January 2, 2021

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Kathy Fincham!

1,070 years ago
951

Died on this date
Yin, 19. Emperor of China, 948-951. Yin, born Liu Chengyou, acceded to the throne upon the sudden death of his father Gaozu. He killed his important ministers, and when he ordered the murders of the family of General Guo Wei, Guo Wei responded with a rebellion, which resulted in the death of Emperor Yin--likley at the hands of Guo Wei's soldiers--and the end of the short-lived Han dynasty.

230 years ago
1791

War
Lenape and Wyandot warriors massacred 14 white settlers in Ohio, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.

160 years ago
1861

Died on this date
Friedrich Wilhelm IV, 65. King of Prussia, 1840-1861. Friedrich Wilhelm IV acceded to the throne upon the death of his father Friedrich Wilhelm III. He was a Romanticist who was conservative in his views, and was responsible for the construction of many buildings in Berlin and Potsdam. King Friedrich IV used the military to crush the revolutions of 1848-1849, but rejected the title of Emperor, and oversaw the transition of Prussia to a constitutional monarchy. He suffered from numerous health problems, and suffered a series of strokes in later years. His brother became regent in 1858 and became King Wilhelm I upon Friedrich Wilhelm IV's death.

125 years ago
1896

Born on this date
Dziga Vertov. U.S.S.R. film director. Mr. Vertov, born David Abelevich Kaufman in what is now part of Poland, directed documentaries and newsreels, and influenced the cinéma vérité style of documentary filmmaking. His best-known work was the silent documentary Man with a Movie Camera (1929). Mr. Vertov died of cancer on February 12, 1954 at the age of 58.

Politics and government
Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie Bowell tried to void the Manitoba Schools Act that abolished French as an official language in the province and removed funding for Catholic schools. The Privy Council upheld the act, but left the federal government with the option to declare it void; Sir Mackenzie, former head of the protestant Orange Order, chose to uphold the terms under which Manitoba had entered Confederation in 1870, and issued an Order-in-Council in support of the Catholics. Seven of his cabinet ministers resigned on January 4.

120 years ago
1901

Born on this date
Bob Marshall. U.S. environmental activist. Dr. Marshall worked with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and spearheaded the founding of the Wilderness Society in 1935, dedicated to preserving wilderness and public lands in the United States. He died of apparent heart failure while on a train travelling from Washington, D.C. to New York City on November 11, 1939 at the age of 38.

100 years ago
1921

On the radio
The first religious broadcast took place when the service at Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh was broadcast on KDKA.

Born on this date
Edmund Trzcinski. U.S. playwright. Mr. Trzcinski was with the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, and was shot down and interned in Luft Stalag 17B in Austria. He and fellow prisoner Donald Bevan used their experiences as the basis for their play Stalag 17 (1951). Mr. Trzcinski appeared in the 1953 movie Stalag 17 as a prisoner, and died on June 3, 1996 at the age of 75.

Glen Harmon. Canadian hockey player. Mr. Harmon, a native of Holland, Manitoba, was a defenceman with the Montreal Canadiens (1942-51), scoring 146 points on 50 goals and 96 assists in 452 regular season games and 5 goals and 10 assists in 53 playoff games. He was a member of Stanley Cup championship teams in 1944 and 1946, and made the National Hockey League's second All-Star team in 1944-45 and 1948-49. Mr. Harmon died on March 9, 2007 at the age of 86.

80 years ago
1941

Died on this date
Mischa Levitzki, 42. Ukrainian-born U.S. musician and composer. Mr. Levitzki, born to naturalized Americans who were visiting their homeland when it was still part of the Russian Empire, was a concert pianist who was a child prodigy and performed throughout the world. He wrote several pieces for piano, and died of a heart attack.

War
German bombing severely damaged Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.

Defense
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced a program to build 200 standardized 7,500-ton freighters for the war effort. A Gallup Poll reported that 85% of American voters believed that Britain would lose the war if U.S. shipments stopped.

Journalist William Allen White announced his resignation as chairman of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, complaining that the group was controlled by a pro-war faction.

Diplomacy
Panamanian President Arnulfo Arias Madrid said that Panama could not accept U.S. sovereignty or jurisdiction over any segment of his country, but was ready to cooperate with U.S. military forces.

The Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia agreed to double its tribute to Germany as "guarantor of the Protectorate's security and sovereignty."

