Today in history
tenor, died in Naples, Italy at the age of 48.
In 1922, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell died in Baddeck, N.S., at age 75.
In 1934, Adolf Hitler was installed as dictator of Germany. With the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler combined the vacant office with his own, that of chancellor, and declared himself Der Fuhrer. With absolute power, Hitler began a campaign against all opposition, even within his own party. Hundreds of influential Nazis were killed and soon he was arming troops for the European invasions that would bring about the Second World War.
In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt telling him atomic bombs were possible and that German physicists were working to develop one. Einstein's letter resulted in the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
In 1945, the Potsdam Conference, where Russia, the United States and Britain discussed what was to be done with Germany and the occupied countries of Europe, ended.
In 1977, an explosion in a Mozambique coal mine killed about 150 miners underground. The disaster touched off riots in which nine foreigners were killed.
In 1979, New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson died while trying to land a personal aircraft at the Canton-akron airport in Ohio. He was 32.
.In 1989, a team of Ottawa doctors led by Wilbert Keon successfully completed Canada's first newborn infant heart transplant.
In 1992, Silken Laumann completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in Olympic history when she won a bronze medal in women's single sculls in Barcelona. The medal win came less than three months after her right leg was seriously damaged in an accident during a competition in Germany. (Laumann also won an Olympic bronze medal in 1984 and a silver in 1996.)
In 2001, the CRTC ruled that television networks and newspapers owned by the same corporate parent can work together closely, as long as both media keep separate management structures.
In 2004, the Quebec Labour Relations Board certified a union at a Wal-mart store in Quebec. It became the first unionized Wal-mart in North America.
In 2005, CIBC agreed to pay $2.4 billion to settle litigation against top Wall Street financial firms who were involved with Enron Corp.
In 2009, Karlheinz Schreiber was extradited to Germany to face criminal charges after losing a decadelong court battle to remain in Canada. Once in Germany, he was held in custody pending trial. In May 2010, he was found guilty of evading taxes for not declaring money he allegedly received as kickbacks for the sale of tanks to Saudi Arabia in the 1990s and sentenced to eight years in prison.
In 2015, world No.1-ranked Inbee Park won the Women's British Open, capturing her seventh major title and becoming just the seventh female player to complete the career grand slam.