TODAY IN HISTORY: Nickname ‘Uncle Sam’ born

In 1533, England’s future Queen Elizabeth I was born to King Henry VIII and Queen Anne Boleyn. She ruled 45 years, from 1558 to 1603.

In 1763, Britain’s King George III issued a proclamation urging subjects to settle in Canada.

In 1813, the nickname “Uncle Sam” was first used as a symbolic reference to the United States in an editorial in a newspaper in Troy, N.Y.

In 1816, “The Frontenac,” the first Canadianbuilt steamship on the Great Lakes, was launched at Ernestown (now Bath), Ont.

In 1860, the Maple Leaf was first used as an official emblem during a visit to Toronto by the Prince of Wales.

In 1910, the International Court at The Hague resolved a fishing dispute between the United States, Canada and Newfoundland. The court ruled that each government had the right to regulate its own fisheries but suggested Canada and Newfoundland inform the United States at least two months before they made any changes to their regulations.

In 1940, what came to be called “The Blitz” began when London suffered the first concentrated night air raid by German planes during the Second World War. In the first three nights, 1,000 people were killed and 3,500 seriously injured. The Royal Air Force prevented invasion during 1940, but the civilian population endured years of bombing before the tide of war turned.

In 1952, the Canadian liner “Princess Kathleen” ran aground and sank off Lena Point, Alaska. Her 300 passengers and crew of 115 were all rescued. The incident occurred during the highest tide of the season, and it was the falling tide that sank her.

In 1969, the Official Languages Act declared English and French as the official languages of Canada. The act, promoted by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, declared all federal institutions had to provide services in English or French at the customer’s choice.

In 1977, Cindy Nicholas of Toronto became the first woman to complete a return, non-stop swim of the English Channel.

In 1986, Bishop Desmond Tutu was installed as Archbishop of Cape Town, becoming the first black head of South Africa’s Anglican

Church.

In 1991, Edwin McMillan, a co-discoverer of plutonium who worked on the Second World War project that developed the atomic bomb, died at age 83.

In 2001, Ashley Cowan, 15, of Toronto, became the youngest teen and the first disabled person to complete a 20-kilometre swim across Lake Erie. Cowan, a quadruple amputee, finished in slightly more than 15 hours.

In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper ignored his own fixed-date election law to call a general election for Oct. 14. That was more than a year ahead of the October 2009 date envisioned in Conservative legislation that passed the Commons with little dissent. Harper argued the minority Parliament had become dysfunctional and he required a fresh mandate to navigate the troubled economic waters ahead.

In 2008, the U.S. government took over control of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee about half of U.S. mortgage debt, in an attempt to ease the financial crisis that followed the housing collapse.