December 31, 2021

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Mike Matson!

530 years ago
1491

Born on this date
Jacques Cartier. French explorer. Mr. Cartier, a native of Saint-Malo, Brittany, led expeditions for France in 1534, 1535-1536, and 1541-1542, becoming the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas" after the Iroquoian names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec City) and at Hochelaga (Montreal Island). He entered and departed 50 undiscovered harbours without serious mishap or losing a ship, and was one of the first to formally acknowledge that the New World was a land mass separate from Europe/Asia. Mr. Cartier spent his later years in Saint-Malo and his nearby estate, and died during an epidemic, possibly typhus, on September 1, 1557 at the age of 65.

520 years ago
1501

War
The First Battle of Cannanore commenced at Cannanore, India between Portuguese Empire forces commmanded by João da Nova and the Zamorin people of Calicut. It marked one of the earliest recorded deliberate uses of a naval line of battle, and for resolving the battle by cannon alone. The battle ended in a Portuguese victory two days later.

330 years ago
1691

Died on this date
Robert Boyle, 64. Irish chemist and physicist. Mr. Boyle was one of the pioneers of the modern scientific method, and was best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system. He's largely regarded today as the founder of modern chemistry; his book The Sceptical Chymist (1661) was a major text in the history of chemistry. Mr. Boyle was an alchemist, but his experiments were unsuccessful. He was a devout Anglican, and believed that evidence from nature could provide evidence for the existence of God. Mr. Boyle died from paralysis after more than 20 years of declining health.

225 years ago
1796

Americana
Baltimore was officially incorporated as a city.

140 years ago
1881

Crime
Charles Guiteau, recently convicted of the assassination of U.S. President James A. Garfield, wrote a New Year's greeting to his jailer.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Dal Stivens. Australian writer. Mr. Stivens produced six novels and eight collections of short stories, often based on Australian folk tales, from 1936-1976, with his popularity peaking in the 1940s and '50s. He was also a naturalist and artist, and wrote non-fiction under several pseudonyms. Mr. Stivens died on June 15, 1997 at the age of 85.

100 years ago
1921

Died on this date
Boies Penrose, 61. U.S. politician. Mr. Penrose, a Republican, represented Philadelphia County in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1885) and represented the 6th District in the Pennsylvania Senate (1887-1897). He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 1897 until his death from a pulmonary thrombosis in his Washington penthouse in the last hour of 1921.

90 years ago
1931

Weather
Henderson Lake, British Columbia ended the year with a record total of 319.78 inches of rain, making it the wettest place on record in Canadian history.

Economics and finance
The Canadian stock index plunged 37.2% and Gross National Product declined 12.7%, making it the worst business year on record in the country.

80 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): It's a Great Day for the Irish--Judy Garland; The Jesters (1st month at #1)

On television tonight
The first televised New Year’s Eve special aired on WNBT in New York. It consisted of entertainment from the Rainbow Room, atop the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center.

Died on this date
Sol Hess, 69. U.S. writer. Mr. Hess and Wallace Carlson created the comic strip The Nebbs in 1923, with Mr. Hess providing the writing and Mr. Carlson doing the illustrating. Mr. Hess died of a heart attack at his apartment in the Shoreham Hotel in Chicago. His daughter Betsy and her husband Stanley Baer took over the writing for The Nebbs after Mr. Hess's death, and by 1947 had folded the strip into another strip of theirs, The Toodle Family.

War
Admiral Chester Nimitz assumed command of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet in a simple ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan demanded that U.S. forces in the Philippines surrender, and rejected the designation of Manila as an open city. U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur reported that his forces were consistently falling back in the face of heavy Japanese assaults.

Diplomacy
Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The German government announced that German Ambassador to Argentina Baron Edmund von Thermann had been recalled.

Politics and government
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Jesse Jones as a member of the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board.

Communications
The U.S. Justice Department extended its ban on the possession of shortwave wireless sets and hand cameras by enemy aliens to cover the entire country, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Business
The U.S. Justice Department filed civil suits in Chicago against the National Broadcasting Company and Columbia Broadcasting System, charging that through their ownership of key stations and the use of exclusive contracts the two chains almost completely dominated the country's broadcasting industry.

75 years ago
1946

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Sioux City Sue--Bing Crosby; Kate Smith (1st month at #1)

War
U.S. President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II, terminating his emergency powers and 20 wartime control laws. He admitted that the move was an attempt to cooperate with the new Republican-controlled Congress.

World events
Yugoslavia released Ray Stoeckel, an American jailed on espionage charges.

Politics and government
The Soviet newspaper Izvestia assailed the merger of the British and American occupation zones in Germany as a violation of the 1945 Potsdam agreement.

The Republican Party steering committee voted to oppose the seating of Senator Theodore G. Bilbo (Democrat--Mississippi) in the new Congress to take office on January 3, 1947, because of speeches he had made in opposition to Negro voting, and accusations of graft. Mr. Bilbo had first been elected to the Senate in 1934.

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur stated in Tokyo that Japan had made "major advances" toward establishing a democratic social and political system.

Energy
U.S. President Truman signed an executive order turning the Army's atomic energy facilities over to the Atomic Energy Commission.

Health
Mexican cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs were banned from the United States because of an epidemic of hoof and mouth disease.

Labour
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board recognized the right of supervisory workers to organize when it ordered Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation to bargain with a United Mine Workers of America affiliate that accepted foremen as members.

70 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Of Time and Third Avenue, starring Henry Daniell, Edward Gargan, and Bethel Leslie

Died on this date
Maxim Litvinov, 75. U.S.S.R. politician and diplomat. Mr. Litvinov, born Meir Henoch Wallach, joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) in Kiev in 1898 when the party was an illegal organization, and adopted the name Maxim Litvinov. He was arrested in 1901 and spent 18 months in captivity, but escaped, and spent several years in exile in Geneva and London. Mr. Litvinov met V.I. Lenin in 1903, and joined the Bolsheviks, returning to Russia during the 1905 Revolution. He fled the country again in 1906, and lived in England from 1908-1918, returning to Moscow late in 1918. Mr. Litvinov served as a diplomat during the 1920s, advocating disarmament and favouring Soviet support of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which outlawed war as an instrument of national policy. He proposed the Litvinov Protocol, in which signatories formally proclaimed themselves in mutual compliance with the goals of the Kellogg-Briand Pact. It was signed in Moscow in February 1929 by the Soviet Union, Poland, Romania, Latvia, and Estonia, and later by several other countries. Mr. Litvinov was People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union (1930-1939), and was successful in obtaining American recognition of the Soviet Union. He was dismissed for holding anti-German views, while dictator Josef Stalin was negotiating a non-aggression pact with Germany. Mr. Litvinov served as Soviet Ambassador to the United States (1941-1943), and was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1943-1946), but was dismissed after giving an interview to an American journalist in which he stated his belief that war between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. was inevitable. Mr. Litvinov reportedly died of a heart attack in Moscow after suffering serious heart problems, but there were rumours that he was assassinated on Mr. Stalin's instructions to the MVD (Interior Ministry), dying from injuries received after a truck deliberately collided with his car as he rounded a bend on the way to his dacha.

War
Communist negotiators at Panmunjom agreed to furnish information on 50,000 United Nations soldiers--mostly South Koreans--believed to have been taken prisoner but not accounted for on lists submitted by the Communist truce team.

Diplomacy
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden departed aboard the Queen Mary for New York. The purpose of the trip was to have talks with U.S. President Harry Truman in Washington, followed by a visit to Canada for talks with Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent.

Terrorism
Egyptian extremists announced that they would pay any "partisan patriot" $2,800 for killing British Suez Zone commander General George Erskine, and $280 for killing any other British officer.

World events
The Bolivian government ordered a New Year's Day amnesty for 35 members of the rightist National Revolutionary Movement exiled or jailed for participating in a revolutionary plot.

Energy
Inventor Philip Ohmart announded the development of a radioelectric cell capable of converting radioactive energy into electric energy.

Economics and finance
After distributing more than $13.3 billion in U.S. aid to European countries since 1948, the Marshall Plan expired; its functions would be taken over by the new U.S. Mutual Security Agency.

