Today in History

president of the Soviet parliament.

In 1975, Canada’s third communication satellite, “Anik 3” was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

In 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford formally declared an end to the Vietnam Era. In Saigon, renamed Ho Chi Minh City, the North Vietnamese military staged a rally to celebrate their takeover.

In 1980, Paul Geidel was released from a New York prison after serving a record term of nearly 69 years. He’d been convicted of second-degree murder in 1911.

In 1983, Canadian “Sunny’s Halo” became the second Canadian horse to win the Kentucky Derby.

In 1984, a US$180 million out-ofcourt settlement was announced in the “Agent Orange” class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans who charged they’d suffered injury from exposure to the defoliant.

In 1992, former senior Quebec cabinet minister Claude Morin admitted he was a paid RCMP informant from 1974-77.

In 1995, Jacques Chirac was elected president of France.

In 1998, Chrysler announced it was merging with Germany’s Daimler Benz in a $40 billion stock deal to become Daimlerchrysler AG. (Daimler eventually sold the money-losing Chrysler unit to Cererbus Capital Management LP. In 2009, Chrysler formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after announcing a new partnership with Fiat. Under restructuring, the U.S. government would take an eight per cent stake of the automaker and Ottawa and Ontario would jointly hold a two per cent stake. In 2011, the governments sold their remaining shares to Fiat.)

In 2001, one of Britain’s 1963 Great Train Robbers returned home from Brazil after 35 years as an escaped fugitive. The ailing 71-year-old Ronald Biggs had been in Brazil since 1970. A London judge sent him back to prison. (He was released from prison in August 2009 on compassionate grounds. He died on Dec. 18, 2013.)

In 2009, Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers was suspended for 50 games for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy, and became by far the highest-profile player ensnared in the sport’s anti-drug program. He forfeited $7 million of his $25 million salary. (He retired from the sport in April 2011 rather than face a 100-game suspension for a second positive test. He returned in 2012 but had to sit out the first 50 games.)

In 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that journalists have no blanket right to shield confidential sources. The court ruled 8-1 against the National Post and former Post reporter Andrew Mcintosh, who sought to quash a search warrant issued almost a decade ago as part of what became known as the Shawinigate affair.

In 2012, Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in a brief but regal Kremlin ceremony, while on the streets outside thousands of helmeted riot police prevented hundreds of demonstrators from protesting his return to the presidency.

In 2012, British Columbia formally apologized to the Japanese-canadian community for the internment of thousands of people during the Second World War. Over 22,000 Japanesecanadians placed in internment camps in B.C. and across Western Canada.

In 2015, British voters returned David Cameron’s Conservative Party to power for a second term, but with an unexpected majority - albeit a slim one. The Labour Party was routed in Scotland by Nicola Sturgeon’s proindependence Scottish National Party, which took almost all of the 59 seats.

In 2016, Canadian-owned Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby by 1 1/4 lengths, the fourth consecutive favourite to win the first jewel of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown.

In 2017, French voters elected 39-yearold independent centrist Emmanuel Macron as the country’s youngest president, delivering a resounding victory to the pro-european former investment banker and dashing the populist dream of far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

In 2018, Nestle announced it paid US$7.15 billion to handle global retail sales of Starbucks’s coffee and tea outside of its coffee shops.

In 2019, Jean Vanier - credited around the world for giving a voice to people with developmental disabilities - died in Paris at the age of 90 after suffering from thyroid cancer. The Canadian founded L’arche, which has communities in Canada and in 37 other countries that are home to thousands of people both with and without disabilities. There are 29 L’arche communities spread across Canada from B-C’S Comox Valley to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

In 2019, The Edmonton Oilers officially named Ken Holland as their new general manager and president of hockey operations. The Oilers introduced Holland at a press conference at Rogers Place, confirming earlier media reports that Holland was set to take over the struggling team from interim GM Keith Gretzky. Edmonton had made the playoffs just once since advancing to the Stanley Cup final in 2006. Holland led the Detroit Red Wings to 25 straight playoff appearances and four Stanley Cup titles.

(The Canadian Press)