Today in history
In 1759, for the first time, Pope Clement XIII permitted the Bible to be translated and made available in the languages of all peoples in the Roman Catholic states.
In 1854, about 50 people opposed to slavery met at a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wis., to call for a new political organization. The group would later take the name of the Republican Party.
In 1860, an oil gusher was discovered in Enniskillen, Ont., a town later re-named Petrolia.
In 1876, the Parliamentary Library in Ottawa opened. The building’s grandeur was proclaimed around the world. It escaped a fire that hit the original Centre Block in 1916, but had to be restored after a 1952 fire that burned for 10 hours in the building's dome.
In 1931, the Canadian Rugby Union adopted the forward pass in football.
In 1944, Dutch Christian Corrie ten Boom and her family were arrested by Nazi secret police for harbouring Jews, who managed to escape. Corrie was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust.
In 1952, Vincent Massey was sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General.
In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
In 1956, a restaurant in Chatham, Ont., was fined $50 for refusing to serve two black students.
In 1971, the male voters of Liechtenstein defeated a referendum on giving women the vote.
In 1975, 41 people were killed when a London subway train crashed into the end of a tunnel.
In 1977, Parliament created Via Rail Canada to operate the country's passenger rail service.
In 1983, the European Community agreed to a twoyear ban on the importation of seal pup skins.
In 1983, the final episode of M.A.S.H. attracted, at the time, the largest TV audience in U.S. history. The series ran 11 seasons and its two-and a-half-hour finale was watched by 105.97 million people.
In 1984, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau went for a walk in an Ottawa blizzard and decided to resign. He announced his decision the next day.
In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme was assassinated on a downtown Stockholm street. The crime has never been solved.
In 1993, a raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, touched off a standoff between cult members and U.S. federal agents. Six cult members and four agents were killed. The siege came to an end on April 19 when the FBI launched an assault and fire engulfed the compound. Eighty-six people were killed, including cult leader David Koresh.
In 1996, Princess Diana agreed to divorce Prince Charles.
In 1988, the 15th Winter Olympic Games closed in Calgary. Canadian athletes won two silver medals and three bronze.
In 1999, Venus and Serena Williams became the first sisters to win WTA Tour events on the same day. Venus won the I.G.A. SuperThrift Tennis Classic in Oklahoma City after Serena took her first title on the WTA Tour at the Gaz de France Open.
In 2003, Vaclav Klaus won a narrow victory to become president of Czech Republic.
In 2010, Sidney Crosby's golden goal gave Canada a 3-2 overtime win over the United States in the men’s hockey gold medal game at the Vancouver Olympics.
In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign.
In 2016, at the 88th Academy Awards, Spotlight, the story of the Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into child sex abuse by Catholic priests, won Best Picture.