December 28, 2008

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Heather (Watson) Pick!

1,590 years ago
418

Religion
Boniface I was elected Roman Catholic Pope, succeeding Zosimus, who had died two days earlier.

120 years ago
1888

Born on this date
F. W. Murnau. German film director. Mr. Murnau was one of the major directors of the silent era, and was known for such German films as Nosferatu (1922); Der letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) (1924); and Faust (1926). He moved to Hollywood and directed such movies as Sunrise (1927) and 4 Devils (1928). Mr. Murnau died on March 11, 1931 at the age of 42, the day after being seriously injured in a car accident, and a week before the premiere of his last movie, Tabu.

100 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Lew Ayres. U.S. actor. Mr. Ayres had a career that spanned 65 years, but was best known for his starring role in the movie All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in a series of nine films from 1938-1942. He died on December 30, 1996, two days after his 88th birthday.

Disasters
The 7.1 Mw Messina earthquake shook Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 75,000-200,000 people.

Hockey
Stanley Cup
Edmonton Thistles 3 @ Montreal Wanderers 7 (First game of 2-game total goals challenge series)

Harry Smith scored 5 goals for the defending champion Wanderers as they defeated the Thistles, champions of the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association, at Montreal Arena. All but one of the Edmonton players were ringers, joining the team just for the Stanley Cup challenge.

80 years ago
1928

Politics and government
Major General the Honourable Hugh Havelock McLean, of Rothesay, New Brunswick, was installed as Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.

70 years ago
1938

Died on this date
Florence Lawrence, 52. Canadian-born U.S. actress. Miss Lawrence, born Florence Bridgwood in Hamilton, Ontario, moved to Buffalo, New York at the age of 12. She appeared in almost 300 movies--mostly from 1906-1915--and became known as the "first movie star." Miss Lawrence was known as "The Biograph Girl" for her work in most of that studio's films in 1908-1909, and became the first actor to be identified by name on screen in 1910. Her career rapidly declined after she suffered serious injuries on a set in 1915, and she suffered financial losses and bad marriages. Miss Lawrence was diagnosed in 1937 with a rare incurable bone disease, and suffered from chronic pain and depression, but attempted to keep working. She was to report to a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer set on December 28, 1938, but phoned in sick, and then committed suicide by poison.

60 years ago
1948

At the movies
Highway 13, directed by William Berke, and starring Robert Lowery and Pamela Blake, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
Mahmoud El Nokrashy Pasha, 60. Prime Minister of Egypt, 1945-1946, 1946-1948. Mr. Nokrashy, a member of the Saadist Institutional Party (SIP), was the second Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Egypt. He formally outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood in December 1948 out of concern that the Brotherhood would move against the monarchy. Three weeks later, Mr. Nokrashy was gunned down in the main building of the Ministry of Interior by Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan, a veterinary student at the University of King Fouad I and a member of the Brotherhood, who was dressed as a lieutenant. Mr. Nokrashy was succeeded as Prime Minister by Ibrahim Abdel Hady Pasha.

Radio
Hooperatings listed the most popular programs in the United States as The Jack Benny Program; Family Theater; and Walter Winchell.

Television
Hooperatings listed Texaco Star Theater, starring Milton Berle, as the most popular program in New York.

Economics and finance
Representatives of the U.S.A., U.K., France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, meeting in London, agreed on the formation of an international Ruhr Authority (excluding the U.S.S.R.) to supervise much of West Germany's heavy industry. France gained a U.S. and U.K. guarantee that Germany's industrial potential would never be allowed to threaten French security.

Yugoslavia's first post-World War II trade delegation to Italy began discussions in Rome on a commercial treaty.

Business
The U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee urged a tightening of anti-trust laws, with provisions for mandatory suspension of business executives convicted of anti-trust violations, and revisions of tax laws advantageous to large companies.

50 years ago
1958

On television tonight
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Fenimore, starring Mary Astor, Russell Collins, and Doro Merande

Politics and government
Cuban guerrilla leader Fidel Castro's radio broadcast announced plans for the establishment of a provisional Cuban government, to be headed by Manuel Urrutia Lleo, who had recently returned to Cuba from exile in the United States.

Economics and finance
French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle announced that taxes would be increased on corporations, people with high incomes, and luxury items, and that the devaluation of the franc and abolition of protective trade controls would "place the nation on a basis of truth and severity."

