June 12, 2008

Born on this date
Happy birthday, Genevieve Morrow!

250 years ago
1758

War
British General James Wolfe took possession of the Light-House Point at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, destroyed and abandoned by Governor Drucour after the British landing on June 8.

190 years ago
1818

Died on this date
Egwale Seyon. Emperor of Ethiopia, 1801-1818. Egwale Seyon succeeded Demetros on the throne after a period of instability. Most of Egwale Seyon's reign was marked by civil war, and he died after a long illness. He was succeeded by his brother Iyoas II.

150 years ago
1858

War
The U.K. Central India Field Force, led by Sir Hugh Rose, recaptured Morar, a large military cantonment a few miles east of Gwalior.

110 years ago
1898

Asiatica
General Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippines' independence from Spain.

100 years ago
1908

Communications
Saskatchewan Government Telephones was created.

80 years ago
1928

Aviation
Mexican aviator Captain Emilio Carranza flew The Mexico Exclesior from Mooresville, North Carolina to Washington, D.C. to begin a goodwill tour. He had left Mexico City the day before, and had covered 2,175 miles in 21 hours.

The monoplane Columbia, with Miss Mabel Boll, Oliver le Boutillier, and Arthur Argles aboard, flew from Mineola, New York to Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.

Politics and government
Socialist Party leader Hermann Mueller took office as Chancellor of Germany, succeeding Wilhelm Marx, whose Centre Party had finished third behind the Socialists and Nationalists in the May 20 federal election.

The U.S. Republican National Convention opened at Convention Hall in Kansas City, with U.S. Senator Simeon Fess (Ohio) , the temporary chairman, delivering the keynote address.

60 years ago
1948

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard) (Best Seller): Nature Boy--King Cole (5th week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Nature Boy--King Cole (2nd week at #1)
--Dick Haymes with the Song Spinners
--Frank Sinatra
--The Sportsmen
2 Little White Lies--Dick Haymes
--Dinah Shore
3 You Can't Be True, Dear--Ken Griffin
--Vera Lynn
--Dick Haymes with the Song Spinners
--The Sportsmen
--The Marlin Sisters with Eddie Fisher
4 Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)--The Andrews Sisters
--The Sportsmen
--Vaughn Horton and the Polka Debs
5 Sabre Dance--Woody Herman and his Orchestra
--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
6 The Dickey-Bird Song--Freddy Martin and his Orchestra
7 Haunted Heart--Perry Como
--Jo Stafford
8 Baby Face--Art Mooney and his Orchestra
--Sammy Kaye and his "Swing and Sway" Orchestra
--Jack Smith and the Clark Sisters
9 Because--Perry Como
10 St. Louis Blues March--Tex Beneke and his Orchestra

Singles entering the chart were the version of You Can't Be True, Dear by The Marlin Sisters with Eddie Fisher; Texarkana Baby by Eddy Arnold (#29); Woody Wood-Pecker by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra (#31); William Tell Overture by Spike Jones and his City Slickers (#33); A Boy from Texas--A Girl from Tennessee by the King Cole Trio (#38); and Sunrise Boogie by Frankie Carle and his Orchestra (#39).

World events
Soviet authorities in Germany ended a 22-hour embargo on U.S. and U.K. rail freight traffic to Berlin.

Diplomacy
Speaking at University of California commencement exercises in Berkeley, U.S. President Harry Truman delivered an important foreign policy address, accusing the U.S.S.R. of "obstruction and aggression" in its "attitude" toward the United States.

Greece accepted a Bulgarian offer to begin negotiations for restoration of "normal diplomatic relations" between the two countries.

Politics and government
The Hungarian Socialist and Communist Parties merged into the Hungarian Workers' Party.

The Democratic Party executive committee of Greenville County, South Carolina announced that Negroes would be permitted to vote in primary elections; it was the first such action in the state.

Business
U.S. President Truman vetoed a bill permitting rate agreements among major railroads, claiming that it would allow "an important segment of the economy to obtain immunity from antitrust laws."

Horse racing
Citation, with Eddie Arcaro up, became the fourth Triple Crown winner in the past eight years, winning the 80th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, New York in a time of 2:28 1/5, 8 lengths ahead of Better Self. Escadru finished third in the eight-horse field. Mr. Arcaro became the first--and so far, only--jockey to ride two Triple Crown winners, having accomplished the feat with Whirlaway in 1941.



Golf
Ben Hogan won the U.S. Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, shooting a 2-under-par 69 in the final round to finish with an 8-under-par total of 276, 2 strokes ahead of Jimmy Demaret, who also shot 69 in the final round. First prize money was $2,000.



60 years ago
1958

Diplomacy
Five United Nations observers crossed into Lebanon to begin observation of the Syrian-Lebanese border under Security Council orders.

British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addresses a joint session of the Canadian Parliament during his visit to Ottawa.

Politics and government
Following his re-election by the Japanese House of Representatives to a new four year term as Prime Minister, Liberal Democratic Party leader Nobusuke Kishi named a new cabinet.

Retired French Army General Lionel-Max Chassin announced the formation of a Popular Movement of May 13, dedicated to the abolition of the French parliamentary and party systems.

