TODAY IN HISTORY: “I have a dream”
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech to almost 250,000 demonstrators in Washington in front of the Lincoln Memorial. “I have a dream that one day ... the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together,” the civil rights leader said. King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent battle against discrimination and poverty. He was assassinated in Memphis in April 1968.
In 1789, Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, was discovered. Scientists think the moon may have underground fluids, making it one of the top planets in the solar system where extraterrestrial life might exist.
In 1833, an act abolishing slavery throughout the British Colonies received royal assent. It came into force on Aug. 1, 1834. It was the result of a campaign by abolitionists internationally, and in the British Parliament by an alliance of Evangelical Anglicans and Quakers led by MP William Wilberforce.
In 1872, the world’s first “Wild West
Show” was staged at Niagara Falls, Ont. The main attraction was American frontiersman James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickock who appeared in “Buffalo Bill’s” show until 1874. Hickock’s reputation as a marksman made him a celebrity in the travelling show.
In 1904, the first jail sentence for speeding was handed down in Newport, R.I. — five days — for driving 32 km/h.
In 1947, legendary bullfighter Manolete died after being gored during a fight in Linares, Spain. He was 30.
In 1957, three armed men stole $5,400 in American funds from a CNR passenger train on a run from Windsor, Ont., to Toronto. It was Canada’s first train robbery since 1928.
In 1965, Bob Dylan, backed by Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson and other musicians who later became known as “The Band,” was booed off stage at Forest Hills Stadium in New York for playing electric guitar. Dylan had abandoned pure folk music earlier that year with the album “Bringing It All Back Home.”
In 2003, the MTV Video Music Awards opened with a performance by Madonna, in which she kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera full on the lips.
In 2007, Steven Truscott, the youngest Canadian to ever face a death sentence nearly half a century ago, was acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal of the 1959 rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper. The court ruled Truscott was a victim of a “miscarriage of justice.”
In 2019, swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived in New York City following a trans-Atlantic trip on a sailboat to attend a global warming conference. The 16-year-old and her crew were escorted into a lower Manhattan marina — concluding a two-week crossing from Plymouth, England. She refused to fly because of the carbon emissions involved in jet travel. The teenager has led protests against climate change in Sweden that inspired student strikes in about 100 cities worldwide. She was to speak at a United Nations climate summit in September.