December 18, 2008

140 years ago
1868

Britannica
William Jackman, captain of a Bowrings sealing steamer, was awarded the Royal Humane Society medal and diploma for his outstanding bravery in single handedly rescuing 27 passengers from the fishing vessel Sea Clipper, wrecked on a rocky reef off Spotted Island, Labrador on October 9, 1867.

130 years ago
1878

Born on this date
Josef Stalin. U.S.S.R. dictator. Mr. Stalin, who had won a power struggle to take power in the Soviet Union after the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924 and had gone on to become one of the most evil people in history, died of a heart attack on March 5, 1953 at the age of 73, four days after suffering a stroke.

Died on this date
Mohammed bin Thani, 90 (?). Emir of Qatar, 1850-1876. Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani succeeded his father Sheikh Thani bin Mohammed Al Thamir on the throne. Sheikh Mohammed achieved an alliance with Saudi Arabia and British recognition of Qatari independence. He abdicated in 1876 because of old age, and was succeeded by his son Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani.

120 years ago
1888

Born on this date
Gladys Cooper. U.K. actress and singer. Dame Gladys had a career on stage and screen spanning 65 years in the U.K. and U.S.A. She was nominated for Academy Awards for her supporting performances in Now, Voyager (1942); The Song of Bernadette (1943); and My Fair Lady (1964). Dame Gladys appeared in three episodes of The Twilight Zone (1962-1964), and co-starred in the television series The Rogues (1964-1965). She died of pneumonia on November 17, 1971, 31 days before her 83rd birthday.

Robert Moses. U.S. urban planner. Mr. Moses became known as the "master builder" of New York City and its surrounding area in the mid-20th century. He died on July 29, 1981 at the age of 92.

110 years ago
1898

Auto racing
Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the first official land speed record, averaging 39.23 miles per hour (63.13 kilometres per hour) over 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) in 57 seconds, driving a Jeantaud electric car in Achères, Yvelines, France. The record was set as part of a competition organized by the French automobile magazine La France Automobile.

100 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Paul Siple. U.S. geographer and explorer. Dr. Siple was still an Eagle Scout when he was chosen to accompany Admiral Richard Byrd's Antarctic expeditions in 1928-1929 and 1933-1935. He participated in four more Antarctic expeditions, including all of Adm. Byrd's expeditions. Dr. Siple and Charles Passel developed the wind chill factor, and Dr. Siple coined the term. Dr. Siple died on November 25, 1968, 23 days before his 60th birthday, and two years after suffering a stroke.

Celia Johnson. U.K. actress. Dame Celia was best known for her starring role in the movie Brief Encounter (1945), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and won a BAFTA Award. Her other films included In Which We Serve (1942); This Happy Breed (1944); The Captain's Paradise (1953); and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), for which she won a BAFTA Award for her supporting performance. Dame Celia died of a stroke on April 26, 1982 at the age of 73.

80 years ago
1928

War
Bolivia and Paraguay concluded two days of negotiations by agreeing to arbitrate their border dispute.

60 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys (7th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Buttons and Bows--Dinah Shore and the Happy Valley Boys (6th week at #1)
--The Dinning Sisters
--Betty Rhodes
2 On a Slow Boat to China--Kay Kyser Orchestra
--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
--Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
--Eddy Howard and his Orchestra
--Art Lund
3 Maybe You'll Be There--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
4 My Darling, My Darling--Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae with the Starlighters
--Doris Day and Buddy Clark
5 Twelfth Street Rag--Pee Wee Hunt and his Orchestra
6 All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)--Spike Jones and his City Slickers
7 You were Only Fooling (While I was Falling in Love)--Blue Barron and his Orchestra
--The Ink Spots
--Kay Starr
8 Cuanto la Gusta--Carmen Miranda and the Andrews Sisters
9 A Little Bird Told Me--Evelyn Knight and the Stardusters
--Paula Watson
10 Until--Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were the version of Buttons and Bows by Betty Rhodes; Far Away Places, with versions by Margaret Whiting and the Blue Chiefs; and Bing Crosby (#13); and Dainty Brenda Lee by Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (#35).

Died on this date
William Fisher, 87. U.S. songwriter and music historian. Mr. Fisher was known for arranging and publishing Negro spirituals. After hearing Antonin Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", Mr. Fisher wrote lyrics to part of the second movement, and it became the popular spiritual Goin' Home.

Philip Winnek, 40. U.S. biochemist. Mr. Winnek was a pioneer in the development of sulfa drugs.

War
Dutch forces based in Java attacked the Indonesian Republic, ending an 11-month truce following the refusal of Indonesian nationalists to recognize temporary continuation of Dutch sovereignty over Indonesia.

Chinese Communist forces commanded by General Lin Biao surrounded Peking (Beijing).

An Organization of American States commission opened an inquiry in San Jose on Costa Rican charges that the recent invasion by supporters of former President Rafael Calderon Gaurdia had been planned by neighbouring Nicaragua.

Economics and finance
The U.S.S.R. and Finland announced a barter agreement covering $100 million in trade for 1949.

Disasters
Heavy rains and flooding in southeastern Brazil ended after causing 600 deaths in 17 days.

