TODAY IN HISTORY: Plains of Abraham
In 1759, British Gen. James Wolfe landed his army near Quebec City and blocked the St. Lawrence River to French shipping. After a siege lasting 75 days, the 33-year-old Wolfe led his troops up the cliff behind Quebec City to the Plains of Abraham, where they defeated Montcalm’s garrison and captured the city. Both commanders died in battle.
In 1844, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, and his brother Hyrum were lynched by a mob in Carthage, Ill., resulting in part from the community’s moral outrage at Smith’s authorization of polygamous Mormon marriages.
In 1860, the inaugural Queen’s Plate was run near Toronto and was won by “Don Juan.” The Queen’s Plate is the oldest uninterrupted stakes race in North America.
In 1957, more than 500 people were killed when Hurricane Audrey slammed through coastal Louisiana and Texas.
In 1967, the first ATM — automatic teller machine — was installed at a branch of Barclays PLC in a north London suburb.
In 1969, the Denver Pop
Festival opened at Mile High Stadium. Among the performers were Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter and Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the last concert by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Later that year, Hendrix formed The Band of Gypsies.”
In 1972, one of the most sensational player signings in hockey history took place. Superstar left winger Bobby Hull left the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks to join the Winnipeg Jets of the fledgling World Hockey Association.
In 1989, baseball history was made as the Toronto Blue Jays played the Baltimore Orioles. Toronto’s Cito Gaston and Baltimore’s Frank Robinson were the first black managers to oppose each other in a regularseason game.
In 1990, Queen Elizabeth II began her five-day Canadian tour in Calgary.
In 1991, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unions can collect dues from non-union members in a bargaining unit and use the money for activities unrelated to collective bargaining.
In 1992, the Toronto Star was unable to publish for the first time in 99 years. The paper was in the middle of a strike and only 56 pages of feature sections printed earlier in the week were distributed — for free.
In 1993, singer Lyle Lovett wed actress Julia Roberts in a hastily arranged wedding in Marion, Ind. Lovett’s band performed “Angel Eyes” in honour of the bride. The two had met the previous year while filming Robert Altman’s
“The Player.” The couple divorced in 1995.
In 2002, John Entwistle, bassist for England’s hugely influential rock band The Who, died in Las Vegas at age 57. His death was ruled a result of cocaine use and heart disease. With The Who, he’s best known for “Boris the Spider,” “My Wife,” “Heaven and Hell” and “The Quiet One.”
In 2011, in a retrial, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted of 17 of the 20 charges against him, many related to his attempt to sell or trade U.S. President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat. (In December, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison but in February 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump commuted his prison sentence and released him after having served eight years.)
In 2013, Brampton, Ont.-native Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian selected first overall in the NBA draft (by Cleveland).
In 2014, the Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, was convicted by a church tribunal of sex abuse and was defrocked, the first such sentence handed down against a top papal representative.