Sunday 6 December 2020

December 6, 2020

960 years ago
1060


Europeana
Béla I was crowned King of Hungary in Székesfehérvár.

780 years ago
1240


War
After days of bombardment, Mongol invaders under Batu Khan breached the walls of Kiev and proceeded to plunder the city and slaughter its inhabitants.

500 years ago
1520


Born on this date
Barbara Radziwiłł
. Queen consort of Poland, 1547-1551. Barbara Radziwiłł married King Sigismund II in the summer of 1547 in secret, as the marriage was opposed by Polish nobles. Queen Barbara wasn't crowned until December 7, 1550, the day after her 30th birthday. She was already in failing health--perhaps from cervical or ovarian cancer--and died on May 8, 1551 at the age of 30. Queen Barbara was unpopular in her own time, but has since become the subject of romantic legends.

230 years ago
1790


Politics and government
The U.S. Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia.

190 years ago
1830


Politics and government
U.S. President Andrew Jackson delivered his annual State of the Union message to Congress.

140 years ago
1880


Journalism
The Edmonton Bulletin published its first edition.

Politics and government
U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes delivered his annual State of the Union message to Congress.

130 years ago
1890


Born on this date
Yoshio Nishina
. Japanese physicist. Mr. Nishina, "the founding father of modern physics research in Japan," became a staff member at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (now RIKEN) in 1918, and established Nishina Laboratory at RIKEN in 1931, focusing on quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, cosmic rays, and high-energy proton beams. He led the Japanese atomic bomb project during World War II, but his laboratory was severely damaged,a nd U.S. occupation forces dismantled his cyclotron in November 1945. Mr. Nishina led a reorganized RIKEN before his death from liver cancer on January 10, 1951 at the age of 60.

120 years ago
1900


Born on this date
Agnes Moorehead
. U.S. actress. Miss Moorehead was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Players, and performed in the Mercury Theatre's radio programs and films, making her movie debut in Citizen Kane (1941). She earned a reputation as a great radio actress, appearing in more episodes of Suspense than any other performer, including seven different performances of Sorry, Wrong Number. Miss Moorehead was best known for her supporting performance as Endora in the television comedy series Bewitched (1964-1972). She died of cancer on April 30, 1974 at the age of 73, and was one of the first people to have connected it with her appearance in the movie The Conqueror (1956).

Economics and finance
Alphonse Desjardins founded the cooperative movement of Caisses d'Épargne Desjardins, with the first bank opening its doors in Lévis, Quebec. The organization later changed its name to Caisses populaires Desjardins.

110 years ago
1910


Born on this date
David M. Potter
. U.S. historian. Professor Potter specialized in the southern United States, nd taught at Yale University (1942-1961) and Stanford University from 1961 until his death on February 18, 1971 at the age of 60. He won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for History for The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861 (1976), an analysis of the causes of th American Civil War.

Politics and government
U.S. President William Howard Taft delivered his annual State of the Union message to Congress.

100 years ago
1920


Born on this date
Dave Brubeck
. U.S. musician and composer. Mr. Brubeck was a jazz pianist who was a major figure in the genre of cool jazz, in a career spanning more than 50 years. He was best known as the leader of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, recording many albums and performing throughout the world. The quartet often visited foreign countries on behalf of the U.S. State Department. Mr. Brubeck's best-known composition was probably In Your Own Sweet Way, while his most famous recording was Take Five (1961). He died of heart failure on December 5, 2012, the day before his 92nd birthday.

Peter Dimmock. U.K. sportscaster. Mr. Dimmock was a pioneer in hosting televised sports events in Britain, covering the 1948 Summer Olympic Games in London, and serving as the first host of the long-running BBC programs Grandstand and BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He died on November 20, 2015, 16 days before his 95th birthday.

Protest
Partisan violence broke out in Moncton, New Brunswick at a speaking engagement by Irish nationalist Lindsay Crawford.

Business
Shortly before the start of the 1920-21 season, the National Hockey League sold the Quebec Bulldogs to a Hamilton businessman, who moved the franchise to Hamilton and renamed it the Tigers.

90 years ago
1930


On the radio
The Grey Cup game between Toronto Balmy Beach and Regina Roughriders was broadcast across Canada for the first time on the Canadian National Railways network. Foster Hewitt called the play-by-play.