U.S. Mutual Security Administrator Paul Porter announced in Madrid that the United States would give Spain financial aid under a bilateral arrangement similar to Yugoslavia's.

Labour
United Steelworkers of America President Philip Murray ordered 30,000 Kaiser Aluminum and Aluminum Company of America workers to continue working under their old contracts through January 1947, ending the threat of a strike in the aluminum industry.

60 years ago
1961

Television
Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's state broadcaster, launched its first national television service at 7 P.M., with an address by Irish President Eamon De Valera. Messages from John Cardinal d'Alton and Taoiseach Seán Lemass followed, and then a live concert, hosted by Radio Éireann chairman Eamonn Andrews, was broadcast from the Gresham Hotel in Dublin. The show, which was a countdown to the New Year, included appearances by tenor Patrick O'Hagan, the Artane Boys' Band, and Michael O'Hehir.

Music
The Beach Boys made their first live appearance, playing three songs--including their debut single, Surfin'-- as part of a Ritchie Valens memorial concert at Long Beach Civic Auditorium in Long Beach, California. Ike & Tina Turner were the headline act.

Football
NFL
Championship @ City Stadium, Green Bay
New York 0 @ Green Bay 37

Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr threw 2 touchdown passes to Ron Kramer and another to Boyd Dowler, and Paul Hornung rushed for a touchdown and kicked 4 converts and 3 field goals as the Packers routed the Giants before 39,029 fans in the first NFL championship game ever played in Green Bay. The score was 0-0 after the 1st quarter, but the Packers scored 24 points in the 2nd quarter and 10 more in the 3rd. It was Green Bay's first NFL championship since 1944, and their first under head coach Vince Lombardi. Hear the radio broadcast here, here, here, here, here, and here.



50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey--Paul & Linda McCartney (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Mamy Blue--Pop Tops (9th week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Mammy Blue--Charisma (10th week at #1)
2 Get Me Some Help--Neville Whitmill
3 Amen--Peanutbutter Conspiracy
4 Butterfly--Danyel Gerard
5 Cousin Norman--Marmalade
6 You--Peter Maffay
7 The Desiderata--Les Crane
8 Never Ending Song of Love--The New Seekers
9 Soley Soley--Middle of the Road
10 Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast--Daniel Boone

The only single entering the chart was Tokoloshe Man by John Kongos (#17).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)--The New Seekers
2 American Pie--Don McLean
3 Brand New Key--Melanie
4 Sunshine--Jonathan Edwards
5 Day After Day--Badfinger
6 Devil You--Stampeders
7 Have You Seen Her--Chi-Lites
8 All I Really Need is You--Sonny & Cher
9 Can I Get a Witness--Lee Michaels
10 Stay with Me--Faces

Singles entering the chart were Never Been to Spain by Three Dog Night (#26); Black Dog by Led Zeppelin (#27); White Lies, Blue Eyes by Bullet (#28); Mexican Lady by Steel River (#29); and Levon by Elton John (#30).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKVN)
1 American Pie--Don McLean
2 Day After Day--Badfinger
3 Sunshine--Jonathan Edwards
4 Life in the Bloodstream--The Guess Who
5 One Monkey Don't Stop No Show--The Honey Cone
6 Brand New Key--Melanie
7 I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)--The New Seekers
8 Respect Yourself--The Staple Singers
9 Love Me, Love Me, Love--Frank Mills
10 Hey Big Brother--Rare Earth

Singles entering the chart were Hallelujah by Sweathog (#27); I Turn to You by Spring (#33); Where Did Our Love Go by Donnie Elbert (#34); Anticipation by Carly Simon (#38); Mexican Lady by Steel River (#39); and Too True Mama by Crowfoot (#40).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 Baby I'm-A Want You--Bread
2 Do I Love You--Paul Anka
3 Day After Day--Badfinger
4 I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)--New Seekers
5 Lonesome Mary--Chilliwack
6 Got to Be There--Michael Jackson
7 Take it Slow--Lighthouse
8 American Pie, Parts I and II--Don McLean
9 The Desiderata--Les Crane
10 I Don't Need No Doctor--Humble Pie
Pick hit of the week: Brand New Key--Melanie

Died on this date
Pete Duel, 31. U.S. actor. Mr. Duel, born Peter Deuel, appeared in several television programs and movies. He co-starred in the television comedy series Love on a Rooftop (1966-1967), but was best known for playing Hannibal Heyes (alias Joshua Smith) in the Western series Alias Smith and Jones (1971), which was in its second season when Mr. Duel, who was suffering from depression and drinking heavily, committed suicide by shooting himself.

Hal Weaver, 28. Canadian disc jockey. Mr. Weaver began his career at CKRD in Red Deer; he worked in Edmonton (CJCA), Hamilton (CKOC), Toronto (CHUM), and Vancouver (CJOR, CKVN) before dying of cancer.

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Physical--Olivia Newton-John (2nd week at #1)
2 Young Turks--Rod Stewart
3 Don't Stop Believin'--Journey
4 Leather and Lace--Stevie Nicks with Don Henley
5 Trouble--Lindsey Buckingham
6 Harden My Heart--Quarterflash
7 I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)--Daryl Hall & John Oates
8 Private Eyes--Daryl Hall & John Oates
9 Waiting for a Girl Like You--Foreigner
10 Why Do Fools Fall in Love--Diana Ross

Singles entering the chart were Tainted Love by Soft Cell (#18); and Hooked on Classics by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (#20).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CFRN)
1 Hooked on Classics--The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (3rd week at #1)
2 Leather and Lace--Stevie Nicks with Don Henley
3 Comin' In and Out of Your Life--Barbra Streisand
4 Yesterday's Songs--Neil Diamond
5 Harden My Heart--Quarterflash
6 Come Go with Me--The Beach Boys
7 I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)--Daryl Hall & John Oates
8 I Wouldn't Have Missed it for the World--Ronnie Milsap
9 Cool Night--Paul Davis
10 She's Got a Way--Billy Joel

World events
A coup d'état in Ghana removed President Hilla Limann's People's National Party (PNP) government and replaced it with the Provisional National Defence Council, led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. Fl. Lt. Rawlings had previously seized power in June 1979, and handed it over to Mr. Limann and the PNP three months later.

30 years ago
1991

World events
As of this date, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceased to exist, as all official Soviet Union institutions ceased operations.

Terrorism
17 Haitian Liberation Organization activists surrendered to police after occupying the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince for six weeks.

25 years ago
1996

Died on this date
Wesley Addy, 83. U.S. actor. Mr. Addy was a character actor in numerous plays, television programs, and movies. His films included Seconds (1966); Tora! Tora! Tora! 1970) and The Verdict (1982).

Music
About 4,000 people made their way to the remote location of Canaan Downs, Tākaka, New Zealand to take part in the first Gathering, a two-day festival for electronic dance music fans.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Eileen Heckart, 82. U.S. actress. Miss Heckart, born Anna Eileen Herbert, had a career spanning nearly 60 years, usually playing supporting roles in plays, movies, and television programs. She won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Butterflies are Free (1972); two Emmy Awards; and a Tony Award in 2000 for lifetime achievement. Miss Heckart died of lung cancer.

Politics and government
Eduardo Camano assumed the position of acting President of Argentina, the day after the resignation of interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa.

10 years ago
2011

Space
The United States succeeded in putting GRAIL A (Ebb), the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) satellites in orbit around the Moon. Grail B (FLow) followed 25 hours later. The spacecraft had been launched on September 10, 2011.



- 30 -

December 30, 2021

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

430 years ago
1591

Died on this date
Innocent IX. Roman Catholic Pope, 1591. Innocent IX, born Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, became a priest in 1544 and was made a cardinal in 1583. He succeeded Gregory XIV on thee papal throne, and was crowned on November 3, 1591. He died after less than two months in office, and was succeeded by Clement VIII.

180 years ago
1841

Died on this date
Vitus Bering, 60. Danish explorer. Commander Bering was a cartographer served in the Russian Navy and led the First Kamchatka Expedition (1725-1731), which explored the Asian Pacific Coast, and the Great Northern Expedition (1733-1743), which explored the Arctic coast of Siberia and parts of the North American coastline. He died of scurvy on an uninhabited island, later named in his honour, near the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Bering Strait and Bering Sea are among the things named in Commander Bering's honour.

