On This Day in History......

0888 Duke Odo becomes king of West-France
1099 Crusaders set fire to Mara Syria
1547 Earl Henry Howard of Surrey sentenced to death
1559 Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey
1610 Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th satellite of Jupiter
1621 Jan Pieterszoon Coen's fleet sets sail to Moluccas (from Jacarta)
1630 Patent to Plymouth Colony issued
1673 Jean Racine's "Mithridate" premieres in Paris
1695 Jonathan Swift ordained an Anglican priest in Ireland
1733 James Oglethorpe & 130 English colonists arrive at Charleston, SC
1770 De Beaumarchais' "Les Deux Amis" premieres in Paris
1785 John Walter publishes 1st issue of London Times
1794 Congress changes US flag to 15 stars & 15 stripes
1830 Great fire in New Orleans thought to be set by rebel slaves
1849 Vancouver Island granted to Hudson's Bay Co
1854 Anthony Foss patents the accordion
1863 Chenille manufacturing machine patented by William Canter, New York City NY
1863 Thomas Crapper pioneers one-piece pedestal flushing toilet
1865 Federals attack Fort Fisher NC
1869 National convention of black leaders meets in Washington DC
1869 Colored National Labor Union, 1st Black labor convention
1873 PBS Pinchback relinquishes office at Louisiana Governor
1874 Battle between jobless & police in New York City NY, 100s injured
1874 US troops land in Honolulu to protect the king
1882 Richard Wagner completes his opera "Parsifal"
1883 Fire in circus Ferroni in Berditschoft Poland kills 430
1883 Henrik Ibsen's "En Folkefiende" premieres in Oslo
1888 National Geographic Society founded (Washington DC)
1893 British Independent Labor Party forms (Keir Hardie as its leader)
1894 Revolution in Sicily crushed by government troops
1895 Oscar Wilde's "Ideal Husband" premieres in London
1898 Emile Zola publishes his open letter (J'accuse) in defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus in Paris
1902 Textile workers strike in Enschede Netherlands till June 1
1906 1st radio set advertised (Telimco for $7.50 in Scientific American) claimed to receive signals up to one mile
1908 Montréal Wanderers sweep Ottawa Victorias in 2 for the Stanley Cup
1908 French pilot Henry Farman is 1st European to fly roundtrip
1910 JM Synge's "Deirdre of the Sorrows" premieres in Dublin
1911 Gerhart Hauptmann's "Die Ratten" premieres in Berlin
1911 Roald Amundsens anchors at Walvis Bay
1911 South Africa's 1st win over Australia, at Adelaide
1912 -40ºF (-40ºC), Oakland MD (state record)
1914 IWW-leader/songwriter Joe Hill arrested "Girl from Utah" East-Prussia
1915 Earthquake in Avezzano Italy kills 30,000
1915 W Churchill presents plan for assault on Dardanelles
1919 Dutch Soccer team OSV forms
1920 New York Times editorial (falsely) reports rockets can never fly
1922 WHA-AM in Madison WI begins radio transmissions
1922 Buck Weaver, a Black Sox, applies unsuccessfully for reinstatement
1922 Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments ended
1924 Nationalist Wafd-party wins Egyptian parliament elections
1927 US & Mexico battle over oil interests
1929 Humanist Society established, Hollywood CA
1930 "Mickey Mouse" comic strip 1st appears
1935 Plebiscite in Saar, indicates a desire (90.3%) to join Nazi Germany
1939 Belgian premier signs Burgos-treaty for trade relations with Franco
1942 German U-boats begin harassing shipping on US east coast
1942 Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies
1942 Allied Conference for war trials
1942 Interallied war trial conference publishes St James Declaration
1943 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Casablanca
1943 Hitler declares "Total War"
1943 Russian offensive at Don under General Golikov
1943 US infantry captures Galloping Horse-ridge Guadalcanal
1945 Prokofchev's 5th Symphony premieres in Moscow
1948 1st country music TV show, Midwestern Hayride, premieres on WLW Cincinnati OH
1949 "Along 5th Avenue" opens at Broadhurst Theater New York City NY for 180 performances
1951 German General F Christian freed early from Dutch prison
1951 9 Jewish Kremlin physicians "exposed" as British/US agents; known as the Doctors' Plot
1953 Gas explosion in Belgium coal mine kills 14
1953 KOLD TV channel 13 in Tucson, AZ (CBS) begins broadcasting
1953 Marshal Josip Tito chosen president of Yugoslavia
1954 Military rule in Egypt; 318 Mohammedan Brotherhood arrested
1954 WEAR TV channel 3 in Pensacola-Mobile, FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
1957 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Allen Tate
1957 Mickey Wright wins Sea Island Golf Open
1957 NFL Pro Bowl West beats East 19-10
1957 Wham-O Company produces the 1st Frisbee
1958 9,000 scientists of 43 nations petition UN for nuclear test ban
1958 US newspaper "Daily Worker" ceases publication
1959 De Gaulle grants amnesty to 130 to Algerian death row convicts
1959 King Boudouin promises Belgian Congo independence
1962 Wilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia Warriors scores NBA-record 73 points vs Chicago
1962 "Do Re Mi" closes at St James Theater New York City NY after 400 performances
1963 AFL Pro Bowl West beats East 21-14
1963 NFL Pro Bowl East beats West 30-20
1964 Karol Wojtyla becomes archbishop of Krakow
1966 1st black selected for Presidential cabinet (LBJ selects Robert C Weaver-HUD)
1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1967 Coup in Togo
1967 Rolling Stones appear on Ed Sullivan Show
1968 "Hallelujah, Baby!" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City NY after 293 performances
1968 "Illya Darling" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City NY after 320 performances
1968 Beginning of Tet-offensive in Vietnam
1968 Minnesota North Stars center Bill Masterton fatally injured (dies on 15th)
1969 Beatles release "Yellow Submarine" album
1971 "Soon" closes at Ritz Theater New York City NY after 3 performances
1972 Former umpire, now housewife Bernice Gera wins her suit against baseball, initiated on March 15, 1971 to be allowed to umpire
1973 "Tricks" closes at Alvin Theater New York City NY after 8 performances
1973 Efskind skates world record 1000m (1 17.6)
1974 Super Bowl VIII Miami Dolphins beat Minnesota Vikings, 24-7 in Houston; Super Bowl MVP Larry Csonka, Miami, Running Back
1976 Sarah Caldwell is 1st woman to conduct at NY's Metropolitan Opera House as she led orchestra in a performance of "La Traviata"
1979 Charlie Daniels hosts the Volunteer Jam
1979 YMCA files libel suit against Village People's YMCA song
1980 "King of Schnorrers" closes at Playhouse Theater New York City NY after 63 performances
1980 Head of narcotic brigade arrested for drug smuggling in Belgium
1980 Togo's constitution becomes effective
1981 Barbara Sonntag, Colorado, crochets record 147 stitches/minutes for 30 minutes
1981 Islander's Mike Bossy's 15th career hat trick-4 goals
1981 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to May Swenson & Howard Nemerov
1982 Air Florida 737 took off in a snowstorm, crashes into the 14th St Bridge in Washington, DC, & falls into the Potomac River, killing 78
1982 Hank Aaron & Frank Robinson elected to Hall of Fame
1983 AMA urges ban on boxing cites Muhammad Ali's deteriorating condition
1983 Québec Nordiques play 251st NHL game without being shut out
1984 TV anchor Christine Craft wins $325,000 in her case against KMBC-TV
1985 99-year-old Otto Bucher scores a hole-in-one at Spanish golf course
1985 Blackhawk Doug Wilson failed on 12th penalty shot against Islanders
1985 Express train derails in Ethiopia, kills at least 428
1985 23rd Tennis Fed Cup Czech beats USA in Nagoya Japan (2-1)
1985 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $17,1000,000
1986 Bloody coup overthrows government of South Yemen
1986 NCCA institutes eligibility requirements based on college exams
1987 7 top New York Mafia bosses sentenced to 100 years in prison each
1987 W German police arrest Mohammed Ali Hamadi, suspect in 1985 hijacking
1988 Supreme Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school newspapers, plays & other expressive activities
1988 Los Angeles Dodger/San Diego Padre Steve Garvey retires
1989 "Friday the 13th" virus strikes hundreds of IBM computers in Britain
1989 Jerry Parks, Oklahoma defensive back, charged with shooting a teammate
1989 Ruins of Mashkan-shapir (occupied 2050-1720 BC) found in Iraq
1989 Soap opera "Ryan's Hope" final episode after 13½ year run
1989 Subway gunman Bernhard Goetz begins 1-year jail sentence
1989 Computers across Britain hit by "Friday the 13th" virus
1990 1st elected US black governor inaugurated (Douglas Wilder-Virginia)
1991 UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar meets with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad
1991 12th ACE Cable Awards HBO wins 25 awards
1991 42 killed in exhibition soccer match in Johannesburg South Africa
1991 Phil Mickelson wins PGA Northern Telecom Golf Open
1991 President Mario Soares of Portugal re-elected
1991 Soccer stadium riot in Orkney South Africa, at least 40 die
1992 Excavation of new ballpark at Gateway (Jacobs Field) begins
1992 US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty but insane
1993 STS-54 (Endeavour) launches into orbit
1994 Italian government of Ciampi resigns
1994 Tonya Harding's bodyguard, Shawn Eric Eckardt & Derrick Brian Smith arrested & charged with conspiracy in attack of skater Nancy Kerrigan
1995 26 HNL teams unanimously ratify agreement to end NHL strike
1995 America3 becomes 1st all-female crew to win an America's Cup race
1998 "Patti LaBelle On Broadway" opens at St James Theater New York City NY
1998 CBS pays $4 billion to televise AFC games for 8-years
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Missing in Action

