A LOOK BACK AT LIFE ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

— In 1825, the Hudson’s Bay Company established Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River, near the present Portland, Ore. — In 1831, the first American bank robbery took place in New York City. The thief received a fiveyear prison term. — In 1860, the New Brunswick legislature decided not to invite the Prince of Wales, who was visiting Canada, because it would be too expensive. The next day, it was decided to erase the previous day’s debate from the record. — In 1885, the Northwest Rebellion began when a provisional government led by Louis Riel was proclaimed in Batoche, Sask. — In 1931, Nevada Gov. Fred Balzar signed a measure legalizing casino gambling. — In 1941, the United States and Canada signed a pact to develop the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway, later known as the St. Lawrence Seaway. — In 1945, Adolf Hitler issued his so-called “Nero Decree,” ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands during the Second World War. — In 1945, the USS Franklin was struck by a Japanese bomb. More than 900 were killed in the largest loss of life in American naval history. — In 1953, the Academy Awards were televised for the first time. — In 1976, Buckingham Palace announced the separation of Princess Margaret and her husband, the Earl of Snowdon, after 16 years of marriage. — In 1981, two people died and five were injured at Cape Canaveral, Fla., when they entered a chamber in the shuttle Columbia, where oxygen had been replaced by nitrogen. — In 1987, U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry amid a sex and money scandal involving Jessica Hahn, a former church secretary. Bakker was convicted in 1989 of bilking his followers and served five years in prison. — In 2003, two hours after the U.S. deadline for Saddam Hussein to get out of Iraq expired, George Bush announced war had begun.