February 13, 2008

175 years ago
1833

Canadiana
Hamilton, Ontario was incorporated as a city.

80 years ago
1928

Adventure
Two men, C. Gay and E. Lucas of Toronto, crossed the ice bridge in the Niagara Gorge from Canada to the United States. The last time anyone had tried this was on Feb. 4, 1912, when three died in the attempt.

50 years ago
1958

Figure skating
Canadians Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul won the second of four straight pairs championships at the world championships in Paris.
Teammates Maria and Otto Jelinek finished third.

40 years ago
1968

Died on this date
Mae Marsh, 73. U.S. movie actress. Miss Marsh began her career working for Mack Sennett and D.W. Griffith, appearing in such films as The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Miss Marsh appeared in many movies directed by John Ford, often in uncredited bit parts. Her last role was an uncredited appearance in Mr. Ford's western Cheyenne Autumn, released in 1964.

Portia White, 56. Canadian singer. Miss White, a native of Truro, Nova Scotia, was an operatic contralto who performed nationally and internationally from 1941-1952. She retired because of vocal and health problems, and died in Toronto after a long battle with cancer.

Olympics
Nancy Greene of Rossland, British Columbia, representing Canada, won the silver medal in the women's slalom at Grenoble. France's Marielle Goitschel and Annie Famose won the gold and bronze, respectively.

30 years ago
1978

On the radio
In Calgary, CFCN began carrying the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, every night of the week except Saturday at 11:10 P.M. The CFCN broadcasts were several months behind the original broadcasts on CBS; in fact, CBS was never mentioned (it was billed as the "CFCN Mystery Theatre"). The episode that was actually broadcast on CBS that night was Night Eyes, about a ringer horse.

25 years ago
1983

Disasters
In Turin, Italy, a fire in a movie theatre killed 74 people. This was one time when yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theatre wouldn't have been illegal.

20 years ago
1988

Movies
Noted American film historian William K. Everson was on the campus of the University of Western Ontario in London, showing films from his collection featuring Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. Today's screenings, at the University Community Centre, were The Blue Angel (Dietrich) and Ninotchka (Garbo).

Olympics
Canadian Governor General Jeanne Sauvé declares the 15th Winter Olympics open in a ceremony at Olympic Plaza in Calgary.