83:, but he did not remember Baruch's address. So that he could check out a particular building that he hoped was Baruch's, Churchill asked his taxicab driver to stop in the middle of Fifth Avenue (which at that time was a two-way roadway), between 76th Street and 77th Street. Churchill got out of the cab in the middle of the roadway and looked to his left. Seeing the headlights of an oncoming car more than 200 yards away, he thought that he was safe and headed across the street, forgetting to look for traffic coming from his right. He was hit by the car driven by Cantasano.
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Concerned that
Cantasano would be blamed and then have trouble finding work, Churchill finally arranged to meet him at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Churchill served Cantasano tea and gave him an autographed copy of his book, "The Unknown War." Edward F. Cantasano's name was misreported by journalists at the time as Mario Contasino, and the incident itself eventually faded into the background of Churchill's life. Cantasano himself was nearly forgotten entirely, until interest in the event was revived almost 70 years later.
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The
British statesman suffered a serious scalp wound as well as two cracked ribs and was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he later told police that the crash was entirely his fault. Nevertheless, Cantasano, who felt he was to blame, repeatedly called the hospital to see how Churchill was doing.
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street at the time, and forgot to look in the direction of the oncoming traffic. This incident, while only briefly acknowledged by leading historical works about
Churchill, has nonetheless provided the inspiration for several
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Evidence unearthed during the search for
Contasino has revealed his real name as Edward F. Cantasano, and that he was 26 at the time of the crash with Churchill. According to the new information, Cantasano was living in
107:, which presents a counterfactual view of history in which the automobile crash where Contasino struck Churchill proved fatal. A diary of the search was being recorded in an ongoing blog:
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launched a search for the descendants of Mario
Contasino in order to honor his contribution to history. The search was inspired by a video game published by the company,
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and was struck by a car driven by
Cantasano. The crash occurred because Churchill apparently forgot that, in the United States, traffic on two-way roadways
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it keeps to the left. Churchill was riding in a taxicab and looking for the home of financier
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Footnote in
Churchill's life has direct link to Yonkers | lohud.com | The Journal News
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Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on
December 13, 1931, Churchill attempted to cross
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What If? The World's
Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been
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A measure of our (your) success « The Quest To Find Mario
Contasino
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189:, from Newyorkology.com (August 16, 2007). Retrieved on July 8, 2012.
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who, on December 13, 1931, accidentally hit the future
22:(November 25, 1905 – January 17, 1989) also known as
162:Williamson Murray, "What a Taxi Driver Wrought,"
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268:This Mystery's History | The Genealogue
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257:Bonkers for Yonkers | The Genealogue
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283:The Quest to find Mario Contasino
228:. Codemastersquest.wordpress.com
166:, Robert Cowley, ed. (New York:
138:Pollak, Michael (May 7, 2006).
105:Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
91:The search for Mario Contasino
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298:People from Yonkers, New York
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140:"Not His Finest Hour"
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