170 years ago
1851

Born on this date
Asa Candler. U.S. businessman and politician. Mr. Candler founded the Coca-Cola Company in 1892, and managed the company until 1917, when he took office as Mayor of Atlanta, serving until 1919. He died on March 12, 1929 at the age of 77, three years after suffering a stroke.

160 years ago
1861

Defense
As a result of the "Trent Affair" (the seizure of two Confederate diplomats from a British vessel on the high seas), 6,000 British troops from the 62nd Wiltshire Regiment landed at St. Andrews, New Brunswick with orders to march overland to Canada to defend against a possible American invasion.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Tom Keene. U.S. actor. Mr. Keene, whose real name was George Duryea, also acted under the name Richard Powers. He appeared in more than 120 movies and television programs, mainly low-budget Westerns. Mr. Keene's movies included Our Daily Bread (1934) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). He died of cancer on August 4, 1963 at the age of 66.

Died on this date
José Rizal, 35. Filipino writer and polymath. Dr. Rizal, an ophthalmologist by profession, was a Philippine nationalist who was a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement, which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain. His writings were blamed by Spanish authorities for helping to incite the Philippine Revolution in 1896. While en route to Cuba via Spain to minister to victims of yellow fever. Dr. Rizal was arrested and charged with rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy. Despite disavowing the revolution in its present state, he was convicted by a court martial and was executed by a Spanish firing squad in Manila. Dr. Rizal is regarded as a national hero in the Philippines.

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Montreal Victorias 6 @ Winnipeg Victorias 5 (1-game challenge)

Ernie McLea scored 3 goals, including the winner on a breakaway with less than 2 minutes remaining, to give Montreal the Cup over defending champion Winnipeg at Granite Rink in the first challenge to be played outside Montreal. Mr. McLea became the first player to score a hat trick in a Stanley Cup game. Winnipeg took an early 3-0 lead and led 4-2 at halftime.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Jeanette Nolan. U.S. actress. Miss Nolan appeared in numerous radio and television programs and in movies such as Macbeth (1948) and The Big Heat (1953). She was nominated for four Emmy Awards, and died on June 5, 1998 at the age of 86.

Politics and government
Sun Yat-sen was elected the first President of the Republic of China.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Rashid Karami. Prime Minister of Lebanon, 1955-1956; 1958-1960; 1961-1964; 1965-1966; 1966-1968; 1969-1970; 1975-1976; 1984-1987. Mr. Karami, an independent politician, had a political career of more than 30 years, and was Lebanon's Prime Minister 10 times. He advocated increased political power for the country's Muslim population, and was known as a man that Lebanon's President could call on in a crisis, despite political differences. Mr. Karami was killed on June 1, 1987 at the age of 65 and the country’s interior minister and several other people were injured when a bomb exploded in his helicopter during a flight to Beirut from his home town of Tripoli. It was believed that the bomb had been placed in his briefcase or under his seat. The co-pilot made an emergency landing. Mr. Karami had submitted his resignation on May 4, but President Amin Gemayel had not yet formally accepted it.

90 years ago
1931

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Hindoo in the Wicker Basket

80 years ago
1941

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for 1941 were presented. The winners were: Picture--Citizen Kane; Director--John Ford (How Green was My Valley); Actor--Gary Cooper (Sergeant York); Actress--Joan Fontaine (Suspicion).

Diplomacy
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the Canadian parliament in Ottawa, where he delivered his "Some chicken...some neck" speech, and then posed for a famous photograph by Yousuf Karsh. Go here to see the full text of the speech.



U.K. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden returned to London from his conference in Moscow with U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin.

War
The U.S.S.R. announced that Soviet troops on the Caucasian front had landed on the Crimean peninsula, occupying the town and fortress of Kerch. Dispatches from Manila reported that Japanese troops were within 100 miles of the city. U.S. aviator Charles Lindbergh was revealed to have volunteered for active serice in the U.S. Army Air Forces. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that there were 25,829,788 men in the continental United States aged 20-44 who could be drafted for military service.

Space
Dr. Edwin Hubble of the Mount Wilson Observatory in California said that as a result of six years of observation through the observatory's 100-inch telescope, he doubted the theory that the universe was expanding.

Politics and government
Philippine President Manuel Quezon and Vice President Sergio Osmena were inaugurated into their second terms in a wartime ceremony near U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters.

Lieutenant General A.E. Percival declared martial law in Singapore, following four Japanese air raids the previous night.

Crime
Seven people were indicted in New York on charges of sending vital information to Germany.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that plans were underway to boost U.S. war production to 50% of the national income, or about $50 billion in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1942.

U.S. federal Price Administrator Leon Henderson froze wholesale cigarette prices at the levels prevailing on December 26, and fixed maximum retail prices for automobile tires and tubes at the level in effect on November 25.

Labour
Greyhound companies agreed to arbitrate the strike of 1,800 bus drivers.

75 years ago
1946

Hit parade
U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Old Lamp-Lighter--Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye (Vocal refrain by Billy Williams and Choir)
--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
--Hal Derwin
2 Ole Buttermilk Sky--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra (vocal chorus by Michael Douglas and the Campus Kids)
--Hoagy Carmichael
--Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers
--Paul Weston and his Orchestra with Matt Dennis
3 Rumors are Flying--Frankie Carle and his Orchestra
--The Andrews Sisters with Les Paul
--Betty Rhodes
--Tony Martin
4 (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons--King Cole Trio
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
5 A Gal in Calico--Tex Beneke with the Glenn Miller Orchestra
--Bing Crosby with the Calico Kids
--Johnny Mercer
6 The Things We Did Last Summer--Frank Sinatra
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
7 Huggin' and Chalkin'--Hoagy Carmichael
--Johnny Mercer
--Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
8 The Whole World is Singing My Song--Les Brown and his Orchestra
9 Passe--Tex Beneke with the Glenn Miller Orchestra
--Margaret Whiting
10 Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were the version of (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons by Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra That's the Beginning of the End, with versions by Perry Como; and the King Cole Trio (#32).

On the radio
The Casebook of Gregory Hood, starring Elliott Lewis and Howard McNear, on MBS
Tonight`s episode: The Payoff

Died on this date
Charles Wakefield Cadman, 65. U.S. composer and critic. Mr. Cadman was appointed music editor and critic for the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1908, and was regarded as a leading expert on American Indian music, writing and lecturing on the subject, and allowing it to influence his compositions. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1920s, helping to found the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, performing there as a piano soloist, and composing scores for motion pictures in the early years of sound movies. Mr. Cadman wrote music in various genres, but was best known for his 40-year collaboration with lyricist Nelle Richmond Eberhart, who wrote librettos for his operas and words for his songs. He died six days after his 65th birthday.

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for 1946 were presented. The winners were: Picture--The Best Years of Our Lives; Director--William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives); Actor--Laurence Olivier (Henry V); Actress--Celia Johnson (Brief Encounter); Foreign Language Film--Open City.

War
After conferring with French officials in Indochina, French Overseas Territories Minister Marius Moutet reiterated France's determination to re-establish "order" in the territory before resuming negotiations with nationalist guerrillas.

Politics and government
Republican Party U.S. congressional leadership filled majority posts in the new Senate: Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan)--President pro tempore; Wallace White, Jr. (Maine)--Majority floor leader; Robert Taft (Ohio)--steering committee chairman; Kenneth Wherry (Nebraska)--Majority whip; Eugene Milliken (Colorado)--Republican conference chairman.

Science
University of California physicist Glenn Seaborg, co-discoverer of plutonium, americium, and curium, was named "chemist of the year" in an American Chemical Society poll.

Energy
Despite Soviet objections, the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission appoved a U.S.-sponsored nuclear control plan recommending the creation of a strong international inspection agency not subject to a great power veto.

Argentina and Uruguay signed a pact allowing Argentina to receive electric power from the Uruguay River power project.

Economics and finance
Venezuela became the 40th nation to join the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The Allied Control Council in Berlin announced the adoption of a law forbidding Germany to manufacture, possess, import, or export any equipment that may be used to wage war.

Labour
A U.S. federal circuit court of appeals in Chicago upheld the right of a union in a closed shop to force the discharge of a member for joining a rival union.

