February 15, 2013

Born on this date
Happy Birthday, Arlene Carlstrom!

900 years ago
1113

Religion
Pope Paschal II issued a bull establishing the military order known as the Knights Hospitaller, dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

110 years ago
1903

Popular culture
The first teddy bears went on sale at the candy store of Morris Michtom in Brooklyn, New York. Mr. Michtom and his wife Rose made the stuffed animals as a result of a newspaper cartoon in 1902 showing U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear cub during a hunting trip to Mississippi.

100 years ago
1913

Born on this date
Lester Sumrall. U.S. clergyman. Mr. Sumrall was an Assemblies of God pastor who founded World Harvest Radio International in 1968 and World Harvest Television in 1972; he was known as the "Father of Christian television." Mr. Sumrall died on April 28, 1996 at the age of 83.

80 years ago
1933

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Noble Bachelor

Crime
At 9:15 P.M. Eastern Time, while shaking hands with President-elect Franklin Roosevelt at Bayfront Park in Miami, Florida, Anton Cermak, mayor of Chicago, was shot by Giuseppe Zangara, a 5'1" naturalized Italian atheist and registered Republican. Mr. Roosevelt had just finished an eight-minute speech when Mr. Zangara fired five shots. Five others were wounded, one of them, a Mrs. Mabel Gill, seriously. None of the victims were closer than 30 feet to Mr. Roosevelt at the time, but they were only two or three feet away from Mr. Cermak. For the rest of his life, Mr. Roosevelt believed that Mr. Zangara was "a Chicago gangster" who had been sent to kill Mr. Cermak because of the mayor's intention to clean up the city's corruption and violence. On the way to the hospital, Mr. Roosevelt cradled Mr. Cermak's head in his hands, and murmured words of encouragement to him that helped keep Mr. Cermak from going into shock. Mr. Roosevelt also had the car stop twice to pick up other wounded people. Mr. Roosevelt stayed at the hospital for four hours, visited the victims, and returned to the hospital the next day with flowers and baskets of fruit.

50 years ago
1963

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland: Dance On!--The Shadows (2nd week at #1)

Edmonton's Top 10 (CJCA)
1 Rhythm of the Rain--The Cascades
2 From a Jack to a King--Ned Miller
3 Wild Weekend--The Rebels
4 Hey Paula--Paul and Paula
5 Wishing--Barry Boyd
6 Walk Right In--The Rooftop Singers
7 Walk Like a Man--The 4 Seasons
8 Alice in Wonderland--Neil Sedaka
9 Blame it on the Bossa Nova--Eydie Gorme
10 One Broken Heart for Sale--Elvis Presley

One Broken Heart for Sale was from the movie It Happened at the World's Fair (1963).

On television tonight
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, on CBS
Tonight's episode: I'll Be Judge--I'll Be Jury, starring Peter Graves, Albert Salmi, and Ed Nelson

40 years ago
1973

Hit parade
#1 single in Ireland: Block Buster--The Sweet

Died on this date
Tim Holt, 54. U.S. actor. The son of actor Jack Holt, Tim Holt was known for his appearances in such movies as Stagecoach (1939); The Magnificent Ambersons (1942); Hitler's Children (1943); My Darling Clementine (1946); and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). He died of bone cancer.

Wally Cox, 48. U.S. actor. Mr. Cox, the best friend of Marlon Brando from their boyhood days in Evanston, Illinois, was best known as the star of the television comedy series Mr. Peepers (1952-1955). A comedy record of his titled My Frien' Dufo (What a Crazy Guy) was a hit single in 1953, and was said to be the first 45 rpm record released in a picture sleeve. Mr. Cox was a regular panelist on the television game show The Hollywood Squares from 1966-1973, and provided the voice for the title character in the television cartoon series Underdog (1964-1966). Mr. Cox died of a heart attack.

30 years ago
1983

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Our House--Madness (2nd week at #1)

Canadiana
The cost of mailing a letter within Canada increased from 30c to 32c.

25 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): (I've Had) The Time of My Life--Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Richard Feynman, 69. U.S. physicist. Dr. Feynman shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itro Tomonaga for his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics. He was one of the pioneers of nanotechnology, and helped to popularize that and other areas of physics through lectures and books.

Olympics
Czechoslovakia defeated the United States 7-5 in men's hockey at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary.

10 years ago
2003

Protest
Estimates ranging from 8 million-30 million people took part in demonstrations in 600 cities around the world in opposition to the possibility of a U.S.-led war against Iraq.