1961 DUFFY CHARLES J. CAPT W/LAO JPRC FILE POSS DEAD REFNO 0002
1967 CRONIN MICHAEL P. PITTSBURGH PA 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 96
1967 TURLEY MORVAN DARRELL KANSAS CITY MO 10/12/67 REMAINS RECOVERED
1969 EATON NORMAN D. WEATHERFORD OK

Births which occurred on January 13:

1381 St Colette abbess/reformer (Poor Clares)
1406 Matteo Palmieri Italian writer (Della vita civile)
1505 Joachim II Hector ruler (Brandenburg)
1596 Jan J Goyen Dutch landscape painter
1616 Antoinette Bourignon Flemish mystic/French religious fanatic
1628 Charles Perrault France, lawyer/writer (Mother Goose)
1674 Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon French poet (Atrée et Thyeste)
1683 Johann Christoph Graupner German composer
1690 Gottfried Heinrich Stolzel composer
1727 Johann Christoph Schmugel composer
1734 Luca Sorkocevic composer
1778 Anton Fischer composer
1788 Carl Ludwig Cornelius Westenholz composer
1802 Eduard von Bauernfeld Vienna, comedic playwright
1807 Napoleon Bonaparte Buford Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1883
1808 Salmon P Chase (Senator-R) cabinet member, 6th chief justice (1864-73)
1812 Humphrey Marshall Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1872
1815 William Henry French Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1881
1824 Ignacy Marceli Komorowski composer
1834 Horatio Alger Jr Revere MA, author (Lost at Sea, Work & Win)
1835 Gustaaf Rolin-Jaequemyns Belgian jurist/minister of the Interior
1850 Leon Francis Victor Caron composer
1859 Karl Bleibtreu German author (Revolution of Literature)
1859 Kostís Palamás Greek poet/scholar (Flogera tou Basília)
1864 Wilhelm K W Wien German phyicist (Nobel 1911)
1866 Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov composer
1869 Emanuele F duke of Aosta, Italian General (WWI)/fascist
1870 Henryk Opienski Polish composer/conductor (St Moniuszko)
1874 Jozef E van Roey Flemish cardinal/archbishop of Mechlin
1884 Johannes Elsensohn Dutch actor/writer (Arie, novel from the Jordan)
1884 Sophie Tucker [Kalish], Russia, singer/last of red hot mammas
1885 Alfred Fuller CEO (Fuller Brush Man)
1892 Paul Smart US, yachtsman (Olympics-gold-1948)
1893 Clarke Ashton Smith US, sci-fi author (Lost Worlds, Genius Loci)
1893 Jan Evangelista Zelinka composer
1895 Anton Betzner writer
1895 Fortunio Bonanova Palma de Mallorca Spain, opera singer
1898 Pedro de Teixeira de Mattos Dutch diplomat
1900 Yasuji Kiyose composer
1903 Kay Francis [Katherine E Gibbs], Oklahoma City OK, actress (False Madonna)
1904 Richard Addinsell London England, composer (Taming of Shrew)
1905 Percy Humphrey musician
1906 Maxime Jacob composer
1907 Sabine Zlatin nurse
1909 Danny Barker jazz guitarist
1909 Marinus van der Lubbe Dutch communist
1911 Johannes Bjelke-Petersen premier (Queensland Australia)
1913 Jeff Morrow New York City NY, actor (Bart-Union Pacific, Temperatures Rising)
1913 Ralph Edwards Merino CO, TV host (This is Your Life)
1915 Edward Frederick Weston Goodman property developer
1916 Osa Massen Copenhagen Denmark, actress (Jack London, Rocketship XM)
1916 Bella Lewitsky choreographer
1917 Felix Guerro Diaz composer
1918 Steve Dunne Northampton MA, actor (Professional Father)
1918 Lester Sill pioneer music publisher/record producer
1918 Ted Willis prolific English screenwriter (It's Great to be Young)
1919 Army Archerd Hollywood columnist/TV host (Movie Game)
1919 Robert Stack Los Angeles CA, actor (Eliot Ness-Untouchables, Airplane, Unsolved Mysteries)
1923 Jack Watling London, actor (Nanny, Adventure for 2, Naked Heart)
1923 Danil Shafran cellist
1924 Philip Rawson artist/teacher
1925 Gwen Verdon Louisiana, actress/singer/dancer (Cotton Club, Sweet Charity)
1925 Rosemary Murphy Munich Germany, actress (Margaret-Lucas Tanner)
1926 Carolyn Heilbrun [Amanda Cross], author (Lady Ottoline's Album)
1926 Pamela M Cunnington English architect/author (Change of Use)
1928 David Sheiner New York City NY, actor (Paul-Mr Novak, Norman-Diana)
1928 Gregory Walcott Wilson NC, actor (87th Precinct)
1929 Joseph Anthony Pass guitarist
1929 Wim Bary Dutch actor/theater director (Nice Boys)
1930 Frances Sternhagen Washington DC, actress (Outland, Starting Over)
1930 Liz Anderson rocker
1930 Roman Ciesiewicz artist/graphic designer
1931 Charles Nelson Reilly New York City NY, actor (Match Game, Ghost & Mrs Muir)
1933 Nurdin Jivraj Tanzanian/British hotel magnate (Buckingham International)
1933 Ron[ald Joseph] Goulart US, sci-fi author (Deadwalk, Plunder, Cheap Thrills)
1933 Tom B Gola NBA Hall-of-Famer