Labour
The Independent Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union settled a three-week strike which had shut down nine major New York City newspapers and idled 15,000 non-striking newspaper workers.

Disasters
Fire fanned by high winds destroyed the port of Koniya and part of Setouchi on Amani-O-Shima Island in the Ryukyus.

Football
NFL Championship
Baltimore 23 @ New York 17 (OT)

In what many Americans still claim was the greatest professional football game ever played, Alan Ameche rushed 1 yard for a touchdown 8:16 into sudden-death overtime to give the Colts their win over the Giants before 64,185 fans at Yankee Stadium. For the Colts, champions of the NFL's Western Conference, it was their first NFL title. After a first-quarter field goal by Pat Summerall gave the Eastern Conference champion Giants a 3-0 lead, the Colts took a 14-3 halftime lead on a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Mr. Ameche and a 15-yard scoring pass from Johnny Unitas to Raymond Berry. Mel Triplett rushed 1 yard for a touchdown late in the third quarter to cut the lead to 14-10, and then Frank Gifford scored on a 15-yard pass from Chuck Conerly early in the fourth quarter to give the Giants a 17-14 lead. With less than two minutes remaining, Mr. Unitas drove the Colts downfield, and Steve Myhra tied the game with a 20-yard field goal with 7 seconds left in regulation time. The Giants got the ball to start the overtime period, but were unable to move it, and Mr. Unitas drove the Colts from their own 20 for the winning score. This was not only the first NFL championship game to go into overtime, but is considered to be the game that established professional football as a game that could be successfully promoted on television.





40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Hey Jude/Revolution--The Beatles (13th week at #1)

#1 single in Rhodesia (Lyons Maid): Little Arrows--Leapy Lee (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France: Pauvre Verlaine--Salvatore Adamo

#1 single in Italy (FIMI): Zum zum zum--Sylvie Vartan (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Heidschi Bumbeidschi--Heintje (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Lily the Pink--The Scaffold (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Lily the Pink--The Scaffold (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Heard it Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye (3rd week at #1)

Netherlands Top 10 (De Nederlandse Top 40)
1 Eloise--Barry Ryan (4th week at #1)
2 Hair--Zen
3 Battle Hymn of the Republic--Andy Williams with the St. Charles Borromeo Choir
4 Lea--The Cats
5 Jerushala'im Shel Zahav--Rika Zarai
6 Just a Little Bit of Peace in My Heart--Golden Earrings
7 Going Up the Country--Canned Heat
8 Chewy Chewy--Ohio Express
9 Lily the Pink--The Scaffold
10 Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da--The Marmalade

Singles entering the chart were Ain't Got No--I Got Life by Nina Simone (#25); Build Me Up Buttercup by the Foundations (#30); De Glimlach Van een Kind by Willy Alberti (#32); Blackberry Way by the Move (#34); Nostalgic Toilet by Cuby & Blizzards (#37); and Bluebirds Over the Mountain by the Beach Boys (#40). Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. The version of Bluebirds Over the Mountain that was released in the Netherlands was different from the version released in North America; because of an error in the mixing instructions, the Dutch version contained acoustic guitar and percussion sounds missing from the North American version.

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Heard it Through the Grapevine--Marvin Gaye (2nd week at #1)
2 Stormy--Classics IV
3 Wichita Lineman--Glen Campbell
4 Abraham, Martin and John--Dion
5 I Love How You Love Me--Bobby Vinton
6 Love Child--Diana Ross and the Supremes
7 For Once in My Life--Stevie Wonder
8 Both Sides Now--Judy Collins
9 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me--Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations
10 Cloud Nine--The Temptations

Singles entering the chart were Touch Me by the Doors (#53); California Soul by the 5th Dimension (#56); Tit for Tat (Ain’t No Taking Back) by James Brown (#73); You Showed Me by the Turtles (#78); Does Anybody Know I'm Here by the Dells (#80); Can I Change My Mind by Tyrone Davis (#82); Build Me Up Buttercup by the Foundations (#84); Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March by the Box Tops (#86); May I by Bill Deal & the Rhondels (#90); Things I'd Like to Say by the New Colony Six (#91); I'm Into Lookin' for Someone to Love Me by Bobby Vee (#92); If it Wasn't for Bad Luck by Ray Charles and Jimmy Lewis (#93); The Thought of Loving You by Crystal Mansion (#94); Rain in My Heart by Frank Sinatra (#95); Goodnight My Love by Paul Anka (#97); Games People Play by Joe South (#99); and Poor Side of Town by Al Wilson (#100).

