THINGS TO know

BEST SELLER

On this date in 1977, “Elvis: What Happened,” an expose by two of Presley’s former bodyguards, was published. It sat in bookstores almost unnoticed until Presley’s death two weeks later. Then it sold more than three million copies.

EARLY EXPLORER

On this date in 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier sighted the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Charged by King Francois I to look for gold in the New World and a passage to China, Cartier left St-Malo, France, on April 20, 1534, with two ships and 61 men, arriving off Newfoundland 20 days later. Before heading home on Aug. 15, he claimed Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the lands adjacent for France.

NEW PARTY

On this date in 1932, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, a democratic socialist political party and the forerunner of the New Democratic Party, was formed in Calgary. Under the leadership of J. S. Woodsworth, the CCF brought into one federation a number of farm and labor groups and socialist parties in Western Canada. Their avowed aim was the transforming of the competitive capitalist economic system into a co-operative commonwealth through democratic means.