December 26, 2016

300 years ago
1716

Born on this date
Thomas Gray. U.K. historian and poet. Professor Gray taught at the University of Cambridge's Pembroke College and published ony 13 poems, but his poetry was so highly regarded that he was offered the position of Poet Laureate, which he declined. He was best known for Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751). Prof. Gray died on July 30, 1771 at the age of 54.

225 years ago
1791

Born on this date
Charles Babbage. U.K. mathematician and engineer. Mr. Babbage was a polymath who has been called the "father of the computer" for devising the Difference Engine, the first mechanical computer, in the 1820s, and the Analytical Engine in 1837. He died of cystitis and kidney failure on October 18, 1871 at the age of 79.

Politics and government
The Constitutional Act 1791, passed by the British Parliament on June 19, went into effect, dividing the Province of Québec along the Ottawa River into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, each with a Lieutenant-Governor and a Legislature. Lower Canada kept the French civil law (Code civil). The so-called Canada Act gave the colonies their first powers to pass duties for revenue, a form of responsible government, but the governors and council retain the right to control revenue from the sale of Crown Lands, letting them bypass the Assembly. Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester, was sworn in as Governor of Lower Canada. Members of the Legislative Council were: Chief Justices William Smith and Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry; Hugh Finlay; François-Marie Picoté de Belestre; Thomas Dunn; Paul-Roch de Saint-Ours; Edward Harrison; François Baby; John Collins; Joseph-Dominique-Emmanuel Le Moyne de Longueuil; Adam Mabane; Charles-Louis Tarieu de Lanaudière; George Pownall; René-Amable Boucher de Boucherville; and John Fraser. The Executive Council consisted of: William Smith; Paul-Roch de Saint-Ours; Hugh Finlay; François Baby; Thomas Dunn; Joseph de Longueuil; Adam Mabane; Pierre Panet; and Adam Lymburner.

125 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Henry Miller. U.S. writer and artist. Mr. Miller wrote travel memoirs and literary criticism, and painted watercolours, but was primarily known for his novels Tropic of Cancer (1934) and Tropic of Capricorn (1939), which weren't published in the United States for many years on grounds of obscenity. He died from circulatory problems on June 7, 1980 at the age of 88.

100 years ago
1916

Born on this date
Walter Misosky. U.S. baseball pitcher. "Lefty" Misosky played with the Johnstown Johnnies of the Class D Pennsylvania State Association (1939, 1941); Crookston Pirates of the Class C Northern League (1941); and Johnstown Johnnies of the Class C Middle Atlantic League (1946), compiling a record of 27-30 with a 4.27 ERA in 72 games and batting .221 with 2 home runs in 114 games. He served with the U.S. Army in World War II, and played baseball in the service. Following his final season in baseball, Mr. Misosky worked as a coal miner and owned a tavern.

75 years ago
1941

Diplomacy
Winston Churchill became the first British Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress.



Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King arrived in Washington to participate in the U.S.-U.K. military and naval conference.

War
The U.S.S.R. announced that Naro Fominsk, about 50 miles southeast of Moscow, had been recaptured together with other towns. U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur declared Manila to be an open city, and ordered all troops and anti-aircraft guns to be withdrawn. The British War Office announced that Lieutenant General Sir Henry Pownall had arrived in Singapore to assume command of British forces in the Far East, replacing Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham. The British embassy in Chungking announced that a U.K.-U.S.-Chinese Military Council had been created there.

Americana
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

Science
Dr. Paul J. Kolachov reported that the Russian dandelion plant known as kok-sagyz could produce crude rubber and may be grown virtually in any soil.

Labour
Striking welders withdrew their picket lines at defense plants and shipyards in the San Francisco area.

70 years ago
1946

Died on this date
Max Warburg, 79. German banker. Mr. Warburg, scion of a Hamburg banking family, was director of M. M. Warburg & Co., was a member of the Hamburg parliament, and began advising Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1903. He served on the board of the German Reichsbank under governor Hjalmar Schach (1933-1935), but sold the bank after the Nazis passed the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws, and emigrated to the United States in 1938. Mr. Warburg died in New York City.

Movies
Motion Picture Herald's poll reported that the top box office attractions in the United States in 1946 were: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Van Johnson, Gary Cooper, Bob Hope, Humphrey Bogart, and Greer Garson.

Diplomacy
U.S. State Department spokesman Lincoln White affirmed that Soviet authorities in Manchuria were within their rights in ordering an American ship out of Dairen harbour on December 20.

Defense
Mohammed Nimer el Huwari, commander of the Arab underground army Najada, announced the merger of his forces with the Arab youth organization Futuwah for joint operations under the Arab Higher Committee in Palestine.

Exploration
Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl announced that he would sail 4,000 miles in a wooden raft from Peru to Tahiti in an attempt to prove that Polynesia had been settled by inhabitants of South America.

Economics and finance
Colombia became the 39th nation to join the World Bank.

The French cabinet raised telephone tolls, subway fares, and other public service charges by up to 150% in an anti-inflation move.

Business
Gangster Bugsy Siegel opened The Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Labour
Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities Ernie Adamson issued an unauthorized report claiming that 17 Congress of Industrial Organizations unions were dominated by Communists; that Communists were plotting a general strike to provoke revolution; and that the Library of Congress was a "haven for foreign-minded Americans."

