TODAY IN HISTORY: British PM assassinated
In 1189, Emperor Frederik I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders left Regensburg in southern Germany for the Holy Land.
In 1421, Jews were expelled from Styria in Austria.
In 1676, beggars were told that they needed permission from priests to beg in Montreal and Quebec City.
In 1717, the Canadian Commercial Exchange was founded in Montreal. It was the forerunner of the Montreal Stock Exchange.
In 1811, Chang and Eng Bunker, the world's original Siamese twins, were born in Siam (now Thailand). They married sisters and fathered 21 children between them before their deaths on Jan. 17, 1874.
In 1812, Spencer Perceval became the only British prime minister to be assassinated. He was shot by a financially distressed merchant as he walked through the lobby of the House of Commons.
In 1833, 215 people died when the Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic while sailing to Quebec from England.
In 1839, the Canadian College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded.
In 1870, Canada paid the Hudson's Bay Co. $11 million for its territorial holdings in Rupert’s Land and the Northwest Territories.
In 1885, the Metis under Louis Riel were defeated by the militia at Batoche, Sask., during the North-West Rebellion. Riel surrendered a few days later and was charged with treason and convicted. He was executed in Regina on Nov. 16.
In 1910, the city of Trail, B.C., was incorporated.
In 1920, Britain's Oxford University agreed to grant degrees to women.
In 1921, Tel Aviv was declared the first all-Jewish municipality.
In 1928, WGY in Schenectady, N.Y., began the first regular programming of television.
In 1942, the British steamer Nicoya was sunk in the St. Lawrence near Anticosti Island, Que., by a German submarine U-S53. Six of the Nicoya’s crew were killed.
In 1946, the first CARE package arrived in Europe. The relief agency's name stood for Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe.
In 1949, Israel was admitted to the United Nations as the world body's 59th member.
In 1949, Siam changed its name to Thailand.
In 1960, Israeli security forces captured Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires, Argentina.