TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1912, 15 young women were fired by Curtis Publishing for dancing “The Turkey Trot” during their lunch break.

In 1950, the RCMP vessel “St. Roch” reached Halifax at the end of its last voyage, the first circumnavigation of North America.

In 1967, Pope Paul VI named 27 new cardinals, including Karol Wojtyla, archbishop of Krakow, who later became Pope John Paul II.

In 1968, Shirley Jeffery was ordained as the first female minister in The Presbyterian Church in Canada. The church’s general assembly had approved the ordination of women two years before.

In 1985, one-legged runner Steve Fonyo reached Victoria to complete his 14-month run across Canada. He raised $11 million for cancer research.

In 1985, 39 people were killed and hundreds injured in Brussels as English and Italian soccer fans rioted before the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus. The incident caused English clubs to be banned from European competitions for five years.

In 1987, movie director John Landis and four other people were acquitted in the 1982 deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children on the “Twilight Zone” movie set. It was the first trial to arise from an accident on the set of a Hollywood film.

In 1994, former East German leader Erich Honecker died in exile in Chile of liver cancer at age 81.