TODAY IN HISTORY:

In 526, Antioch, in present-day Turkey, was struck by an earthquake, killing about 250,000 people.

In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, bringing the Eastern Roman Empire to an end. Some historians consider this date the end of the Middle Ages.

In 1886, the first metal snap fastener, or press stud, was invented by Frenchman Pierre-Albert Raymond for use in fastening gloves.

In 1912, 15 young women were fired by Curtis Publishing for dancing “The Turkey Trot” during their lunch break.

In 1914, more than 1,000 people died when the Canadian Pacific liner “Empress of Ireland” collided with a Norwegian freighter in dense fog and sank in the St. Lawrence River near Rimouski, Que. More people were killed than died in the sinking of the Titanic. But the tragedy never achieved the fame of the earlier disaster, in part because attention was soon diverted to the outbreak of the First World War.

In 1917, future U.S. president John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass.

In 1953, Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, was conquered for the first time. Following a five-hour final assault, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal spent about 15 minutes on the 8,848-metre summit, which straddles the Nepal-Tibet border in the Himalayas.

In 1967, Pope Paul VI named 27 new cardinals, including Karol Wojtyla, archbishop of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II.

In 1985, one-legged runner Steve Fonyo reached Victoria to complete his 14-month run across Canada. He raised $11 million for cancer research.

In 1985, 39 people were killed and hundreds injured in Brussels as English and Italian soccer fans rioted before the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus. The incident