TODAY IN HISTORY: CBC opens first broadcast facilities
In 1298, the Genoese captured Marco Polo in a sea battle. While imprisoned, the explorer and trader met writer Rustichello of Pisa and together they began a book on Marco’s travels.
In 1522, Juan Sebastian Del Cano completed the first circumnavigation of the world. He returned to Seville, Spain, with 20 crew and one ship. They had left three years earlier with five ships and 270 men under the command of Ferdinand Magellan.
In 1620, the Pilgrims, the English Puritan settlers of the colony of Plymouth, Mass., sailed in the Mayflower from Plymouth, England, to seek freedom of worship for their own faith. Three months later, they landed at Plymouth Rock in presentday Massachusetts.
In 1666, “The Great Fire” of London ended after destroying much of the city over the previous five days.
In 1888, Joseph P. Kennedy, the businessman and diplomat who founded an American political dynasty, was born.
In 1900, W.A.C. Bennett, premier of British Columbia from 1952-72, was born. He died on Feb. 23, 1979.
In 1901, U.S. President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. McKinley’s wounds seemed to be healing but gangrene set in and he died on Sept. 14. Until the assassination, little security was provided for American presidents.
In 1909, American explorer Robert Peary sent word from Labrador that he had reached the North Pole five months previously.
In 1920, station WWJ in Detroit carried the first radio broadcast of a professional boxing match. Jack Dempsey knocked out Billy Miske in the third round.
In 1952, the CBC opened the first television broadcasting facilities in Canada. The first station was CBFT in Montreal, which was followed by CBLT in Toronto two days later. Both outlets originally broadcast 18 hours of programming a week. Following its mandate that “television in Canada should be essentially Canadian,” the CBC at that time ensured that 60 per cent of its programs were produced in Canada. There were only about 100,000 TV sets in Canada at that time.
In 1953, 30 Canadians were released in the final exchange of Korean War prisoners.
In 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson handed B.C. Premier W.A.C. Bennett a cheque for $273 million regarding the Columbia River Power agreement.
In 1997, about one million people lined the streets of London as the funeral procession of Diana, Princess of Wales, made its journey from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey. For the first time in history, the Union Jack flew at half-staff above Buckingham Palace to mark the passing of someone who was not a member of the royal family.
In 1998, in the first dynastic succession in any Communist country, Kim Jong-il was entrenched officially as North Korea’s supreme leader, heading the state, the military and the governing Workers party.
In 2007, Italian Opera legend Luciano Pavarotti died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71.
In 2018, film and TV star Burt Reynolds died at age 82.