the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and fled to the Isle of Skye and eventually to continental Europe, where he spent the rest of his life, except for a secret visit to London in 1750, where he apparently converted from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism by taking Anglican communion, thus indicating his willingness to reign as a Protestant. After James Stuart's death on January 1, 1766, Charles became the claimant to the English throne as Charles III. He died of a stroke on January 30, 1788, 30 days after his 67th birthday.

230 years ago
1790

Journalism
Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues still survive, was published for the first time.

190 years ago
1830

Born on this date
Isma'il Pasha. Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, 1863-1879. Isma'il Pasha, the grandson of Ottoman Governor of Egypt Muhammad Ali Pasha, succeeded his uncle Said I, and secured Ottoman and international recognition for his title of Khedive (Viceroy) in preference to Wāli (Governor), which had been used by his predecessors. Khedive Isma'il Pasha initiated political, economic, and educational reforms in an attempt to modernize Egypt into a European rather than an African state. He established an assembly of delegates, oversaw construction of the Egyptian portion of the Suez Canal, and conducted an unsuccessful war against Ethiopia. In 1879, Khedive Isma'il Pasha gave into a nationalist uprising led by Colonel Ahmed Urabi, and dissolved the government. Britain and France insisted on the restoration fo their ministers to office, and were successful in pressuring Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II to depose the Khedive; he was replaced by his son Tewfik Pasha. Isma'il Pasha went into exile in Italy, but was eventually allowed by Sultan Abdülhamid to retire to his Palace of Emirgan, where he remained virtually a state prisoner until his death on March 2, 1895 at the age of 64, which reportedly resulted from trying to guzzle two bottles of champagne in one draft.

160 years ago
1860

Born on this date
Joseph S. Cullinan. U.S. oil magnate. Mr. Cullinan worked with Standard Oil for 13 years before founding the J.S. Cullinan Company in Texas in 1900. He co-founded The Texas Company in 1902, serving until 1913 as president of the company, which became Texaco Incorporated in 1959. Mr. Cullinan died on March 11, 1937 at the age of 66.

Transportation
Canada's first railway tunnel opened in Brockville, Canada West with the passage of a wood-burning locomotive and two coaches; engineered by Samuel Keefer in 1854, the tunnel connected the harbour with the Grand Trunk Railway station.

150 years ago
1870

Born on this date
Tommy Connolly. U.K.-born U.S. baseball umpire. Mr. Connolly, a native of Manchester, emigrated to the United States with his family in 1885, and soon became interested in baseball. He umpired in the New England League (1894-1897) and moved up to the National League in 1898. Unhappy with NL President Nicholas Young's reluctance to back up the league's umpires, Mr. Connolly resigned early in the 1900 season, and joined the American League when the AL began operating as a major league in 1901. He worked in the AL for the next 30 years, establishing a reputation as the league's best umpire. Mr. Connolly was removed from field duty in June 1931 by American League President Will Harridge, who was concerned about the quality of the league's umpires. Mr. Connolly was made the AL's supervisor of umpires, holding that position in 1954, coming out of retirement to work in one game in 1932. He worked 4,770 regular season major league games in 35 yers (1898-1932), and 45 World Series games in 8 years. Mr. Connolly was inducted into the Honor Rolls of Baseball in 1946; with Bill Klem of the National League, he was one of the first two umpires inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953. Mr. Connolly died on April 28, 1961 at the age of 90.

140 years ago
1880

Born on this date
George Marshall. U.S. military officer and politician. General of the Army Marshall was Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1939-1945 under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, and was largely responsible for organizing the U.S. military buildup and coordinating Allied activities in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. He served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Truman from 1947-1949, and became known for the Marshall Plan, a program of economic aid to Western European countries that has been credited with preventing the recipients from turning to Communism, and led to Gen. Marshall being awarded the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize. Gen. Marshall served as Secretary of Defense under President Truman from 1950-1951. He died on October 16, 1959 at the age of 78.

110 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Carl Dudley. U.S. film director and producer. Mr. Dudley was known for directing and producing short travelogues from 1943-1963, including the 30-film series This World of Ours (1950-1955) and the Cinerama feature South Seas Adventure (1958). He died in Hong Kong on September 2, 1973 at the age of 62.

Died on this date
John Moisant, 42. U.S. aviator. Mr. Moisant, the son of French-Canadian parents who had emigrated to the United States, moved with his brothers to El Salvador in 1896 and bought sugarcane plantations, using the income to lead his future aviation adventures and two failed revolutions and coup attempts against Salvadoran President General Fernando Figueroa in 1907 and 1909. Mr. Moisant began designing airplanes in France in 1909 and flying in 1910, returning to the United States to become the 13th registered pilot in the U.S.A. He participated in several competitive events, including the 1910 Michelin Cup near Harahan, Louisiana, in which he was killed when he was thrown from his plane when it was hit by a gust of wind, fell 25 feet to the ground, and landed on his head, breaking his neck.

Arch Hoxsey, 26. U.S. aviator. Mr. Hoxsey studied at the Wright Brothers' school and began flying in 1910. On October 11, he took former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt as a passenger at St. Louis, making Mr. Roosevelt the first American President to fly in a plane. Mr. Hoxsey set an altitude record of 11,474 feet on December 26, 1910, but was killed in Los Angeles in a crash from 7,000 feet while trying to break his record.

100 years ago 1920 Born on this date
Rex Allen. U.S. musician and actor. Mr. Allen, nicknamed “The Arizona Cowboy,” was a country and western singer who had several hit singles from 1949-1968 and appeared in several Western movies, but was perhaps better known for narrating numerous Walt Disney films and television programs. He died on December 17, 1999, two weeks before his 79th birthday, when he was accidentally run over in his driveway by his caregiver.

80 years ago
1940

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Woodpecker Song--Kate Smith; Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (2nd month at #1)

Married on this date
U.S. actress Bette Davis and Boston businessman Arthur Farnsworth were married at a ranch in Rimrock, Arizona.

War
In his New Year's proclamation to the German armed forces, German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler declared: "The year 1941 will bring consummation of the greatest victory in our history."

Politics and government
In contrast to Mr. Hitler's message, New Year's messages from the Japanese government were gloomy. Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka said, "I fear the coming year will prove most tragic and unfortunate for all mankind."

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt characterized as "silly" a suggestion that the United States accept British islands in the Atlantic Ocean in exchange for material aid.

Scandal
Howard Hopson, 58, who had obtained control of Associated Gas and Electric Company in 1922 for $48,000 and had built it into a billion-dollar utilities empire, was convicted by a U.S. federal jury in New York on 17 counts of defrauding investors of nearly $20 million.

Labour
Ford Motor Company appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court from a lower court ruling upholding a National Labor Relations Board order that the company cease "unfair" labour practices. Ford accused the board of "bias and prejudice."

75 years ago
1945

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): (Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral) That's an Irish Lullaby--Bing Crosby (1st month at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Chickery Chick--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Nancy Norman, Billy Williams and the Kaye Choir
--Evelyn Knight and the Jesters
2 It Might as Well Be Spring--Paul Weston and his Orchestra with Margaret Whiting
--Dick Haymes
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
3 It's Been a Long Long Time--Harry James and his Orchestra with Kitty Kallen
--Bing Crosby with Les Paul and his Trio
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
--Stan Kenton and his Orchestra
4 I Can't Begin to Tell You--Bing Crosby with Carmen Cavallaro
--Andy Russell
--Harry James and his Orchestra
5 Symphony--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
--Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby
--Jo Stafford
6 Waitin' for the Train to Come In--Peggy Lee
--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Johnny Long and his Orchestra and Dick Robertson
7 That's for Me--Dick Haymes
--Jo Stafford
8 Dig You Later (A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba)--Perry Como and the Satisfyers
9 Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief--Betty Hutton
10 I'll Buy that Dream--Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes
--Harry James and his Orchestra
--Hal McIntyre and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were the version of It Might as Well Be Spring by Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra; the version of Symphony by Jo Stafford; Coffee Time, with versions by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra and Shep Fields and his New Music (#20); and You Always Hurt the One You Love by Spike Jones and his City Slickers (#49).

