TODAY IN HISTORY: Marilyn Monroe found dead

In 1100, Henry I ascended the throne of England, three days after his brother, King William II, was killed in a hunting accident.

In 1620, the Pilgrim ships The Mayflower and The Speedwell sailed from England.

In 1689, the little settlement of Lachine, just west of Montreal, was attacked by 1,500 Iroquois in a pre-dawn raid. Twenty-four settlers were killed and more than 60 were taken prisoner.

In 1797, Napoleon defeated the Austrians at Castiglione.

In 1833, “The Royal William,” the first Canadian ship to cross the Atlantic entirely under steam power, left Quebec. It first travelled to Pictou, N.S., and from there took 25 days to cross the ocean to Gravesend, England with a load of coal.

In 1858, American businessman Cyrus Field finished laying out the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable between Newfoundland and Ireland. However, after several weeks of use, the cable burned out.

In 1884, the cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe’s Island, later renamed Liberty Island, in New York harbour. The copper and iron statue, presented to the United States by France, was unveiled in 1886.

In 1891, the first traveller’s cheque, devised by American Express, was cashed.

In 1913, in Victoria, John Bryant became the first air-crash fatality in Canada.

In 1915, British nurse Edith Cavell, matron of a Red Cross hospital in Brussels, was arrested by the Germans for helping 200 Allied soldiers escape to the Netherlands. Cavell, accused of being a spy, admitted helping the Allied soldiers to escape to neutral Holland. Before her execution on Oct. 12, she said, “Patriotism is not enough,” which became one of the rallying cries of the First World War.

In 1924, the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie,” by Harold Gray, made its debut.

In 1928, Saskatoon’s Ethel Catherwood won the women’s high jump at the Amsterdam Olympics. She remains Canada’s lone Olympic women’s track and field gold medallist.

In 1949, an earthquake in Ecuador killed approximately 6,000 people.

In 1951, daredevil William (Red) Hill Jr. was killed as he attempted to go over Niagara Falls in a contraption of rubber inner tubes, canvas and fishnet. A crowd estimated at between 100,000 and 200,000 watched Hill go over the falls. His body was found two days later.

In 1952, Satchel Paige, 47, became the oldest pitcher in major-league baseball history to pitch a complete game or a shutout when he beat Virgil

Trucks and the Detroit Tigers 1-0 in 12 innings.

In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead of an overdose of sleeping pills in her Hollywood home. She was 36.

In 1963, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union signed a treaty outlawing nuclear tests in the atmosphere, space and under water.

In 1974, U.S. president Richard Nixon admitted that six days after the Watergate burglary, he acted to obstruct the FBI’s investigation for political as well as national security reasons.

In 1979, Cindy Nicholas swam across the English Channel and back in a then-record time of 19 hours, 12 minutes.

In 1986, Canada became one of six Commonwealth countries to adopt economic sanctions against South Africa because of its apartheid policy. They included bans on air links, new bank loans and government contracts with majority-owned South African companies.

In 1987, African National Congress founder Nelson Mandela marked the 25th anniversary of his imprisonment in South Africa. Mandela was released from prison in 1989.

In 1992, Toronto's Mark McKoy won the 110metre hurdles at the Barcelona Olympics. It was Canada's first Olympic gold medal in track since 1928.