70 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Out There, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Bus to Nowhere, starring Leonard Barry, Arthur Batanides, and Whit Bissell

War
Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command General Matthew Ridgway announced that the Japanese government would be given custody of 1,300 Japanese war criminals still serving sentences by March 21, 1952.

Diplomacy
Foreign ministers of six Western European countries agrred in Paris on most details of the European Army plan and recommended creating a supranational Parliament of Europe by 1955.

In a year-end speech, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson admitted that "we have lost some ground" in the Middle East because of the Iranian and Suez disputes, but viewed Greece and Turkey as "bright spots."

Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded the $1,000 Newcomb Cleveland Prize to Columbia University oceanographer J. Laurence Kulp for developing a technique to measure the age of water through the radioactive carbon content of suspended organic matter.

Economics and finance
Iran banned foreign travel by its citizens, due to lack of foreign exchange.

Baseball
The Sporting News named Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals as major league player of the year for 1951 and Leo Durocher of the New York Giants as major league manager of the year. "Stan the Man" batted .355 with 32 home runs and 108 runs batted in, leading the National League in batting average, runs (124); triples (12); and total bases (355). "Leo the Lip" led the Giants to the National League pennant as they came back from a 14½-game deficit in August to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 3-game playoff.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): My Boomerang Won't Come Back--Charlie Drake (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Nata per me--Adriano Celentano (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Tanze mit mir in den Morgen--Gerhard Wendland

#1 single in the Netherlands (Dutch Top 40): I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door--Eddie Hodges (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Tower of Strength--Frankie Vaughan (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Lion Sleeps Tonight--The Tokens (4th week at #1)
2 The Twist--Chubby Checker
3 Walk on By--Leroy Van Dyke
4 Run to Him--Bobby Vee
5 Please Mr. Postman--The Marvelettes
6 Can't Help Falling in Love--Elvis Presley
7 Peppermint Twist - Part I--Joey Dee & the Starliters
8 Moon River--Jerry Butler
--Henry Mancini, His Orchestra and Chorus
9 Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen--Neil Sedaka
10 When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)--Connie Francis

Singles entering the chart were Lost Someone by James Brown and the Famous Flames (#90); That's My Pa by Sheb Wooley (#95); I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song) by the Ikettes (#96); Fever by Pete Bennett and the Embers (#98); and I Told the Brook by Marty Robbins (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Norman--Sue Thompson (2nd week at #1)
2 The Wanderer--Dion
3 Run to Him--Bobby Vee
4 Hey! Little Girl--Del Shannon
5 Walkin' with My Angel--Bobby Vee
6 The Twist--Chubby Checker
7 Multiplication--Bobby Darin
8 Walkin' Back to Happiness--Helen Shapiro
9 The Lion Sleeps Tonight--The Tokens
10 Please Mr. Postman--The Marvelettes

Singles entering the chart were Bonnie B by Jerry Lee Lewis (#24); Bandit of My Dreams by Eddie Hodges (#28); My Boomerang Won't Come Back by Charlie Drake (#31); Patti Ann by Johnny Crawford (#36); I Know (You Don't Love Me No More) by Barbara George (#39); Baby it's You by the Shirelles (#45); and Lonely Sixteen by Janie Black (#50).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Norman--Sue Thompson
2 Dear Ivan--Jimmy Dean
3 The Twist--Chubby Checker
4 The Wanderer/The Majestic--Dion
5 Peppermint Twist--Joey Dee & the Starliters
6 A Little Bitty Tear--Burl Ives
7 Multiplication--Bobby Darin
8 Walkin' with My Angel/Run to Him--Bobby Vee
9 When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)--Connie Francis
10 The Lion Sleeps Tonight--The Tokens

Singles entering the chart were Dear Lady Twist by Gary (U.S.) Bonds (#26); The Ballad of Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum (#30); Young Love by Sonny James (#34); I Could Have Loved You by Ray Peterson (#36); Mugmates/Bandit of My Dreams by Eddie Hodges (#39); and Little Altar Boy by Vic Dana (#40).

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Gray 9 Blue 7

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Pop Concerto--Pop Concerto Orchestra

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): O Holy Night--Tommy Drennan (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Jo Cals, 57. Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 1965-1966. Mr. Cals, a member of the Roman Catholic State Party until 1945 and the Catholic People's Party thereafter, was a member of the House of Representatives (1948-1950, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1963-1965), and was State Secretary/Minister for Education, Arts and Sciences (1950-1961) before serving as Prime Minister from April 1965-November 1966. He left politics after his government fell after losing a vote involving the budget. Mr. Cals died of a brain tumour.

World events
Iraq announced that it had expelled 60,000 Iranian men, women, and children over the past few days; Iraq had severed diplomatic relations with Iran earlier inthe month.

30 years ago
1981

Hockey
NHL
Philadelphia (22-13-1) 5 @ Edmonton (25-8-6) 7

Wayne Gretzky scored 5 goals--his 46th through 50th of the season--to lead the Oilers past the Flyers at Northlands Coliseum. Mr. Gretzky's last goal, into an empty net, gave him the distinction of reaching the 50-goal mark in one season in the fewest games; it was just the Oilers' 39th game of the season.



30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Sore ga Daiji (それが大事)--Daiji-man Brothers Band

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Live and Let Die--Guns N' Roses (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Let's Talk About Sex--Salt-N-Pepa (7th week at #1)

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Child--Mark Owen (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): Don't Speak--No Doubt (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Time to Say Goodbye--Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Canada (RPM): Head Over Feet--Alanis Morissette (7th week at #1)

Died on this date
Lew Ayres, 88. U.S. actor. Mr. Ayres had a career that spanned 65 years, but was best known for his starring role in the movie All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in a series of nine films from 1938-1942. He died two days after his 88th birthday.

Juan Antonio Canta, 30. Spanish musician. Mr. Canta, whose real name was Juan Antonio Castillo Madico, was a singer-songwriter and guitarist who co-founded the pop group Pabellَn psiquiلtrico, who recorded four albums from 1987-1991. He then became a solo artist, and was best known for the single La danza de los 40 limones, which reached number one on the PROMUSICAE chart for five weeks in May-June 1996. Mr. Canta suffered from constant depression, and committed suicide by hanging himself at his home in Cَrdoba.

Protest
250,000 workers in Israel shut down services in protest against proposed budget cuts by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

20 years ago
2001

Terrorism
Pakistani authorities arrested Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of one of the Muslim groups believed to be behind the December 13, 2001 attack on India's Parliament House in New Delhi. 12 people had been killed in the five-man attack.

Politics and government
Adolfo Rodriguez Saa resigned as interim President of Argentina, just a week after taking office.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Ronald Searle, 91. U.K.-born artist. Mr. Searle worked in various genre, but was mainly known as a cartoonist. He created and the comic strip St. Trinian's School (1946-1952), which inspired a series of comic films. Mr. Searle also illustrated the Molesworth novels written by Geoffrey Willans in the 1950s. He moved to France in 1961, and lived the rest of his life there.

Oddities
Samoa and Tokelau skipped this date, as they changed their time zones and jumped to the other side of the International Date Line, moving directly from December 29 to December 31, 2011.

December 29, 2021

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Christine Gotaas!

1,300 years ago
721

Died on this date
Genmei, 61. Empress of Japan, 707-715. Genmei, born Abe-hime, acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne upon the death of her son Monmu. She moved the seat of government to Nara, and abdicated in favour of her daughter Genshō.

175 years ago
1846

Died on this date
Alexander Barrow, 45. U.S. politician. Mr. Barrow, a Whig, spent several years in the Louisiana House of Representatives before representing the state from 1841 until his death. He was the older half-brother of Washington Barrow, who represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

170 years ago
1851

Americana
The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States opened in Boston.

140 years ago
1881

Born on this date
Jess Willard. U.S. boxer. Mr. Willard, nicknamed the Pottawatomie Giant, stood 6' 6 1⁄2" and didn't start boxing professionally until he was 29. He knocked out Jack Johnson in the 26th round in Havana on April 5, 1915 to win the world heavyweight title, thereby accomplishing what a host of "White Hopes" had failed to achieve since Mr. Johnson had won the title more than six years earlier. Mr. Willard fought just one title bout after that (a 10-round newspaper decision over Frank Moran in 1916) before being knocked out in 3 rounds by Jack Dempsey in Toledo, Ohio on July 4, 1919. Mr. Willard came out of retirement for two fights in 1923, and then retired permanently after compiling a professional record of 25-7-2. He died on December 15, 1968, two weeks before his 87th birthday.

