Equipment Leasing & Finance MLFI-25 New Business Volume
Up 2% from Previous Year, 60.5% from Previous Month

(Chart: Leasing News)

REUTERS reports the December Equipment Leasing and Finance Association MLFI-25 new business volume rose to $12.9 billion, close to 2%, in December up from a figure of $12.7 billion at the same time a year earlier.

New Business Volume in December was $12.9 billion, rising 60.5% from the previous month of $7.8 billion.

December is usually the highest volume month each year due to the end of year and closing of next year’s lease agreements from many of the companies used in the format (1).

ELFA President & CEO is quoted, stating, “Some ELFA member organizations are seeing slightly elevated levels of stress in their business amid slowing global economic growth.

"Whether recent relaxation of nagging trade tensions between the U.S. and several of its trading partners improves conditions in the industrial and agricultural sectors of the U.S. economy remains to be seen as we move deeper into the new year.”

Reuters noted the credit approvals totaled 77.1% in December, up from 75.7% in November.

“The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation, ELFA's non-profit affiliate, reported monthly confidence index of 59.9 in January, up from the December index of 56.2,” ELFA reported to Reuters.

1. December high months

click to make larger

    (Chart: ELFA)

Full Listing of MLFI Participants in Survey is 35
(Please note throughout the years the number reporting has grown)

1. Bank of America Global Leasing
2. Bank of the West
3. BB&T Bank
4. BMO Harris Equipment Finance
5. Canon Financial Services
6. Caterpillar Financial Services
7. CIT
8. Citizens Asset Finance
9. Dell Financial Services
10. DLL
11. Fifth Third Bank
12. First American Equipment Finance, a City National Bank Company
13. Frost Equipment Leasing and Finance
14. GreatAmerica Financial Services
15. Hitachi Capital America
16. HP, Inc.
17. HPE Financial Services Company
18. Huntington Equipment Finance
19. John Deere Financial
20. Key Equipment Finance
21. LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.
22. M&T Bank
23. Marlin Capital Solutions
24. Merchants Bank Equipment Finance
25. PNC Equipment Finance
26. Societe Generale Equipment Finance
27. Siemens Financial Services
28. Stearns Bank
29. Stonebriar Commercial Finance
30. TCF Capital Solutions, a division of TCF National Bank
31. TD Equipment Finance
32. TIAA Commercial Finance, Inc.
33. US Bancorp Business Equipment Finance
34. Volvo Financial Services
35. Wells Fargo Equipment Finance

 

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Looking to Improve Your Career
   Post a Free Position Wanted Here

Free Career Positon Wanted goes into our Classified Ad section here
http://leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

It also runs once a week in the News Edition.

Use your personal email address only. We encourage you to add a resume, although not necessary. If you do so, please make sure your name, address and telephone number are not included. If so, we will delete them. The reason is once the resume is placed on line: it remains in Google, as well in Leasing News Editions’ archives. A search of your name will bring up your posting, which will have your address and telephone number for years to come.

It is also a good idea to create an email for the ad specifically that you can delete after use.
This is “free” to those looking for a new position. Each ad is limited to (100) words.

To post your free position wanted, please email: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org.

 

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Top Ten Stories
January 21 - January 23

(Stories most opened by readers)

 

(1) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
           and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_23.htm#hires

(2) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
            and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_21.htm#hires

(3) Another Retail Chain Closing All Calif. Stores: Report
    Originally had 450 Locations, Down to 260 Stores Nationwide
https://patch.com/california/losgatos/s/gzlla/another-retail-chain-closing-all-calif-stores-report?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=business&utm_campaign=alert

(4) 2019 U.S. Trailer Net Orders Closed Down 51%
             Versus Full-Year 2018
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_23.htm#trailer

(5) New Invitation for Comments re: SB 1235:
   Commercial Financing Regulations Extended to Jan. 31, 2020
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_21.htm#innovation

(6) If the Economy is So Good, Why 567,715 Homeless in US?
   The Cities with the Most Homeless People
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_23.htm#if

(7) America's Brewery Boom Chart
  Number of Breweries in the US from 1976 to 2018
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_21.htm#brewery

(8) Maxim Commercial Capital Funded
 664 Transactions in 2019/ over 1,500 used truck vendors nationwide
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_23.htm#maxim

(9)  Leasing News Advisor
    Ben Carlile
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_23.htm%22#carlie%22

(10) Another Win for the Trucking Industry Against AB 5
 Owner-Operators are Independent Contractors, Not Employees
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2020/01_21.htm#another

 

[headlines]
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Time to Create 2020 Career Roadmap
Career Crossroads by Emily Fitzpatrick/RII

 

Look at Opportunities for Improvement in your career:

Samples
1. What is your ideal employer? (Size, industry, culture, location, structure)
2. Describe your ideal job/position (do you want to work independently, as part of a team, etc...)
3. What do you want your next job to do for you that your current or last job did not?

Action
With the tasks you have outlined, you have created a checklist to use to take action. If you are taking the right actions, you should eventually attain the results you seek. If not, change the plan, not the goal.

Measure

Periodically assess where you are to make sure you are on the right track; this can be a monthly or quarterly “check-up” to review and make any necessary changes.

