December 18, 2012

370 years ago
1642

Exploration
Abel Tasman became the first European to land in New Zealand.

275 years ago
1737

Died on this date
Antonio Stradivari, 93. Italian musical instrument maker. Mr. Stradivari, after whom Stradivarius instruments are named, made over 1,000 instruments, including lutes, guitars, violins, violas, cellos, and harps. It's estimated that over half of the instruments that he made still exist.

225 years ago
1787

Americana
New Jersey became the 3rd state to ratify the United States Constitution.

150 years ago
1862

War
In the U.S. Civil War, Confederate forces under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest routed a Union force under Colonel Robert Ingersoll in Union-held western Tennessee.

Britannica
The remains of Prince Albert were moved to the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore Estate, adjoining Windsor Castle. The Prince Consort of Queen Victoria had died on December 14, 1861 at the age of 42, while the mausoleum was under construction. His remains had been at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle since December 23, 1861 until the mausoleum was ready for dedication.

120 years ago
1892

Music
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker received its premiere performance at Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, on a double bill with his opera Iolanta.

100 years ago
1912

Science
Addressing a meeting of the Geological Society of London, amateur archaelogist Charles Dawson announced the discovery, while digging in the Piltdown gravel pit in Sussex, England, of skull fragments that appeared to belong to a hominid ancestor of man. The finding became known as Piltdown Man. Although there were always skeptics, most scientists hailed the discovery as evidence of man's evolution, and it wasn't proven to be a hoax until 1953.

80 years ago
1932

Football
NFL
Portsmouth (6-2-4) 0 @ Chicago Bears (7-1-6) 9

Although the game counted in the standings as a regular season game, it was actually a playoff game to decide the NFL championship. There was no official playoff format to decide the league champion in those days; the championship went to the team with the highest winning percentage. Ties didn't count towards that percentage, so the Spartans and Bears were considered to have equal records of 6-1 (.857) atop the standings. The playoff was scheduled to be played at Wrigley Field in Chicago, but the weather had been so cold during the week, the game was moved indoors to Chicago Stadium, The field of play was reduced to 80 yards in length and 43 yards in width in order to fit into the smaller confines, and some new rules were devised for the occasion. The game was scoreless until the 4th quarter, when Chicago fullback Bronko Nagurski threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Red Grange. Under rules then in place, anyone throwing a forward pass had to be at least 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage at the time the pass was thrown. The Spartans argued that Mr. Nagurski had been less than the required distance behind the line of scrimmage; the Portsmouth protests went unheeded and Paul Engebretsen converted the touchdown to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. The score became 9-0 when the Chicago defense tackled Portsmouth fullback Mule Wilson in his end zone. The game proved so popular that after this season, the NFL split the league into East and West Divisions, with the teams finishing in first place in each division playing each other in a sudden-death playoff game to determine the league champion. The Bears' win over the Spartans gave them a final winning percentage for 1932 of .875. The Spartans finished at .750 and dropped to third behind the Green Bay Packers, who were 10-3-1 (.769). Had the post-1972 method of calculating winning percentages been used--a tie counting as a half-win and half-loss--the Packers would have finished first at .750, followed by the Spartans (6-1-4, .727) and Bears (6-1-6, .692).



50 years ago
1962

On television tonight
The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Doublecross

Edmontonia
The Selkirk Hotel, which had stood at the corner of 101st Street and Jasper Avenue for almost 60 years, was destroyed by fire, causing $1 million damage, despite the efforts of 450 firefighters.

Boxing
Leotis Martin (4-0) won a 6-round decision over Joe Washington (4-10-1) in a heavyweight bout at American Legion Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

40 years ago
1972

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Ben--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

War
Five days after North Vietnamese representatives had walked out of peace talks with U.S. representative Henry Kissinger, U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered the beginning of Operation Linebacker II in an attempt to force the North Vietnamese back to the bargaining table. The air offensive, popularly known as the "Christmas bombing," lasted for 11 days and dropped 20,000 tons of boms, mostly on the populated area between Hanoi and Haiphong.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K.: Save Your Love--Renée and Renato

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Maneater--Daryl Hall & John Oates