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Iron Box

Swing Around the Clock, on USAFRS

17 big bands, playing at various venues across the United States, combined in this salute to victorious American troops around the world. The broadcast was recorded in May 1945, and it went on the air late on the evening of December 31.



War
U.S. and U.K. intelligence experts declared that they were convinced that German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun had died in the Reichschancellery bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945. At the hearings of the United States Senate committee on the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S. Navy Admiral Harold Stark testified that 11 "specific warnings" of possible hostile Japanese actions had been sent to the Pacific commanders between October 16-December 6, 1941.

The Chinese government in Chungking responded to the Communist truce proposal with a plan of its own, proposing U.S. Army General George Marshall as mediator.

Diplomacy
The Soviet press agency TASS reported that the Polish Council in Warsaw had ratified the pact establishing the Russo-Polish border along the old Curzon line, with a few deviations "in Poland's favour."

France officially recognized the Yugoslavian republic.

Politics and government
New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser offered to place the country's mandate of western Samoa under United Nations trusteeship.

Education
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur ordered the suspension of all courses in Japanese history, geography, and morals after a survey showed them to be interwoven with state Shinto and militarism.

Economics and finance
The U.S.S.R. relinquished its rights to original membership in the International Monetary Fund by failing to sign the Bretton Woods agreements on time. Mexico signed the Bretton Woods agreement.

The Bermuda Legislative Council voted to end curbs on the use of automobiles.

Labour
U.S. President Harry Truman teminated the National War Labor Board by executive action and created a National Wage Stabilization Board to succeed it.

U.S. President Truman named a three-man fact-finding board to avert the scheduled January 14, 1946 steel strike, and ordered the Office of Price Administration to review ceiling prices for steel.

Arbitrator William Davis announced a 20% wage increase to $1.50 per hour for New York City longshoremen, with a work week reduction to 40 hours, and a week's vacation pay.

70 years ago
1950

Died on this date
Karl Renner, 80. Chancellor of Austria, 1918-1920, 1945; President of Austria, 1945-1950. Mr. Renner, a member of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, sat in the Reichsrat from 1896 until its dissolution in November 1918. He became known as the "Father of the Republic" for leading the first government of German-Austria and the First Austrian Republic after World War I. Mr. Renner was President of the National Council from 1931-1933, but his party was outlawed under the Fascist regime of Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934. Mr. Renner welcomed the Anschsluss by Nazi Germany in 1938, but his offer to help the regime was declined, and he stayed out of politics during World War II. He served as Chancellor of a Soviet-installed provisional government from April 27-December 20, 1945, but Western Allies regarded it as a Soviet puppet government. Mr. Renner took office as President on December 20, 1945, and was in office when he died, 17 days after his 80th birthday. He was succeeded as President by Theodor Körner.

Literature
The New York Herald Tribune listed Joy Street by Francis Parkinson Keyes as the best-selling fiction book, and Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl as the best-selling non-fiction book.

War
A heavy Chinese Communist artillery barrage north of Seoul broke a New Year's Eve calm on the Korean front.

Defense
Joseph and Stewart Alsop reported in the New York Herald Tribune that "official" estimates claimed that the U.S.S.R. had an atomic bomb stockpile of about 24 bombs, would have nearly 50 in another year, and "well over 100" at the end of two years. They said that current Soviet A-bomb output was about two per month.

Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command General Douglas MacArthur said that Japan may have to rearm against the threat of "international lawlessness."

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Are You Lonesome To-night?/I Gotta Know--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: What a Sky (Su nel cielo)--Nico Fidenco

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Ramona--Blue Diamonds

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): It’s Now or Never--Elvis Presley (9th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley (6th week at #1)
2 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
--Louis Prima
--Anita Bryant
3 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
--Mantovani & his Orchestra
4 Last Date--Floyd Cramer
5 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles
6 A Thousand Stars--Kathy Young with the Innocents
7 North to Alaska--Johnny Horton
8 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee
9 You're Sixteen--Johnny Burnette
10 Many Tears Ago--Connie Francis

Singles entering the chart were All in My Mind by Maxine Brown (#85); Utopia by Frank Gari (#89); Oh, How I Miss You Tonight by Jeanne Black (#90); Willie by Bill Black's Combo (#92); Stand by Me by Little Junior Parker (#93); There's a Moon Out Tonight by the Capris (#94); Please Come Home for Christmas by Charles Brown (#96); Looking Back by Dinah Washington (#97); Is There Something on Your Mind by Jack Scott (#99); Gee Baby by Joe & Ann (#100); C'est Si Bon (It's So Good) by Conway Twitty (also #100); and How to Handle a Woman by Johnny Mathis (also #100). Looking Back was the other side of We Have Love, charting at #74.

#1 single in Vancouver (CFUN): Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka (2nd week at #1)

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
(3rd week at #1) --Anita Bryant
2 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka
3 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley
4 Doll House--Donnie Brooks
5 Lonely Teenager--Dion
6 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee
7 North to Alaska/The Mansion You Stole--Johnny Horton
8 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
9 Lovey Dovey--Buddy Knox
10 Flamingo Express--The Royaltones

Singles entering the chart were The Mansion You Stole; Calcutta by Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra (#21); Your Other Love by the Flamingos (#35); Cool Operator by Sandy Nelson (#38); and (Ghost) Riders in the Sky by the Ramrods (#40).

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley, on BBC Home Service
Tonight’s episode: The Valley of Fear

Died on this date
C.D. Howe, 74. U.S.-born Canadian politician. Clarence Decatur Howe, a native of Waltham, Massachusetts, moved to Halifax as a young man to become a professor at Dalhousie University. He then became wealthy as an engineer, and settled in Port Arthur, Ontario, where he was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party in 1935. Prime Minister Mackenzie King named him to the cabinet as Minister of Railways and Canals and Minister of Marine; eventually, Mr. Howe became Minister of Transport. Upon the beginning of World War II and the re-election of the Liberal government in 1940, Mr. King named Mr. Howe Minister of Munitions and Supply, with the job of mobilizing all Canadian resources toward the war effort. It was in this portfolio that Mr. Howe spearheaded the transformation of the basis of Canada’s economy from agriculture to industry; he’s been credited with paving the way for Canada to have one of the world’s highest standards of living. As the war moved toward its conclusion, Prime Minister King, afraid that Mr. Howe might decide to leave politics, named him Minister of Reconstruction and Supply. When the government, now led by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, decided in 1951 that Canada needed to rearm while participating in the Korean War, Mr. Howe was given a new portfolio, and became Minister of Defence Production. A bitter debate in Parliament in 1955 and 1956 over building a pipeline to transport natural gas from Alberta to the United States turned many people against the Liberals, and they were narrowly defeated in the federal election of 1957. Mr. Howe was among the defeated, losing his seat in Port Arthur to Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate Douglas Fisher. He died of a heart attack, 15 days before his 75th birthday.

Defense
In a statement issued with President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s approval, the U.S. State Department warned that the United States "would take the most serious view of any intervention in Laos by the Chinese Communists or Viet Minh (North Vietnam) armed forces or others in support of the Communist Pathet Lao, who are in rebellion against the Royal Laotian government." The statement said that the U.S. was consulting its South East Asia Treaty Organization allies about the Laos situation.

50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): J'habite en France--Michel Sardou

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison (2nd week at #1)
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
4 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
5 If You Could Read My Mind--Gordon Lightfoot
6 Rose Garden--Lynn Anderson
7 Most of All--B.J. Thomas
8 Domino--Van Morrison
9 For the Good Times--Ray Price
10 Black Magic Woman--Santana

Died on this date
Cyril Scott, 91. U.K. poet and composer. Mr. Scott was a highly-regarded pianist who composed about 400 works, including two symphonies, three operas, three piano concertos, and numerous orchestral, vocal, and chamber works. He was an occultist who wrote prose and poetry advocating alternative diet and medical practices.

