IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

— In 1305, Scottish leader William Wallace was hung, drawn and quartered in London for treason. — In 1500, Christopher Columbus and his brothers were accused of mistreating natives in what is now Haiti, and were sent back to Spain in chains by Francesco de Bobadilla, the island’s new Spanish governor. When they arrived in Spain they were immediately released and graciously received at the royal court. — In 1541, explorer Jacques Cartier reached Stradacona, now Quebec City, on his third trip to Canada. — In 1691, in Saskatchewan, explorer Henry Kelsey , a Hudson’s Bay Company employee, became the first white man to take part in an Indian buffalo hunt. — In 1797, at an auction in Montreal, Emanuel Allen became the last slave sold in Canada. — In 1839, Hong Kong was taken by the British in a war with China. — In 1882, Regina was established as the seat of government for the Northwest Territories. The territorial capital was renamed Regina when the first Canadian Pacific Railway train arrived in the town. The new Latin name honored Queen Victoria. The town was earlier known as Wascana, or Pile of Bones, because of the buffalo bones left there by Indian and Metis hunters. — In 1914, Princess Patricia, daughter of Governor General, the Duke of Connaught, presented the colours to the armed unit named after her in a ceremony in Ottawa. The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was one of the first Canadian units to see action in the First World War. — In 1917, the Ontario cabinet passed an order-incouncil to change the name of Berlin to Kitchener effective Sept. 1. — In 1939, German dictator Adolf Hitler and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed a non-aggression pact that gave Hitler half of Poland and a free hand in the Balkans. Stalin got the other half of Poland and, eventually, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and part of Romania. The so-called “Devil's Pact” set the stage for the Second World War, which began a week later when Germany invaded Poland. Hitler scrapped the pact nearly two years later, invading the Soviet Union. — In 1957, Saskatchewan became the first province to complete its share of the Trans-Canada Highway. Premier Tommy Douglas opened the 740-kilometre stretch of the highway. — In 1966, the Red Guard in China established a youth movement to help carry out the Cultural Revolution instigated by Mao Zedong. — In 1973, a bank robbery-turned-hostage-taking began in Stockholm, Sweden. By the time the standoff ended, the four hostages had come to empathize with their captors, a psychological condition now referred to as “Stockholm Syndrome.” — In 1990, East and West Germany announced they would unite on Oct. 3. — In 2001, newspaper baron Conrad Black sold his remaining 50 per cent stake in the National Post to media conglomerate CanWest Global. He stepped down as publisher on Sept. 1.