If you want to achieve more in your professional life, invest the time and effort in creating a Career Roadmap – to Request a Roadmap Worksheet, contact emily@riirecruit.com

Emily Fitzpatrick
Sr. Recruiter
Recruiters International, Inc.
Phone:  954-885-9241
Cell:  954-612-0567
emily@riirecruit.com

Invite me to connect on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/pub/emily-fitzpatrick/4/671/76
Also follow us on Twitter #RIIINFO

Career Crossroads Previous Columns
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/crossroad.html

 

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Fast Turnaround Time

Sales Makes it Happen
Steve Chriest  

If you want to avoid the label of a "me-too" player in your industry, you will want to identify your company's Exclusive Strengths.

Because some customers use your services, you have, at least in their eyes, Exclusive Strengths. These are strengths that are exclusive to your company, are recognized as exclusive by your customers, and for which you have earned bragging rights. Exclusive Strengths can only be claimed by you - they cannot also be claimed by any of your competitors.

In the equipment finance business, the claim of "fast credit turnaround time" can be claimed by so many competitors that the claim isn't even a strength today, it's a requirement for staying in business! Whether it is five minutes, four hour funding, or just an application.

The same is true for a claim that your company's people truly care about their customers. You can bet that your competitors are making the same claim to their customers.

So, how do you go about identifying Exclusive Strengths? The process is relatively simple and deceptively powerful. First, conduct a brainstorming session with everyone involved in the company's revenue generating process. You can do this in an office setting or at a retreat. Ask the participants to answer these questions: What do we have that our competitors cannot offer or what do we do that our competitors don't do? Once answers to these questions are developed into a list, the qualification process begins.

To qualify as an Exclusive Strength, what you have or what you do must be something your customers care about. For example, if you truly have a system of credit and collection activities that allow you to approve and fund more "D" credits than any industry competitor in a geographical area, and your customers care about this ability, it begins to qualify as an Exclusive Strength. If you can prove your claim to your customers, it will then pass the final test and will qualify as an Exclusive Strength for your company. It's important to note that your claim is an Exclusive Strength only for those customers who are "D" credits or those who provide goods or services to "D" credit customers. "A" credit customers, or those who sell exclusively to "A" credit customers, may have no interest in your sub-prime funding capabilities. In these cases your ability is not seen as an Exclusive Strength because they don't care!

Another almost failsafe approach to zeroing in on your Exclusive Strengths is to ask your customers! Instead of sending out surveys which ask your customers how you can improve your services, ask them, in person, the following, simple questions: "Why do you do business with us? What do we have or does that distinguish us, in your eyes, from our competitors?" They will tell you how they see you as different from your competitors, and they'll let you know what else they want from you to remain loyal customers.

Steve Chriest is the CEO of Open Advance and author of “Selling to the E-Suite, The Proven System for Reaching and Selling Senior Executives and Business Acumen 101.” He recently re-named his company from Selling-Up. He is also the author of Selling "The E-Suite, The Proven System for Reaching and "Selling Senior Executives" and "Profits and Cash – The Game of Business." He is the past president and founder of a major leasing company. He produces video and radio blogs, as well as continuing as a columnist for Leasing News since 2005. He is getting close to announcing a major project he will be raising funds to bring to fruition.
www.openadvance.com/contact/
925-263-2702
www.openadvance.com/
 

Tesla has been on a roller coaster ride of market sentiment in recent years but the electric car company is starting off the new decade on a high note.

The company is not only America’s most valuable automaker, it’s now worth more than Ford and GM combined.

Tesla’s valuation has already surpassed the $100 billion mark – a significant milestone for a company that produces a fraction of the vehicles of its direct competitors.

Here’s a comparison of the top selling models in the U.S. for Ford, GM, and Tesla.

Full Story:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/teslas-valuation-surpasses-ford-and-gm-combined/

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New textbook on lease accounting provides global insight
Asset Finance International

A new textbook on lease accounting by industry authority Shawn Halladay, managing director of the professional development practice at The Alta Group, offers guidance to both US and international lessors and lessees.

The book, called Accounting for Leases: Embracing the New Paradigm, covers many of the common elements between ASC 842, the new US lease accounting standard, and IFRS 16, the new lease accounting standard for countries outside the US.

Although IFRS 16 recognizes one lease model for lessees and ASC 842 recognizes two (both finance and operating leases), there is significant overlap between the two standards.

Halladay said: “My book examines numerous lease accounting considerations under the new rules, including partial off-balance sheet financing, sale-leasebacks and changes to how US lessors account for their leases.

“It also has particular applicability in emerging markets, because it provides up-to-date guidance as companies establish accounting policies and procedures.”

He said finance executives worldwide, along with banking and legal executives, and international leasing consultancies, will find a wealth of lease accounting information in the 400-page book.
It also includes a guide for marketing under the new rules that lessors can use to assist their clients.
Halladay has more than 30 years' experience as a lessor, trainer, consultant and auditor to Alta’s clients.

Based in Salt Lake City, US, he has served lessors throughout North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, providing training in all aspects of equipment leasing.

His consulting expertise includes vendor finance, accounting and reporting best practices, competitive analysis, strategic planning, litigation support, and accounting and quantitative analysis.

In addition to the textbook, he has authored or co-authored eight books on equipment leasing, including “A Guide to Equipment Leasing,” “An Introduction to Leasing” and “The Handbook of Equipment Leasing.”

Alta has been involved in another textbook, called Leasing - The Creative Financing Alternative, by Sudhir P. Amembal, a detailed review of lease fundamentals that serves as a reference for lessors.
Two chapters were written by Halladay and Diane Croessmann, an Alta director.

Halladay’s chapter covers navigating the new lease accounting standard, while Croessmann’s chapter relates to managed services, the fast-growing pay-for-use trend impacting IT and healthcare equipment, as well as other equipment types.