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Maneater--Daryl Hall & John Oates
2 Mickey--Toni Basil
3 Truly--Lionel Richie
4 The Girl is Mine--Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
5 Steppin' Out--Joe Jackson
6 Dirty Laundry--Don Henley
7 Muscles--Diana Ross
8 It's Raining Again--Supertramp
9 Sexual Healing--Marvin Gaye
10 Down Under--Men at Work

Singles entering the chart were Shame on the Moon by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (#51); Back on the Chain Gang by the Pretenders (#84); Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth (#86); The Woman in Me by Donna Summer (#87); All Touch by Rough Trade (#88); Young Love by Janet Jackson (#89); and Don't Stop Trying by Rodway (#90). Back on the Chain Gang was from the movie The King of Comedy (1983). All Touch had been a hit in Canada in the fall of 1981.

Canada’s Top 10 (RPM)
1 Truly--Lionel Richie
2 Gloria--Laura Branigan
3 Dirty Laundry--Don Henley
4 It's Raining Again--Supertramp
5 Maneater--Daryl Hall & John Oates
6 Mickey--Toni Basil
7 Rock This Town--Stray Cats
8 Nobody--Sylvia
9 Da Da Da--Trio
10 The Girl is Mine--Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

Singles entering the chart were Baby Come to Me by Patti Austin and James Ingram (#43); Mirror Man by the Human League (#48); and All of My Heart by ABC (#50).

At the movies
The King of Comedy, directed by Martin Scorsese, and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard, opened in theatres in Iceland.





Disasters
A power plant fire that eventually killed 128 people and injured hundreds more began in Caracas.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Whenever You Need Somebody--Rick Astley (3rd week at #1)

At the movies
Leonard Part 6, produced by and starring Bill Cosby, opened in theatres. It was considered one of the worst movies of the year, and Mr. Cosby himself denounced and disowned it. This blogger, like most people, has never seen it.





Personal
This blogger finished the second of three terms at the University of Western Ontario's School of Library and Information Science.

Scandal
Ivan Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street's biggest insider-trading scandal.

20 years ago
1992

Hit parade
#1 single in Germany (Media Control): More and More--Captain Hollywood Project

At the movies
Toys, directed, co-written, and co-produced by Barry Levinson, and starring Robin Williams, opened in theatres.





Leap of Faith, directed by Richard Pearce, and starring Steve Martin and Debra Winger, opened in theatres.



Died on this date
John F. Melby, 79. U.S.-born diplomat and scholar. Dr. Melby was a U.S. State Department employee from 1937-1953, serving in the U.S.S.R. from 1943-1945 and in China from 1945-1948. He was stripped of his security clearance in 1953 because of his long and intimate association with playwright Lillian Hellman, who was accused of ties to the Communist Party. Dr. Melby had difficulty finding work thereafter until he founded the political studies department of the University of Guelph in 1966, serving as department chairman for five years and then as a professor until his retirement in 1978. He died of a heart attack in Guelph, Ontario.

Mark Goodson, 77. U.S. television producer. Mr. Goodson, with his partner Bill Todman, produced such game shows as Beat the Clock; Match Game; The Price is Right; Family Feud; Password; I've Got a Secret; To Tell the Truth; and What's My Line?.

Environment
Canadian Fisheries Minister John Crosbie announced cuts in groundfish quotas of up to 70%, saying that there were "too many plants, too many boats, too many people chasing fish."

410 people were evacuated from their homes in Oakville, Manitoba after a chemical spill.

Business
National Sea Products announced that it would close its plants in North Sydney and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

10 years ago
2002

Died on this date
Ray Hnatyshyn, 68. Governor General of Canada, 1990-1995. A Progressive Conservative Member of the House of Commons from Saskatoon from 1974-1988, Mr. Hnatyshyn was the first Governor General of Ukrainian ancestry and was credited with opening the gardens of Rideau Hall—the Governor General’s official residence in Ottawa—to the public, and for bringing a common touch to the vice-regal office.

Wayne Owens, 65. U.S. politician. Mr. Owens represented Utah in the United States House of Representatives from 1973-1975 and 1987-1993.