120 years ago
1901

Politics and government
Arthur Peters was sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island, succeeding Donald Farquharson as head of the province's Liberal government. Lieutenant Governor Peter McIntyre had asked Mr. Peters to take office as Premier after Mr. Farquharson resigned to enter federal politics.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Klaus Fuchs. German physicist. Dr. Fuchs was a socialist who became a Communist while still a student in Germany. He fled to the United Kingdom shortly after the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, and went to the United States during World War II, where he worked on the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bombs. Dr. Fuchs worked as a spy with the U.S.S.R., and illegally transferred nuclear information to the Soviets. In January 1950 he confessed to being a spy, and was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment for espionage. Dr. Fuchs was released in 1959 after serving 9 1/3 years, and emigrated to East Germany, where he spent the rest of his life. He died on January 28, 1988, 30 days after his 76th birthday.

Asiatica
Mongolia gained its independence from China's Qing dynasty, enthroning the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.

Politics and government
In Nanking, Sun Yat-sen was elected provisional President of the Republic of China.

Canadiana
A proclamation restored the words Dei Gratia to Canada's coins; the Latins phrase means King (or Queen) by the grace of God.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Dobrica Ćosić. 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 1992-1993. Mr. Ćosić, a Serb, joined the Communist Party in 1939, and had a successful career as a novelist. He increasingly expressed concern for the Serbian population of Yugoslavia, and supported the Serbian cause in the Yugoslavian Civil War. Mr. Ćosić became the president of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, but was removed from office after turning against Serbian nationalist leader Slobodan Milošević. He died on May 18, 2014 at the age of 92.

Politics and government
Canada's new Liberal government, under Prime Minister Mackenzie King, took office, 23 days after winning a plurality in the federal election. For Mr. King, it was the beginning of more than two decades as Canada's Prime Minister, and he eventually became the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the British Commonwealth.

90 years ago
1931

Transportation
The new Jubilee Dock was moored in Wellington Harbour in Wellington, New Zealand.

80 years ago
1941

War
A London communique reported a successful six-hour raid on December 27 on the German-occupied islands of Vaagsoe and Maaloy off the Norwegaian coast. Tokyo reports claimed that Japanese troops the previous day had captured Ipoh, the tin mining centre 290 miles north of Singapore. Japanese planes bombed the island fortress of Corregidor, about 30 miles south of Manila guarding the entrance to Manila Bay.

Diplomacy
Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King returned to Ottawa from Washington with U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was beginning a visit to the Canadian capital.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry announced that it was recalling the country's Ambassador to Germany.

Politics and government
Mohandas Gandhi resigned as leader of the All-India Congress Party because, he said, the party's working committee had abandoned his principles of civil disobedience and non-violence.

Business
The U.S. Army formally returned the Bendix, New Jersey plant of Air Associates, Inc. to private management after operating it since October 31.

Labour
American Federation of Labor boilermakers routed picketing welders at the California Ship Building Corporation in Los Angeles.

Disasters
Portland, Oregon was shaken by a short, sharp earthquake at 10:30 A.M.

Sport
New York University miler Leslie MacMitchell was named the 1941 winner of the Amateur Athletic Union's James E. Sullivan Memorial Trophy as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.

Auto racing
Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Eddie Rickenbacker announced the cancellation of the Indianapolis 500 for 1942 because of American involvement in World War II. The speedway wasn't reopened, and the Indianapolis 500 wasn't held again, until 1946, the year after the war ended.

75 years ago
1946

At the movies
Duel in the Sun, directed by King Vidor, and starring Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, and many others, received its premiere screening in Van Nuys, California.





Terrorism
Irgun Zvai Leumi members kidnapped and flogged four British soldiers in retaliation for the British flogging of an imprisoned Zionist arrested for bank robbery.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. returned to Finland Helsinki's Malm Airport, occupied since the 1944 armistice.

Defense
The U.S. Navy announced the development of the Mark 3 Toss Director, a new bombsight that permitted dive-bombers to project bombs after they had pulled out of their dives.

Politics and government
Delegates from 10 liberal political action groups voted in New York to merge into a new organization, Progressive Citizens of America, with Frank Kingdon and Jo Davidson as co-chairmen.

Labour
The Italian Confederation of Labour called off a general strike in the southern Italian city of Bari after the government agreed to a 3,000-lira weekly subsidy for the unemployed.

70 years ago
1951

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Sweet Violets--Dinah Shore; Jane Turzy (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads (Best Seller--1st week at #1); It's No Sin--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (Disc Jockey--7th week at #1; Jukebox--1st week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 (It's No) Sin--The Four Aces (8th week at #1)
--Eddy Howard
2 Cold, Cold Heart--Tony Bennett
3 Down Yonder--Del Wood
--Joe "Fingers" Carr
--Champ Butler
4 Undecided--The Ames Brothers and Les Brown and his Band of Renown
5 Because of You--Tony Bennett
--Les Baxter and his Orchestra
6 Charmaine--Mantovani and his Orchestra
7 Shrimp Boats--Jo Stafford
8 Jealousy (Jalousie)--Frankie Laine
9 Slow Poke--Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys
10 Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads

There were no singles entering the chart.

World events
At a news conference in Erding, West Germany, four American fliers released the previous day by Hungary claimed that they had flown off course on November 19 in murky skies while transporting a diplomatic cargo from Munich to Belgrade.

Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion denounced U.S. Zionist leaders for not moving to Israel.

War
In an effort to rescue stalled armistice talks, U.S. negotiators at Panmunjom offered to forego aerial inspection of Communist positions during a cease-fire. Disagreement remained over construction of new military airports, which the Americans wanted banned.

Defense
The $44-million, 540-foot U.S. Navy destroyer leader USS Norfolk, the largest destroyer in the world, was launched in Camden, New Jersey.

Politics and government
Colombian opposition leader Carlos Augusto Noriega, President of the House of Representatives, was removed from office and physically ejected from the chamber for trying to block debate.

The U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee urged the adoption of the death penalty for peacetime espionage in the United States.

Energy
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced the first use of an atomic reactor to generate electric power in the United States, near Arco, Idaho.

Health
U.S. President Harry Truman created a 15-member President's Commission on the Health Needs of the Nation, with Dr. Paul Magnuson as chairman.

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Gray 20 Blue 14

Baseball
New York baseball writers named New York Yankees' pitcher Allie Reynolds as the 1951 winner of the Sid Mercer Memorial Award as "player of the year." He was 17-8 with an earned run average of 3.05 in 40 games, leading the American League with 7 shutouts, batting .184 with no home runs and 11 runs batted in in 43 games. Mr. Reynolds was 1-1 with a 4.20 ERA in 2 World Series games as the Yankees defeated the New York Giants in 6 games for their third straight World Series championship.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Take Good Care of My Baby--Bobby Vee (2nd week at #1)

Los Angeles's Top 40 (KFWB)
21 Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night--Kenny Dino
22 Town Without Pity--Gene Pitney
23 Unchain My Heart--Ray Charles and his Orchestra
24 Moments to Remember--Jennell Hawkins
25 Jingle Bell Rock--Bobby Rydell/Chubby Checker
26 I Don't Know Why--Linda Scott
27 Surfer Stomp--The Marketts
28 When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)--Connie Francis
29 Small Sad Sam--Phil McLean
30 Pocketful of Miracles--Frank Sinatra
31 Just Out of Reach--Solomon Burke
32 Big Bad John--Jimmy Dean
33 Surfin'--The Beach Boys
34 And Then Came Love--Ed Townsend
35 Jambalaya (On the Bayou)--Fats Domino
36 Tonight--Ferrante & Teicher
37 The Wanderer--Dion
38 Crazy--Patsy Cline
39 Revenge--Brook Benton
40 Dear Ivan--Jimmy Dean

Surfer Stomp,Surfin', Jambalaya (On the Bayou), The Wanderer, and Dear Ivan were entering the chart. Surfin' was the Beach Boys' first single, and this was their first entry on any chart.

