TODAY IN history

In 753 B.C., the city of Rome was founded.

In 1142, controversial French theologian, philosopher and musician Peter Abelard died. He was a monk at the monastery of Cluny. His work when he taught at the University of Paris was called into question by St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

In 1664, the governor of New France banned the littering of streets with straw, manure or “anything else.”

In 1785, trial by jury began in Upper Canada (now Ontario) with the adoption of British common law.

In 1816, English writer Charlotte Bronte was born in Thornton, England. The author of “Jane Eyre” died in 1855.

In 1821, the Bank of Upper Canada was incorporated.

In 1836, an army of Texans defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, capturing General Santa Anna and assuring the independence of Texas.

In 1889, Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.

In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn., at age 74.

In 1918, German air ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen – better known as the “Red Baron” – was shot down and killed over the Western Front during a First World War dogfight with Capt. Roy Brown of Carleton Place, Ont., a flight leader in the 209th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.

In 1968, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada.