“Bambi” released
In 1942, Walt Disney’s animated feature “Bambi” premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York. It received mixed reviews from critics and even Disney’s daughter, Diane, felt it wasn’t necessary for Bambi’s mother to die. Due to its release during the Second World War, it was a financial disappointment. Today, it’s considered one of the best animated films ever made.
In 1521, Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez captured present-day Mexico City from the Aztec Indians.
In 1792, French revolutionaries imprisoned the royal family.
In 1812, General Isaac Brock met Indian Chief Tecumseh to plan a campaign to drive General William Hull back into the United States.
In 1924, Vernon Dalhart recorded what was to become country music’s first million-seller, “The Prisoner’s Song.” Dalhart became one of the most successful artists of the first half of the 20th century. He made more than 5,000 records for 30 labels under more than 100 different names.
In 1961, the city of Berlin was divided by a concrete wall as East Germany sealed off the border between the Eastern and Western sectors in a move to control emigration to the West. The wall snaked 166 kilometres around the enclave of West Berlin and was backed by floodlights, barbed wire, trip wires, minefields and scattered guns. On Nov. 9, 1989, East German authorities unexpectedly opened the borders. The wall was then dismantled and the two Germanys were unified.
In 1980, four intruders robbed rock musician Todd Rundgren, his girlfriend Karen Darvin and three guests at his home in Woodstock, N.Y. One thief was reported to have hummed Rundgren’s 1972 hit “I Saw the Light” throughout the robbery. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
In 1991, the Pentagon said more than 20 per cent of the U.S. soldiers killed in action during the Persian Gulf War died by American hands.
In 1992, a Manitoba court ruled that mandatory Christian prayer in the province’s schools was unconstitutional. Manitoba was Canada’s last bastion of compulsory school prayer.
In 1993, at least 114 people died when a 134-room hotel collapsed in Thailand, 250 kilometres northeast of Bangkok.
In 2013, a Senate committee ordered Sen. Pamela Wallin to pay back an additional $83,000 in ineligible travel expense claims, on top of the $38,000 she had already repaid. After further reviews, she had to reimburse the Senate a grand total of $138,970.
In 2014, Canadian pop star Justin Bieber pleaded guilty to lesser charges of careless driving and resisting arrest seven months after his arrest in Miami Beach following what police initially called an illegal street drag race. The plea deal allowed the 20-year-old to avoid a DUI conviction.