December 12, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Robb Findlay!

120 years ago
1889

Died on this date
Robert Browning, 77. U.K. poet. Mr. Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. He was known for his romance with and marriage to Elizabeth Barrett, one of the most famous poetesses of the 19th century.

100 years ago
1909

Born on this date
Karen Morley. U.S. actress. Miss Morley, born Mildred Linton, appeared in movies such as Scarface (1932); Our Daily Bread (1934); and Pride and Prejudice (1940), moving into stage roles in the 1940s. Her movie career virtually ended in 1947 when she was blacklisted by Hollywood studios after testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee and refusing to answer questions about her alleged American Communist Party membership. Miss Morley died on March 8, 2003 at the age of 93.

70 years ago
1939

Died on this date
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., 56. U.S. actor. Mr. Fairbanks was one of the most popular movie stars of the silent era, first in comedies and then in adventure films such as The Mark of Zorro (1920); The Three Musketeers (1921); Robin Hood (1922); The Thief of Bagdad (1924); and The Black Pirate (1926). His second wife was actress Mary Pickford, and they, along with director D.W. Griffith and movie comedian Charlie Chaplin, founded the United Artists studio in 1919. Mr. Fairbanks died of a heart attack.

War
Finnish forces defeated those of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, the Finns' first major victory of the Winter War.

Disasters
The British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duchess sank after being accidentally rammed by the battleship HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland in heavy fog, with the loss of 124 men.

60 years ago
1949

On television tonight
Lights Out, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Justice Lies Waiting, starring John Boruff, Lawrence Fletcher, and Mercer McLeod

Died on this date
Edmund Fairchild, 83. U.S. publisher. Mr. Fairchild founded Fairchild Publications (now Fairchild Fashion Media), publisher of fashion and beauty magazines.

Divorced on this date
Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson (Democrat) was divorced by his wife Ellen in Las Vegas.

War
30 nations, including the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., U.K., and France, signed the new Geneva convention on the rules of war.

Economics and finance
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the 1947 rent control law, reversing the decision of a Chicago district court.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service revoked the tax exemption of the George W. Armstrong Trust Fund, established to foster the teaching of white supremacy.

Labour
10,000 United Steel Workers of America members ended a 38-day strike against the Timken Roller Bearing Company in Canton, Ohio after the firm agreed to the creation of an employer-financed pension fund on the steel industry model.

Golf
Fred Haas won the Miami Open.

50 years ago
1959

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

#1 single in Italy: Arrivederci--Don Marino Barreto, Jr. (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Unter fremden Sternen--Freddy Quinn (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): What Do You Want?--Adam Faith (2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin (8th week at #1)
2 Heartaches by the Number--Guy Mitchell
3 So Many Ways--Brook Benton
4 We Got Love--Bobby Rydell
5 Don't You Know--Della Reese
6 Oh! Carol--Neil Sedaka
7 In the Mood--Ernie Fields Orchestra
8 Mr. Blue--The Fleetwoods
9 Uh! Oh!--The Nutty Squirrels
10 Dance with Me--The Drifters

Singles entering the chart were Ebb Tide by Roy Hamilton (#61, charting with the version by Bobby Freeman); What About Us (#67)/Run Red Run (#71) by the Coasters; Not One Minute More by Della Reese (#76); A Year Ago Tonight by the Crests (#89); The Golden Rule by 'Cile Turner (#90); If I Had a Girl by Rod Lauren (#92); How About That by Dee Clark (#95); Just Come Home by Hugo & Luigi, Their Orchestra and Chorus (#96); My Secret by the Platters (#98); Harlem Nocturne by the Viscounts (#99); and Hallelujah, I Love Her So by Eddie Cochran (#100). The version of Ebb Tide by Roy Hamilton had failed to make the Cash Box chart upon its original release in 1954.

