January 14, 2010

230 years ago
1780

Born on this date
Henry Baldwin. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1830-1844. Mr. Baldwin, a Democratic-Republican, represented Pennsylvania's 14th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (1817-1822). He was a supporter of Andrew Jackson, and was rewarded with an appointment to the Supreme Court, succeeding the late Bushrod Washington. Justice Baldwin's opinions tended to occupy a middle ground between states' rights and nationalism. He suffered from paralysis in later years, and died in poverty on April 21, 1844 at the age of 64.

140 years ago
1870

Born on this date
George Pearce. Australian politician. Sir George was a member of four different parties during a long career, representing Western Australia in the Senate from 1901-1938. He held several cabinet posts, including four terms as Minister for Defence. Sir George died on June 24, 1952 at the age of 82.

130 years ago
1880

Born on this date
Paddy Livingston. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Livingston was a catcher with the Cleveland Blues (1901); Cincinnati Reds (1906); Philadelphia Athletics (1909-1911); Cleveland Naps (1912); and St. Louis Cardinals (1917), batting .209 with no home runs and 45 runs batted in in 206 games. He was with the Athletics when they won the World Series in 1910 and 1911. Mr. Livingston played at least 8 seasons in the minor leagues, including 4 years (1907-1908, 1913-1914) with the Indianapolis Indians of the AA American Association. Perhaps the highlight of his career was when he was named to a team of American League all-stars who played an exhibition game against the Naps in Cleveland on July 24, 1911 to benefit the widow of Cleveland pitcher Addie Joss, who had died three months earlier. Mr. Livingston entered the game as a substitute and batted 1 for 2 as the all-stars won 5-3. He was the oldest living former major leaguer at the time of his death on September 19, 1977 at the age of 97, and the last surviving player from the American League's first season as a major league in 1901, although he played just 1 game with the Blues.

Died on this date
Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, 50. Danish royal family member. Frederick VIII was the German pretender to the throne of Schleswig-Holstein from 1863-1866, although the Kingdom of Prussia held real administrative power.

110 years ago
1900

Opera
Tosca by Giacomo Puccini, based on the play La Tosca by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, received its premiere performance at Teatro Costanzi in Rome.

90 years ago
1920

Died on this date
John Francis Dodge, 55. U.S. automobile executive. Mr. Dodge and his brother Horace founded Dodge Brothers in 1914. The company was sold to Chrysler Corporation. John Dodge died of influenza and pneumonia.

70 years ago
1940

War
A Soviet submarine sank the Finnish armed yacht Aora en route to Stockholm. The U.S.S.R. protested to Sweden and Norway against their material and moral aid to Finland. Three Democratic United States Senators--Alben Barkley (Kentucky), Claude Pepper (Florida), and Robert Wagner (New York)--said that as a neutral nation, the United States was in the best position to halt the war.

Politics and government
Japanese Prime Minister Noriyuki Abe and his entire cabinet resigned. Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai accepted the imperial command to form a new cabinet.

Crime
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover announced the arrest of 18 members of the Christian Front for plotting to overthrow the government of the United States.

Diplomacy
American Jewish Congress President Stephen Wise said that the organization's prime goal was to seek the restoration of Jewish rights in Palestine.

Labour
Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis declared 5 major league players and 87 minor league players free agents as a result of rules violations by the management of the Detroit Tigers.

Football
NFL
All-Star Game @ Gilmore Stadium, Los Angeles
Green Bay 16 NFL All-Stars 7

18,000 fans saw the 1939 champion Packers defeat the All-Stars. Steve Owen of the New York Giants coached the All-Stars.

