April 12, 2008

1,770 years ago
238

War
Numidian forces loyal to Roman Emperor Maximinus Thrax defeated the forces of Roman Emperor Gordian II in the Battle of Carthage. Gordian II, 46, had been co-Emperor with his father, Gordian I since leading a successful revolt against Maximinus Thrax on March 22. Gordian II was killed in the battle, and his body wasn't recovered. When Gordian I heard the news, he committed suicide at the approximate age of 79.

220 years ago
1788

Died on this date
Carlo Antonio Campioni, 67. French composer. Mr. Campioni wrote several sets of trio sonatas.

80 years ago
1928

World events
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, on his way to inaugurate the Milan Sample Fair, was saved from assassination by the tardiness of the procession. The king was due to pass through Julius Caesar Square on his way to the parade grounds, but a time bomb placed in a lamppost exploded ten minutes before his scheduled arrival at that point. 15 people were killed in the blast and 40 or 50 others were seriously injured.

Diplomacy
U.S. industrialist Henry Ford and his wife were in England, and met King George V and Queen Mary, talking with them for nearly two hours at a tea at Lady Astor’s house, Cliveden, near Taplow.

Aviation
The German Junker plane Bremen took off from Baldonnel Airdrome in Dublin, Ireland at 5:28 A.M., in a flight across the Atlantic Ocean, bound for Mitchel Field, New York. Aboard were Captain Herman Koehl and Commandant James E. Fitzmaurice of the Irish Free State Air Force, co-pilots, as well as Baron Gunther von Huenefeld, backer of the flight.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Finals
New York Rangers 1 @ Montreal Maroons 0 (Best-of-five series tied 2-2)

75 years ago
1933

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Death Holds the Prompt Book

70 years ago
1938

On the radio
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of Silver Blaze, starring F. Wyndham Goldie and Hugh Harben, on BBC Empire and National Services

This was the first British radio broadcast of a Sherlock Holmes story.

Hockey
The Chicago Black Hawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 to win their second Stanley Cup in five years. The winning goal was scored by Carl Voss at 16:45 of the second period as the Black Hawks took the series 3 games to 1. This marked the last time that the final round was a best-of-five series.

60 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): March from the River Kwai and Colonel Bogey--Mitch Miller and his Orchestra

#1 single in France (IFOP): Hello, le soleil brille--Annie Cordy (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Magic Moments/Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como (7th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Tequila--The Champs (5th week at #1)
2 Lollipop--The Chordettes
--Ronald and Ruby
3 Who's Sorry Now--Connie Francis
4 He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)--Laurie London
5 Twilight Time--The Platters
6 A Wonderful Time Up There--Pat Boone
7 Sweet Little Sixteen--Chuck Berry
8 Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como
9 Are You Sincere--Andy Williams
10 It's Too Soon to Know--Pat Boone

Singles entering the chart were Witch Doctor by David Seville (#29); Kewpie Doll by Perry Como (#36); Chanson d'Amour (Song of Love) by Art and Dotty Todd (#44); Another Time, Another Place by Patti Page (#48); High Sign by the Diamonds (#50); You Excite Me by Frankie Avalon (#53); Crazy Love by Paul Anka (#56); The Little Train (Die Kleine Bimmelbahn) by Marianne Vasel and Erich Storz (#57); and Do You Want to Dance by Bobby Freeman (#60).

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 109 @ St. Louis 110 (St. Louis won best-of-seven series 4-2)

Bob Pettit scored 50 points--including 18 of his team's last 21 points--before 10,218 fans at Kiel Auditorium to lead the Hawks to their only National Basketball Association championship (so far). The 1957-58 Hawks were the last championship team composed exclusively of white players.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann

Edmonton’s top 10
1 Lady Madonna--The Beatles
2 Summertime Blues--Blue Cheer
3 Love is All Around--The Troggs
4 Playboy--Gene and Debbe
5 Jennifer Eccles--The Hollies
6 The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)--Manfred Mann
7 Young Girl--The Union Gap
8 Too Much Talk--Paul Revere and the Raiders
9 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly--Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus
10 The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde--Georgie Fame
Pick of the Week: The Unknown Soldier--The Doors
New this week: Let’s Get Together--Three’s a Crowd
White Silver Sands--Don Ho
Look to Your Soul--Johnny Rivers
As Long as I Got You--Laura Lee

Jennifer Eccles was one of two "Jennifer" singles getting airplay at the time; the other was Jennifer Juniper by Donovan. Both appeared in North America on the Epic label.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was the theme of the popular spaghetti Western movie directed by Sergio Leone, and starring Clint Eastwood. The music was written by Ennio Morricone, and helped to make him famous internationally. Mr. Montenegro’s version of Mr. Morricone’s theme from For a Few Dollars More (the immediate predecessor in the Leone/Eastwood series) had been released as a single in the summer of 1967, but had failed to chart. Both are great tunes to whistle along with.