1934 Rip Taylor comedian (Gong Show, $1.98 Beauty Show)
1936 Ami Maayani composer
1936 Edward R Madigan (Representative-R-IL, 1973- )
1937 Hajé J Schartman Dutch MP (CDA)
1938 Billy Gray Los Angeles CA, actor (Bud-Father Knows Best)
1938 Paavo Johannes Heininen composer
1941 Meinhard Nehmer German Democratic Republic, 2 man bobsledder (Olympics-gold-1976)
1943 Richard Moll California, actor (Night Court, House, Dungeonmaster, Survivor)
1943 William Duckworth composer
1945 [Eileen] Joy[ce] Chant [Rutter] UK, sci-fi author (High Kings)
1947 Peter Sundelin Sweden, yachtsman (Olympics-gold-1968)
1947 John Lees England, rock guitarist/vocalist (Medicine Man)
1948 Kenia Jayantilal cricketer (5 at Kingston 71 his only inns for India)
1948 T Bone' Burnett rocker
1949 Brandon Tartikoff TV exec (NBC)
1949 Rakesh Sharma India, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-11)
1952 Cornelius Bumpus keyboardist (Doobie Brothers-Minute by Minute)
1952 Sharon Gabet Fort Wayne IN, actress (Raven-Edge of Night, Brittany-Another World, Melinda-One Life To Live)
1954 Vicki McCarty Los Angeles CA, playmate (September 1979)
1955 Fred White rocker (Earth Wind & Fire-Shining Star, Easy Lover)
1955 Jay McInerney author (Bright Lights, Big City)
1955 Titus M Mafolo South Africa journalist/ANC-leader
1955 Trevor Rabin rocker (Yes)
1956 Janet Hubert-Whitten actress (Vivian Banks-Fresh Prince of Bel Air)
1956 Jay McInerney writer (Bright Lights, Big City)
1956 Malcolm Foster rock bassist (Pretenders-Mystery Achievement)
1957 Christina Seufert Sacramento CA, diver (Olympics-bronze-1984)
1957 Don Snow rocker (Squeeze)
1957 Mark Francis O'Meara Goldsboro NC, PGA golfer (1984 Greater Milwaukee)
1958 Ricardo Acuna Chile, tennis star
1959 Kevin Anderson Illinois, actor (Hoffa, Sleeping with the Enemy)
1961 Julia Louis-Dreyfus New York City NY, comedienne (SNL, Seinfeld, Day by Day, Soul Man, Troll)
1961 Graham "Suggs" McPherson Sussex, rock vocalist (Madness-Our House)
1961 Kelly Hrudey Edmonton, NHL goalie (Los Angeles Kings)
1961 Kent Hull NFL center (Buffalo Bills)
1962 Brett Maxie NFL safety (Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers)
1962 Kevin Mitchell US baseball outfielder (New York Met, San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds)
1963 Tim Patrick Kelly Trenton NJ, guitarist (Slaughter-Stick it Live)
1963 Dirk Tazelaar cricketer (Queensland & Surrey left-arm pace bowler)
1963 Felita Carr Fort Lauderdale FL, dance skater (& Komarov-1995 Pac Champ)
1964 Penelope Ann Miller Los Angeles CA, actress (Kindergarden Cop, Gwen-Popcorn Kids)
1966 Joseph Harper Ventura CA, canoe (alternate-Olympics-96)
1966 Marcus Turner NFL cornerback/safety (New York Jets)
1966 Patrick Dempsey Lewiston ME, actor (Mike-Fast Times, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Can't Buy Me Love, Face The Music)
1966 Tabitha Stevens fictional character (Bewitched)
1968 Kelly Boucher Calgary Alberta, basketball forward (Olympics-96)
1969 Andre Cason US runner (world record 50 indoor)
1969 Dan Footman NFL defensive end (Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts)
1969 John Flannery guard/corner (Dallas Cowboys)
1969 Katarzyna Nowak Lodz Poland, tennis star (1994 Futures France)
1969 Kevin Foster US baseball pitcher (Chicago Cubs)
1969 Orlando Miller Changionola Panamá, infielder (Houston Astros)
1969 Robert Wilson NFL running back (Miami Dolphins)
1969 Stephen Hendry British snooker player
1970 Keith Mitchell Palm Springs CA, actor (Jeffrey-Waltons, Gun Shy)
1970 Anne-Marie Goddard Utrechtum Netherlands, playmate (Jan, 94)
1970 Frank Kooiman soccer player (Sparta)
1970 Keith Coogan Palm Springs, actor (Adventures in Babysitting, Hiding Out)
1970 Nachi Abe WLAF tight end (Scotland Claymores)
1971 Elmer Dessens Hermosillo Mexico, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1972 Byron "Bam" Morris NFL running back (Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers)
1972 Nicole Eggert Glendale CA, actress (Charles in Charge, Chrissie-TJ Hooker, Summer-Baywatch)
1972 Richard Woodley NFL cornerback (Detroit Lions)
1973 Nikolai Khabibulin Sverdlovsk Russia, NHL goalie (Winnipeg Jets)
1974 Matt Lepsis NFL tackle (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl XXXII)
1974 Sergei Brylin Moscow Russia, NHL center (New Jersey Devils)
1975 Angela Holbeck Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1976 Gary Brent cricketer (Zimbabwe ODI pace bowler 1996)
1976 Vaclav Batlik Costa Mesa CA, canoe (alternate-Olympics-96)
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Deaths which occurred on January 13:

