April 25, 2009

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Suzie Martin!

1,210 years ago
799

World events
After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, Pope Leo III fled to the Frankish court of King Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.

410 years ago
1599

Born on this date
Oliver Cromwell. Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1653-1658. Mr. Cromwell was the Member of Parliament for Huntington (1628-1629) and Cambridge (1640-1649), and entered the English Civil War on the side of the "Roundheads," or Parliamentarians. He was a devout independent Puritan, and believed that God was guiding his military victories. Mr. Cromwell signed King Charles I's death warrant in 1949 and then led the "Rump Parliament" from 1649-1653 before dismissing it and accepting the invitation of fellow leaders to serve as Lord Protector. Mr. Cromwell was tolerant of Protestant sects, but not of Roman Catholics, and he remains the subject of divided opinion. He died of a possible kidney or urinary infection on September 3, 1568 at the age of 59, and was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard.

180 years ago
1829

Australiana
Charles Fremantle arrived in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia's Garden Island, a week before declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.

160 years ago
1849

Protest
Governor General of Canada Lord Elgin signed the Rebellion Losses Bill, providing payment for people who had lost property in the rebellions of 1837-1838, including rebels. Angry Tory mobs were furious the Queen's representative would sign a bill rewarding treason, and began rioting. They threw garbage and dead rats at members of the Assembly, and pelted an official reading the Riot Act with onions. That night, the mobs set fire to the Legislature in the St. Anne's Market in Montreal while it was in session, destroying parliamentary and government records, and Lord Elgin barely escaped. As a result of the lack of public security in Montreal, the government decided to move to Toronto; so began the period of wandering government, when Kingston and Quebec City also shared the duties of being the capital of the Canadas.

150 years ago
1859

Transportation
Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

130 years ago
1879

Politics and government
Sir William Sullivan was sworn in as Premier of Prince Edward Island, succeeding Sir Louis Davies.

125 years ago
1884

Born on this date
Arthur Chevrolet. Swiss-born U.S. auto racing driver. Mr. Chevrolet, the brother of drivers Gaston and Louis Chevrolet, participated in the 1911 and 1916 Indianapolis 500. He and his brothers founded the Frontenac Motor Corporation in 1916; Arthur drove a Frontenac in the 1916 Indianapolis 500--placing 18th--and was driving a Frontenac in 1920 when he suffered career-ending injuries in a crash during practice runs for that year's Indianapolis 500. Arthur Chevrolet continued as an automotive and aviation engineer, but suffered from depression, and hanged himself on April 16, 1946, nine days before his 62nd birthday.

90 years ago
1919

Died on this date
Augustus D. Juilliard, 83. U.S. businessman and philanthropist. Mr. Juilliard was born at sea while his parents were emigrating from France to the United States. He became a wealthy textile merchant and investor, and was best known for bequeathing much of his estate to the advancement of music, with the Juilliard School being established in New York City in 1924 as a graduate music conservatory. Mr. Juilliard died six days after his 83rd birthday.

60 years ago
1949

On the radio
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring John Stanley and George Spelvin (Wendell Holmes), on MBS
Tonight's episode: The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez

World events
The Panamanian government imposed a state of siege, charging opposition politicians with plotting a coup.

Politics and government
The World Congress of Fighters for Peace ended in Paris after issuing a manifesto attacking U.S. foreign policy and the North Atlantic security pact.

Crime
The espionage trial of U.S. Justice Department employee Judith Coplon opened in Washington.

Labour
A New York Congress of Industrial Organizations Council was formed to replace the Greater New York CIO Council, disbanded by the national CIO leadership because of its Communist leanings. Transport Workers Union President Michael Quill headed the new organization.

50 years ago
1959

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Petite Fleur (Little Flower)--Chris Barber's Jazz Band

#1 single in Italy: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes--The Platters (5th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Die Gitarre und das Meer--Freddy Quinn

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): It Doesn't Matter Anymore--Buddy Holly (2nd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Come Softly to Me--The Fleetwoods (3rd week at #1)
2 (Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I--Elvis Presley
3 Venus--Frankie Avalon
4 Pink Shoe Laces--Dodie Stevens
5 Guitar Boogie Shuffle--The Virtues
6 I Need Your Love Tonight--Elvis Presley
7 Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)--The Impalas
8 It's Late--Ricky Nelson
9 Since I Don't Have You--The Skyliners
10 The Happy Organ--Dave "Baby" Cortez

Singles entering the chart were Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb) by Edward Byrnes & Connie Stevens (#50); Young Ideas by Chico Holiday (#71); Castin' My Spell by the Johnny Otis Show (#85); I Waited Too Long by LaVern Baker (#86); Your Cheatin' Heart by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra (#89); A String of Trumpets by the Trumpeteers (#90); The Fountain of Youth by the Four Lads (#92); I've Come of Age by Billy Storm (#93); Gretchen by the Diamonds (#95); If You Only Knew (The Love I Have for You) by the Teddy Bears (#96); Move Over Rover by the Mark IV (#98); and The Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton (#99).

