TODAY IN HISTORY: Winnie the Pooh debuts
In 1066, William of Normandy became the Conqueror with his victory over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. During the fighting, Harold was hit by an arrow and then mowed down by the sword of a mounted knight. Two of his brothers were also killed. The English forces fled.
In 1885, the first Mormon settlers arrived in southern Alberta.
In 1914, Canada’s first contingent in the First World War reached Plymouth, England.
In 1918, Private Thomas Ricketts of the Newfoundland Regiment won the Victoria Cross during a First World War battle near Ledeghem, Belgium. At 17, Ricketts was the youngest North American to win a V.C.
In 1926, Winnie-the-Pooh, a collection of children’s stories by British author A.A. Milne, was first published. Winnie was inspired by a bear named Winnipeg, which Canadian soldiers had donated to the London Zoo.
In 1935, Mackenzie King’s Liberal party defeated R.B. Bennett’s Conservatives. The Liberals took 171 of the 245 Commons seats, gaining what was then the largest majority since Confederation.
In 1942, 137 people died when the ferry “Caribou” was sunk in the Cabot Strait during the Second World War.
In 1946, the federal government introduced Canada Savings Bonds -- offered in denominations of $50, $100 and $500 at an interest rate of 2.75 per cent.
In 1947, American air force Capt. Charles Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. He was testing a rocket-powered research plane, the Bell X1, over Muroc, Calif. His plane, called Glamorous Glennis, exceeded 1,222 km/h shortly after taking off.
In 1957, External Affairs Minister Lester B. Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The award stemmed from his efforts during the 1956 Suez Crisis to create the United Nations Emergency
Forces in Egypt as a means to halt the Israeli-BritishFrench invasion.
In 1964, American civil rights leader Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating a policy of non-violence.
In 1968, the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from “Apollo 7.” In 1975, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced the imposition of wage and price controls to fight inflation.
In 1977, Queen Elizabeth began a Silver Jubilee visit to Canada during which she opened a session of Parliament.
In 1987, a real-life drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down an abandoned well at a private day care centre. (Hundreds of rescuers worked 58 hours to free her.)
In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Oakland Athletics 9-2 to become the first Canadian baseball team to reach the World Series.