Crime
The last 17 Christian Front members charged with conspiracy to overthrow the United States government were freed in Brooklyn as the prosecution dropped the case.

Labour
U.S. Wage and Price Administrator Philip Fleming ordered an increase in minimum wages for railroad employees.

75 years ago
1946

War
At the Nazi war crimes trial in Nuremberg, Gestapo leader Ernst Kaltenbrunner was charged with witnessing gas executions at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria, and ordering the slaughter of camp inmates in the path of advancing Allied armies. At the hearings of the United States Senate committee on the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S. Navy Admiral Harold Stark testified that he thought that the command in Hawaii had adequate warning to prepare for war.

Nationalist Chinese troops entered the province of Jehoi in northeastern China to take it over from the Communists, who announced that they would resist such efforts.

World events
Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Morgan, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation chief in Germany, declared that he was unimpressed "by all the talk about pogroms in Poland," and claimed that Polish Jews were entering the American sector with a "well-organized, positive plan" to leave Europe. Meanwhile, Chief Secretary of the Palestine Administration J.V.W. Shaw disclosed that all 75,000 immigration permits issued under the 1939 White Paper had been issued, and no more were available.

Defense
The U.S. State Department proposed an Inter-American defense treaty conference, to be held in Brazil in March 1946.

Politics and government
U.S.S.R. Ambassador to the United States Andrei Gromyko was appointed as Soviet representative on the Far Eastern Commission in Japan. The U.S. War Department released Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan General Douglas MacArthur's occupation report, which said that the Communist Party was coming to life in Japan, and younger Japanese were beginning to question whether the country's future lay in Communism or democracy.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a suit brought by John Green to oust Carter Glass (Democrat--Virginia) from the United States Senate. Mr. Glass, who turned 88 on January 4, 1946, had been absent from the Senate for more than three years because of illness.

Japanica
Japanese people were astonished by the publication of two photographs of Emperor Hirohito and his family, one showing him in civilian dress for the first time.

Religion
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Mormon fundamentalists William Chatwin, Charles Zitting, and Edna Christensen were not guilty of breaking the Lindbergh kidnapping law in taking Dorothy Wyler to Mexico to become Mr. Chatwin's second wife, since the girl was not forced into the marriage.

Protest
40 people were killed and 300 wounded in rioting during the inauguration of Ignacio Quiroz as Mayor of Leon, Mexico.

Commercial life in Damascus, Aleppo, and Beirut was paralyzed by a strike protesting continued British and French occupation.

Labour
3,000 Congress of Industrial Organizations-American Communications Association members employed by Western Union voted in New York to strike on January 8 against a National War Labor Board decision reducing wage increases.

70 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Suspense, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Death in a River

At the movies
Gasoline Alley, directed and co-written by Edward Bernds, and starring Scotty Beckett, Jimmy Lydon, Susan Morrow, and Don Beddoe, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
William Campion, 80. U.K. and Australian politician. Sir William, a Conservative, represented Lewes in the House of Commons (1910-1924) and served as Governor of Western Australia (1924-1931).

Nashimoto Morimasa, 76. Japanese royal family member. Prince Nashimoto, an uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito, was a career military officer whose service included the Russo-Japanese War and who rose to the rank of field marshal. He held no major commands during World War II, and retired at the age of 70 in 1944. Prince Nashimoto was arrested in December 1945 for his role in supporting state Shintoism, but was released without charges in April 1946. Allied authorities denied Prince Nashimoto compensation for the loss of his title and properties, and he spent his last years in poverty until his death from a heart attack.

Defense
The 81st U.S. Congress went out of existence after the last-minute passage of a $20-billion defense appropriation and a $3.1-billion civil defense program. It also gave President Harry Truman emergency powers to modify existing defense contracts to speed output in the face of rising prices. The U.S. Interior Department's Defense Materials Administration banned the hoarding of more than 50 scarce minerals, including ores and concentrates of iron, manganese, cobalt, nickel, tungsten, and copper.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Ernest McFarland (Democrat--Arizona),a "moderate" backed by Southerners, was elected Senate majority floor leader over Sen. Joseph O'Mahoneu (Democrat--Wyoming). Sen. Lyndon Johnson (Democrat--Texas) was chosen majority whip, and Representative John McCormack (Democrat--Massachusetts) was chosen as House of Representatives majority floor leader.

Energy
Canadian Trade Minister C.D. Howe announced the construction of a $30-million atomic reactor facility at Chalk River, Ontario.

