May 25, 2012

225 years ago
1787

Politics and government
Under the leadership of George Washington, the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia for the purpose of creating a new form of government for the United States.

130 years ago
1882

Born on this date
Ernst von Weizsäcker. German military officer, diplomat, and politician. Baron Weizsäcker was a lieutenant commander in the Imperial German Navy in World War I, and joined the Foreign Service in 1920, holding various posts through the end of World War II. He joined the Nazi Party in 1938, and served as Secretary of State at the Foreign Office (1938-1943) and Ambassador to the Holy See (1943-1945). In the latter office Baron Weizsäcker presented Germany's position as opposition to Communism, while trying to prevent Italian opposition to Germany. He was convicted in 1949 of cooperating in the deportation of Jews to Poland in the war, and was sentenced to 7 years in prison, but was released in October 1950 after the U.S. High Commissioner's office re-examined his case. Baron Weizsäcker died of a stroke on August 4, 1951 at the age of 69.

125 years ago
1887

Disasters
200 people were killed when the Opera Comique in Paris burned.

50 years ago
1962

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight's episode: Cavender is Coming, starring Carol Burnett and Jesse White

Intended as a "backdoor" pilot for a possible comedy series featuring the character played by Mr. White, the episode featured a laugh track, which was probably the only way anyone would know that it was supposed to be a comedy. This gets my vote as The Twilight Zone's worst episode.

Space
The mission of the Soviet satellite Cosmos 1, launched March 16, ended.

Politics and government
The Canadian federal election campaign continued as Prime Minister John Diefenbaker spoke to an audience of 900 in Vegreville, Alberta, and then addressed a rally at the Edmonton Gardens that night. 1,200 were in attendance, leaving 4,000 empty seats. Mr. Diefenbaker took issue with the Edmonton Journal, which had published an editorial on the front page of that day’s paper endorsing the Liberal Party over Mr. Diefenbaker’s Progressive Conservative government.

40 years ago
1972

Boxing
Joe Frazier (29-0) retained his world heavyweight title with a technical knockout of Ron Stander (23-2-1) in the 5th round at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha.



30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Ein bißchen Frieden--Nicole (2nd week at #1)

War
Argentine fighter-bombers damaged and sank the British destroyer HMS Coventry and container ship Atlantic Conveyor.

Iraq admitted that Iran had captured the Iranian port city of Khurrmshahr and that Iranian forces were within striking range of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): Slice of Heaven--Dave Dobbyn with Herbs (2nd week at #1)

Died on this date
Peter Coe, 59. U.K. theatre director. Mr. Coe once had three plays running at once in London's West End, and also achieved success on Broadway. He was the artistic director of the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton from 1978-1980. Mr. Coe was killed in an automobile accident in England.

Diplomacy
U.S.S.R. leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Bucharest to begin a three-day visit to Romania. Romanian President Nicolae Ceaucescu, a critic of Mr. Gorbachev’s policies, met the Soviet leader and his wife at the airport, and they drove past crowds that were far more restrained than those that had greeted Mr. Gorbachev in Czechoslovakia in April.

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Finland (Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland): You Won't See Me Cry--Wilson Phillips

Died on this date
Sidney Thomson Fisher, 83. Canadian engineer. Mr. Fisher developed NATO’s tactical communications system and held 65 other patents on electronic devices.

Philip Habib, 72. U.S. diplomat. Mr. Habib was the chief mediator for the United States between Israel and Egypt in the Camp David Accords in 1978-1979.

Marshall Thompson, 66. U.S. actor. Mr. Thompson was best known as the star o the television series Daktari (1966-1969).

10 years ago
2002

Politics and government
Lesotho held parliamentary elections using a system of proportional representation in which each voter voted separately for the party of his choice and the district representative.

Disasters
196 people were killed and hundreds injured when two passenger cars of a train slammed into freight cars parked at a rail station near the town of Moamba in southern Mozambique. The passenger cars were destroyed in the worst rail disaster in the country’s history.