TODAY IN HISTORY: Glenn orbits the earth
In 1945, the federal government issued Canada’s first family allowance cheques.
In 1959, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker cancelled the Avro Arrow jet program. The decision resulted in the layoff of nearly 14,000 people at the Avro plant at Malton, Ont. Developed by A.V. Roe Canada Ltd. (commonly known as Avro Canada), the Arrow (also known as the CF-105) was an advanced, all-weather supersonic interceptor jet.
In 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth after blasting off aboard the “Friendship 7” Mercury capsule. He completed three orbits.
In 1974, singer-actress Cher filed for separation from her husband, Sonny Bono after 10 years or marriage. The couple had six singles enter the Billboard top 10 including “I Got You Babe,” which reached No. 1 in 1965. “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” ran on CBS from 1971-75. After the split, both tried solo careers, but only Cher was successful, scoring half-a-dozen top-10 hits. Bono, who later got into politics, died in a skiing accident in 1998.
In 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter formally advised the Soviet Union the U.S. would boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow. Canada also boycotted the Games.
In 1985, the first U.S. cruise missile test took place in Canadian airspace. The unarmed missile was released from a B52 bomber over the Beaufort Sea. The self-propelled projectile took less than an hour to reach the Primrose Weapons Range in northern Alberta.
In 1991 Toronto rocker Alannah Myles was named best female rock vocalist for “Black Velvet,” a No. 1 single from her self-named debut album. Sinead O’Connor boycotted the show and became the only artist to refuse a Grammy, having won Best Alternative Music Performance for her album, “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.” She did not attend the ceremony and refused the award because the program was being “too commercialized.”
In 1992, painter A.J. Casson, who immortalized small Ontario towns in watercolour, died in Toronto at age 93. He was the last surviving member of the Group of Seven artists.
In 1998, Bob McBride, former lead singer of the Canadian jazz-rock band “Lighthouse,” died in a Toronto hospital after years of illness and drug abuse. He was 51. He became one of the country's biggest rock stars in the early 1970s as the front man for Lighthouse, which had hits such as “One Fine Morning” and “Sunny Days.” The band fired him in 1973 after his first of many suicide attempts. He descended into cocaine, then heroin addiction. In 1994, he received a 90-day jail sentence for twice robbing an Ottawa drug store for morphine.
In 2000, Ujjal Dosanjh was elected leader of the B.C. NDP, becoming the country's first Indo-Canadian premier. But he was defeated in an election the following year by the Liberals under Gordon Campbell.
In 2002, Isabelle Charest of Rimouski, Que., became the first Canadian to win medals in three consecutive Winter Olympics. The short-track speed skater won a bronze medal in the women's 3,000metre relay in Salt Lake City. She had claimed a silver medal in the 1994 relay and a bronze in the same event in 1998. Another short-track speed skater, Marc Gagnon, matched Charest's winning streak three days later.
In 2003, 100 people were killed and 200 were injured in an inferno at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. Pyrotechnics ignited highly flammable foam around the club's stage. The rock band “Great White” was playing at the time. In 2006, both “Great White’s” tour manager and the night club owners pleaded guilty to setting off pyrotechnics.
In 2013, Canadian Forces reservist Maj. Darryl Watts avoided jail for his role in a deadly training accident in Afghanistan in 2010, but was demoted to lieutenant and received a severe reprimand.
In 2014, the Canadian women's hockey team won its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal, overcoming a two-goal deficit to the U.S. in the final minutes of regulation. Marie-Philip Poulin tied the score 2-2 with 55 seconds left in the third period and then scored the golden goal on a power play in overtime.