TODAY IN HISTORY: Global Television debuts in 1974

In A.D. 548, the church observed Christmas on this date for the last time as the Western church moved celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on Dec. 25.

In 1971, Neil Young returned to Canada for the first time since becoming a major star, playing three concerts in Vancouver.

In 1974, the Global Television Network (now CanWest-Global), Canada’s third English-language television network, began programming in southern Ontario.

In 1987, Elton John underwent exploratory throat surgery in Sydney, Australia. A biopsy revealed a non-malignant lesion.

In 1993, bass guitarist Bill Wyman told a British TV interviewer that he had quit “The Rolling Stones.”

In 1994, American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg by an assailant at Cobo Arena in Detroit. Four men, including Jeff Gillooly, ex-husband of Kerrigan’s rival, Tonya Harding, were later sentenced to prison for their roles in the attack. Harding, who denied advance knowledge of the attack, received probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy.

In 2010, former Montreal Expo Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 2012, seven months after the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver, Ryan Dickinson, 20, became the first person convicted in the rampage. Dickinson pleaded guilty to participating in a riot and was later sentenced to 17 months in jail.