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Leasing News Advisor
Shawn Halladay

Shawn Halladay has been a frequent contributor of articles, particularly regarding accounting, changes to FASB rules, tax rulings, as well as covering several of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association events and conferences. He joined the Leasing News Advisory Board on April 17, 2006.

Shawn Halladay
352 Denver Street, Suite 224
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
801/322-4499
shawn@amembalandhalladay.com
www.amembalandhalladay.com

Shawn is a Managing Director of The Alta Group, the leading consulting firm serving the equipment leasing industry.  He has authored or co-authored eight books on equipment leasing, including "A Guide to Equipment Leasing,", "A Guide to Accounting for Leases" and "The Handbook of Equipment Leasing."  He has also been a contributing writer to Leasing News, reporting on Leasing and Finance Conferences, as well as other events. He also contributes The Alta Group Blog.

His professional expertise stretches across all leasing sectors and around the globe. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, he has served lessors throughout North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, providing training in all aspects of equipment leasing. His consulting services include implementing best practices, benchmarking studies, strategic planning, leasing system selection and implementation, litigation support, accounting, and quantitative analyses.

He likes to travel as an excuse to attend soccer games, one of his passions.

Akita (mixed)
Salt Lake City, Utah   
Adopt-a-Dog

Carson

The shelter staff describes me as a Tan and White, Neutered Male Akita Mixed Breed. The shelter staff believes that I am approximately 2 years old.

INDEPENDENT COMPANION:
"I really do love you and want to be your friend, but mostly I do my own thing.
I'm Intelligent and confident but will listen to you if you realize we are partners and in this together.

*Knows basic commands
*Very smart
*Needs to be treated gently
*Loves Toys
*Loves Treats
*Active/Athletic
*Walks well on a leash
*Needs Training

“I'm at Salt Lake County Animal Services in Kennel K18 and my animal ID number is 89050.”
Salt Lake County Animal Services - 385-468-7387

Salt Lake County Animal Services
511 West 3900 South 
Salt Lake City, UT 84123
(385) 468-7387 
Fax: (385) 468-6028 Email
Hours: 10:00 am-6:00 pm Mon-Sat

Potential adopters should plan for some time to meet with their new pet before starting the adoption process. Please plan to be at the shelter before 5:30 PM to meet with a new pet.

Closed Sundays and Holidays

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International Franchise Association Annual Convention
February 8 - 11, 2020  Orlando Florida

IFA's Annual Convention is franchising's biggest event for business development and personal growth. Whether you're a franchising veteran or just starting out, there are sessions designed for everyone. This is your chance to network and chart the future of the industry.

4,000 Attendees    50 Educational Sessions    350 Supplier Partners

Brochure:
https://www.franchise.org/sites/default/files/2020-01/ConBrochure2020_ML%20_0.pdf

Registration:
https://www.franchise.org/sites/default/files/2020-01/IFA2020_RegForms_Final%20%281%29.pdf

News Briefs----

110 million consumers could see their credit scores
    change under new FICO scoring
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/23/fico-10-credit-score-changes.html

Coach suddenly folds up ginormous Manhattan store
   abruptly shuttered its three-level boutique at Madison Avenue
https://nypost.com/2020/01/23/retailer-coach-to-fold-up-new-york-city-flagship/

Trump slaps new tariffs on foreign products
     made with steel, aluminum
https://nypost.com/2020/01/25/trump-slaps-new-tariffs-on-foreign-products-made-with-steel-aluminum/

Assure the quality of your communication content…grammar, spelling, syntax, punctuation…hire an expert. Whether website content, business or technical writings, take advantage of over forty years executive writing, proofreading and editing in the EFL industry…with the reader’s time and comprehension in focus. Ralph P. Mango ralphmango@hotmail.com Associate Editor Leasing News, responsible for proofreading and editing each news edition, as well as contributing content.

 
[headlines]
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You May Have Missed---

$1 million fleet of Corvettes trapped in building
  after deadly Houston explosion: report
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-corvettes-trapped-houston-explosion-20200126-byglwq2lcfag5jayj64nbtdery-story.html

[headlines]
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“A champion is one who gets up when he can't.”

- Jack Dempsey

 

[headlines]
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Kobe Bryant's daughter Gianna, 13, dies
   in helicopter crash alongside dad
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/breaking-gianna-maria-13-dies-21366529

How can Kobe Bryant be gone? His legend wasn’t supposed to end this way
https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2020-01-26/bill-plaschke-column-on-kobe-bryant

Kobe Bryant death live updates from LA Times
https://www.latimes.com/sports/liveblog/kobe-bryant-dies-in-helicopter-crash-in-calabasas

Eli Manning saying goodbye to Giants ‘my way’
  in retirement press conference
https://nypost.com/2020/01/24/eli-manning-saying-goodbye-to-giants-my-way-in-emotional-retirement-press-conference/

[headlines]
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California Nuts Briefs---

Bay Area job market surges — but “warning signs” surface
   South Bay becomes Bay Area’s strongest job market
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01/24/bay-area-job-market-surges-december-2019-stronger-tech-real-estate-economy-google-apple-facebook/

Yes in God’s Back Yard: Bay Area’s new answer
  to the housing crisis might be church property
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Yes-in-God-s-Back-Yard-Bay-Area-s-new-answer-15002873.php

[headlines]
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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

Napa Valley already commands the American wine market.
    Now what?
https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-valley-already-commands-the-american-wine-market-now-what/article_389b024d-a93c-5963-b626-6cd340a4026c.html

