TODAY IN HISTORY: Mussolini joins war

In 1314, 39 Knights Templar were burned at the stake in Paris. Created to protect pilgrims going to the Holy Land, the military order had grown wealthy after the Crusades. Perhaps because of jealousy, they were accused of sodomy, blasphemy, and heresy. Many scholars now consider them to have been innocent.

In 1892, Gov. Gen. Lord Stanley of Preston donated a trophy, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada. The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy contested by professional athletes in North America. Originally presented to Canada’s amateur hockey champions, it has gone to the top pro team since 1910. It became the National Hockey League’s title trophy in 1926.

In 1907, the Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk Railways were ordered to reduce fares to three cents per 1.5 kilometres.

In 1909, Einar Dessau of Denmark used a shortwave transmitter to converse with a government radio post about eight kilometres away in what’s believed to have been the first broadcast by a “ham” operator.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass, where the Italian dictator agreed to join Germany’s war against France and Britain.

In 1965, The Rolling Stones ended a British tour by urinating on a gas station wall in Essex. The owner wouldn’t let them use the restroom. They were fined five pounds each for insulting behaviour.

In 1970, Country Joe McDonald of Country Joe and the Fish was convicted of obscenity and fined $500 for leading an American concert crowd in his famous “Fish Cheer.” It contained the ‘F’ word.

In 1978, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, was found guilty of ordering the assassination of a political opponent and sentenced to hang.

In 1990, Toronto’s Alannah Myles won three Junos: Most Promising Female Vocalist, Album and Single of the Year. “Black Velvet” was No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart at the time. Her follow-up album “Rockinghorse,” released in 1992 had lukewarm success in Canada and failed to chart in the U.S. or U.K., and her third album “Al-an-nah” sold even fewer units.

In 1992, white South Africans voted nearly 69 per cent in favour of continuing the process of ending apartheid launched by President F.W. de Klerk.

In 1993, a report by a team of child abuse experts in Connecticut cleared filmmaker Woody Allen of charges he molested his seven-year-old adopted daughter. Allen’s former girlfriend, Mia Farrow, had accused him of molesting the child.

In 2010, the B.C. Supreme Court banned the sale of raw milk in the province, rejecting the co-op structure that allows for the sharing of unpasteurized milk in Ontario.

In 2018, Vladimir Putin rolled to a crushing re-election victory for another six-year term as Russia's president.