Today in History

Today in History for Jan. 12: On this date:

In 1519, Holy

Maximilian I died.

In 1598, the Marquis de La Roche was awarded a fur trading monopoly in the New World by the King of France.

In 1700, Marguerite Bourgeoys, Canada’s first woman saint, died in Montreal.

In 1759, James Wolfe was promoted to major-general and commanderin-chief of British land forces for the planned invasion of New France, which came later in the year. Wolfe was killed when his forces invaded Quebec in September 1759.

In 1773, the first public museum in America was organized, in Charleston, S.C.

In 1819, St. Boniface College was founded at Red River in what was to become Manitoba.

In 1842, the first issue of Prince Edward Island’s “The Islander” was published, edited by John Inge.

In 1866, the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain was founded.

In 1876, American novelist Jack London was born. He died in 1916.

In 1910, Baroness Rosen, wife of the Russian ambassador to the U.S. pioneered smoking by women in public at a White House reception.

In 1912, the first issue of “The Financial Post” was published by John Bayne Maclean, who also founded “Maclean’s” magazine. “The Financial Post” is now part of the “National Post” newspaper.

In 1915, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.

In 1916, a government orderin-council boosted the number of Canadian soldiers committed to the First World War to 500,000.

In 1932, Hattie W. Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate, after serving out the remainder of the term of her late husband, Thaddeus.

In 1935, Amelia Earhart Putnam set a record of 18 hours, 16 minutes on a solo flight of 3,860 kilometres, from Honolulu to California.

In 1942, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt re-established the National War Labor Board.

In 1945, German forces in Belgium retreated during the “Battle of the Bulge” in the Second World War.

In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the

Roman

Emperor basis of race.

In 1951, Albert Guay of Quebec City was hanged in Montreal for murder. Guay planted a time bomb aboard a Canadian Pacific Airways plane that killed 23 people, including his wife. Two accomplices were also eventually hanged.

In 1953, Archbishop Paul-emile Leger of Montreal was made a cardinal. Leger was ordained in 1929 and worked in France and Japan. He was known throughout Quebec for supporting the poor and the sick. As a cardinal, he played an important role at the Vatican Council II in Rome. In 1967, Leger stepped down from his position in Montreal to work as a missionary among lepers and handicapped children in the African country of Cameroon. He died in 1991.

In 1953, the Edmonton exchange was opened.

In 1955, Canada and Japan signed an agreement on trans-pacific air routes.

In 1963, Lester B. Pearson, leader of the Liberal opposition, said Canada should honour its commitment to accept U.S. nuclear warheads.

In 1967, the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches announced the “first steps toward restoring full unity” -- broken 400 years earlier.

In 1969, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet made its first trans-atlantic flight to London from New York.

In 1969, quarterback Joe Namath led the New York Jets to a stunning 16-7 upset of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in Miami. Namath, who had “guaranteed” victory three days before, passed for 206 yards against the Colts, who had lost only once all season.

In 1970, Biafra surrendered to the federal government of Nigeria to end a 30-month civil war for secession.

In 1976, mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie died in Wallingford, England, at age 85.

In 1977, the Federal Court of Canada upheld a federal order restricting the use of French in Canadian air space.

In 1977, Karen Kain and Frank Augustyn became the first Canadian dancers to perform with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.

In 1984, a snow storm in southern Ontario created a massive 200-car pileup on the Queen Elizabeth Way, which skirts the western end of Lake Ontario. The storms caused 89 injuries and $1 million in damage.

In 1986, the shuttle “Columbia” blasted off with a crew that included the first Hispanic-american in space, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-diaz.

In 1988, Wayne Gretzky

Stock of the

Edmonton Oilers confirmed his engagement to actress Janet Jones. (They married in July.)

In 1991, the U.S. Congress gave President George Bush the authority to wage war in the Persian Gulf.

In 1998, Canadian civil servant and diplomat Louise Frechette was appointed Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations.

In 1999, Canadian-born cartoonist Todd Mcfarlane paid US$3.05 million at auction for Mark Mcgwire’s thenrecord 70th home run ball that he hit the previous fall. The home run record was broken by Barry Bonds in 2001 when he hit 73. That ball only sold for US$450,000.

In 2000, Justice Beverley Mclachlin was sworn in as the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Born in Alberta in 1943, Mclachlin was a provincial court justice in British Columbia before being named to Canada’s highest court in 1989.

In 2002, Elvis Stojko regained the men’s title at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Hamilton.

In 2003, former Argentinian dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri died at age 76.

In 2005, Michael Feterik sold the Calgary Stampeders to a 12-member group that included ex-stampeder John Forzani and former CFL Commissioner Doug Mitchell.

In 2005, the European Parliament overwhelming endorsed the European Union’s first-ever constitution.

In 2006, at least 363 Hajj pilgrims were killed and more than 1,000 injured in a stampede during a stoning the devil ritual in Saudi Arabia.

In 2007, Richard Trudel and James Sauve were freed after more than a decade in jail when the longest and most costly criminal trial in Canadian history was thrown out of court. Superior Court of Ontario judge ruled in their case that enormous trial delays, undisclosed Crown evidence and untrustworthy Crown witnesses rendered the entire proceeding unconstitutional. The case was estimated to have cost almost $30 million.

In 2008, seven teenagers, all members of a Bathurst, N.B., high school basketball team, and their coach’s wife -- a local teacher -- were killed when the van bringing them home from a game in Moncton collided with a truck on an icy road just outside Bathurst.

In 2009, of the 47 nations of the United Nations human rights council in Geneva, Canada was the only one to vote against a resolution condemning an Israeli military offensive in Gaza.

In 2009, Rickey Henderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot, and Jim Rice made it in on his 15th and final try. Henderson is considered the best leadoff hitter ever in baseball. He is the career leader in runs scored (2,295) and stolen bases (1,406). He owns the modern-day season record with 130 steals in 1982, and the career mark with 81 leadoff homers.

In 2010, Haiti was devastated by the strongest earthquake to hit the impoverished nation in more than 200 years. More than 200,000 people were killed and 1.3 million were left homeless. Former Liberal MP Serge Marcil was among the 58 Canadian fatalities.

In 2011, Sgt. Ryan Russell, an 11-year veteran of the Toronto police force, suffered fatal injuries when he was struck by a stolen snowplow during a wild police chase through snowy streets. Richard Kachkar, a 44-year-old drifter who was shot and seriously wounded by police, was charged with first-degree murder. (In March 2013, he was found not criminally responsible because he was mentally ill and sent to a psychiatric hospital.)

In 2011, Canada turned over command of Kandahar’s Provincial Reconstruction Team to the United States, the first in a series of handovers as Canada wound up its combat mission in southern Afghanistan.

In 2013, NHL players voted in favour of ratifying the collective bargaining agreement that ended the monthslong lockout, clearing the way for a week-long training camp before the shortened 48-game season began on Jan. 19.

In 2018, Keith Jackson, who laid down the soundtrack to Saturday for a generation of U.S. college football fans with phrases such as his signature “Whoa, Nellie!” died at age 89. From the World Series to the Olympics, NFL to NBA, he did it all over five decades as a sportscaster.

In 2020, the Ontario government wrongly issued a province-wide emergency alert about an incident at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. Ontario Power Generation said the alert was sent in error and that there was no danger to the public or environment. It said an incident had been reported but there was no abnormal release of radioactivity from the station. The Pickering plant is scheduled to close in 2024.

(The Canadian Press)