TODAY IN HISTORY: Mt. Everest conquered

In 526, Antioch, in present-day Turkey, was struck by an earthquake, killing about 250,000 people.

In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, bringing the Eastern Roman Empire to an end. Some historians consider this date the end of the Middle Ages. In 1886, the first metal snap fastener, or press stud, was invented by Frenchman Pierre-Albert Raymond for use in fastening gloves. In 1912, 15 young women were fired by Curtis Publishing for dancing “The Turkey Trot” during their lunch break.

In 1914, more than 1,000 people died when the Canadian Pacific liner “Empress of Ireland” collided with a Norwegian freighter in dense fog and sank in the St. Lawrence River near Rimouski, Que. The accident occurred in the early morning hours when most aboard were sleeping and the liner sank in just 14 minutes. Eighthundred and forty passengers were among those killed, eight more than had died in the sinking of the Titanic. But the tragedy never achieved the fame of the earlier disaster, in part because attention was soon diverted to the outbreak of the First World War. In 1917, future U.S. president John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass. Had he lived, he would be age 101 today.

In 1950, the RCMP vessel “St. Roch” reached Halifax at the end of its last voyage, the first circumnavigation of North America. In 1953, Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, was conquered for the first time. Following a five-hour final assault, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal spent about 15 minutes on the 8,848-metre summit, which straddles the Nepal-Tibet border in the Himalayas. Hillary and British expedition leader John Hunt were knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Sir Edmund climbed Everest only one more time. He spent much of the following years helping to improve the living conditions of the Sherpa inhabitants of the Everest region, thanking them for their help in 1953. Norgay, a Sherpa himself, became a global ambassador for his people and opened a school for mountain guides in India. He died May 9, 1986 at age 72. Hillary died on Jan. 11, 2008 at age 88 in New Zealand.

In 1952, country singer Hank Williams was divorced by his wife, Audrey Shepherd. Williams, who had less than a year to live, soon married Billie Jean Jones. In 1959, one of rock’s first outdoor festivals took place in Atlanta, featuring Ray Charles, B.B. King, Ruth Brown, Jimmy Reed and “The Drifters.” It attracted 9,000 people.

In 1968, Shirley Jeffery was ordained as the first female minister in The Presbyterian Church in Canada. The church’s general assembly had approved the ordination of women two years before.

In 1977, Elvis Presley walked off stage in the middle of a concert in Baltimore. It was the first time in his 23-year career that he did so, aside from when he was sick.

In 1985, 39 people were killed and hundreds injured in Brussels as English and Italian soccer fans rioted before the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus. The incident caused English clubs to be banned from European competitions for five years.

In 1987, movie director John Landis and four other people were acquitted in the 1982 deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children on the “Twilight Zone” movie set. It was the first trial to arise from an accident on the set of a Hollywood film.

In 1987, the Reform Party of Canada was launched at a Vancouver convention, with Preston Manning as leader. The party was reorganized and renamed the Canadian Alliance in 2000. In 2003, it merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

In 1990, Boris Yeltsin was elected president of Russia.

In 1994, former East German leader Erich Honecker died in exile in Chile of liver cancer at age 81.

In 1999, the space shuttle “Discovery” completed the first-ever docking with the international space station.

In 2008, the Vatican issued its most explicit decree against the ordination of women, punishing them and the bishops who try to ordain them with automatic excommunication.

In 2009, the Ontario government signed an agreement to transfer former Ipperwash Provincial Park to native hands. (Native protester Dudley George was shot to death by the OPP as about two dozen native people occupied the park after Labour Day in 1995 to protect what they said were sacred burial grounds).

In 2009, Jay Leno wrapped up 17 years as host of “The Tonight Show.” Twelve million viewers tuned in, far short of the 41 million who watched Johnny Carson’s farewell show. He handed over the reigns to his last guest, Conan O’Brien.

In 2009, eccentric music producer Phil Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.

In 2013, Dr. Henry Morgentaler, who helped overturn Canada’s abortion law in 1988, died at his Toronto home. He was 90. To his enemies he was a mass murderer, but to many he was the man who put women’s health and choice in the mainstream media.

In 2014, nearly a year after he ousted Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was elected president by a landslide of 92 per cent of the vote.