0533 Remigius van Reims 1st bishop of Reims (459-533)/saint, dies about 96
0858 Aethelwolf king of Wessex (Battle at Aclea), dies
0888 Charles III the Fat One, King of Franconia/Roman emperor, dies
1049 Derrick IV Count of Holland (1039-49), dies in battle
1177 Hendrik Jasomirgott Babenberg Duke of Austria, dies
1307 Arnoud van Foreest Dom deacon of Utrecht, dies
1330 Frederick (III) the Handsome, duke of Austrian/German anti-king, dies
1488 Hermann Vischer "the Old", buried
1599 Edmund Spenser poet (Faerie Queene), dies at about 46
1625 Pieter Bruegel "the Older" (Bloemenbruegel), Flemish painter, dies
1651 Abraham C Bloemaert painter/cartoonist/engraver, dies at 86
1682 Simon van Leeuwen Dutch lawyer/historian, dies at 55
1691 George Fox founder of Quakers, dies at 66
1702 Peter Rabus Dutch poet/translator (Great Name Book), dies at 41
1762 Leonhard Trautsch composer, dies at 68
1795 François-Joseph Krafft composer, dies at 73
1797 Elisabeth C von Brunswick-Bevern wife of Frederick II, dies at 81
1828 Alexandre-Auguste Robineau composer, dies at 80
1838 Ferdinand Reis composer, dies at 53
1864 Stephen Foster composer (My Old Kentucky Home), dies in a New York hospital at 37
1879 WF Hendrik the Navigator prince of Netherlands/viceroy of Luxembourg, dies at 58
1892 Charles Albert White composer, dies at 62
1901 Carlo Angeloni composer, dies at 66
1913 Thomas P Krag Norwegian author/novelist (Jon Graeff, Ulf Ran), dies at 44
1914 Bernardus H Heldt Dutch MP, dies at 72
1914 Valentin de Zubiaurre y Unionbarrenechea composer, dies 76
1924 Georg H Quincke German physicist (Test of Quincke), dies at 89
1928 Johan Peter Koch Danish officer/explorer, dies at 57
1929 Wyatt Earp US marshall (OK Corral), dies at 80
1930 C-E Auguste Rateau French inventor (R-steam turbine), dies at 66
1934 Jean-Baptiste Marchand soldier/explorer (Sudan), dies at 70
1937 Walter Brearley cricketer (17 wickets in 4 Tests for England 1905-12), dies
1939 Jacob Ruppert CEO (New York Yankees, 1915-39), dies
1941 James Joyce novelist (Ulysses), dies in Zürich Switzerland, at 58
1943 Sophie Taeuber/Täuber-Arp Swiss sculptor, dies at 53
1947 Veit Valentin German/US historian (German People), dies at 61
1954 Roland Diggle composer, dies at 69
1958 Edna Purviance actress (Charlie Chaplin, Sunnyside), dies at 61
1958 John Lindeboom Dutch vicar/church historian, dies at 75
1960 Sibilla Aleramo [Rina Faccio], Italian poet (Una Donna), dies at 83
1962 Ernie Kovacs comedian, dies in a car crash in West Los Angeles, at 42
1963 Leonardus G Kortenhorst Dutch MP (KVP), dies at 76
1968 Bill Masterson (Minnesota Northstars) checked into the boards & killed
1969 Fred Price cricket wicket-keep (England, vs Australia Headingley 1938), dies
1969 Wilton Graff actor (Bloodlust, Just Before Dawn), dies at 65
1971 Bernard "Heinz" Lammerding German SS-General/contractor (Tulle), dies at 65
1971 Henri Tomasi French composer (Don Juan de Mañara), dies at 69
1971 Robert Still composer, dies at 60
1976 Margaret Leighton British actress (Much ado about nothing), dies at 53
1978 Hubert Humphrey (Senator-D-MN, Vice President), dies at 66 in Waverly MN
1978 Joseph V McCarthy baseball manager (New York Yankees), dies at 96
1979 Donny Hathaway Chicago IL, rocker (Ghetto), commits suicide at 33
1980 André Kostelanetz Russian conductor, dies at 78
1981 Emiel van Hemeldonck Belgian writer (Mary, My Child), dies at 83
1982 Marcel Camus French director (Orfeu Negro), dies at 69
1983 Arthur Space actor (Doc Weaver-Lassie), dies of cancer at 74
1983 D Mack Reynolds US writer (Amazon Planet, Once Departed), dies
1983 Doodles Weaver comedian (Spike Jones & City Slickers), dies at 71
1983 John McHugh actor (Unspeakable), dies of a heart attack at 69
1985 Carol Wayne Johnny Carson's teatime movie hostess, dies at 42
1986 Abdel Fattah Ismail President of South-Yemen (1969-80), murdered
1987 E van Ruller Dutch journalist/co-founder (Trouw, Loyal), dies
1988 Chiang Ching-kuo President of Taiwan (1978-88), dies at 81
1989 Joe Spinell actor (Maniac, Star Crash, Strike Force), dies at 51
1992 Josef Neckermann German founder mail-order firm/travel bureau, dies
1992 Yvonne Bryceland actress (Road to Mecca), dies of cancer at 66
1993 Rene Pleven PM of France (1950-51, 51-52), dies
1994 Frederick William Sternfield musicologist, dies at 79
1994 Johan J Holst Norwegian minister of defense/foreign affairs, dies at 56
1995 Arnold Smith painter (Vigelius Prize 1935), dies at 89
1995 Arthur Mervyn Stockwood bishop, dies at 81
1995 Maxwell Henley Harris Austrian poet/publisher (Critics), dies at 73
1995 Ruby Starr vocalist (Grey Ghost), dies of brain tumor at 44
1996 Denise Grey [Edouardine Verthuy], actress (Julietta), dies at 99
1996 Willian Myuon Bany Guerrilla leader dies
1997 William Mills painter, dies at 74

