January 18, 2021

610 years ago
1411

Died on this date
Jobst of Moravia, 56 (?). King of the Romans (King of Germany), 1410-1411. Jobst, a member of the House of Luxembourg, was Margrave of Moravia from 1375, Duke of Luxembourg from 1388, and Elector of Brandenburg from 1397, and was elected King of the Romans (the formal title for the King of Germany) in 1410, following the death of King Rupert. King Jobst died after less than four months on the the throne, possibly as the result of poisoning, and was succeeded on the throne by Sigismund.

550 years ago
1471

Died on this date
Go-Hanazono, 51. Emperor of Japan, 1428-1464. Go-Hanazono, born Hikohito-shinnō, succeeded his third cousin Shōkō on the Chrysanthemum Throne. Emperor Go-Hanazono abdicated in favour of his son Go-Tsuchimikado in 1564.

320 years ago
1701

Germanica
Friedrich I crowned himself King of Prussia in Königsberg.

270 years ago
1751

Born on this date
Ferdinand Kauer. Czech-born Austrian composer. Mr. Kauer, a native of South Moravia, settled in Vienna around 1777. He wrote about 200 operas and singspiele (a form of German-language opera); 200 masses; and many pieces of chamber and incidental music. He died on April 13, 1831 at the age of 80.

180 years ago
1841

Born on this date
Emmanuel Chabrier. French composer. Mr. Chabrier was known mainly for his orchestral works España and Joyeuse marche. He died on September 13, 1894 at the age of 53 after a long battle with syphilis.

140 years ago
1871

Germanica
At the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors, princes of the German states officially integrated Germany into a unified nation state, with Wilhelm of Prussia proclaimed Emperor Wilhelm of the German Empire. The unification of Germany occurred after France capitulated in the Franco-Prussian War.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
C. M. Eddy, Jr. U.S. author. Clifford Martin Eddy, Jr. had a lifelong fascination with the supernatural, and wrote numerous horror, fantasy, and supernatural short stories for pulp magazines, especially Weird Tales. He was close friends with fellow horror author H.P. Lovecraft. Mr. Eddy also worked as a theatrical booking agent and proofreader; he died on November 21, 1967 at the age of 71.

Ville Ritola. Finnish-born runner. Mr. Ritola, a long-distance runner, was one of the "Flying Finns" who became famous in the 1920s. He emigrated to the United States in 1913, but represented Finland in the Summer Olympic Games, winning four gold medals and two silver medals at the 1924 Olympics in Paris and a gold and silver medal at the 1928 Olympics in Paris. After spending much of his life in the U.S. and becoming an American citizen, Mr. Ritola eventually returned to Finland, where he died on April 24, 1982 at the age of 86.

Technology
An X-ray generating machine was exhibited for the first time by H. L. Smith.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Danny Kaye. U.S. entertainer. Born David Daniel Kaminsky, Mr. Kaye was a man of many talents. His movies included Wonder Man (1945); The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947); The Inspector General (1949); On the Riviera (1951); Hans Christian Andersen (1952); Knock on Wood (1954); White Christmas (1954); and The Court Jester (1956). He was one of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners baseball club from 1977-1981, and died on March 3, 1987 at the age of 76.

Aviation
The first landing of an aircraft on a ship took place as pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Yoichiro Nambu. Japanese-born U.S. physicist. Dr. Nambu began his career in his native land, but moved to the United States in 1952, taught at the University of Chicago for many years, and became an American citizen in 1970. He was awarded a share of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics." Dr. Nambu died in Osaka of a heart attack on July 5, 2015 at the age of 94.

80 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Frenesi--Artie Shaw and his Orchestra (5th week at #1)

War
British troops launched a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa.

Defense
Mexican Foreign Minister Ezequiel Padilla said that the Mexican government would not lease any property to any foreign country in connection with any bases built on Mexican soil with U.S. aid. Retiring U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joseph P. Kennedy declared that Britain was not fighting America's battle in Eurpope, and opposed the U.S. Lend-Lease bill. U.S. Office of Production Management Director William Knudsen testified in favour of Lend-Lease even if money was never repaid, for by helping the U.K. the U.S. was helping herself.

Aviation
Russian balloonists claimed a world record for their ascent in an open gondola to 36,300 feet.

Politics and government
French Prime Minister Marshal Philippe Petain and former Prime Minister Pierre Laval met and reportedly resolved their differences on the Vichy regime's policies.

Two former Spanish Republican Premiers, Francisco Largo Caballero and Diego Martinez Barrio, were stripped of their Spanish citizenship.

Labour
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board charged Ford Motor Company with discrimination against 1,021 union workers, and ordered their reinstatement at Ford's plant in Kansas City.

Football
NFL
The Professional Football Writers Association of America named Brooklyn Dodgers' quarterback Ace Parker as the National Football League's Most Valuable Player for 1940. Mr. Parker completed 49 of 111 passes for 817 yards and 10 touchdowns; rushed 89 times for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns; caught 3 passes for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns; punted 49 times for a 38-yard average; and was successful on 19 of 22 extra point attempts in leading the Dodgers to a record of 8-3, second in the East Division behind the Washington Redskins.