60 years ago
1950

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)--Burl Ives; Dinah Shore (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): I Can Dream, Can't I?--The Andrews Sisters with Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra (Best Seller--1st week at #1; Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1); Mule Train--Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners (Jukebox)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 I Can Dream, Can't I?--The Andrews Sisters (2nd week at #1)
2 Mule Train--Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners
--Bing Crosby
--Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra
--Tennessee Ernie
3 Dear Hearts and Gentle People--Bing Crosby
--Dinah Shore
4 Slipping Around--Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
5 A Dreamer's Holiday--Perry Como
--Buddy Clark with the Girl Friends
6 The Old Master Painter--Dick Haymes
--Richard Hayes
--Phil Harris and his Orchestra
7 Don't Cry, Joe--Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
8 There's No Tomorrow--Tony Martin
9 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer--Gene Autry and the Pinafores
10 Johnson Rag--Jack Teter Trio
--Jimmy Dorsey and his Original "Dorseyland" Jazz Band
--Russ Morgan and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were I Gotta Have My Baby Back by Ella Fitzgerald (#35); The Blossoms on the Bough, with versions by Jan Garber and his Orchestra; and the Andrews Sisters (#38); and Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) by Jo Stafford (#40).

World events
Bolivian President Mamerto Urriolagolitia placed the country under a state of siege in order to forestall an alleged fascist revolutionary plot.

British authorities in Eritrea imposed a curfew in Asmara and Decamere after anti-Italian riots by youths in the two cities.

Diplomacy
The U.S. State Department recalled all its personnel from Communist China, charging that the Communists had seized the U.S. consulate general in Peking. Sweden recognized the People's Republic of China.

Former Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak, speaking in Philadelphia, criticized the United Kingdom for its reluctance to cooperate with other Western European states, and urged the British to abandon their traditional hope of wielding a balance of power in Europe.

Defense
The first prototype of the Soviet MiG-17 fighter plane made its maiden flight.

Politics and government
Former U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes announced in Spartanburg, South Carolina that he was a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination as Governor of South Carolina.

Scandal
The U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association barred seven schools, including Boston College and the University of Virginia, from NCAA competition for violating a "sanity code" barring pay or special treatment for college athletes.

Labour
Unemployment in the United States hit a post-World War Ii peak of 4.48 million.

11,000 striking coal miners voted to reject United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis's suggestion that they return to work on January 16 on a three-day-per-week basis.

50 years ago
1960

Hit parade
#1 single in Norway (VG-lista): What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?--Emile Ford and the Checkmates (4th week at #1)

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Noise of Death, with guest stars J. Carrol Naish, Henry Silva, and Norma Crane

Economics and finance
The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank and banknote issuing authority, was established.

40 years ago
1970

On television tonight
Then Came Bronson, starring Michael Parks, on NBC
Tonight's episode: A-Pickin' An' A-Singin'

Music
Diana Ross and the Supremes performed their last concert together, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. Miss Ross was about to embark on a solo career, and her replacement, Jean Terrell, was introduced at the concert.

Diplomacy
Countries and agencies that were "studiously hostile" toward Nigeria during its civil war were banned by Nigeria’s federal government from providing relief to the war’s victims. Joint Church Aid, Caritas, Canairelief, and the Nordic Red Cross were named in the announcement. American offers of relief aid had drawn a statement of "warm appreciation" from Nigeria’s head of state, Major General Yakubu Gowon, according to the U.S. State Department.

West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, stressing that "we are not foreign countries to each other," offered to negotiate a non-aggression pact with East Germany in his first state-of-the-nation address to the Bundestag. He added, however, that West Germany had no intention of granting international recognition to the East German regime of President Walter Ulbricht.

Politics and government
Japan’s House of Representatives, convening in a new session after the previous month’s national election, re-elected Eisaku Sato as Prime Minister in a vote that followed party lines. Prime Minister Sato announced a new cabinet that emphasized his belief in the continuation of pro-American foreign policies and moderately conservative domestic policies.

Society
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that integration of 14 school districts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas had to take place no later than February 1. The decision, with Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justice Potter Stewart dissenting, overturned a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that had allowed a delay until September. The ruling also turned down a U.S. Justice Department request that the September deadline be approved. The ruling would affect 300,000 pupils.