Up to 96,000 gallons spilled from tank at Rodney Strong      
    Vineyards, most leaks into Russian River
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/sonomacounty/10622849-181/up-to-96000-gallons-spilled

Italian Wine Production Drops 12% in 2019
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2020/01/italian-wine-production-drops-12-in-2019/

Sales of tariff-affected wines tumble in US market
https://www.drinks-today.com/wine/analysis/sales-tariff-affected-wines-tumble-us-market

Drew Bledsoe's Long Game in Washington and Oregon
https://www.winespectator.com/articles/wine-talk-drew-bledsoe-s-long-game-in-washington-and-oregon

Free Wine App
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp/

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

This Day in History

     1772 - The "Washington and Jefferson Snowstorm" occurred. George Washington reported three feet of snow at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson recorded about three feet at Monticello.
    1778 – Marines landed at New Providence, Bahamas and the American flag flew over foreign soil for the first time. The first American soldiers sent forth from the fledgling nation’s shores were a detachment of Marines. That amphibious raid, the first in what remains today a Marine specialty, aimed to seize guns and gunpowder from a British fort.
    1785 - The University of Georgia was founded, the first public university in the United States.  
    1805 - Southeastern New York and New England were in the middle of a 3 day snowstorm. Snow fell continuously for 48 hours in New York City where two feet reportedly accumulated.
    1810 - The third U.S. Census recorded a population of 7,239,881, an increase of 1,931,298 over the 1800 Census. The 1810 census included one new state: Ohio. Black population rose by 481,361 to 1,278,110. Of this total, 186,746 were free citizens, a group omitted in the 1800 census. The center of population moved to a point 40 miles northwest of Washington, DC.
    1825 – Congress approved Indian Territory in what is present-day Oklahoma, clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears."   The Indian Removal Act of 1830 included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, removing them from their ancestral homelands in the Southeast to an area west of the Mississippi River.  The relocated people suffered from exposure, disease and starvation while en route, and more than ten thousand died before reaching their various destinations. 
    1830 - The landmark Webster-Hayne debates took place January 19-27. They began when Senator Samuel A. Foot of Connecticut offered a resolution to restrain sale of public lands in the West. Sen. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri replied by declaring that eastern interests were trying to check the prosperity of the West. He was supported by Sen. Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, who defended states’ rights. Hayne stated that “the very life of our system is the independence of the states, and that there is no evil more to be depreciated than the consolidation of this government.” Sen. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts replied by criticizing the tendency of some senators “to habitually speak of the union in terms of indifference, or even of disparagement.” The debate evolved into a discussion of the powers of the Constitution and the nature of the Union. In his speech of Jan. 26-27, Webster declared that the states were sovereign only in that area where their power is not qualified by the Constitution, and that the Constitution and the government were sovereign over the people. “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!” was included in the speech delivered by Daniel Webster of Massachusetts in debate with Sen. Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina. Webster held that the union was stronger than the separate states and that its acts could not be nullified by them.
    1832 – Lewis Carroll (d. 1898) was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in England.  His most famous writings are “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” its sequel “Through the Looking Glass,” which includes the poem “Jabberwocky,” and the poem “The Hunting of the Snark,” all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy.
    1850 - Birthday of Samuel Gompers (d. 1924), one of the key figures of the U.S labor movement, was born in England. In 1863, Gompers immigrated to New York with his family and soon joined his father working as a cigar maker in various New York sweatshops. Although he became heavily involved in the cigar makers' union, Gompers was hardly an advocate of labor's more left-leaning tendencies. As he rose to prominence in the union, Gompers gradually articulated his belief in strikes and boycotts tempered by responsibility and reason. In addition, he focused almost solely on economic goals and hailed binding contracts as a key to improving the lives of workers. In 1886, Gompers spearheaded the formation of the American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) He ruled the A.F. of L. for forty years, save for 1895, when a brief burst of socialist sentiment forced him out of office. Gompers shaped the A.F. of L. into his conservative ideal, leading the organization to eschew overt political affiliations, most notably radicalism, in favor of broad patriotic values. However, as employers and politicians increasingly marshaled tough tactics to quell the rising tide of labor, Gompers was forced to choose sides, and in 1908, he supported William Jennings Bryan's failed run for the Oval Office. A few years later, Gompers became a fierce ally of President Woodrow Wilson, and Gompers used the pulpit of the A.F. of L., as well as the recently formed Pan American Labor Federation, to push the government's policy in World War I.
    1870 - At the then Indian Asbury University, Kappa Alpha Theta, the first women's Greek letter society, or sorority, was founded. The university is now called DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.  http://www.kappaalphatheta.org/kat_v35/home/home_body.cfm
    1870 – Virginia ratified the 15th Amendment and was readmitted to the Union.
    1880 - Thomas Alva Edison patented the electric incandescent lamp.
    1885 - Birthday of Jerome Kern (d. 1945), American composer, New York City. In addition to scores for stage and screen, Kern wrote many memorable songs, including “Ol' Man River,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “I Won't Dance,” “The Way You Look Tonight,“ “All the Things You Are,” and “The Last Time I Saw Paris.”
    1888 - In Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Society was founded.  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