75 years ago
1946

Radio
Hooper U.S. network ratings listed the most popular programs as The Bob Hope Show; Fibber McGee and Molly; Radio Theater; and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

War
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur ordered the arrest of 100 Japanese, including seven generals, as war criminals. The United States Senate committee on the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii rejected demands that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill be called as a witness on U.K. policy toward Japan in 1941.

Politics and government
The Mexican Revolutionary Party (PRM) voted its own dissolution and reorganized under the name Party of Revolutionary Institutions (PRI).

The U.S. military government in Munich provisionally licensed the Communist Party of Bavaria in a step toward the destruction of German National Socialism.

Scandal
Boston Mayor James Curley, Donald Smith, and James Fuller were convicted by a district court in Washington, D.C. of using the mails to defraud.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Civilian Production Administration ordered distributors to set aside 60-70% of their bathtubs, cast iron radiators, and cast iron soil pipes to maintain adequate stocks for the government's reconversion program.

Labour
U.S. President Harry Truman announced United Steel Workers' acceptance--and the steel industry's rejection--of his 18.5c per hour wage increase proposal.

Southern Democrats in the United States Senate started a filibuster to delay Fair Employment Practices Commission action.

Disasters
All 17 people aboard an Eastern Air Lines plane were killed when it caught fire in midair and crashed near Cheshire, Connecticut.

70 years ago
1951

Died on this date
Amy Carmichael, 83. U.K. missionary. Miss Carmichael was born in Ireland, came to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in her youth, and became a Protestant missionary in her early 20s. She spent her last 55 years in India, where she founded Dohnavur Fellowship, primarily rescuing young people from sexual exploitation in Hindu temples. Miss Carmichael wrote numerous books about her experiences,.

War
U.S. Air Force General Emmett "Rosy" O'Donnell, former chief of the Far Eastern Bomber Command, urged that the United States strike Manchuria "with either conventional-type bombing or A-bombs." The U.S. Air Force announced plans to call up 158,000 reservists during the next six months.

Medicine
Dr. A.B. Abarbanel of Los Angeles reported the elimination of sterility in 22 of 40 men treated with the synthetic drug pregenolone.

Labour
The United Mine Workers of America and coal industry negotiators agreed on a 20c hourly wage increase for 370,000 soft coal miners.

Irving Brown, the American Federation of Labor's European representative, said that non-Communist maritime and dock unions in the Mediterranean ports of France, Italy, North Africa, and Greece had organized strong-arm squads to combat Communist "agents of terror."

60 years ago
1961

Politics and government
In his final news conference as President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "I think that we ought to get a Constitutional amendment to change the time of the inauguration and to give dates for election and assumption of office in such fashion that a new president ought to have at least 80 days or something of that kind before he meets his first Congress." He described as "a little bit silly" the present requirement that the outgoing president submit messages to Congress on the state of the union, the budget, and the economy, only to have his views superseded by those of his successor.



Agriculture
An eight-day plenary meeting in the Kremlin of the U.S.S.R. Communist Party Central Committee concluded by adopting Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s proposals for a sweeping reorganization of agricultural supply and distribution. Mr. Khrushchev charged that Soviet farm administrators had lied and cheated to make it appear that farm goals set by the Seven Year Plan had been reached. Mr. Khrushchev’s proposals included establishment of an all-union agency as "an intermediary between the farms and industry;" establishment of a state procurement committee to take charge of all governmental purchases of farm products; and the increase of agricultural investments over Seven Year Plan goals.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): My Sweet Lord--George Harrison

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): As the Years Go By (Kiri no Naka no Futari) (霧の中の二人)--Mashmakhan (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Te Quiero, Te Quiero--Nino Bravo (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Erik Almlöf, 79. Swedish athlete. Mr. Almlöf specialized in the triple jump, winning bronze medals at the 1912 Olympic Games in Oslo and the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp. He had a business career divided between Sweden and the United States, and died in Pennsylvania.

Virgil Finlay, 56. U.S. illustrator. Mr. Finlay illustrated pulp fantasy, science fiction, and horror stories, producing 2,600 works in a 40-year career, which ended with his death from cancer.

Radio
The Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission’s rules on Canadian content went into effect, requiring 30% of songs played by radio stations during certain hours to be Canadian content. To qualify as Canadian, a recording have at least two parts of the "MAPL" logo: Music composed by a Canadian; Artist is Canadian; Production wholly recorded in Canada; Lyrics by a Canadian. The new rules were intended to promote Canadian artists; it was believed that records by Canadian artists were not getting as much airplay as they deserved.

Crime
The court-martial of U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley, charged with killing 102 civilians in the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai on March 16, 1968, was recessed pending completion of psychiatric tests at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. to determine whether Lt. Calley was legally sane during the attack.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department announced that all arms aid to Ecuador was being suspended. Since 1966, Ecuador had seized 28 American tuna boats and fined the operators a total of $816,614.

