TODAY IN HISTORY: Charles I loses his head

In 570, according to tradition, the Muslim Prophet Muhammad was born.

In 1200, Zen Master Dogen, an important figure in Japanese Buddhism, was born.

In 1563, the”Heidelberg Catechism" was first published in Germany. Written by Peter Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, it comprised a balanced statement of Calvinist tradition, and was soon after accepted by nearly all of the Reformed churches in Europe.

In 1568, Miles Coverdale, publisher of the first printed English Bible, died. He completed the translation of the Old Testament, which William Tyndale had left unfinished at his death in 1536.

In 1649, King Charles I was executed after being convicted of treason under a Puritan-influenced English Parliament. Charles, a devout Anglican with Roman Catholic sympathies had staunchly defended the”divine right of kings" while oppressing the Puritans.

In 1649, Canada's first execution took place in Quebec. The prisoner was a 16year-old girl accused of theft. Her executioner was a pardoned criminal.

In 1736, James Watt, the Scottish engineer and inventor who perfected the steam engine, was born.

In 1807, Confederate general Robert E. Lee was born in Westmoreland County, Virgina.

In 1809, Edgar Allan Poe, the American poet and short-story writer, was born in Boston.

In 1840, American explorer Capt. Charles Wilkes discovered Antarctica.

In 1885, a U.S. patent was issued for the roller coaster.

In 1889, the Salvation Army split as one faction within the denomination renounced allegiance to founder William Booth. Booth's son Ballington and his wife Maud led the American splinter group, which in 1896 incorporated itself as a separate denomination known as the Volunteers of America.

In 1915, the first air raids on England were staged by German Zeppelins.

In 1915, a U.S. patent was issued for the neon sign.

In 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record when he flew from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in seven hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

In 1943, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands was born in an Ottawa hospital. Crown Princess Juliana, who became queen in 1948, and her two oldest daughters, fled from the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands in 1940 and eventually came to Canada.

In 1948, Frank McKenna was born in Apohaqui, N.B. He was elected to the New Brunswick legislature in 1982, became provincial Liberal leader in '85 and made history in the '87 provincial election by winning all 58 legislature seats. After being re-elected in 1991 and '95, he stepped down on Oct. 13, 1997 – exactly 10 years after his Liberals' take-all win. On Jan. 14, 2005 he announced he had accepted an appointment as Canada's ambassador to the U.S.

In 1955, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower held his first televised presidential news conference.

In 1958, the Canadian Football Council was renamed the Canadian Football League.

In 1960, Canada met India's request for $25 million in aid under the Colombo

Plan.

In 1962, the Canadian government announced changes to immigration laws designed to prevent discrimination based on race or national origin and allowing greater immigration from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.