TODAY IN HISTORY: Silent Night
In 1817, Joseph Mohr began serving as pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria. On Christmas Eve 1818, Mohr and church organist Franz Gruber together produced the enduring Christmas carol, “Stille Nacht (Silent Night.)”
In 1870, Metis leader Louis Riel abandoned Fort Garry when troops led by Col. Garnet Wolseley arrived to put down the Red River Rebellion. Riel, who had set up a provisional government that had put Ontario Orangeman Thomas Scott to death, fled to the United States. He later returned to Canada to organize the NorthWest Rebellion in 1885.
In 1875, Capt. Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the 34-km English Channel without a life-jacket.
In 1919, the first international air service began with Air Transport and Travel’s flight from London to Paris. Only one passenger made the trip on a converted biplane bomber. The trip took two-and-a-half hours and cost 21 pounds.
In 1934, Prime Minister R. B. Bennett unveiled the St. Malo Cross at Gaspe,
Que., to mark explorer Jacques Cartier’s first landing.
In 1937, Toronto announced school openings would be delayed because of a polio epidemic sweeping southern Ontario.
In 1939, Britain and Poland signed a treaty of mutual support, days after the German-Soviet non-aggression pact was announced. The Second World War broke out Sept. 1st when Germany invaded Poland.
Also in 1939, the classic film “The
Wizard of Oz,” opened across the U.S. First shown on television in November 1956, it became an annual tradition.
In 1940, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were incorporated into the Soviet Union. On the same day, British planes dropped their first bombs on Berlin during the Second World War.
In 1942, the Duke of Kent was killed in a plane crash in Scotland.
In 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to visit Ottawa. Roosevelt and prime ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King of Canada and Winston Churchill of Britain had earlier attended the Quebec Conference in Quebec City.
In 1944, Allied forces liberated Paris, ending four years of German occupation during the Second World War. The German commander, Maj. Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz, had defied Adolf Hitler’s order to level the French capital rather than give it up. The surrender set off wild celebrations in the streets.
In 1967, The Monkees began a three-day swing through Seattle, Portland and Spokane, Wash. The performances were recorded and released on LP during “The Monkees”’ revival almost 20 years later.