A LOOK BACK AT LIFE ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

— In 1616, Sir William Vaughan bought the Avalon Peninsula, which forms Newfoundland’s southeastern corner, from the London and Bristol Company. — In 1673, French missionaries and explorers Marquette and Joliette reached the Mississippi River. — In 1745, Cape Breton's fortress of Louisbourg was taken from the French by 4,000 British colonial troops under Maj.-Gen. Sir William Pepperell. — In 1775, the U.S. Revolutionary War’s Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston. The battle (which actually occurred on Breed’s Hill) was a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses while dislodging the rebels. — In 1871, Londoners crowded Trafalgar Square to see 7-foot-5 Anna Swan of Nova Scotia marry 7-foot-2 Martin Buren Bates of Kentucky at St. Martin-In-The-Fields Church. They became engaged during a week-long trans-Atlantic voyage. Queen Victoria provided the wedding dress. — In 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor aboard the French ship Isere. — In 1918, the Germans launched what was to be their last air raid on Britain in the First World War. — In 1925, a protocol was signed in Geneva prohibiting the use of poisonous gases and bacteria in warfare. — In 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on a transAtlantic flight from Newfoundland to Wales with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, becoming the first woman to make the trip as a passenger. The trip took just under 21 hours. — In 1940, France asked Germany for terms of surrender during the Second World War. — In 1944, the republic of Iceland was established. — In 1958, the collapse of the half-finished Second Narrows bridge at Vancouver killed 18 workers and injured 20. — In 1961, Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West while his troupe was in Paris. — In 1972, police apprehended five men for attempting to bug the U.S. Democratic party’s national headquarters in Washington’s Watergate complex. It was the beginning of a series of events that would force President Richard Nixon from the White House just over two years later. — In 1974, Irish terrorists exploded a bomb in an annex of Britain's House of Commons. The blast injured 11 people and caused a fire that damaged the most historic section of Westminster Hall. — In 1990, South African leader Nelson Mandela and wife, Winnie, arrived in Ottawa en route to an 11-day tour of the United States. — In 1994, football legend O.J. Simpson surrendered to police after a bizarre chase along a Los Angeles highway. Simpson was charged with the June 12 murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, but was acquitted after a sensational trial. However, in 1997, a civil jury found him liable for their wrongful deaths and ordered him to pay $33 million.