B.C. opens Clayoquot to old-growth logging

In 655 (traditional date), Martin, pope from 649 to 655, died in banishment. He was the last pope venerated as a martyr.

In 1598, King Henry IV of France endorsed the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to the Protestant Huguenots. The edict was abrogated in 1685 by King Louis XIV, who declared France entirely Catholic again.

In 1742, George Frideric Handel’s majestic oratorio, “The Messiah,” was first performed, in Dublin. The performance raised 400 pounds for charity.

In 1743, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was born in Shadwell, Va.

In 1829, the British Parliament passed the “Emancipation Act,” granting freedom of religion to Roman Catholics. Within three weeks, the first Catholic was elected to Parliament.

In 1859, the University of New Brunswick was incorporated.

In 1869, American industrialist George Westinghouse patented the air brake.

In 1900, Ottawa became the first Canadian city to receive telephone service that did not require batteries on home sets.

In 1919, British and Gurkha troops massacred at least 379 unarmed protesters in the Indian holy city of Amritsar. The massacre stirred nationalist feelings across India and caused Mohandas Gandhi to begin his fight for independence.

In 1925, women in Newfoundland were granted the right to vote.

In 1945, Russian leader Josef Stalin announced the capture of Vienna.

In 1961, the UN General Assembly voted to condemn apartheid, South Africa’s policy of racial segregation.

In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first black to win the Oscar for best actor, for Lilies of the Field.

In 1970, the Apollo 13 moon mission was cancelled after an on-board explosion. The three astronauts returned safely to earth four days later.

In 1981, Quebec Premier Rene Levesque and his Parti Quebecois government won a second majority in a provincial election.

In 1981, a Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke for an article about an eight-year-old heroin addict. She relinquished the prize and quit the paper two days later after admitting she fabricated the story.

In 1986, Pope John Paul II visited a Rome synagogue – the first recorded papal visit of its kind.

In 1986, Jack Nicklaus won his record sixth Masters golf title and became the tournament’s oldest winner at age 46. It was also the last of the Golden Bear’s 70 PGA Tour wins.

In 1990, the Soviet Union finally admitted responsibility for the 1940 massacre of thousands of Polish officers near Katyn, Poland. German troops found more than 3,000 graves in 1943, but the Soviets had always blamed the slaughter on the Nazis.

In 1992, Princess Anne filed for an uncontested divorce from Captain Mark Phillips – granted 10 days later.

In 1992, the “Great Chicago Flood” took place as the city’s century-old tunnel system and adjacent basements filled with water from the Chicago River.

In 1993, the B.C. government announced it would allow limited logging of the last major old-growth rainforest on Vancouver Island. At least half of Clayoquot Sound was opened to logging.

In 1995, the CBC cancelled “Front Page Challenge.” The current events game show had been an institution on Canadian television since 1957.

In 1997, 21-year-old Tiger Woods became the youngest -- and first black -winner of the Masters golf tournament. Woods also set records with his 270 total and 12-stroke victory margin.

In 1998, “Dolly,” the world’s first cloned mammal from an adult cell, gave birth in Scotland to her first lamb, named “Bonnie”