February 12, 2014

940 years ago
1074

Born on this date
Conrad II. King of Germany (1087-1098); King of Italy (1093-1098). Conrad II, the second son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and the eldest to reach adulthood, was Duke of Lower Lorraine (1076-1087) before acceding to his thrones. He rebelled against his father in 1093, and Henry IV eventually deposed his son and replaced him with Conrad's younger brother Henry V. Conrad II died in Florence from a fever on July 27, 1101 at the age of 27.

325 years ago
1689

Politics and government
The English Convention Parliament declared that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constituted an abdication.

225 years ago
1789

Died on this date
Ethan Allen, 51. U.S. soldier, and politician. Mr. Allen, a native of Connecticut who spent most of his life in Vermont, was a leading figure in the American Revolution. As a soldier, he helped to found the Vermont militia known as the Green Mountain Boys, who aided in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. After spending some time as a prisoner of the British, he returned to Vermont, where he served as a judge. Mr. Allen was extremely anti-Christian in his beliefs, exalting human reason in opposition to divine revelation; his book Reason: the Only Oracle of Man (1785) was a critical and commercial failure. Mr. Allen died of an apparent attack of apoplexy while returning home after visiting his cousin.

220 years ago
1794

Born on this date
Alexander Petrov. Russian chess player. Mr. Petrov was the first great Russian chess master; he was Russia's best player from the age of 15 in 1809 until his death on April 22, 1867 at the age of 73.

150 years ago
1864

Born on this date
Jim Fogarty. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Fogarty played, mostly in the outfield, for the Philadelphia Quakers of the National League from 1883-1889 and the Philadelphia Quakers of the Players League in 1890, batting .246 in 751 games. He led NL batters in bases on balls in 1887 with 82 and in stolen bases with 99 in 1889. Baseball statistics guru Bill James rates Mr. Fogarty as one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball history. Mr. Fogarty managed the PL Quakers for 16 games in 1890, compiling a record of 7-9. He died of tuberculosis in San Francisco on May 20, 1891 at the age of 27.

120 years ago
1894

Born on this date
Valentín Canalizo. President of Mexico, 1843–1844, September-December 1844. General Canalizo, a Conservative, originally fought against insurgents, but later swore allegiance to independent Mexico, fighting against Liberals and serving as military governor of the states of Oaxaca and México during the 1830s. He also served at various times as Mayor of Cuernavaca, Mayor of Mexico City, and Governor of Pueblo. Gen. Canalizo was named President by Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna in October 1843, and served until June 1844. He returned as President later in the year, from September 21-December 6, but his second term as President was shortened because of conflict with Congress, which opposed Gen. Santa Anna. President Canalizo was taken prisoner by rebellious soldiers on Dec. 6, and the presidency was turned over to José Joaquín de Herrera. After an amnesty and a brief exile, Gen. Canalizo returned to Mexico and served as Minister of War in the cabinet of President Valentín Gómez Farías (1846-1847). Gen. Canalizo served briefly in the Mexican-American War, leading troops to Veracruz, whereupon Gen. Santa Anna took over leadership of the troops. Gen. Canalizo disagreed with Gen. Santa Anna on war strategy, and refused any further involvement in the war. He died of pneumonia in Mexico City on February 20, 1850, eight days after his 56th birthday.

Died on this date
Hans von Bülow, 64. German musician, composer, and conductor. Mr. Bülow as both pianist and conductor, helped to popularize the works of composers such as Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, and Franz Liszt. He was one of the first virtuoso conductors, working in that capacity from 1850-1893. Mr. Bülow died after several years of failing health.

Terrorism
Anarchist Émile Henry hurled a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, killing one person and wounding 20.

100 years ago
1914

Born on this date
Tex Beneke. U.S. musician. Mr. Beneke, born Gordon Lee Beneke, was a saxophonist and vocalist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1938-1942, until Mr. Miller dissolved the band to enter the U.S. Army Air Force. Mr. Miller's plane disappeared on December 15, 1944; Mr. Beneke led a new version of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1946-1950, and then led bands under his own name. He died on May 30, 2000 at the age of 86.

Americana
The first stone of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. was put into place.

Baseball
The New York Giants and Chicago White Sox were in Rome to continue their post-season exhibition tour, but their game was rained out for the second straight day.

90 years ago
1924

Music
George Gershwin's composition Rhapsody in Blue received its premiere performance at Aeolian Hall in New York City as the feature work in a concert titled An Experiment in Modern Music performed by Paul Whiteman and the Palais Royal Orchestra. Mr. Gershwin was the piano soloist in his own piece.