    1894 - The University of Chicago played its first basketball game, beating the Chicago YMCA Training School 19-11. The University of Chicago became the first basketball team to play a full schedule of games, ending with a 6-1 record.
    1900 - Birthday of Hyman Rickover (d. 1986) in Russia.  American naval officer, known as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy.” Admiral Rickover directed development of nuclear reactor powered submarines, the first of which was the Nautilus, launched in 1954. Rickover was noted for his blunt remarks: “To increase the efficiency of the Department of Defense,” he said, “you must first abolish it.” The four-star admiral was forced to retire at the age of 81, after 63 years in the Navy. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
    1901 – Art Rooney (d. 1988) was born in Coulterville, PA.  He founded the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1933. Since the league's inception in 1920, the NFL had wanted a team in Pittsburgh due to the city's already-long history with football and when the state of Pennsylvania relaxed its blue laws against Sunday activities, they finally awarded the franchise to Rooney.  After decades as the NFL’s doormats, they won four Super Bowls while Rooney was still CEO and they were the first NFL team to win six. 
    1908 - Birthday of trumpet player Oran “Hot Lips” Page (d. 1954), Dallas.
http://legacyrecordings.com/hotlipspage/
http://www.legacyrecordings.com/hotlipspage/main.html
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/encyclopaedia/p/P3.HTM
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/recordings.asp?oid=8019
    1918 - Birthday of bandleader Lyle Russell “Skitch” Henderson (d. 2005), Halstad, MN.  Best known as the bandleader for “The Tonight Show” with Steve Allen and then Johnny Carson.  
http://www.newyorkpops.org/html/skitch_henderson.html
    1918 - The first Tarzan film, “Tarzan of the Apes,” is released. The silent movie, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel, was the first in a long line of Tarzan productions. Olympic champion swimmer Johnny Weissmuller starred in 11 Tarzan movies from 1932 to 1948 and contributed Tarzan's signature yodel to the TV show, which ran from 1966 to 1969. The character was also featured in a radio show starting in 1932 and in a long-running comic strip.
    1921 - Birthday of Donna Reed (d. 1986), born Donna Belle Mullenger, Dennison, IA.   She who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in “From Here to Eternity” (1954). Also remembered for her role in "It's a Wonderful Life," but perhaps best known for her TV series "The Donna Reed Show” (1958-1966), winning 1963 Golden Globe for Best TV Star--female. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Reed
    1927 - The Harlem Globetrotters opened their first tour with a game in Hinckley, IL. Founded by Abe Saperstein as a spin-off from the great Harlem Renaissance team, the Globetrotters quickly became fan favorites around the world.  http://harlemglobetrotters.com/
    1927 - Birthday of jazz pianist Don Shirley (d. 2013), Kingston, Jamaica.
http://www.donshirley.com/
http://artists.spun.com/don_shirley
http://www.donshirley.com/bio.html
    1930 – Birthday of Bobby ‘Blue' Bland was born Robert Calvin Brooks (d. 2013), Rosemont, TN. Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame singer: “That's the Way Love Is,” “Call on Me,” “Turn on Your Love Light,” “Ain't Nothin' You Can Do.”  Original group: The Beale Streeters with Johnny Ace. His grainy vocal style is a mixture of gospel and blues, and he had considerable influence on singers as diverse as Rod Stewart and Al Green. "Call on Me" and "That's the Way Love Is" was a double-sided million-seller for Bland in 1963. But white audiences didn't begin to buy his records until he recorded his "California Album" and "Dreamin'" in the early '70s. They proved to be the most popular LPs of his career. When I lived in New Orleans for a long summer in 1958 with my friend Warren Luening, Jr. and his family, Bobby “Blue” Bland was number one on the radio. I could do a pretty good impression of Bobby “Blue” Bland, including imitating his stand and manners. I knew most of his songs by heart. I have never missed a chance to see him when he was in the San Francisco Bay Area, including spending my birthdays after midnight, at his New Year's Eve Show, at the San Carlos Circle Star Theater. (B.B.King also shared the stage.) 
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=68 
http://data.sonicnet.com/artists/news/620757/01262000/bland_bobby.jhtml
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/artist/glance/-/101654/
002-1241397-9042458
    1931 - Birthday of Rudy Maugeri (d. 2004), baritone singer and arranger for the Crew-Cuts, in Toronto, Canada. All four members of the group were students at St. Michael's Cathedral Choir School in Toronto. They were discovered in 1954 by Mercury Records while they were singing in Cleveland under the name of the Canadaires. They became the Crew-Cuts after the popular hair style of the time. One of the first white groups to record rock 'n' roll versions of black rhythm-and-blues hits, the Crew Cuts are best known for their 1954 million-seller "Sh-Boom."
http://www.fullyalivecenter.org/morebios.htm
    1933 – Jerry Buss (d. 2013) was born in Salt Lake City.  He was the majority owner of the LA Lakers NBA championship team, winning 10 titles that were highlighted by the team's Showtime era during the 1980s. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. Buss also owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California.
    1936 – Actor Troy Donahue (d. 2001) was born Merle Johnson, Jr. in NYC.  Donahue became a popular male sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s.
    1939 – Birthday of Julius Lester (d. 2018), re-teller of legends and folklore of the American South, born St. Louis, Missouri. Since the early 1970's, Lester has served as a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/lester.html
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/cool6.html
    1941 - Birthday of vibe player Bobby Hutcherson (d. 2016), Los Angeles, CA
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/hutcherson_bobby/bio.jhtml
http://www.grunthos.demon.co.uk/dialogue.htm 