Science
The Zale Corporation of New York City, one of the largest jewellery concerns in the world, announced the discovery of a 435-carat rough diamond. A 150-carat pear-shaped diamond that would be the second-largest such gem in the world was to be cut from the stone.

Disasters
10 were killed and 140 injured in a train derailment in northern Brazil.

30 years ago
1980

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Video Killed the Radio Star--The Buggles (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Ihōjin--Sayuri Kume (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Háblame de Tí--Pecos

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Maybe--Thom Pace (9th week at #1)

On television tonight
Family, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Jack of Hearts

Died on this date
Robert Ardrey, 71. U.S. writer. Mr. Ardrey was a playwright and screenwriter, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for Khartoum (1966). He concentrated in paleoanthropology in later years, moved to South Africa, and became a propagandist for evolution, writing books such as African Genesis (1961); The Territorial Imperative (1966); and The Hunting Hypothesis (1976).

Diplomacy
The United Nations General Assembly voted 104-18 to condemn the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and demand that the U.S.S.R. withdraw its forces immediately.

Iran ousted all U.S. journalists from the country after reports had been filed about domestic unrest that had occurred in Tabriz on January 4-6.

Politics and government
Indira Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister of India, just over a week after being returned to power in national elections. Her cabinet had 14 members.

Health
U.S. Surgeon General Julius Richmond warned that lung cancer among women was increasing dramatically and that within three years it could overtake breast cancer as the leading cancer killer of women. The rate of lung cancer death for women had increased three fold from 5 per 100,000 in the early 1960s to 15 per 100,000 in 1978. Scientists projected that by 1983 the rate would approach 25 deaths per 100,000. The report stated, "...the first signs of an epidemic of smoking-related disease among women are now appearing." The report also said that pregnant women who smoked ran an increased risk of problems before, during, and after childbirth. Most previous reports on smoking had concentrated on men, since women didn’t begin smoking in large numbers until after World War II.. As the women grew older and continued to smoke, doctors were able to trace the same symptoms and problems as those experienced by men.

20 years ago
1990

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Love Shack--The B-52's

#1 single in Switzerland: Girl I'm Gonna Miss You--Milli Vanilli (7th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 All Around the World--Lisa Stansfield (2nd week at #1)
2 Listen to Your Heart--Roxette
3 Another Day in Paradise--Phil Collins
4 Girl I'm Gonna Miss You--Milli Vanilli
5 Leave a Light On--Belinda Carlisle
6 The Road to Hell (Part 2)--Chris Rea
7 Pump Up the Jam--Technotronic featuring Felly
8 We Didn't Start the Fire--Billy Joel
9 Don't Know Much--Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
10 Ride on Time--Black Box

Singles entering the chart were Do You Want Me Tonite by Bilgeri (#11); Losing My Mind by Liza Minnelli (#22); Room in Your Heart by Living in a Box (#27); and Der Bätmän bin i by Johann K. (#28).

Disasters
On the last day before huge cuts in VIA Rail service took effect, the Canadian, VIA’s transcontinental train, collided with a pickup truck and killed two people at a level crossing near Pembroke, Ontario.

About 100 people were killed when a ferry collided with another vessel in a river near Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Football
NFL
AFC Championship
Cleveland 21 @ Denver 37



NFC Championship
Los Angeles Rams 3 @ San Francisco 30



10 years ago
2000

Died on this date
Leonard Weisgard, 83. U.S.-born author and illustrator. Mr. Weisgard wrote and illustrated more than 200 books for children. He was best known for his collaborations with Margaret Wise Brown.

Abominations
A United Nations tribunal sentenced five Roman Catholic Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years in prison for the 1993 killing of more than 100 Bosnian Muslims.

Energy
A shipment of weapons-grade plutonium from the United States arrived at a laboratory in Chalk River, Ontario by helicopter, thwarting protesters’ plans to block highways along its route.

Hockey
NHL
Toronto 3 Edmonton 2 (OT)