60 years ago
1956

Movies
The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for 1956 were presented. The winners included: Picture--Around the World in 80 Days; Director--John Huston (Moby Dick); Actor--Kirk Douglas (Lust for Life); Actress--Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia); Foreign Language Film--La Strada.

Diplomacy
Egypt refused to resume direct negotiations with the United Kingdom and France on settlement of the Suez Canal dispute, insisting on negotiating a solution through the United Nations.

War
1,025 former Japanese prisoners of war who had been released from Siberia arrived in Maizuru by ship.

Protest
21 Negroes in Birmingham, Alabama were arrested for riding in the "white" section of buses, as Negroes began mass defiance of city laws requiring segregation in public transportation.

Boxing
Willie Pastrano (38-4-5) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Charley Norkus (27-15) in a heavyweight bout at Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida.



50 years ago
1966

Hit parade
#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Black is Black--Los Bravos (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Green, Green Grass of Home--Tom Jones (4th week at #1)

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 I'm a Believer--The Monkees
2 Mellow Yellow--Donovan
3 That's Life--Frank Sinatra
4 Stop Stop Stop--The Hollies
5 I'm Ready for Love--Martha and the Vandellas
6 A Place in the Sun--Stevie Wonder
7 I've Got the Feeling--Neil Diamond
8 Mustang Sally--Wilson Pickett
9 Lady Godiva--Peter and Gordon
10 It's Only Love--Tommy James and the Shondells

Singles entering the chart were Nashville Cats by the Lovin' Spoonful (#68); Baby What I Mean by the Drifters (#73); Standing in the Shadows of Love by the Four Tops (#77); If I Call You by Some Name by the Paupers (#83); Karate by the Emperors (#87); Knight in Rusty Armour by Peter and Gordon (#90); Let the Good Times In by Dean Martin (#91); Color My World by Petula Clark (#92); Dead End Street by the Kinks (#94); Look What You've Done by the Pozo-Seco Singers (#96); I Wanna Be Free by Jean-Paul Vignon (#97); Are You Lonely for Me by Freddie Scott (#98); I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) by the Electric Prunes (#99); and I'm Gonna Miss You by the Artistics (#100).

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley, on BBC Light Programme
Tonight's episode: Wisteria Lodge

Theatre
Breakfast at Tiffany's, a musical starring Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Chamberlain, and Sally Kellerman, had been scheduled to open on this date at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway in New York City. The play, based on Truman Capote's novella, had been titled Holly Golightly in out-of-town tryouts, and had received four preview performances on Broadway, but had then been closed by producer David Merrick, who chose not to open the show "rather than subject the drama critics and the public to an excruciatingly boring evening."

40 years ago
1976

Football
NFL
NFC Championship
Los Angeles 13 @ Minnesota 24

See video.

AFC Championship
Pittsburgh 7 @ Oakland 24

See video.

30 years ago
1986

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Walk Like an Egyptian--Bangles (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
Shaka Zulu, on SABC Tonight's episode: Episode 10

This was the last episode of the series (see video).

Died on this date
Elsa Lanchester, 84. U.K. actress. Miss Lanchester was known for character roles in such movies as Bride of Frankenstein (1935); The Big Clock (1948); and Easy Come, Easy Go (1967). She was married to actor Charles Laughton from 1929 until his death in 1962, and they appeared together in 12 films, including Witness for the Prosecution (1957).

25 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are the Days of Our Lives--Queen (2nd week at #1)

World events
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union met and formally dissolved the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War.

Business
The U.S. airline Northwest Airlines bought 20 Dash 8 Series 100 aircraft for $190 million from Toronto-based de Haviland, a division of Boeing Canada.

20 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): Breathe--The Prodigy (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): Anna mulle piiskaa--Apulanta (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
JonBenét Ramsey, 6. U.S. crime victim. Miss Ramsey, a child beauty contestant, died from strangulation and a fractured skull at her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. The crime resulted in a U.S. media obsession, and the case is still officially open.

Labour
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called on its 1.2 million members to refuse to work, beginning the largest organized strike in South Korean history.

10 years ago
2006

Died on this date
Gerald R. Ford, Jr., 93. 38th President of the United States of America, 1974-1977; 40th Vice President of the United States of America, 1973-1974. Mr. Ford, born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., was a star center with the University of Michigan Wolverines football team from 1932-1934, and served in the United States Navy during World War II. A Republican, he represented Michigan's 5th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1949-1973, serving as House Minority Leader from 1965-1973. On December 6, 1973, Mr. Ford took office as Vice President, succeeding Spiro Agnew, who had resigned in disgrace two months earlier. On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon, facing possible impeachment as a result of the scandal involving the 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., resigned, and Mr. Ford became the first--and still only--man to serve as President without being elected either President or Vice President. A month later, Mr. Ford pardoned Mr. Nixon for his Watergate activities, drawing heavy criticism. Mr. Ford was the Republican Party candidate for President in 1976; he lost a close election to Democratic Party challenger Jimmy Carter, and retired to private life after leaving the White House. At 93 years and 165 days, Mr. Ford had the longest life of any U.S. President (so far).