Education
The Québec government of Premier Robert Bourass required English-language schools in the province to teach French as a second language.

Disasters
A Bulgarian airliner crashed in fog during an instrument landing at Zurich, killing 35 and injuring the 2 survivors.

40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Shaddap You Face--Joe Dolce Music Theatre (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: (Just Like) Starting Over--John Lennon

Adventure
Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachuted off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).

Disasters
Nine people were killed and 20 injured in a blaze which engulfed a house in south London.

30 years ago
1991

Died on this date
Hamilton Fish III, 102. U.S. politician. Mr. Fish, aka Hamilton Fish, Jr., the son of U.S. Representative Hamilton Fish II and grandson of Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, played football at Harvard University as a tackle, where he was a two-time All-American, earning induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. As a Progressive, he sat in the New York State Assembly from 1914-1916, before serving in the United States Army during World War I. As a Republican, Mr. Fish represented New York's 26th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1920-1945. He was a staunch anti-Communist and isolationist, and was a prominent opponent of the policies of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mr. Fish's riding was gerrymandered in 1944, and he was defeated when he ran for election in New York's 29th District.

War
A second front in the Gulf War opened when the first air strikes from Turkish territory were launched at Iraq. Iraq struck Tel Aviv and Haifa with Scud missiles in an attempt to draw Israel into the war, but Israel refrained.


Europeana
Harald V became King of Norway, the day after the death of King Olav V.

Business
Eastern Air Lines stopped flying and gave up a two-year effort to escape bankruptcy. An increase in jet fuel prices during the Persian Gulf crisis was the final blow for the airline.

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Jesus to a Child--George Michael (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Gangsta's Paradise--Coolio featuring L.V. (11th week at #1)

Died on this date
N. T. Rama Rao, 72. Indian actor and politician. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, popularly known as NTR, was one of the most renowned actors in the history of Indian cinema, appearing in almost 300 movies in a career spanning more than 40 years, winning numerous awards. He founded the regional Telugu Desam Party in 1982 in opposition to the Indian National Congress Party, and served three terms as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (1983-1984, 1989-1989, 1994-1995). Mr. Rao was instrumental in the formation of the National Front, which governed India from 1989-1990. He died of a heart attack.

Politics and government
Lucien Bouchard officially resigned as leader of the Bloc Québecois (BQ) to become leader of the Parti Québecois and take office as Premier of Québec.

Protest
Six major environmental organizations added their support to the growing traffic anti-bypass campaign in Newbury, Berkshire, England.

20 years ago
2001

Politics and government
Bill Clinton delivered his farewell address as the 42nd President of the United States of America.



Scandal
U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson acknowledged that he had fathered an illegitimate daughter, born in 1999 to an employee of his Rainbow/PUSH coalition, to whom he was paying $3,000 per month in child support. His affair had occurred while Mr. Jackson was counselling U.S. President Bill Clinton after Mr. Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky had become public knowledge.

Crime
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the 10-year sentence imposed by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal on Richard Latimer for the "mercy" killing of his disabled daughter Tracy in 1993; the jury had urged a lighter sentence. He was granted full parole on December 6, 2010.

Computer hacker Michael Calce, aka MafiaBoy, pled guilty to 56 of 66 mischief charges in a Montreal courtroom; the other 10 charges were withdrawn. He served 8 months in a youth detention centre, plus a year's probation.

Disasters
It was reported that the January 15 earthquake that had hit the coast of El Salvador and had killed 800 people had caused about $1 billion in damage, nearly half the country's yearly budget.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Sargent Shriver, 95. U.S. politician and diplomat. Mr. Shriver was a university classmate of John F. Kennedy, and became his brother-in-law when he married Mr. Kennedy's sister Eunice in 1953. Mr. Shriver helped Mr. Kennedy in his 1960 U.S. presidential election campaign, and he founded and directed the Peace Corps (1961-1966). After Lyndon Johnson acceded to the presidency after Mr. Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Mr. Shriver remained in he administration as the "architect" of Mr. Johnson's "War on Poverty," initiating numerous social programs and organizations. He was United States Ambassador to France (1968-1970), and became Democratic Party U.S. presidential candidate George McGovern's vice presidential running mate in 1972 after Thomas Eagleton withdrew. Mr. Shriver was president and then chairman of the board of Special Olympics for many years. He died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

George Crowe, 89. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Crowe, nicknamed "Big Daddy," was a first baseman with the New York Black Yankees (1947-1948) of the Negro National League before playing in the major leagues with the Boston/Milwaukee Braves (1952-1953, 1955); Cincinnati Redlegs (1956-1958); and St. Louis Cardinals (1959-1961), batting .270 with 81 home runs and 299 runs batted in in 702 games. His best season was 1957, when he hit .271 with 31 homers and 92 RBIs in 133 games. Mr. Crowe hit 16 home runs as a pinch hitter, a major league career record at the time. He over 100 homers in 6 seasons in the minor leagues (1949-1952, 1954, 1961). Mr. Crowe also played basketball with the touring professional clubs Los Angeles Red Devils and New York Rens in the late 1940s. He died after a series of strokes.