TODAY IN HISTORY: Tommy Douglas born in 1904
In 1818, Canada and the U.S. signed the Convention of London. The treaty established the 49th parallel as boundary from Rainy River, Ont., to the Rockies. In 1828, hymnwriter Horatio Gates Spafford was born. In 1873, upon learning of the drowning of his four daughters following a ship collision in the Atlantic, Spafford penned “It Is Well With My Soul.” In 1848, a treaty signed by Britain and the United States restored to the United States the right of fishing off Newfoundland and Labrador and established the boundary west of Lake of the Woods, Ont. The pact also called for the joint occupation of Oregon. In 1865, a proclamation declared Ottawa the permanent seat of government.
In 1903, the Joint Commission set up by Britain and the U.S. to arbitrate the disputed Alaskan boundary ruled in favour of the U.S. The deciding vote was Britain’s, which embittered Canada. The U.S. gained ports on the panhandle coast of Alaska.
In 1904, Thomas Clement Douglas was born in Falkirk, Scotland. After moving to Canada with his family at age 15, Douglas became a Baptist minister and settled in Weyburn, Sask., in 1930. The suffering he witnessed during the Depression prompted him to join the fledgling Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and win a Commons seat in 1935. In 1944, Douglas became the Saskatchewan CCF leader and led the party to a landslide victory that made it North America’s first socialist government. During the next 17 years, the Douglas government pioneered Medicare and numerous other programs. After the CCF was reorganized as the New Democratic Party in 1961, Douglas served as its first federal leader for 10 years and remained an MP until 1979. He died of cancer in 1986.
In 1920, British Columbia voters rejected Prohibition in a plebiscite. They voted instead for government control of alcoholic beverages.
In 1922, Bonar Law, who was born in Kingston, Ont., became the first and only Canadian to become British prime minister. He served 209 days before resigning because of ill health.
In 1944, during the Second World War, General Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, two-and-a-half years after he’d said, “I shall return.”
In 1990, after being used in a pivotal scene in the film “Ghost,” the 25-year-old “Unchained Melody” peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard pop charts.
In 1992, the first World Series game outside the United States was played in Toronto between the Blue Jays and the Atlanta Braves. The Jays won 32 and went on to take the series in six games.
In 2000, former B.C. premier Glen Clark was charged with two criminal offences, including breach of trust, in connection with a casino licence application. (He was eventually acquitted.)