March 26, 2008

120 years ago
1888

Died on this date
Barghash bin Said, 51 (?). Sultan of Zanzibar, 1870-1888. Barghash has been credited with being the last sultan of Zanzibar to rule the island independent of European control. He lost a power struggle with his brother Majid bin Said, the first Sultan of Zanzibar, and spent two years in exile in Bombay. He returned to succeed his brother, becoming the second Sultan of Zanzibar after Majid's death. Barghash was succeeded on the throne by his younger brother Khalifah bin Said, whom Barghhash had imprisoned in 1870 for allegedly trying to overthrow him.

100 years ago
1908

Born on this date
Franz Stangl. Austrian war criminal. SS-Hauptsturmführer Stangl was a federal policeman who joined the Austrian Nazi Party in 1931 and joined the Schutzstaffel (SS) in May 1938. He was involved with the Nazis' T-4 euthanasia program during Wolrd War II, and was commandant of the extermination camps of Sobibor (April-August 1942) and Treblinka (September 1942-August 1943) in Nazi-occupied Poland. SS-Hauptsturmführer Stangl helped to organize the campaign against Yugoslav partisans and Jews in Trieste from August 1943 until early 1945, when he returned to Vienna because of illness. He was imprisoned by U.S. authorities after the war because of his suspected involvement with T-4, but escaped through a "ratline" to Syria, and then to Brazil, where he lived with his wife and children and worked with Volkswagen do Brasil, under his own name. SS-Hauptsturmführer Stangl was tracked down by Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and was finally arrested in 1967; he was extradited to West Germany, and convicted in December 1970 of the mass murder of a million people. He was six months into the maximum sentence of life imprisonment in Düsseldorf when he died of heart failure on June 28, 1971 at the age of 63, 19 hours after completing 70 hours of interviews with journalist Gitta Sereni, which concluded with him finally admitting his guilt.

Law
Prince Edward Island became the only province or state in North America where it was illegal to drive a car, as the Legislative Assembly passed a law to ban all automobiles from its roads; driving a car became punishable by jail, and it was illegal to import cars to the island. The ban was lifted on August 29, 1919.

90 years ago
1918

Died on this date
César Cui, 83. Russian military officer and composer. Engineer-General Cui was a teacher of fortifications, but is best remembered as a composer of operas, art songs, works for piano, and chamber music. He was one of The Five, with Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin, who were dedicated to creating a distinctly Russian kind of music.

80 years ago
1928

Crime
At Lowden, Iowa, Great War veteran Lambert H. Meier, 32, who had been fired as postmaster because of a small shortage in his accounts, shot and killed his wife and three children and then himself (it would have been more newsworthy if he had shot himself and then killed his wife and children).

Bombs were exploded in the homes of United States Senator Charles S. Deneen (in the Englewood district of Chicago) and Circuit Judge John A. Swanson (on Crandon Avenue). Judge Swanson was the candidate for State’s Attorney from the Deneen organization.

Franciana
The Charlemagne Tower at Tours collapsed.

70 years ago
1938

Hockey
NHL
Stanley Cup
Semi-Finals
Chicago 3 @ Montreal 2 (OT)

Paul Thompson scored 11:49 into overtime to give the Black Hawks the win over the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum.

50 years ago
1958

Movies
The Academy Awards for 1957 were presented at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The winners included: Picture--The Bridge on the River Kwai; Director--David Lean (The Bridge on the River Kwai); Actor--Alec Guinness (The Bridge on the River Kwai); Actress--Joanne Woodward (The Three Faces of Eve); Supporting Actor--Red Buttons (Sayonara); Supporting Actress--Miyoshi Umeki (Sayonara).

Space
The United States launched the satellite Explorer 3 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade): Lady Madonna--The Beatles

On television tonight
The Invaders, starring Roy Thinnes, on ABC
Tonight's episode: Inquisition

This was the 43rd and final episode of the series.



