TODAY IN HISTORY: American Idol

In 1893, English author Beatrix Potter first told the story of Peter Rabbit in the form of a “picture letter” to Noel Moore, the son of Potter's former governess.

In 1948, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicated in favour of her daughter Juliana. Wilhelmina became queen as a child, on her father’s death in 1890. She had considered abdicating 10 years earlier but her government persuaded her to continue.

In 1971, an Alaska Airlines plane crashed in the mountains near Juneau, Alaska, killing 111 people.

In 1972, paintings worth about $3 million, including a $1 million Rembrandt, were stolen from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

In 1972, American swimmer Mark Spitz became the first athlete to win seven gold medals in one Olympics when he helped win the 400-metre medley relay at the Munich Olympics.

In 1985, on the first anniversary of her husband’s sweep to power, Mila Mulroney gave birth to son Daniel Nicholas Dimitri.

In 1987, the location of the biggest dinosaur nest in the world was revealed in the Badlands, 80 kilometres east of Lethbridge, Alta. Fetuses in the dinosaur eggs were the first ever uncovered. More dinosaur bones have been found in the Alberta Badlands than anywhere else in the world.

In 1991, country singer Dottie West died in a Nashville hospital of injuries suffered in an auto accident on Aug. 30. She was 58. West is best-known for her 1973 hit “Country Sunshine,” which began life as a Coca-Cola commercial.

In 1993, six people were killed in a car-Via Rail train crash at a rural crossing near Stratford, Ont.

In 2002, Kelly Clarkson was crowned the first “American Idol,” beating out Justin Guarini and winning a recording contract. Nearly 22.5 million people tuned in to watch.

In 2014, former NHL rookie Steve Moore’s multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Todd Bertuzzi and the Vancouver Canucks over the infamous on-ice attack in 2004 was settled shortly before it was set to go to trial. The terms of the settlement are confidential.