Diplomacy
Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, along with 75 Cuban government officials and members of the country’s press corps, all clad in olive green military fatigues, arrived in Montreal for his first visit to Canada, after a two-day visit to Boston. Mr. Castro then held a long press conference with prominent journalists, including René Lévesque, where he tried to explain the philosophy of his Revolutionary movement, which he called “humanism.”

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman J. William Fulbright (Democrat--Arkansas) declined Secretary of State Christian Herter's invitation for ranking committee members to accompany him to East-West talks in Geneva.

Politics and government
Moroccan Prime Minister Abdullah Ibrahim was expelled from membership in the ruling Istiqlal Party after being blamed by party president Allal el-Fassity for the growth of banditry.

Crime
Masked white men abducted Negro truck driver Mack Parker from the unguarded Pearl River County Jail in Poplarville, Mississippi, where Mr. Parker was awaiting trial on charges of raping a white woman.

Transportation
The St. Lawrence section of the St. Lawrence Seaway opened for traffic as the first ship, the icebreaker D'Iberville, entered the locks south of Montréal; the first westbound vessel was the Simcoe, a 36-year-old, coal-burning, Canadian canaller; 30 hours later, Simcoe reaches Kingston, Ontario to take on a load of grain; the 650 km. waterway between Montréal and Lake Erie links the Great Lakes together as far as Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior - a distance of 3776 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean.

40 years ago
1969

Hit parade
Vancouver's Top 10 (CKLG)
1 Hair--The Cowsills
2 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
3 What Can the Matter Be--The Poppy Family
4 Sweet Cherry Wine--Tommy James and the Shondells
5 Gitarzan--Ray Stevens
6 Rock Me--Steppenwolf
7 Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show--Neil Diamond
8 The Boxer--Simon & Garfunkel
9 First of May--The Bee Gees
10 Morning Girl--Neon Philharmonic

Singles entering the chart were Get Back/Don't Let Me Down by the Beatles with Billy Preston (#20); Black Pearl by Sonny Charles & the Checkmates, Ltd. (#25); In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me) by the Foundations (#26); Stand! by Sly & the Family Stone (#28); and Goodbye by Mary Hopkin (#29).

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Hair--The Cowsills
2 Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)--The 5th Dimension
3 Galveston--Glen Campbell
4 Long Green--The Fireballs
5 Things I'd Like to Say--The New Colony Six
6 The Letter--The Arbors
7 Hot Smoke & Sasafrass--The Bubble Puppy
8 Time of the Season--The Zombies
9 Rock Me--Steppenwolf
10 Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'--Crazy Elephant

Basketball
NBA
Finals
Boston 112 @ Los Angeles 118 (Los Angeles led best-of-seven series 2-0)

Jerry West scored 41 points and Elgin Baylor added 31, including his team's last 12 points, as the Lakers beat the Celtics at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

30 years ago
1979

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Bright Eyes--Art Garfunkel (3rd week at #1)

Law
The Manitoba Court of Appeal struck down an 1890 law prohibiting the use of French in the provincial legislature, courts and schools.

20 years ago
1989

Politics and government
U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev obtained the resignations of 110 officials, including 74 full members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Most of those who "retired" were holdovers from the time when Leonid Brezhnev had run the party and the country (1964-1982). Among those who resigned was former President and Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko.

Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, who had received large donations from Recruit Company, and was accused of granting favours in return, announced that he would resign after the 1989 budget was approved by the Diet.

Scandal
Canadian Finance Minister Michael Wilson's budget was leaked by Global television reporter Doug Small. When opposition parties reject Mr. Wilson's request for an emergency evening sitting of the House of Commons, he called a 10 P.M. news conference to announce budget highlights.

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Division Finals
Boston 2 @ Montreal 3 (Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-1)

10 years ago
1999

Defense
North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders met with leaders of seven non-NATO nations surrounding Yugoslavia and pledged to protect them from Yugoslav aggression--completely oblivious to the fact that it was the NATO nations who were the aggressors.

Crime
U.S. Vice President Al Gore was among 70,000 people who attended a memorial service for victims of the Columbine High School shooting five days earlier. Some of those in attendance may actually have known some of the deceased.