TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 1139

Pope Innocent II made the Templars an independent unit within the Catholic Church. The order of knights had been created to protect pilgrims from bandits in the Holy Land.

In 1461, the bloodiest battle of England’s “War of the Roses” was fought in Yorkshire. It ended with 28,000 dead and a victory for the House of York over the House of Lancaster.

In 1778, British explorer Sir James Cook landed at Nootka, now Vancouver, becoming the first European on the island.

In 1848, Niagara Falls stopped flowing for the only time in recorded history. The flow was blocked for 30 hours by an ice jam at the Lake Erie entrance to the Niagara River.

In 1867, royal assent was given to the British North America Act, creating the Dominion of Canada. It took effect July 1. Exactly 115 years later — on March 29, 1982 — the bill patriating Canada’s constitution also received royal assent.

In 1886, Atlanta chemist John Pemberton brewed up the first batch of a “brain tonic” over a backyard fire. He called it Coca-Cola, after its main ingredient — coca leaves.

In 1989, the Calgary Flames signed forward Sergei Priakin, the first Soviet player allowed to play in North America by his country’s hockey federation.

In 1991, B.C. Social Credit Premier Bill Vander Zalm announced he would resign due to conflict-ofinterest allegations. He was replaced by Rita Johnston, who became Canada’s first woman premier. But she lost the subsequent provincial election to Mike Harcourt’s NDP.