Saturday 9 January 2010

January 9, 2010

860 years ago
1150


Died on this date
Xizong, 30
. Emperor of China, 1135-1150. Xizong, born Hela, was the third Emperor of the Jin dynasty in northern China. He succeeded his younger brother Taizong on the throne, and launched several military campaigns against the Southern Song dynasty in southern China, while reforming political institutions along the lines of the Han Chinese culture, which he admired. Emperor Xizong was assassinated by his chancellor, Digunai, and other court officials in a coup d'état, and was succeeded as Emperor by Digunai.

250 years ago
1760


War
Ahmad Shah Durrani's forces defeated the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat in India.

210 years ago
1800


Died on this date
Jean-Étienne Championnet, 37
. French military officer. General of Division Championnet led a Republican French division in many important battles during the French Revolutionary Wars, and was commander-in-chief of the Army of Rome (1798) and of the Army of Italy (1799). He died of typhus.

150 years ago
1860


Born on this date
Frank Olin
. U.S. baseball player and industrialist. Mr. Olin was an outfielder with four major league teams (1884-1885), batting .316 with 1 home run in 49 games. He founded the ammunition firm that eventually became the Olin Corporation in East Alton, Illinois in 1892. Mr. Olin acquired the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1931 and retired in 1944, shortly after combining his companies into Olin Industries. He died on May 20, 1951 at the age of 91.

140 years ago
1870


Born on this date
Joseph Strauss
. U.S. engineer. Mr. Strauss revolutionized the design of bascule bridges. His most notable achievement was as chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which opened in 1937. Mr. Strauss died on May 16, 1938 at the age of 68.

120 years ago
1890


Born on this date
Kurt Tucholsky
. German journalist. Mr. Tucholsky was a satirist, songwriter, and poet who used various pseudonyms. He described himself as a "left-wing democrat" and a pacifist, and warned against the threat of Nazism. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, Mr. Tulchovsky was among the first writers and intellectuals whose writings were banned and citizenship revoked. Mr. Tucholsky moved to Paris in 1924 and to Sweden in 1929, where he remained until his death on December 21, 1935 from an overdose of sleeping pills, 19 days before his 46th birthday. He was plagued by chronic illness, and his death was ruled a suicide, but the verdict is disputed by some.

Karel Čapek. Czech author and playwright. Mr. Čapek wrote fiction and non-fiction, in which he expressed his opposition to both Fascism and Communism. He was best known for his science fiction, especially the play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (1921), which introduced the word "robot." Mr. Čapek suffered from fragile health, and died of pneumonia on December 25, 1938 at the age of 48.

110 years ago
1900


Born on this date
Richard Halliburton
. U.S. journalist. Mr. Halliburton was a world traveller who wrote about his adventures in books such as The Royal Road to Romance (1925); The Glorious Adventure (1927); and New Worlds to Conquer (1929). On March 4, 1939, Mr. Halliburton, with six other men, set sail from Hong Kong aboard the Chinese junk Sea Dragon, bound for San Francisco. The Sea Dragon was last heard from near the International Date Line on March 23; Mr. Halliburton was legally declared dead on October 5, 1939 at the age of 39.

80 years ago
1930


Died on this date
Edward Bok, 66
. Dutch-born U.S. journalist. Mr. Bok moved to Brooklyn, New York with his family at the age of 6. He was editor of Ladies' Home Journal (1889-1919), and was credited with coining the term "living room" to decribe the room in a house formerly known as the "parlor" or "drawing room." He was awarded the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for The Americanization of Edward Bok: The Autobiography of a Dutch Boy Fifty Years Later (1920).

70 years ago
1940


War
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt revealed his peace objectives to leaders of the Baptist, Lutheran, and Seventh Day Adventist churches at a meeting in the White House, after their pledge of secrecy. The Soviet 44th Division retreated east of Suomussalmi, Finland after heavy losses, and temperatures of -31 F. stopped the fighting on all fronts. Japan and China issued rival claims of victory in the fighting in the northern part of the Chinese province of Kwangtung.

Scandal
Howard C. Hopson, who, as owner of Associated Gas and Electric, had made the company into the third-largest producer of electricity in the United States in the 1930s, was convicted of 17 counts of mail fraud and two of income tax evasion, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Economics and finance
Chase National Bank President Winthrop Aldrich urged a free gold market to ease the economic impact on the world of the current flow of gold to the United States.

