TODAY IN HISTORY: Milli Vanilli wins a Grammy

In 1891, an explosion in a coal mine at Springhill, N.S. killed 125 miners. Coal gas was suspected as the cause of the blast. The accident was the first of several that occurred over the years in Springhill. The mines were shut forever after a rock surge on Oct. 23, 1958, in which 74 miners died.

In 1915, Sgt.-Major Fred Hall won the Victoria Cross during the First World War battle of Ypres in Belgium. He died trying to rescue a wounded comrade. Hall was one of three V.C. winners from the war who lived on the same Winnipeg street. After the war, Pine Street was renamed Valour Road in honour of Hall, Cpl. Leo Clarke and Lt. Robert Shankland. Only Shankland survived the war.

In 1916, a bloody First World War battle began as German guns opened fire on 40 kilometres of French lines around Verdun. An estimated 420,000 men were killed at Verdun and 800,000 wounded in 1916-17.

In 1947, American inventor Edwin Land demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, which produced a black-and-white picture in 60 seconds. A colour process hit the market in 1963.

In 1965, Malcolm X, leader of the black Nationalist Movement in the U.S., was assassinated as he was about to address a New York City rally, 11 months after his split from Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam. He was 39.

In 1972, a major breakthrough in international diplomacy occurred when Richard Nixon began an eightday visit to China. Nixon’s arrival in Beijing made him the first American president to visit a country not diplomatically recognized by Washington. His visit ended with a joint communique pledging both powers to work towards normal relations, which came a few years later. The U.S. had refused to recognize the Communist regime in Beijing since it took power in 1949.

In 1973, Israel shot down a Libyan airliner, killing 107 people for failing to land after it overflew an Israeli military airfield in the Sinai.

In 1981, Saturday Night Live cast member Charles Rocket and producer Jean Doumanian were both abruptly fired from the late-night sketch show after Rocket used the F-word in a parody sketch of “Who Shot J.R.,” which also featured guest host Charlene Tilton. SNL was cancelled for the remainder of the season.

In 1990, Milli Vanilli won a Grammy for Best New Artist. The duo later gave up the award in connection with a lip-synching scandal. They beat out legitimate artists Neneh Cherry, Indigo Girls, Tone Loc and Soul II Soul. Milli Vanilli’s North American release “Girl You Know It’s True” reached No. 1 on the Billboard album charts and spawned five singles that reached the top-5.

In 2000, Boston Bruins defenceman Marty McSorley slashed Vancouver forward Donald Brashear across the temple late in a game won by the host Canucks 5-2. Brashear suffered a concussion. McSorley received the NHL’s longest suspension for on-ice violence — one year — and never returned to the league. He was also convicted of assault with a weapon but received an absolute discharge from a Vancouver judge.

In 2002, the Canadian women’s hockey team beat the United States 3-2 to win the gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics, avenging the American victory in the 1998 final in Nagano, Japan. Hayley Wickenheiser and Danielle Goyette

In 2014, Ukraine’s embattled president Viktor Yanukovych fled Kyiv after opposition protesters took control of the capital in the wake of three days of deadly clashes with police. More than 80 people were killed and hundreds injured in the worst violence in nearly three months of protests sparked by Yanukovych’s decision to abort a pact with the European Union in favour of close ties with Russia.

In 2020, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, abandoned plans to use the “SussexRoyal” brand after they stepped back from royal duties. Their office said the couple will no longer seek to trademark the term, because of U-K rules governing use of the word “royal.”