TODAY IN HISTORY: Mount St. Helens erupts for fifth time

In AD 117, Roman emperor Marcus Trajan died at age 65. His attitude toward Christianity gradually changed from toleration to persecution. It was during his rule that Apostolic Father Ignatius of Antioch was martyred.

In 1679, the first ship to sail the Upper Great Lakes, the “Griffon,” was launched. The vessel was built at Niagara for Cavalier De La Salle. She set out on her maiden voyage on Aug. 27. On Sept. 18, laden with furs, the Griffon sailed from Green Bay on Lake Michigan and was never seen again.

In 1882, the legendary feud began between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky. By the time it ended, about 100 men, women and children had been either killed or wounded.

In 1919, Capt. Ernest Hoy flew from Lulu Island, B.C., to Calgary, becoming the first person to fly across the Canadian Rockies.

In 1930, During the Great Depression, R. B. Bennett became Conservative prime minister when his party easily beat William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberals. The Conservatives lost the next election in 1935.

In 1954, England’s Roger Bannister beat Australia]s John Landy in what became known as the “Miracle Mile” at the British Empire Games in Vancouver. It was the first time two men ran the same mile race in under four minutes. Three months earlier, Bannister became the first runner to break the four-minute barrier.

In 1974, French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York.

In 1979, Jacques Cossette-Trudel and his wife Louise were sentenced to two years less a day in jail for the October 1970 FLQ kidnapping of British Trade Commissioner James Cross in Montreal.

In 1979, at least three people were killed by a tornado in the Woodstock area of southwestern Ontario. Damage was estimated at $7-10 million. About 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed and the provincial government declared Woodstock a disaster area. In 1980, the Gossamer Penguin, a solar-powered airplane, flew three kilometres across the California desert.

In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted for the fifth time since May 18, sending a plume of ash and steam 12,000 metres into the air.

In 1982, the movie “Pink Floyd - The Wall” had its U.S. premiere in New York.

In 2019, two bodies believed to be British Columbia murder suspects who were the focus of a massive manhunt were found in dense brush in northern Manitoba. RCMP said the bodies were found near the shoreline of the Nelson River — within a kilometre from where several items linked to the teens were found the previous week. 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky of Port Alberni were facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of Leonard Dyck, a university lecturer from Vancouver. Dyck's body was discovered along a highway pullout two kilometres south of Dease Lake, B-C on July 19th. McLeod and Schmegelsky were also suspects in the shooting deaths of American tourist Chynna Deese and her Australian boyfriend, Lucas Fowler. Their bodies were found along a highway near B.C.’s Liard Hot Springs on July 15th.