January 12, 2012

90 years ago
1922

Boxing
World light heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier (83-12-5) knocked out heavyweight George Cook (6-11-1) in the 4th round at Royal Albert Hall in London.



75 years ago
1937

At the movies
Der Hund von Baskerville (The Hound of the Baskervilles), starring Bruno Güttner, Fritz Odemar, and Peter Voss, opened in theatres in Germany.

60 years ago
1952

Hit parade
#1 singles in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads (Best Seller--3rd week at #1, Disc Jockey--2nd week at #1); Slow Poke--Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys (Jukebox--2nd week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Slow Poke--Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys
--Arthur Godfrey
--Helen O'Connell
2 Down Yonder--Del Wood
--Joe "Fingers" Carr
--Champ Butler
3 (It's No) Sin--The Four Aces
--Eddy Howard
4 Cold, Cold Heart--Tony Bennett
5 Charmaine--Mantovani and his Orchestra
6 Cry--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads
7 The Little White Cloud that Cried--Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads
8 Jealousy (Jalousie)--Frankie Laine
9 Shrimp Boats--Jo Stafford
10 Undecided--The Ames Brothers and Les Brown and his Band of Renown

The Little White Cloud that Cried was the B-side of Cry.
Singles entering the chart were A Garden in the Rain by the Four Aces (#26); Taking a Chance on Love by Billy Eckstine and George Shearing (#28); and Be My Life's Companion, with versions by the Mills Brothers and Rosemary Clooney (#31).

50 years ago
1962

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight's episode: One More Pallbearer, starring Joseph Wiseman

40 years ago
1972

On television tonight
Rod Serling's Night Gallery, on NBC
Tonight's episode: Lindemann's Catch, starring Stuart Whitman and Harry Townes; A Feast of Blood, starring Sondra Locke, Norman Lloyd, and Hermione Baddeley; The Late Mr. Peddington, starring Harry Morgan and Kim Hunter

Crime
The body of Grace Todd, 32, was discovered in a freezer belonging to her husband David, 37, who had recently moved into a house in Toronto belonging to the family of a 21-year-old acquaintance named Charles Cassidy. Mr. Cassidy and his sister Catherine, their mother, and friends John Moore and Layne Jackson were watching an old episode of One Step Beyond on television. The plot involved a body in a trunk, and, while Mr. Todd was asleep in an upstairs bedroom, the others decided to pry open the freezer. They discovered the body of Mr. Todd's wife Grace, who had disappeared on July 30, 1971, but had actually been shot and killed by Mr. Todd at the end of a violent argument. Mr. Todd readily confessed, pled guilty to manslaughter, and was sentenced to 10 years in the Kingston penitentiary. The details can be found in Max Haines' book Bothersome Bodies (1977), pp. 166-176.

30 years ago
1982

World events
It was reported on Haitian television that the three rebels who had been captured by government troops on Tortuga the previous day had died of their wounds. Five others were still being sought from an attempt to overthrow President Jean-Claude Duvalier. The rebels had captured the island of Tortuga on January 10 and had captured the mainland town of Port-au-Paix on January 11.

The government of Poland indicated that it wanted to end martial law by February 1 and that it wanted Solidarity labour movement leader Lech Walesa to participate in labour talks.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Funkytown--Pseudo Echo (4th week at #1)

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K.: Bohemian Rhapsody/These are the Days of Our Lives--Queen (5th week at #1)

Politics and government
Algeria's new ruling council cancelled the runoff election that would have determined the winners of parliamentary seats where no candidate had a majority in the first round of voting. The new council was quickly superseded by a new body, the State Security Panel, which voided the results of the December 26, 1991 election, in which the Islamic Salvation Front had come close to winning a majority, and the ruling National Liberation Front had run a poor third.

Football
NFL
AFC Championship
Denver 7 @ Buffalo 10

NFC Championship
Detroit 10 @ Washington 41

10 years ago
2002

World events
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced broad new restrictions on Muslim extremism, including the banning of five organizations.

Terrorism
A Protestant group called the Red Hand Defenders claimed responsibility for the killing of a Roman Catholic mailman in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and promised to kill Roman Catholic schoolteachers throughout the country.