TODAY IN HISTORY: 15 killed at Columbine

In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier left StMalo on his first voyage to Canada. After reaching Newfoundland in just 20 days, Cartier explored the Strait of Belle Isle, which he hoped was the beginning of a river leading to China. But after exploring the desolate Labrador coast, Cartier wrote in his diary, “I believe that this was the land God allotted to Cain.”

In 1792, France declared war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1841, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” by Edgar Allan Poe was published. It’s considered the first-ever detective story.

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. French scientists Marie and Pierre Curie succeeded in isolating the radioactive element radium.

In 1949, scientists at the Mayo Clinic announced they'd succeeded in synthesizing a hormone found to be useful in treating rheumatoid arthritis. The substance was named ``cortisone.''

In 1963, 65-year-old Montreal night watchman Wilfred O'Neill was killed by a bomb planted by a newly-formed terrorist group, the FLQ (le Front de liberation du Quebec).

1968, Pierre Trudeau was sworn in as Canada's 15th prime minister, two weeks after winning the Liberal Party leadership.

In 1968, a Canada-U.S. expedition led by JeanLuc Bombardier and Ralph Plaistead reached the North Pole on four snowmobiles. Bombardier, a nephew of snowmobile inventor JosephArmand Bombardier, was the first Canadian to reach the Pole.

In 1972, the manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.

In 1982, Edmonton millionaire Peter Pocklington was held hostage in his home for almost 12 hours by a gunman demanding $1 million. Both were slightly injured when police rushed the house.

1988, gunmen who'd hijacked a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet were allowed safe passage out of Algeria under an agreement that freed the remaining 31 hostages and ended a 15-day siege in which two passengers were slain.

In 1989, the Newfoundland Liberals under Clyde Wells won the provincial election.

In 1989, the last Canadian $1 bill was printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company.

In 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Colorado as two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI prayed at Ground Zero, the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In 2009, Jamaican troops stormed a hijacked Canadian charter flight at Montego Bay airport, took the lone gunman into custody and safely released six Canadian crew members. All 159 passengers and two other crew members were able to escape less than an hour into the hijacking with help of a quick-thinking flight attendant.

In 2010, a massive explosion caused by a methane gas bubble rocked the British Petroleum-leased Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers were killed.