January 16, 2021

200 years ago
1821

Born on this date
John C. Breckinridge. 14th Vice President of the United States of America, 1857-1861. Mr. Breckinridge, a Democrat, represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives from 1851-1855. He was Vice President under President James Buchanan, and in 1859, was elected to succeed U.S. Senator John J. Crittenden at the end of Mr. Crittenden's term in 1861. When southern Democrats split from their northern colleagues in 1860, they nominated Mr. Breckinridge as their candidate for President of the United States, but Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln won the election, and Mr. Breckinridge took his seat in the Senate. He supported the Union, but joined the Confederate States Army in the fall of 1961 in protest against what he saw as President Lincoln's unconstitutional acts, and was indicted for treason and declared a traitor by the United States Senate. Mr. Breckinridge served in the U.S. Civil War as a brigadier general, and was Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Jefferson Davis from February 6-May 10, 1865. When the war ended, he fled to Cuba, Britain, and Canada, before touring Europe. Mr. Breckinridge returned to Kentucky in 1869 after U.S. President Andrew Johnson issued an amnesty for all former Confederates. He refused to re-enter politics, and died of cirrhosis of the liver on May 17, 1875 at the age of 54.

170 years ago
1851

Born on this date
William Hall-Jones. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1906. Sir William moved to New Zealand in 1873 and worked as a carpenter and builder before entering politics as an independent Liberal; he later joined the Liberal Party. Sir William represented Timaru in the N.Z. Parliament, and was regarded as an outstanding administrator. He was Minister of Marine from 1896-1906 and then served as interim Prime Minister from June 10-August 6, 1906, following the death of Richard Seddons, and before the return of Sir Joseph Ward from abroad. Sir William served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1908-1912, and was later appointed o the N.Z. Legislative Council. He died on June 19, 1936 at the age of 85.

130 years ago
1891

Died on this date
Léo Delibes, 54. French composer. Mr. Delibes was best known for his ballets Coppélia (1870) and Sylvia (1876) and the operas Le roi l'a dit (1873) and Lakmé (1883).

125 years ago
1896

Basketball
U.S. university (exhibition)
Chicago 15 @ Iowa 12

This experimental game was the first unofficial college game with five players on each side.

120 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Fulgencio Batista. President of Cuba, 1940-1944; 1952-1959. Colonel Batista served as elected President in his first term, then seized power in a military coup and held power as a dictator until January 1, 1959, when his forces lost to guerrilla forces commanded by Che Guevara in the Battle of Santa Clara, and he immediately fled, with his huge personal fortune, to the Dominican Republic. Col. Batista was eventually granted asylum by Portugal, and he died of a heart attack in Spain on August 6, 1973 at the age of 72.

Died on this date
Hiram Rhodes Revels, 73. U.S. clergyman and politician. Rev. Revels was an African Methodist Episcopal minister in several states before entering politics during Reconstruction after the American Civil War. A Republican, he was elected in Mississippi to fill the remainder of the U.S. Senate term of Albert G. Brown, who had withdrawn upon the secession of the state from the union in 1861. Rev. Revels sat in the Senate from February 23, 1870-March 3, 1871 as the first Negro to serve in the United States Congress. He was the first President of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (1871-1873, 1876-1882), and returned to service as a minister, dying while attending a church conference.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Eduardo Frei Montalva. 28th President of Chile, 1964-1970. Mr. Frei began his political career in the Conservative Party, but in 1938 co-founded the Falange Nacional, which became the Partido Demócrata Cristiano (Christian Democratic Party) (PDC) in 1957. He ran unsuccessfully for President in 1958, but was elected in 1964, defeating Socialist candidate Salvador Allende with the help of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. President Frei modernized his country and instituted numerous reforms. After Mr. Allende was elected President in 1970, Mr. Frei opposed his administration as a "totalitarian project" to establish Communist tyranny. Mr. Frei was elected to the Senate, representing Santiago, in March 1973, and was elected President of the Senate in May, leading the opposition to Mr. Allende. He supported the armed forces coup that ousted Mr. Allende in September 1973, even though the resulting junta led by General Augusto Pinochet dissolved the Senate on September 21. Mr. Frei later became an opponent of the junta, and opposed the extension of Gen. Pinochet's term as President in 1981. He died on January 22, 1982, six days after his 71st birthday, ostensibly of septicaemia stemming from surgery for a hiatal hernia. It was alleged that Mr. Frei had been poisoned by the junta's secret police force DINA, and in 2009 it was ruled by Judge Alejandro Madrid that six accused individuals had administered toxic substances that weakened Mr. Frei's immune system and made him too weak to survive his surgery. Judge Madrid was overruled and suspended by the Appeals Court and the accused were released on bail, but the case was reopened in 2010, and the six accused were convicted in January 2019 and given prison sentences ranging from 3-10 years.

