December 30, 2011

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, and Gladys Lucy Pomazongo Levano!

420 years ago
1591

Died on this date
Innocent IX. Roman Catholic Pope, 1591. Innocent IX, born Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, became a priest in 1544 and was made a cardinal in 1583. He succeeded Gregory XIV on thee papal throne, and was crowned on November 3, 1591. He died after less than two months in office, and was succeeded by Clement VIII.

170 years ago
1841

Died on this date
Vitus Bering, 60. Danish explorer. Commander Bering was a cartographer served in the Russian Navy and led the First Kamchatka Expedition (1725-1731), which explored the Asian Pacific Coast, and the Great Northern Expedition (1733-1743), which explored the Arctic coast of Siberia and parts of the North American coastline. He died of scurvy on an uninhabited island, later named in his honour, near the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Bering Strait and Bering Sea are among the things named in Commander Bering's honour.

160 years ago
1851

Born on this date
Asa Candler. U.S. businessman and politician. Mr. Candler founded the Coca-Cola Company in 1892, and managed the company until 1917, when he took office as Mayor of Atlanta, serving until 1919. He died on March 12, 1929 at the age of 77, three years after suffering a stroke.

150 years ago
1861

Defense
As a result of the "Trent Affair" (the seizure of two Confederate diplomats from a British vessel on the high seas), 6,000 British troops from the 62nd Wiltshire Regiment landed at St. Andrews, New Brunswick with orders to march overland to Canada to defend against a possible American invasion.

100 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Jeanette Nolan. U.S. actress. Miss Nolan appeared in numerous radio and television programs and in movies such as Macbeth (1948) and The Big Heat (1953). She was nominated for four Emmy Awards, and died on June 5, 1998 at the age of 86.

Politics and government
Sun Yat-sen was elected the first President of the Republic of China.

80 years ago
1931

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Hindoo in the Wicker Basket

70 years ago
1941

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for 1941 were presented. The winners were: Picture--Citizen Kane; Director--John Ford (How Green was My Valley); Actor--Gary Cooper (Sergeant York); Actress--Joan Fontaine (Suspicion).

Diplomacy
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the Canadian parliament in Ottawa, where he delivered his "Some chicken...some neck" speech, and then posed for a famous photograph by Yousuf Karsh. Go here to see the full text of the speech.



U.K. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden returned to London from his conference in Moscow with U.S.S.R. dictator Josef Stalin.

War
The U.S.S.R. announced that Soviet troops on the Caucasian front had landed on the Crimean peninsula, occupying the town and fortress of Kerch. Dispatches from Manila reported that Japanese troops were within 100 miles of the city. U.S. aviator Charles Lindbergh was revealed to have volunteered for active serice in the U.S. Army Air Forces. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that there were 25,829,788 men in the continental United States aged 20-44 who could be drafted for military service.

Space
Dr. Edwin Hubble of the Mount Wilson Observatory in California said that as a result of six years of observation through the observatory's 100-inch telescope, he doubted the theory that the universe was expanding.

Politics and government
Philippine President Manuel Quezon and Vice President Sergio Osmena were inaugurated into their second terms in a wartime ceremony near U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters.

Lieutenant General A.E. Percival declared martial law in Singapore, following four Japanese air raids the previous night.

Crime
Seven people were indicted in New York on charges of sending vital information to Germany.

Economics and finance
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that plans were underway to boost U.S. war production to 50% of the national income, or about $50 billion in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1942.

U.S. federal Price Administrator Leon Henderson froze wholesale cigarette prices at the levels prevailing on December 26, and fixed maximum retail prices for automobile tires and tubes at the level in effect on November 25.

Labour
Greyhound companies agreed to arbitrate the strike of 1,800 bus drivers.

60 years ago
1951

On television tonight
Out There, on CBS
Tonight's episode: The Bus to Nowhere, starring Leonard Barry, Arthur Batanides, and Whit Bissell

War
Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command General Matthew Ridgway announced that the Japanese government would be given custody of 1,300 Japanese war criminals still serving sentences by March 21, 1952.

Diplomacy
Foreign ministers of six Western European countries agrred in Paris on most details of the European Army plan and recommended creating a supranational Parliament of Europe by 1955.

In a year-end speech, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson admitted that "we have lost some ground" in the Middle East because of the Iranian and Suez disputes, but viewed Greece and Turkey as "bright spots."

Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded the $1,000 Newcomb Cleveland Prize to Columbia University oceanographer J. Laurence Kulp for developing a technique to measure the age of water through the radioactive carbon content of suspended organic matter.

Economics and finance
Iran banned foreign travel by its citizens, due to lack of foreign exchange.

