TODAY IN HISTORY:
Lennon outrages Christians
In 1841, Sir George Simpson, governor of the Hudson’s Bay Co., began a trip around the world. The trip would take 20 months. Simpson was 53 when the trip began and had been governor of what is now Western Canada for 20 years. Simpson once told a Commons committee that the soil in Western Canada was useless for farming. He knew better — he was just trying to protect the area for fur trading.
In 1871, the House of Commons approved British Columbia’s terms to join Canada.
In 1875, the first recorded hockey game under new rules developed by McGill University student J.G.A. Creighton took place in Montreal. Those rules formed the basis of the current game.
In 1887, Anne Sullivan arrived at the Alabama home of Captain and Mrs. Arthur Keller to teach their blind and deaf six-year-old daughter, Helen.
In 1918, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended Russian participation in the First World War. The treaty was annulled by the November, 1918 armistice which ended the war.
In 1920, the Montreal Canadiens set the NHL record for goals in one game, routing the Quebec Bulldogs 16-3.
In 1921, Doctors Frederick Banting and Charles Best officially announced their University of Toronto team had discovered insulin to treat diabetes.
In 1931, “The Star Spangled Banner” was made the official anthem of the United States.
In 1945, the Allies fully secured the Philippine capital of Manila from Japanese forces during the Second World War.
In 1953, the world’s first commercial jet crash took place. Eleven people died when a Canadian Pacific Comet jet crashed in Karachi, Pakistan.
In 1965, “The Sound of Music,” the Oscar-winning film adaptation of the Broadway hit, was released. It starred Julie Andrews and Canadian actor Christopher Plummer.
In 1966, musician John Lennon touched off an international protest when he was quoted in the London Evening Standard as saying The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus Christ.”
In 1991, motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by several Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video. A year later, the acquittals of four officers on state charges touched off riots in Los Angeles. Two officers were later retried and convicted on federal charges.