Today in history

On this date:

In 1278, Jews in England were imprisoned on charges of coining.

In 1427, Jews were expelled from Berne, Switzerland.

In 1534, Jacques Cartier arrived at Cape Bonavista, Nfld., on his first voyage to Canada.

In 1559, Scottish Protestants under John Knox rose up against the Regent, Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots.

In 1570, Russian Czar Ivan IV became a Protestant.

In 1798, English explorer George Vancouver died in London at age 40.

In 1841, the city of Halifax was incorporated.

In 1844, the capital of Canada was moved from Kingston to Montreal, where it remained for five years.

In 1869, a gold spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railway in the U.S.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his telephone before the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Philadelphia.

In 1886, German neo-Orthodox theologian and author Karl Barth was born in Basel, Switzerland.

In 1920, it was announced that Ottawa’s own minister, not the British ambassador, would represent Canada in Washington.

In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was given the job of FBI director. He remained there until his death on May 2, 1972.