TODAY IN HISTORY: Winnipeg’s Bloody Saturday
In 1248, Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the cornerstone for a cathedral in Cologne, Germany. The Gothic masterpiece, which was not completed until 1880, was hit 14 times by bombs during the Second World War but did not collapse. Today it is a UNESCO world heritage site. In 1556, Protestant leader John Knox appeared at the Church of Blackfriars in Edinburgh to face charges of heresy. The Catholic bishops had hoped to humble him. Instead he turned the tables and scored a stunning triumph. He later led the Reformation in Scotland. In 1718, James Puckle, a London lawyer, patented the world’s first machine-gun. In 1800, Britain’s King George III escaped two assassination attempts in one day. In 1814, during the war of 1812, about 500 U.S. troops crossed the border into Canada from Erie, Pa., and destroyed the town of Port Dover. In 1885, the North-West Rebellion ended when Metis leader Louis Riel surrendered in Batoche, Sask.
In 1919, the Winnipeg General Strike began and the city was paralyzed for 41 days. An armed charge by the RCMP on June 21, which became known as “Bloody Saturday,” killed one and injured 30. The Robson Commission, which later investigated the walkout by 30,000 workers, found it had been aimed only at improving wages and labour’s bargaining position. But most government bodies feared a Bolshevik revolution was brewing. A number of labour leaders were jailed under wartime sedition laws, which were not repealed until 1936.
In 1930, registered nurse Ellen Church, the first airline stewardess, went on duty aboard an Oakland-toChicago flight operated by Boeing Air Transport (a forerunner of United Airlines).
In 1940, the first nylon stockings went on sale in Wilmington, Delaware, where 780,000 pairs were sold the first day. The material was developed by a scientist at DuPont, which is based in Wilmington.
In 1941, New York Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio began his record 56-game hitting streak with a single off Edgar Smith of the Chicago White Sox.
In 1944, 14,000 Jews from Munkacs, Hungary, were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi occupied Poland.
In 1948, the day-old state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
In 1956, an RCAF airplane crashed into the Grey Nuns’ Home for the Aged at Orleans, Ont., killing 15 people, including 11 Roman Catholic nuns.
In 1957, Britain detonated its first atomic bomb in the Pacific.
In 1963, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” by Tony Bennett won the Grammy for Record of the Year. Robert Goulet won Best New Artist.
In 1970, the International Olympic Committee expelled South Africa. The ban was lifted in 1993 after South Africa moved toward a multi-racial democracy.
In 1972, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning in Maryland. He died in 1998 at age 79.
In 1973, The Pointer Sisters made their debut at the Troubador Club in Los Angeles.
In 1974, bass guitarist Bill Wyman became the first member of The Rolling Stones to have a solo LP with the release of “Monkey Grip.” It peaked at No. 99 on the U.S. Billboard chart and No. 39 in the UK.
In 1991, French President Francois Mitterrand appointed Edith Cresson to be the country’s first female prime minister.
In 1995, China conducted an underground nuclear test, just days after it had agreed to an extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In 2006, Iraqi officials formally charged Saddam Hussein with crimes against humanity, including the torture of women and children, murder and the illegal arrest of 399 people in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980’s. He was later executed.
In 2011, nearly all of the 7,000 residents of Slave Lake, Alta. had to flee when two wind-whipped wildfires damaged or destroyed a third of the town. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. (In November, the Alberta government announced that arson was the cause of the forest fire and turned the file over to the RCMP.)