World events
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation reduced the death sentences of two Soviet Jews--who had been convicted of plotting to hijack a plane to escape to Israel--to 15 years in a labour camp. The court reduced the prison sentences of three of the other nine convicted conspirators.

Disasters
All 90 aboard were reported dead after a Soviet Aeroflot airliner crashed on takeoff from Leningrad.

A chartered French plane carrying 30 members of an Algerian soccer team to Mahon, Spain was lost after sending distress signals 65 miles off Algeria in the Mediterranean Sea.

40 years ago
1980

Died on this date
Raoul Walsh, 93. U.S. actor and director. Mr. Walsh, born Albert Edward Walsh, acted in silent movies in the 1910s and '20s, and began his directing career while still acting. His best-known performance was as John Wilkes Booth in The Birth of a Nation (1915). Mr. Walsh directed The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and other silent films, and was supposed to direct and act in In Old Arizona (1928), but lost his right eye in a car accident while driving on location, ending his acting career. He continued his career as a director with movies such as The Big Trail (1930), and numerous films for Warner Brothers Pictures starring Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Errol Flynn, such as The Roaring Twenties (1939); They Died with Their Boots On (1941); and White Heat (1949). Mr. Walsh died of a heart attack.

Marshall McLuhan, 69. Canadian media scholar. Born in Edmonton, raised in Winnipeg, and resident in Toronto, Dr. McLuhan coined the term "global village" and became famous for his phrase "The medium is the message" and variations thereof. His best-known book was Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964). Dr. McLuhan made a memorable cameo appearance as himself in the movie Annie Hall (1977). He died in Toronto, 15 months after suffering a stroke.

Politics and government
Connecticut Lieutenant Governor William O’Neill was sworn in as the state’s Governor, replacing Ella Grasso, who had been the first woman elected governor of a state without having a politician-husband as predecessor. Ms. Grasso had decided to resign after being diagnosed with liver cancer.

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ai wa Katsu--(愛は勝つ)--Kan (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Justify My Love--Madonna (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Sadeness Part I--Enigma (8th week at #1)

Died on this date
George Allen, 72. U.S. football coach. After years in the college ranks, Mr. Allen joined the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League as an assistant coach in 1957, moving on to the Chicago Bears in 1958 under head coach George Halas. Mr. Allen masterminded the defense that gave up an average of 10 points per game as the Bears won the NFL championship in 1963. He became head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 1966; from 1966-1970 the Rams compiled a regular season record of 49-17-4, but were unable to get past the first round of the playoffs. Mr. Allen was fired after the 1970 season and was promptly hired to be the head coach of the Washington Redskins, where he served from 1971-1977. Mr. Allen’s teams in Washington were known as the "Over-the-Hill Gang" because of his habit of trading away draft choices for proven veterans. The Redskins’ best season under Mr. Allen was 1972, when they led the National Football Conference with a record of 11-3, and won the NFC championship, only to lose 14-7 to the undefeated Miami Dolphins in the 1973 Super Bowl. Mr. Allen rejoined the Rams as head coach in 1978, but was fired after just two pre-season games. He joined CBS as a commentator on football telecasts. Mr. Allen joined the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League as general manager after the 1981 season, but departed after just a few weeks in which he accomplished nothing except large long-distance telephone bills. In 1983 Mr. Allen was head coach of the Chicago Blitz in the first season of the United States Football League, where he compiled a 12-6 record before losing in the first round of the playoffs. In 1984 he became head coach of the Arizona Wranglers when the owners of the Wranglers and the Blitz swapped the two franchises almost completely. In 1984 the Wranglers were 10-8, and won two playoff games to become Western Conference champions before losing 23-3 to the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL championship game. Mr. Allen left coaching after that, but returned in 1990 as head coach at California State University, Long Beach. He led CSULB to its first winning record in many years, but died six weeks after the last game. CSULB won the game and the players awarded Mr. Allen a Gatorade shower, but he procrastinated in changing out of wet clothes, and his health declined until he died of ventricular fibrillation. According to his son George, the heart arryhtmia, and not the Gatorade shower, was the cause of death.

Vasily Lazarev, 62. U.S.S.R. physician and cosmonaut. Dr. Lazarev became a military physician upon graduating from high school in 1951, qualified as a fighter pilot in 1954, participated in stratospheric balloon flights in 1962, and became a cosmonaut in 1966. He commanded the two-man Soyuz 12 mission in 1973 and the aborted Soyuz 18a mission in 1975, suffering injuries in the hard landing of the latter from which he never fully recovered, leading to his dismissal from military service and the cosmonaut corps on medical grounds in 1985.

Economics and finance
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1990 at 2633.66, down 119.54 points, or 4.3%, for 1990.

Chess
Garry Kasparov of the U.S.S.R. retained his world championship in Lyon against countryman and former world champion Anatoly Karpov. Mr. Kasparov won 4 games to Mr. Karpov’s 3, with 17 draws. The final score of the match was 12.5-11.5 for Mr. Kasparov. Mr. Kasparov’s victory earned him U.S.$1.7 million and a diamond-studded sculpture valued at $1 million. Mr. Karpov took home $1.3 million.



25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): One Sweet Day--Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Earth Song--Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): Earth Song--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Atlanta 20 @ Green Bay 37





AFC Wild Card Playoff
Indianapolis 35 @ San Diego 20



20 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Alan Cranston, 86. U.S. politician. Mr. Cranston, a Democrat, represented California in the United States Senate (1969-1993), serving as his party's whip (1977-1991) and chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (1977-1981, 1987-1983).

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

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Denver 3 @ Baltimore 21



NFC Wild Card Playoff
Tampa Bay 3 @ Philadelphia 21



10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Per Oscarsson, 83. Swedish actor. Mr. Oscarsson appeared in almost 160 movies and television programs in a career spanning more than 65 years. He was best known for starring role in Hunger (1966), for which he was named Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. Mr. Oscarsson died four weeks before his 84th birthday with his wife Kia Östling in a fire at their home.

Disasters
36 tornadoes touched down in the midwestern and southern United States, including Washington County, Arkansas; Greater St. Louis, Sunset Hills, Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, with a few tornadoes in the early hours, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages.

December 30, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Gladys Lucy Pomazongo Levano!

560 years ago
1460

Died on this date
Richard of York, 49. English royal family member. Richard was a great-grandson of King Edward III. He served under King Henry VI, and served as Protector of the Realm from 1454-1455 after King Henry suffered a complete nervous breakdown. Richard of York became a rival claimant to the throne, and was killed while fighting Lancastrian forces in the Battle of Wakefield.

War
Lancastrian forces loyal to King Henry VI of England defeated Yorkist troops in the Battle of Wakefield, and killed Richard of York.

130 years ago
1890

Born on this date
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines. 47th President of Mexico, 1952-1958. Mr. Ruiz, a member of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) (Institutional Revolutionary Party), served as Governor of Veracruz from 1944-1948, and was elected President in 1952. Mr. Ruiz's presidency included economic, educational, and health reforms, and women were allowed to vote in presidential elections. Mr. Ruiz died on December 3, 1973, 27 days before his 83rd birthday.

War
The day after the Wounded Knee Massacre, the Drexel Mission Fight took place in South Dakota between the 7th U.S. Cavalry, aided by the 9th Cavalry, and Lakota warriors.

110 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Paul Bowles. U.S. author and composer. Mr. Bowles wrote poetry, short stories, and novels, and was best known for the novel The Sheltering Sky (1949). He composed works for piano and incidental music for the theatre. Mr. Bowles died on November 18, 1999 at the age of 88.

80 years ago
1940

At the movies
Mr. & Mrs. Smith, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery, received a sneak preview screening in New Rochelle, New York, with the director in attendance.



