TODAY IN HISTORY

France formally transferred ownership of 100 hectares of property at Vimy to Canada. The land was the scene of one of the most celebrated battles by Canadian soldiers during the First World War. The German bastion along Vimy Ridge was assaulted by all four divisions of the Canadian Corps on Easter 1917. The Vimy memorial consists of the Canadian land, now a park, and a monument dedicated by King Edward VIII in 1936. Also on this day: In 1 9 3 7, Quebec businessman Joseph-Armand Bombardier patented the snowmobile. The first seven-person machine cost $7,500. Only 50 were sold the first year.

In 1990, Oakland’s Dave Stewart and L.A. Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela became the first pitchers to toss no-hitters in both major leagues on the same day. Oakland shut out the Blue Jays 5-0 in Toronto, while Los Angeles blanked visiting St. Louis 6-0.

In 2009, disgraced U.S. financier Bernard Madoff, 71, was sentenced in New York to the maximum 150 years behind bars for fleecing hundreds of investors out of tens of billions of dollars in a massive Ponzi scheme.

In 2017, B.C.’s minority Liberal government was defeated in a non-confidence vote in the legislature. NDP Leader John Horgan emerged from a meeting with Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon to say he was asked to form a government after reaching a deal with the Green party on a legislative agenda.