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight's episode: A Quality of Mercy, starring Dean Stockwell, Albert Salmi, and Jerry Fujikawa

Boxing
Alejandro Lavorante (19-2) knocked out Von Clay (16-6-2) at 1:10 of the 2nd round of a heavyweight bout at Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It proved to be the last win for Mr. Lavorante.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)--Benny Hill (5th week at #1)

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Different Ones, starring Dana Andrews and Jon Korkes; Tell David..., starring Sandra Dee and Jared Martin; Logoda's Heads, starring Patrick Macnee, Brock Peters, Denise Nicholas, and Tim Matheson

War
U.S. Air Force and Navy planes concluded three days of heavy bombing raids on military installations in North Vietnam; it was the first time since 1968 that a series of attacks against North Vietnam had lasted more than two days.

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Black or White--Michael Jackson (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Let's Talk About Sex--Salt-N-Pepa (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Black or White--Michael Jackson (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Susan Wright, 44. Miss Wright, a native of Calgary, grew up in Saskatoon, where she began her career. She was best known as a stage actress, appearing frequently at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and winning two Dora Mavor Moore Awards and an ACTRA Award. Miss Wright appeared in several films and television programs. She and her parents were staying in a house in Stratford owned by actor Brent Carver, who was absent when the others died in a fire.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Dallas 17 @ Chicago 13



AFC Wild Card Playoff
New York Jets 10 @ Houston 17



25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Thug Devotion--Mo Thugs (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)--Backstreet Boys (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Verpiss' dich--Tic Tac Toe (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): 2 Become 1--Spice Girls (2nd week at #1)

War
The Guatemalan government and leaders of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity signed a peace accord, ending a 36-year civil war.

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Indianapolis 14 @ Pittsburgh 42



NFC Wild Card Playoff
Philadelphia 0 @ San Francisco 14

See video.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Takashi Asahina, 93. Japanese orchestra conductor. Mr. Asahina founded the Kansai Symphonic Orchestra (today the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1947, and was its principal conductor until his death. He specialized in the music of Anton Bruckner.

Crime
Magloire Poissant murdered his ex-wife Colette Harnois, her two sons Mathieu MacDonald, 18, and Michael MacDonald, 15, and their friend Francis Mongrain, age 17, at Ms. Harnois' home in Lavaltrie, Quebec.

Weather
Five days of snow in Buffalo, New York ended with a record total of 6 feet 9 inches.

Disasters
Nearly 300 people were killed when a firecracker ignited fireworks stands lining narrow streets in Lima, Peru.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Robert Lee Dickey, 72. U.S. singer. Mr. Dickey was the original Bobby Purify in the rhythm and blues duo James & Bobby Purify, who achieved several charted singles from 1966-1969; their biggest hit was their first, I'm Your Puppet (1966), which reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart and #5 on the Rhythm and Blues chart. Mr. Dickey left the duo in 1971 for health reasons, and worked as a city maintenance supervisor in Tallahassee, Florida, and performing as an amateur singer and guitarist. James Purify performed as a solo artist until 1974, when Ben Moore joined him and took the name Bobby Purify.

Sport
Downhill skier Jennifer Heil was named the Canadian Press female athlete of the year for 2011. She ended her career with a sweep of the moguls and dual moguls gold medals at the World Championships.

December 28, 2021

370 years ago
1651

Born on this date
Johann Krieger. German musician and composer. Mr. Krieger, the younger brother of organist and composer Johann Philipp Krieger, was also an organist, and was one of the most important keyboard composers of his day, publishing collections containing harpsichord suites, organ toccatas, fugues, and ricercars. He also composed sacred and secular vocal music, as well as works for the stage. Mr. Krieger died at the age of 83 on July 18, 1735, the day after playing the organ at a church service.

175 years ago
1846

Americana
Iowa was admitted to the Union as the 29th state.

100 years ago
1921

At the movies
Orphans of the Storm, directed by D.W. Griffith, and starring Lillian and Dorothy Gish, opened in theatres in Boston.



Born on this date
Johnny Otis. U.S. musician and producer. Mr. Otis, born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes, was a drummer and bandleader who began performing with rhythm and blues artists in the late 1930s. He was a disc jockey, talent scout, producer, impresario, and television host in a career spanning more than 60 years, and has been called the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues." Mr. Otis achieved his greatest success from 1948-1952 when the Johnny Otis Orchestra, with various featured vocalists, released 16 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, reaching #1 with Double Crossing Blues (1948); Mistrustin' Blues (1948); and Cupid's Boogie (1950). His orchestra was billed as the Johnny Otis Show when Willie and the Hand Jive reached #1 on the rhythm and blues chart and #9 on the pop singles chart. In addition to his musical activities, Mr. Otis founded and pastored a church in Santa Rosa California. He died on January 17, 2012, 20 days after his 90th birthday.

80 years ago
1941

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Gloria Scott

War
Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate high-ranking Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich, commenced. Reports stated that German troops were retreating in Serbia following a series of defeats by guerrillas. Japanese planes, unchallenged by anti-aircraft batteries or pursuit craft, bombed Manila for two hours in the afternoon. Japanese pressure increased southeast of Manila. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt pledged that "the entire resources, in men and in material, of the United States stand behind" the Philippines.

Diplomacy
The British government announced that U.K. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden had been in Moscow since mid-December conferring with U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin regarding conduct of the war.

Academia
The American Association of University Professors issued a formal statement assailing Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge for "political interference" in ousting Dean Walter D. Cocking of the University of Georgia on charges of advocating racial equality in education.

Economics and finance
The Brookings Institution issued a report urging the reduction of federal non-defense expenditures by $2.085 billion without curtailing essential social services.

75 years ago
1946

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): The Old Lamp-Lighter by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye (Vocal refrain by Billy Williams and Choir) (Best Seller--1st week at #1; Juke Box--2nd week at #1; Honor Roll of Hits (2nd week at #1); I Love You (For Sentimental Reasons) (Airplay--1st week at #1)

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The White Cockerel

Died on this date
Carrie Jacobs-Bond, 84. U.S. songwriter. Mrs. Bond was a parlor singer and pianist who experienced much personal hardship, but achieved success by writing songs such as I Love You Truly (1901); Just Awearyin' for You (1901); and A Perfect Day (1910). She was the most successful female songwriter of her time, reportedly earned more than $1 million in royalties before the end of 1910, at a time when royalties were earned in sales of sheet music. Mrs. Bond died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Politics and government
A new Syrian cabinet was named by Jamil Mardam Bey, with Naim Antaki as Foreign Minister.

Charles de Gaulle refused to run for the French presidency, declaring that he could not be a "guarantor" of the present constitution.

Economics and finance
The Soviet Council of Ministers ordered increased concentration on the production of consumer goods, especially clothing.

Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly passed a bill providing for a progressive tax on corporate profits up to 28%.

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Gray 20 Blue 13

70 years ago
1951

On television today
The last episode of the soap opera Miss Susan, starring Susan Peters, aired on NBC after a run of 9½ months.

World events
Two hours after the U.S. legation in Budapest paid $120,000 in fines, Hungary released four American fliers imprisoned at the Austro-Hungarian border since being forced down and captured on November 19.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department banned travel in Hungary by U.S. citizens, and ordered immediate closure of the Hungarian consulates in New York and Cleveland.

War
The French National Assembly rejected a proposal by former Prime Minister Edouard Daladier that the United Nations be asked to arrange a truce in the Indochinese war.

Defense
The U.S. Army announced the development of a submachine gun that could shoot around corners.

Economics and finance
Yugoslavian Finance Minister Milentije Popovic announced plans to devalue the dinar from 50 to 300 to the American dollar.

Tennis
Australia retained the Davis Cup in Sydney as Frank Sedgman, Mervyn Rose, and Ken McGregor defeated Vic Seixas, Ted Schroeder, and Tony Trabert of the United States 3-2 in men's finals competition.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade): Moon River--Jerry Butler (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Moon River--Danny Williams

At the movies
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, directed by José Quintero, and starring Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty, opened in theatres.



Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Heather Pick!

