TODAY IN history

In 1615, the first missionaries to come to Canada, the Recoletts, arrived in Quebec.

In 1740, the Marquis de Sade -- writer, philosopher and revolutionary -- was born in Paris.

In 1835, P.T. Barnum’s circus began its first tour of the United States.

In 1847, John A. Macdonald became a cabinet minister.

In 1866, Canadian militia units panicked and lost the ``Battle of Ridgeway’’ after 700 Fenians attempted an invasion of the Niagara Peninsula.

In 1896, in England, Guglielmo Marconi was awarded the first radio patent. He had succeeded the previous year in sending long-wave radio signals over a distance of about two kilometres. And in 1897, Marconi formed a wireless telegraphy company to develop its commercial applications. In 1901, he sent the letter ``S’’ across the Atlantic from Cornwall, England to a receiving station in St. John’s, Nfld.

In 1897, 61-year-old Mark Twain was quoted by the New York Journal as saying from London that ``the report of my death was an exaggeration.’’

In 1917, fighter pilot Billy Bishop became the first Canadian airman to win a Victoria Cross. The 23-year-old from Owen Sound, Ont., was honoured for a solo attack on a German airfield during the First World War. Bishop was credited with downing 72 German planes during the war.

In 1929, the Guelph, Ont., was hit by a tornado that left the town almost inactive for three years.