TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 1981

Thousands of people from more than 880 Canadian communities took part in the first Terry Fox Memorial Run, raising money for cancer research. It was the first anniversary of the day the one-legged runner had to call off his “Marathon of Hope” run across Canada after cancer was discovered in his lungs. The annual 10-km event to raise funds for cancer research now draws hundreds of thousands of participants around the world. Also on this day: In 1907, “The Lusitania” completed its maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Eight years later in 1915, the ship, owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Co., was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 during the First World War, killing 1,198 of the nearly 2,000 people aboard. The Lusitania sank in about 18 minutes about 15 kilometres off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland.

In 1 9 4 0, Buckingham Palace was hit by a bomb during a German raid. In an earlier attack, the Germans dropped a time bomb on the palace on Sept. 8 and the bomb exploded two days later. Bombs also struck the palace on Sept. 10 and Sept. 15. The Royal Family was uninjured in the attacks.

In 2001, U.S. officials named Osama bin Laden “suspect no. 1” in the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon. He was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.

In 1991, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium was closed after a 55-tonne concrete beam fell from the structure. No one was injured but the Expos were forced to move all their home games for the rest of the season.

In 2012, Peter Lougheed, who is widely credited as being one of the most influential leaders in the Alberta’s history, died in hospital in Calgary at the age of 84. He led the Progressive Conservatives to victory over the governing Social Credit party in 1971. He remained premier until 1985.