February 12, 2008

110 years ago
1898

Born on this date
Roy Harris. U.S. composer. Mr. Harris composed over 170 works, many of them on American themes. His Symphony 1933, sometimes referred to as Symphony No. 1, received its premiere performance in 1934 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under conductor Serge Koussevitsky. A week after the premiere, the symphony became the first American symphony to be commercially recorded. Mr. Harris's best-known work was Symphony No. 3, which premiered with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, again under Mr. Koussevitsky, in 1939. Mr. Harris lived long enough to receive a commission for a Bicentennial Symphony, but the work was panned by critics upon its 1976 premiere for dwelling on slavery and the Civil War instead of celebrating the 200th anniversary of American independence. Mr. Harris died on October 1, 1979 at the age of 81.

100 years ago
1908

Politics and government
Theo Heemskerk of the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij took office as Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Auto racing
The Great Auto Race from New York to Paris began. Six cars, representing four nations (United States, France, Germany) started the race in front of 250,000 spectators in New York's Times Square. The Thomas Flyer represented the United States; the Protos represented Germany, and the Briax-Zust was the Italian car. France had three cars in the race: the De Dion-Bouton; Moto Bloc; and Sizaire-Naudin. The cars headed west and north across the United States before crossing the Pacific Ocean.

70 years ago
1938

Diplomacy
Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg visited Adolf Hitler at the German Chancellor's retreat at Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. Mr. Hitler threatened to use military action against Austria if Mr. Schuschnigg didn't lift the ban on political parties, reinstate full party freedoms, release all imprisoned members of the Nazi party and let them participate in the Austrian government. Mr. Schuschnigg complied with Mr. Hitler's demands and appointed pro-Nazi lawyer Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Interior Minister and Nazi Edmund Glaise-Horstenau as minister without portfolio.

30 years ago
1978

Died on this date
Cap Fear, 76. U.K.-born Canadian football player. Alfred Henry Fear played outside wing with the Toronto Argonauts (1919-1926); Montreal Winged Wheelers (1927); and Hamilton Tigers (1928-1932), and was a member of Grey Cup championship teams in 1921, 1928, 1929, and 1932. He was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1967.

25 years ago
1983

Died on this date
Eubie Blake, 96. U.S. musician and composer. The ragtime pianist and composer of such songs as I'm Just Wild About Harry died just 5 days after celebrating his 100th birthday (which was actually his 96th birthday). Mr. Blake was one of the first people to appear in sound films, performing in several musical shorts as early as 1922.

Weather
A blizzard that began the previous day paralyzed the eastern United States from North Carolina to Maine, leaving up to 35 inches of snow. Thousands were standed, and 11 died. Philadelphia reported a record of 21.3 inches of accumulation of snow, and the storm in New York was regarded as the worst since 1947.

20 years ago
1988

Theatre
This blogger attended a performance of Christopher Marlowe's play Dr. Faustus at Alumni Hall on the campus of the University of Western Ontario in London. The production was put on by the UWO English Department.