TODAY IN HISTORY: The Beatles arrive in America

In 1804, the inventor of the steel plow, John Deere, was born in Vermont.

In 1812, Charles Dickens, considered the greatest writer of the Victorian period, was born in Portsmouth, England. The author of such novels as “Great Expectations,” “Oliver Twist” and “A Christmas Carol” was widely acclaimed not only for his writing but also for his attacks on social evils, injustice, and hypocrisy. His novels remain popular today with more than 180 movie adaptations of his works. He died in 1870.

In 1940, Walt Disney’s animated motion picture “Pinocchio” had its U.S. premiere. It later won Academy Awards for Best Original Song (“When You Wish Upon a Star”) and Best Original Score.

In 1944, the first Canadian Kiwanis Music Festival opened at the Eaton Auditorium in Toronto. There were about 7,000 competitors. One of the winners was a 10-year-old pianist – Glenn Gould.

In 1964, The Beatles invasion of North America began as thousands of screaming fans welcomed John, Paul, George and Ringo at New York’s Kennedy Airport. Only a month before, Capitol Records had been persuaded to release the group’s fourth single, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and an album, “Meet the Beatles.” The company also had agreed to spend $50,000 to promote the thenunknown British foursome. By April, “The Beatles” held the top five positions on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart.

In 1971, women in Switzerland won the right to vote and hold office.

In 1974, the Caribbean island nation of Grenada won independence from Britain.

In 1986, Haitian dictator Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier fled to France on a U.S. Air Force plane. In 1986, Corazon Aquino was elected president of the Philippines, despite vote-buying, stuffed ballot boxes and violence. The day she was sworn in, Feb. 25, former president Ferdinand Marcos fled the country with his family. Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989.

In 1987, Crosby, Stills and Nash did not perform as scheduled at a Greenpeace benefit in Vancouver after David Crosby was refused admission into Canada because of his criminal record.

In 1997, a Quebec man drove a Jeep up two flights of stairs of the Parliament buildings before stopping just short of the main door under the Peace Tower. The incident caused the government to ban tour buses and unauthorized cars from Parliament Hill. The driver, who was mentally ill, was found not criminally responsible for his actions.

In 2015, Brian Williams said he was temporarily stepping aside as anchor of “NBC Nightly News” after telling a false story about being in a helicopter hit by a grenade in Iraq 12 years earlier. NBC later suspended him for six months without pay and in June announced he would not return as “Nightly News” anchor, but would continue as a reporter at MSNBC.

In 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denied an incendiary allegation that his office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to help SNCLavalin avoid a criminal prosecution. The Quebec engineering and construction giant faced legal trouble over allegations it paid millions of dollars in bribes to get government business in Libya, which would be a crime under Canadian law. The Globe and Mail reported that SNC-Lavalin repeatedly lobbied Trudeau’s aides for a deal to avoid prosecution but that Wilson-Raybould resisted when the PMO leaned on her to make it happen. She was later moved to Veterans Affairs.

In 2020, two groups of Canadian evacuees from Wuhan, China, touched down on Canadian soil after severe weather and political meandering caused multiple delays. A flight carrying 176 passengers arrived at Ontario’s Canadian Forces Base Trenton after refuelling in Vancouver. About 50 more Canadians who arrived in Vancouver on an American chartered flight were told to disembark and board another plane that would take them to Trenton for a mandatory 14-day quarantine over concerns about the novel coronavirus. Officials said some permanent residents and Chinese nationals with Canadian visas were allowed to escort 34 Canadian minors returning home.

In 2021, Quebec surpassed 10,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.