    1943 - The first air attack on Germany by the Army Air Force in World War II was made by the 8th Air Force led by Brigadier General Haywood Shepherd Hansell III from bases in England. The targets were naval bases and docks at Wilhelmshaven and factories in Emden in northwest Germany. The Americans lost three planes on the mission, two Liberators and one Flying Fortress. Of 64 planes participating in the raid, 53 reached their targets. The German loss was 22 fighter airplanes and 3 bombers. The B-17 Flying Fortresses, capable of sustaining heavy damage while continuing to fly, and the B-24 Liberators, long-range bombers, became famous for precision bombing raids. The premier example was the raid on Wilhelmshaven, commanded by Brig. Gen. Newton Longfellow. The 8th Air Force was amazingly effective and accurate in bombing warehouses and factories in this first air attack against the Axis power. 
    1944 - The siege of Leningrad began with German bombing of the city. The bombing continued for 430 hours. The suffering of the people of Leningrad during the 880-day siege was one of the greatest tragedies of World War II. More than half the population of Russian’s second largest city died during the winter of 1942. The siege finally ended on January 27, 1944.
    1944 - The Boston Braves fired manager Casey Stengel, who becomes the victim of an ownership change.  After Stengel achieved success at the helm of the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, he went on to become manager of the New York Yankees in 1948. He won the World Series in each year from 1949-53, the only manager to do so in Major League history. He took the Yankees to the World Series every year but 1954 and 1959 during his tenure that ended after the 1960 Series. Famous Stengelisms include: "The Yankees don't pay me to win every day - just two out of three;" "The secret of managing a club is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the five guys who are undecided;" and "You have to draft a catcher, because if you don't have one, the ball will roll all the way back to the screen." When he was fired after losing the 1960 World Series, he quipped, “I’ll never make the mistake of being 70 again.”  He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
    1945 - The Russians liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis had murdered 1.5 million men, women and children, including more than one million Jews.
    1947 - Top Hits 
For Sentimental Reasons - Nat King Cole 
A Gal in Calico - Johnny Mercer 
Ole Buttermilk Sky - The Kay Kyser Orchestra (vocal: Mike Douglas & The Campus Kids) 
Rainbow at Midnight - Ernest Tubb
    1948 - Wire Recording Corporation of America unveiled the first magnetic tape recorder, the ‘Wireway' machine containing a built-in oscillator. It sold for $149.50.
    1951 – Nuclear testing began at the Nevada Test Site with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat.
    1955 - Birthday of John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the US, born Buffalo, NY.
    1955 - Top Hits 
“Mr. Sandman” - The Chordettes 
“Let Me Go, Lover!” - Teresa Brewer 
“Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” - The Penguins 
“Loose Talk” - Carl Smith
    1956 - Elvis Presley, "Heartbreak Hotel" released today.   
    1958 - Little Richard enters Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. It's a school for blacks run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Little Richard explains while flying over the Philippines on tour, the wing on his plane caught fire and his prayers that the flames go out were answered. As a result, he says he's giving up rock and roll so he can serve God.
http://www.littlerichard.com/
    1959 - Birthday of Anthony Cris Collinsworth, sportscaster, former football player, born Dayton, OH.
    1961 - Leontyne Price debuted at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, singing the role of Leonora in "Il Trovatore". Price was the seventh black singer to make a debut at the Met, the first was Marian Anderson in 1955.
    1962 - Elvis Presley received his 29th gold record for “Can't Help Falling in Love,” just weeks after receiving one for the soundtrack to his seventh movie, “Blue Hawaii”.
    1962 - Joey Dee and the Starliters' "Peppermint Twist" hits #1
    1962 - Benny Goodman Band enplanes for Soviet tour; first jazz band to play Russia.
    1963 - Top Hits 
“Walk Right In” - The Rooftop Singers 
“Hey Paula” - Paul & Paula 
“Tell Him” - The Exciters 
“The Ballad of Jed Clampett" - Flatt & Scruggs
    1964 - Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-MA) announces her candidacy for President of the United States at a Women's National Press Club luncheon. In her statement, she acknowledged that many think that "No woman should ever dare to aspire to the White House - and that this is a man's world and should be kept that way." She received 27 votes at the national convention which nominated Barry Goldwater.
    1966 - Oswego, NY, was in the midst of a five day lake effect storm which left the town buried under 102 inches of snow.
    1967 - During a preflight test for what was to be the first manned Apollo mission, a fire claimed the lives of three U.S. astronauts; Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. After the disaster, the mission was officially designated Apollo 1. The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. Six of the missions (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal. Apollo 7 and 9 were Earth orbiting missions to test the Command and Lunar Modules and did not return lunar data. Apollo 8 and 10 tested various components while orbiting the Moon and returned photography of the lunar surface. Apollo 13 did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but also returned photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and solar wind experiments.
    1967 - EVANS, DONALD W., JR., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 12 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Place and date: Tri Tam, Republic of Vietnam, 27 January 1967. Entered service at: Covina, Calif. Born: 23 July 1943, Covina, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. He left his position of relative safety with his platoon which had not yet been committed to the battle to answer the calls for medical aid from the wounded men of another platoon which was heavily engaged with the enemy force. Dashing across 100 meters of open area through a withering hail of enemy fire and exploding grenades, he administered lifesaving treatment to 1 individual and continued to expose himself to the deadly enemy fire as he moved to treat each of the other wounded men and to offer them encouragement. Realizing that the wounds of 1 man required immediate attention, Sp4c. Evans dragged the injured soldier back across the dangerous fire-swept area, to a secure position from which he could be further evacuated. Miraculously escaping the enemy fusillade, Sp4c. Evans returned to the forward location. As he continued the treatment of the wounded, he was struck by fragments from an enemy grenade. Despite his serious and painful injury he succeeded in evacuating another wounded comrade, rejoined his platoon as it was committed to battle and was soon treating other wounded soldiers. As he evacuated another wounded man across the fire covered field, he was severely wounded. Continuing to refuse medical attention and ignoring advice to remain behind, he managed with his waning strength to move yet another wounded comrade across the dangerous open area to safety. Disregarding his painful wounds and seriously weakened from profuse bleeding, he continued his lifesaving medical aid and was killed while treating another wounded comrade. Sp4c. Evan’s extraordinary valor, dedication and indomitable spirit saved the lives of several of his fellow soldiers, served as an inspiration to the men of his company, were instrumental in the success of their mission, and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
