TODAY IN HISTORY:

In 325, the first Christian ecumenical council opened at Nicea in Asia Minor. The doctrine of Jesus Christ’s divinity was formally affirmed for the first time by the council. It was also the first time the entire church had gathered to determine policy and doctrine.

In 1506, explorer Christopher Columbus died in poverty in Valladolid, in northwest Spain. He was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy, the son of a wool merchant and weaver. He had just completed his book of biblical commentary, “The Prophecies,” when he died.

In 1536, Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were betrothed. She later became his third wife. Although Henry had six wives, only Seymour gave him a son, the future Edward VI. She died in October 1537, just days after giving birth to Edward.

In 1902, the United States ended its occupation of Cuba.

In 1903, the first truck race was held in New York City. The race, sponsored by the Automobile Club of America, attracted seven heavy trucks and six delivery wagons.

In 1932, U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart set off on her solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, travelling from Newfoundland to Ireland.

In 1939, regular trans-Atlantic mail service began as a Pan American Airways plane, the “Yankee Clipper,” took off from Port Washington, N.Y., bound for Marseille, France.

In 1946, a plane crashed into the 58th floor of the Empire State Building in New York.

In 1948, Canadian war ace Buzz Beurling was killed when his plane crashed during a flight to Rome. Beurling was one of Canada’s greatest flying aces, shooting down 31 enemy aircraft while serving with the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. He had been hoping to build a second career flying fighter planes for Israel when he was killed.

In 1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, referred to as “Hamburger Hill” by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.

In 1972, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit the Soviet Union.

In 1977, the original “Orient Express” luxury train began its final Paris-to-Istanbul trip after 94 years of service.

In 1980, more than 58 per cent of Quebec voters rejected a referendum proposal that would have allowed Quebec to negotiate sovereigntyassociation with the rest of Canada. The day also marked the first live coverage of a Canadian referendum.

In 1991, the Soviet parliament approved a landmark bill that would allow its citizens to travel abroad and emigrate freely for the first time in more than 60 years.

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Ontario’s definition of “spouse” was unconstitutional because it applied to heterosexual