TODAY IN HISTORY: National Park born
In 1735, the Tsar Kolokol bell was cast in Moscow. Weighing nearly 200 tonnes, it's probably the world's heaviest bell. During a great fire a few years after casting, firemen poured water onto it, causing an 11-tonne section to split off. The bell stands on a platform in the Kremlin.
In 1851, the first North American chapter of the YMCA opened in Montreal.In 1884, John Mayenberg of St. Louis received a patent for evaporated milk.
In 1885, Rocky Mountain Park was established at Banff, Alta. It was the first national park in Canada and only the third in the world. Two years earlier, three men working on the Canadian Pacific Railway stumbled across a cave containing hot springs on the slopes of Alberta's Rocky Mountains. The park spans 6,641 square kilometres of valleys, mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows and rivers. It is now called Banff National Park
In 1973, U.S. President Nixon announced measures to reduce energy consumption, including the prohibition of Sunday sales of gasoline and lower highway speed limits.
In 1980, Sugar Ray Leonard was officially granted the World Boxing Council’s welterweight title after defeating Roberto Duran when Duran retired from the fight in the eighth round.
In 1984, “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” Band Aid’s record in aid of Ethiopian famine relief, was recorded. The session was organized by Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats. Among those appearing on the record were Boy George, Simon LeBon, Bono, George Michael and Phil Collins. The record raised $11 million, and prompted Geldof to organize 1985’s Live-Aid concerts.
In 1986, the Iran-Contra affair erupted in the U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels. The same day, National Security Adviser John Poindexter resigned. and his aide, Lt.-Col. Oliver North, were fired for their involvement in the scandal.
In 1988, executives of the United Church of Canada asked congregations to discuss the issue of ordaining homosexuals. At the church’s General Council meeting a few months earlier, the policy was changed to allow homosexuals to become full members of the church, including ordination. The policy was reaffirmed in 1990.
In 1992, the Czechoslovakian parliament approved the division of the country into two nations as of Dec. 31.
In 1998, in India’s state elections, the Congress Party led by Sonia Gandhi, widow of Rajiv Gandhi, won a landslide victory.
In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the creation of new Department of Homeland Security, the largest U.S. government overhaul since the Second World War, aimed at preventing terrorist attacks. The agency would have $40-billion in funding and 170,000 employees from 22 different agencies.
In 2007, Kevin DuBrow, lead singer with the heavy-metal band Quiet Riot, was found dead in his Las Vegas home. He was 52. It was later determined he died of a cocaine overdose. Quiet Riot was perhaps best known for its 1983 cover of Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize.” The song featured DuBrow’s powerful, gravelly voice and appeared on the band’s album “Metal Health” — which was the first by a metal band to reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
In 2009, Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout, 28, and an Australian colleague were freed, 15 months after they were abducted in Somalia in August 2008.
In 2009, Toyota said it would replace the gas pedals on 3.8 million vehicles in the United States because the pedals could get stuck in the floor mats and cause sudden acceleration.
In 2012, the host Toronto Argonauts defeated the Calgary Stampeders 35-22 to win the Grey Cup, in the 100th edition of the CFL championship.
In 2016, former Cuban president Fidel Castro, who led his bearded rebels to victorious revolution in 1959, died at age 90.