50 years ago
1958

At the movies
Separate Tables, directed by Delbert Mann, and starring Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, and Burt Lancaster, received its premiere screening in New York City.



Some Came Running, directed by Vincente Minnelli, and starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine, opened in theatres.



Space
The United States launched SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment), the world's first communications satellite, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard an Atlas rocket. The spacecraft contained a recorded Christmas message from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.



Defense
East-West technical talks on prevention of surprise attacks adjourned in Geneva after failing to reach agreement on an agenda or on necessary provisions of a preventive system.

The U.S. Navy announced the cancellation of its contract with Chance-Vought Aircraft Corporation for the shipboard Regulus II guided missile.

Politics and government
Former U.S.S.R. Premier Nikolai Bulganin confessed before the Communist Party Central Committee in Moscow that he had joined and had later assumed leadership of the "Malenkov-Molotov-Shepilov-Kaganovich anti-party group" ousted by Nikita Khrushchev in 1957.

Education
Paul Van Dalsen, chairman of a special Arkansas legislative investigating committee, claimed that his committee had "definitely proved that there was Communist influence" in the Little Rock school integration crisis.

Economics and finance
The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee issued a resolution ordering a slowdown in the rural commune campaign and temporarily cancelling plans to extend the system to the cities.

Baseball
Los Angeles Dodgers' shortstop Pee Wee Reese announced his retirement as a player to become a coach with the club. Mr. Reese played with the Dodgers from 1940-1942 and 1946-1958, batting .269 with 126 home runs and 885 runs batted in in 2,166 games, helping the team to seven National League pennants and the World Series championship in 1955. In 1958, the Dodgers' first season in Los Angeles after moving from Brooklyn, Mr. Reese batted .224 with 4 homers and 17 RBIs in 59 games.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Lily the Pink--The Scaffold (2nd week at #1)

Australia's top 10 (Go-Set)
1 Hey Jude/Revolution--The Beatles (10th week at #1)
2 Little Arrows--Leapy Lee
3 White Room--Cream
4 Those were the Days--Mary Hopkin
5 (The Lament of the Cherokee) Indian Reservation--Don Fardon
6 Hold Me Tight--Johnny Nash
7 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
8 Elenore/Surfer Dan--The Turtles
9 With a Little Help from My Friends--Joe Cocker
10 All Along the Watchtower--The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Singles entering the chart were Star Crossed Lovers by Neil Sedaka (#28); Baby it's You by Jeff Phillips (#34); Going Up the Country by Canned Heat (#35); Eloise by Barry Ryan (#37); Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell (#38); and Scarborough Fair by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 (#39).

Space
The United States launched the communications satellite Intelsat III F-2 from Cape Kennedy, Florida.

Politics and government
Italian Prime Minister Mariano Rumor received a vote of confidence from the Senate for his new 20-member coalition cabinet of Christian Democrats, Socialists, and Republicans.

Academia
The Québec government of Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand founded the multi-campus Université du Québec, the province's first public university and its fourth French-language institution. The university had campuses in Montréal, Trois-Rivières, and Chicoutimi.

Protest
Akwesasne (St. Regis) Mohawks blocked the Seaway International Bridge at Cornwall, Ontario to protest customs duties on their U.S. purchases, claiming exemption under Jay's Treaty of 1794.

Disasters
At least 25 workers were killed and 150 injured after a cement slab fell during renovation of a Jain temple in Gujerat State, India.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Kiss You All Over--Exile

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Chameleon Army--Pink Lady

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Tú--Umberto Tozzi (3rd week at #1)

Protest
A general strike began in Iran, which cut the country's oil production.

25 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland: Come Back and Stay--Paul Young (3rd week at #1)

On the radio
Stories of Sherlock Holmes, on Springbok Radio
Tonight's episode: The Crouch End Mystery

Politics and government
In the Japanese general election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority in the lower house of the Diet. The LDP captured 250 of 511 seats, a loss of 36 seats. The Socialist Party, with 112 seats, remained the principal opposition. Former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, who had refused to resign his seat after being convicted of accepting a bribe from Lockheed Corporation, easily retained his seat.

Diplomacy
A round of national reconciliation talks among Lebanese factions was postponed after the foreign ministers of Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia failed to resolve their differences over the May 17 agreement between Lebanon and Israel on troop withdrawal.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 3 @ Pittsburgh 3

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ):

#1 single in Switzerland: Orinoco Flow--Enya (2nd week at #1)

Abominations
The Quebec government of Premier Robert Bourassa passed Bill 178, mandating the use only of French on outside signs, while permitting bilingual signs inside. Mr. Bourassa exercised Quebec's constitutional right, Clause 33--the "notwithstanding clause" of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms--to override the December 15 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that struck down sections of Quebec's Bill 101 requiring that commercial signs be in French only.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Lev Dyomin, 72. U.S.S.R. cosmonaut. Colonel Dyomin, a Soviet Air Force officer, was Flight Engineer on the Soyuz 15 mission in August 1974, which returned to Earth after two days because of an inability to dock with the Salyut 3 space station. Col. Dyomin left the cosmonaut program in 1982 to pursue deep-sea research.

Scandal
Former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian federal cabinet minister Gerald Regan was acquitted in Halifax of eight sex-related charges dating back 20 years.