TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 1905

The Ottawa Silver Seven routed the visiting team from Dawson City, Yukon, 23-2 to win the Stanley Cup. Ottawa’s Frank McGee scored 14 goals in the most lopsided game in Stanley Cup history.

In 1906, Britain relinquished control of the naval bases at Halifax and Esquimault, B.C., turning them over to Canada.

In 1920, prohibition began in the United States. In 1939, the first “Superman” comic strip by Toronto-born Joe Shuster appeared.

In 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower took command of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in London.

In 1956, the first jet flight was made across Canada from Vancouver to Dartmouth, N.S.

In 1969, the Soviet spaceships “Soyuz 4” and “Soyuz 5” became the first vehicles to dock in space and transfer personnel.

In 1970, Ottawa announced plans to convert the country from the Imperial to the Metric system of measurement. A special commission was appointed to oversee the introduction of metric, or the International System of Units.

In 1972, Justin Pierre James Trudeau, the first prime ministerial baby born in more than 100 years, was baptized at Notre-Dame Basilica in Ottawa.

In 1991, the Persian Gulf War began when jet fighters from the U.S.-led coalition bombed Baghdad. Because of the time difference, it was the early morning of Jan. 17 in the Persian Gulf when the attack began. A defiant Iraqi president Saddam Hussein promised to wage “the mother of all battles.”

In 2003, the space shuttle “Columbia” blasted off. On board was Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. The mission ended in tragedy on Feb. 1, when the shuttle broke up during its return descent, killing all seven crew members.

In 2005, a 66-year-old Romanian woman gave birth to a baby girl, becoming the oldest mother ever.

In 2016, the UN nuclear agency certified that Iran had met all of its commitments under a landmark deal, prompting the West to lift economic sanctions that had been in place for years.