Died on this date
C. Harold Wills, 62. U.S. automotive engineer and executive. Mr. Wills began working with Henry Ford in 1899, and was the chief contributor to the design of the Model T. He left Ford Motor Company in 1919, and founded and led the automotive firm Wills Sainte Claire, which was in business from 1921-1927. Mr. Wills died shortly after suffering a stroke.

War
Associated Press estimated the total of dead, wounded, and missing for the first 15 months of the European war at 3-4 million.

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was reported by the White House to be "tremendously pleased" by the response to his radio address the night before, urging complete aid to the United Kingdom. U.S. Senator D. Worth Clark (Democrat--Idaho) said that Mr. Roosevelt's address was "a trick speech, calculated to lead the American people into war and ruin." Sen. Burton K. Wheeler (Democrat--Montana) criticized "warmongers," opposed aid to Britain that might involve the United States in War, and offered an eight-point peace program.

Politics and government
Representative Ramon Vina of the National Herrerista Party, which opposed the establishment of Pan-American bases in Uruguay, tried to shoot Socialist Rep. Emilio Frugoni on the floor of the Chamber of Representatives in Montevideo during a debate on the bases.

The National Student Federation of America voted to withdraw from the American Youth Congress, which it had helped to found, because of the AYC's alleged radical tendencies.

Transportation
California’s first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened.

75 years ago
1945

War
At the trial of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, the United States 3rd Army headquarters released German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler's "political testament," which named Admiral Karl Doenitz head of the German state, and predicted that Nazism would be reborn. Hiroshima Mayor Shichiro Kihara told Allied reporters that Americans should rebuild the city because "we were sacrificed to end the war;" he listed casualties at 139,000 killed out of a population of 310,000.

Diplomacy
League of Nations acting Secretary-General Sean Lester issued that body's final report and stated that the United Nations was in many respects a continuation of the League.

Politics and government
U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes said that Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur's authority in Japan would not be obstructed in any way by the Far Eastern Commission.

The Argentinian Radical Party named Dr. Jose Tamborini as its presidential candidate, and got pledges of support from the Socialists, Communists, and Progressive Democrats.

Defense
Republic Aviation Corporation revealed development of a four-engine flying photographic laboratory, named the XF-12, for the U.S. Air Technical Service.

Economics and finance
The Egyptian cabinet of Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha approved a boycott of goods produced by Zionists in Palestine.

70 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Goodnight Irene--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra and the Weavers (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): The Tennessee Waltz--Patti Page (Best Seller--1st week at #1); The Thing--Phil Harris (Disc Jockey--5th week at #1; Jukebox--2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Tennessee Waltz--Patti Page
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Les Paul and Mary Ford
--Jo Stafford
2 Harbor Lights--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
--Bing Crosby
3 The Thing--Phil Harris
4 Thinking of You--Don Cherry
--Eddie Fisher
5 A Bushel and a Peck--Perry Como and Betty Hutton
--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
6 All My Love (Bolero)--Patti Page
--Percy Faith and his Orchestra
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Bing Crosby
7 Nevertheless (I’m in Love with You)--Paul Weston and his Orchestra
--The Mills Brothers
--Ralph Flanagan and his Orchestra
--Ray Anthony and his Orchestra
8 Patricia--Perry Como
9 Orange Colored Sky--Nat "King" Cole and Stan Kenton
10 Oh, Babe!--Kay Starr
--Louis Prima and Keely Smith

Singles entering the chart that week were Roving Kind (#29), with versions by Guy Mitchell; and the Weavers; and Silver Bells by Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely (#34).

Movies
The Motion Picture Herald annual poll of theatre audiences named John Wayne as the most popular actor of the year, followed by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Betty Grable, and James Stewart.

War
In the biggest jet plane dogfight of the Korean War to date, 40 Soviet MiG-15s and 15 U.S. F-86 Sabres clashed over northwestern Korea near Manchuria. The U.S. Air Force reported two MiGs damaged.

Diplomacy
Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan refused to attend a British Commonwealth conference in London until he was promised that the meeting would try to settle the dispute between Pakistan and India over the status of Kashmir.

Economics and finance
The Hungarian governemnt instructed all ministries to work out emergency programs within the next 30 days to accelerate industrial growth and the development of substitutes for imported raw materials and to provide strict economy in all branches of production.

U.S. President Harry Truman's Council of Economic Advisers issued a 31-page annual report, pronouncing the nation's economy essentially sound, but urging immediate action on wage and price controls, a broader tax program, and fixing the size of military requirements.

Baseball
The Baseball Writers Association of New York named New York Giants' second baseman Eddie Stanky as the major league player of the year. He batted .300 with 8 home runs and 51 runs batted in in 152 games, leading the National League in bases on balls (144); beig hit by a pitch (12); and on-base percentage (.460) in 1950.

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): It's Now or Never--Elvis Presley (9th week at #1)

War
The Laotian government of Premier Prince Boun Oum asked the United Nations for aid against a reported invasion of Laos by troops from the Communist countries of North Vietnam and China. Vientiane radio had broadcast a communiqué stating that several battalions of North Vietnamese troops had entered Laos.

50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Grandad--Clive Dunn

On television tonight
Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: The House, starring Joanna Pettet; Certain Shadows on the Wall, starring Louis Hayward, Rachel Roberts, Agnes Moorehead, and Grayson Hall

Died on this date
Arsenio Rodriguez, 59. Cuban-born U.S. musician. Mr. Rodriguez, born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull, played the Cuban instruments tres and tumbadora and specialized in Afro-Cuban music, establishing the conjunto (small ensemble) format and had success as a songwriter and recording artist in Cuba for more than a dozen years before moving to New York in 1952. He recorded several albums thereafter, but his music fell out of fashion. Mr. Rodriguez died of pneumonia.

Sonny Liston, 38 (?). U.S. boxer. Charles Liston, 24th of 25 children of an Arkansas sharecropper, was illiterate, became a criminal while a youth, and learned to box in the penitentiary at Jefferson City, Missouri. He was controlled by organized crime figures, but earned a world heavyweight title fight after an impressive string of victories. A fearsome presence and a devastating puncher, Mr. Liston won the title on September 25, 1962 by knocking out defending champion Floyd Patterson in just 2 minutes and 6 seconds of the 1st round. A rematch on July 22, 1963 lasted just 4 seconds longer. Mr. Liston lost the title on February 25, 1964 in his next defense, failing to come out of his corner to begin the 7th round against brash young Cassius Clay, who then promptly announced that he preferred to be known as Muhammad Ali. Mr. Liston’s reputation was further tarnished in the rematch on May 25, 1965, when he was knocked out at 1:42 of the 1st round in the rematch. He was widely accused of taking a dive, although films clearly showed Mr. Ali delivering a short punch directly to Mr. Liston’s chin. Mr. Liston attempted a comeback, running up a string of wins over unheralded opponents, until he was knocked out by former sparring partner Leotis Martin on December 6, 1969. Mr. Liston’s final fight was a 9-round technical knockout of Chuck Wepner in New Jersey on June 29, 1970, giving him a professional record of 50-4. Mr. Liston, who spent his last years in Las Vegas, died while his wife Geraldine was away visiting relatives, and she discovered his body when she arrived home on January 5, 1971. The date of death was estimated in part from a stack of newspapers outside the front door. Mr. Liston died of an apparent drug overdose, although it was said that he wasn’t a drug user. He was reportedly working as an enforcer for unsavoury characters in Las Vegas. Whatever the truth, Sonny Liston took many secrets with him to the grave, as The Ring magazine stated in its April 1971 issue.

World events
Facing threats of violence by Basque separatists because of death sentences handed to 6 defendants in a court-martial, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco defused the situation by commuting the death sentences to 30-year prison sentences.

Disasters
A coal mine explosion in Hyden, Kentucky killed 38 miners.

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Ice Ice Baby--Vanilla Ice (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Sadeness Part I--Enigma (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Sadeness Part I--Enigma (3rd week at #1)

Diplomacy
In response to demands and threats from U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev, the Moldavian parliament said that it would review a law that made Moldavian the republic’s official language, and also agreed not to form a special defense force in Moldavia.

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (11th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Wallonia (Ultratop 40): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (5th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Ademnood--Linda, Roos & Jessica (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Earth Song--Michael Jackson (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 One Sweet Day--Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men (5th week at #1)
2 Exhale (Shoop Shoop)--Whitney Houston
3 Hey Lover--LL Cool J
4 Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V.
5 Diggin' on You--TLC
6 Fantasy--Mariah Carey
7 Before You Walk Out of My Life/Like This and Like That--Monica
8 Breakfast at Tiffany's--Deep Blue Something
9 Name--Goo Goo Dolls
10 Free as a Bird--The Beatles

Singles entering the chart were Free as a Bird; Sittin' Up in My Room by Brandy (#46); Fu-Gee-La by the Fugees (#89); Cold World by Genius/GZA featuring Inspektah Deck (#97); and You Put a Move on My Heart by Quincy Jones introducing Tamia (#98). Sittin' Up in My Room was from the movie Waiting to Exhale (1995).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 One Sweet Day--Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men (4th week at #1)
2 Exhale (Shoop Shoop)--Whitney Houston
3 Hey Lover--LL Cool J
4 Diggin' on You--TLC
5 Name--Goo Goo Dolls
6 You'll See--Madonna
7 Fantasy--Mariah Carey
8 Before You Walk Out of My Life/Like This and Like That--Monica
9 Breakfast at Tiffany's--Deep Blue Something
10 Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V.

Singles entering the chart were Just Tah Let U Know by Eazy-E (#54) and I Got ID/Long Road by Pearl Jam (#55).

Died on this date
Ralph Flanagan, 81. U.S. musician. Mr. Flanagan, born Ralph Flenniken, was a pianist who became an arranger for a number of big bands and led a band of his own in the late 1940s and 1950s, having hit singles with songs such as Hot Toddy and Singing Winds.

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Miami 22 @ Buffalo 37



NFC Wild Card Playoff
Detroit 37 @ Philadelphia 58



20 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Julius J. Epstein, 91. U.S. screenwriter. Mr. Epstein, his twin brother Philip, and Howard Koch won an Academy Award for their screenplay for Casablanca (1942). Julius Epstein also received Oscar nominations for his screenplay adaptations for Four Daughters (1938); House Calls (1978); and Reuben, Reuben (1983).

Terrorism
A series of bombs exploded in various places in Metro Manila within a period of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring about 100.

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Indianapolis 17 @ Miami 23 (OT)



NFC Wild Card Playoff
St. Louis 28 @ New Orleans 31





10 years ago
2010

Basketball
NCAA
Top-ranked University of Connecticut's record 90-game winning streak in women's basketball ended with a 71-59 loss to #9-ranked Stanford.

December 29, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Christine Gotaas!

850 years ago
1170

Died on this date
Thomas Becket, 52. English clergyman; Archbishop of Canterbury, 1162-1170. Mr. Becket, who had quarrelled with King Henry II over matters involving church and state, was murdered in his cathedral by four knights acting on orders of the king.

470 years ago
1550

Died on this date
Bhuvanaikabahu VII, 82. King of Kotte, 1521-1550. Bhuvanaikabahu VII acceded to the throne of Kotte, a kingdom in present-day Sri Lanka, upon the death of his father Vijayabahu VII. He was regarded as a weak king, dependent on help from the Portuguese to protect him from the attempts of his brother Mayadunne to depose him. King Bhuvanaikabahu was a Buddhist who resisted Portuguese attempts to convert him to Roman Catholicism, and was assassinated on the orders of either Maydunne or Viceroy Alfonso de Noronha. Bhuvanaikabahu VII was succeeded on the throne by his grandson Dharmapala.

220 years ago
1800

Born on this date
Charles Goodyear. U.S. chemist and engineer. Mr. Goodyear was best known for developing vulcanized rubber, for which he received a U.S. patent in 1844. He lost a court battle in England in 1855 over a British patent for vulcanized rubber. He travelled to New York to see his dying daughter, and collapsed and died himself on July 1, 1860 at the age of 59, after finding out that she was already dead. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and named after Mr. Goodyear.

175 years ago
1845

Americana
In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, the United States annexed the Republic of Texas, following the manifest destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, was thereupon admitted to the Union as the 28th state.

160 years ago
1860

Defense
The British Royal Navy frigate HMS Warrior was launched; with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, she rendered all previous warships obsolete.

140 years ago
1880

Died on this date
Tuhiata. N.Z. criminal. Tuhiata murdered artist Mary Dobie, 29, in Opunake on November 25, 1880. He confronted Miss Dobie, who thought he was going to rob her, and strangled her when she threatened to report him to the English authorities. The killing of a white woman by a Māori outraged the settler community, and the jury at Tuhiata's trial took less than half an hour to convict him of murder. He was hanged at Terrace Gaol in Wellington.

130 years ago
1890

War
Almost 200 Sioux Indian men, women, and children were shot by members of the U.S. 7th Cavalry in a massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. It was the last major action in the various U.S. Indian wars.

Albertana
The Town of Lethbridge was incorporated.

125 years ago
1895

War
The botched Jameson Raid, an attack on the Transvaal Republic led by British Administrator of Rhodesia Leander Starr Jameson, began in Johannesburg.

110 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Ronald Coase. U.K.-born U.S. economist. Professor Coase began his career in Britain before moving to the United States in the 1950s, settling at the University of Chicago in 1964. He was best known for the articles The Nature of the Firm (1937) and The Problem of Social Cost (1960), which helped him win the 1991 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences "for his discovery and clarification of the significance of transaction costs and property rights for the institutional structure and functioning of the economy." Prof. Coase died on September 2, 2013 at the age of 102.

Politics and government
Liberal candidate Marcellin Robert defeated "oppositionist" candidate Henri Hébert 1,507-862 in a Quebec provincial by-election in the riding of Saint-Jean. The by-election was necessitated by the death of former Premier Félix-Gabriel Marchand.

Transportation
The Canada and Gulf Terminal Railway became the first rail line to reach the Lower St. Lawrence region as its station opened in Matane, Quebec.

100 years ago
1920

Born on this date
Viveca Lindfors. Swedish actress. Miss Lindfors appeared in various plays, movies, and television programs, and won an Emmy Award in 1990 for her guest performance in Life Goes On. She died on October 25, 1995 at the age of 74.

80 years ago
1930

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: The Reigate Puzzle

Politics and government
Sir Muhammad Iqbal, president of the All-India Muslim League, delivered a presidential address in Allahabad in which he encouraged the creation of a "state in northwestern India for Indian Muslims," introducing the two-nation theory and outlining a vision for the creation of Pakistan.

80 years ago
1940

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight’s episode: The Missing Three-Quarter

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle named its award winners for 1940, which included: Best Picture--The Grapes of Wrath; Best Director--John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath); Best Actor--Charlie Chaplin (The Great Dictator); and Best Actress--Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story).

War
In the Second Great Fire of London, the German Luftwaffe fire-bombed London, killing almost 200 civilians. The United Kingsom announced that an unidentified German "powerful surface warship" had been routed in the North Atlantic Ocean on December 25 by the British cruiser Berwick.

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared in a "fireside chat" radio broadcast that the United States must become the "arsenal of democracy," and that full aid must be given to the United Kingdom on a war basis. He added that no threats by dictators could weaken American determination to give Britain all the aid she needed.

Law
Mexican President Manuel Avila Camacho sent a bill to the Chamber of Deputies granting amnesty for political offenders during the recent presidential election campaign.

Labour
Congress of Industrial Organizations United Auto Workers President R.J. Thomas said that the U.S. War Department contract awarded to Ford Motor Company for 1,500 scout cars would "seriously undermine the morale of labor engaged in defense work."

Football
NFL
All-Star Game @ Los Angeles
Chicago Bears 28 NFL All-Stars 14

Sid Luckman won the quarterbacking duel over Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins as the champion Bears defeated the All-Stars at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

75 years ago
1945

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Chickery Chick--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra with Nancy Norman, Billy Williams and the Kaye Choir (Best Seller--3rd week at #1; Juke Box--2nd week at #1); White Christmas--Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra (Airplay--1st week at #1); It's Been a Long, Long Time--Harry James and His Orchestra with Kitty Kallen; Bing Crosby with Les Paul and his Trio (Honor Roll of Hits--7th week at #1)

At the movies
Hitler Lives, an adaptation of the previously released documentary short film Your Job in Germany, opened in theatres.

War
The Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) released World War II's casualty statistics: 41,371 Canadians in service killed; 43,178 wounded; 10,844 made prisoners of war; 32 missing in action.

U.S. Army Lieutenant General Albert Wedemeyer announced that American troops would help Nationalist Chinese forces move into Manchuria.

British troops in Indonesia disarmed all Indonesian police on the ground that they had not been able to maintain law and order.

Defense
The United States Army and Navy created a joint advisory board to work with Major General Leslie Groves on the atomic bomb.

Energy
The American Association of Scientific Workers issued a statement supporting the Moscow Agreement for United Nations control of atomic energy.

Politics and government
Brazilian President-elect Eurico Dutra pledged to restore full deomocracy; maintain close ties with the United States; ease immigration laws; and encourage the flow of foreign capital into Brazil.

Labour
The bitter United Auto Workers strike against Ford Motor Company of Canada, which had started on September 12, 1945 when 17,000 workers walked off the job in Windsor, Ontario ended, as both sides agreed to binding arbitration by Justice Ivan Rand.

U.S. National Federation of Telephone Workers President Joseph Beirne appealed to U.S. President Harry Truman to intervene in the dispute between Western Electric and its Employees Association to avert a strike by January 3, 1946.

The U.S. National War Labor Board recommended weekly wage increases of $3 and $4 for 11,500 employees of Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in five states.

Hockey
NHL
Montréal Canadiens' right winger Maurice Richard scored his 100th career National Hockey League goal in his 134th game.

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Montgomery, Alabama
North 26 South 0

70 years ago
1950

On the radio
Hear it Now, hosted by Edward R. Murrow, on CBS

Tonight's program included news about the Korean War.

Theatre
The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams received its premiere performance in Chicago. Mr. Williams revised the play before it opened on Broadway in New York on February 3, 1951.

World events
Aden's eastern state of Mukalla was placed under martial law after nationalist rioters attacked the sultan's palace guard.

Politics and government
The South Korean cabinet, expressing confidence that Seoul's defenses would hold, decided to remain in the city.

Defense
The French National Assembly approved a record 740-billion franc increase in the country's military budget, to be financed by higher taxes.

Transportation
The last streetcar run in Calgary took place.

Medicine
Dr. Selman Wakeman conceded in Newark Superior Court that Dr. Albert Schatz was the co-discoverer of the antibiotic streptomyecin, and agreed to reach a financial settlement on division of royalties from sales of the drug.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman signed a bill authorizing the use of $38 million in Marshall Plan funds for famine aid to Yugoslavia.

Business
U.S. President Truman signed a measure strengthening the Clayton Anti-Trust Act by barring business mergers that would lessen competition.

Labour
The U.S. Office of Defense Manpower announced plans to establish 13 regional manpower committees to handle problems of job turnover, absenteeism, and manpower shortages.

60 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): I Love You--Cliff Richard and the Shadows

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Tommy Karpeles Story

50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Kvällstoppen): Cracklin' Rosie--Neil Diamond (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): San Bernadino--Christie (4th week at #1)

40 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Shaddap You Face--Joe Dolce Music Theatre (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Sneaker Blues--Masahiko Kondō (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Super Trouper--ABBA (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Tim Hardin, 39. U.S. musician. Mr. Hardin was a singer-songwriter best known for writing the songs Reason to Believe and If I Were a Carpenter, both of which have been recorded by many artists. His only notable hit single as a performer came in the fall of 1969 with Simple Song of Freedom, a Bobby Darin composition (Mr. Darin’s version of If I Were a Carpenter had been a major hit in the fall of 1966). Mr. Hardin had a drug habit for many years and died of a heroin overdose, six days after his 39th birthday.

World events
Testimony and arguments concluded in the trial of Jiang Qing, widow of Chairman Mao Zedong and one of China’s "Gang of Four." She was hauled from the courtroom shouting, "I am prepared to die." The chief prosecutor had demanded a death sentence.

Oil
Libya and Indonesia announced price increases of US$3-$4 per barrel. It was widely believed that Algeria would not only raise its price to $41 per barrel, but would also maintain its surcharge of $3 per barrel, making the total price $44 per barrel. Nigeria raised its price $3 per barrel, to $40 per barrel.

30 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Unchained Melody--The Righteous Brothers (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Attenti Al Lupo--Lucio Dalla

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): I've Been Thinking About You--Londonbeat (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Sadeness Part I--Enigma

#1 single in France (SNEP): Petit Frank--François Feldman

#1 single in the U.K. (CIN): Saviour's Day--Cliff Richard

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40)
: Ice Ice Baby--Vanilla Ice (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard)
: Because I Love You (The Postman Song)--Stevie B (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Justify My Love--Madonna
2 Because I Love You (The Postman Song)--Stevie B
3 Impulsive--Wilson Phillips
4 Tom’s Diner--D.N.A. featuring Suzanne Vega
5 High Enough--Damn Yankees
6 Love Will Never Do (Without You)--Janet Jackson
7 Sensitivity--Ralph Tresvant
8 From a Distance--Bette Midler
9 I’m Your Baby Tonight--Whitney Houston
10 The First Time--Surface

Singles entering the chart were It Never Rains (In Southern California) by Tony! Toni! Tone! (#54); Go for It! (Heart and Fire) by Joey B. Ellis and Tynetta Hare (#63); Don’t Hold Back Your Love by Daryl Hall John Oates (#66); I've Been Waiting for You by Guys Next Door (#76); One More Try by Timmy -T- (#79); Caroline by Concrete Blonde (#85); and Pick Up the Pace 1990 by Young M.C. (#88).

Politics and government
A week after taking office as President of Poland, Lech Walesa named economist Jan Krzysztof Bielecki as Premier.

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio feauring L.V. (10th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Father and Son--Boyzone (5th week at #1)

At the movies
Mr. Holland's Opus, directed by Stephen Herek, and starring Richard Dreyfuss and Glenne Headly, opened in theatres in limited release.



Died on this date
Lita Grey, 87. U.S. actress. Miss Grey, born Lillita MacMurray, was married to Charlie Chaplin from 1924-1927, and appeared in his movies The Kid (1921) and The Idle Class (1921).

Politics and government
An agreement was signed to begin the transfer of some civil powers in Hebron from Israel to the Palestinian Authority.

Another member of the British House of Commons defected from the government of Prime Minister John Major, reducing the Conservative majority to 3 seats.

Economics and finance
Canadian Minister of International Trade Art Eggleton announced that Canada and Chile would pursue a free trade agreement without the participation of the United States.

Skiing
Edi Podivinsky of Canada won the bronze medal in the FIS World Cup Bormio downhill race at Bormio, Italy.

Hockey
NHL
Detroit 2 @ Dallas 1

Scotty Bowman coached his 1,607th career game, becoming the National Hockey League's career leader in games coached, as his Red Wings edged the Stars 2-1 at Reunion Arena. Mr. Bowman passed former St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders coach Al Arbour.

20 years ago
2000

Weather
A blanket of snow and temperatures as low as -13C. disrupted life in the United Kingdom.

Politics and government
U.S. President-elect George W. Bush named four more nominees for his cabinet: Tommy Thompson--Secretary of Health and Human Services; Gale Norton--Secretary of the Interior; Rod Paige--Secretary of Education; Anthony Principi; Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs. All appointees were subject to approval by the United States Senate.

Economics and finance
The technology-heavy NASDAQ composite index stood at 2,470.52, a 39% decline from a year earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,786.85, a 6.2% decline during 2000. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index declined 10.1% to 1,320.28.

The U.S. unemployment rate for November was reported as 4.0%; consumer prices had increased 0.2% in November, while producer prices were unchanged. The index of leading economic indicators had declined 0.6% in November, while the gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of 2000 was growing at an annual rate of 1.0%. For the entire year, consumer prices had risen 3.4% and producer prices had risen 3.6%. The GDP had grown 5.0% for the year.

December 28, 2020

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Heather Pick!

300 years ago
1720

Society
The British Lords of Trade proposed to deport the Acadians from Nova Scotia, although the expulsion did not commence until 35 years later (1755 - 1763).

225 years ago
1795

Torontonia
Construction of Yonge Street began in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto).

150 years ago
1870

Born on this date
Charles Bennett. U.K. runner. Mr. Bennett, the "Shapwick Express," was the first British track athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, winning in the men's 1500-metre run and the 5000-metre team race at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, while taking a silver medal in the 4000-metre steeplechase. He die don March 9, 1949 at the age of 78.

130 years ago
1890

War
A band of Sioux Indians led by Big Foot, who had fled to the badlands, were captured by the U.S. 7th Cavalry and brought to Wounded Knee creek in South Dakota.

125 years ago
1895

At the movies
The Lumière brothers put on a first movie screening for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, marking the debut of the cinema.

Born on this date
Carol Ryrie Brink. U.S. authoress. Mrs. Brink wrote more than 30 novels for children and adults. Her novel Caddie Woodlawn won the 1936 Newbery Medal. Mrs. Brink died of heart failure on August 15, 1981 at the age of 85.

Science
Wilhelm Röntgen published the paper Über eine neue Art von Strahlen (On a New Kind of Rays), detailing his discovery on November 8, 1895 of what became known as X-rays.

110 years ago
1910

Born on this date
Billy Williams. U.S. singer. Mr. Williams was lead singer of the gospel group the Charioteers (1930-1950), with time out for service in the U.S. Army during World War II. He then formed the Billy Williams Quartet, achieving a dozen charted singles from 1951-1959. His most successful recording was I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter (1957), which reached #3 on the Billboard singles chart and sold over a million copies. Mr. Williams suffered from diabetes in later years, and died of a heart attack on October 12, 1972 at the age of 61.

100 years ago
1920

Born on this date
Steve Van Buren. Honduran-born U.S. football player. Mr. Van Buren, the son of an American father and Honduran mother, was orphaned at the age of 10 and went to live with relatives in New Orleans. He was a halfback at Louisiana State University before playing with the Philadelphia Eagles (1944-1952), where he became the dominant running back of his era, rushing 1,320 times for 5,860 yards (4.4 per carry) and 69 touchdowns, adding 2 touchdowns on punt returns and 3 on kickoff returns. Mr. Van Buren earned First Team All-Pro honours from 1944-1949 and was a Second Team All-Pro in 1950, leading the NFL in rushing and rushing touchdowns four times (1945, 1947-1949), and helping the Eagles win National Football League championships in 1948 and 1949. Foot injuries slowed him down in 1950 and 1951, and a knee injury early in training camp in 1952 put him out of action for the entire season and ended his career. Mr. Van Buren was a scout with the Eagles after his playing career ended, and coached minor league professional football through the 1960s. He was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1965, and died of pneumonia on August 23, 2012 at the age of 91.

Al Wistert. U.S. football player. Mr. Wistert was a tackle at the University of Michigan (1940-1942), earning All-American honours in his senior year. He played with the Philadelphia Pittsburgh "Combines," popularly known as the "Steagles" (1943) and Eagles (1944-1951) as a teammate of Mr. Van Buren. Mr. Wistert was a First Team All-Pro six times (1944-1949) and a Second Team All-Pro twice (1950-1951), helping the Eagles win their NFL championships in 1948 and 1949. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968, and died on March 5, 2016 at the age of 95.

80 years ago
1940

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Frenesi--Artie Shaw and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Christian Deetjan, 77. U.S. physician. Dr. Deetjan, a pioneer in X-ray treatment who had lost fingers and a forearm in 1930 as a result of his work, died in Baltimore from burns received during research.

War
It was reported that Germany had massed more than a division of troops in Romania within 13 miles of the Yugoslavian border. The Japanese government denied that one of its ships had shelled Nauru; Australian sources speculated that the ship concerned was a disguised German raider. A vote of confidence in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hussein Sirri Pasha by the Egyptian parliament barred the way to Egypt's active participation in the European war.

Defense
According to a preliminary audit by the United States Treasury, the United Kingdom would have no cash left to pay for U.S. arms and munitions by the early autumn of 1941. A Gallup Poll reported that 60% of American voters now favoured aiding Britain even at the risk of war, as compared with 36% in May 1940.

Edward Stettinius of the U.S. National Defense Advisory Commission reported that there were no serious shortages in aluminum supplies.

Universal military training was established in Ecuador, beginning in January 1941 with pre-military instruction in all schools, colleges, and universities.

World events
The Guatemalan government of President Jorge Ubico announced that 12 people who had tried to start a rebellion on December 24 at Fort Metamoros had been executed this day by firing squads.

Law
The American Student Union in New York accused the U.S. administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt with attempting to sabotage progressive legislation and civil liberties under the guise of national defense.

Science
University of California professors Joseph Kaplan and Dr. S.M. Ruben described a new device called a "cosmic Jacob's ladder" which provided them with evidence that the upper atmosphere contains helium.

Labour
A U.S. House of Representatives committee which had spent 17 months investigating the National Labor Relations Board urged its complete reorganization to eliminate those employees who had shown bias and a partisan attitude as well as those who had indicated opposition to "the American system of government."

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Montgomery, Alabama
North 14 South 12

75 years ago
1945

At the movies
Scarlet Street, starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Theodore Dreiser, 74. U.S. author. Mr. Dreiser was best known for his novels Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925). In his later years he wrote non-fiction works praising the Soviet Union, and joined the Communist Party four months before his death.

Paul Joseph Hoffmann. German war criminal. Mr. Hoffmann was convicted for ordering the deaths of two million prisoners while he was commandant of the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland during World War II. He was hanged outside the camp crematorium.

War
More than 10,000 holdout Japanese troops surrendered to Chinese General Li Yen-nien in the Shantung area of China. A Canadian military court in Aurich, Germany found German SS Major-General and Hitler Youth Division Commander Kurt Meyer guilty of war crimes for the assassination of Canadian prisoners of war in Normandy after the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944.

Diplomacy
A United Nations interim committee narrowed the choice for the UN's permanent headquarters to Boston or New York.

A British-Dutch Conference on Indonesia ended in London with a statement that the situation there should be settled, but there was no agreement on how this should be done.

Lebanese Prime Minister Sami Soih said that the United Nations would be pressed to ask that British and French troops be removed from the country.

Americana
Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.

Law
U.S. President Harry Truman signed the liberalized GI Bill of Rights.

Economics and finance
The Panamanian Constitutional Congress voted a budget of more than $30 million, the highest in the country's history to date.

The U.S. Office of Price Administration raised the retail price ceiling 10c per ton on coal, coke, and other solid fuels as of January 2, 1946.

Business
A U.S. federal district court in Chicago enjoining further monopoly restraint of competition and rate-fixing by Allied Van Lines.

Labour
General Motors officials walked out of U.S. President Truman's fact-finding board hearing, objecting to union demands that wages be related to prices and company profits.

U.S. Office of Price Administration Administrator Chester Bowles protested to the White House for a second time that certain officers in federal agencies discriminated against Negroes seeking employment.

