TODAY IN HISTORY:
RFK assassinated
In 1968, U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy was fatally wounded by a gunman in a Los Angeles hotel. Kennedy, who had just claimed victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary, died about 32 hours later. He was 42. A Palestinian, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, was convicted of the murder but his death sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Also on this date in history:
In 754, St. Boniface died. He was known as the apostle of Germany for his missionary work in Europe. Boniface, an English Benedictine monk, was martyred when a band of Frisians attacked him while he was reading from the Bible to newly converted Christians on Pentecost Sunday. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin, in his kiteflying experiment, discovered that lightning is the same as static electricity. In 1813, about 700 British soldiers won a victory over 2,000 American troops in a surprise attack at Stoney Creek, Ont., during the War of 1812. In 1851, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” or, “Life Among the Lowly” began to appear in serial form in the Washington National Era, an abolitionist weekly. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery story was published in 40 instalments over the next 10 months. In 1854, a treaty providing for free trade between Canada and the U.S. was signed. In 1876, the Supreme Court of Canada held its first sitting.
In 1897, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier sailed from Canada to attend Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. He returned from London as Sir Wilfrid Laurier. In 1940, the Canadian government outlawed 16 organizations — including Nazi, Fascist and Communist groups.
In 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall proposed massive economic aid for postwar Europe. What became known as the Marshall Plan channelled over US$13 billion to western and northern Europe between 1948 and 1951.
In 1963, John Profumo resigned as Britain’s war minister after admitting he had lied to Parliament about his relationship with a young woman, Christine Keeler. In 1967, the “Six-Day War” began between Israel and foes Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Before the fighting ended on June 10th, Israel captured East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Sinai peninsula and the Golan Heights.
In 1975, Egypt re-opened the Suez Canal after eight years to all but Israeli shipping.
In 1977, Alice Cooper’s pet boa constrictor was fatally bitten by a rat it was being fed for breakfast. Cooper held a public audition a week later in Los Angeles to find a replacement for the snake, which was featured in his act.
In 1979, the Canadian Great Lakes freighter “Cartiercliffe Hall,” hauling corn from Minnesota to Quebec, caught fire and burned on Lake Superior. Six crew members were killed.
In 1980, 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky, first-year centre of the Edmonton Oilers, won the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, making him the youngest player to win two individual NHL awards in one season. He won the Lady Byng trophy, for sportsmanship, five times in all, and the Hart trophy, for most valuable player, a record nine times.
In 1981, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that five homosexuals in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia. They were the first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS.
In 1987, Canadian rock star Bryan Adams joined former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison on stage at London’s Wembley Arena to close the second annual Prince’s Trust rock gala.
In 1989, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first game in SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) losing 5-3 to Milwaukee, but Toronto first baseman Fred McGriff belted the first home run in the new stadium.
In 1991, one of Canada’s oldest department store names left the marketplace. Simpsons had been in business since 1871. The Hudson’s Bay Company, which had taken over Simpsons a few years before, turned some stores into Bay outlets and sold others to Sears Canada.
In 2004, Ronald Reagan, president of the United States from 1981-89, died at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s.