Baseball
The Sporting News named Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals as major league player of the year for 1951 and Leo Durocher of the New York Giants as major league manager of the year. "Stan the Man" batted .355 with 32 home runs and 108 runs batted in, leading the National League in batting average, runs (124); triples (12); and total bases (355). "Leo the Lip" led the Giants to the National League pennant as they came back from a 14½-game deficit in August to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 3-game playoff.

50 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): My Boomerang Won't Come Back--Charlie Drake (4th week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: Nata per me--Adriano Celentano (6th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Tanze mit mir in den Morgen--Gerhard Wendland

#1 single in the Netherlands (Dutch Top 40): I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door--Eddie Hodges (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Tower of Strength--Frankie Vaughan (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 The Lion Sleeps Tonight--The Tokens (4th week at #1)
2 The Twist--Chubby Checker
3 Walk on By--Leroy Van Dyke
4 Run to Him--Bobby Vee
5 Please Mr. Postman--The Marvelettes
6 Can't Help Falling in Love--Elvis Presley
7 Peppermint Twist - Part I--Joey Dee & the Starliters
8 Moon River--Jerry Butler
--Henry Mancini, His Orchestra and Chorus
9 Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen--Neil Sedaka
10 When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)--Connie Francis

Singles entering the chart were Lost Someone by James Brown and the Famous Flames (#90); That's My Pa by Sheb Wooley (#95); I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song) by the Ikettes (#96); Fever by Pete Bennett and the Embers (#98); and I Told the Brook by Marty Robbins (#100).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 Norman--Sue Thompson (2nd week at #1)
2 The Wanderer--Dion
3 Run to Him--Bobby Vee
4 Hey! Little Girl--Del Shannon
5 Walkin' with My Angel--Bobby Vee
6 The Twist--Chubby Checker
7 Multiplication--Bobby Darin
8 Walkin' Back to Happiness--Helen Shapiro
9 The Lion Sleeps Tonight--The Tokens
10 Please Mr. Postman--The Marvelettes

Singles entering the chart were Bonnie B by Jerry Lee Lewis (#24); Bandit of My Dreams by Eddie Hodges (#28); My Boomerang Won't Come Back by Charlie Drake (#31); Patti Ann by Johnny Crawford (#36); I Know (You Don't Love Me No More) by Barbara George (#39); Baby it's You by the Shirelles (#45); and Lonely Sixteen by Janie Black (#50).

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKWX)
1 Norman--Sue Thompson
2 Dear Ivan--Jimmy Dean
3 The Twist--Chubby Checker
4 The Wanderer/The Majestic--Dion
5 Peppermint Twist--Joey Dee & the Starliters
6 A Little Bitty Tear--Burl Ives
7 Multiplication--Bobby Darin
8 Walkin' with My Angel/Run to Him--Bobby Vee
9 When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)--Connie Francis
10 The Lion Sleeps Tonight--The Tokens

Singles entering the chart were Dear Lady Twist by Gary (U.S.) Bonds (#26); The Ballad of Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum (#30); Young Love by Sonny James (#34); I Could Have Loved You by Ray Peterson (#36); Mugmates/Bandit of My Dreams by Eddie Hodges (#39); and Little Altar Boy by Vic Dana (#40).

Football
NCAA
Blue-Gray Game @ Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Gray 9 Blue 7

40 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in France (IFOP): Pop Concerto--Pop Concerto Orchestra

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): O Holy Night--Tommy Drennan (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Jo Cals, 57. Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 1965-1966. Mr. Cals, a member of the Roman Catholic State Party until 1945 and the Catholic People's Party thereafter, was a member of the House of Representatives (1948-1950, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1963-1965), and was State Secretary/Minister for Education, Arts and Sciences (1950-1961) before serving as Prime Minister from April 1965-November 1966. He left politics after his government fell after losing a vote involving the budget. Mr. Cals died of a brain tumour.

World events
Iraq announced that it had expelled 60,000 Iranian men, women, and children over the past few days; Iraq had severed diplomatic relations with Iran earlier inthe month.

30 years ago
1981

Hockey
NHL
Philadelphia (22-13-1) 5 @ Edmonton (25-8-6) 7

Wayne Gretzky scored 5 goals--his 46th through 50th of the season--to lead the Oilers past the Flyers at Northlands Coliseum. Mr. Gretzky's last goal, into an empty net, gave him the distinction of reaching the 50-goal mark in one season in the fewest games; it was just the Oilers' 39th game of the season.



20 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Sore ga Daiji (それが大事)--Daiji-man Brothers Band

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Live and Let Die--Guns N' Roses (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Germany (Media Control): Let's Talk About Sex--Salt-N-Pepa (7th week at #1)

10 years ago
2001

Terrorism
Pakistani authorities arrested Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of one of the Muslim groups believed to be behind the December 13, 2001 attack on India's Parliament House in New Delhi. 12 people had been killed in the five-man attack.

Politics and government
Adolfo Rodriguez Saa resigned as interim President of Argentina, just a week after taking office.