TODAY IN history

In 1536, Denmark adopted Lutheranism as its official state religion.

In 1768, the first Methodist chapel in the New World was dedicated in New York City.

In 1846, the Great Western Railway was authorized to extend from Hamilton to Toronto.

In 1885, poet Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho.

In 1893, Sir John Abbott, Canadian prime minister from 1891 to 1892, died in Montreal.

In 1899, the first 1,300 Canadian troops left Quebec City to fight with the British in the Boer War in South Africa.

In 1915, Sir Charles Tupper, the last surviving Father of Confederation, died in England at 94. He took part in the Charlottetown, Quebec and London conferences and was prime minister for a short period in 1896.

In 1917, the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges adopted a minimum prices system.

In 1922, Benito Mussolini formed a Fascist government and became premier of Italy.

In 1941, the U.S. Congress repealed the country’s “Neutrality Act,” virtually putting the country on a war footing.

In 1956, the Conservatives under Robert Stanfield won the Nova Scotia election.

In 1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb with a force estimated at 58 megatons.