Today in History
Court ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan, who was in a persistent vegetative state, could be disconnected from her respirator. Quinlan, who remained unconscious, died in 1985.
In 1978, biochemist Charles Best, a co-discoverer of insulin, died in Toronto at age 79.
In 1979, a mass evacuation was ordered from the area near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pa. A potentially explosive bubble of hydrogen gas developed inside a crippled reactor. But only small amounts of radioactivity escaped.
In 1981, the Newfoundland Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the federal government did not have the right to amend the constitution without the consent of the provinces.
In 1982, Canada’s first fibre-optic manufacturing facility opened in Saskatoon.
In 1984, in St. John’s Harbour, Nfld., one-legged runner Steve Fonyo began his cross-canada run to raise money for cancer research.
In 1990, hundreds of people were injured when rioting erupted in London over Britain’s so-called poll tax.
In 1991, Communists won Albania’s first, multi-party elections while voters in the Soviet republic of Georgia endorsed independence. And the Warsaw Pact saw its last day of existence as a military alliance.
In 1992, the UN Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six alleged terrorists suspected in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. Two suspects were eventually handed over, and one was convicted in 2001 by a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. He was later freed on compassionate grounds, suffering from terminal cancer.
In 1993, actor Brandon Lee died after a freak accident on the set of the movie “The Crow.” Lee had been shot with a prop gun that was supposed to fire blanks. He was 28.
In 2005, in a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada stopped short of striking down Quebec legislation that restricted access to English schools. But it laid down new legal criteria that would make it easier for immigrants and native-born Canadians to gain access to English schools. In a separate decision, the court rejected claims from a group of francophones that they should be able to choose English schooling for their children.
In 2005, 41-year-old Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged woman who spent 15 years connected to a feeding tube in an epic legal and medical battle that went all the way to the White House and the U.S. Congress, died, 13 days after the tube was removed. Ten days earlier, U.S. President Bush had signed an unprecedented bill, passed by Congress, designed to prolong her life.
In 2009, Quebec hit man Gerald Gallant pleaded guilty to 27 charges of first-degree murder and 12 of attempted murder related to the province’s biker war. As part of a plea deal, Gallant agreed to testify against 11 other people who allegedly ordered the killings or helped him carry them out.
In 2009, the B.C. government announced that a final agreement had been reached for managing four million hectares in the Great Bear Rainforest, which contains the largest intact temperate rain forest left in the world.
In 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as Israeli Prime Minister after the Knesset approved his right-leaning government.
In 2010, Canada pledged $400 million in money and debt relief over two years to aid in the reconstruction of Haiti after January’s devastating earthquake, thus granting Canada membership on the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission.
In 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama announced new plans to expand offshore gas and oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean, reversing a 29-year ban on most offshore drilling except in the Gulf of Mexico.
In 2011, NATO assumed command of all air operations over Libya to enforce a no-fly zone and to protect civilians. Canadian Lt.-gen. Charles Bouchard was named as the joint task force commander.
In 2012, Patrick Chan defended his world figure skating title, becoming the first Canadian since Elvis Stojko (1994-95) to claim back-to-back world gold medals. (Chan also won the 2013 title.)
In 2018, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights clinched the Pacific Division title with a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
In 2018, Kevin Pillar became the first Toronto Blue Jay to steal three bases in one inning.
In 2019, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced it would fold due to financial woes. Its board of directors said the league would end as of May 1, 2019. The news came a week after the Calgary Inferno won the league championship and hoisted the Clarkson Cup trophy. The CWHL said the 12-year-old league’s business model was economically unsustainable.
(The Canadian Press)