TODAY IN HISTORY
The Grey Fox
In 1620, Samuel de Champlain sailed for Canada, accompanied by his wife.
In 1886, Coca-Cola was served for the first time, at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta.
In 1902, a volcanic eruption on the Caribbean island of Martinique destroyed the city of St-Pierre within minutes. Only two of the 30,000 inhabitants survived.
In 1906, American desperado Bill Miner held up a CPR train in Kamloops. But Canada’s first train robbery netted Miner only $15, and he was captured a few days later. The story inspired the 1983 film, “The Grey Fox” with Richard Farnsworth
In 1945, V.E. (Victory in Europe) Day.
The Second World War ended in Europe with the unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces. The surrender was signed the previous day by German envoys in a schoolhouse at Rheims, France.
In 1946, Glenn Gould first appeared as a pianist with an orchestra. The 13-year-old played the first movement of Beethoven’s “Concerto Number Four” with the Toronto Conservatory of Music Orchestra.
In 1950, 10,000 people were forced out of the Red River Valley south of Winnipeg. An approaching flood caused $25 million in damage before the crisis ended on May
25.
In 1965, Bob Dylan made one of the earliest videos when he filmed a promotional clip for his current single, “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” It shows him flipping through cards with words and short phrases while standing in an alley in London.
In 1981, the self-titled debut album by the Canadian rock band Loverboy, was certified gold in the United States.
In 1996, actress Julie Andrews turned down her Tony nomination for “Victor/ Victoria” to protest her overlooked colleagues, including her husband, director Blake Edwards.
In 2005, Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash became the first Canadian to win the
NBA’s most valuable player award. He was named MVP again in 2006.
In 2008, Vladimir Putin was overwhelmingly confirmed as Russia’s new prime minister, a day after his hand-picked predecessor Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as the country’s new president.
In 2010, London’s Harrods department store, controlled by Mohamed Al Fayed for the last 25 years, was sold to Qatar
Holding for a reported C$2.2 billion. The company was the fifth owner since Henry Charles Harrod started the business as a small grocery shop in 1849.
In 2013, Jodi Arias was convicted of firstdegree murder in the 2008 brutal stabbing and shooting death of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in his suburban Phoenix home. The trial was a madefor-the-tabloids drama, garnering daily coverage by the cable news networks. (She was sentenced to life in prison.)
In 2018, a judge sentenced a young man who killed four people and injured seven others in La Loche, Sask. in January 2016 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. The teenager, sentenced as an adult, can’t be named because he is appealing the sentence.
In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord and abruptly restored harsh sanctions. But he also dealt a profound blow to EU ally signatories of the pact, deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about American credibility.In 2018, Quebecor Inc. signed a deal to buy the remaining stake in Quebecor Media Inc. held by the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec for $1.69 billion.
In 2018, Seattle Mariners leftie James Paxton threw a no-hitter against the
Toronto Blue Jays to become just the second Canadian (Dick Fowler, 1945) to pitch one in the major leagues and the first to do it on Canadian soil.
In 2019, Federal Crown prosecutors stayed the breach-of-trust case against the military’s former second-in-command, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. The criminal case over alleged leaks of government secrets had been expected to play out during the fall federal-election campaign. The Crown said there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. Norman’s lead lawyer, Marie Henein, praised the prosecutors’ decision, saying they had “acted in the highest traditions of the bar.” Norman was suspended as vice-chief of the defence staff with the RCMP alleging he had leaked government secrets to a Quebec shipyard and a CBC journalist about a $700-million naval contract. The investigation culminated in 2018 with Norman being charged with breach of trust for allegedly trying to influence cabinet’s decision-making around the contract to lease a temporary naval support ship from the shipyard.