Football
CRU
Grey Cup @ Varsity Stadium, Toronto
Toronto Balmy Beach 11 Regina 6

Only 3,914 fans showed up on a cold, overcast day to see Balmy Beach win their second and last Grey Cup championship on a muddy field. Ab Box of Balmy Beach left the game with an injury in the 1st quarter, but not before punting for 3 singles to give Toronto a 3-0 lead. Bob Reid scored a touchdown in the 2nd quarter and Claude Harris punted for 2 singles to give Balmy Beach a 10-0 halftime lead. In the 3rd quarter, Fred Brown of the Roughriders became the first player ever to score a touchdown for a western team in a Grey Cup game. Sol Bloomfield added a single to reduce Toronto’s lead to 10-6 after 3 quarters. Mr. Harris punted for his third single of the game to increase Toronto’s lead to 11-6, but the Roughriders had the ball inside Balmy Beach’s 25-yard line in the final minute and appeared to be driving for a touchdown. Ted Reeve, who had missed most of the game with a shoulder injury, came off the bench to bolster the Toronto line. Balmy Beach promptly threw the Roughriders for two big losses, and then Mr. Reeve blocked Mr. Bloomfield’s punt at midfield. Balmy Beach were never again in danger. The loss was the third in a Grey Cup in as many years for the Roughriders.

NFL
New York (12-4) 14 @ Frankford (4-13-1) 6

80 years ago
1940


War
Marshal Pietro Badoglio resigned as chief of the Italian general staff, and was succeeded by General Count Ugo Cavallero. Greek troops occupied Porto Edda on the Albanian coastal front and drove on toward Elbasan, Italian Army headquarters in central Albania. British troops advanced toward Italian positions in Egypt in preparation for a major attack. Leonard Brockington, counselor to the war commitee of the Canadian cabinet, said in New York that 10,000 American citizens had volunteered to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force since May 1940, and that 2,520 of the 36,000 airmen new being trained in Canada were airmen.

Defense
Colonel William J. Donovan left the United States for Europe on a fact-finding mission for the U.S. government.

Politics and government
U.S. Representative Martin Dies (Democrat--Texas) announced that his House of Representatives committee had reached a "complete agreement" with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and had worked out "a formula to avoid possible friction and disagreement" in investigating subversive activities. Attorney General Robert Jackson denied that Rep. Dies' statement was "premature" and that "no agreement had been made that the FBI...would be placed at the disposal of Congressman Dies." U.S. Solicitor General Francis Biddle declared that the United States government would be "embarrassed and impeded" in its administration of the federal alien registration law if states were permitted to pass their own registration laws.

Scandal
Financial adviser Robert Boltz, 53, was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in Philadelphia on charges of violating three federal laws and defrauding a score of clients of more than $750,000.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee approved Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau's proposal to issue $500 million in additional five-year defense notes.

Labour
A strike by the American Federation of Labor Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union for higher wages, which had begun in Tacoma two months earlier, spread to Seattle and other Washington districts.

75 years ago
1945


At the movies
The Bells of St. Mary's, directed by Leo McCarey, and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Edmund Dwyer-Gray, 75
. U.K.-born Australian politician. Mr. Dwyer-Gray was born in Ireland, and first visited Australia in 1887, eventually moving there. A member of the Labour Party, he was first elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1928, representing Denison. He was a believer in the social credit doctrine of C.H. Douglas, and was Treasurer of Tasmania (1934-1939) in the cabinet of Premier Albert Ogilvie. When Mr. Ogilvie died of a heart attack on June 10, 1939, Mr. Dwyer-Gray succeeded him as party leader and Premier of Tasmania, steppng aside as Premier on December 18 in favour of Robert Cosgrove. Mr. Dwyer-Gray resumed his office as Treasurer, serving until his death.

War
Nationalist Chinese troops halted within 25 miles of Mukden after advancing from the Chinese border opposed, and waited for negotiations with the Soviets to be completed before proceeding.

Iranian troops in Tabriz radioed that rebels had surrounded the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Allied Supreme Commander in the Pacific General Douglas MacArthur ordered the arrest of former Japanese Prime Minister Fuminaro Konoye and eight others as war criminals. 94 Axis agents were reported to have evaded deportation from Argentina through court action, illness, escape, or government negligence. 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, General George Marshall testified that he had not anticipated an attack on Pearl Harbor but that an "alert" defense would have prevented all but "limited harm." French entertainer Maurice Chevalier was acquitted by the National Committee of the Theatrical Purge of collaborating with the Germans during World War II.