Negotiations for trade agreements between the U.S.A. and Argentina and Uruguay were reported to have broken down.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Gerald Nye (Republican--North Dakota) declared his support for Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (Michigan) for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in the November 1940 election.

Labour
The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the National Labor Relations Board must provide equal protection to a worker whether he was a member of a labour union or not.

The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled that Inland Steel Corporation did not have to recognize the Congress of Industrial Organizations' Steel Workers Organizing Committee as sole bargaining agent.

Sport
Rower Joe Burk was named winner of the James E. Sullivan Memorial Trophy for performance and sportsmanship as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States for 1939.

60 years ago
1950


On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Judgment Reversed, starring King Calder, Nancy Coleman, and Humphrey Davis

War
A Chinese Nationalist gunboat shelled and damaged the U.S. freighter Flying Arrow as it attempted to enter Shanghai in defiance of the Nationalist blockade of Communist-held ports.

Diplomacy
Denmark recognized the People's Republic of China.

U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman John Kee (Democrat--West Virginia) urged that the United States reestablish diplomatic relations with Spain.

Crime
U.S. Federal Judge Sylvester Ryan ruled in New York that Soviet engineer Valentin Gubitchev, a United Nations employee, did not possess diplomatic immunity, and must stand trial on espionage charges in connection with the case of former U.S. government employee Judith Coplon.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Harry Truman presented Congress with a proposed budget of $42.4 billion for fiscal 1951, urging federal deficit spending for the third successive year. 71% of the proposed expenditures were devoted to military spending, stepped-up atomic research, and repayment of war debts.

The United Nations Economic Survey Mission for the Middle East issued its final report, recommending specific work-relief projects for Arab refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

Business
Cole Brothers Circus, the wworld's second-largest, was sold by Hoosier Circus Corporation to Otis Circus Corporation in Chicago.

Labour
The governing board of the International Labor Organization set up a fact-finding and conciliation commission to handle complaints involving freedom of trade unions.

10,000 Italian workers marched on factories closed by employers in a labour dispute in Modene, resulting in clashes with police that caused five deaths.

50 years ago
1960


Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Joey's Song/Ooh! Look-a-There, Ain't She Pretty?--Bill Haley and his Comets (5th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Oh! Carol--Neil Sedaka (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Marina--Rocco Granata and the International Quintet (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Why--Frankie Avalon (2nd week at #1)
2 El Paso--Marty Robbins
3 Way Down Yonder in New Orleans--Freddie Cannon
4 The Big Hurt--Miss Toni Fisher
5 Among My Souvenirs--Connie Francis
6 It's Time to Cry--Paul Anka
7 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
8 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
9 Oh! Carol--Neil Sedaka
10 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence

Singles entering the chart were No Love Have I by Webb Pierce (#91); Heart of Gold by the Twins (#95); Swingin' on a Rainbow by Frankie Avalon (#96); Tell Her for Me by Adam Wade (#97); The Happy Muleteer by Ivo Robic (#99); and Mary Don't You Weep by Stonewall Jackson (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
2 Hound Dog Man--Fabian
3 Why--Frankie Avalon
4 Pretty Blue Eyes--Steve Lawrence
5 This Friendly World--Fabian
6 Way Down Yonder in New Orleans--Freddie Cannon
7 Lonely Blue Boy--Conway Twitty
8 It's Time to Cry--Paul Anka
9 Go, Jimmy, Go--Jimmy Clanton
10 Sandy--Larry Hall

Singles entering the chart were Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop by Little Anthony and the Imperials (#25); Bulldog by the Fireballs (#32); Star Spangled Heaven by Conway Twitty (#35); and Clap Your Hands by the Beau-Marks (#39). Star Spangled Heaven was the B-side of Little Blue Boy.

Energy
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser opened construction of the Aswan High Dam by detonating 10 tons of dynamite to demolish 20 tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile River.



40 years ago
1970


Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Two Little Boys--Rolf Harris (3rd week at #1)

South Africa's Top 10 (Springbok Radio)
1 (Call Me) Number One--The Tremeloes
2 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother--The Hollies
3 Down on the Corner--Creedence Clearwater Revival
4 Pretty Belinda--Chris Andrews
5 Suspicious Minds--Elvis Presley
6 Theresa--Dave Mills
7 Jam Up Jelly Tight--Tommy Roe
8 Cry to Me--The Staccatos
9 Tracy--The Cuff Links
10 Baby it's You--Smith