Oil
The Arabian-American Oil Company announced a new agreement with Saudi Arabia increasing the country's oil revenues by one-third, to 50% of the company's net earnings.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Interior Department's Defense Materials Administration cobalt curb was expected to mean sharp curtailment in the production of radio and television sets and to bar the introduction of colour television for the duration of the Korean War.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Greenfields--The Brothers Four (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Itsy Bitsy Petit Bikini--Dalida (9th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley (6th week at #1)
2 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra
3 Last Date--Floyd Cramer
4 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
5 A Thousand Stars--Kathy Young with the Innocents
6 North to Alaska--Johnny Horton
7 Many Tears Ago--Connie Francis
8 You're Sixteen--Johnny Burnette
9 Angel Baby--Rosie and the Originals
10 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson

Singles entering the chart were C'est Si Bon (It's So Good) by Conway Twitty (#72); Milk Cow Blues by Ricky Nelson (#81); Emotions by Brenda Lee (#83); What Would I Do (#84)/This is My Story (#100) by Mickey & Sylvia; Yes, I'm Lonesome Tonight by Thelma Carpenter (#85); Spanish Harlem (#86)/First Taste of Love (#90) by Ben E. King; There's a Moon Out Tonight by the Capris (#88); If I Knew by Nat King Cole (#91); All in My Mind by Maxine Brown (#92); Don't Believe Him, Donna by Lenny Miles (#94); Don't Read the Letter by Patti Page (#95); I Don't Want Nobody (To Have My Love But You) by Ella Johnson with Buddy Johnson (#96); Oh Lonesome Me by Johnny Cash with the Gene Lowery Singers (#97); Yes, I'm Lonesome Tonight by Dodie Stevens (#98); and Sugar Bee by Cleveland Crochet and Band (#99). Yes, I'm Lonesome Tonight was an "answer" to Are You Lonesome To-night?. Some copies of Oh Lonesome Me credited the artist as Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two.

U.S.A. Top 10 (Music Vendor)
1 Wonderland by Night--Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)
--Louis Prima
2 Are You Lonesome To-night?--Elvis Presley
3 Exodus--Ferrante and Teicher
--Mantovani & his Orchestra
4 Last Date--Floyd Cramer
--Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra
5 North to Alaska--Johnny Horton
6 A Thousand Stars--Kathy Young with the Innocents
7 You're Sixteen--Johnny Burnette
8 Corinna, Corinna--Ray Peterson
9 Will You Love Me Tomorrow--The Shirelles
10 Rubber Ball--Bobby Vee

Football
NCAA
Orange Bowl @ Miami
Missouri 21 Navy 14

Sugar Bowl @ New Orleans
Mississippi 14 Rice 6

Cotton Bowl @ Dallas
Duke 7 Arkansas 6

Rose Bowl @ Pasadena
Washington 17 Minnesota 7

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Cracklin' Rosie--Neil Diamond (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Anna--Lucio Battisti (6th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): I Hear You Knocking--Dave Edmunds (6th week at #1)

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
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 Lookin' Out My Back Door/Long as I Can See the Light--Creedence Clearwater Revival
6 Cracklin' Rosie--Neil Diamond
7 Montego Bay--Bobby Bloom
8 Lola--The Kinks
9 Joanne--Michael Nesmith & the First National Band
10 We've Only Just Begun--Carpenters

Singles entering the chart were Eleanor Rigby by Zoot (#34); Wild World, with versions by Jimmy Cliff; and Fourth House (#36); Sympathy by Mike Brady (#45); Looking Through the Eyes of a Beautiful Girl/Song of Ramondo by Autumn (#46); Que Sera Sera by Mary Hopkin (#52); Paranoid by Black Sabbath (#55); Holy Man by Diane Colby (#56); and She Works in a Woman's Way, with versions by Edison Lighthouse; and Dave Allenby (#59).

