TODAY IN HISTORY: Lindbergh baby kidnapping
In 1562, Roman Catholic troops killed Protestants at Vassy, France, in an incident that precipitated the Wars of Religion. The disorder, which swept over France almost unchecked for nearly 40 years, ended when Henry IV of Navarre seized the French throne and granted the Protestants – known as Huguenots -- partial freedom.
In 1808, the African slave trade was banned by the U.S. Congress.
In 1810, Sweden appointed the world’s first national ombudsman.
In 1932, baby Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow, was kidnapped from his home in Hopewell, N.J. The baby’s body was found nearby on May 12. Bruno Hauptmann was convicted of kidnapping and murder in 1935 and sentenced to die in the electric chair.
In 1927, the first Dominion men’s curling championship — better known as the Brier — began at the Granite Club in Toronto.
In 1962, all 95 passengers died when an airliner crashed shortly after takeoff at New York’s Idlewild (now Kennedy) Airport.
In 1968, Johnny Cash and June Carter were married in Franklin, Ky. He had proposed to her on stage earlier in the year at the London Ice House in London, Ont.
In 1970, the first overseas direct-dial phone calls were made between New York and London.
In 1972, country star Merle Haggard was pardoned by California Governor Ronald Reagan. Haggard had served time in San Quentin in the 1950s for attempted burglary.
In 1974, seven former aides of U.S. President Richard Nixon were indicted in the Watergate scandal.
In 1978, new federal election regulations took effect, ending political party status for the Nude Garden Party and six other groups.
In 2005, Ontario became the first province to pass legislation to ban pit bulls.
In 2019, the defence team for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou filed a notice of civil claim alleging “serious violations” of her constitutional rights, accusing officers of detaining and questioning her for three hours before notifying her of her arrest. The suit filed with the B.C. Supreme Court names members of the Canadian Border Services Agency, the RCMP and the federal government.
In 2020, the spreading epidemic soon to be known as COVID-19 shut down France’s Louvre Museum, as Italy was recognized as the epicentre of the outbreak in Europe.