Singles entering the chart were Leaving on a Jet Plane by Peter, Paul and Mary (#17); Fairytales by John Edmond (#19); and The Liquidator by the Harry J. All Stars (#20).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Jam Up Jelly Tight--Tommy Roe
2 Don't Cry Daddy--Elvis Presley
3 That's Where I Went Wrong--The Poppy Family
4 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
5 Midnight Cowboy--Ferrante & Teicher
6 No Time--The Guess Who
7 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
8 She--Tommy James and the Shondells
9 Early in the Morning--Vanity Fare
10 Whole Lotta Love--Led Zeppelin

Singles entering the chart were Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin by Sly & the Family Stone (#26); Walkin' in the Rain by Jay and the Americans (#28); I Want You Back by the Jackson 5 (#29); and We were Happy by Jayson Hoover (#30).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Don't Cry Daddy--Elvis Presley
2 Something/Come Together--The Beatles
3 One Tin Soldier--The Original Caste
4 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
5 Cold Turkey--Plastic Ono Band
6 Fancy--Bobbie Gentry
7 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
8 Midnight Cowboy--Ferrante & Teicher
9 Up on Cripple Creek--The Band
10 Arizona--Mark Lindsay

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the satellite Cosmos 318.

War
Evidence that South Korean soldiers in South Vietnam murdered "hundreds" of civilians was found by interviewers for a private research project, according to its former director, A. Terry Rambo. Mr. Rambo also stated that an American army officer had ordered him to stop making inquiries and to leave the allegations out of his report.

Diplomacy
U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew continued his Asian tour with a visit to Malaysia, placing a wreath at the war memorial, visiting Yamtuan Besar (King) of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Ja'afar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, and playing golf with Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.



Defense
France acknowledged that her arms deal with Libya announced two days earlier included an agreement to sell 50 Mirage jet fighters. The French government stated that resale of the jets to third parties--Arab countries directly involved in hostilities with Israel, for instance--was prohibited.

Officials in Washington confirmed that Nationalist China (Taiwan) would be provided with a squadron of U.S. F-104 Starfighter fighter-bombers from "excess stocks." The U.S. Congress had been embroiled in a controversy over an amendment to foreign aid legislation granting Taiwan a squadron on the newer Phantom planes.

Disasters
A nursing home fire in Marietta, Ohio killed 27 people.

All 50 people aboard a ferry were lost when it sank in shark-infested Guayaquil Gulf, Ecuador.

30 years ago
1980


World events
U.S. President Jimmy Carter warned the American public that it could take months to gain the release of the hostages from the U.S. embassy in Iran. "There is no legitimate political bargaining leverage that can be exerted on" the Iranian militants, Mr. Carter warned, and "there is no entity there with whom one can negotiate."

Defense
U.S. Defense Secretary Harold Brown concluded several days of talks with Chinese military officials.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 2 @ Quebec 3

20 years ago
1990


Died on this date
Spud Chandler, 82
. U.S. baseball pitcher. Spurgeon Ferdinand Chandler played with the New York Yankees from 1937-1947, compiling a record of 109-43 with an earned run average of 2.84. His winning percentage of .717 is the major league career record for pitchers with at least 100 wins. Mr. Chandler's best season was 1943, when he was 20-4 with an ERA of 1.64, won two games in the World Series, and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player. He was a member of seven teams that won American League pennants, and six World Series championships.

Personal
This blogger began a two-month job with Musee Heritage Museum in St. Albert, Alberta.

Scandal
A judge in Ottawa acquitted Canadian Member of Parliament Lorne Nystrom (NDP--Yorkton-Melville) of shoplifting; Mr. Nystrom explained that he had put some contact lens cleaning discs in his pocket while distracted.

Economics and finance
The parliament of Armenia voted to integrate the economy of the region of Nagorno-Karabakh into the economy of Armenia.

10 years ago
2000


Died on this date
Nigel Tranter, 90
. U.K. historian and author. Mr. Tranter, a lifelong resident of Scotland, wrote more than 130 books, the best-known of which was the five-volume history The Fortified House in Scotland (1962-1970). He wrote historical novels about Scotland, and wrote Western novels under the pseudonym Nye Tredgold.

Marguerite Churchill, 89. U.S. actress. Miss Churchill appeared in plays on Broadway in New York in the 1920s and '30s, and in two dozen movies from 1929-1936. She was best known as the leading lady in the Western The Big Trail (1930), John Wayne's first starring role. She died two weeks after her 89th birthday.

Football
NFL
NFC Wild Card Playoff
Dallas 10 @ Minnesota 27



AFC Wild Card Playoff
Miami 20 @ Seattle 17

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