Roger Lapébie. French cyclist. Mr. Lapébie won the Tour de France in 1937 and the Critérium National in 1934 and 1937. He died on October 12, 1996 at the age of 85.

100 years ago
1921

Politics and government
The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine held its founding congress in Ľubochňa.

80 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Charles Thurston Holland. U.K. physician. Dr. Holland was a pioneer in the use of X-rays in medicine and surgery.

War
The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was formed to enable the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) to release more men for service overseas.

Diplomacy
Bolivia and Chile signed a non-aggression pact; agreed to study a new commercial and financial accord; and arranged for "intellectual cooperation."

Defense
Former U.S. President Herbert Hoover asked the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to clearly define the powers granted to the President in the Lend-Lease bill. U.S. Rep. George Pinkham (Republican--Massachusetts) accused President Franklin D. Roosevelt of plotting to get the United States into war, while Rep. Hamilton Fish (Republican--New York described Lend-Lease as "the President's dictatorship bill."

Movies
Will Hays, president of the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributers of America, Inc., denied the charges of U.S. Senator Burton K. Wheeler (Democrat--Montana) that the motion picture industry was inciting the American people toward war.

75 years ago
1946

War
At the Nazi war crimes trial in Nuremberg, American prosecutor Dr. Robert Kempner introduced documents showing that German Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick had ordered the killing of 275,000 insane, disabled, and old people, and had made it possible for Fuehrer Adolf Hitler to obtain German citizenship. The Allied Control Council reported that 19 of the 42 I.G. Farben chemical plants in the U.S. occupation zone in Germany had been set aside for reparations. An Australian commission at Labuan sentenced 28 Japanese war criminals to death. At the hearings of the United States Senate committee on the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S. Navy Admiral Husband Kimmel, head of U.S. naval operations at Pearl Harbor at the time of the invasion, told the committee that he had doubted the Japanese could stage an attack on Pearl Harbor. American intelligence sources reported that Japan had launched 9,000 bomb-carrying silk and paper balloons agains the U.S. in 1944 and 1945, with aout 10% reaching their targets.

Chinese Nationalist and Communist delegates to the Political Consultative Conference agreed on a mutual reduction of military forces within the next six months.

Defense
The U.S.S.R. and U.S. military missions began talks in Seoul on the Korean problem.

The Iranian government requested its United Nations delegation to request the UN's assistance in expediting the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Iran, scheduled for March 2, 1946.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department reported that a majority of the 21 American republics had responded negatively to the Uruguayan proposal for collective intervention to protect individual rights in the Western Hemisphere.

Kings Ib'n Saud of Saudi Arabia and Farouk of Egypt insisted that Palestine remain an Arab country.

Politics and government
Former Buddhist priest Hiromichi Kumazawa petitioned Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur to confirm his claim that Mr. Kumazawa was the legitimate Emperor of Japan, and that Hirohito was "illegal."

Journalism
Associated Press stopped providing news to the U.S. State Department for dissemination abroad, stating that this practice created "the fear of propaganda." United Press announced that it was contemplating similar action.

Labour
The strike of meat packers and butchers cut U.S. meat ouput by 75%, as the American Federation of Labor Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butchers reduced its wage demand from a 25c hourly increase to 15c.

70 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Fool's Heart, starring Henry Hull

Defense
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar urged Supreme Commander of NATO-Europe General Dwight D. Eisenhower to include Spain in Atlantic Pact forces, saying that Spain could raise a 2.5-million man army in the event of war.

Politics and government
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Tom Connally (Democrat--Texas) and other members of the committee criticized top State Department officials for failing to consult with Congress before accepting the United Nations cease-fire plan for Korea.

James F. Byrnes (Democrat) took office as Governor of South Carolina, pledging "loyal support" of President Harry Truman's foreign policy, but attacking Fair Deal programs as "socialistic."