80 years ago
1934

War
The Austrian Civil War began with skirmishes in Linz, with Federal Army troops, Heimwehr (Home Guard) troops, and police fighting members of the outlawed socialist Schutzbund.

Politics and government
In Spain, the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS) met in Madrid and decided to merge the movement with the Falange Española (FE) to form Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (FE-JONS).

75 years ago
1939

Hockey
IIHF
World Championships @ Basel, Switzerland
Final round
Canada (3-0) 4 U.S.A. (2-1) 0
Czechoslovakia (0-2-1) 0 Switzerland (0-2-1) 0 (3 OT)

The Trail Smoke Eaters, representing Canada, clinched the gold medal with their shutout of the United States. Czechoslovakia and Switzerland agreed to play each other again on March 5 to decide the bronze medal and the European championship.

70 years ago
1944

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart?)--Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra with Eugenie Baird (Best Seller--3rd week at #1); Shoo-Shoo Baby--The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra (Jukebox--5th week at #1)

War
Dispatches from Leningrad reported that more than 20% of the city's buildings had been destroyed and many more heavily damaged during the 27-month siege by German forces. U.S. forces occupied Rooke (Umbol) Island in the middle of the Vitiaz Strait between New Britain and New Guinea.

Politics and government
The U.S.S.R. government declared that a National Council representing all Polish political groups had been established inside Poland by the Union of Polish Patriots.

Business
The Bolivian government announced a decree expropriating all Axis-owned firms.

60 years ago
1954

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Oh, Mein Papa (Oh! My Pa-Pa)--Eddie Calvert (6th week at #1)

Energy
The Atomic Energy Authority bill was published, creating a new body to control the production and development of atomic energy in the United Kingdom.

50 years ago
1964

At the movies
Seven Days in May, starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Edmond O'Brien, Martin Balsam, Ava Gardner, George Macready, and John Houseman, received premiere screenings in Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis.

40 years ago
1974

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Titi à la neige--Tweety & Sylvester (2nd week at #1)

World events
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature, was arrested by force after he and his wife had refused two summonses for him to meet with state investigators. Soviet officials had been outraged by the recent publication of Mr. Solzhenitsyn's novel The Gulag Archipelago, an expose of the U.S.S.R.'s prison system.

Crime
Eight days after kidnapping newspaper heiress Patty Hearst from her Berkeley, California apartment, the Symbionese Liberation Army demanded that her father, San Francisco Examiner editor and president Randolph Hearst, give $230 million of free food to the poor as evidence of good faith in negotiating for his daughter's release. The SLA's leader, Donald DeFreeze, aka "General Field Marshal Cinque Mtume," addressed Mr. Hearst as "the corporate chairman of a fascist media empire of the ultra right," and told him he was "quite willing to carry out the execution of your daughter to save the life of starving men, women, and children of every race." The demand was accompanied by a tape of Miss Hearst pleading for her father's cooperation.

Labour
U.K. coal mining union leader rejected the offer of a group of unidentified industrialists to supplement the miners' pay pending a Pay Board decision on wage increases. The miners had begun a nationwide strike two days earlier.

30 years ago
1984

Hit parade
#1 single in France: Thriller--Michael Jackson (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Jenseits von Eden--Nino de Angelo (3rd week at #1)

Died on this date
Anna Anderson, 87. Polish-born impostor. Miss Anderson, born Franziska Schanzkowska, was the best known of several women claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra of Russia, who, with the other members of the royal family, were executed by Communist revolutionaries in Ekaterinburg, Russia on July 17, 1918. Miss Anderson claimed to be the lone survivor of the massacre, but the discoveries of the bodies of the Romanov family in 1991 and 2007 and subsequent DNA testing proved that the entire family had been massacred.

War
Iran attacked several towns in Iraq.

The number of foreign nationals evacuated from Lebanon since February 10 numbered 2,400, including 884 Americans.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 0 @ Hartford 11

The Oilers were playing their sixth and last consecutive game without injured captain Wayne Gretzky, and suffered their fifth consecutive loss--all on the road--and the worst loss in franchise history against the Whalers at Hartford Civic Center. With the score 4-0, Edmonton's Kevin McClelland was assessed a 5-minute elbowing penalty, and by the time the penalty was over, the score was 8-0. The Civic Center public address system played the Whalers' fight song after every goal by the home team, and when Hartford scored to make it 9-0, Edmonton radio broadcaster Rod Phillips said, "I'm gettin' sick of hearing that song!"

