March 12, 2012

375 years ago
1637

Born on this date
Anne Hyde. English royal family member. Miss Hyde, daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, met James, Duke of York, son of King Charles I, in the Netherlands, where he had fled after his father's execution in 1649. The couple were married in 1660, with Anne becoming Duchess of York and Albany. Anne converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism soon after their marriage, and James later converted to Catholicism, which eventually led to the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The couple had eight children; six died in early childhood, but the survivors went on to become Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. Anne, Duchess of York and Albany died of breast cancer on March 31, 1671, 19 days after her 34th birthday. The Duke of York married Mary of Modena, a Roman Catholic, two years later, and acceded to the throne as King James II in 1685, but was deposed in the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

175 years ago
1837

Born on this date
Alexandre Guilmant. French composer. Mr. Guilmant was organist at la Trinité church in Paris (1871-1901) and co-founded the Schola Cantorum in Paris, teaching there from 1894 until his death. He wrote more than 90 works, mainly for organ. Mr. Guilmant died on March 29, 1911, 17 days after his 74th birthday.

100 years ago
1912

Born on this date
Paul Weston. U.S. musician. Mr. Weston, born Paul Wetstein, was a pianist, composer, and arranger who was known as the "Father of Mood Music." He worked extensively in television from the 1950s through the 1970s, and he and his wife, singer Jo Stafford, had success as the comedy duo Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, deliberately performing songs off-key. Mr. Weston died on September 20, 1996 at the age of 84.

Americana
Juliette Gordon Low, inspired by the example of the Boy Scouts, founded the first U.S. troop of Girl Guides in Savannah, Georgia. The name was changed to Girl Scouts of America in 1913.

75 years ago
1937

Born on this date
Bruce Swango. U.S. baseball pitcher. Mr. Swango, a native of Welch, Oklahoma, was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in May 1955 and was immediately added to their roster, but was released two months later without appearing in a game because of wildness, as he was apparently nervous performing in front of large crowds, although he denied it. He was signed by the New York Yankees and played in the minor leagues, initially as an outfielder, from 1956-1963, compiling a career record of 43-41 in 238 games, batting .231 with at least 12 home runs and at least 74 runs batted in in 392 games. Mr. Swango’s best season was 1958, when he was 10-4 with the Fargo-Moorhead Twins of the Class C Northern League. The closest he got to the major leagues was when he compiled a 4-1 record with the AAA Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast League in 1962, and was 2-2 with the PCL’s Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers in 1963. Mr. Swango died in Miami, Oklahoma on July 15, 2001 at the age of 64.

70 years ago
1942

War
U.S. Major General Douglas MacArthur and a select party, including his wife and son, departed Corregidor in four PT boats, following U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's order to retreat to Australia in the wake of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.

60 years ago
1952

On television tonight
The Unexpected, hosted by Herbert Marshall, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Hitchhiker was a Lady, starring John Kellogg, Jane Nigh, and Alan Bridge

50 years ago
1962

On television tonight
Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, on NBC
Tonight's episode: 'Til Death Do Us Part, starring Henry Jones, Reta Shaw, Philip Ober, and Edgar Bucahanan



Space
The U.S.S.R. added five civilian women with parachuting experience to the cosmonaut training program: Tatyana Kuznetsova; Valentina Ponomaryova; Irina Solovyova; Valentina Tereshkova; and Zhanna Yorkina. Miss Tereshkova was the only one who eventually flew in space.

40 years ago
1972

World events
India withdrew its remaining 5,000 troops from Bangladesh.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
Yellowknife’s top 11 (CJCD)
1 Centerfold—J. Geils Band
2 Open Arms—Journey
3 I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)—Daryl Hall and John Oates
4 Waiting on a Friend—Rolling Stones
5 Sweet Dreams—Air Supply
6 Shake it Up—The Cars
7 You Could Have Been with Me—Sheena Easton
8 Take it Easy on Me—Little River Band
9 Love is Alright Tonite—Rick Springfield
10 Abacab—Genesis
11 Spirits in the Material World—The Police

Economics and finance
The United States Labor Department reported that producer prices for finished goods had declined 0.1% in February, the first drop since 1976.

Hockey
NHL
Buffalo 3 @ Edmonton 2

With the Sabres leading 3-2 with 6:01 remaining in the 3rd period at Northlands Coliseum, Pat Hughes of the Oilers scored what should have been the tying goal, but referee Kerry Fraser disallowed it because he had blown the whistle early after losing sight of the puck, prompting a classic eruption from legendary Oilers’ broadcaster Rod Phillips: “They are going to disallow the goal, I can’t believe it! The man is going to disallow the goal, they can’t do that, it was a splendid goal! Edwards didn’t have any idea where it was…That’s a joke, that’s the worst call ever! Oh, they’ve just completely littered the ice! Oh, a monumental display of complete idiocy! Oh, I can’t believe they blew that down…Ken, that is grossly incompetent, I mean that is absolutely unbelievable.”

25 years ago
1987

On the radio
The Brier—the Canadian men’s curling championship—was being held in Edmonton, and John Short was hosting his Sportstalk show on CFRN from the Agricom, where the matches were taking place. He had been enjoying the festivities before going on the air shortly after 6 P.M., and the result was an entertaining, if somewhat incoherent, program. The show was supposed to run until the customary time of 10 P.M., but at about 7:15, a CFRN announcer came on the air after a commercial break and said, “Due to circumstances beyond our control, we’re forced to curtail Sportstalk for this evening.” Mr. Short apologized at the beginning of his show the next night.

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Stay--Shakespears Sister (2nd week at #1)

Diplomacy
The United Nations Security Council formally rejected claims by Iraqi envoy Tariq Aziz that Iraq had complied with terms of the cease-fire agreement that had ended the Persian Gulf war in 1991.

Law
Catherine Fraser was appointed Chief Justice of Alberta, becoming the first woman in Alberta to hold a top provincial position.

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Spyros Kyprianou, 69. 2nd President of Cyprus, 1977-1988. Mr. Kyprianou succeeded Archbishop Makarios as President. Mr. Kyprianou was also President of the House of Representatives from 1976-1977 and 1996-2000.

Canadiana
Data from the 2001 federal census showed that the country had a population of 30,007,094. Having worked on that census, I know that the figure was understated.

Terrorism
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge unveiled a colour-coded system for terrorism alerts with specific meanings for local law enforcement agencies.

Diplomacy
The nine members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States enacted legislation permitting free movement of people among the member states, without requiring the use of a visa or even a passport.

Sport
Martin Buser won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, becoming the first to finish the race in under 9 days.