Economics and finance
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board ordered margin requirements on stock deals raised from 50% to 75% in an anti-inflationary move as New York Stock Exchange prices rose to their highest levels since February 1931.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Greenfields--The Brothers Four (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Non, je ne regrette rien--Édith Piaf

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)
2 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley
3 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
4 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles
5 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
6 Angel Baby--Rosie and the Originals
7 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee
8 Last Date--Floyd Cramer
9 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
10 North to Alaska--Johnny Horton

Singles entering the chart were No One (#72)/Where the Boys Are (#90) by Connie Francis; At Last by Etta James (#75); Sound-Off by Titus Turner (#83); Flamingo Express by the Royaltones (#87); The Story of My Love by Paul Anka (#89); Them That Got by Ray Charles and his Orchestra (#95); Gift of Love by the Van Dykes (#98); When I Fall in Love by Etta Jones (#99); and I Remember by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Music Vendor)
1 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
--Mantovani & his Orchestra
2 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
--Louis Prima
3 Calcutta--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
4 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles
5 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee
6 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley
7 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
8 Angel Baby--Rosie and the Originals
9 Calendar Girl--Neil Sedaka
10 Shop Around--The Miracles

Died on this date
Max Schöne, 80. German swimmer. Mr. Schöne won a gold medal in the men's 200-metre team event at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. He died four days before his 81st birthday.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department announced an order barring U.S. citizens from going to Cuba unless they had passports "specifically endorsed" by the department for such travel. The United States had severed diplomatic relations with Cuba on January 3.

Energy
The Canada-India nuclear plant, a gift to India from Canada under the Colombo Plan, was opened.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower submitted his eighth and final budget to Congress, the largest peacetime budget in history. Mr. Eisenhower estimated that federal spending would rise by $2 billion in fiscal 1961-1962 to $80.9 billion. He estimated a $3.3-billion rise in revenues to $82.3 billion, yielding a budget surplus of $1.4 billion.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Yo Yo--Chris Andrews

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Vent'anni--Massimo Ranieri

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Grandad--Clive Dunn (7th week at #1)

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family (3rd week at #1)
2 A Song of Joy--Miguel Rios
3 Look What They've Done to My Song Ma--The New Seekers
4 It's Only Make Believe--Glen Campbell
5 We've Only Just Begun--Carpenters
6 Lola--The Kinks
7 You Don't Have To Say You Love Me/Patch it Up--Elvis Presley
8 The Pushbike Song--The Mixtures
9 Lookin' Out My Back Door/Long as I Can See the Light--Creedence Clearwater Revival
10 Joanne--Michael Nesmith & the First National Band

Singles entering the chart were My Sweet Lord by George Harrison (#37); Teach Me How to Fly by Jeff St. John and the Copperwine (#51); and Band of Gold by Freda Payne (#57).

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (3rd week at #1)
2 She Likes Weeds--Tee-Set
3 Yesterday, When I was Young--Charles Aznavour
4 Peace Planet (Badinerie from suite no. 2 - J.S.Bach)--Ekseption
5 I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds
6 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
7 Both Sides Now--Euson
8 Tears in the Morning--The Beach Boys
9 Voodoo Chile--The Jimi Hendrix Experience
10 Knock Three Times--Dawn

Singles entering the chart were Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson (#17); Hans Brinker Symphony by Holland (#23); In de Hemel is Geen Druppel Bier by Leo Den Hop (#29); She's Comin' Back by Alfie Kahn (#31); and Mr. Bojangles by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (#35).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison (4th week at #1)
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
4 Black Magic Woman--Santana
5 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
6 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
7 Groove Me--King Floyd
8 Stoned Love--The Supremes
9 Stoney End--Barbra Streisand
10 The Tears of a Clown--Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

Singles entering the chart were Theme from Love Story by Henry Mancini, his Orchestra and Chorus (#81); Jody Got Your Girl and Gone by Johnnie Taylor (#83); Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You by Wilson Pickett (#84); Mixed Up Guy by Joey Scarbury (#87); Bed of Rose's by the Statler Brothers (#89); Help Me Make it Through the Night by Sammi Smith (#98); and Make Me Happy by Bobby Bloom (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Knock Three Times--Dawn
2 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
3 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
4 Groove Me--King Floyd
5 Stoned Love--The Supremes
6 Black Magic Woman--Santana
7 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
8 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin
9 Your Song--Elton John
10 Pay to the Piper--The Chairmen of the Board

Singles entering the chart were Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You by Wilson Pickett (#65); Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life) by the Four Tops (#69); Beautiful People by the New Seekers (#73); Jody Got Your Girl and Gone by Johnnie Taylor (#77); The Long Way Around by Linda Ronstadt (#80); You're the One by the Three Degrees (#82); You're a Big Girl Now by the Stylistics (#84); Cheryl Moana Marie by John Rowles (#85); We'll Have it Made by the Spinners (#87); I Need You by the Friends of Distinction (#89); Mixed Up Guy by Joey Scarbury (#93); Who's Gonna Take the Weight (Part 1) by Kool & The Gang (#94); Theme from Love Story by Henry Mancini, his Orchestra and Chorus (#95); The Glory of Love by the Dells (#99); and I Got to Tell Somebody by Betty Everett (#100).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Record World)
1 Knock Three Times--Dawn (2nd week at #1)
2 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison
3 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
4 Black Magic Woman--Santana
5 Stoned Love--The Supremes
6 Domino--Van Morrison
7 Pay to the Piper--The Chairmen of the Board
8 It's Impossible--Perry Como
9 Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?--Chicago
10 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin

Singles entering the chart were I Need You by the Friends of Distinction (#70); God Bless Whoever Sent You by the Originals (#73); Problem Child by Mark Lindsay (#91); It's Up to You Petula by Edison Lighthouse (#92); Revival by the Allman Brothers Band (#93); Ride a White Swan by Tyrannosaurus Rex (#95); You're a Big Girl Now by the Stylistics (#96); Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You by Wilson Pickett (#97); Bed of Rose's by the Statler Brothers (#98); and The Long Way Around by Linda Ronstadt (#99).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison (5th week at #1)
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 Your Song--Elton John
4 Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?--Chicago
5 Black Magic Woman--Santana
6 One Man Band--Three Dog Night
7 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin
8 Domino--Van Morrison
9 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
10 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family

Singles entering the chart were He Called Me Baby by Candi Staton (#89); One Bad Apple by the Osmonds (#93); Precious, Precious by Jackie Moore (#94); Solution for Pollution by Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (#95); Shoes by Brook Benton (#97); The Shape I'm In by The Band (#98); It's Up to You Petula by Edison Lighthouse (#99); and Like an Eagle by Miguel Rios (#100).

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (4th week at #1)
2 Sing High, Sing Low--Anne Murray
3 Knock Three Times--Dawn
4 No Matter What--Badfinger
5 Share the Land--The Guess Who
6 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
7 One Man Band--Three Dog Night
8 Stoned Love--The Supremes
9 Burning Bridges--The Mike Curb Congregation
10 Sweet Mary--Wadsworth Mansion
Pick hit of the week: Have You Ever Seen the Rain--Creedence Clearwater Revival

On the radio
Sherlock Holmes, starring Georg Arlin and Gosta Pruzelius, on Radioteatern (Sweden)
Tonight's episode: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Part 2

Died on this date
Philippe Thys, 81. Belgian cyclist. Mr. Thys won the Tour de France (1913, 1914, 1920); Paris-Tours (1917-1918); and Giro de Lombardia (1917).

War
U.S. casualties for the week in Vietnam were 37 dead and 211 wounded. South Vietnamese casualties were 232 dead and 764 wounded. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong dead were 1,361.

At the movies
The Capitol Theatre in Yellowknife ran its first Saturday matinee for children, screening Batman (1966). This blogger was among those in attendance.

Boxing
Former world champion Floyd Patterson (48-7-1) knocked out Levi Forte (19-23-2) in 2 rounds in a heavyweight bout at Convention Hall in Miami Beach, Florida.

Hockey
NHL
Boston 2 @ Montreal 4

Phil Roberto's first National Hockey League goal, with 1:10 remaining in the 2nd period, proved to be the winner as the Canadiens defeated the Bruins before 18,804 fans, the largest crowd to date to see the Canadiens play at the Montreal Forum. Yvan Cournoyer scored twice for the Canadiens, and Serge Savard scored a shorthanded goal for Montreal. Bobby Orr and Fred Stanfield scored the Boston goals. It was the national Hockey Night in Canada telecast, and the 1,000th game for play-by-play broadcaster Danny Gallivan.











40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): När vi två blir en--Gyllene Tider (6th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Couleur menthe a l'eau--Eddy Mitchell

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand (9th week at #1)
2 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond
3 Can You Feel It--The Jacksons
4 Man on the Moon--Ballyhoo
5 Don't Stand So Close to Me--The Police
6 Give Me the Night--George Benson
7 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
8 Passion--Rod Stewart
9 (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon
10 The Tide is High--Blondie

Singles entering the chart were Love Connection by Plastic Mak (#18); and Celebration by Kool & The Gang (#19) .

Died on this date
Bernard Lee, 73. U.K. actor. Mr. Lee appeared in more than 100 movies, as well as plays and television programs in a career spanning 45 years. He was best known for playing M in the first 11 James Bond movies (1962-1979). Mr. Lee died of stomach cancer, six days after his 73rd birthday.

World events
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, former member of Parliament from Northern Ireland, and her husband Michael, were shot and seriously wounded when armed men burst into their home 30 miles west of Belfast. Mrs. McAliskey was opposed to what she and others of like mind called "the British occupation of Northern Ireland." Police said that the attack was the work of a Protestant paramilitary group.

