TODAY IN HISTORY:

In 1610, King Henry IV of France was stabbed to death while riding in his carriage in Paris by a religious fanatic, Francois Ravaillac. In 1598 he enacted the “Edict of Nantes” which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants. One of the most popular French kings, he showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time.

In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner succeeded in inoculating eight-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter.

In 1878, petroleum jelly received its Vaseline trademark.

In 1904, the first Olympic Games to be held in North America opened in St. Louis.

In 1907, Anna Jarvis arranged for a special church service in Philadelphia to honour mothers, an idea that caught on and became Mother’s Day.

In 1940, future Tory leader and prime minister John Diefenbaker first took his seat in the Canadian House of Commons.

In 1940, the Netherlands surrendered to invading German forces during the Second World War.

In 1955, representatives from eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in the Polish capital.

In 1956, the chaotic and contentious pipeline debate began in the House of Commons. The Liberal government caused an uproar by limiting each stage of debate on a bill loaning TransCanada Pipe Lines $80 million to build a natural gas pipeline from Alberta to Ontario. The controversy helped cause the Liberals’ defeat in the 1957 federal election.

In 1973, the United States launched “Skylab I,” its first manned space station.