Diplomacy
Former U.S. Ambassador to China General Patrick Hurley accused Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson of responsibility for "defeating" and "destroying" U.S. policy toward Iran, but refused to offer specific evidence.

Energy
A U.S. intelligence expert told a Senate committee that German scientists were trying to build a "uranium machine" for power generation purposes and not for an atolic bomb.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman and U.K. Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced a $4.4-billion loan agreement under which the United States waived repayment of $25 billion in Lend-Lease funds.

Labour
General Motors renewed its offer of a 10% wage increase, and the United Ato Workers of America rejected it at the resumption of negotiations in Detroit.

70 years ago
1950


Journalism
The Washington Post published music critic Paul Hume's negative review of Margaret Truman's recital at Constitution Hall the night before. Her father, U.S. President Harry Truman, promptly wrote a scathing letter to Mr. Hume, who refused to publish it.

War
United Nations forces in Korea attempted to esatablish a new line just south of Pyongyang, extending from the port of Chinnampo to Koksan in the centre of the peninsula. U.S. forces trapped in the Changjin Reservoir began fighting their way toward the east coast port of Hungnam for evacuation.

Politics and government
Continuing the Republican Party's assault on U.S. President Truman's administration's handling of foreign affairs, Senator Robert Taft (Ohio) said that Secretary of State Dean Acheson would have to go before there could be a biprtisan foreign policy, while Sen. Joseph McCarthy called for the resignation of Defense Secretary George Marshall.

Defense
The French cabinet accepted a U.S.-Dutch proposal for the incorporation of West German "combat teams" into the projected NATO defense force, but W.G. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer said that his government would participate only if granted "full equality" in the defense effort.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Commerce Department banned the shipment of all American goos except unfrozen perishable foods to Communist China, Hong Kong, and Macao.

Disasters
Mount Etna's worst eruption in 50 years destroyed the Sicilian village of Renazzo and forced the evacuation of nearby Milo.

60 years ago
1960


Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): It's Now or Never--Elvis Presley

On television tonight
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, hosted by John Newland, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Tonight at 12:17, starring Peggy Ann Garner, John Lasell, and Gene Lyons



Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Sybilla, starring Barbara Bel Geddes and Alexander Scourby

Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Big Blackout, starring Jack Carson, Charles McGraw, and Nan Leslie



Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Matt Dunigan!

World events
A three-week congress in Moscow of the leaders of 81 Communist parties from around the world issued a manifesto setting forth world Communist policy. It was seen as a compromise of the differing viewpoints of Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschchev and Chinese head of state Liu Shao-chi, who had reportedly debated their conflicting ideologies. Chinese leaders expressed doubts about Mr. Khruschchev’s insistence that war was no longer inevitable to Communist success. The manifesto followed the Soviet line in saying,

The near future will bring the forces of peace and socialism new successes. The U.S.S.R. will become the leading industrial power of the world. China will become a mighty industrial state. The socialist system will be turning out more than half the world industrial product.
The peace zone will expand. The working-class movement in the capitalist countries and the national-liberation movement in the colonies and the dependencies will achieve new victories. The disintegration of the colonial system will become completed. The superiority of the forces of socialism and peace will be absolute.
In these conditions a real possibility will have arisen to exclude world war from the life of society even before socialism achieves complete victory on earth, with capitalism still existing in a part of the world. The victory of socialism all over the world will completely remove the social and national causes of war.

U.S. observers interpreted as a concession to the Chinese the following:
Peaceful coexistence of countries with different social systems does not mean conciliation of the socialist and bourgeois ideologies. On the contrary, it implies intensification of the struggle of the working class, of all the Communist parties, for the triumph of socialist ideas.

The manifesto included such other gems as:
The decay of capitalism is particularly marked in the United States of America, the chief imperialist country of today.

U.S. imperialism is the main force of aggression and war...but should the imperialist maniacs start war, the peoples will sweep capitalism out of existence and bury it.

Defense
French President Charles de Gaulle’s plan for establishing an independent French atomic striking force became law without direct approval of the French parliament. The measure, authorizing the spending of US$1.2 billion to create a nuclear force within five years, became law when a third censure motion opposing it failed to win the 277 votes needed in the National Assembly to bring down the government of Premier Michel Debre.