Politics and government
U.S. President Jimmy Carter gave his final State of the Union message to Congress, warning that the country faced serious problems, such as unemployment, inflation, and a tight world oil market. He also deplored the Soviet threat to the integrity of Poland and defended his SALT-II arms limitation treaty with the U.S.S.R.

Diplomacy
U.S. President Carter ordered an exchange transaction of more than $900 million worth of gold with the U.K. so that the U.S. would have a sufficient supply of the gold in the Bank of England for transfer to Iran as part of negotiations to free the 52 hostages who had been held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran since November 4, 1979.

War
U.S. President Carter authorized the emergency delivery of $5 million in combat equipment to aid the government of El Salvador in its war against leftist guerrillas. The decision was prompted by indications that the guerrillas had been receiving weapons from leftists (i.e., Communists) in other countries.

Crime
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it had arrested seven anti-Castro Cuban exiles in the Florida Keys, seizing an arsenal of weapons intended for use in an invasionn of Cuba. The arms included pipe bombs, hand grenades, semi-automatic rifles, pistols, ammunition, and smokeless powder. The men were accused of conspiracy and violating a federal firearms law.

Society
The Edmonton Gleaners Association, later renamed the Edmonton Food Bank, was incorporated as the first food bank in Canada.

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Sadeness Part I--Enigma

War
Less than 17 hours after the United Nations Security Council’s deadline of midnight January 15 for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to withdraw his forces from Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm--the attack by UN forces against Iraq--began. At 7 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater announced, "The liberation of Kuwait has begun." Two hours later, U.S. President George Bush said in a televised address that the attacks were targeting military headquarters, including nuclear and chemical installations. He said that Iraq "will not be another Vietnam."



World events
As many as 500,000 people in Vilnius attended a funeral for nine of the people killed three days earlier when Soviet forces attacked the Lithuanian capital.

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that consumer prices had risen 6.1% in 1990, the highest annual rate since 1981. The increase in December had been 0.3%.

25 years ago
1996

Politics and government
Andreas Papandreou announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Greece, saying that he was too ill to govern. Mr. Papandreou had served as Prime Minister from 1981-1989 and again since 1993, but was plagued by heart and kidney trouble. He was succeeded on January 22 by Kostas Simitas.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Laurent Kabila, 61. President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1997-2001. Mr. Kabila co-founded the People's Revolutionary Party in 1967, and led a secessionist Marxist state in the province of South Kivu until 1988. When President Mobutu Sese Seko fled after his forces lost the First Congo War, Mr. Kabila declared himself President and renamed the country from Zaire to Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was accused of creating a cult of personality, and was shot in the presidential palace in Kinshasa, reportedly by a bodyguard, who in turn was shot and killed by other bodyguards. Eight days later, Mr. Kabila's son Joseph was installed as President.

World events
The 12-year-old Htoo twin brothers, alleged leaders of the Karen rebel group known as "God's Army," surrendered to Thai authorities in exchange for sanctuary after a year of hiding in the mountains and conducting several raids that had earned them legendary status among their supporters. The Karen people had been fighting for a homeland in Thai-Myanmar territory for over 50 years.

War
U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War in 1898.

Scandal
Prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Philippines President Joseph Estrada resigned in protest when the country's senators, sitting as judges, voted narrowly not to open bank records that could have proven Mr. Estrada guilty of accepting more than US$11 million in kickbacks from tobacco taxes and illegal gambling. The trial was halted.

The Alberta government announced that Red Deer lawyer Lorne Goddard's lawsuit against then-provincial Treasurer Stockwell Day had cost the Alberta taxpayers $792,000; Mr. Day later announced he would pay $60,000 towards the cost.

Environment
The fuel supply tanker Jessica ran aground off the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos Islands, leading to a disastrous oil slick.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Milton Levine, 97. U.S. businessman. Mr. Levine and his brother-in-law E. Joseph Cossman were entrepreneurs in marketing plastic toys and novelties such as toy soldiers, the spud gun, and shrunken heads. The two men co-created the ant farm in 1956, which Mr. Levine marketed through his company Uncle Milton's Toys.

Football
NFL
NFC Divisional Playoff
Seattle 24 @ Chicago 35

The Bears led 21-0 at halftime and 28-0 in the 3rd quarter, and withheld a 4th-quarter rally to defeat the Seahawks before 62,265 fans at Soldier Field.



AFC Divisional Playoff
New York Jets 28 @ New England 21

The Jets scored 2 touchdowns in each of the 2nd and 4th quarters as they defeated the Patriots before 68,756 fans at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.