1807 Napoleon Bonaparte Buford is born

Union General Napoleon Bonaparte Buford is born in Woodford, Kentucky. Buford held many commands in the west and was a hero at the Battle of Belmont early in the war.

Buford attended West Point and graduated in 1827, sixth out of 38 in his class. After a stint with the frontier military, he was given leave to study law at Harvard. He taught at West Point before leaving the service to become a businessman. He was an engineer and banker in Illinois during the 1840s and 1850s.

When the war began, the 54-year-old Buford raised his own regiment, the 27th Illinois. He was commissioned as a colonel, and his unit was sent to Cairo, Illinois, and placed in General Ulysses S. Grant's army. On November 7, 1861, Grant attacked a Confederate camp at Belmont, Missouri, and quickly drove the Rebels away. But Grant's men became preoccupied with plundering the area, and a Confederate counterattack nearly turned to disaster for the Yankees. Buford's regiment was nearly cut off from the main Union force. He rallied his men and they fought their way out of the Confederate trap. Buford was commended for his bravery

After Belmont, Buford participated in the capture of Island No. 10, a Confederate stronghold in the Mississippi River, and Buford was left in command after its capture. Buford and his regiment fought at Corinth in October 1862, but the colonel fell seriously ill from sunstroke. He left field command and sat on the court martial of General Fitz John Porter in Washington.

Buford returned to the west and was promoted to Brigadier General in charge of the District of Eastern Arkansas. He remained there for the remainder of the war, although his main military action came in chasing off Confederate raiders in the area. Buford generated controversy in his dealings with black troops. He had drawn earlier criticism for not helping refugee slaves, and now he proclaimed his preference for commanding white troops. He justified it by saying that black troops were not as well trained and they were more likely to fall prey to drawn attention from southern bushwackers. He silenced some of the criticism by implementing programs for freed slaves in Arkansas that generally succeeded in taking care of their immediate needs. Poor health forced his resignation in March 1865, just before the end of the war. He was brevetted to major general following his retirement. He worked in a variety of businesses after the war and died in Chicago in 1883.

Napoleon Bonaparte Buford was the older half-brother of John Buford, a Union General who commanded the Union force that first engaged the Confederates at Gettysburg in 1863.
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1916 Battle of Wadi

In an attempt to relieve their compatriots under heavy siege by Turkish forces at Kut-al Amara in Mesopotamia, British forces under the command of Lieutenant General Fenton Aylmer launch an attack against Turkish defensive positions on the banks of the Wadi River.

British forces under Sir Charles Townshend had occupied Kut, a town on the Tigris River in the Basra province of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) by September 1915. On December 5, the Turks had begun a siege of the town, inflicting heavy casualties. In response to Townshend’s calls for assistance, the British regional command, led by Sir John Nixon, assembled a relief force led by Aylmer that included three new infantry divisions dispatched from India.

On January 4, 1916, Aylmer set out up the Tigris from the British forward base at Ali Gharbi with 19,000 troops, 46 guns and two aircraft. His path was blocked by 22,500 Turkish troops and 72 guns under commander Nur-Ur-Din at Sheikh Sa’ad, just 15 kilometers upriver from Ali Gharbi and 32 kilometers from Kut. On January 6, Aylmer’s forces launched an initial attack, which the Turks quickly repelled, resulting in heavy British losses; another attack the next day failed as well. On the night of January 8-9, however, when Aylmer’s forces struck again, they were surprised to find that the Turkish troops had withdrawn for some unknown reason; Nur-Ur-Din was subsequently removed from command after he failed to justify the withdrawal.

Still, after losing more than 4,000 men, Aylmer’s troops were exhausted and demoralized as they continued to make their way up the Tigris toward Kut, and their progress was hampered by the region’s typical shortage of available roads and supply routes. Meanwhile, the Turkish army under new regional commander Khalil Pasha set up new and firmer defensive positions—with some 20,000 troops—along the banks of the smaller Wadi River, through which the British would have to pass in order to reach Kut.