25 years ago
1989

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Angel of Harlem--U2 (3rd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: First Time--Robin Beck

Died on this date
Pat Finucane. U.K. lawyer. Mr. Finucane, who was known for defending prominent Roman Catholic activists in Northern Ireland, was gunned down at his home in Belfast by two members of the loyalist terrorist group Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Protest
Police in Pakistan killed six people who were protesting Salman Rushdie's recently-published novel The Satanic Verses (1988), which was accused of being disrespectful toward the prophet Muhammad.

Hockey
NHL
Edmonton 3 New York Rangers 1

Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings set two more NHL records, reaching the 40-goal mark for the 10th straight season, and scoring 3 goals in a game for the 45th time in his 10-year NHL career.

20 years ago
1994

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (ARIA): Give It Up--Cut 'N' Move (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Italy: The Rhythm of the Night--Corona (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Spain (PROMUSICAE): Saturday Night--Whigfield (8th week at #1)

#1 single in Denmark (Nielsen Music Control & IFPI): All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Flanders (VRT): La solitudine--Laura Pausini (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in France (SNEP): Foule sentimentale--Alain Souchon

#1 single in the Netherlands (De Nederlandse Top 40): Ik wil niet dat je liegt/Waarheen waarvoor--Paul de Leeuw (5th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (BMRB): Things Can Only Get Better--D: Ream (4th week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Billboard)
1 The Power of Love--Celine Dion
2 All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting
3 Breathe Again--Toni Braxton
4 Hero--Mariah Carey
5 The Sign--Ace of Base
6 Whatta Man--Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue
7 Getto Jam--Domino
8 Linger--The Cranberries
9 Said I Loved You...But I Lied--Michael Bolton
10 All that She Wants--Ace of Base

Singles entering the chart were It's All Good by M.C. Hammer (#76); I Swear by John Michael Montgomery (#81); A Deeper Love by Aretha Franklin (#86); Krazy by Blackgirl (#91); Big Time Sensuality by Bjork (#94); You Know How We Do It by Ice Cube (#95); and Mother by Danzig (#96). A Deeper Love was from the movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993).

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Cash Box): All for Love--Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Sue Rodriguez, 43. Canadian activist. Mrs. Rodriguez, a resident of Victoria, British Columbia, was diagnosed with amyotropic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) in 1991, and sued the B.C. government for the legal right to assisted suicide, which was an offense in the Criminal Code of Canada punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. On September 30, 1993, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a 5-4 decision, upheld the Criminal Code prohibition on assisted suicide. Svend Robinson, a member of the Canadian House of Commons (NDP--Burnaby-Kingsway), assisted in Mrs. Rodriguez's campaign, and claimed to have been in the hospital room when she committed suicide with the help an anonymous physician. Although assisted suicide remains illegal in Canada, national opinion seems to have shifted in an increasingly pro-death direction in the 20 years since the death of Sue Rodriguez, but no doctor has yet been identified or come forward as the one who helped end her life, which makes this blogger suspect that the "anonymous" physician may be a "nonexistent" physician. The only person who claims to have been in the room with Mrs. Rodriguez is Svend Robinson, and yet he's never been charged with anything in connection with her death.

Abominations
In Toronto, Rev. Victoria Matthews was consecrated the first female Bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada.

World events
A group of 100 people walked the 50-kilometre Channel Tunnel for charity, becoming the first humans to walk from France to Britain since the Ice Age.

Crime
Four men broke into the National Gallery of Norway and stole Edvard Munch's painting The Scream.

Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games, featuring 1,884 athletes from 67 countries--including 11 former Soviet republics now competing as independent countries--opened in Lillehammer, Norway in a ceremony celebrating Norse paganism. The U.S. Olympic Committee decided to allow U.S. women's figure skating champion Tonya Harding to compete; she had won the championship in January after defending champion Nancy Kerrigan had been clubbed on the leg in an assault after a practice. The perpetrators of the assault included Ms. Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, who had recently pled guilty to a charge of racketeering for his role in the assault, and had accused Ms. Harding of helping to plan the attack.

Hockey
NHL
Calgary 3 Toronto 2

10 years ago
2004

Abominations
More than 85 couples participated in "marriage" ceremonies as the city of San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to sodomite and lesbian couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom, contrary to a California state law.

Medicine
Scientists in South Korea announced that they had created 30 human embryos by cloning for the purposes of embryonic stem cell research, and had removed embryonic stem cells from them.

Scandal
Two former employees of Halliburton said that the oil services company, which had secured no-bid contracts for reconstruction projects in Iraq, "routinely overcharged" the U.S. military. The company, formerly headed by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, was under investigation by several U.S. government agencies.