Vancouver's Top 10 (CFUN)
1 First Name Initial--Annette with the Afterbeats (2nd week at #1)
2 Hound Dog Man--Fabian
3 Running Bear--Johnny Preston
4 That's All Right--Ray Smith
5 This Friendly World--Fabian
6 Oh! Carol--Neil Sedaka
7 Believe Me--The Royal Teens
8 Why--Frankie Avalon
9 Danny Boy--Conway Twitty
10 Boom Boom Baby--Crash Craddock

Singles entering the chart were Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms (#13); Go, Jimmy, Go by Jimmy Clanton (#21); Among My Souvenirs by Connie Francis (#27); Pretty Blue Eyes by Steve Lawrence (#31); and Dance with Me by the Drifters (#38). Jingle Bell Rock had originally been a hit in 1957, but CFUN didn't have a chart then.

Space
The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved a joint East-West resolution establishing a permanent UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

War
Paraguayan Army units repulsed an invasion by 1,000 guerrillas based in Argentina after the rebel groups landed in and around the Parana River port of Encarnacion.

Politics and government
The Northern People's Congress won 134 of 312 seats in the House of Representatives in the Nigerian general election, and combined with two smaller parties and independents to form a 148-seat coalition. The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, which led the popular vote, took 81 seats, and combined with the Northern Elements Progressive Union to form an 89-seat coalition. The Action Group, which took 73 seats, combined with 2 independents for a 75-seat coalition. The number of seats had been increased from 174 in the most recent election in 1954.

Labour
Pittsburgh transit workers ended a five-day strike after agreeing to a three-year contract providing raises totalling 26c hourly.

Auto racing
Bruce McLaren won the Sebring Grand Prix in Florida, but Jack Brabham clinched the 1959 world driving championship by finishing fourth.





40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Don't Forget to Remember--The Bee Gees (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Sugar Sugar--The Archies (5th week at #1)

Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 One Tin Soldier--The Original Caste (2nd week at #1)
2 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
3 I Still Believe in Tomorrow--John and Anne Ryder
4 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head--B.J. Thomas
5 Holly Holy--Neil Diamond
6 Eli's Coming--Three Dog Night
7 Down on the Corner/Fortunate Son--Creedence Clearwater Revival
8 Up on Cripple Creek--The Band
9 Whole Lotta Love--Led Zeppelin
10 Heaven Knows--The Grass Roots

Singles entering the chart were She by Tommy James and the Shondells (#25); La La La (If I Had You) by Bobby Sherman (#26); Arizona by Mark Lindsay (#27); Wonderful World, Beautiful People by Jimmy Cliff (#28); and Let's Work Together (Part 1) by Wilbert Harrison (#29).

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Something/Come Together--The Beatles (6th week at #1)
2 Take a Letter Maria--R.B. Greaves
3 One Tin Soldier--The Original Caste
4 Leaving on a Jet Plane--Peter, Paul and Mary
5 Cherry Hill Park--Billy Joe Royal
6 Cold Turkey--Plastic Ono Band
7 And When I Die--Blood, Sweat & Tears
8 Eli's Coming--Three Dog Night
9 Down on the Corner--Creedence Clearwater Revival
10 Smile a Little Smile for Me--The Flying Machine

At the movies
The Magic Christian, directed and co-written by Joseph McGrath, and starring Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr, John Cleese, Raquel Welch, and many others, opened in theatres in the United Kingdom.





Terrorism
At least 13 people were killed and more than 100 injured after a bomb exploded at a bank in Milan, Italy. Up to 14 people were also injured in simultaneous blasts at a bank and memorial in the Rome. Another bomb was later discovered by police near Milan's La Scala opera house.

Disasters
21 were killed and 40 injured when a Rhodesian bus plunged into the Gwai River.

Boxing
In what may have been the last major fight between white heavyweights to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York (or anywhere else, for that matter), George Chuvalo (56-15-2) of Toronto knocked out Jerry Quarry (33-4-4) of Bakersfield, California with 1 second remaining in the 7th round. Mr. Quarry seemed to be in control, and had even managed to virtually shut one of Mr. Chuvalo’s eyes, but the Canadian knocked down the Californian with a hard punch to the chin. Mr. Quarry jumped up and then went down to one knee, apparently waiting until the count reached 9 before getting to his feet. However, he waited too long, and was counted out.