Hockey
CPHL
Adams Cup
Semi-Finals
Kansas City 3 @ Fort Worth 4 (Best-of-five series tied 1-1)

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): I Wonder Why--Showadaddywaddy

Politics and government
In India, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Congress Party-I (I for Indira) was recognized as the official opposition. The party had won elections on February 25 in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and had made a better showing in Maharashtra than had been expected. On April 2 the Congress Party-I was defeated in the state of Haryana by the ruling Janata party. On April 5, Mrs. Gandhi alleged that the results in Haryana were fraudulent because untouchables had been intimidated against voting there. Congress-I was recognized as the opposition when it ended up with 71 seats in the nation’s lower house of parliament, compared with the regular Congress Party’s 68.

25 years ago
1983

Died on this date
Frederick Thompson, 75. U.S. surgeon. Dr. Thompson was an orthopedic surgeon who led the development of the artificial hip replacement procedure.

Desmond Bagley, 59. U.K. writer. Mr. Bagley was known for his thriller novels, which included The Golden Keel (1962); Running Blind (1970); The Freedom Trap (1971); and The Enemy (1977).

Carl Morton, 39. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Morton began his major league career with the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969 as a September call-up. He went 0-3 that year, but in 1970 he posted 18 wins and 11 losses for the last-place Expos, and was voted the National League Rookie of the Year. Mr. Morton failed to follow up his rookie success in the next two seasons, and was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 1973. He responded with a fine 15-10 record that year, which was followed by a 16-12 record in 1974 and a 17-16 season for a bad Braves team in 1975. He finished his major league career with a 4-9 record for the last-place Braves in 1976. His career totals were 87 wins and 92 losses, with 13 shutouts. I saw Mr. Morton pitch in person against the World Series champion Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium on August 16, 1976. He beat the Reds that night for what turned out to be his second-last win. Mr. Morton suffered a fatal heart attack after jogging, becoming one of four pitchers with the Montreal Expos in 1969 and/or 1970 to die before the age of 50. The others were Jerry Robertson, Joe Sparma, and Howie Reed.

20 years ago
1988

On television tonight
The Wonder Years, on ABC
Tonight's episode: The Phone Call

Died on this date
Alan Paton, 85. South African writer and political activist. Mr. Paton, a white opponent of his country’s Apartheid policy, was best known for writing Cry, The Beloved Country. The novel was published in 1948 and was made into movies in 1951 (starring Sidney Poitier) and 1995 (starring James Earl Jones). In 1953 Mr. Paton founded the South African Liberal Party to oppose Apartheid. The dissolution of the party was ordered by the federal regime in the late 1960s, officially because it contained both white and black members.

Politics and government
U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, announced that he would not seek re-election as leader of the Senate Democrats in 1989. He had been his party’s leader in the Senate since 1977. Mr. Byrd, 70, said that he would become chairman (if the Democrats retained their majority in the 1988 elections) of the Appropriations Committee, whose chairman, John Stennis (Democrat, Mississippi) was retiring.

The Arizona Supreme Court cancelled a recall election targeted at Governor Evan Mecham, which had been scheduled for May 17. In a 4-1 decision, the court ruled that the state constitution mandated the order of succession after a governor was removed, and that hence, Rose Mofford, who had been swornn in as Mr. Mecham's successor on April 5, had the job for all of the remainder of Mr. Mecham's term.

The National Republican Alliance (ARENA) of El Salvador announced that it would appeal the announced election results to the nation's Supreme Court. The official results,announced 10 days earlier by the Central Electoral Council, gave ARENA 30 seats in the 60-member Assembly, one less than a majority. ARENA claimed that it had won 31 seats.

Terrorism
Hijackers of a Kuwait Airways jet that was now on the ground at Larnaca, Cyprus released 12 more hostages, leaving more than 30 still aboard.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Prince of Wales Conference
Division Semi-Finals
Hartford 3 @ Montreal 1 (Montreal led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Buffalo 4 @ Boston 5 (Boston led best-of-seven series 3-2)
New Jersey 4 @ New York Islanders 2 (New Jersey led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Philadelphia 2 @ Washington 5 (Philadelphia led best-of-seven series 3-2)

Clarence S. Campbell Conference
Division Semi-Finals
Toronto 6 @ Detroit 5 (OT) (Detroit led best-of-seven series 3-2)
Chicago 3 @ St. Louis 5 (St. Louis won best-of-seven series 4-1)
Los Angeles 4 @ Calgary 6 (Calgary won best-of-seven series 4-1)
Winnipeg 2 @ Edmonton 6 (Edmonton won best-of-seven series 4-1)

Ed Olczyk scored a shorthanded goal in the 1st period, a powerplay goal in the 2nd period, and the winning goal 34 seconds into the 1st overtime period as the Maple Leafs edged the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.

10 years ago
1998

Golf
Mark O'Meara birdied the final hole to win the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia with a 9-under-par score of 279, 1 stroke ahead of David Duval and Fred Couples. First prize money was $576,000.