Today in history

On this date:

In 1688, the first stone was laid for Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Place Royal, Que. It is Canada’s oldest surviving church.

In 1707, Scotland and England were united under the name Great Britain.

In 1769, the Duke of Wellington, commander of the British forces that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, was born Arthur Wellesley in Dublin, Ireland. He died in 1852.

In 1831, Emily Howard Stowe, the first woman licensed to practise medicine in Canada, was born in Norwich, Upper Canada (Ontario). She earned her medical degree in New York and set up a Toronto practice in 1867 — 13 years before she was licensed.

In 1840, the first adhesive postage stamp went on sale in London, for official use on May 6. The Penny Black featured a profile of Queen Victoria.

In 1873, Christian missionary-explorer David Livingstone was found dead at Chitambo, now in Zambia. He was responsible for “opening up” central Africa and for popularizing missions to that continent.

In 1884, construction began on the first skyscraper, a 10-storey structure in Chicago built by the Home Insurance Co. of New York.

In 1885, electricity was used for the first time to light the city of Ottawa.

In 1888, New York state adopted electrocution for capital punishment.