TODAY IN HISTORY: The assassination of Pancho Villa
In 1756, a group of British soldiers in India were captured and imprisoned in a suffocating cell that became known as the “Black Hole of Calcutta.” Most of the men died.
In 1837, Queen Victoria ascended to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV. During her 64year reign, the British Empire reached the height of its power.
In 1877, more than two-thirds of Saint John, N.B., was destroyed by fire.
In 1893, a New Bedford, Mass., jury found Lizzie Borden, an unmarried Sunday school teacher, not guilty of the axe murders of her father and stepmother.
In 1923, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was assassinated on his farm.
In 1947, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills mansion of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, apparently at the order of mob associates.
In 1959, 35 fishermen died in a storm in the Northumberland Strait between New Brunswick and P.E.I.
In 1964, “Northern Dancer” won the Queen’s Plate in Toronto. He’s the only horse to win both the Plate and the Kentucky Derby.
In 1967, boxer Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali, was convicted of refusing induction into the U.S. army. He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000. The verdict was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, but Ali was kept out of the ring until 1970.
In 1988, Lucien Bouchard won a byelection for the federal Tories in Lac St. Jean. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Bouchard’s close friend at the time, had made more than $1 billion worth of promises in the Quebec riding. Bouchard left the Conservative party following the 1990 failure of the Meech Lake constitutional accord and formed the Bloc Quebecois. It became the Official Opposition following the 1993 general election. Bouchard left federal politics in 1995 to become premier of Quebec. He left politics entirely in 2001.
In 1995, Michael Jackson’s “HIStory — Past, Present and Future — Book One” was released. The double CD (one with new material, the other a greatest hits package), Jackson’s first album since child molestation allegations in 1993, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
In 2009, at a concert in Edmonton, legendary country singer Charlie Pride was given the key to the city of Leduc by its mayor. In April, Pride had stepped in after receiving word that fan Jaqueline Sharp of Leduc had purchased two tickets from an online resale site for $1,200 when they had a face value of $133 each. Pride reimbursed Sharp the $1,200 and gave her free front-row tickets to his Edmonton show.