70 years ago
1950

Married on this date
U.S. actor Henry Fonda married Susan Blanchard, stepdaughter of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.

War
The U.S.A. told the U.S.S.R. in a note that it would not wai much longer for Soviet cooperation on a Japanese peace treaty and would not accept terms barring American troops from Japan.

Defense
U.S. President Harry Truman rejected former President Herbert Hoover's proposal to limit U.S. defenses to the Western Hemisphere as an attempt to revive isolationism.

Politics and government
U.S. Representative Adolph Sabath (Democrat--Illinois) completed a record 43 years, 9 months, and 25 days of continuous congressional service.

Journalism
Time magazine's choice for Man of the Year was "The U.S. Fighting Man," the first time the magazine had cited a symbol instead of an individual.

Medicine
The U.S. Army reported the successful use in Korea of iso-levomethadone, a synthetic drug which relieved pain as effectively as morphine and could easily be mass-produced.

Economics and finance
The People's Republic of China retaliated against the U.S. economic embargo by seizing all American assets in China, estimated by a U.S. Commerce Department official as less than $100 million.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board ordered an increase in bank reserve requirements as an anti-inflation measure designed to withdraw $2 billion from circulation.

The U.S. government took complete control of natural rubber under a National Production Authority order making the General Services Administration the nation's sole importer and distributor of the product.

60 years ago
1960

At the movies
Where the Boys Are, directed by Henry Levin, and starring Dolores Hart, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, Barbara Nichols, Paula Prentiss, and Connie Francis, opened in theatres.



50 years ago
1970

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): A Song of Joy--Miguel Rios (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Kyōto no Koi--Yūko Nagisa (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Te Quiero, Te Quiero--Nino Bravo (2nd week at #1)

World events
The military tribunal in Spain trying 16 Basque nationalists handed down harsh verdicts, including death sentences for six of the accused. Three of the six were sentenced to death by firing squad twice (wouldn’t once be enough?). Sentences for the others ranged from 12 to 70 years, but one of the female defendants was acquitted. The verdicts and sentences provoked protests and pleas for mercy from around the world, and Basque guerrillas threatened retaliation if the death sentences were carried out.

Terrorism
Three suspects in the October 17 murder of Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte--Paul Rose, 27; his brother Jacques, 23; and Francis Simard, 23--were captured in a Quebec farmhouse, having earlier eluded police in Montreal. The three were associated with the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ).

War
U.S. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, in a year-end review, revealed that U.S. combat deaths in Vietnam had dropped to a five-year low. Almost-complete figures for 1970 showed 4,180 combat deaths, more than 10,000 fewer than in 1968, and less than half the number killed in 1969. U.S. wounded for 1970 numbered 30,425--slightly more than in 1966, but much below the numbers from 1967-1969. Mr. Laird said that U.S. air attacks had declined 36% from 1969 and 48% from 1968.

Diplomacy
After almost four months of debate in the cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir announced that Israel would return to the Middle East peace talks under the auspices of United Nations mediator Gunnar Jarring.

40 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Shaddap You Face--Joe Dolce Music Theatre (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Angel of Mine--Frank Duval & Orchestra (3rd week at #1)

War
The day after leftist guerrillas had begun an offensive against government troops in northern El Salvador, the commander of the Salvadoran army reported that he had the situation in hand.

Diplomacy
The government of Mexico announced its plans to cancel two fishing treaties between itself and the United States. The first was a 1976 agreement that gave the U.S. a quota for snapper and grouper caught in Mexican Gulf and Pacific waters, which would be terminated in one year. The second was a 1977 treaty that permitted Mexico a squid allocation of the eastern seaboard of the United States, which would be cancelled within six months of the delivery of the notice. This notice--which was delivered to the U.S. State Department on December 29--was seen as a blow to efforts to produce a treaty between the countries on the more important tuna fishing industry. Mexico and the U.S. had been engaged in a "tuna war" since a July embargo on tuna imports from Mexico was imposed by the U.S.A.

The U.S.S.R. delivered a formal protest to Iran asking for the Iranian government to make repairs to and to beef up security around the Soviet embassy in Tehran. The day before, Afghans living in Iran had broken into the embassy’s compound to protest on the first anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The formal protest message from the U.S.S.R. did not note that the protesters were Afghans.

Politics and government
John Agyekum Kufuor won a runoff election to become the new President of Ghana, ending Jerry Rawlings’ 19 years in power. Mr. Rawlings, who had twice seized power and led a harsh military regime before turning to democracy, was constitutionally barred from running again. Mr. Kufuor, the candidate of the New Patriotic Party, received 56.9% of the vote to 43.1% for National Democratic Congress candidate John Atta Mills.

Medicine
An announcement issued by a group of researchers at the University of Utah reported that they had kept a calf alive for 32 weeks with a man-made heart, and requested permission to implant a similar device in a human being. A university panel was set up to review the possibility of the human implant. The artificial heart, it was thought, could be used to keep a heart patient alive long enough for surgeons to locate another human heart to be used in a transplant operation.

Television
Britain’s Independent Broadcasting Authority announced that the contract for "breakfast television" had been awarded to the new company TV-am.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Los Angeles 13 @ Dallas 34

See video.

AFC Wild Card Playoff
Houston 7 @ Oakland 27

See video.

30 years ago
1990

Died on this date
Kiel Martin, 46. U.S. actor. Mr. Martin, born Kiel Mueller, was best known for playing Detective J.D. LaRue in the television series Hill Street Blues (1981-1987). This blogger remembers him from The Edge of Night in the late 1970s. Mr. Martin died of lung cancer.

Economics and finance
The United States Commerce Department said that the index of leading economic indicators had declined 1.2% in November. The index had now dropped for five consecutive months, with a decline of three straight months generally regarded as indicating a recession.

25 years ago
1995

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (3rd week at #1)

Politics and government
Clyde Wells, Premier of Newfoundland since May 1989, announced his resignation as soon as a successor could be chosen.

Sport
Speedskater Susan Auch was named Canada's female Athlete of the Year by Canadian Press.

20 years ago
2000

Terrorism
Passengers aboard a British Airways jumbo jet screamed in terror when a man burst into the cockpit and sent the plane into a steep dive during a night flight from London to Nairobi. Several passengers subdued and bound the 27-year-old Kenyan intruder as he attacked the pilot. The co-pilot regained control of the plane after a 3,000-foot descent.

Politics and government
U.S. President-elect George W. Bush named Donald Rumsfeld as his choice for Secretary of Defense. Mr. Rumsfeld had held the position in the administration of President Gerald Ford from 1975-1977.

Americana
The United States Census Bureau put the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000 at 281,421,906, a 13.2% increase from 1990. On the basis of unadjusted state figures, as required by law, there would be eight states gaining seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 10 states losing seats. California, already the most populous state, had added 4,111,627 residents, more than any other state. Nevada had the highest rate of gain, 66.3%. North Dakota had the smallest total increase--3,400--and the lowest rate of increase--0.5%. The District of Columbia’s population declined 5.7%.

Business
U.S. retail chain Montgomery Ward & Co., a century-old company, announced that it would cease to operate, closing 250 stores and ending employment for 28,000 workers.

10 years ago
2010

Died on this date
Billy Taylor, 89. U.S. musician. Dr. Taylor was a jazz pianist and composer who performed on his own and with others in a career spanning more than 60 years. He obtained a doctorate in music in 1975 and served as an ambassador for jazz, hosting radio and television programs, teaching young people, forming his own record label to document his music, and serving as artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Dr. Taylor received numerous awards, including a Grammy, an Emmy, and two Peabody Awards. He died of a heart attack.

Terry Rasmussen, 67. U.S. criminal. Mr. Rasmussen, who used several aliases, was a serial killer who murdered at least six people, and was suspected in a number of other murders from the late 1970s until 2002. He was convicted in 2003 of the 2002 murder of his wife, and given a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Mr. Rasmussen died in High Desert State Prison in California five days after his 67th birthday, from a combination of lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pneumonia.