30 years ago
1978

Diplomacy
Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia called on the United States and Great Britain to convene a meeting with the patriotic front guerillas and to support the Anglo-American plan for majority rule in Rhodesia.

Golf
Hubert Green won the Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, South Carolina with a score of 277. First prize money was $45,000.

Hockey
CHL
Fort Worth 2 Tulsa 2

WCHL
Portland 3 @ Calgary 3

This blogger was in attendance as Wayne Babych scored late in the 3rd period to give the Winter Hawks their tie against the Wranglers at the Stampede Corral.

25 years ago
1983

Hockey
Among the various Saturday games in the National Hockey League, the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Calgary Flames 5-2; Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Quebec Nordiques 2-1; Montreal Canadiens beat St. Louis Blues 6-5; and the Edmonton Oilers whipped the Los Angeles Kings 9-3.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
#1 single in Italy: Perdere l'Amore--Massimo Ranieri (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (Ultratop 50): (I've Had) The Time of My Life--Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (8th week at #1)

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car--Billy Ocean

#1 single in France (SNEP): Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You--Glenn Medeiros (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Ireland (IRMA): Drop the Boy--Bros

#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Don't Turn Around--Aswad

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Don't Turn Around--Aswad

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson
2 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
3 Father Figure--George Michael
4 Endless Summer Nights--Richard Marx
5 Out of the Blue--Debbie Gibson
6 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean
7 I Get Weak--Belinda Carlisle
8 I Want Her--Keith Sweat
9 Just Like Paradise--David Lee Roth
10 Rocket 2 U--The Jets

Singles entering the chart were Always on My Mind by Pet Shop Boys (#76) and Breakaway by Big Pig (#89).

Canada's Top 10 (RPM)
1 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley (2nd week at #1)
2 Father Figure--George Michael
3 Pump Up the Volume--M/A/R/R/S
4 She's Like the Wind--Patrick Swayze (featuring Wendy Fraser)
5 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car--Billy Ocean
6 I Get Weak--Belinda Carlisle
7 Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart)--Sway
8 Just Like Paradise--David Lee Roth
9 Endless Summer Nights--Richard Marx
10 Man in the Mirror--Michael Jackson

Singles entering the chart were She's Having a Baby by Dave Wakeling (#74); That's When I Need You by the Jitters (#79); I Wanna Be a Flintstone by Screaming Blue Messiahs (#95); Girlfriend by Pebbles (#88); Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz (#93); The Language of Love by Tu (#95); Prove Your Love by Taylor Dayne (#96); and Mama Likes to Rock and Roll by Terry Kelly (#97). She's Having a Baby was the title song of the movie.

Politics and government
In the race for the 1988 Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States, Jesse Jackson scored an upset victory in the Michigan caucuses, taking 55% of the vote to 28% for Michael Dukakis. Mr. Jackson’s victory was the first ever by a black presidential candidate in a major industrial state. Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt, whose criticism of foreign automobile manufacturers had been expected to boost his support in Michigan, polled just 13% of the vote.

10 years ago
1998

Diplomacy
U.S. President Bill Clinton, speaking in Cape Town, said that the United States had a "profound stake" in South Africa’s new democracy.

Edmontonia
Capitol Square, at 10065 Jasper Avenue, closed its doors after 22 ½ years as a movie theatre complex in order to be converted to office space. After the old Capitol Theatre had been closed in November 1972 and subsequently torn down, Capitol Square was erected in its place and opened on Friday, October 10, 1975 as Edmonton’s first downtown movie multiplex. The movies that played at the opening were: Rollerball; Death Race 2000; Love and Death; and Three Days of the Condor. The movies that played there on Thursday, March 26, 1998 were: L.A. Confidential; The Wedding Singer; Dark City; Hush; Wag the Dog; and Eve’s Bayou. Capitol Square operated as a second-run theatre (with discount prices) toward the end, but apparently didn’t draw enough moviegoers to keep going. I went to Eve’s Bayou just a couple of days before closing (I liked to go on $2 Tuesdays), and though I didn’t see many people there, I saw no indication that the place was about to shut down.