Defense
Royal Canadian Air Force Squadron No.446, at North Bay, Ontario, formed Canada's first BOMARC Surface to Air Missile Squadron for defence against Soviet ICBMs.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Kvällstoppen): Mamy Blue--Pop-Tops (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Akropolis adieu--Mireille Mathieu (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Max Steiner, 83. Austrian-born composer and conductor. Mr. Steiner, a native of Vienna, was a child prodigy as a pianist and composer, and conducted an operetta when he was 12. He worked in theatrical productions in continental Europe and Britain in the years leading to World War I, but was interned in England as an enemy alien when World War I began in 1914. Mr. Steiner was allowed to emigrate to the United States, and spent 15 years on Broadway in New York before going to Hollywood in 1929, and sound was coming into motion pictures. He composed over 300 film scores for RKO Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures from 1929-1965 and received 24 Academy Award nominations, winning for The Informer (1935); Now, Voyager (1942); and Since You Went Away (1944). Mr. Steiner's most famous scores included Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Summer Place (1959). He died of congestive heart failure after years of declining health and poor eyesight.

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Gray 27 Blue 15

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Down Under--Men at Work (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Sailor Fuku to Kikanjū--Hiroko Yakushimaru (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Ma Quale Idea--Pino D'Angio (14th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Polonäse Blankenese--Gottlieb Wendehals (a.k.a. Werner Böhm) (4th week at #1)

Born on this date
Elizabeth Jordan Carr. U.S. woman. Miss Carr, America's first "test-tube baby," was born in Norfolk, Virginia.

Died on this date
Allan Dwan, 96. Canadian-born U.S. movie director. Mr. Dwan, a native of Toronto, moved to the United States with his family at the age of 7. He began working in the motion picture industry in Chicago and New York; he spent his winters in California and, like many others, moved there to work full-time. Mr. Dwan directed 125 movies from 1911-1961; he directed Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in several silent films, and directed eight movies starring Gloria Swanson. Mr. Dwan's movies included Robin Hood (1922); The Iron Mask (1929); and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Black or White--Michael Jackson (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Black or White--Michael Jackson (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Black or White--Michael Jackson (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Black or White--Michael Jackson (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): Black or White--Michael Jackson (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Qui a le droit...--Patrick Bruel (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Kon ik maar even bij je zijn--Gordon (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (CIN): Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are the Days of Our Lives--Queen (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Black or White--Michael Jackson (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Black or White--Michael Jackson
2 All 4 Love--Color Me Badd
3 Can't Let Go--Mariah Carey
4 It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday--Boyz II Men
5 Keep Coming Back--Richard Marx
6 No Son of Mine--Genesis
7 Set Adrift on Memory Bliss--P.M. Dawn
8 Blowing Kisses in the Wind--Paula Abdul
9 Broken Arrow--Rod Stewart
10 Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me--George Michael/Elton John

Singles entering the chart were Forever My Lady by Jodeci (#75); Blinded by Love by Rythm Syndicate (#77); There's No Other Way by Blur (#78); The Rush by Luther Vandross (#83); and I Want You by Jody Watley (#89); and The Unforgiven by Metallica (#90).

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Los Angeles Raiders 6 @ Kansas City 10



NFC Wild Card Playoff
Atlanta 27 @ New Orleans 20

See video.

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Wannabe--Spice Girls (9th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (Hit Parade Italia): One & One--Robert Miles featuring Maria Nayler (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): One & One--Robert Miles featuring Maria Nayler (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Wallonia (Ultratop 40): Aïcha--Khaled (9th week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Freed from Desire--Gala (10th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Don't Speak--No Doubt

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): 2 Become 1--Spice Girls

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Un-Break My Heart--Toni Braxton (4th week at #1)
2 I Believe I Can Fly--R. Kelly
3 Don't Let Go (Love)--En Vogue
4 No Diggity--BLACKstreet (featuring Dr. Dre)
5 Nobody--Keith Sweat featuring Athena Cage
6 Mouth--Merril Bainbridge
7 I Believe in You and Me--Whitney Houston
8 It's All Coming Back to Me Now--Celine Dion
9 I'm Still in Love with You--New Edition
10 I Finally Found Someone--Barbra Streisand/Bryan Adams

Singles entering the chart were I Believe in You and Me; God Bless the Child by Shania Twain (#80); Friends by John Michael Montgomery (#89); That's How it Is (It's Like That) by Redman featuring K-Solo (#95); and Ain't Nobody by LL Cool J (#98). I Believe in You and Me was from the movie The Preacher's Wife (1996). Ain't Nobody was from the movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996).

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Jacksonville 30 @ Buffalo 27



NFC Wild Card Playoff
Minnesota 15 @ Dallas 40



10 years ago
2011

War
Acting on information that Kurdish militants were crossing the border from Iraqi territory, two Turkish F-16 jets fired at a group of villagers, killing 34 people.

Sport
Figure skater Patrick Chan was named Canadian Press male athlete of the year; he had an undefeated season and won his first world men's title, setting three world scoring records.

December 27, 2021

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Marilyn Draper!

500 years ago
1521

Religion
The Zwickau prophets--Nicholas Storch, Thomas Dreschel and Markus Stübner--arrived in Wittenberg after their exile from Zwickau, continuing their radical Reformation activities.

450 years ago
1571

Born on this date
Johannes Kepler. German astronomer and mathematician. Mr. Kepler was one of the most influential astronomers in history, best known for his laws of planetary motion. He believed that God created the world according to an intelligible plan that is accessible through the natural light of reason. Mr. Kepler's books included Astronomia nova (1609); Harmonices Mundi (1619); and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae (three volumes, 1618-1621). He served as imperial mathematician to Holy Roman Emperors Rudolf II, Matthias, and Ferdinand II, and while often criticizing astrology, devised horoscopes in order to make a living. Mr. Kepler died after a brief illness on November 15, 1630 at the age of 58.

300 years ago
1721

Born on this date
François Hemsterhuis. Dutch philosopher. Mr. Hemsterhuis wrote on aesthetics and moral philosophy. His philosophy has been characterized as Socratic in content and Platonic in form; its foundation was the desire for self-knowledge and truth, untrammelled by the rigid bonds of any particular system. Mr. Hemsterhuis died on July 7, 1790 at the age of 68.

260 years ago
1761

Born on this date
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, 56. Russian military officer and politician. Prince Michael was a Field Marshal in the Imperial Russian Army who was best known for his military reforms and leadership during the 1812 invasion of Russia by French forces commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte. Prince Michael was Governor-General of Finland from 1809-1810. He died while on a visit to Germany on May 26, 1818 at the age of 56.

250 years ago
1771

Died on this date
Henri Pitot, 76. French physicist and engineer. Mr. Pitot was a hydraulic engineer who invented the Pitot tube, and designed the Aqueduc de Saint-Clément near Montpellier and the extension of Pont du Gard in Nîmes.

190 years ago
1831

Exploration
English naturalist Charles Darwin began his voyage to the New World aboard the HMS Beagle.

140 years ago
1881

Born on this date
António Granjo. Prime Minister of Portugal, 1920, 1921. Mr. Granjo was a lawyer and a republican who was first elected to the National Constituent Assembly in 1911, resigning to serve in World War I. He was President of the Municipal Chamber of Chaves (February-July 1919) and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies later in 1919 as a member of the Evolutionist Party, which soon merged into the Republican Liberal Party. Mr. Granjo led coalition governments from July 19-November 20, 1920 and August 30 until his forced resignation and assassination at the age of 39 on October 19, 1921 as part of the military insurrection known as Bloody Night.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Louis Bromfield. U.S. author and conservationist. Mr. Bromfield won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Early Autumn; his other novels incuded The Rains Came (1937) and Mrs. Parkington (1943). He operated a farm in Ohio, and was one of the first modern champions of organic and self-sustaining farming. Mr. Bromfield died on March 18, 1956 at the age of 59.

120 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Irene Handl. U.K. actress. Miss Handl was a character actress who appeared in more than 100 movies, as well as numerous television programs, in a career spanning 50 years. Her films included Night Train to Munich (1940); Spellbound (1945); and Brief Encounter (1945). Miss Handl died of breast cancer on November 29, 1987, four weeks before her 86th birthday.

