TODAY IN HISTORY: Get the Knack
In 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain, with 119 men and three ships — the “Nina,” “Pinta” and “Santa Maria” — on his first voyage to the New World. Supported by the king and queen of Spain, he sailed in search for a new passage to China. Instead, he came upon many West Indies islands.
In 1583, the first English settlement in North America was founded at St. John’s, after Sir Humphrey Gilbert proclaimed England’s authority over Newfoundland. On his return voyage home, Gilbert and his ship were lost at sea.
In 1858, explorer John Speke discovered Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River.
In 1876, the first telephone call from one building to another took place in Mount Pleasant, Ont. Alexander Graham Bell called his uncle in Brantford, Ont.
In 1914, Germany declared war on France and Belgium at the outset of the First World War. In 1916, Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement was hanged in London after being convicted of treason for plotting to win Irish independence by revolution. Casement, who was knighted for his work in the British consular service, had sought German aid for a rebellion that was planned for Easter of 1916. But the seizure of a rebel arms shipment and Casement’s capture doomed the uprising to failure.
In 1961, Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas was elected national leader of the newly formed New Democratic Party at its founding convention in Ottawa.The Baptist minister was a skilled orator who popularized the concept of the welfare state.
In 1979, “Get the Knack,” the debut LP by The Knack” and the single, “My Sharona,” both topped the Hot 100. The band was an overnight sensation, but their fall from grace was almost as rapid. Attacked by critics as cynical fakes, they had several reunion albums (which barely dented the charts), but were popular on the nostalgia. Doug Fieger, the lead singer, died of cancer in 2010.
In 1980, the Moscow Summer Olympics, boycotted by Canada and many other western countries, ended. Russia and East Germany captured most of the medals.
In 1987, Def Leppard released “Hysteria.” The album spawned seven hit singles, and sold more than one million copies in Canada alone.
In 1981, 13,000 U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite President Ronald Reagan’s warning that they would be fired if they did not return to work. Reagan carried out his threat.
In 1999, arbitrators ruled the U.S. government had to pay the heirs of Dallas dressmaker Abraham Zapruder $16 million for his movie footage that captured the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.