Boxing
British and British Empire heavyweight champion Henry Cooper (22-7-1) won a 10-round decision over South American champion Alex Miteff (22-7-1) of Argentina at Empire Pool, Wembley, London. Mr. Cooper was knocked down and nearly out in the 10th round.

50 years ago
1970


Football
NFL
Boston (2-10) 20 @ Miami (8-4) 37
Oakland (7-3-2) 14 @ New York Jets (4-8) 13
Buffalo (3-8-1) 6 @ New York Giants (8-4) 20
Philadelphia (2-9-1) 10 @ Baltimore (9-2-1) 29
Green Bay (6-6) 20 @ Pittsburgh (5-7) 12
St. Louis (8-3-1) 3 @ Detroit (8-4) 16
Denver (5-7) 0 @ Kansas City (7-3-2) 16
Washington (4-8) 0 @ Dallas (8-4) 34
Atlanta (3-7-2) 20 @ San Francisco (8-3-1) 24
New Orleans (2-9-1) 16 @ Los Angeles (8-3-1) 34
Cincinnati (6-6) 17 @ San Diego (4-6-2) 14



See video.

40 years ago
1980


Hit parade
#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): You and Me--Spargo (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland: Super Trouper--ABBA (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Super Trouper--ABBA

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Super Trouper--ABBA (2nd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Super Trouper--ABBA
2 Never Knew Love Like This Before--Stephanie Mills
3 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
4 The Tide is High--Blondie
5 Santa Maria--Roland Kaiser
6 Driver's Seat--Sniff 'n' the Tears
7 My Number One--Luv'
8 De Vogeltjesdans--De Electronica's
9 Passion--Rod Stewart
10 Rovers Return--The Korgis

Singles entering the chart were Mama He's a Soldier Now by Saskia & Serge (#31); Love on the Rocks by Neil Diamond (#32); My Malaysia by Babe (#33); Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts? by Showaddywaddy (#34); and Het is Koud Zonder Jou by André Hazes (#36).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Lady--Kenny Rogers (4th week at #1)
2 More than I Can Say--Leo Sayer
3 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
4 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
5 Master Blaster (Jammin')--Stevie Wonder
6 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
7 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond
8 Hungry Heart--Bruce Springsteen
9 I'm Coming Out--Diana Ross
10 Dreaming--Cliff Richard

Singles entering the chart were I Can't Stop the Feelin' by Pure Prairie League (#81); Games People Play by the Alan Parsons Project (#83); Heartbreak Hotel by the Jacksons (#84); Fashion by David Bowie (#87); and Giving it Up for Your Love by Delbert McClinton (#90).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Master Blaster (Jammin’)--Stevie Wonder
2 Lady--Kenny Rogers
3 The Wanderer--Donna Summer
4 More Than I Can Say--Leo Sayer
5 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
6 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
7 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
8 I’m Coming Out--Diana Ross
9 Dreaming--Cliff Richard
10 You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling--Daryl Hall & John Oates

Singles entering the chart were Games People Play by the Alan Parsons Project (#79); 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton (#84); Cold Love by Donna Summer (#85); Heartbreak Hotel by the Jacksons (#87); Giving it Up for Your Love by Delbert McClinton (#89); and Fashion by David Bowie (#90).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Record World)
1 Lady--Kenny Rogers (3rd week at #1)
2 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
3 More than I Can Say--Leo Sayer
4 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
5 The Wanderer--Donna Summer
6 He's So Shy--Pointer Sisters
7 Hit Me with Your Best Shot--Pat Benatar
8 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond
9 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
10 Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol' Boys)--Waylon

Singles entering the chart were Miss Sun by Boz Scaggs (#72); Keep on Loving You by REO Speedwagon (#77); The Winner Takes it All by ABBA (#78); 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton (#83); Games People Play by the Alan Parsons Project (#85); Heartbreak Hotel by the Jacksons (#86); Giving it Up for Your Love by Delbert McClinton (#88); Smoky Mountain Rain by Ronnie Milsap (#89); and When We Get Married by Larry Graham (#99).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Dreamer--Supertramp
2 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand
3 Don't Stand So Close to Me--The Police
4 The Wanderer--Donna Summer
5 I'm Alright--Kenny Loggins
6 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
7 Upside Down--Diana Ross
8 All Out of Love--Air Supply
9 Dreaming--Cliff Richard
10 Don't Ask Me Why--Billy Joel

No new singles entered the chart.

