January 19, 2017

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Inese!

200 years ago
1817

War
An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, began crossing the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.

125 years ago
1892

Born on this date
Mady Christians. Austrian-born U.S. actress. Miss Christians, a native of Vienna, moved to Berlin with her family at the age of 1 and to New York City in 1912, where her father was a theatre manager. She appeared in movies in Europe from 1916-1933, including Dich hab ich geliebt (It's You I Have Loved) (1929), Germany's first all-sound film. Miss Christians moved to the United States in 1934, and became known for her starring roles in plays such as Watch on the Rhine (1941) and I Remember Mama (1944). Her Hollywood movies included Come and Get It (1936); Tender Comrade (1943); and All My Sons (1948). Miss Christians was critical of U.S. congressional investigation of alleged Communists, which led the Federal Bureau of Investigation's security division to begin investigating her. Miss Christians was offered a role in the Somerset Maugham TV Theatre production of The Mother (1951), but was dropped a week before rehearsals were to begin, although she was still offered the salary. She was briefly hospitalized as a result of the stress, and collapsed and died from a cerebral hemorrhage at a friend's home on October 28, 1951 at the age of 59.

100 years ago
1917

Disasters
73 people were killed and more than 400 injured in an explosion at a munitions factory in Silvertown, West Ham, Essex, England.

90 years ago
1927

Died on this date
Carlota, 76. Empress consort of Mexico, 1864-1867. Carlota, born Charlotte, was the only daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium. She married her second cousin Archduke Maximilian, the younger brother of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, in 1857, and became queen consort of Mexico when her husband was installed as a figurehead ruler after the intervention of French troops on the initiative of Emperor Napoleon III. When the French began to withdraw their troops from Mexico, Empress Carlota sailed to France in 1866 in an attempt to persuade Emperor Napoleon to change his decision; she was unsuccessful, and the strain of her mission had serious effects on her physical and mental health. After Emperor Maximilian was executed by Republican forces, Charlotte, now once again an archduchess, lived as a dowager at Miramare Castle, Maximilian's estate in Trieste. She died of pneumonia caused by influenza.

80 years ago
1937

Aviation
Howard Hughes set a transcontinental record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

75 years ago
1942

War
The Japanese conquest of Burma began.

60 years ago
1957

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray (7th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Oh Billy Boy--Club Argentina

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Singing the Blues--Tommy Steele

#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Singing the Blues--Guy Mitchell (Best Seller--7th week at #1; Disc Jockey--7th week at #1; Jukebox--6th week at #1; Top 100--7th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Singing the Blues--Guy Mitchell (8th week at #1)
2 The Banana Boat Song--The Tarriers
3 Young Love--Sonny James
--Tab Hunter
4 The Green Door--Jim Lowe
5 Love Me Tender--Elvis Presley
6 Blueberry Hill--Fats Domino
7 Don't Forbid Me--Pat Boone
8 Just Walking in the Rain--Johnnie Ray
9 A Rose and a Baby Ruth--George Hamilton IV
10 True Love--Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly

Singles entering the chart were Knee Deep in the Blues by Guy Mitchell (#36); Little by Little by Nappy Brown (#40); Can I Steal a Little Love by Frank Sinatra (#41); and Wringle Wrangle, with versions by Fess Parker and Bill Hayes (#44).

Died on this date
József Dudás, 44. Hungarian politician and activist. Mr. Dudás was a Communist in the 1930s, but joined the Independent Smallholders' Party in 1945. He was imprisoned from 1945-1951, but participated in the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. He used violence in an attempt to gain recognition from the invading Soviets as Hungary's true leader rather than Pemier Imre Nagy, but he was arrested by U.S.S.R. authorities on November 21, 1956, and was sentenced to death, and executed.

50 years ago
1967

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): I'm a Believer--The Monkees

At the movies
Hotel, starring Rod Taylor, Catherine Spaak, Melvyn Douglas, Karl Malden, and many others, opened in theatres.

On television tonight
Dragnet 1967, starring Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Big Explosion



Music
The Beatles were in studio two at Abbey Road in London, where they began recording the song A Day in the Life.

40 years ago
1977

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K (New Musical Express): Don't Give Up on Us--David Soul (2nd week at #1)

War
U.S. President Gerald Ford, on his last full day in office, pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino--popularly known as "Tokyo Rose"--for making propaganda broadcasts for Radio Tokyo during World War II. Miss Toguri, an American citizen, had been visiting relatives in Japan in December 1941 and had been unable to get on the last planes removing Americans from the country. She made broadcasts under pressure from the Japanese government, while refusing to renounce her American citizenship. Miss Toguri was returned to the United States after the war, and served more than six years in prison.

30 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Funkytown--Pseudo Echo (5th week at #1)

Died on this date
Lawrence Kohlberg, 59. U.S. psychologist. Dr. Kohlberg was a developmental psychologist who was known for his theory that individuals go through six stages of development of moral reasoning. He contracted a parasitic illness while working in Belize in 1971, which may have contributed to his suicide by walking into the icy waters of Boston Harbor.

25 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): I'm Too Sexy--Right Said Fred

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Let's Talk About Sex--Salt-n-Pepa (10th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Let's Talk About Sex--Salt-n-Pepa

20 years ago
1997

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): To the Moon and Back--Savage Garden

#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Don't Speak--No Doubt

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Un-Break My Heart--Toni Braxton

#1 single in Switzerland: Time to Say Goodbye (Con te partirò)--Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli

Died on this date
James Dickey, 73. U.S. writer. Mr. Dickey was United States Poet Laureate from 1966-1968, and was also known for his only novel, Deliverance (1970). He died of fibrosis of the lungs, two weeks before his 74th birthday.

World events
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron after more than 30 years, and joined celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city to the Palestinian Authority.

10 years ago
2007

Died on this date
Denny Doherty, 66. Canadian musician. Mr. Doherty, a native of Halifax, was a member of the singing group the Big 3 with Cass Elliot and the Mugwumps, which included Miss Elliot, Zal Yanovsky, and Jim Hendricks, before teaming up with Miss Elliot, John Phillips, and Michelle Gilliam to form the Mamas and the Papas in 1965. Mr. Doherty's voice contributed to a string of memorable hit singles from 1966-1968, before the group broke up. In later years, Mr. Doherty recorded some solo material, performed with a reconstituted version of the Mamas and the Papas, and appeared on Canadian television. He died after surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Hrant Dink, 53. Turkish journalist. Mr. Dink was editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, and advocated Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. He was assassinated in Istanbul as he returned to his office. 17-year-old Turkish ultranationalist Ogün Samast was convicted in 2011 by Istanbul's Heavy Juvenile Criminal Court of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm, and was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison