Today in History
landing in Cincinnati. Twenty-three people died, including Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers. Eighteen people survived.
In 1996, Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached his last sermon as head of the Anglican church in southern Africa. Tutu retired to preside over a panel probing human rights abuses in South Africa.
In 1997, Jean Chretien’s Liberals won their second straight majority government, taking 155 seats in a federal election. Preston Manning’s Reform Party became the official Opposition with 60 seats, all from Western Canada.
In 1997, Timothy Mcveigh was convicted in Denver on 11 charges in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people. He was executed four years later.
In 1998, Tory Senator Michel Cogger was convicted in Montreal of influence peddling. He lobbied the federal government for a client for two years after his 1986 Senate appointment. Cogger was fined $3,000, put on probation and ordered to do community service. He resigned his Senate seat in September 2000 while continuing to appeal the conviction. Cogger received an absolute discharge from the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2001, meaning he has no criminal record.
In 1999, Japanese women won the right to use birth control pills.
In 2002, Prime Minister Jean Chretien fired Finance Minister Paul Martin, saying they no longer had a viable working relationship. Martin was replaced with Deputy Prime Minister John Manley.
In 2010, Derrick Bird went on a shooting rampage across Cumbria in northwest England, methodically killing 12 people and wounding 25 others before killing himself.
In 2011, Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison for kidnapping, raping and holding Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years. His wife, Nancy, 55, was earlier given a 36-year sentence.
In 2011, the World Health Organization said that a new strain of E. coli bacteria was responsible for a deadly outbreak that eventually left 52 dead and sickened over 4,000 in Europe. Experts traced the bacteria back to vegetable sprouts from an organic farm in northern Germany.
In 2012, Richard Dawson, the wisecracking British entertainer who was among the schemers in the 1960s sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes” and a decade later began kissing thousands of female contestants as host of the game show “Family Feud” died from complications related to esophageal cancer. He was 79.
In 2012, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that forced him from power. He and his sons were acquitted of corruption in a mixed verdict that swiftly provoked a new wave of anger on Egypt’s streets. (In January 2013, an appeals court overturned the sentence and ordered his release pending a retrial. In August 2013, he was released from prison and transported to a military hospital in a Cairo suburb where he was held under house arrest.)
In 2012, a shooting at Toronto’s Eaton Centre killed two gang members and injured six others and caused mass panic as shoppers scrambled to evacuate the busy downtown mall. Christopher Husbands, 23, of Toronto, later turned himself in and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. (He was found guilty of seconddegree murder along with five counts of aggravated assault and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. He is ineligible for parole for 15 years for each killing, which will be served consecutively rather than concurrently. In 2017, he was granted a new trial after a judge found the jury that convicted him was improperly selected.)
In 2014, King Juan Carlos, who led Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy but faced damaging scandals amid the nation’s financial meltdown, announced he would abdicate in favour of his more popular son, Prince Felipe, who assumed the throne on June 19.
In 2019, Canada suspended operations at its embassy in Venezuela. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canadian diplomats’ visas were set to expire at the end of June and could not be renewed. The Canadian government had been a vocal critic of President Nicolas Maduro, calling him a dictator who stole an election and backing opposition leader Juan Guaido. Freeland said Ottawa was now evaluating the status of Venezuelan diplomats in Canada.
In 2019, Roky Erickson, the blue-eyed, dark-haired Texan who headed the Austin-based 13th Floor Elevators, a pioneering psychedelic rock band in the 1960s, died at 71. There were no details on the cause and location of his death. Among the band’s hits were “You’re Gonna Miss Me.”
(The Canadian Press)