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DIRE WARNING

On this date in 2000, a groundbreaking study published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund) said that unless levels of carbon dioxide being sent into the atmosphere were cut down, 46 per cent of life-sustaining habitats in Canada would be destroyed.

NEW INVENTION

On this date in 1901, British engineer Cecil Booth patented the first commercially produced vacuum cleaner. His gigantic creation was mounted on wheels and parked outside the houses being cleaned. One of its first jobs was to clean the aisle carpet of Westminster Abbey for the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The King was so impressed he ordered vacuum cleaners for both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

HERO ENSHRINED

In 1976, Dr. Norman Bethune was formally enshrined as a Canadian hero when the house in which he was born in Gravenhurst, Ont., was dedicated as a museum. A delegation of 17 Chinese government officials attended the official opening. Bethune became a hero in China where, in 1938, he worked as a surgeon and helped the Communist cause. He died from blood-poisoning in China in 1939. Bethune was a tireless and inventive surgeon who worked under difficult conditions in China. He was also known for his skills as a teacher and propagandist.