Economics and finance
The Indian government and the U.S. Export-Imposrt Bank signed a $150-million loan agreement providing for the use of funds for industrial machinery purchases in the United States by Indian firms.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (Record Retailer): Young Girl--The Union Gap (4th week at #1)

Australia's Top 10 (Go-Set)
1 The Unicorn--The Irish Rovers
2 Honey--Bobby Goldsboro
3 Young Girl--The Union Gap
4 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly--Hugo Montenegro, his Orchestra and Chorus
5 If I Only Had Time--John Rowles
6 Congratulations--Cliff Richard
7 Lazy Sunday--Small Faces
8 The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp--O.C. Smith
9 If I were a Carpenter--Four Tops
10 Delilah--Tom Jones

Singles entering the chart were Sleepy Joe by Herman's Hermits (#28); May I Take a Giant Step (Into Your Heart) by the 1910 Fruitgum Company (#37); Helule Helule by the Tremeloes (#38); and Always/What a Silly Thing to Do by the Twilights (#40).

At the movies
Rosemary's Baby, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, and Sidney Blackmer, opened in theatres.

Speedway, starring Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, and Bill Bixby, opened in theatres.

Music
The Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, based in Halifax as Canada's first full-time regional orchestra, was founded with the support of committees in Sydney, Halifax, Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton.

Space
The U.S.S.R. launched the weather satellite Cosmos 226, taking 96.9 minutes to reach an altitude of 375-404 miles.

Defense
The United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons; U.S. President Lyndon Johnson delivered an address to the UN to mark the event.

Education
E. M. Hall and L. A. Dennis issued Living and Learning - the report of the provincial committee on aims and objectives of education in the schools of Ontario. The Hall-Dennis Report suggested abolishing grades, percentage marks, corporal punishment, and homework.

30 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): I Can't Stand the Rain--Eruption

#1 single in Japan (Oricon Singles Chart): Jikan yo Tomare--Eikichi Yazawa

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Stayin' Alive--Bee Gees (5th week at #1)

Abominations
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced his plan--"A Time For Action"--to give Canada a new constitution, including a charter of rights, by the end of 1981.

Crime
American serial killer David Berkowitz, popularly known as the "Son of Sam," was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for each of six killings in New York in 1977.

F. Jay Crawford, an International Havester representative from the United States, was dragged from his car by Soviet police when he stopped for a traffic light in Moscow, and was arrested on charges of violating currency regulations. Mr. Crawford denied the charges. He was detained for 16 days on charges of having exchanged 20,000 rubles ($29,000 at the official rate of exchange) on the black market. Foreigners had long suspected that the black market that flourished outside the Intourist Hotel, where Mr. Crawford lived, was maintained by U.S.S.R. police in order to entrap Westerners.

Business
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that newspapers could not acquire radio or television stations in their own communities. All but 16 of the more than 140 existing media combinations were allowed to continue; the 16 that were required to dissolve were in communities where the only newspaper owned the only radio or television station.

Disasters
At least 21 people were killed and 350 injured when the strongest earthquake to hit Japan in 14 years struck at Sendai. The earthquake measured 7.5 on the Richter scale and set skyscrapers swaying in Tokyo, 180 miles away.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Don't Turn Around--Aswad (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Theme from S-Express--S-Express (2nd week at #1)

Politics and government
In the second round of French parliamentary elections, the Socialists and their allies won 276 seats in the National Assembly, 13 short of a majority. The conservative alliance won 271 seats, the Communists 27, and the National Front 1. President Francois Mitterand said he would ask Prime Minister Michel Rocard to form a new minority cabinet.

World events
Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said that he had authorized Jewish settlers in the occupied territories to shoot Palestinians seen holding firebombs. Arab arsonists were suspected in the destruction of thousands of acres of Israel's scarce forests.

Health
On the first day of the 4th International Conference on AIDS in Stockholm, Dr. Jonathan Mann of the World Health Organization said that 5 million people in 130 countries carried HIV--the virus that caused AIDS--and that 150,000 people had developed AIDS, with the U.S.A. still leading the world with 61,580 cases. It was reported that an undetermined number of cases of infection would go undetected because the virus "hid" within the immune system.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Los Angeles Lakers 99 @ Detroit 86 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 2-1)



10 years ago
1998

At the movies
The Last Days of Disco, written and directed by Whit Stillman and starring Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, and Chris Eigeman, opened in theatres.

Died on this date
Theresa Merritt, 75. U.S. actress. Miss Merritt performed on stage, screen, and television. She appeared in the television comedy series That's My Mama (1974-1975) and the movie The Wiz (1978). Miss Merritt died of skin cancer.

Leo Buscaglia, 74. U.S. author and speaker. Dr. Buscaglia was a professor of special education at the University of Southern California, and was nicknamed "Dr. Love" because of his books and lectures promoting the importance of love. His talks on love achieved popularity on the Public Broadcasting Service in the 1980s, and he once had five books on the best-seller lists at once, but he had become largely forgotten by the time he died of a heart attack.

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Utah 83 @ Chicago 81 (Chicago led best-of-seven series 3-2)