TODAY IN HISTORY: Canadian stops The Red Baron
In 753 B.C., the city of Rome was founded.
In 1821, the Bank of Upper Canada was incorporated.
In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn., at 74.
In 1918, German air ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen -- better known as the Red Baron — was shot down and killed over the Western Front during a First World War dogfight with Capt. Roy Brown of Carleton Place, Ont., a flight leader in the 209th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.
In 1926, the future Queen Elizabeth II was born in London. Her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, who became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1936. The younger Elizabeth assumed the throne when her father died in 1952.
In 1948, William Lyon Mackenzie King set a record of service as a Commonwealth prime minister -- 20 years, 10 months and 10 days. He retired the following November.
In 1956, the Canadian Congress of Labour and the Trades and Labour Congress merged to form the Canadian Labour Congress.
In 1972, the first astronomical observatory on another planetary body was set up on the moon by Apollo 16 astronauts.
In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon; however, she was later exposed as a fraud. (Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the actual winner of the women's race.)
In 1997, the Ontario legislature passed a bill merging Toronto's six municipalities and Metro government.
In 1997, the ashes of Star Trek Roddenberry were shot into orbit.
In 2005, in a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Paul Martin apologized for the sponsorship scandal. He promised an election within 30 days of Justice John Gomery's final inquiry report on the sponsorship program. However the opposition parties forced an election earlier than Martin planned, and his Liberals lost to the Conservatives.
In 2005, Spain became the third country in Europe to legalize gay marriage, with parliament also giving same-sex couples the right to adopt children. creator Gene
In 2010, one of only a few remaining assets of the former Nortel Networks empire was sold, with the Canadian company's interest in a Korean operation (LG-Nortel Co.Ltd) going to LM Ericsson for US$242 million.
In 2010, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean delivered an apology for Canada's part in the world's failure to respond to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She was the first top-level Canadian official to visit Rwanda since the atrocity.
In 2011, Prince Charles entered the record books for spending the longest time as heir apparent to the British throne -- 59 years, two months and 14 days. King Edward VII held the previous record, waiting to succeed his mother Queen Victoria.
In 2016, Justice Charles Vaillancourt exonerated suspended Sen. Mike Duffy of all 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in the Senate expenses scandal. He dismissed 27 counts and found Duffy not guilty in four others and delivered a scathing indictment of the inner workings of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office. Senate officials restored Duffy's standing after a three-year hiatus.