World events
The prosecution at the trial in China of Jiang Qing, widow of Chairman Mao Zedong, accused her of ordering the death by torture of two teachers in 1967 while trying to force them to give evidence that the wife of Liu Shaoqi, the country’s former head of state, was an American spy.

As an American fact-finding mission led by William Rogers arrived in El Salvador, two of the five members of the country’s junta threatened to resign unless the army purged rightist terrorists from its ranks.

War
Iraq reported that Iranian warplanes had bombed several targets in the Kurdish section of northern Iraq and that the Iraqis had destroyed four Iranian planes. Despite the claims, there seemed to be no change along the 300-mile front.

Politics and government
The ruling Kuomintang took 56 of 70 seats in the Legislative Yuan and 61 of 76 seats in the National Assembly in parliamentary elections in Taiwan.

30 years ago
1990


Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Ice Ice Baby--Vanilla Ice

Died on this date
Tunku Abdul Rahman, 87
. Chief Minister of Malaya, 1955-1957; Prime Minister of Malaya/Malaysia, 1957-1970. Mr. Rahman led the United Malays National Organisation from 1946 until his retirement in 1971. He's widely acknowledged as the founder of modern Malaysia.

Protest
A peaceful demonstration took place against plans by Hindu fundamentalists to tear down a mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya and replace it with a temple to the god Rama, whom they believed was born on the site.

Law
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld mandatory retirement; finding that forced retirement violates the principle of equality, it said the practice was justified under a section of the Constitution that permits limits on individual rights for the sake of a greater benefit to society at large.

Disasters
A military jet of the Italian Air Force, abandoned by its pilot after an on-board fire, crashed into a high school near Bologna, Italy, killing 12 students and injuring 88 other people.

Hockey
NHL
The National Hockey League expanded to 24 teams as Ottawa and Tampa Bay were awarded expansion franchises, to begin play in the 1992-93 season.

25 years ago
1995


Died on this date
James Reston, 86
. U.K.-born-U.S. journalist. "Scotty" Reston, a native of Scotland, moved to the United States with his family in 1920. He had a career spanning more than 60 years as a correspondent, columnist, and editor, working for many years with The New York Times.

War
Canada committed 1,000 troops, and Germany committed 4,000 to the peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Law
New firearms legislation came into force in Canada; it banned imports of automatic assault weapons, and included new rules and regulations for owning a firearm include a waiting period to buy guns, safe-storage rules, and full registration in stages.

Agriculture
60% of Alberta's 16,000 farmers voted to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly and set up a dual marketing system that would allow them the option of bypassing the board when selling their grain.

Economics and finance
The Royal Canadian Mint started manufacturing the new bi-metallic $2 coin with a polar bear on the face; the "Toonie" went into circulation on February 19, 1996, replacing the $2 bill.

Disasters
Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949, a Tupolev Tu-154B jet en route from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Khabarovsk, crashed into the Bo-Dzhausa Mountain, killing all 98 people aboard.

Hockey
NHL
Patrick Roy, the two-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie with the Montreal Canadiens, was traded to the Colorado Avalanche with captain Mike Keane for three players in one of the most stunning deals in NHL history. Mr. Roy had been feuding with the Canadiens' new coach, Mario Tremblay.

20 years ago
2000


Died on this date
Werner Klemperer, 80
. German-born U.S. actor. Mr. Klemperer, the son of orchestra conductor Otto Klemperer, moved with his family to the United States in 1935. He appeared in movies such as The Wrong Man (1956); Judgment at Nuremburg (1961); and Operation Eichmann (1961), but was best known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink in the television comedy series Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971), for which he received six Emmy Award nominations, winning in 1968 and 1969. Mr. Klemperer was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Herr Schultz in a Broadway revival of Cabaret (1987). He died of cancer.

Movies
The U.S. National Board of Review announced its awards for 2000. The winners included: Film: Quills; Foreign Film: Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon); Director: Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich and Traffic); Actor: Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls); Actress: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich); Supporting Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator); and Supporting Actress: Lupe Ontiveros (Chuck & Buck). The awards were presented on January 16, 2001.

10 years ago 2010

Abominations
Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer was granted full parole after serving the minimum 10 years for second-degree murder in the 1993 death of his disabled daughter Tracy in what he said was mercy killing.

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