At the movies
Uptight, directed, co-produced, and co-written by Jules Dassin, and starring Raymond St. Jacques and Ruby Dee, opened in theatres.

War
Helicopter-born Israeli commandos bombed Beirut International Airport, destroying 13 Lebanese airliners.

It was disclosed that Lloyd Bucher, commander of the U.S. spy ship Pueblo, had signed a false confession of espionage when their North Korean captors threatened to shoot one member of the crew daily until he complied.

Disasters
All 12 people aboard a DC-3 were killed when it crashed in rugged terrain south of San Diego.

Tennis
Arthur Ashe, a 25-year-old U.S. Army lieutenant fresh from winning the United States Open, played a key role in the United States Davis Cup team's 4-1 victory over Australia that returned the Cup to the United States for the first time since 1963.

40 years ago
1978

Business
Crows Nest Industries and Crow's Nest Pass Oil and Gas Company amalgamated.

Disasters
United Airlines Fight 173, a DC-8 jet en route to Portland, Oregon, crashed into a residential area five miles southeast of the airport while attempting an emergency landing; amazingly, only 10 of the 185 people on board were killed.

25 years ago
1983

Died on this date
William Demarest, 91. U.S. actor. Mr. Demarest was a character actor in many movies in the 1930s and '40s, usually playing gruff characters with a "heart of gold." He was best known as Uncle Charley in the television comedy series My Three Sons (1965-1972).

Jimmy Demaret, 73. U.S. golfer. Mr. Demaret won 31 PGA tournaments from 1935-1957. He won the Masters in 1940, 1947, and 1950, becoming the first man to win the event three times.

Dennis Wilson, 39. U.S. musician. Mr. Wilson, the drummer with the Beach Boys, drowned while diving in a marina in southern California after several weeks of homelessness. Excessive appetites for drink and sex were his downfall. Mr. Wilson, the group's leading sex symbol, was the only Beach Boy who actually surfed, and in the early 1960s he suggested to older brother Brian that he write a song about surfing. Brian did, and the legend began. Dennis was never considered a great craftsman in terms of drumming ability (session legend Hal Blaine played on most of the records), but his "clubbing" style was well-suited to live appearances. His most notable vocal performance during the Beach Boys' peak years was his lead on Do You Wanna Dance, a hit from the early spring of 1965. His softer side can be heard on the ballad In the Back of My Mind, a cut from the album The Beach Boys Today!, which also included Do You Wanna Dance. Mr. Wilson was a late bloomer in terms of musical ability, and his compositions began to turn up on Beach Boys albums in 1968. He spent some time in the company of Charles Manson, and the song Never Learn Not to Love, released late in 1968 as the B-side of Bluebirds Over the Mountain, was supposedly written by Mr. Manson, although credited to (and sung by) Mr. Wilson. Dennis Wilson tried his hand at movie acting, co-starring with James Taylor in Two-Lane Blacktop, released in 1971. It was a good movie, but it fared poorly at the box office, and Mr. Wilson never acted in a movie again. A drunken accident circa 1971 involving a plate glass door resulted in injuries that prevented Mr. Wilson from playing the drums for several years, so he played keyboards on tour instead. A solo album called Pacific Ocean Blue was released in 1977 to generally positive reviews, but a subsequent album went unreleased (at least until 2008, when they were issued as a CD package). By 1979, years of heavy drinking and smoking had turned Dennis's husky voice into a raspy croak, and he was kicked out of the touring group for a time until he sobered up. His formerly handsome features now bloated and unrecognizable, Dennis Wilson made his last appearance on stage with the Beach Boys in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 4, 1983.

Religion
Billy Graham delivered the keynote evening address at KC '83, Campus Crusade for Christ's Christmas Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. The thing he said that made the most impact on me was his comment that the one thing he'd learned about life was how quickly it passes. The major morning address at Bartle Hall came from Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. His first of four talks, on the theme of what kind of person was needed to make an impact on a deteriorating society, was about Daniel, a person of competence.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Vingar--Mikael Rickfors

Terrorism
British investigators said that a powerful plastic explosive had destroyed the Boeing 747 that had exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland a week earlier, killing 270 people. "Conclusive evidence" of an explosive device had been found in a metal luggage holder in the wreckage.