TODAY IN HISTORY: Hoffa became a somebody

In 1535, the printing of the first English-language Bible was completed in London.

In 1669, Dutch painter Rembrandt died.

In 1824, the Federal Republic of Mexico was proclaimed.

In 1830, Belgium seceded from the Netherlands and became independent.

In 1851, a freak gale off the coast of Prince Edward Island destroyed 100 U.S. fishing vessels and killed at least 130 fishermen.

In 1905, Orville Wright made the first flight of over 30 minutes.

In 1909, the cornerstone of Saskatchewan's legislative building was laid in Regina.

In 1910, Portugal became a republic when a revolution forced King Manuel II to flee.

In 1920, the Canadian Air Board, forerunner of the Royal Canadian Air Force, began its first flight across Canada. Wing Cmdr. Robert Leckie flew from Halifax to Winnipeg, arriving

Oct. 11. From there, Air Commodore A. K. Tylee and three other pilots flew to Vancouver, arriving Oct. 17. Total elapsed time was 45 hours, 20 minutes for 5,488 kilometres, as opposed to 132 hours by rail.

In 1922, a fire at Haileybury, Ont., killed 43 people and destroyed property valued at $6 million.

In 1923, actor Charlton Heston was born in

Evanston, Ill. With his baritone voice, Heston portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in films of the 1950s and

1960s. His film credits include “The Greatest Show on Earth,” “El Cid,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “The Ten Commandments,” and “Planet of the Apes.” He won an Academy Award in 1959 for his starring role in the film epic “Ben-Hur.” He was leader of the National Rifle Association from 1998-2003. He died in Los Angeles on April 5, 2008.

In 1927, the first air-mail service in Canada was inaugurated.

In 1931, the comic strip “Dick Tracy,” created by Chester Gould, debuted.

In 1939, Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis declared in an election campaign that a vote for him would be a “vote for autonomy against conscription.”

In 1952, the first external pacemaker was fitted to David Schwartz to control his heartbeats. The first internal pacemaker was not fitted until 1958.

In 1957, Jimmy Hoffa was elected president of the Teamsters Union. He disappeared July 30, 1975.

In 1957, the space age began as the Soviet Union put the first spacecraft into orbit around earth. “Sputnik I,” the first man-made object to enter space, orbited the earth from a height of 902 kilometres at a speed of 29,000 km/h. The 83-kilogram, 58-centimetre-thick satellite carried only radio equipment.

In 1963, a strike of 1,300 longshoremen began at the St. Lawrence River ports.

In 1963, hurricane Flora killed 5,000 people in Haiti and 1,000 in Cuba.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI visited New York and made a plea for peace to the United Nations. At the same time, he published a document exonerating the Jews of all blame in the death of Jesus Christ.

In 1966, Basutoland became an independent and sovereign member of the Commonwealth under the name of Kingdom of Lesotho.

In 1968, the government of Alexander Dubcek in Czechoslovakia acceded to Soviet demands to abolish liberal reforms and station Soviet troops within the country.

In 1971, it was announced that oil and natural gas had been discovered on Sable Island, N.S.

In 1978, funeral services were held at the Vatican for Pope John Paul I, who died five days earlier after only 34 days in office.

In 1980, Islamic representatives from 38 countries moved to have the United Nations General Assembly call for a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.