What Time of Day Was That?: History by the Minute

Nora D.S. Robins is liaison librarian in the University of Calgary
Library.

Typically, historical timelines are recorded according to year, date,
and occasionally day of the week. This book takes a different tack and
answers the question “What time of day did the event occur?” Do you
want to know what time it was when Julius Caesar was stabbed? Or what
time Paul Henderson scored his heart-stopping goal? Or when the Light
Brigade charged into the Valley of Death? Or what happened at 3 a.m.?
(Answer: on January 27, 1901, Guiseppi Verdi died and on February 25,
1893, Enrico Caruso was born.) More than 1000 achievements, disasters,
firsts, deaths, sporting successes, and other historic events are
recorded.

The book is divided into 24 chapters, one for each hour of the day.
Entries are arranged in order of time. The index is very useful. While
the coverage attempts to be global, there is a strong focus on Canadian
events. For that reason alone this book will be of interest to Canadian
readers.

What Time of Day Was That? does not attempt to be all-inclusive and it
will not take the place of traditional chronologies. However, it is full
of interesting bits of information sure to whet the appetite of trivia
lovers.

Dale Patterson is a 25-year veteran editor and reporter for the
Canadian Press and Broadcast News.