    1967 - Residents of Chicago, IL, began to dig out from a storm which produced 23 inches of snow in 29 hours. The snow paralyzed the city and suburbs for days, and business losses were enormous
    1967 - The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union signed the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, DC, banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.  “Gort, Klaatu barada nikto.”.
    1968 - Seven weeks after singer Otis Redding's death, his song "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" was released. It hit #1 on March 16, 1968, staying at the top for a month. In 1960, Redding began his recording career with Johnny Jenkins and The Pinetoppers on Confederate Records. He sang duet with Carla Thomas and charted 11 hits. Redding, from Dawson, Georgia, died in a plane crash at Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin. The crash also killed four members of the Bar-Kays. "The Dock of the Bay," Redding's only number one song, was recorded three days before his death.
    1968 - The Bee Gees gave their first American concert as a group, earning $50,000 to play at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The Beatles were paid the same amount to perform at the Hollywood Bowl a few years prior.
    1971 - The first US postage stamp depicting a Jew was the three-cent bright red-violet postage stamp to commemorate the centenary of the birth of labor leaser Samuel Gompers, one of the founders of the American Federal of Labor. The stamps were printed by rotary press, 70 stamps to the pane.
    1971 - Top Hits 
“Knock Three Times” - Dawn 
“Lonely Days” - Bee Gees 
“Stoney End” - Barbra Streisand 
“Rose Garden” - Lynn Anderson
    1972 - The New Seekers received a gold record for “I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing” on this date. The song was an effective campaign tool for Coca-Cola television commercials.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/the-new-seekers/51115.htm 
    1973 - DVN Day. The US and North Vietnam, along with South Vietnam and the Viet Cong, signed the official "Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam." Signed at Paris, France, to take effect January 28 at 8 AM Saigon time, thus ending US combat role in a war that had involved American personnel stationed in Vietnam since defeated French forces had departed under terms in the Geneva Accords in 1954.  Thus ended the longest war in US history. This is the same agreement as was drafted the previous October.
3 million Americans were enlisted in the military 
47,366 Americans died in combat in the Vietnam war
· 275,000 Americans experience a death in their family
· 1.4 million saw someone in their family wounded
· 6.5 million served in armed forces, 1 million+ saw combat
Peace negotiations between the United States and North Vietnam had been ongoing since 1968. Richard Nixon was elected President that year, largely on the basis of his promise to find a way to "peace with honor" in Vietnam. Four years later, after the deaths of thousands more American servicemen, South Vietnamese soldiers, North Vietnamese soldiers, and Viet Cong fighters, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, and America's participation in the struggle in Vietnam came to a close. Most Americans were relieved simply to be out of the Vietnam quagmire. At home, the war seriously fractured the consensus about the Cold War that had been established in the period after World War II--simple appeals to fighting the red threat of communism would no longer be sufficient to move the American nation to commit its prestige, manpower, and money to foreign conflicts. For Vietnam, the accords meant little. The cease-fire almost immediately collapsed, with recriminations and accusations flying from both sides. In 1975, the North Vietnamese launched a massive military offensive, crushed the South Vietnamese forces, and reunified Vietnam under communist rule. Contrary to popular belief, both the Korean War and Viet Nam War were bad for the economy, resulting in areas of high unemployment, high inflation, and a larger disparity in income between the wealthy and not wealthy. Richard Nixon inherited this from Lyndon Johnson who in turn took over from John F. Kennedy who inherited it from Dwight Eisenhower. Whether President Kennedy would have listened to the public, or not have been fooled by the military as history has shown Johnson was fooled, is debated by historians. It cost Johnson the election, and he shortly thereafter died a broken man. Ironically, within weeks of the departure of American troops, the war between North and South Vietnam resumed. For the Vietnamese that remained and did not flee to the United States, the war didn't end until April 30, 1975, when Saigon fell to Communist forces. Today we not only trade
with the country, but have built American industrial plants in North Viet Nam.
    1973 - The UCLA Bruins, led by center Bill Walton, beat Notre Dame, 82-63, to set an NCAA record with their 61st consecutive victory. The Bruins broke the record set by the University of San Francisco in 1956 when Bill Russell played center for the Dons.
    1976 - “Laverne and Shirley” premiered on TV. This ABC sitcom was a spin-off of the popular TV show “Happy Days” that was also set during the 50's in Milwaukee, WI. Penny Marshall, sister of series co-creator, Garry Marshall, starred as Laverne DeFazio with Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney. The two friends worked at a brewery and shared a basement apartment. Also featured in the cast were Phil Foster as Laverne's father, Frank DeFazio; David L. Lander as co-worker Andrew ‘Squiggy” Sguiggman; Michael McKean as co-worker Lenny Kosnowski; Betty Garrett as landlady Edna Babis and Eddie Mekka as Carmine Ragusa, Shirley's sometime boyfriend.
    1979 - Top Hits 
“Le Freak” - Chic 
“Y.M.C.A.” - Village People 
“Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?” - Rod Stewart 
“Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For” - Crystal Gayle
    1979 - Rod Stewart's album "Blondes Have More Fun" became number one on the Billboard chart. Sales of the album were spurred by the single "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and the success represented a comeback for Stewart.
    1980 - Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escaped Iran in the culmination of the ‘Canadian Caper.’  They had evaded capture during the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran and the taking of embassy personnel as hostages on November 4, 1979.  
    1984 - Center Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scored a goal against the New Jersey Devils to extend his streak of scoring either a goal or an assist to 51 games, an NHL record. The Great One was stopped by the Los Angeles Kings, a team he later played for, the next night.
    1984 – Michael Jackson suffered second degree burns to his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.
    1987 - Top Hits
“At This Moment” - Billy Vera & The Beaters 
“Open Your Heart” - Madonna 
“Control” - Janet Jackson 
“Cry Myself to Sleep” - The Judds
    1989 - Michael Jackson gave what was billed as his last concert performance in Los Angeles. The show marked the end of Jackson's "Bad" world tour, which had begun 16 months earlier in Japan. In the audience at the LA concert were such stars as Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Phil Collins, Tiffany and members of Motley Crue. The "Bad" tour included 123 concerts in 15 countries, with a total attendance of 4.4-million and a box office gross of over 125-million dollars, both record figures. Jackson's "Bad" LP sold more than 20-million copies worldwide.
    1989 - The last half of January was bitterly cold over most of Alaska. Nearly thirty stations established all-time record low temperatures. On this date Tanana reported a low of -76 degrees. Daily highs of -66 degrees were reported at Chandalar Lake on the 22nd, and at Ambler on the 26th.
    1990 - Another in a series of cold fronts brought high winds to the northwestern U.S., and more heavy snow to some of the higher elevations. The series of vigorous cold fronts crossing the area between the 23rd and the 27th of the month produced up to 60 inches of snow in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State.
    1991 - The New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-19, to win Super Bowl XXV. Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood saw his 47-year field goal attempt sail wide right with eight seconds to play. It is perhaps one of the most remembered losses in NFL history. 
http://images.nfl.com/history/images/0127.jpg
    1991 - Whitney Houston performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl game - sort of. What the crowd heard was a pre-recorded version while Houston and an orchestra performed on the field. A blend of Houston's live vocals and the pre-recorded version, released as a single, became a hit because of patriotism sparked by the Persian Gulf War. 
    1992 - Country singer Wynonna Judd made her debut as a solo artist on the American Music Awards show on ABC TV. The Judds, the award-winning duo of Wynonna and her mother Naomi, broke up in 1991 because of Naomi's ill health. 
    1993 - Warner Brothers announced it was releasing Ice-T from his recording contract. The company cited "creative differences" for the decision, which followed the previous year's controversy over Ice-T's "Cop Killer." Police and others said the track advocated the killing of police. Several of Ice-T's concerts had to be cancelled when off-duty police refused to provide security for the shows. Ironically he went from a regular detective on “Homicide,” Baltimore, MD., to a key detective on “Law and Order, Criminal Intent,” New York City.
    1993 - Fans at a Clovis, New Mexico club, expecting to see a group called Yukon Jack, got a shock when Garth Brooks and his band walked on stage. The surprise performance was arranged by Brooks' booking agent - a longtime friend of the club's owner. 
    1994 - A frigid arctic air was in place over New England and New York as a massive 1052 millibar high pressure provided ideal radiational cooling. Crown Point, NY dipped to 48 degrees below zero and Shoreham, VT shivered with 46 degrees below zero. Burlington, VT broke its old record daily low by 9 degrees with a reading of 29 degrees below zero and Caribou, ME set a record low for the third day in a row with a temperature of 23 degrees below zero 
    1997 - National Semiconductor agreed to sell its Fairchild Semiconductor business to the unit's management. The separation of the two companies would allow National Semi to focus on expensive custom chips instead of high-volume, low-cost chips, which Fairchild specialized in.
    1997 - Ottawa native Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" was named favorite album at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Presenter Paula Abdul accepted the award for Morissette, who was on vacation in India. Morissette was also picked as favorite female artist. Timmins, Ontario, native Shania Twain captured the trophy for best female country artist.
    1998 - The Spice Girls' "Girl Power: Live in Istanbul" video was released by Virgin Music Video, and was later certified platinum.
    2005 - Month-to-date snowfall at Boston Logan International Airport totaled 43.1 inches, making January the snowiest month on record.
    2005 – The UN General Assembly designated January 27 as International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.”  In doing so, the UN rejected any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event and remembered the words of General Dwight Eisenhower who directed the photographic preservation of the concentration camps when they were liberated in 1945.
    2006 – Western Union discontinued its telegram and Commercial Messaging services.
    2010 – Steve Jobs CEO of Apple, unveiled a new invention, a tablet PC called the iPad, at a press conference in San Francisco.
    2014 - Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who had been granted temporary asylum in Russia, claimed that his decision to leak classified NSA documents about mining emails and telephone call logs has resulted in several significant threats to his life.
    2014 - The U.S. Postal Service will soon implement a rate hike in postage, approved last December the price of first-class postage stamps to 49 cents from 46 cents.
    2015 – Boston and much of New England were buried under more than two feet of snow with winds exceeding 70 mph.

Super Bowl Champions:
    1991 - New York Giants