today in history

On today’s date:

In 1065, Westminster Abbey was founded by Edward the Confessor.

In 1694, Queen Mary II of England died after more than five years of joint rule with her husband, King William III.

In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Andrew Jackson.

In 1944, Maurice Richard became the first player to score eight points in an NHL game. “The Rocket” had five goals and three assists in the Montreal Canadiens’ 9-1 romp over Detroit. (Toronto’s Darryl Sittler broke Richard’s record with 10 points against Boston on Feb. 7, 1976.)

In 1970, Francis Simard and brothers Paul and Jacques Rose were arrested at a farmhouse near Montreal and charged with the kidnap-slaying of Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte two months earlier.

In 1997, the Hong Kong government ordered the killing of 1.3 million chickens as well as ducks, geese and quail kept near them to prevent the spread of the bird flu that had killed four people.

In 2011, North Korea’s power brokers publicly declared for the first time Kim Jong Un as the supreme leader at a massive public memorial for his father Kim Jong Il, cementing the family’s hold on power for another generation.

In 2016, Debbie Reynolds, who lit up the screen in “Singin’ in the Rain’ and other Hollywood classics, died at age 84, a day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher.