TODAY IN HISTORY: Scorsese finally wins an Oscar

In 616 (traditional date): Ethelbert, first Christian English king and instigator of the first written code of British law, died.

In 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England, declaring her a usurper because she embraced Protestantism.

In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver — the first revolving barrel multi-shot firearm.

In 1880, the New Brunswick legislature Fredericton was destroyed by fire.

In 1884, a company that would later become Inco began mining operations at Sudbury, Ont. Today, Inco is part of Vale.

In 1908, St. Boniface, Man., was incorporated as a city.

In 1928, W3XK Washington became North America's first licensed television station.

In 1940, the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 at Madison Square Garden in the world's first televised hockey game. It was aired on Westinghouse station W2XBS.

In 1945, CBC's International Service launched.

in

In 1948, Communists

Czechoslovakia.

In 1964, Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali, became world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.

In 1966, the 13-km, $200-million east-west Toronto subway was opened by Prime Minister Lester Pearson.

In 1968, Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson accused Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau of displaying a dangerous ignorance of Quebec and the nature of federalism.

In 1972, Ontario Hydro's nuclear power generating plant was officially opened.

In 1986, after 20 years of rule, Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos resigned. The 68-yearold Marcos and his family fled to Guam. Corazon Aquino, widow of the assassinated Benigno Aquino, succeeded Marcos.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact, created by the Soviet Union and other eastern European countries as a counter-force to the North Atlantic Treaty

seized

power

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Organization, voted to dissolve on March 31.

In 1993, The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 43 that gay and lesbian couples aren't families under the Canadian Human Rights Act. However, Justice Antonio Lamer wrote that he might have voted differently if the act had prohibited discrimination against homosexuals. Justice Minister Kim Campbell introduced amendments to do just that in December.

In 2000, telecommunications giant BCE bought broadcaster CTV for $2.3 billion.

In 2005, Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel gave up his fight to stay in Canada. The 65-year-old white supremacist was put on a plane in March to return to Germany where he faced charges for spreading hate there. He would spend five years in a German prison before being freed in 2010. In 2007, “The Departed” was named Best Picture at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. Martin Scorsese won his first Oscar for directing it. Forest Whitaker won Best Actor for “The Last King of Scotland” and the Best Actress award went to Helen Mirren for “The Queen.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Poet, publisher and bookseller Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who helped launch and perpetuate the Beat movement, has died. He was 101.

Ferlinghetti was known for his City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, an essential meeting place for the Beats and other bohemians in the 1950s and beyond.

Its publishing arm released books by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and many others. The most famous release was Ginsberg's anthemic poem, “Howl.”

It led to a 1957 obscenity trial that broke new ground for freedom of expression.

PHILIP B. PRICE, “OCEANS HIDING IN OCEANS”

(SIGNATURE SOUNDS)

The title is apt. Pandemic lockdown transformed Winterpills frontman Philip B. Price into a one-man band on “Oceans Hiding In Oceans,” and yet there’s impressive depth and variety to the sea of sound he generates.

Price played all the instruments at his home studio in Massachusetts, including keyboards, synthesizers, drums and guitars, both electric and acoustic. He also sang all vocals, and the 11 tunes wisely spotlight his arresting tenor, which is handsome at either end of his register, as octave intervals show.

Price’s sources of pop inspiration span decades and genres. “First Hail” could be a British folk relic, while “Me and the Stars” rides atop gurgling synths. “Paleflower” combines guitar riffs with handclaps, the percolating “Little Bell” pauses for turntable scratching and the druggy “Forever Vines” recalls a bad trip involving a disgraced Florida golfer. It’s all especially entertaining through headphones.

From isolation Price sings about deceit, delusion and disconnection, but also devotion and discovery, with the ocean a metaphor for our brain and the world. “We were left alone, on the edge of finding out,” he sings. That sounds right.