Ruben Olivares (55-0-1) retained his world bantamweight title with a technical knockout of Alan Rudkin (38-6) at 2:30 of the 2nd round at the Forum in Inglewood, California. On the undercard, Chucho Castillo (39-8-2) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Raul Cruz (16-4) in another bantamweight bout. Mr. Cruz had won a 12-round majority decision over Mr. Castillo two months earlier.



30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Walking on the Moon--The Police

World events
General Chung Seung Hwa, Martial Law Commander and Army Chief of Staff of South Korea was arrested along with at least other 16 top officers by a group of generals led by Major General Chon Too Hwan, the chief of the Army Security Command and head of the investigation into the October 26 assassination of President Park Chung Hee. At least five people, including four of Gen. Chung’s guards, were killed in a shootout before the arrest. Official South Korean accounts said that Gen. Chung was suspected of taking part in President Park’s assassination.

Abominations
The unrecognized state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia returned to British control and resumed using the name Southern Rhodesia.

Defense
With the exceptions of France and Greece, the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed to install 572 medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe by 1983. The Netherlands and Belgium said that they would not agree to accept their quotas of 48 missiles each until negotiations for arms control were tried again and there was no progress. The missiles would be the first nuclear weapons in Europe capable of hitting targets within the U.S.S.R. Accompanying the decision was an offer from the allies to limit their missiles’ installation if the Soviets agreed to negotiate limits on Soviet missiles targeted on western Europe. The move was in response to a continuing Soviet buildup that most recently had deployed highly accurate and mobile SS-20 missiles capable of delivering 600 to 700 warheads on western Europe.

U.S. President Jimmy Carter proposed a 4.5% annual increase in the military budget over the next five years, compared with the 3% "real" annual increases that he had sought for the previous three years. He said that he would seek Congressional approval of a military budget of $157 billion in appropriations for fiscal 1981. To explain his request, President Carter cited recent events in Iran as a "vivid reminder" of America’s need for military strength. In addition, he mentioned that the U.S.S.R. had been increasing its real military spending by 3%-4% per year for nearly 20 years while U.S. military spending had "declined in real terms every year from 1968 through 1976."

Diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance concluded two days of visits to various European capitals to ask America’s allies to take joint economic action against Iran.

Disasters
An earthquake struck the Colombia-Ecuador border area, killing at least 133 people and injuring at least 2,000.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 5 Atlanta 5

Basketball
NCAA
The University of Michigan Wolverines and University of Detroit Titans played in the first event held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

20 years ago
1989

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Math Class Squared

Diplomacy
The presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, signed a peace agreement for the Central American region. The agreement declared that all support for the 10,000 rebels fighting against the Nicaraguan regime should be channeled through an international commission set up to disband the rebels. The accord included a strong endorsement of the government of President Alfredo Cristiani of El Salvador, which was also under attack from a rebel force.

U.S. Secretary of State James Baker delivered a speech in East Berlin and then went to Potsdam to meet with East German Premier Hans Modrow.

Politics and government
At the opening of the Congress of People’s Deputies in Moscow, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev averted an effort to debate the leading role of the Communist Party in the U.S.S.R. Among those opposing Mr. Gorbachev and calling for a debate was nuclear physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Transportation
Canadian Pacific Rail ran the first regular freight train through the 14.5-kilometre Mount MacDonald Tunnel at Revelstoke, British Columbia, the longest rail tunnel in the Americas.

10 years ago
1999

Died on this date
Joseph Heller, 76. U.S. author. Mr. Heller was best known for his novels Catch-22 (1961) and Something Happened (1974). He died of a heart attack.

Scandal
The International Olympic Committee banned visits to bid cities by its members. The practice of such visits had led to the organization’s worst corruption scandal, concerning the awarding of the 2002 winter games to Salt Lake City. Despite complaints that a ban on visits suggested that the members couldn’t be trusted, delegates fell into line behind a sweeping reform package designed to salvage the committee’s credibility.

Business
Six farmers opposed to genetically-engineered crops filed a suit alleging that Monsanto Co. and other firms had conspired to take over the seed trade and push biotech crops to market without adequate environmental and health testing.

Labour
About 30 workers ended a three-week occupation of a Molson Breweries plant near Barrie, Ontario that had taken place in protest against plans to close the brewery.