Marlene Dietrich. German-born U.S. actress and singer. Miss Dietrich became a star in her native land with her appearance in The Blue Angel (1930), and then moved to Hollywood, where her movies included Morocco (1930); Blonde Venus (1932); Desire (1936); Destry Rides Again (1939); A Foreign Affair (1948); Witness for the Prosecution (1957); Touch of Evil (1958); and Judgement at Nuremberg (1961). Miss Dietrich was an opponent of Germany's Nazi regime and aided the Allied effort in World War II. She narrated the documentary Black Fox: The True Story of Adolf Hitler, which won the Academy Award as best documentary feature of 1962. Miss Dietrich was known for performing the songs Falling in Love Again and Lili Marlene. She died of kidney failure on May 6, 1992 at the age of 90.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Anna Russell. U.K.-born Canadian musician. Miss Russell, born Anna Russell-Brown, was a pianist and singer known for her parodies of operas, reaching the peak of her popularity in the 1960s. She died on October 18, 2006 at the age of 94.

Indianica
Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem of India, was first sung in the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.

80 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Chattanooga Choo Choo--Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (Vocal refrain by Tex Beneke and the Four Modernaires) (4th week at #1)

War
Japanese planes bombed the undefended open city of Manila for 40 minutes in the morning and 3 hours 22 minutes in the afternoon, starting huge fires. The U.S.S.R. announced the capture of Likhvin, Vysokinichi, Novosil, and Tim on the front southwest of Moscow.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, continuing their talks in Washington, assured representatives of Axis-occupied countries that the United States and United Kingdom would do everything possible to restore their independence after World War II. Mr. Roosevelt announced that "excellent progress" had been made during the conferences of 26 Allied governments in Washington to prosecute the war on a worldwide scale.

Society
U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle issued an order requiring all Japanese, German, and Italian aliens in seven Pacific Coast states to surrender their shortwave radio sets and cameras to local police.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Office of Production Management issued an order, effective immediately, restricting the manufacture of new farm machinery in the 12-month period beginning November 1, 1941 to 83% of 1940 production.

Labour
Federal spokesmen announced that the American Federation of Labor Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employes had agreed to end the six-day strike by 1,500 Greyhound drivers and submit the dispute to arbitration.

Disasters
Lisbon was rocked by a severe earthquake at 6:25 P.M.

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Blue 16 Gray 0

75 years ago
1946

War
Fighting between French forces and Vietnamese nationalists spread to Cochin, China, where 24 civilians were killed.

Economics and finance
Albania and Yugoslavia ratified a pact providing for economic collaboration.

The U.S. State Department announced that it would release $19.3 million in Polish assets frozen in the United States and $27.5 million in gold to the current Polish government.

U.S. Reconstruction Finance Corporation Director George Allen resigned after urging that the agency be reduced to a lending institution for banks and small businesses.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission authorized a 10% rate increase by Western Union Telegraph Company.

Cuba's cabinet raised the wages of all public employees $5-$10 monthly.

Tennis
With Jack Kramer and Ted Schroeder winning the men's doubles event in Melbourne, the United States won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1938.

70 years ago
1951

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for 1951 were announced. The winners were: Picture--A Streetcar Named Desire; Director--Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire); Actor--Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory); Actress--Vivian Leigh (A Streetcar named Desire); Foreign Language Film--Miracolo a Milano (Miracle in Milan).

War
U.S. and Communist truce teams in Panmunjom failed to conclude an armistice by midnight, thus nullifying the November 27 agreement on a Korean cease-fire line.

World events
The Romanian government announced the execution of five Romanians convicted by a military court of spying for the United States.

Politics and government
Former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen announced in Philadelphia that he would seek the 1952 Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.

Crime
Communist Party U.S.A. official Gus Hall was sentenced in New York to an additional three years in prison for jumping bail to escape his five-year sentence for conspiracy.

Transportation
The first right-hand drive automobile for the delivery of mail in the United States was put into service in Cincinnati.

Economics and finance
Brazilian President Getulio Vargas signed a bill enabling the government to control prices and buy and sell essential goods.

Labour
The United Steel Workers of America's Wage Policy Committee cancelled a strike scheduled for January 1, 1952, leaving the strike decision up to a special convention to open January 3 in Atlantic City.

Olympics
Soviet press announced that the U.S.S.R. would enter the Summer Olympic Games in 1952 for the first time since the participation of pre-Soviet Russia in 1912.

60 years ago
1961

At the movies
The Outsider, directed by Delbert Mann, and starring Tony Curtis, James Franciscus, and Bruce Bennett, opened in theatres in Los Angeles.



50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Imagine--John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ame no Midōsuji--Ouyang Fei Fei (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Mammy Blue--Pop-Tops (10th week at #1)

Diplomacy
Delegates representing 18 Arab countries met in Cairo to discuss plans for coordinating military and economic strategy against Israel.

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): How Great Thou Art--Howard Morrison (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Sharazan--Al Bano & Romina Power

Died on this date
Hoagy Carmichael, 82. U.S. musician and songwriter. Mr. Carmichael, one of the best-known American songwriters of the first half of the 20th century, wrote such standards as Stardust and Georgia on My Mind. He appeared in several movies, usually as a pianist. In the last year or two of his life, Mr. Carmichael appeared in a television commercial for recordings of his greatest hits; the ad began with a clip of Ole Buttermilk Sky, followed by Mr. Carmichael saying, "Ole Buttermilk Sky; they don't make 'em like that anymore--maybe they shouldn't."

Hockey
NHL
Los Angeles (13-20-3) 3 @ Edmonton (24-8-6) 10

Wayne Gretzky scored 4 goals and 1 assist to set the league record for the fastest 100 points in a season, helping the Oilers rout the Kings at Northlands Coliseum. Mr. Gretzky was playing his 38th game of the season, breaking Phil Esposito's mark of 51 games set in 1970-71. Mr. Gretzky's goals game him 45 for the season. Steve Bozek scored all 3 Los Angeles goals.

Football
NFL
AFC Wild Card Playoff
Buffalo 31 @ New York Jets 27

See video.

NFC Wild Card Playoff
New York Giants 27 @ Philadelphia 21



25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Breathe--The Prodigy (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): 2 Become 1--Spice Girls (2nd week at #1)

War
Taliban forces in Afghanistan recaptured the strategic Bagram Airfield, which solidified their buffer zone around Kabul.

20 years ago
2001

Abominations
The United States announced plans to hold Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. President George W. Bush permanently normalized trade relations between the U.S.A. and China.

Politics and government
Movement for Multi-Party Democracy candidate Levy Mwanawasa was elected President of Zambia, receiving 29.15% of the vote. United Party for National Development candidate Anderson Mazoka was second with 27.20% of the vote, with nine other candidates also participating. The Movement for Multi-Party Democracy won a plurality of seats in the 159-seat National Assembly, but their total of 69 seats was a decrease of 62 from before the election. Five new parties won at least one seat; the United Party for National Development, in its first election, was second with 49 seats.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Johnny Wilson, 82. Canadian-born U.S. hockey player and coach. Mr. Wilson, a native of Kincardine, Ontario, played left wing with the Detyroit Red Wings (1950-55, 1957-59); Chicago Black Hawks (1955-57); Toronto Maple Leafs (1959-61); and New York Rangers (1961-62), scoring 332 points on 161 goals and 171 assists in 688 regular season games and 14 goals and 13 assists in 66 playoff games. He set a record, since broken, of 580 consecutive regular season games played (1951-60), including 8 straight complete 70-game seasons. Mr. Wilson helped the Red Wings win four Stanley Cup championships (1950, 1952, 1954-1955). He coached at Princeton University (1965-67) and then in the minor leagues, leading the Springfield Kings to the Calder Cup championship in 1971. Mr. Wilson coached the Los Angeles Kings (1969-70); Detroit Red Wings (1971-73); Colorado Rockies (1976-77); and Pittsburgh Penguins (1977-80) in the NHL, compiling a record of 187-241-89. He coached in the World Hockey Association with the Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades (1974-75) and Cleveland Crusaders (1975-76), compiling a record of 56-93-9. Mr. Wilson coached Canada's entry in the 1977 IIHF World Championships, leading the team to a fourth-place finish in Canada's first appearance in the tournament in eight years. He settled in the Detroit area, and died of pulmonary fibrosis.