TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1543, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus died in Frombork, Poland. He proposed the heliocentric, or sun-centred, system whereby the planets orbit around the sun. He was born Feb. 19, 1473, in Torum, Poland.

In 1603, Samuel de Champlain first landed in Canada, at Tadoussac, Que.

In 1686, Gabriel Fahrenheit, the German inventor of the temperature scale that bears his name, was born in Gdansk. He died in The Hague on Sept. 16, 1736.

In 1738, the Methodist Church was established in England.

In 1810, Rabbi Abraham Geiger, Semitic scholar, Orientalist and theologian, who helped found the Reform movement in Judaism, was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He sought to remove all nationalistic elements from Judaism, particularly the Chosen People doctrine, and to emphasize the Jewish “mission” to spread monotheism and moral law. He shortened the prayerbook, permitted instrumental music in the synagogue and advocated prayer in the vernacular. He served as chief rabbi of the Berlin congregations and director of the newly established seminary for the scientific study of Judaism. He was also a prolific writer. His great work is “Urschrift und ubersetzungen der Bibel” (text and translations of the Bible).

In 1833, William Logie of Montreal became the first person to receive a medical degree in Canada. It was awarded by McGill University.