Aylmer, aware of these enemy movements, planned to surround the Turkish forces, sending troops around to secure the area immediately behind the Turkish lines while simultaneously attacking with artillery from the front. The attack, which began in the early afternoon of January 13—postponed from the morning because of a persistent mist and a slow advance by artillery across the river—quickly lost the intended element of surprise, as the outnumbered British forces on both sides of enemy lines struggled to assert themselves against a robust Turkish defense. By the time Aylmer called off the attack at the end of the day, his troops had gained control of the Wadi, but it was a small advance that was unworthy of the 1,600 men killed or wounded in the attack and did little to bring relief closer to Townshend’s beleaguered forces at Kut. In April 1916, after nearly five months under siege, Townshend finally submitted, along with 10,000 of his men, in the largest single surrender of British troops up to that time. The British won back Kut in February 1917, on their way to the capture of Baghdad the following month.
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1942 Allies promise prosecution of war criminals

On this day, representatives of nine German-occupied countries meet in London to declare that all those found guilty of war crimes would be punished after the war ended. Among the signatories to the declaration were Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski and French Gen. Charles de Gaulle. The core of the declaration was the promise of "the punishment, through the channels of organized justice, of those guilty of, or responsible for, these crimes, whether they have ordered them, perpetrated them, or participated in them."

Knowledge of German atrocities occurring in Poland and Russia were reaching both the Allied governments and the exiles from the countries in which the butchering of innocents was taking place. News of Jews, political dissidents, and clergy being systematically murdered, tortured, or transported to labor camps as the Nazi ideology advanced along with Hitler's armed forces increased the resolve and solidarity among the Allies to defeat the Axis.

Also on this day: President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the U.S. War Production Board, with business executive Donald M. Nelson as its chairman.

This was not the first time Roosevelt called on Nelson. In 1940, the president asked Nelson, then executive vice president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., to head up the National Defense Advisory Commission. As Roosevelt established agency after agency to coordinate the transition of industry from peacetime to wartime production, Nelson skipped among jobs, becoming director of purchases for the Office of Production Management and, in August 1941, director of the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board. The War Production Board, created to establish order out of the chaos of meeting extraordinary wartime demands and needs, replaced the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board.

As chairman, Nelson oversaw the largest war production in history, often clashing with civilian factories over the most efficient means of converting to wartime use and butting heads with the armed forces over priorities. Despite early success, Nelson made a major judgement error in June 1944, on the eve of the Normandy invasion, when he allowed certain plants that had reached the end of their government/military production contracts to reconvert to civilian use. The military knew the war was far from over and feared a sudden shortage of vital supplies. A political battle ensued, and Nelson was eased out of his office and reassigned by the president to be his personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek in China.
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1962 First Operation Farm Gate missions flown

In the first Farm Gate combat missions, T-28 fighter-bombers are flown in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under Viet Cong attack.

By the end of the month, U.S. Air Force pilots had flown 229 Farm Gate sorties. Operation Farm Gate was initially designed to provide advisory support to assist the South Vietnamese Air Force in increasing its capability. The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron arrived at Bien Hoa Airfield in November 1961 and began training South Vietnamese Air Force personnel with older, propeller-driven aircraft. In December, President John F. Kennedy expanded Farm Gate to include limited combat missions by the U.S. Air Force pilots in support of South Vietnamese ground forces.

By late 1962, communist activity and combat intensity had increased so much that President Kennedy ordered a further expansion of Farm Gate. In early 1963, additional aircraft arrived and new detachments were established at Pleiku and Soc Trang. In early 1964, Farm Gate was upgraded again with the arrival of more modern aircraft. In October 1965, another squadron of A-1E aircraft was established at Bien Hoa. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approved the replacement of South Vietnamese markings on Farm Gate aircraft with regular U.S. Air Force markings. By this point in the war, the Farm Gate squadrons were flying 80 percent of all missions in support of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). With the build up of U.S. combat forces in South Vietnam and the increase in U.S. Air Force presence there, the role of the Farm Gate program gradually decreased in significance. The Farm Gate squadrons were moved to Thailand in 1967, and from there they launched missions against the North Vietnamese in Laos.
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1972 Nixon announces additional troop withdrawals

President Nixon announces that 70,000 U.S. troops will leave South Vietnam over the next three months, reducing U.S. troop strength there by May 1 to 69,000 troops.

Since taking office, Nixon had withdrawn more than 400,000 American troops from Vietnam. With the reduction in total troop strength, U.S. combat deaths were down to less than 10 per week. However, Nixon still came under heavy criticism from those who charged that he was pulling out troops but, by turning to the use of air power instead of ground troops, was continuing the U.S. involvement in Vietnam rather than disengaging from the war. The last American troops would be withdrawn in March 1973 under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords.

Some General Interest Stories

1842 Sole British soldier escapes Kabul

On January 13, 1842, a British army doctor reaches the British sentry post at Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the lone survivor of a 16,000-strong Anglo-Indian expeditionary force that was massacred in its retreat from Kabul. He told of a terrible massacre in the Khyber Pass, in which the Afghans gave the defeated Anglo-Indian force and their camp followers no quarter.

In the 19th century, Britain, with a goal of protecting its Indian colonial holdings from Russia, tried to establish authority in neighboring Afghanistan by attempting to replace Emir Dost Mohammad with a former emir known to be sympathetic to the British. This blatant British interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs triggered the outbreak of the first Anglo-Afghan War in 1839.

Dost Mohammad surrendered to British forces in 1840 after the Anglo-Indian army had captured Kabul. However, after an Afghan revolt in Kabul the British had no choice but to withdraw. The withdrawal began on January 6, 1842, but bad weather delayed the army's progress. The column was attacked by swarms of Afghans led by Mohammad's son, and those who were not killed outright in the attack were later massacred by the Afghan soldiers. A total of 4,500 soldiers and 12,000 camp followers were killed. Only one man, Dr. William Bryden, escaped to recount the details of the military disaster.

In retaliation, another British force invaded Kabul in 1843, burning a portion of the city. In the same year, the war came to an end, and in 1857 Emir Dost Mohammad, who had been restored to power in 1843, signed an alliance with the British. In 1878, the Second Anglo-Afghan War began, which ended two years later with Britain winning control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs.
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1929 Wyatt Earp dies in Los Angeles

Nearly 50 years after the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp dies quietly in Los Angeles at the age of 80.

The Earp brothers had long been competing with the Clanton-McClaury ranching families for political and economic control of Tombstone, Arizona, and the surrounding region. On October 26, 1881, the simmering tensions finally boiled over into violence, and Wyatt, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, and his close friend, Doc Holliday, killed three men from the Clanton and McLaury clans in a 30-second shoot-out on a Tombstone street near the O.K. Corral. A subsequent hearing found that the Earps and Holliday had been acting in their capacity as law officers and deputies, and they were acquitted of any wrongdoing. However, not everyone was satisfied with the verdict, and the Earps found their popularity among the townspeople was on the wane. Worse, far from bringing an end the long-standing feud between the Earps and Clanton-McLaurys, the shoot-out sparked a series of vengeful attacks and counterattacks.

In late December 1881, the Clantons and McLaurys launched their vendetta with a shotgun ambush of Virgil Earp; he survived, but lost the use of his left arm. Three months later, Wyatt and Morgan were playing billiards when two shots were fired from an unknown source. Morgan was fatally wounded.

As a U.S. deputy marshal, Wyatt had a legal right and obligation to bring Morgan's killers to justice, but he quickly proved to be more interested in avenging his brother's death than in enforcing the law. Three days after Morgan's murder, Frank Stillwell, one of the suspects in the murder, was found dead in a Tucson, Arizona, rail yard. Wyatt and his close friend Doc Holliday were accused-accurately, as later accounts revealed-of murdering Stillwell. Wyatt refused to submit to arrest, and instead fled Arizona with Holliday and several other allies, pausing long enough to stop and kill a Mexican named Florentino Cruz, who he believed also had been involved in Morgan's death.

In the years to come, Wyatt wandered throughout the West, speculating in gold mines in Idaho, running a saloon in San Francisco, and raising thoroughbred horses in San Diego. At the turn of the century, the footloose gunslinger joined the Alaskan gold rush, and he ran a saloon in Nome until 1901. After participating in the last of the great gold rushes in Nevada, Wyatt finally settled in Los Angeles, where he tried unsuccessfully to find someone to publicize his many western adventures. Wyatt's famous role in the shootout at the O.K. Corral did attract the admiring attention of the city's thriving new film industry. For several years, Wyatt became an unpaid technical consultant on Hollywood Westerns, drawing on his colorful past to tell flamboyant matinee idols like William Hart and Tom Mix how it had really been. When Wyatt died in 1929, Mix reportedly wept openly at his funeral.

Ironically, the wider fame that eluded Wyatt in life came soon after he died. A young journalist named Stuart Lake published Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall, a wildly fanciful biography that portrayed the gunman as a brave and virtuous instrument of frontier justice. Dozens of similarly laudatory books and movies followed, ensuring Wyatt Earp an enduring place in the popular American mythology of the Wild West.
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1950 Soviets boycott United Nations Security Council

For the second time in a week, Jacob Malik, the Soviet representative to the United Nations, storms out of a meeting of the Security Council, this time in reaction to the defeat of his proposal to expel the Nationalist Chinese representative. At the same time, he announced the Soviet Union's intention to boycott further Security Council meetings.

Several days before the January 13 meeting, Malik walked out to show his displeasure over the United Nations' refusal to unseat the Nationalist Chinese delegation. The Soviet Union had recognized the communist People's Republic of China (PRC) as the true Chinese government, and wanted the PRC to replace the Nationalist Chinese delegation at the United Nations.

Malik returned on January 13, however, to vote on the Soviet resolution to expel Nationalist China. Six countries--the United States, Nationalist China, Cuba, Ecuador, Cuba, and Egypt--voted against the resolution, and three--the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and India--voted in favor of it. Malik immediately left the meeting, declaring that the United States was "encouraging lawlessness" by refusing to recognize the "illegal presence" of the Nationalist Chinese representatives. He concluded that "even the most convinced reactionaries" had to recognize the justness of the Soviet resolution, and he vowed that the Soviet Union would not be bound by any decisions made by the Security Council if the Nationalist Chinese representative remained. Hoping to forestall any future Security Council action, Malik announced that the Soviet Union would no longer attend its meetings. The remaining members of the Security Council decided to carry on despite the Soviet boycott.

In late June 1950, it became apparent that the Soviet action had backfired when the issue of North Korea's invasion of South Korea was brought before the Security Council. By June 27, the Security Council voted to invoke military action by the United Nations for the first time in the organization's history. The Soviets could have blocked the action in the Security Council, since the United States, Soviet Union, China, Britain, and France each had absolute veto power, but no Russian delegate was present. In just a short time, a multinational U.N. force arrived in South Korea and the grueling three-year Korean War was underway.