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
2 She Likes Weeds--Tee-Set
3 Lonely Days--Bee Gees
4 Voodoo Chile--The Jimi Hendrix Experience
5 See Me, Feel Me--The Who
6 Where Have I Been Wrong--The Cats
7 Tears in the Morning--The Beach Boys
8 Yesterday, When I was Young--Charles Aznavour
9 Love is All Around--Sandra & Andres
10 Over and Over--George Baker Selection

Singles entering the chart were Peace Planet (Badinerie from suite no. 2 - J.S.Bach) by Ekseption (#22); Love the One You're With by Stephen Stills (#23); Both Sides Now by Euson (#24); Domino by Van Morrison (#26); Wang Wang Doodle by Livin' Blues (#31); Knock Three Times by Dawn (#32); Indian Reservation by Don Fardon (#34); and Voor Een Pop Ben Ik Te Groot by Wilma (#36).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 My Sweet Lord/Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison (2nd week at #1)
2 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
3 Knock Three Times--Dawn
4 The Tears of a Clown--Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
5 Black Magic Woman--Santana
6 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
7 Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?--Chicago
8 Stoned Love--The Supremes
9 Domino--Van Morrison
10 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland

Singles entering the chart were Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved Pt. 1 by James Brown (#53); He Called Me Baby by Candi Staton (#75); One Bad Apple by the Osmonds (#78); Let Your Love Go by Bread (#79); Apeman by the Kinks (#88); Timothy by the Buoys (#93); D.O.A. by Bloodrock (#94); Cheryl Moana Marie by John Rowles (#96); There it Goes Again by Barbara and the Uniques (#97); You Just Can't Win (By Making the Same Mistake) by Gene & Jerry (#98); and Now I'm a Woman by Nancy Wilson (#99).

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison (3rd week at #1)
2 Knock Three Times--Dawn
3 One Less Bell to Answer--The 5th Dimension
4 Black Magic Woman--Santana
5 Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?--Chicago
6 Stoned Love--The Supremes
7 The Tears of a Clown--Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
8 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
9 No Matter What--Badfinger
10 Immigrant Song--Led Zeppelin

Singles entering the chart were Solution for Pollution by Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (#78); Apeman by the Kinks (#82); You Just Can't Win (By Making the Same Mistake) by Gene & Jerry (#84); Everything is Going to Be Alright by Teegarden & Van Winkle (#93); It's Up to You Petula by Edison Lighthouse (#94); and Freedom by the Isley Brothers (#100).

#1 single in Canada (RPM)--Isn't it a Pity--George Harrison (3rd week at #1)

Calgary's Top 10 (Glenn's Music)
1 My Sweet Lord--George Harrison
2 Burning Bridges--The Mike Curb Congregation
3 Gypsy Woman--Brian Hyland
4 Share the Land--The Guess Who
5 I Think I Love You--The Partridge Family
6 No Matter What--Badfinger
7 One Man Band--Three Dog Night
8 So Close--Jake Holmes
9 Knock Three Times--Dawn
10 Sacroiliac Boop--The Happy Feeling
Pick hit of the week: Lonely Days--Bee Gees

Music
The breakup of the Beatles became official.

Society
The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, a permanent prohibition of advertising for cigarettes on radio and television in the United States, went into effect. The act had been signed into law by President Richard Nixon on April 1, 1970.

Disasters
66 Scottish football fans were killed when crash barriers collapsed as fans were leaving Ibrox Park stadium in Glasgow at the end of a game between Celtic and Rangers.

All 17 aboard were killed when an Egyptian airliner crashed shortly before landing at Tripoli.

Fire in a resort hotel in Wakanoura, Japan killed 15 and injured 11.

Boxing
Spanish heavyweight champion Jose Manuel Urtain (32-2) won a bout against Everett Copeland of the United States (5-17-3) at the Sportspalast in Berlin when Mr. Copeland was disqualified in the 4th round by referee Rudolf Drust for refusing to put forth a good effort, taking the count after a light hit. The bout--especially Mr. Copeland's performance--received a scathing review in the April 1971 issue of The Ring. It was the ninth consecutive loss and the last professional fight for Mr. Copeland.

Hockey
NHL
St. Louis 3 @ Vancouver 1
Detroit 0 @ Toronto 13

The Blues defeated the Canucks at Pacific Coliseum in the national telecast of Hockey Night in Canada, while in the Ontario regional telecast from Maple Leaf Gardens, Paul Henderson scored 3 goals and Brian Spencer scored his first National Hockey League goal, while Jacques Plante and Bruce Gamble shared the shutout, as the Maple Leafs handed the Red Wings the worst defeat in their history.



40 years ago
1981

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): När vi två blir en--Gyllene Tider (4th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand (6th week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 Woman in Love--Barbra Streisand (7th week at #1)
2 Man on the Moon--Ballyhoo
3 Another One Bites the Dust--Queen
4 Don't Stand So Close to Me--The Police
5 The Wanderer--Donna Summer
6 Give Me the Night--George Benson
7 Upside Down--Diana Ross
8 Shine On--Spirits Rejoice
9 Love on the Rocks--Neil Diamond
10 Can You Feel It--The Jacksons

The only single entering the chart was The Tide is High by Blondie (#19).

Died on this date
Bud Green, 83. Austro-Hungarian-born U.S. songwriter. Moses David Green was an infant when he emigrated to the United States with his family. His songs included Alabama Bound; That's My Weakness Now; Flat Foot Floogie; and Sentimental Journey. Mr. Green also wrote songs for movies such as Syncopation (1929) and Big Boy (1930). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.

War
Fernan Cienfuegos, a member of the five-man military command of the Unified Revolutionary Directorate in El Salvador, predicted that leftist insurgents would soon open an offensive to overthrow the government. He claimed that the insurgents comprised a guerrilla force of 5,000 soldiers armed with automatic rifles, mortars, and grenade launchers.

Crime
Police in Sheffield, England arrested Peter Sutcliffe, who confessed to being the "Yorkshire Ripper," the serial killer of 13 women.

30 years ago
1991

War
Soviet interior ministry troops seized several buildings, including the central printing plant in the Latvian capital of Riga, and the Communist Party headquarters in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. It was unclear whether Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had ordered the takeovers, which prompted 10,000 people to protest outside Communist Party headquarters in Latvia.

Politics and government
Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as Mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first Negro woman to head a city of that size and prominence.

Economics and finance
Most major U.S. banks lowered their prime lending rate, the interest charged on loans to preferred customers, from 10% to 9.5%.

Hockey
NHL
Montreal 3 @ Edmonton 0

Andre "Red Light" Racicot recorded his first National Hockey League shutout in goal for the Canadiens as they blanked the Oilers at Edmonton Coliseum.



25 years ago
1996

War
The first convoy of American combat troops arrived in northern Bosnia to try to keep the peace between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims.

Politics and government
Hundreds of Ontario municipalities received letters announcing a $657-million cut in funding from the provincial government over the next two years. The Manitoba government announced major health care cuts, while the government of Saskatchewan suggested a slower approach to the same end.

Economics and finance
Mexico announced the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Canadian steel imports.

Disasters
Snow and cold weather in western Mexico killed up to 35% of the monarch butterfly population wintering there after migrating from Canada and the northern United States.

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
William Rogers, 87. U.S. politician. Mr. Rogers was U.S. Attorney General under President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1957-1961) and Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon (1969-1973).

Diplomacy
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with U.S. President Bill Clinton in the White House and gave qualified acceptance to Mr. Clinton’s Middle East peace plan, which provided for Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip, Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, and 95% of the West Bank, with partial control of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. The proposals had already been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Politics and governnent
U.S. President-elect George W. Bush named his final nominees for cabinet positions: Linda Chavez--Secretary of Labor; Spencer Abraham--Secretary of Energy; Norman Mineta--Secretary of Transportation.

Disasters
Residents of Banff were shaken by three separate cougar attacks, one fatal. The daylight attacks were unusual for the normally shy, nocturnal cats. Wardens moved herds of elk--the cougars' prey--further from the townsite.

10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Bali Ram Bhagat, 88. Indian politician. Mr. Bhagat joined the Indian National Congress Party in 1939, and supported the Quit India independence movement. He represented Arrah in the Lok Sabha (1952-1977, 1984-1989), holding several cabinet posts--including Minister of External Affairs (1985-1986)--and serving as Speaker of the Lok Sabha (1976-1977). Mr. Bhagat was Governor of Himachal Pradesh (1993) and Governor of Rajasthan (1993-1998).

Anne Francis, 80. U.S. actress. Miss Francis began acting on Broadway at the age of 11, and appeared in movies and television programs from the late 1940s through the 1990s. Her best-known movie role was in Forbidden Planet (1956), and she starred in the television private eye series Honey West (1965-1966), receiving an Emmy Award nomination for the latter. Miss Francis died of pancreatic cancer after battling lung cancer for several years.

Pete Postlethwaite, 64. U.K. actor. Mr. Postlethwaite was a character actor who appeared in plays, films, and television programs in a career spanning more than 35 years. He achieved international fame and an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance in In the Name of the Father (1993), and also appeared in The Usual Suspects (1995) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Mr. Postlethwaite died of pancreatic cancer.