TODAY IN HISTORY: U.S. president Garfield shot
In 311, Miltiades was elected the 32nd pope of the Catholic Church. During his pontificate, Christianity was finally tolerated by Rome, following the Emperor Constantine's conversion to the Christian faith.
In 1489, Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, was born. He was the primary author of the Book of Common Prayer and Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church.
In 1566, French astrologer Nostradamus, died.
In 1808, explorer Simon Fraser reached the Pacific Ocean near what is now Vancouver. Fraser thought he had been on the Columbia River, but was actually on the river that now bears his name.
In 1865, William Booth formed the Salvation Army at a meeting in London. Booth’s speech at a mission in Whitechapel is considered by the Salvation Army as the date of its formation. The Army spread to Canada in 1882.
In 1881, U.S. president James Garfield was shot. He died from his wound three months later.
In 1885, the Plains Cree Chief Big Bear surrendered at Fort Carlton, Sask.
In 1900, the first rigid zeppelin airship, created by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, took flight near Lake Constance in Germany. It carried five people, reached an altitude of 396 metres and flew a distance of six kilometres in 17 minutes.
In 1912, five people died when the dirigible “Alcron” exploded over Atlantic City.
In 1926, Arthur Meighen's Conservative government lost a Commons non-confidence motion by one vote. Meighen became prime minister three days earlier when MacKenzie King resigned over Gov.-Gen. Lord Byng's refusal to call an election. After Meighen's defeat, Byng agreed to a Sept. 14 election, which King's Liberals won.
In 1937, American aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific while attempting to circle the globe. After taking off from New Guinea and reporting by radio that they were lost and running out of fuel, the pair did not reach their destination of Howland Island and were never heard from again.
In 1940, a German U-boat torpedoed the liner “Arandora Star” while transporting German and Italian prisoners to Canada during the Second World War. Over 750 prisoners and crew died.
In 1941, the Royal Canadian Air Force was authorized to enlist women.
In 1941, New York Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio broke the major league single-season record by hitting safely in his 45th consecutive game. DiMaggio's streak ended at 56 games.
In 1961, American author Ernest Hemingway, plagued by ill health, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Idaho. He was 62.
In 1962, volunteer doctors provided emergency services in Saskatchewan when most of its estimated 700 doctors went on strike to protest the province's compulsory medical plan, which went into effect the previous day.
In 1968, legislation allowing easier access to divorce went into effect. The new "Divorce Act" authorized the granting of divorce solely on the grounds of marriage breakdown.
In 1974, Alberta’s Ralph Steinhauer became the first aboriginal lieutenant-governor in Canada.
In 1976, North and South Vietnam were officially united after 20 years of war.
In 1982, using a lawn chair hoisted by 42 heliumfilled weather balloons, Larry Walters took off from San Pedro, Calif. He rose to an altitude of nearly 4,900 metres and travelled 24 kilometres before landing safely. He was fined $1,500.
In 1990, more than 1,400 Muslim pilgrims died in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
In 1992, Ottawa closed Newfoundland’s northern cod fishery for two years