TODAY IN HISTORY: Notorious B.I.G. gunned down
In 1974, super-group Bad Company performed its first concert in England. The band was made up of former members of Free, King Crimson and Mott the Hoople and featured Paul Rodgers on lead vocals.
In 1985, “Tears Are Not Enough” by Northern Lights, the Canadian record in aid of Ethiopian famine relief, was released. The song was written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. The all-star choir included Mike Reno, Burton Cummings, Anne Murray, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.
In 1997, rapper The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. He was 24. Christopher Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, was shot while sitting in his vehicle outside a party following the Soul Train Music Awards. Wallace built his gangsta rap persona around his real-life past as a crack dealer in Brooklyn, N.Y. The album “Life After Death ... ’Til Death Do Us Part,” released two weeks after he was killed, was a charttopper.
In 1999, Health Canada approved Pfizer’s anti-impotence drug Viagra after a two-year safety review.
In 2005, Conservative MPs staged the largest abstention in Canadian parliamentary history, sitting in the House of Commons without casting a single vote as Liberals passed their budget over the objections of the BQ and the NDP.
In 2011, the space shuttle Discovery ended its career as the world’s most flown spaceship, returning from orbit after a two-week stint at the International Space Station.
In 2012, hockey trailblazer Herb Carnegie died in a Toronto hospital at age 92. Many said Carnegie should have been the Jackie Robinson on the NHL. He took up hockey and earned a reputation as a play-making centre, but no Blacks played in the NHL when he started his playing career. He and his older brother, Ossie, made it to the then Quebec Provincial League, with Herb winning multiple MVP awards with the Sherbrooke Saints.
In 2018, a B.C. judge rejected a challenge of Canada’s polygamy laws that was launched after two men were found guilty of the offence in British Columbia. Winston Blackmore and James Oler were found guilty in B.C. Supreme Court last July of having multiple wives, but a lawyer for Blackmore argued the law infringes on the charter right to freedom of religion and expression.
In 2020, Canada recorded its first COVID19 death. B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed a man in his 80s with pre-existing conditions died at the Lynn Valley care centre in North Vancouver.
In 2021, Golf Canada cancelled the RBC Canadian Open for the second year in a row. The PGA Tour event had been slated to run from June 9th to the 13th at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto. It was cancelled for what was termed “pandemic-related logistical challenges.”
In 2022, the NHL signed its first Canadian sports betting partnership.